Frontline is an investigative documentary program distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Episodes are produced at WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts. The series has covered a variety of domestic and international issues, including terrorism, elections, environmental disasters, and other sociopolitical issues. Since its debut in 1983, Frontline has aired in the U.S. for 39 seasons, and has won critical acclaim and awards in broadcast journalism. It has produced over 750 documentaries from both in-house and independent filmmakers, 200 of which are available online.
American Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history.
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement is an American television series and 14-part documentary about the 20th-century civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also aired in the United Kingdom on BBC2. Created and executive produced by Henry Hampton at his film production company Blackside, and narrated by Julian Bond, the series uses archival footage, stills, and interviews by participants and opponents of the movement. The title of the series is derived from the title of the folk song "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize", which is used as the opening theme music in each episode.
Philip Rosenthal is an American television writer and producer who is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005). In recent years, he has presented food and travel documentaries I'll Have What Phil's Having on PBS and Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix.
David Bender is an American political activist, author and former host of the talk radio show Politically Direct on Air America Radio.
The War is a seven-part American television documentary miniseries about World War II from the perspective of the United States. The program was directed by American filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, written by Geoffrey Ward, and narrated primarily by Keith David. It premiered on September 23, 2007. The world premiere of the series took place at the Palace Theater in Luverne, Minnesota, one of the towns featured in the documentary. It was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Marion "Muffie" Meyer is an American director, whose productions include documentaries, theatrical features, television series and children’s films. Films that she directed are the recipients of two Emmy Awards, CINE Golden Eagles, the Japan Prize, Christopher Awards, the Freddie Award, the Columbia-DuPont, and the Peabody Awards. Her work has been selected for festivals in Japan, Greece, London, Edinburgh, Cannes, Toronto, Chicago and New York, and she has been twice nominated by the Directors Guild of America.
Elizabeth Deane is a writer, producer and director of documentary films for PBS, specializing in American history. She is based primarily at WGBH-TV in Boston, with work ranging from presidential politics to biographies and musical history.
1964 is a documentary film produced by Insignia Films for PBS' American Experience series about political, social and cultural events in the United States for the calendar year 1964. It is based partly on Jon Margolis' book The Last Innocent Year: America in 1964. The documentary depicts the year 1964 as significant and epic in that following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in late 1963, 1964, as a presidential election year, becomes a departure point for American history, with lasting effects today. It is also the year of the British Invasion led by the Beatles, when Cassius Clay fights Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship, the year after Betty Friedan's book, The Feminine Mystique, is published, and the year Republican activist, Phyllis Schlafly's book, A Choice, Not an Echo, is published. It is also the year of Freedom Summer, an initiative by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to register African-Americans in Mississippi, the subsequent murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, three CORE activists, in Mississippi by white supremacists that created a national sensation, and the Harlem riot of 1964, culminating in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley. A recurrent theme of the film is its departure as a presidential election year, with President Lyndon B. Johnson running as the expected Democratic Party nominee and the nomination of U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater selected through a grassroots campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, that defines the future divisions of the US political party competition.
George W. Bush is a 2020 two-part biographical television film about former United States President George W. Bush. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts Bush's life from his childhood up to the end of his two-term presidency in 2008. Directed by Jamila Ephron and written by Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance, the film aired on PBS in two parts on May 4 and 5, 2020.
George H.W. Bush is a 2008 two-part biographical television film about former United States President George H. W. Bush. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts Bush's life from his childhood and experience in World War II up to the end of his presidency in 1993. Written, co-produced, and directed by Austin Hoyt, the film aired on PBS in two parts on May 5 and 6, 2008.
Truman is a 1997 two-part television documentary film about Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States. Produced by PBS for The American Experience documentary program, it recounts Truman's life from childhood to his presidency. Written, co-produced, and directed by David Grubin, the film first aired on PBS in two parts on October 5 and 6, 1997.
Jimmy Carter is a 2002 two-part television documentary film about Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts Carter's life from childhood in Georgia to his post-presidency as peacemaker. The film was written, produced, and directed by Adriana Bosch, and was first aired on PBS in two parts on November 11 and 12, 2002.
America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump is a 2020 two-part television documentary film about the political divide between the United States Democratic and Republican Party in the early 21st century. Produced by the investigative journalism program Frontline on PBS, it charts how the two major political parties became increasingly adversarial to each other due to factors of race, media, and misinformation, from the 2008 presidential election to the presidency of Donald Trump. The film was directed by Michael Kirk and written by Kirk and Mike Wiser, and was first aired on PBS in two parts on January 13 and 14, 2020.
John and Abigail Adams is a 2006 television documentary film about John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States, and his wife Abigail Adams. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts the Adams couple's lives and partnership through both dramatizations and interviews. The film was directed by Peter Jones and written and produced by Elizabeth Deane, and it first aired on PBS in the United States on January 23, 2006.
Ulysses S. Grant is a 2002 two-part television documentary film about Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it recounts Grant's life from his childhood in Ohio to his presidency, with narration by Liev Schreiber. The film was released in two parts on May 5 and 6, 2002, with part one written, produced, and directed by Adriana Bosch, and part two written, produced, and directed by Elizabeth Deane.
The Wright Stuff is a 1996 television documentary film about Orville and Wilbur Wright, the brothers who invented the first successful motor-powered airplane. Produced by PBS for The American Experience documentary program, it recounts the lives of the Wright brothers from their early childhood in Ohio with dreams of flight to their subsequent fame after their successful 1908 demonstration in France. The film was written, produced, and directed by Nancy Porter, narrated by Garrison Keillor, and hosted by David McCullough, and was first aired on PBS in the United States on February 12, 1996.
MacArthur is a 1999 two-part television documentary film about Douglas MacArthur, a United States General of the Army. Produced by PBS for The American Experience documentary program, it recounts the significant events and controversies in MacArthur's life, from childhood to his death in 1964. Written and produced by Austin Hoyt, directed by Hoyt and Sarah Holt, and narrated by David Ogden Stiers, the film first aired on PBS in two parts on May 17 and 18, 1999.
Bataan Rescue is a 2003 television documentary film about the Raid at Cabanatuan. Produced by PBS for the American Experience documentary program, it begins with the Fall of Bataan in 1942 up to the titular event in January 1945, where more than 500 prisoners of war were liberated from a Japanese camp in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. Directed by Peter Jones and written and produced by David Axelrod, the film first aired on PBS in the United States on July 7, 2003.
LBJ is a 1991 two-part television documentary film about Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. Produced by PBS for The American Experience documentary program, it recounts Johnson's life from his childhood to his presidency up to his death. Written, co-produced and directed by David Grubin and narrated by David McCullough, the film first aired on PBS in two parts on September 30, 1991.
