America in Primetime is a 2011 four-part documentary series, focusing on television in the United States. Originally produced for and broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the series is a production by The Documentary Group, in collaboration with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation and WETA-TV.[1] The rights to the series were purchased by the United Kingdom's British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 2013. The episodes were re-edited and clips of Alan Yentob introducing different segments, shot on ___location in different areas of America, were added. Exploring both old and new television series, each episode centers on the evolution of certain character archetypes – such as female and male archetypes, misfits, and heroes – in primetime TV. The series features interviews with a wide variety of influential people in television, including actors, creators, writers and executive producers, talking about their own shows and others. The documentary features a lot of footage from the programs discussed.
| America in Primetime | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Directed by | Lloyd Kramer |
| Composer | Peter Nashel |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Tom Yellin Lloyd Kramer |
| Producers | Susan Schaefer Linda Hirsch Joanna Cohen (assoc.) Mark Kachelries (assoc.) |
| Cinematography | Logan Schneider |
| Editor | Scott Chestnut & Jon Vesey |
| Running time | 54 minutes |
| Production company | The Documentary Group |
| Original release | |
| Network | Public Broadcasting Service (US) BBC Two (UK) |
| Release | October 30 – November 20, 2011 |
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Original release date [2] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Independent Woman" | October 30, 2011 | |
|
Far removed from the model housewife of yesterday, women today on TV care less about pleasing others, and more about being true to themselves. | |||
| 2 | "Man of the House" | November 6, 2011 | |
|
In 1950s television, the man of the house was king of his castle, but then he began losing control. Was it all an illusion to begin with? | |||
| 3 | "The Misfit" | November 13, 2011 | |
|
Whether they are oddballs, losers, or just plain weird, misfit characters have grown beyond comic stereotypes and are taking center stage with a vengeance, refusing to apologize for who they are. | |||
| 4 | "The Crusader" | November 20, 2011 | |
|
Heroes today are complex. Their stories are told with increasing humanity, depicting characters who confront almost impossible choices as they fight evil in a world where the line between right and wrong is often blurred. | |||
Release and reception
editAmerica in Primetime was met with favourable reviews. David Bianculli, a regular contributor to the NPR radio talk show Fresh Air, lauded the series, and called it "the smartest TV show about television I've seen in about 20 years."[3] In the Houston Chronicle, television writer David Wiegend praised the fact that viewers can not only learn about the history of television, but about the changes in American culture as well.[4]
Episodes of America in Primetime originally aired in the United States on four consecutive Sundays in late 2011, on PBS.[2] The episodes were also made available on the PBS Video website.[2] The series was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on January 17, 2012, and features bonus interviews.[5][6]
The BBC bought the UK rights to the documentary and aired it in spring 2013 under the title The United States of Television: America in Primetime. The series was re-edited to a 58-minute run time and hosted by Alan Yentob and broadcast on BBC Two from 20 April 2013. They were shown in a different order to the original US transmission: Man of the House; The Misfit; The Independent Woman; The Crusader.[7]
References
edit- ^ "America in Primetime". Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ a b c "PBS Video: America in Primetime". Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ Bianculli, David (October 28, 2011). "'Primetime' TV, Like You've Never Seen It Before". Fresh Air. NPR. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ Wiegand, David (October 24, 2011). "TV becomes a lens on U.S. cultural history in PBS documentary". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "America in Primetime DVD". shopPBS.org. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "America in Primetime Blu-ray". shopPBS.org. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "BBC Two - The United States of Television: America in Primetime". Retrieved May 5, 2013.
External links
edit- Official website
- The United States of Television: America in Primetime at the BBC
- America in Primetime on The Documentary Group's website