America: The Story of Us

2010

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
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EP12 Millennium May 31, 2010

America booms, in population and prosperity. The "baby boomers" are the next generation to reinvent America. Powerful new technologies transform the nation. Television brings the world into the nation's living rooms, and changes lives and values in unexpected ways - but this is not just about entertainment. Just as newspapers shape America's identity in the Revolution and its sense of self in the Civil War, now television shapes a distant war in Vietnam and the response of all Americans to their changing society. The conflicts of the late 1960s and 1970s remind America of the divisions that opened up before the Civil War, but the boom of the 1980s heralds better times, with a confidence that mirrors the 1920s. A piece of plastic, the credit card, shapes the decade, creating new affluent classes, like the ‘yuppie' while the nation spends. The government spends too: on the technology that drives the last phase of the Cold War and puts the Shuttle into space. But as America reaches once more for the stars, technology meets tragedy in the Challenger disaster. As Americans have often discovered over 400 years, Pioneers sometimes have to pay the ultimate price. Innovation and a new California Gold Rush; the biggest technological breakthroughs yet are the personal computer and the internet. Technology transforms America, just as the telegraph and railroad once did. America‘s confidence is rocked by 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina - but it is still the world's superpower. As the nation launches into the 21st century, what does the future hold? Where is the next new frontier?
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7.3| 0h30m| TV-PG| en
Synopsis

From wagon trains crossing the untamed frontier to man's first steps on the moon, this series offers a compelling look at the people, inventions and events that helped forge the United States of America.

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Nutopia

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Reviews

Manthast Absolutely amazing
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
euGenie The beginning was actually quite promising. Unfortunately by the 5th episode I started wondering why I am wasting my time. Inaccurate, incredibly chaotic, choice of events that shape the nation and the country is at least stunning. Important events are omitted, completely useless events are presented as crucial for the history. All wrapped in a tale that a mom reads to her 4yo child to make him sleep. As somebody said - sesame street history.I am disappointed. It's supposed to be targeted to young American kids but seriously I wouldn't want my kid to learn from such shows, it might be not that bad for foreigners for whom the real history of the US is not that important. It has very low educational value and not much higher entertaining value. Long story short - if you have nothing better to do then go ahead, watch it but bear in mind that it's not as much the exact history as the grandpa's tale for kids.
mr_midnight_show If the History Channel can produce a 1000 hour program about United States history, that still would not be enough. We would have to start from Columbus for great detail but the show isn't about the discovery of land, it is about the concept of a free nation and the choices people made to survive. This documentary was made to show how the American people kept moving on from the turning points that shaped the "concept" which was built on blood and struggle.Sure they missed some key historical turning points but the show kept me interested enough that I found myself researching them online after watching an episode.Liev Schreibers narration is great as well.
daisyfaye724-176-816326 When I first saw the ads for this program, I was highly interested in it and made plans to watch. After viewing the first few episodes, I couldn't stand to see any more. It would have been a really great series if they had taken it seriously and done a much better job on incorporating as much important US history as possible, even if it meant making the series longer. What they ended up doing is focusing and repeating a few events and completely leaving out others. They spent a lot of time on the Civil War and entrepeneurs such as Carnegie. It's not that those weren't important events,indeed they were, but by being so repetitive in their coverage they left out other events that deserved screen time. I never saw much mention of the War of 1812, good coverage of our forefathers and I could be wrong, but I don't think they even covered women's suffrage! If they were going to set out to create a program that truly encompassed the United States' history and its people then they should have understood what all in entailed and planned accordingly. What truly disappointed me was the face that they felt the need to use celebrity testimony instead of credible historical experts, educated people that are the backbone of this country. What do P Diddy or Sheryl Crow have to do with the study of history (other than their part in the *entertainment* aspect)? This is being shown in classrooms, I understand: is that what we should teach our children? If you want to learn history, look to our celebrities and movie stars? Completely ridiculous. I was wanting this to be an awesome series, which it could have been. Instead I ended up having my intelligence insulted and my time wasted.
xjumper65 I agree with the other reviewers that commentators like Sheryl Crow, P Diddy, and Michael Douglas are absurd. And while these people are far from being "experts," I have an even greater objection to people like Al Sharpton and Sean Hannity. These two, despite being on the opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, can be grouped together as because unlike the other non-experts, these 2 are dangerous; they closer to enemies of the state then "experts." Al Sharpton is an instigator, fabricator and inciter (remember Tawana Brawley?). Sean Hannity, as a high-school drop-out is undereducated and divisive figure who represents the worst of what America has to offer. In my opinion, this man (and I use the term loosely) is one of the most un-American figures in today's society. He incites racism, division, and elitism which are completely at odds with the American narrative and ideals. What in the world could they be thinking by including a man whose values are professed to be purely American, but in reality are antithetical to the core American values of charity, equality, liberty, and justice. He is what the Father of our Country, George Washington, warned us about when he warned us to be wary of "the impostures of pretended patriotism." Hannity is a self-ordained patriot who cloaks the invective he spews in Americanism and distorts what true Americans, like those who HAVE served our Country, know America is about. I would have liked to use this to stimulate historical discussion with my young daughter, but the inclusion of Sean Hannity is a deal-breaker for me. I wouldn't let this fraud teach my kids to floss, let alone let him comment about what it means to be an American. And what's the deal Margaret Cho and the guy from Pawn Stars? Cho is a comedian and one of the worst ones at that. She has no business in any history production. I don't know if the producers were desperate, to find 'celebrities' to comment, but in any case these 2 certainly don't qualify as celebrities. They should have gotten Kathy Griffin-she is head and shoulders above them, making at least to the height of the D-List. Bottom line: Save yourself time and frustration—avoid this show and read a history book.