Iowa PBS to highlight Antiques Roadshow's visit to Iowa last summer
A woman holding a guitar with two people holding cameras filming her

The national PBS series Antiques Roadshow chose Living History Farms in Urbandale as one of their places to visit in 2024. Behind the Scenes at Antiques Roadshow Iowa, a special program from Iowa PBS, takes viewers behind the scenes to discover how the hit show comes to life by meeting the producers, appraisers, volunteers and most importantly the guests that make the show possible. This 30-minute documentary will premiere Monday, February 17 at 6:30 p.m. and be rebroadcast on Monday, February 24 at 6:30 p.m. It will also be available to stream on iowapbs.org and on the PBS app.

“It was amazing to see how excited people were to share their most treasured items,” said Iowa PBS Senior Producer and Director Theresa Knight. “Their stories were fascinating and our team felt honored to share in the experience.”

After months of reviewing the footage, Antiques Roadshow has created three episodes from the thousands of appraisals completed that day. Season 29 of Antiques Roadshow begins on Monday, January 6 at 7 p.m. on Iowa PBS. One interesting find in Urbandale included untouched 1968-1970 Mattel Hot Wheels store displays from the toys’ early years, saved treasures from a long-ago family variety store containing some of the rarest Camaro and Mustang models, which helped drive the value to an incredible $30,000-$50,000!

Antiques Roadshow: Living History Farms air-dates:

Living History Farms, Hour 1 Monday, February 17 at 7 p.m.

Living History Farms, Hour 2 Monday, February 24 at 7 p.m.

Living History Farms, Hour 3 Monday, March 17 at 7 p.m.

In celebration of this exciting experience, Iowa PBS will host a premiere screening of Behind the Scenes at Antiques Roadshow Iowa and sneak peek clips of the national Antiques Roadshow episodes filmed at Iowa PBS on February 8 at 2 p.m. Special guests include senior producer for Antiques Roadshow, Sam Farrell and appraisers Lark Mason Jr. and Lark Mason III. Following the screenings and discussion, a reception with special antiques, artifacts and items from Iowans will be on display and light refreshments will be served. Registration is free but required.

For more information and to register for this free event, visit iowapbs.org/events.