Television's most-watched history series, American Experience has been hailed as "peerless" (Wall Street Journal), "the most consistently enriching program on television" (Chicago Tribune), and "a beacon of intelligence and purpose" (Houston Chronicle). On air and online, the series brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America's past and present.
Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley
American Experience
"Annie Oakley," an on-target profile of the sharpshooter.
60 min.
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
American Experience
Wyatt Earp came to epitomize the marshal responsible for taming the Wild West.
60 min.
Abraham and Mary Lincoln, A House Divided
Abraham and Mary Lincoln, A House Divided
American Experience
Follow the story of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln’s childhood — his in a remote backwoods cabin, hers in a wealthy Kentucky home — and learn about their courtship.
Stonewall Uprising
Stonewall Uprising
American Experience
"Stonewall Uprising" recalls a 1969 Greenwich Village riot.
90 min.
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About American Experience
Television's most-watched history series, American Experience has been hailed as "peerless," (Wall Street Journal) "the most consistently enriching program on television," (Chicago Tribune) and "a beacon of intelligence and purpose." (Houston Chronicle) On air and online, the series brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America's past and present.
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WGBH is proud to announce that American Experience program "My Lai" as well as American Experience itself have been nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards. The nominations are as follows:
In this provocative, thorough examination of the final months of World War II, American Experience looks at the escalation of bloodletting from the vantage points of both Japanese and Americans. Despite warnings that his country, brought to its knees by the conflict, might erupt in a Communist revolution, Emperor Hirohito believed that one last decisive battle could reverse Japan's fortunes. From the US capture of the Mariana Islands through the firebombing of Tokyo and the dropping of the atomic bomb, Victory in the Pacific chronicles the dreadful and unprecedented loss of life and the decisions made by leaders on both sides that finally ended the war.
On Sept. 1, 1939 — the first day of World War II in Europe — President Franklin D. Roosevelt appealed to the warring nations to “under no circumstances undertake the bombardment from the air of civilian populations.” Just six years later, British and American Allied forces had carried out a bombing campaign of unprecedented might over Germany’s cities, claiming the lives of nearly half a million civilians. American Experience examines the defining moments of the offensive that led the US across a moral divide, tracing the evolution of divergent strategies and internal battles among the Allied forces. Weaving interviews with World War II pilots and historians with stunning archival footage of the bombing and its aftermath, the program is a haunting reminder of the dilemma imposed by war’s civilian casualties, a topic that continues to resonate as America enters the eighth year of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Two-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jones chronicles the epic saga of the most powerful family in Los Angeles history: the Chandlers. For four generations, they wielded unique influence through their newspaper, the Los Angeles Times — which, at its peak, had the world's largest daily circulation at 1.1 million. In their pursuit of personal agendas and civic ideals, they built the city of the future and exposed the dark side of the American Dream.