Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
history

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

American Experience

PBS documentary television series


PBS documentary television series

FieldValue
imageAmerican Experience logo.svg
alt_name
genreTelevision documentary
creatorPeter McGhee
theme_music_composer{{Plain list
countryUnited States
languageEnglish (United States)
num_seasons36
num_episodes380
list_episodesList of American Experience episodes
executive_producer{{Plain list
* Cameo George <small>(2020–present)</small><ref>{{Cite press releasetitleCameo George Named Executive Producer of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, WGBH's Acclaimed History Series on PBSurl=https://www.wgbh.org/foundation/press/cameo-george-named-executive-producer-of-american-experience-wgbhs-acclaimed-history-series-on-pbspublisher=WGBHaccess-date=20 January 2021date=July 23, 2020}}
runtimeBetween 55 minutes and two hours
companyWGBH-TV
networkPBS{{cite weburl=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/schedule/
titleBroadcast Schedule American Experience WGBHpublisher=PBSaccess-date=2014-05-27}}
first_aired
last_airedpresent
  • Charles Kuskin (1988–2000)
  • Mark Adler (2000–2008)
  • The Chambers Brothers (2009–2010)
  • Joel Goodman (2011–present)
  • Judy Crichton (1987–1996)
  • Margaret Drain (1997–2003)
  • Mark Samels (2003–2020)
  • Cameo George (2020–present)

American Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States that presents documentaries about key events and people in U.S. history. The show has several awards, including 30 Emmy Awards.

The series premiered on October 4, 1988 and was originally titled The American Experience. The show has had a presence on the internet since 1995, and more than 100 American Experience programs are accompanied by their own internet websites that provide background information on the subjects covered as well as teachers' guides and educational companion materials. American Experience is produced primarily by WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, though occasionally in the early seasons it was co-produced by other PBS stations such as WNET (Channel 13) in New York City.

Some of the American Experience programs were produced prior to the formal creation of the series. Vietnam: A Television History was one of them, airing originally in 1983 after six years in development. Also, in 2006, American Experience rebroadcast Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, the first half of the 1986 documentary series about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

In July 2025, WGBH announced that American Experience would end new production and switch exclusively to rereleasing past episodes after airing an abbreviated 37th season that fall and that the series' staff was being laid off. WGBH CEO Susan Goldberg attributed the decision to "severe cuts in federal funding for public media." Work had been halted in May on six films, and no new documentaries will be produced until further notice since this is the "most expensive show funded by PBS" on a per hour basis.

Episodes

Main article: List of American Experience episodes

Reception

Critical response

American Experience has received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. Glenn McNatt of The Baltimore Sun wrote that it is "TV's finest history series ever." Steve Johnson of Chicago Tribune wrote, "History comes alive in excellent docu-series."

Home media

A DVD boxset collecting episodes about United States presidents was released on August 26, 2008. A DVD boxset for the five-part documentary We Shall Remain was released on May 12, 2009. The collection was updated to include the documentary on Bill Clinton's presidency on August 28, 2012, and the documentary on George W. Bush's presidency on May 4, 2020.

Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by American Experience

References

References

  1. (July 23, 2020). "Cameo George Named Executive Producer of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, WGBH's Acclaimed History Series on PBS". WGBH.
  2. "About the Series". PBS.
  3. "American Experience ". [[Public Broadcasting Service.
  4. "American Experience ". PBS.
  5. Lucchesi, Madison. (July 24, 2025). "More layoffs at GBH as 'Defunded' sign goes viral".
  6. "GBH to lay off 13 employees from PBS history program 'American Experience' due to federal funding cuts - The Boston Globe".
  7. Hale, Mike. (2025-08-27). "As PBS Stations Confront Cuts, American History Takes a Hit". The New York Times.
  8. Mcnatt, Glenn. (January 13, 2008). "Best of This Week".
  9. Johnson, Steve. (October 22, 2008). "TV can be good for you".
  10. (26 August 2008). "American Experience: The Presidents Collection". Amazon.com, Inc..
  11. (12 May 2009). "We Shall Remain: America Through Native Eyes". Amazon.com, Inc..
  12. (28 August 2012). "American Experience: The Presidents". Amazon.com, Inc..
  13. (21 July 2020). "American Experience: The Presidents". Amazon.com, Inc..
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about American Experience — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report