Popular Documentary TV Series on PBS
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Google Play Movies
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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
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Comedy Central
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Microsoft Store
Redbox
Sun Nxt
ABC
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NOVA
1974
NOVA
1974
star 7PBS' 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.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 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.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.MotorWeek
1981
MotorWeek
1981
star 4.4This award-winning weekly automotive magazine provides unbiased, consumer-oriented car news with feature stories on related topics.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.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.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.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.Rick Steves' Europe
2000
Rick Steves' Europe
2000
star 8.6Rick Steves, America's leading authority on European travel, returns to transport viewers to the continent's bustling cities, quaint villages and picturesque countryside.Catalyst
2014
Catalyst
2014
Catalyst is Australia's premier science investigation series. Each week the team brings you stories from Australia and around the world, meeting scientists at the forefront of discovery.Texas Parks and Wildlife
0000
A weekly outdoors/nature series focusing on the incredible diversity of wildlife, scenic locations and fascinating characters that make Texas unique.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.Country Music
2019
Country Music
2019
star 7.6Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.art21
2001
art21
2001
star 2Contemporary artists describe their work and discuss why and how they do it. The programs are grouped according to themes of place, spirituality, identity and consumption. A PBS series, educational resource, archive, and history of contemporary art, Art21: Art in the Twenty-First Century premiered in 2001 and is now broadcast in over 50 countries worldwide. Premiering a new season every two years, Art21 is the only series on United States television to focus exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists.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.The Dictator's Playbook
2018
star 7.5Learn how six dictators, from Mussolini to Saddam Hussein, shaped the 20th century. How did they seize and lose power? What forces were against them? Learn the answers in these six immersive hours, each a revealing portrait of brutality and power.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.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.
