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American Masters

  • 1986-2024
  • 37 Seasons
  • PBS
  • Documentary
  • TV14
  • Watchlist

An acclaimed series of biographies of artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and Hollywood stars. Profiles of Alexander Calder, Paul Simon, Charlie Chaplin and music producer John Hammond won Peabody Awards, while films about Edward R. Murrow, Lucille Ball, Buster Keaton, Lillian Gish and Leonard Bernstein (among others) won Emmys, and a study of the Algonquin Round Table won a 1987 Academy Award.

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American Masters: Ailey
American Masters: Ailey
1:02
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1:02 American Masters: Ailey

Awards

  • 2021 - Emmy - Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series - nominated
  • 2020 - Emmy - Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series - nominated
  • 2019 - Emmy - Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series - nominated
  • 2018 - Emmy - Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series - nominated

Latest News See All

All the Black History Month Programming on PBS

A Sammy Davis Jr. documentary and an Oscar contender are in the lineup

Mon, Feb 4, 2019

The Biz: American Masters Rediscovers Bing Crosby

Whenever director Robert Trachtenberg tells people he's made a film about Bing Crosby, he says, "The overwhelming response is, 'He's the guy who hit his kids.'" The actor-crooner's Daddy Dearest image was shaped by the 1983 tell-all memoir from son Gary. But Trachtenberg believes Bing Crosby: Rediscovered, his latest project for American Masters (Tuesday at 8/7c on PBS), will remind viewers that despite his flaws, Crosby is one of the 20th century's most influential pop culture figures.

Mon, Dec 1, 2014

The Tuesday Playlist: Billie Jean King, Sons of Anarchy, Dance Finale

For nearly 30 years, PBS's great American Masters series has profiled overachievers in the arts and culture at large. It only makes sense than when the documentary series finally decided to do its first study of a sports superstar, it turned to tennis legend Billie Jean King. Masters (Tuesday, 8/7c; check tvguide.com listings) has always reflected personality through performance, so who better than a woman who says of her craft: "Every ball I hit has a consequence."

Tue, Sep 10, 2013

The Monday Playlist: Mel Brooks on Masters, Finales (Rectify, Bates Motel), Motive

At 86, Mel Brooks is still the life of the party, a consummate ham and peerless joke-spinning storyteller. "I've come to stop the show," announces the irrepressible comic dynamo as he does just that, breaking into song mid-interview and reinforcing why PBS' American Masters titled its latest must-see career profile Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (Monday, check tvguide.com listings). His brilliant career in TV (Your Show of Shows, Get Smart), the movies and Broadway makes him an overdue American Masters subject, and his unflagging comic energy keeps everyone amused — including an intrusively visible camera crew. "I'm head over heels in love with myself," Brooks says, only half-joking.

Mon, May 20, 2013

The Tuesday Playlist: That's a Wrap For Voice Blind Auditions, Cougar Town

The curtain comes down on the best part of TV's hottest singing competition, as the "blind auditions" portion of NBC's The Voice reaches its final act (Tuesday, 8/7c) with the selection of the last members of the four coaches' teams. Any fears that the show would lose its oomph this season with new bodies in the hot seats were quickly put to rest when Usher eased onto his swiveling throne with charismatic grace, adopting a signature "one leg up" posture that was parodied last weekend on Saturday Night Live, while Shakira proved a worthy adversary to the boys' club with her feisty attitude, passion and humor.

Tue, Apr 9, 2013

Trailers & Videos See All

American Masters: N. Scott Momaday: Words From A Bear
0:25
American Masters: Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous
0:30
American Masters: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2:26
American Masters: Keith Haring: Street Art Boy
2:16
American Masters: Walter Winchell: The Power of Gossip
2:01
American Masters: Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is
1:12

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