Fans of Ken Burns' 'Baseball' documentary should get their DVRs ready tonight, as PBS airs the first part of the four-hour, two-part follow-up to that landmark 1994 series. Called 'Baseball: The Tenth Inning,' Burns and co-producer Lynn Novick take a look at the historic and changing baseball landscape from 1993 to the present.

Every major issue from this time period will be explored: the 1994 strike, steroids, 'Moneyball,' the shattering of home run records by Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, the rise of the Yankees and Red Sox, the increased number of Latin players in the game, and the impact of Japanese stars like Ichiro Suzuki.

Bonds, as you'd expect, is the main character in this drama, and steroids are one of the biggest topics. When Burns and Novick presented the program to the TCA press tour in August, I sat with them to talk about the documentary and how tough it is to boil down an era that has alreday been covered and dissected more than any in the sport's history into four compelling hours. Let's just say that fans of the A's, Rays and Twins aren't going to be very happy.

Ken Burns is returning to home plate with a follow-up to his 1994 documentary 'Baseball.' The filmmaker's new project about "America's favorite pastime," 'The Tenth Inning,' premieres Sept. 28 on PBS.

According to USA Today, the two-part film picks up where 'Baseball' left off to examine the last 16 years of the sport, including the 1994 player strike and the rise of performance-enhancing drugs.

But this 'Inning' won't be a total downer. Burns said the film was strongly inspired by a desire to celebrate his beloved Boston Red Sox's 2004 World Series win.

Much like 'Baseball,' 'The Tenth Inning' will balance stories about the sport's darker days with a look at its resilience and enduring fan appeal.