American Experience - Season 18

American Experience - Season 18

Season 18

Network
Episodes13
DatesOct 17, 2005 - May 22, 2006
Previous SeasonNext Season

Episodes

Two Days in October
Season 18Episode 160 min

Two Days in October

In October 1967, history turned a corner. In a jungle in Vietnam, a Viet Cong ambush nearly wiped out an American battalion, prompting some in power to question whether the war might be unwinnable. On a campus in Wisconsin, a student protest against the war spiraled out of control, marking the first time that a campus anti-war demonstration had turned violent.

Oct 17, 2005
Race to the Moon
Season 18Episode 260 min

Race to the Moon

"Race to the Moon" chronicles Apollo 8, the first voyage to the moon. "It was an event beyond all other events," says Walter Cronkite of the December 1968 mission, which laid the groundwork for the first lunar landing seven months later. Cronkite and author Andrew Chaikin put the flight into context; astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders and their wives recall it firsthand. Says Lovell of seeing the lunar landscape, "We were like three kids looking into a candy-store window."
Oct 31, 2005
Las Vegas: An Unconventional History: Sin City
Season 18Episode 360 min

Las Vegas: An Unconventional History: Sin City

The story of the gambling mecca is told via news clips and reminiscences. Part 1 of 2
Nov 14, 2005
Las Vegas: An Unconventional History: American Mecca
Season 18Episode 460 min

Las Vegas: An Unconventional History: American Mecca

News clips and reminiscences tell the story of the gambling mecca, from a dusty railroad town to a leading tourist attraction. Part 2 of 2
Nov 15, 2005
John and Abigail Adams
Season 18Episode 560 min

John and Abigail Adams

An engrossing portrait of the second U.S. president and first lady, costars Simon Russell Beale and Linda Emond. Included: the friendship (and enmity) between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (James Barbour), who both died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence; the Adamses' “great love story”; their bouts with depression; his troubled presidency. Interspersed are comments from historians.
Jan 23, 2006
The Nuremberg Trials
Season 18Episode 660 min

The Nuremberg Trials

A gripping study of the groundbreaking prosecution, which began Nov. 20, 1945, as Nazi Germany's leaders were held accountable for war crimes, infamously blamed on "following orders." Profiled are Hermann Goering, the lead defendant, and Robert Jackson, the U.S. prosecutor. Also: comments from Walter Cronkite, who covered the proceedings; events leading to the trial, which had 21 defendants and eight judges; footage of concentration camps.
Jan 30, 2006
Jesse James
Season 18Episode 760 min

Jesse James

A striking profile of the outlaw (1847-82) is told through reenactments, comments from historians and archival photographs. The hour traces James' life from age 16 to his death at 34 (he was shot in the back), and includes his years as a Southern guerrilla fighter, bandit and killer.
Feb 6, 2006
Hijacked
Season 18Episode 860 min

Hijacked

A look at the coordinated hijacking of four jetliners in 1970 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which blew up the evacuated planes in Jordan. Included: the militants' use of civilians to further their goals.
Feb 27, 2006
Eugene O'Neill
Season 18Episode 960 min

Eugene O'Neill

An absorbing profile of the esteemed playwright (1888-1953). Included: excerpts from his plays are performed by Al Pacino, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Plummer, Vanessa Redgrave, Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson. Also: comments from Tony Kushner, John Guare, Sidney Lumet and Jason Robards. Plays include “The Iceman Cometh” and “Long Day's Journey into Night.”
Mar 27, 2006
The Boy in the Bubble
Season 18Episode 1060 min

The Boy in the Bubble

The absorbing story of David Vetter (1971-84), who had severe combined immunodeficiency and lived inside a sterile plastic chamber for 12 years. Included: comments from his mother, Carol Ann Vetter Demaret; and from doctors, who discuss their feelings about the use of the plastic chamber. Also: examinations of the boy's birth and his death, which occurred following a bone-marrow transplant from his sister.
Apr 10, 2006
The Alaska Pipeline
Season 18Episode 1160 min

The Alaska Pipeline

The history of the Alaska Pipeline, which was built in the 1970s to transport oil across 800 miles of pristine wilderness, from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. Included: the 1968 discovery of the largest oil field in North America at Prudhoe Bay; the battle between Native Americans and the government over the land the pipeline would cross; environmental concerns; and construction of the pipeline itself, which employed 78,000 people and cost more than $8 billion.
Apr 24, 2006
Annie Oakley
Season 18Episode 1260 min

Annie Oakley

She was the toast of Victorian London, New York, and Paris. She was "adopted" by Indian chief Sitting Bull, charmed the Prince of Prussia, and entertained the likes of Oscar Wilde and Queen Victoria. Annie Oakley excelled in a man's world by doing what she loved and won fame and fortune as the little lady from Ohio who never missed a shot.

May 8, 2006
The Man Behind Hitler
Season 18Episode 1360 min

The Man Behind Hitler

A profile of Joseph Goebbels (1897-45), who helped launch Hitler's rise to power. Kenneth Branagh provides voice-over readings of Goebbels' personal diaries. Included: footage from German archives tracing Goebbels' life; how Goebbels continually stage-managed his life and reinvented himself from his early days as a radical “popular socialist” to his death.
May 22, 2006

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Poppa's House
Running

Poppa's House

Poppa's House revolves around a legendary talk radio host and happily divorced "Poppa" who has his point of view challenged at work when a new female co-host is hired, and at home where he finds himself still parenting his adult son, a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband. 

GenreComedy
WWE Premium Live Events
Running

WWE Premium Live Events

Beginning with the 2014 Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View on 4 May 2014 the WWE began airing all of their Wrestling Pay-Per-Views exclusively on the WWE Network. Subscribers who pay the $9.95 monthly fee will be able to view any Pay-Per-Views past, present and in the future exclusively on the WWE Network at no additional charge as long as their monthly fees are paid up-to-date.

The Upshaws
Running

The Upshaws

The Upshaws centers on a working-class African American family in Indiana struggling to make it work and make it right without the blueprints to do it.

Gold Rush
Running

Gold Rush

Gold Rush follows six men who, in the face of an economic meltdown, risk everything - their families, their dignity, and in some cases, their lives - to strike it rich mining for gold in the wilds of Alaska. Inspired by his father Jack, Todd Hoffman of Sandy, Oregon, leads a group of greenhorn miners to forge a new frontier and save their families from dire straits. While leasing a gold claim in Alaska, Todd and his company of newbies face the grandeur of Alaska as well as its hardships, including an impending winter that will halt operations and the opportunity to strike gold. In an effort to keep the operation running, the team takes fate into their own hands with a make or break venture that will change their lives forever.

Night Court
Running

Night Court

Night Court centers on the unapologetic optimist judge Abby Stone, daughter of the late Harry Stone, who follows in her father's footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding.