Now in its 30th year, American Masters has produced an exceptional library of more than 160 television programs, bringing unique originality and perspective to exploring the lives and illuminating the creative journeys of our most enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists and filmmakers – those who have "left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape". Balancing a broad cast of characters and artistic approaches, while preserving historical authenticity and…
Now in its 30th year, American Masters has produced an exceptional library of more than 160 television programs, bringing unique originality and perspective to exploring the lives and illuminating the creative journeys of our most enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists and filmmakers – those who have "left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape". Balancing a broad cast of characters and artistic approaches, while preserving historical authenticity and…
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Seasons (41)
Season 1
23 Jun 1986 – 8 Sep 1986 · 12 episodes
1Arthur Miller: Private Conversations23 Jun 1986
2Phillip Johnson: A Self Portrait30 Jun 1986
3Katherine Anne Porter: The Eye of Memory7 Jul 1986
4The Unknown Chaplin: Part 114 Jul 1986
5The Unknown Chaplin: Part 221 Jul 1986
6The Unknown Chaplin: Part 328 Jul 1986
7Billie Holiday: The Long Night of Lady Day4 Aug 1986
8James Levine: A Life in Music11 Aug 1986
9Aaron Copland: About the Composer18 Aug 1986
10Thomas Eakins: A Motion Portrait25 Aug 1986
11Georgia O'Keeffe1 Sep 1986
12Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts8 Sep 1986
Season 2
6 Jul 1987 – 20 Nov 1987 · 12 episodes
1Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer6 Jul 1987
2Directed by William Wyler13 Jul 1987
3Rubinstein Remembered20 Jul 1987
4Nik and Murray27 Jul 1987
5George Gershwin Remembered24 Aug 1987
6Maurice Sendak: Mon Cher Papa31 Aug 1987
7The Negro Ensemble Company14 Sep 1987
8Unanswered Prayers: The Life and Times of Truman Capote21 Sep 1987
9The Algonquin Round Table: The Ten Year Lunch28 Sep 1987
10Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow18 Nov 1987
11Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (Part 2)19 Nov 1987
12Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (Part 3)20 Nov 1987
Season 3
11 Jul 1988 – 26 Jun 1989 · 8 episodes
1Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me11 Jul 1988
2A Duke Named Ellington18 Jul 1988
3Andre Kertesz of the Cities8 Aug 1988
4Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul22 Aug 1988
5Rivera in America29 Aug 1988
6Saint-Gaudens: Masque of the Golden Bowl5 Sep 1988
7Neil Simon: Not Just for Laughs8 Mar 1989
8Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of Group Theater26 Jun 1989
Season 4
3 Jul 1989 – 20 Dec 1989 · 10 episodes
1Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre3 Jul 1989
2Stella Adler: Awake and Dream!10 Jul 1989
3Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong31 Jul 1989
4James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket14 Aug 1989
5Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker17 Aug 1989
6Jasper Johns: Ideas in Paint11 Sep 1989
7Mort Sahl: Shaping Laughter18 Sep 1989
8W. Eugene Smith: Photography Made Difficult25 Sep 1989
9Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius15 Nov 1989
10Milos Forman: Portrait20 Dec 1989
Season 5
2 Jul 1990 – 17 Sep 1990 · 8 episodes
1Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer2 Jul 1990
2John Cassavetes9 Jul 1990
3Martin Scorsese Directs16 Jul 1990
4You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story23 Jul 1990
5Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter30 Jul 1990
6John Hammond: From Bessie Smith to Bruce Springsteen20 Aug 1990
7Sanford Meisner: The Theater's Best Kept Secret27 Aug 1990
8John Cage: I Have Nothing to Say and I'm Saying It17 Sep 1990
Season 6
1 Jul 1991 – 1 May 1992 · 10 episodes
1Helen Hayes: First Lady of the American Theatre1 Jul 1991
2Miracle on 44th Street: A Portrait of the Actor's Studio8 Jul 1991
3A. Einstein: How I See the World22 Jul 1991
4Sarah Vaughan: The Divine One29 Jul 1991
5Frederic Remington: The Truth of Other Days5 Aug 1991
6Menuhin: A Family Portrait12 Aug 1991
7Robert Motherwell and the New York School26 Aug 1991
8Ray Charles: The Genius of Soul3 Jan 1992
9Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol10 Apr 1992
10Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey1 May 1992
Season 7
14 Mar 1993 – 24 Mar 1993 · 3 episodes
1Paul Simon: Born at the Right Time14 Mar 1993
2George Lucas: Heroes, Myths & Magic17 Mar 1993
3D.W. Griffith: Father of Film24 Mar 1993
Season 8
8 Dec 1993 – 13 May 1994 · 2 episodes
1Benny Goodman: Adventures in the Kingdom of Swing8 Dec 1993
2Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed13 May 1994
Season 9
30 Nov 1994 – 22 Mar 1995 · 4 episodes
1Rediscovering Will Rogers30 Nov 1994
2Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage19 Dec 1994
3Placido Domingo: A Musical Life15 Feb 1995
4Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul22 Mar 1995
Season 10
29 Nov 1995 – 22 May 1996 · 5 episodes
1Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval29 Nov 1995
2William Styron: The Way of the Writer22 Jan 1996
3Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light24 Jan 1996
4Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud10 Apr 1996
5Nichols and May: Take Two22 May 1996
Season 11
25 Nov 1996 – 25 Jun 1997 · 5 episodes
1Lena Horne: In Her Own Voice25 Nov 1996
2Danny Kaye: A Legacy of Laughter10 Dec 1996
3Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant-Garde9 Apr 1997
4Jack Paar: As I Was Saying7 May 1997
5Isamu Noguchi: Stones and Paper25 Jun 1997
Season 12
17 Sep 1997 – 17 Jun 1998 · 6 episodes
1The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg17 Sep 1997
2Vaudeville26 Nov 1997
3Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy4 Feb 1998
4Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart29 Apr 1998
5Don Hewitt: 90 Minutes on 60 Minutes1 May 1998
6Alexander Calder17 Jun 1998
Season 13
28 Oct 1998 – 18 Aug 1999 · 7 episodes
1Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note28 Oct 1998
2The Line King: Al Hirschfeld6 Jan 1999
3Paul Robeson: Here I Stand24 Feb 1999
4Robert Rauschenberg: Inventive Genius7 Apr 1999
5The Lives of Lillian Hellman30 Jun 1999
6Dashiell Hammett: Detective, Writer30 Jun 1999
7Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley18 Aug 1999
Season 14
1 Nov 1999 – 31 May 2000 · 7 episodes
1Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood1 Nov 1999
2Norman Rockwell: Painting America24 Nov 1999
3Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For8 Dec 1999
4Paul Taylor: Dancemaker5 Jan 2000
5Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light2 Feb 2000
6Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso12 Apr 2000
7The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation31 May 2000
Season 15
27 Sep 2000 – 23 Apr 2001 · 8 episodes
1Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows27 Sep 2000
2Mailer on Mailer4 Oct 2000
3On Cukor22 Nov 2000
4Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy3 Dec 2000
5Bob Marley: Rebel Music14 Feb 2001
6A Conversation with Gregory Peck9 Apr 2001
7Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye16 Apr 2001
8Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indians23 Apr 2001
Season 16
7 Oct 2001 – 1 Mar 2002 · 8 episodes
1Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies7 Oct 2001
2F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams14 Oct 2001
3Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds21 Oct 2001
4Quincy Jones: In the Pocket18 Nov 2001
5Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records28 Nov 2001
6Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance16 Dec 2001
7Ralph Ellison: An American Journey19 Feb 2002
8Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer1 Mar 2002
Season 17
2 Oct 2002 – 30 Jul 2003 · 8 episodes
1Willie Nelson: Still is Still Moving2 Oct 2002
2Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces30 Oct 2002
3Juilliard29 Jan 2003
4Alice Waters and Her Delicious Revolution19 Mar 2003
5Joni Mitchell: A Woman of Heart and Mind2 Apr 2003
6Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied23 Apr 2003
7Robert Capa: In Love and War28 May 2003
8The Education of Gore Vidal30 Jul 2003
Season 18
3 Sep 2003 – 18 Aug 2004 · 8 episodes
1Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist3 Sep 2003
2James Brown: Soul Survivor29 Oct 2003
3Cary Grant: A Class Apart7 Jan 2004
4Balanchine14 Jan 2004
5Judy Garland: By Myself25 Feb 2004
6Henry Luce and Time-Life's America: A Vision of Empire28 Apr 2004
7Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues23 Jun 2004
8Julia! America's Favorite Chef18 Aug 2004
Season 19
11 May 2005 – 27 Sep 2005 · 7 episodes
1James Dean: Sense Memories11 May 2005
2Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice29 Jun 2005
3George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey13 Jul 2005
4Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned20 Jul 2005
5Willa Cather: The Road is All7 Sep 2005
6Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea14 Sep 2005
7Bob Dylan: No Direction Home27 Sep 2005
Season 20
10 May 2006 – 3 Jan 2007 · 9 episodes
1John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend10 May 2006
2The World of Nat King Cole17 May 2006
3Woodie Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home12 Jul 2006
4Marilyn Monroe: Still Life19 Jul 2006
5Walter Cronkite: Witness to History26 Jul 2006
6Andy Warhol: A Documentary: Part 120 Sep 2006
7Andy Warhol: A Documentary: Part 221 Sep 2006
8Sketches of Frank Gehry27 Sep 2006
9Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens3 Jan 2007
Season 21
4 Apr 2007 – 5 Nov 2007 · 9 episodes
1Novel Reflections on the American Dream4 Apr 2007
2Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built2 May 2007
3Les Paul: Chasing Sound11 Jul 2007
4David Hockney: The Colors of Music18 Jul 2007
5John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature25 Jul 2007
6Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends12 Sep 2007
7Orozco: Man of Fire19 Sep 2007
8Good Ol' Charles Schulz29 Oct 2007
9Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character5 Nov 2007
Season 22
27 Feb 2008 – 25 Sep 2008 · 9 episodes
1Pete Seeger: The Power of Song27 Feb 2008
2Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun9 Apr 2008
3Marvin Gaye: What's Going On7 May 2008
4You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet (1923-1935)23 Sep 2008
5You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: Good War, Uneasy Peace (1935-1950)23 Sep 2008
6You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: A New Reality (1950-1970)24 Sep 2008
7You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: Woodstock Notions (1970-1989)24 Sep 2008
8You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: The Big Tent (1980-Present)25 Sep 2008
9The Brothers Warner25 Sep 2008
Season 23
18 Feb 2009 – 28 Dec 2009 · 8 episodes
1Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About18 Feb 2009
2Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts8 Apr 2009
3Hollywood Chinese27 May 2009
4Neil Young: Don't Be Denied10 Jun 2009
5Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes1 Jul 2009
6Trumbo2 Sep 2009
7Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound14 Oct 2009
8Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'28 Dec 2009
Season 24
11 Jan 2010 – 27 Dec 2010 · 8 episodes
1Sam Cooke: Crossing Over11 Jan 2010
2I.M. Pei: Building China Modern31 Mar 2010
3The Doors: When You're Strange12 May 2010
4Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself21 Jul 2010
5Cachao: Uno Más20 Sep 2010
6A Letter to Elia4 Oct 2010
7Lennon NYC22 Nov 2010
8Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould27 Dec 2010
Season 25
12 Jan 2011 – 29 Dec 2011 · 9 episodes
1Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides12 Jan 2011
2Troubadors: Carole King/James Taylor & the Rise of the Singer-Songwriter2 Mar 2011
3John Muir in the New World18 Apr 2011
4James Levine: America's Maestro1 Jun 2011
5Pearl Jam Twenty21 Oct 2011
6Bill T. Jones: A Good Man11 Nov 2011
7Woody Allen: A Documentary: Part 120 Nov 2011
8Woody Allen: A Documentary: Part 221 Nov 2011
9Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter29 Dec 2011
Season 26
23 Jan 2012 – 28 Dec 2012 · 8 episodes
1Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune23 Jan 2012
2Cab Calloway: Sketches27 Feb 2012
3Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel2 Apr 2012
4Harper Lee: Hey, Boo2 Apr 2012
5Johnny Carson: King of Late Night14 May 2012
6The Day Carl Sandburg Died24 Sep 2012
7Inventing David Geffen20 Nov 2012
8Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance28 Dec 2012
Season 27
22 Feb 2013 – 27 Dec 2013 · 6 episodes
1Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock & Roll22 Feb 2013
2Philip Roth: Unmasked29 Mar 2013
3Mel Brooks: Make a Noise20 May 2013
4Billie Jean King10 Sep 2013
5Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin'5 Nov 2013
6Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did for Love27 Dec 2013
Season 28
21 Jan 2014 – 2 Dec 2014 · 9 episodes
1Salinger21 Jan 2014
2Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth7 Feb 2014
3A Fierce Green Fire22 Apr 2014
4Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself16 May 2014
5Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun20 Jun 2014
6Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning29 Aug 2014
7Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work23 Sep 2014
8The Boomer List23 Sep 2014
9Bing Crosby Rediscovered2 Dec 2014
Season 29
23 Jan 2015 – 25 Sep 2015 · 7 episodes
1Ricky Jay: Deceptive Practice23 Jan 2015
2August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand20 Feb 2015
3Jascha Heifetz: God's Fiddler16 Apr 2015
4American Ballet Theatre: A History15 May 2015
5Althea4 Sep 2015
6Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer's Journey18 Sep 2015
7The Women's List25 Sep 2015
Season 30
29 Jan 2016 – 27 Dec 2016 · 9 episodes
1Mike Nichols: An American Master29 Jan 2016
2B.B. King: The Life of Riley12 Feb 2016
3Carole King: Natural Woman19 Feb 2016
4Fats Domino: The Birth of Rock N' Roll26 Feb 2016
5Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl4 Mar 2016
6Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue3 May 2016
7The Highwaymen: Friends Till the End27 May 2016
8Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You25 Oct 2016
9Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future27 Dec 2016
Season 31
3 Jan 2017 – 29 Dec 2017 · 11 episodes
1By Sidney Lumet3 Jan 2017
2Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise21 Feb 2017
3Patsy Cline4 Mar 2017
4James Beard: America's First Foodie19 May 2017
5Jacques Pépin: The Art of Craft26 May 2017
6Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me16 Aug 2017
7Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny1 Sep 2017
8Tyrus Wong8 Sep 2017
9Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive30 Oct 2017
10Inspiring Woman Web Series8 Nov 2017
11This Is Bob Hope...29 Dec 2017
Season 32
19 Jan 2018 – 14 Oct 2018 · 8 episodes
1Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart19 Jan 2018
2Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story18 May 2018
3Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived23 Jul 2018
4Eva Hesse31 Aug 2018
5Everybody Knows... Elizabeth Murray7 Sep 2018
6Andrew Wyeth7 Sep 2018
7Basquiat: Rage to Riches14 Sep 2018
8Itzhak14 Oct 2018
Season 33
2 Jan 2019 – 18 Nov 2019 · 12 episodes
1Decoding Watson2 Jan 2019
2Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me19 Feb 2019
3Charley Pride: I'm Just Me22 Feb 2019
4Holly Near: Singing for Our Lives1 Mar 2019
5Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People12 Apr 2019
6Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable19 Apr 2019
7Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life14 Jun 2019
8Robert Shaw - Man of Many Voices21 Jun 2019
9Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin2 Aug 2019
10Raul Julia: The World's a Stage13 Sep 2019
11Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous25 Oct 2019
12N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear18 Nov 2019
Season 34
25 Feb 2020 – 29 Dec 2020 · 9 episodes
1Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool25 Feb 2020
2Mae West: Dirty Blonde16 Jun 2020
3Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am23 Jun 2020
4And She Could Be Next Part Two30 Jun 2020
5Unladylike2020: The Changemakers10 Jul 2020
6Walter Winchell: The Power of Gossip20 Oct 2020
7Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is23 Oct 2020
8Keith Haring: Street Art Boy11 Dec 2020
9Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page29 Dec 2020
Season 35
18 Jan 2021 – 19 Oct 2021 · 10 episodes
1How It Feels To Be Free18 Jan 2021
2Flannery O'Connor23 Mar 2021
3Twyla Moves26 Mar 2021
4Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story2 Apr 2021
5Oliver Sacks: His Own Life9 Apr 2021
6Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir3 May 2021
7Ballerina Boys4 Jun 2021
8Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away27 Jul 2021
9Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It5 Oct 2021
10Becoming Helen Keller19 Oct 2021
Season 36
11 Jan 2022 – 27 Dec 2022 · 8 episodes
1Ailey11 Jan 2022
2Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands8 Feb 2022
3Waterman - Duke: Ambassador of Aloha10 May 2022
4Joe Papp in Five Acts3 Jun 2022
5Brian Wilson - Long Promised Road14 Jun 2022
6Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On22 Nov 2022
7The Adventures of Saul Bellow12 Dec 2022
8Groucho & Cavett27 Dec 2022
Season 37
24 Jan 2023 – 6 Oct 2023 · 9 episodes
1Roberta Flack24 Jan 2023
2Dr. Tony Fauci21 Mar 2023
3In the Making24 Mar 2023
4Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV16 May 2023
5Little Richard: The King and Queen of Rock and Roll2 Jun 2023
6Jerry Brown: The Disrupter15 Sep 2023
7Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely22 Sep 2023
8A Song for Cesar29 Sep 2023
9Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes6 Oct 2023
Season 38
2 Jan 2024 – 16 Dec 2024 · 6 episodes
1HOPPER: An American Love Story2 Jan 2024
2Daniel Patrick Moynihan29 Mar 2024
3The Incomparable Mr. Buckley5 Apr 2024
4Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames27 Aug 2024
5Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined17 Sep 2024
6Brenda Lee: Rockin' Around16 Dec 2024
Season 39
21 Feb 2025 – 12 Dec 2025 · 8 episodes
1The Disappearance of Miss Scott21 Feb 2025
2LIZA: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story1 Apr 2025
3Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse15 Apr 2025
4Janis Ian: Breaking Silence20 Jun 2025
5Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny27 Jun 2025
6Marcella11 Jul 2025
7Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore14 Oct 2025
8Starring Dick Van Dyke12 Dec 2025
Season 40
16 Dec 2025 – 24 Nov 2026 · 8 episodes
1Ten Times Better16 Dec 2025
2Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire27 Jan 2026
3Sun Ra: Do the Impossible20 Feb 2026
4Bella! This Woman's Place Is in the House17 Mar 2026
5W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause19 May 2026
6Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World25 Aug 2026
7American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez6 Oct 2026