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1
NOVA

PBS

Seen in more than 100 countries, NOVA is the most watched science television series in the world and the most watched documentary series on PBS. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won every major television award, most of them many times over. Each week NOVA takes an in depth look at a particular topic or individual in the science field. NOVA's topics cover all branches of science and engineering. NOVA's unique way of presenting each topic can be interesting to both those with no prior knowledge or those whose life's work is being covered.moreless
2
Nature

PBS

Nature is a wildlife documentary program that has been airing on PBS since 1982. Its longevity is explained partly by its quality; Nature has won numerous Emmy awards. Documentaries have explored a multitude of different animals, plants, and other aspects of the natural world. Subjects vary from "Africa" to "Yellowstone Otters." Some documentaries have featured celebrities, such as "Wild Horses of Mongolia with Julia Roberts" and "John Denver: Let This Be a Voice." While the documentaries vary in creator, style and narrator, they are all educational and suitable for the entire family.moreless
3
Austin City Limits

PBS

Austin City Limits has established a reputation for showcasing great live musical performances. The show's studio allows for intimate and engaging performances by independent, mainstream, critically acclaimed, and popular artists. The show was originally created to display the emerging talents of the alternative country music scene in Austin, TX in the 1970s. Soon, however, the show branched out to include all types of music: alt country, pop rock, bluegrass and zydeco are just a few. Many television historians attribute MTV, CMT and VH1'a success to the contributions of this groundbreaking musical series. On Wednesday, November 12th, 2003; President Bush presented ACL with the National Medal of the Arts. ACL was the first television show (ever) to win the award.moreless
4
CBS Evening News

CBS

The CBS Evening News is a TV institution, having some of the most well-known journalists in the world anchor it through its many decades on the air. The show was at it's peak when it was hosted by the iconic Walter Cronkite from 1962 to 1981. Dan Rather took over and was the anchor until 2006.

The show is currently anchored by Katie Couric, who takes over from Bob Schieffer. The half hour show covers both international and domestic news.moreless
5
Frontline

PBS

Since it began in 1983, ‘Frontline' has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.moreless
6
American Experience

PBS

Since 1988, PBS has broadcast a series that focuses on the history of the United States and what has made it unique. Called American Experience (originally titled The American Experience), the program examines the people, events, technology, and natural resources that have shaped the country. Hosted by David McCullough until 2002 and narrated by a number of well-known personalities - American Experience uses historians and authors, period images and film, music, dramatic re-enactments, and contemporary context to set the stage for its topics.

The series continues to this day with a variable number of installments produced each year. Episodes are generally 60 minutes in length, but some longer episodes and multi-part series have also been produced. The show airs at different days and times on local PBS stations.

Though American Experience has used many films from independent film makers and has been assisted by various PBS stations throughout the country, it has always been spearheaded by WGBH in Boston.moreless
7
Cosmos

PBS (ended 2005)

Carl Sagan brings us the Cosmos, everything that ever was and ever will be, in an approach that is easily accessible even for those of us that are not science wizards. This 13 part series covers everything from the history of astronomy, the challenges it faced at its creation, how the universe was created and how it all might end, to the evolution of life on Earth, and the nature of the human brain. First aired in 1980 by the Public Broadcasting Service, Cosmos has seen multiple versions over the years. When the series was released on home video in the late 1980s, a 14th episode was included, which consisted of an interview between Dr. Sagan and Ted Turner. Dr. Sagan taped new epilogues for the 10th anniversary version in 1990, in which he addressed new discoveries and alternate viewpoints. The Science Channel rebroadcast the series on its 25th anniversary in 2005 with enhanced computer graphics. The series was awarded an Emmy and a Peabody Award. It has been broadcast in 60 countries and has been seen by an estimated 500 million to 1 billion viewers worldwide.moreless
8
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth

PBS (ended 1988)

Bill Moyers interviews legendary scholar and teacher Joseph Campbell about the origins and meanings of mythology. Using history, art, Jungian psychology, and even modern cinema, Campbell demonstrates the origins of mythic images in the deepest parts of our psyche and the power of myth in our daily lives. Most of these conversations were filmed at George Lucas' 'Skywalker Ranch.' Lucas volunteered the use of the buildings to thank Professor Campbell for the role his work played in shaping Lucas' Star Wars films.moreless
9
Joseph Campbell: Mythos

Wellspring Media

Joseph Campbell: Mythos is a multi-part documentary television series consisting of lectures by Joseph Campbell, which originally ran on PBS for 4 seasons, totaling 20 episodes, and was produced by the Joseph Campbell foundation. The series investigates popular myths, delving into surprising facts about the human mythic impulse in terms of psychology, ethnology, and comparative mythology. In the last 6 years of his life, Campbell delivered these lectures to share his lifeâ€™s findings about the subject of myths, a phenomenon that has been around for all of recorded human existence. Campbell discusses why myths exist, how they differ, but also resemble one another, across cultures, and what they did to shape mindsets and civilization. He discusses why certain myths took on different forms and played more heavily with certain themes at different times, as well as why myths are important at all. Joseph Campbell: Mythos varies along three major themes: the shaping of our mythic tradition, the shaping of eastern tradition, and the shaping of western tradition. For an informative lecture series about a fascinating topic, check out PBSâ€™s Joseph Campbell: Mythos.moreless
10
Visions

PBS (ended 1980)

VISIONS was an hour-long anthology series aired back in 1976 on the Public Broadcasting Service. It was a series of original plays written expressly for TV. 4 seasons aired during 4 years. The show won an Emmy in 1977, and received 2 more Emmy nominations.moreless
11
Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World

Travel Channel

Andrew Zimmern explores the cultural side of the worlds most exotic locations. Zimmern of "Bizarre Foods" fame will focus on the people, politics, and culture of the worlds must see locations along with the cuisine analysis he's famous for. Learn interesting facts, history, and culture of the world's most well know locales with Andrew Zimmern and "Bizarre Worlds".moreless
12
P.O.V.

PBS

Since 1988, P.O.V. has been showcasing "documentaries with a point of view." P.O.V. is the longest-running series on television featuring documentary films. Many of the films deal with social issues around the world, taking an intimate and unrelenting look at people and places that aren't always covered by mainstream media. The series has developed a highly distinguished reputation, and many P.O.V. programs have gone on to win various awards including three Oscars, nineteen Emmys, thirty-six CINE Golden Eagles, and twelve Peabody Awards. Dozens of high-profile and well respected directors have had films premiere on P.O.V., including Michael Moore, Jonathan Demme, Terry Zwigoff, Errol Morris, Albert and David Maysles, Michael Apted, Frederick Wiseman, MArlon Riggs, and Ross McElwee. The 2010 season kicked off with Robert Kenner's Oscar nominated Food, Inc., an examination of corporate farming in the United States. P.O.V airs on PBS and is a production of American Documentary, Inc.moreless
13
Ken Burns: America

PBS

Ken Burns: America is a historical documentary TV series developed by PBS that follows the award winning and acclaimed historical documentaries of Ken Burns, an American director known for his intimate and no-hold approach in his films. In the America series, Burns has spent the past twenty years telling the stories of topics deeply ingrained in the history and culture of what makes America what it is today. From the deeply American classic of baseball with its die hard fans and memories and myths that cross all generations (Baseball) to the bloody war between brothers in the civil war (The Civil War) to the development and dominance of Americaâ€™s first form of mass medium in the form of the radio (Empire of the Air), Ken Burns holds nothing back in sharing, enlightening, and expanding upon the knowledge of who, what, when, where, why, and how these pieces of the United States became the defining factors of the American people and, in some ways, the world. Baseball, the Civil War, radio, inventor Frank Lloyd Wright, the infamous development of Jazz, the unparalleled achievement of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the Womenâ€™s Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony are all just some of what Ken Burns considers American Stories.moreless
14
Ancient Lives

Athena

Ancient Lives provides an insightful and detailed look into the lives of the ancient Egyptians. Helmed by acclaimed Egyptologist John Romer, this series explores daily life as it took place several thousand years ago in a small village near Thebes. Romer and his colleagues explore residential ruins and enter lavishly decorated tombs to explore the relics inside. Artifacts found in the village ruins are used to reconstruct daily life for the average Egyptian; viewers learn how these people lived, ate, worked, and worshipped. Ancient Lives also explores many of the famed tombs of the great Pharaohs; cameras are brought inside the tombs themselves to show viewers the priceless tomb relics in their original context. Examination of these remarkable tombs also provides clues about the thousands of artisans, craftsmen and laborers who worked to build and beautify the final resting places of Egypt's royalty. Romer also provides a fascinating look into tomb raiding, and explains many methods the ancient Egyptians used to secure their tombs against future desecration and looting.moreless
15
Diamonds

Global (ended 1989)

Once upon a time, actors Michael Devitt and Christina Towne starred together on a hit television show called "Two of Diamonds", about two private eyes married to each other. Eventually, the two co-stars married in real-life, but when their marriage floundered, so did the show. Divorced, and unemployed, Mike decides to open a real private detective agency, and convinces Christina to join him. They call the agency "Two of Diamonds." Michael is the impulsive, instinctive one, and Christina is the more reserved one, methodical, logical, pragmatic. Suffice it to say that sparks of a rather romantic nature occasionally took flight in this Canadian production that smells a bit like Moonlighting, although, for the most part, Mike and Christina kept it strictly business. It was clear they still cared for one another, but it didn't degenerate into a overly sappy and soggy "will they/won't they?" storyline. Aiding and abetting the on-again, off-again twosome is Michael's cousin, Lieutenant Lou Gianetti, a member of the York (Toronto, actually, trying once more to be New York) police force, and René, a former collegue and one of the best special effects men in the business.moreless
16
In Search of the Trojan War

BBC

A must-see for history buffs, this television documentary series (originally broadcast in 1985) explores the enigma that is the Trojan War. Through his filmed visits to Ireland, Greece, Turkey and Berlin, historian Michael Wood attempts to determine whether Homer's epic poems were based in truth or entirely fictitious. What he discovers along the way gives the familiar legend some unexpected new twists.moreless
17
Testament

Acorn Media Group

No single work has shaped Western civilization more than the Bible. In this provocative seven-part series, renowned archaeologist John Romer (Ancient Lives) traces the roots of the world's most important book in light of archaeological evidence. Who wrote the Bible? Where did the story of creation come from? What can archaeology tell us about Abraham, the Exodus, and Jesus of Nazareth? Join Romer as he visits dig sites at Jericho, Jerusalem, and elsewhere to uncover the motives and methods of the people who told the sacred story, attacked it, defended it, and transformed it throughout history. For believers and non-believers alike, this fascinating journey reveals the Bible not only as a record of historical events, but also as a profound profession of faith that still holds our hearts and minds.moreless
18
Planet Earth (1986 Miniseries)

PBS

Planet Earth (1986 Miniseries) is a seven-part nature documentary series from PBS and narrated by Richard Kiley that takes viewers on an exploration of our home planet, examining the history of the world and determining the many factors that have shaped the land and seas over time. This series seeks to provide a comprehensive portrait of Earth's past and present, and uses scientific data to project the Earth's most likely future. Over the years the planet has slowly been shaped to look the way it does today. This series ventures beneath the Earth's crust and into the ocean's depths to look at the geological forces at work beneath our feet, as well as turning an eye to the sky and examining the solar system's role in Earth's development. Planet Earth is an illuminating and entertaining nature program that offers a glimpse of the events that have led to the modern world.moreless

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