Documentary TV Series
Which of the documentary TV series (rated 7.0 or higher) listed below is your favorite?
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30 titles
- CreatorBruce NashStarsLloyd SherrHarlan SapersteinAdam RichmanFast-paced, fun and informative, Modern Marvels is The History Channel's signature series focusing on historical technology.
- CreatorAgnes NixonStarsJack PerkinsPeter GravesHarry SmithThe life stories of various historical figures and celebrities are told.
- StarsBrooks MooreTony HirstLynne AdamsTelevision series that documents how various everyday products are made.
- CreatorSusan LacyStarsMartin ScorsesePeter BogdanovichTony BennettDocumentary series focusing on great American artists and personalities.
- StarsStacy KeachScott CohnKristin ReyerDocumentary series focusing on history's largest financial crimes ranging from Ponzi schemes, murder, card counting, generating fake currency and goods, extortion, online dating, identity theft, drug distribution, and insider trading.
- StarsBrian UngerH.W. BrandsMark SteinHost Brian Unger travels the United States explaining the weird shapes on the map.
- StarsDon WildmanEric GellerSirin AkinciAs we descend beneath our modern day cities, we are met with ancient and hidden secrets. Journey with us back through history and rediscover cities of the underworld.
- StarsEdward HerrmannThe Shroud of Turin. The Wright Brothers' plane. The treasures of King Tut. This is a captivating examination of some of the most famous objects and artifacts in human history. Some are macabre (Abraham Lincoln's deathbed), some priceless (the Declaration of Independence) and some more curious than anything else. Features include {Episode 1:} Einstein's brain, a stuffed-and-mounted philosopher, and the Gettysburg Address; {Episode 2:} the car that carried John F. Kennedy to his death, the wooden gun that John Dillinger used to bluff his way out of jail, and the amputated, stuffed leg of a Civil War general; {Episode 3:} John Paul Jones's body, the London Bridge, and George Washington's wooden teeth; {Episode 4:} Jackie Onassis Kennedy's blood-stained dress, King Herod's tub, Paul Revere's lantern, and footage of the Spanish American War; {Episode 5:} the bus ridden on by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, the boat from the movie "The African Queen", an English ruler who lost his head after he was buried, a fire horse who lost his hoof on the way to a fire, and monsters in New Jersey; {Episode 6:} the metal staircase at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon that thousands of evacuees climbed, the tumor taken from Grover Cleveland's throat; {Episode 7-8:} Edison's electric killing machine, Togo the sled dog, Calvin Coolidge's exercise horse, Elvis Presley's purple Cadillac, Ludwig van Beethoven's hearing aid, William Shakespeare's will; {Episode 9:} Lewis & Clark's luggage, the Hollywood sign, faked photographs of fairies, the first vacuum cleaner, and the crew compartment of the ill-fated Challenger Space Shuttle; {Episode 10:} the St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall, the invention of barbed wire, a legless WWII ace who nearly escaped a POW camp on tin limbs, Alan Shepard's golf shot on the moon, the first metal detector, the pressed aluminum disk cut by convicted murderer Lead Belly, and a visit to a Civil War-era Washington, D.C. brothel; {Episode 11:} the stuffed animal that inspired the classic Winnie the Pooh stories and sparked an international controversy, an escape from the prison known as "The Rock", Alfred Packer - the Colorado Cannibal, America's first astronauts - monkeys named Able and Baker, love letters from King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, and John Wayne on the way to the Alamo; {Episode 12:} the truth behind the death of Jesse James, the guillotine, the barber who killed mob boss Anastasia, Mark Twain's bed, the image of the Marines planting the Stars and Stripes on Mt. Suribachi, the first issue of Mad Magazine and Hugh Hefner's pajamas; {Episode 13:} Imelda Marcos's shoes, Al Capone's Cadillac and Lizzie Borden's ax; {Episode 14:} Buddy Holly's glasses and the original Monopoly board; {Episode 15:} Eva Braun's home movies, the infamous dress Marilyn Monroe wore at JFK's 45th birthday celebration; {Episode 16:} first Apple computer, George Washington's schoolbooks, President Herbert Hoover's invented game called Hooverball, reel-to-reel tapes laid down by Louis Armstrong, and the last New York City Checker cab; {Episode 17:} Andy Warhol's wigs, the funeral bier of Lincoln and Kennedy, a record-breaking car, and the Lone Ranger's mask; {Episode 18:} the letters of Mary Todd Lincoln, the origins of the recreational vehicle, Jayne Mansfield's death car, a surfboard, a musical instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin; {Episode 19:} the remains of the Hindenburg, the Appomattox surrender tables, Ghandi's bloodstained dhoti, the first Zippo lighter, the original text of the Nuremberg laws, Ronald Reagan's booth at Chasen's, and James Dean's motorcycle; {Episode 20:} Joseph Haydn's lost head, Liberace's rhinestone piano, the first cellular phone, Silly Putty, the large shoes of Charlie Chaplin, and the Confederate Constitution; {Episode 21:} Hitler's moveable bunker, the first microwave oven, Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals, Painless Parker's tooth necklace, the Watergate address book, Colonel Sanders's pressure cooker; {Episode 22:} the original La-Z-Boy and Schindler's famous list; {Episode 23:} the death car of General George Patton, the first Academy Award, the U-2 spy plane in which Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union, and the first modern surfboard; {Episode 25:} secret White House tapes made by Lyndon Johnson, the car that got Henry Ford started on the road to his destiny, Elvis Presley's official (and ironic) DEA badge, the story of the remains of the unknown soldier, the first parking meter, and the fans of dancer Sally Rand; {Episode 26:} Rin Tin Tin, Stanley Milgram's Shock Box, the coat Admiral Nelson wore for his final battle, John Lennon's station wagon, and Charlie Parker's plastic saxophone; {Episode 27:} Jack Ruby's gun, the lost squadron of WWII, the original Sun Studio soundboard, the first transistor, the heart of Louis XVII, the original Coke bottle; {Episode 28:} the USS Pampanito, Mark David Chapman's autographed Double Fantasy album, the first Mustang convertible, JFK's missing tooth, Thomas Edison's tinfoil phonograph, and St. Stephen's crown; {Episode 29:} the Spruce Goose, Elvis Presley's guitar, Shackleton's Arctic survivor: the James Caird, George Washington's inaugural Bible, the original TV dinner tray; {Episode 30:} Malcolm X's blood-stained diary, the world's only private subway car, Peter the Great's amber chamber, Pancho Villa's death mask, Bonnie and Clyde's death car, and the log of the Mayflower. In the stories that surround them, history and the human condition are illuminated.
- StarsDavid AckroydArthur KentChristopher ChaconExplore the stories, events, legends and myths that have incited debate throughout the ages.
- StarsTom CotcherJeff WiseJim RecordSpun off from Modern Marvels, Engineering Disasters spotlights what happens when human error and the right circumstances conspire to create major disasters and tragedies.
- StarsBeau BillingsleaEric WertheimBeau BillingsworthHero Ships chronicles the story behind thirteen US Navy ships and the heroic men that served on them.
- StarsDanny ForsterJoseph GiottaLarc SpiesEach episode of Extreme Engineering features a major construction and engineering project. Some projects are completed ones, like the new Hong Kong airport. Other projects are those under construction like the Gotthard Base Tunnel under the Alps. Still other episodes showcase futuristic projects that may never be built, like the Transatlantic Tunnel. Most episodes examine possible disaster scenarios that could threaten the projects.
- StarsGabe DoranMike SeneseDavid HeberHowStuffWorks is about the stuff that makes the world go 'round. It's truly incredible to see the ingenious lengths people go to in order to extract rubber and iron, corn and wheat, and water and salt from the earth. Equally amazing is the number of different and varied products that can be derived from something so fundamental. Follow the incredible journey of these goods from the ground to your dinner table, car, closet, medicine cabinet and places you may have never imagined.
- CreatorGay RosenthalStarsJim ForbesDavid WildAlexander MilasMusical artists, their careers, their highs, their lows and everything in between are profiled and interviewed.
- StarsChris BroylesJeff WilburnDominic FrisbyThis program is about engineering and scientific miracles and the people whose ability to solve problems make them happen.
- CreatorGeorge PageThomas LovejoyStarsF. Murray AbrahamGeorge PageChris MorganDocumentary series exploring various global wildlife issues and subjects.
- CreatorStephen FitzmeyerHenry HamptonStarsDavid McCulloughDavid Ogden StiersMichael MurphyA series showcasing documentaries on American history.
- CreatorDaniel HartAlan KwanTacita MorwayStarsJay O. SandersCraig SechlerStacy KeachScience documentaries about various topics.
- StarsRichard VaughnAshton SmithJonathan ArisAccounts of famous technological disasters and their subsequent investigations.Suggested by leavey-2.
- CreatorStephanie AngelidesKurt TondorfStarsDon WildmanSeth PorgesKatherine WeatherfordThe stories behind interesting and unusual artifacts stored in museums are told.Suggested by Arthur_Lemming_of_the_BDA.
- StarsLaurence OlivierAverell HarrimanAnthony EdenA groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.Suggested by farne.
- StarsSigourney WeaverDavid AttenboroughNikolay DrozdovA documentary series on the wildlife found on Earth. Each episode covers a different habitat: deserts, mountains, deep oceans, shallow seas, forests, caves, polar regions, fresh water, plains and jungles. Narrated by David Attenborough.Suggested by farne.
- StarsDavid McCulloughSam WaterstonJulie HarrisA comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.Suggested by farne.
- CreatorAnn DruyanCarl SaganSteven SoterStarsCarl SaganJaromír HanzlíkJonathan FahnAstronomer Carl Sagan leads us on an engaging guided tour of the various elements and cosmological theories of the universe.
- StarsNeil deGrasse TysonChristopher EmersonKeythe FarleyAn exploration of our discovery of the laws of nature and coordinates in space and time.
- StarsWill LymanSarah ChildressPriyanka BoghaniFRONTLINE is investigative journalism that questions, explains and changes our world and American television's top long-form news and current affairs series since 1983Suggested by rubyfruit76.
- StarsAmerica FerreraTerrence HowardStanley TucciIndependent Lens is an award-winning PBS documentary series that streams on the PBS App and airs on public television. Independent Lens documentaries focus on stories of underrepresented communities and universal challenges found across America. The series has been awarded numerous Emmys and Peabodys, and has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards.Suggested by rubyfruit76.
- CreatorMarc WeissStarsStacey AbramsRashida TlaibLucy McBathPOV, a cinema term for "point of view," is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. Since 1988, POV has presented more than 300 of the best, boldest, and most innovative documentaries to PBS audiences across the country.Suggested by rubyfruit76.
- CreatorDon MeierStarsMarlin PerkinsJim FowlerJoe SlatteryHost Marlin Perkins explores various animals in their natural habitats.Suggested by yrnej.
- CreatorDon MeierStarsSimon BarrittJason HildebrandtJim FowlerThis animal film series brings viewers closer to the life of wildlife. Documentaries on animal species from all continents were shot.Suggested by yrnej.