It's been a few years since we've seen Tom Brokaw regularly on TV after years of coming into our homes night after night with the day's news. He returns to television on the cable network USA in January 2010 with a "slice-of-life" show that will take Americans into the "backbone" of the country. Tonight USA gives us a sneak peek at the new show.

First stop, Maryland, a sleepy crabbing town along Highway 50. Tom Brokaw discovers one woman's story of triumph during a time of economic upheaval. A bank determines she's too much of a risk and a community steps in.

Today, Wednesday, May 27, at 7/6c, USA Network will offer the first in a series of short monthly broadcast updates, "Dispatches From The Road," featuring Tom Brokaw's inspiring encounters with real Americans during his Highway 50 road trip for his upcoming documentary TOM BROKAW PRESENTS: AMERICAN CHARACTER ALONG HIGHWAY 50. Future reports will also be featured on NBC's television and online properties including "Today Show" and "NBC Nightly News."

In the first installment, Brokaw's initial stop is 60 miles along as he relays the inspiring story of risk-taker Amanda Bramble, a spirited entrepreneur who has realized her personal American dream of opening a seafood restaurant in the sleepy fishing town of Cambridge, Maryland near Chesapeake Bay. "Everyone thought I was crazy, and so did I," she offers in a candid interview.

Bramble shares the plight of local fisherman forced to leave the waters to support their families and recounts the difficult personal challenges created by the recession. Denied financing from the banks, Bramble's passion compelled nine investors from the community to pool their cash and sweat equity to make her culinary dream of Jimmie & Sook's a reality. "Everyone here is giving when there is nothing to give," Bramble says, commenting on the true American grit of the town. "Like crabs, we cling to each other and wait for a place to settle."

TOM BROKAW PRESENTS: AMERICAN CHARACTER ALONG HIGHWAY 50.

Inspired by a series of photographs in USA Network's book American Character: A Photographic Journey, for which he penned the foreword, Brokaw will be hitting the road for an extraordinary journey along Highway 50, a route that has been called the "backbone of America." As he traverses the 12 states along this 3000-mile transcontinental road, Brokaw will document the lives of the Americans he encounters, exploring the profound economic, political and cultural changes they are experiencing during these uncertain, and particularly historic, times.

By Missy Lee

Missy Lee is the publisher, editor and chief reporter for ILoveTelevision.com. Prior to starting ILoveTelevision.com she worked for TV-Now.com and the late Tony Bray. After living in LA and covering all things entertainmentfor a number of years, she moved back to her home state of Tennessee.

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