CBS Sets ’13 Days In Ferguson’ Primetime Special

CBS will air 13 Days In Ferguson, a primetime special looking at the protests, riots and aftermath following the 2014 police shooting of young Black man, Michael Brown Jr., in Ferguson, MO. The hour-long special will air Friday, August 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. The special will air live and on demand on Paramount+ with Showtime. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will be able to watch it the day after the special airs.

13 Days features Cedric The Entertainer, a St. Louis area native who grew up next to Ferguson, reuniting with his longtime friend, retired lead task force officer Captain Ron Johnson who led law enforcement efforts to defuse the violence that broke out following the shooting. The special also includes the first-ever sit-down discussion between Capt. Johnson and the victim’s father, Michael Brown, Sr.

“The story of Ferguson is the story of America,” says Cedric. “It’s important to tell this story now with my friend Ron Johnson because, with the benefit of 10 years, we can see the lessons learned, the progress made and the road ahead with more clarity. This is Ron’s elegy.”

“If I was going to step up to be a leader, then I had to accept whatever came, the good and the bad,” said Johnson. “Leadership is an honor. People are critical of leadership and a leader has to take whatever comes with that, because he or she has been honored to be in that position. And so, whatever came with it, it was a part of it.”

13 Days in Ferguson is produced by See It Now Studios and Bungalow Media + Entertainment in association with A Bird and a Bear Entertainment. Executive producers are Robert Friedman and Deborah Riley Draper for Bungalow Media + Entertainment, Cedric The Entertainer and Eric C. Rhone for A Bird and a Bear Entertainment, JD DeWitt for Fear Not Productions and Susan Zirinsky and Terence Wrong for See It Now Studios. Deborah Riley Draper also serves as director.