WGN America’s new Underground Railroad drama “Underground” will screen at the White House as part of Black History Month, the network announced Friday.
The pilot episode of the show will be be screened on Feb. 22 as part of the White House Office of Public Engagement’s Black History Month event, “These Hallowed Grounds,” highlighting landmarks and monuments around the country significant to the African American community, including stops on the Underground Railroad.
Prior to the screening, there will be panel discussions with the “Underground” cast and creative team, including executive producer John Legend, creators and executive producers Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, executive producer Akiva Goldsman and director and executive producer Anthony Hemingway.
Stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Aldis Hodge, Christopher Meloni, Alano Miller, Jessica de Gouw and Amirah Vann will also be in attendance. The panel event will be live streamed beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET.
“Underground” follows a group of men and women who use their ingenuity, power and perseverance to attempt the greatest escape in history and break free, despite the dire consequences that await them on the other side.
The story follows a blacksmith who covertly organizes a small group of his fellow slaves and pieces together a daring plan of escape across hundreds of miles to freedom. The odds of success are razor-thin for those who make it off the plantation, while the risks, dangers and obstacles multiply each step of the way.
The show is the fourth original series from WGN America. The network launched the superatural drama “Salem” in 2014, followed by a series dramatizing the creation of the atomic bomb, “Manhattan,” which was recently cancelled after two seasons. The network also recently began airing “Outsiders,” about a family living off the grid on a mountain in Kentucky as they clash with an encroaching mining company.
“Underground” will premiere on WGN America on March 9 at 10/9c.