More information: IMDB
Episodes
Episode
American Masters: Pearl Jam Twenty
aired: Sun, May 20, 2012
In honor of Pearl Jam’s 20th anniversary, award-winning director and music journalist Cameron Crowe creates a definitive portrait of the seminal band carved from over 1,200 hours of rarely and never-before-seen footage, plus 24 hours of recently shot concert and interview footage.
Episode
American Masters: Johnny Carson: King of Late Night
aired: Tue, May 15, 2012
Johnny Carson was seen by more people on more occasions than anyone else in American history. Over the course of 30 years, 4,531 episodes and 23,000 guests, he became a fixture of national life. Johnny Carson: King of Late Night explores his life, career, and complexities.
Episode
American Masters: Cab Calloway: Sketches
aired: Tue, Apr 17, 2012
Explore the life of this pioneering jazz legend who charmed audiences with his bravado and showmanship. Cab led one of the most popular African American big bands during the jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s, with Harlem's famous Cotton Club as his home stage, best known for his "Hi de hi de hi de ho" refrain from signature song "Minnie the Moocher."
Episode
American Masters: Harper Lee: Hey, Boo
aired: Tue, Apr 3, 2012
One of the biggest bestsellers of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird is the first and only novel by a young woman named Nelle Harper Lee, who said that she wanted to be South Alabama's Jane Austen. Lee won the Pulitzer Prize and became a mystery when she stopped speaking to press in 1964. Harper Lee: Hey, Boo explores the history of the novel and offers an unprecedented look at the novelist's life.
Episode
American Masters: Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel
aired: Tue, Apr 3, 2012
Margaret Mitchell was no ordinary writer. The one book she published in her lifetime - Gone With the Wind - sold millions of copies during the Great Depression in America and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937, 75 years ago. Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel engages leading authors, historians, biographers, and people with personal connections to Mitchell to reveal a complex and mysterious woman.
Episode
American Masters: Cab Calloway: Sketches
aired: Tue, Feb 28, 2012
Explore the life of this pioneering jazz legend who charmed audiences with his bravado and showmanship. Cab led one of the most popular African American big bands during the jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s, with Harlem's famous Cotton Club as his home stage, best known for his "Hi de hi de hi de ho" refrain from signature song "Minnie the Moocher."
Episode
American Masters: Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
aired: Tue, Jan 24, 2012
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune is a tribute to an unlikely American hero whose music is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s. Phil Ochs was moved by the conviction that he and his music would change the world. Unyielding in his political principals and unbending in his artistic vision, Ochs tirelessly fought for peace and justice throughout his short life (12/19/1940 - 4/9/1976).
Episode
American Masters: Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter
aired: Mon, Dec 19, 2011
From 1941 to 1978, this husband-wife powerhouse brought unique talents to their partnership. He was an architect by training; she was a painter and sculptor. Together their work helped shape the second half of the 20th century and remains culturally vital today. Narrated by James Franco, Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the 25th anniversary season finale of American Masters.
Episode
American Masters: Bill T. Jones: A Good Man
aired: Fri, Nov 11, 2011
Bill T. Jones, the recipient of a prestigious MacArthur "genius" grant and winner of two Tony Awards, has been named "an irreplaceable treasure" by the The Dance Heritage Coalition. Above all, he is a socially conscious choreographer who never shies away from controversy -- tackling thorny subjects such as race and politics with elegance and intelligence, artistry and originality.
Episode
American Masters: Bill T. Jones: A Good Man
aired: Fri, Nov 11, 2011
Bill T. Jones, the recipient of a prestigious MacArthur "genius" grant and winner of two Tony Awards, has been named "an irreplaceable treasure" by the The Dance Heritage Coalition. Above all, he is a socially conscious choreographer who never shies away from controversy -- tackling thorny subjects such as race and politics with elegance and intelligence, artistry and originality.
Episode
American Masters: Interview with Pearl Jam and Director Cameron Crowe
aired: Thu, Oct 20, 2011
Watch footage from the "Pearl Jam Twenty" Toronto International Film Festival press conference with filmmaker Cameron Crowe and Pearl Jam. American Masters Pearl Jam Twenty premieres nationwide Friday, October 21, 2011 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) as part of the first PBS Arts Fall Festival.
Episode
American Masters: Interview with Pearl Jam and Director Cameron Crowe
aired: Thu, Oct 20, 2011
Watch footage from the "Pearl Jam Twenty" Toronto International Film Festival press conference with filmmaker Cameron Crowe and Pearl Jam. American Masters Pearl Jam Twenty premieres nationwide Friday, October 21, 2011 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) as part of the first PBS Arts Fall Festival.
Episode
American Masters: A Letter to Elia
aired: Wed, May 25, 2011
For Martin Scorsese, growing up in Little Italy, seeing On the Waterfront and East of Eden as a young man was a life-changing experience. Scorsese appears on and off camera throughout A Letter to Elia, taking us through Kazan's life and through his own as well, and through his growing realization that there was an artist behind the camera, someone "who knew me, maybe better than I knew myself."
Episode
American Masters: John Muir in the New World
aired: Tue, Apr 26, 2011
Preservationist, naturalist, author, explorer, activist, scientist, farmer, John Muir (4/21/1838 - 12/24/1914) was all these things and more. Explaining his impact then and now, this 90-minute documentary delves into Muir's life with reenactments filmed in the majestic landscapes he visited: Wisconsin, Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra Valley of California, and the glaciers of Alaska.
Episode
American Masters: John Muir in the New World
aired: Tue, Apr 26, 2011
Preservationist, naturalist, author, explorer, activist, scientist, farmer, John Muir (4/21/1838 - 12/24/1914) was all these things and more. Explaining his impact then and now, this 90-minute documentary delves into Muir's life with reenactments filmed in the majestic landscapes he visited: Wisconsin, Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra Valley of California, and the glaciers of Alaska.
Episode
American Masters: Troubadours
aired: Thu, Mar 3, 2011
American Masters continues its 25th anniversary season with Troubadours: Carole King / James Taylor & The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter, a first-hand account of the genesis and blossoming of this 1970s music movement, centering on King and Taylor's historic collaboration and the nightclub that nurtured a community of gifted young artists and budding critical and commercial sensations.
Episode
American Masters: Troubadours
aired: Thu, Mar 3, 2011
American Masters continues its 25th anniversary season with Troubadours: Carole King / James Taylor & The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter, a first-hand account of the genesis and blossoming of this 1970s music movement, centering on King and Taylor's historic collaboration and the nightclub that nurtured a community of gifted young artists and budding critical and commercial sensations.
Episode
American Masters: Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides
aired: Fri, Jan 14, 2011
Called "the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived," this 2010 Oscar-winning best actor embodies traits far beyond brilliance as an actor. He is an exceptional musician, a photographer, an occasional vintner and a storyteller.
Episode
American Masters: Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides
aired: Fri, Jan 14, 2011
Called "the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived," this 2010 Oscar-winning best actor embodies traits far beyond brilliance as an actor. He is an exceptional musician, a photographer, an occasional vintner and a storyteller.
Episode
American Masters: Cachao: Uno Mas
aired: Tue, Sep 21, 2010
The Grammy-winning bassist Israel "Cachao" Lopez died in Coral Gables, Florida in March 2008, almost 90-years old. A maestro of legendary status and ultimately considered one of the greatest Afro-Cuban musicians of all time, he had made his home in the United States for the past four decades. American Masters pays tribute to the Father of Mambo in the series' bilingual film, Cachao: Uno Mas.
Episode
American Masters: Q&A; with Louisa May Alcott filmmakers
aired: Tue, Sep 14, 2010
Director Nancy Porter, producer Harriet Reisen, and actress Elizabeth Marvel fielded questions from the audience of the premiere screening of Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'.
Episode
American Masters: Outtakes from Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound
aired: Tue, Sep 14, 2010
Watch fourteen outtakes from "How Sweet the Sound," including interviews, performances, and special guests.
Episode
American Masters: Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself
aired: Tue, Sep 14, 2010
American Masters' documentary about the country music legend Merle Haggard, often called "the poet of the common man," features interviews with comrades and fellow musicians including Robert Duvall, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Keith Richards, Tanya Tucker, and Dwight Yoakam. The people with whom he was raised - his juvenile delinquency and incarcerations - still inform his creativity.
Episode
American Masters: Scenes, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'
aired: Tue, Sep 14, 2010
Watch six scenes from Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women.'
Episode
American Masters: Deleted Scenes and Extras from
aired: Tue, Sep 14, 2010
Watch film extras and footage from the cutting room floor from "Merle Haggard: Learning to Live With Myself," premiering on PBS July 21 at 9pm. The film features archival footage and interviews with Merle Haggard and his family, Robert Duvall, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Keith Richards, Tanya Tucker and more.
