Top Rated Documentary TV Series - Page 166

Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet

1998

Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet

1998
6
Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet is a 1998 three hour American PBS documentary film that explores the development of the Arpanet, the Internet, and the World Wide Web in the United States from 1969 to 1998. It was created during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. The documentary was written and hosted by Robert X. Cringely and is the sequel to the 1996 documentary, Triumph of the Nerds.
The Private Life of a Masterpiece

2001

The Private Life of a Masterpiece

2001
5
Private Life of a Masterpiece is a BBC arts documentary series that tells the stories behind great works of art reaching from the Renaissance to modern art. David by Michelangelo, The Scream by Edvard Munch, The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya, The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn, Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso, The Annunciation by Jan van Eyck, ... The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer. For behind the beautiful canvases and sculptures are tales of political revolution, wartime escapes, massive ego clashes, social scandal, financial wrangling and shocking violence. The series reveals the full and fascinating stories behind famous works of art, not just how they came to be created, but also how they influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.
Ancient Inventions

1998

Ancient Inventions

1998
8
Ancient Inventions was a BBC historical documentary series released in 1998. It was presented by ex-Monty Python member Terry Jones and looked at great inventions of the ancient world. The series is split into 3 episodes, namely City Life, Sex and Love, and War and Conflicts, all around 50 min long.
The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century

1996

The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century

1996
8.2
The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century is a 1996 documentary series that aired on PBS. It chronicles World War I over eight episodes. It was narrated by Dame Judi Dench in the UK and Salome Jens in the United States. The series won two Primetime Emmy Awards: one for Jeremy Irons for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, the other for Outstanding Informational Series. In 1997, it was given a Peabody Award.
Urban Legends

2007

Urban Legends

2007
7.2
Urban Legends is a 30 minute 2007 television documentary-style series hosted by Michael Allcock. David Hewlett became the new host in 2011. In each episode, three urban legends are dramatized and presented to the television audience; the audience is then to speculate which one or two of the three is true. Each legend has witnesses to tell the story. For the one or two fake legends, the witnesses are actors, while the true legend uses real people affected by the story. Included in each episode are two quick quiz-like stories, called mini-myths, which air before the commercial breaks. Each will begin with the number of the mini myth and its name, followed by the story. After the commercial, the answer to the mini-myth is announced and the rest of the programming continues as it previously had. The show originally aired on the Biography Channel in the U.S., History Television in Canada and FX in the United Kingdom where it was hosted by Mark Dolan. It has also aired in Argentina, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Australia
Paul Merton in China

2007

Paul Merton in China

2007
8
Paul Merton in China was a four-part television series broadcast on Five commencing from 21 May 2007. It follows the journey of Paul Merton, comedian and writer, and his interpreter Emma, as they voyage across the country, exploring Chinese culture, expansion and change from Mao Zedong's reign. The series was a hit for Five and Merton confirmed on Michael Parkinson's show that a second series entitled Paul Merton in India had been commissioned. The theme music from Channel Five's advertisement is Michel Legrand's Di Gue Ding Ding, which was also used as the theme music to Heston Blumenthal's series In Search of Perfection aired concurrently on BBC Two. All four episodes were released on DVD in late October 2008.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII

2001

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

2001
5
Through dramatic reconstructions and his own passionate narration, Dr. David Starkey, the controversial Tudor historian, profiles the six women who married Henry Vlll.
The Unexplained

1996

The Unexplained

1996
8.8
The Unexplained is an American paranormal television series that originally aired from January 2, 1996 to May 7, 2000 on A&E and is currently being broadcast on the Biography Channel. The program features various mysteries, paranormal, psychic phenomena, and other topics that are considered to be "unexplained." Earlier episodes of the series are narrated by Bill Kurtis
NOFX: Backstage Passport

2008

NOFX: Backstage Passport

2008
7.3
NOFX: Backstage Passport is a documentary series that was shown on the music network Fuse about NOFX's 2008 world tour. The show documents the stops on the tour and the band's reaction to various events. The creation of the show was noteworthy, due to the band's often noted disdain for the media including music television. NOFX: Backstage Passport was released on DVD on March 17, 2009. In August 2012 in an interview with El Hefe at SRH Festival, it was announced that there would be a season two of NOFX: Backstage Passport. Fat Mike had previously announced it via his Twitter account.
Charterfeber

2006

Charterfeber

2006
7.2
Charterfeber is a Norwegian docu-soap that debuted in March 2006. The show is about Norwegians traveling on a fully chartered vacation to southern Europe. The last time the program was sent on Norwegian television, TV3, was in December of 2012. TV3 and the production company, Rakett Film & TV, have just released information about an upcoming season of the series.
Battle 360°

2008

Battle 360°

2008
7.2
Battle 360°, also written as Battle 360, is an American documentary television series that originally aired from February 29 to May 2, 2008 on History. The program focuses on the World War II-era aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.The series consists of ten episodes.
Gardeners' World

1968

Gardeners' World

1968
8.5
Gardeners' World is a long-running BBC Television programme about gardening, first broadcast in 1968 and still running as of 2013. Its first episode was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. The magazine BBC Gardeners' World is a tie-in to the programme. Most of its episodes have been 30 minutes in length, although there are many specials that last longer. The 2008 and 2009 series used a 60-minute format.
Evolution

2001

Evolution

2001
8.2
Evolution is a 2001 documentary series by the American broadcaster Public Broadcasting Service and WGBH on evolutionary biology. The spokespeople for the series were Jane Goodall, Kenneth R. Miller and Stephen Jay Gould, Eugenie C. Scott, Arthur Peacocke and Arnold Thomas. The series was narrated by the Irish actor Liam Neeson. The series was accompanied by a book by the popular science writer Carl Zimmer Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. An extensive website provides teaching resources for each episode's material, including "The Mating Game", further looks at Charles Darwin, and an interactive history of speciation in the invented "pollencreeper" birds.
Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War (1980)

0000

Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War (1980)

0000
9.5
Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War, a 26-part Canadian television documentary on the Vietnam War, was produced in 1980 by Michael Maclear. The series aired in Canada on CBC Television, in the United States and in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. Maclear visited Vietnam during the production of the series and had access to film material there. He was the first Western journalist allowed to visit that area since the war. The documentary series was consolidated into 13 hour-long episodes for American television syndication. The series was released on videocassette format by Embassy and won a National Education Association award for best world documentary. Series writer Peter Arnett was an Associated Press reporter in Vietnam from 1962 to 1975. CBC aired only 18 of the episodes during the 1980-81 season because the series production was incomplete. The remaining episodes were broadcast during CBC's 1981-82 season.
An American Family

1973

An American Family

1973
5
Originally intended as a chronicle of the daily life of the Louds, a Santa Barbara upper-middle-class family, the groundbreaking program documented the breakup of the family via the separation and subsequent divorce of parents Bill and Pat Loud.
Trauma: Life in the E.R.

0000

Trauma: Life in the E.R.

0000
8.2
Trauma: Life in the E.R. is a medical-based television reality show that formerly ran on TLC from 1997 to 2002 and reruns are currently airing on Discovery Fit & Health. At its peak, Trauma was one of TLC's top-rated shows and spawned two spin-offs, Paramedics and Code Blue.
Inspector Gadget's Field Trip

0000

Inspector Gadget's Field Trip

0000
7.5
Inspector Gadget's Field Trip was a spin-off of Inspector Gadget in which the gizmo-gifted but bubble-brained inspector acted as the host of a series of mini-travelogues. Don Adams returned as the voice of the animated Gadget, showing viewers famous cities and sites around the world via live-action clips.
The Jeff Corwin Experience

2000

The Jeff Corwin Experience

2000
8
The Jeff Corwin Experience is an American television show about mostly tropical animals airing on the Animal Planet cable channel since 2001. It is hosted by actor and conservationist Jeff Corwin, who previously appeared in Going Wild With Jeff Corwin on the Disney Channel.
American Hot Rod

2004

American Hot Rod

2004
6
American Hot Rod is a reality television series that originally aired between 2004 and 2008 on The Learning Channel and Discovery Channel. The unique series documented the crew at Boyd Coddington's car shop and their personal struggles to build hot rods and custom vehicles. It was made on location at Coddington's hot rod and wheel shop in La Habra, California. Many employees went to work for Overhaulin's Chip Foose, a former partner of Coddington, for a more relaxed environment. Custom built cars built during the series included the "Alumatub", 61 Impala Bubbletop, 63 Chevy Corvette Stingray and a 42 Woodie. In July 2007, the shop made an Elvis Tribute Car, a modified 1957 pink Cadillac, sponsored by Reese’s. Boyd Coddington died in February 2008. His shop closed its doors for the final time on Friday June 20, 2008.
Twice in a Lifetime

1999

Twice in a Lifetime

1999
5.5
Prematurely deceased people are given the opportunity to correct something that went wrong in their lives and thus change them for the better.