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American Experience (1988)

37 seasons 396 episodes 55 min Documentary

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6.5

Synopsis

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

About the series

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 American 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.

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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 American 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

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

References

External links

American Experience website

American Experience at IMDb

Text from American Experience on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Experience

Seasons

Cast

Production

Crew

Tags

Questions about the series American Experience

What is American Experience about?

American Experience: TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

How many seasons does American Experience have?

American Experience has 37 seasons, with 396 episodes in total.

Is American Experience still running?

American Experience is still running, with new episodes expected.

How long is each episode of American Experience?

Each episode of American Experience runs about 55 minutes.

Who stars in American Experience?

The cast of American Experience includes F. Murray Abraham, Liev Schreiber, Linda Hunt, Jason Robards and Mary McDonnell.

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Trivia

Page updated on 09/13/2026.