IIRC Free to Choose was produced by a PBS station in Erie Pennsylvania. I do not know how extensively the series was shown nationally. I saw it on the Buffalo NY outlet.
One of the discussion segments in a later program introduced me to Thomas Sowell, for which I continue to be very grateful.
Free to Choose was a big deal on PBS stations all across the United States in 1980. Since then, it's been shown on various networks all around the world, and it was updated and reshown in 1990. The series introduced Friedman as a public intellectual to a wide audience.
The book that was created along with the series is also excellent and very palatable for those not well-versed in economics.