Popular Documentary TV Series on PBS
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Amazon Prime Video
Apple iTunes
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Google Play Movies
Paramount Plus
Hulu
HBO Max
YouTube
fuboTV
Peacock
Peacock Premium
Amazon Video
The Roku Channel
AMC+
AMC on Demand
Kocowa
Hoopla
The CW
Vudu
Starz
Showtime
PBS
Pantaflix
FXNow
Tubi TV
Kanopy
Comedy Central
Crunchyroll
Microsoft Store
Redbox
Sun Nxt
ABC
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Crackle
Fandor
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NOVA
1974
NOVA
1974
star 7.1PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.Frontline
1983
Frontline
1983
star 7.4Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.Great Performances
1971
Great Performances
1971
star 5.5The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.American Experience
1988
American Experience
1988
star 7.4TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.Nature
1982
Nature
1982
star 8.1Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.American Masters
1986
American Masters
1986
star 7.4American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.Finding Your Roots
2012
Finding Your Roots
2012
star 6.8Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.Independent Lens
1999
Independent Lens
1999
star 6.5This acclaimed Emmy Award-winning anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers and featuring unforgettable stories about a unique individual, community or moment in history.MotorWeek
1981
MotorWeek
1981
star 4.4This award-winning weekly automotive magazine provides unbiased, consumer-oriented car news with feature stories on related topics.Wisconsin Foodie
2010
Wisconsin Foodie
2010
star 9A weekly Emmy-nominated television program dedicated to educating, entertaining and connecting the community to the engaging stories and people behind their food by profiling local food treasures and highlighting the passionate and hardworking individuals responsible for the burgeoning “Good Food Movement.”Eons
2017
Eons
2017
Join hosts Hank Green, Kallie Moore, and Blake de Pastino as they take you on a journey through the history of life on Earth. From the dawn of life in the Archaean Eon through the Mesozoic Era — the so-called “Age of Dinosaurs” -- right up to the end of the most recent Ice Age. The evolutionary history of mammals including humans and other modern species is explored with these amazing paleontology experts.Hemingway
2021
Hemingway
2021
star 7.3The visionary work and the turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway, one of the greatest and most influential writers America has ever produced. Interweaving his eventful biography with carefully selected excerpts from his iconic short stories, novels, and non-fiction, the series reveals the brilliant, ambitious, charismatic, and complicated man behind the myth, and the art he created.Nazi Megastructures
2013
Nazi Megastructures
2013
star 7.6In a quest for world domination, the Nazis built some of the biggest and deadliest pieces of military hardware and malevolent technology in history. This is the stories of the engineers who designed them and how these structures sparked a technological revolution that changed warfare forever.Secrets of the Dead
2000
Secrets of the Dead
2000
star 6.3Part detective story, part true-life drama, long-running series explores some of the most iconic moments in history to debunk myths and shed new light on past events. Using the latest investigative techniques, forensic science and historical examination, it shatters accepted wisdom, challenges prevailing ideas, overturns existing hypotheses, spotlights forgotten mysteries, and ultimately rewrites history.Perspectives
2011
Perspectives
2011
A British TV documentary series for ITV. Each hour long program sees well-known celebrities travel to various parts of the world to explore more about a person who has inspired them.Craft in America
2007
Craft in America
2007
Explore the vitality, history and significance of the craft movement in the United States and its impact on our nation's rich cultural heritage. Capturing the beauty, creativity and originality of craftsmanship, the show highlights artists and explores the inter-relationship of what they do, how they do it and why they have chosen a life of creating art.The Mind of a Chef
2012
The Mind of a Chef
2012
star 8.5Go inside the minds of some of the world's top chefs. Narrated by Executive Producer Anthony Bourdain, The Mind of a Chef is that rare and beautiful thing: an intelligent show about cooking.History Detectives
2003
History Detectives
2003
star 7A group of researchers help people to find answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or other historic object or structure. It devotes itself "to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects."The U.S. and the Holocaust
2022
star 8.3Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Americans and the Holocaust” exhibition and supported by its historical resources, this documentary series examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States, and race laws in the American south.Shakespeare Uncovered
2012
star 7.5Celebrity hosts guide viewers through William Shakespeare's plays in performance. Each episode serves as a primer for newcomers to Shakespeare while serving up enough historical and theatrical insights to enchant lifelong fans.
