Frontline
Season 23
TV-MA
Since 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.
Where to Watch Season 23
16 Episodes
- The Choice 2004
E2The Choice 2004As Americans prepare to choose their next president, FRONTLINE offers viewers a special, two-hour dual biography of the two candidates who hope to lead the nation for the next four years. The fifth installment in FRONTLINE's continuing election series pairs filmmaker Martin Smith and correspondent Nicholas Lemann, who go beyond sound bites and political rhetoric to explore how the candidates and their values have been shaped by family background, history, victory, and defeat. By eschewing political pundits in favor of insightful comments from friends, mentors, historians, and spiritual advisors, "The Choice 2004," airing Tuesday, October 12, at 9 P.M. on PBS (check local listings), offers viewers--and voters--a chance to see the candidates in a fresh light before the campaign reaches its climax on Election Day. - Rumsfeld's War
E3Rumsfeld's WarWith the United States Army deployed in a dozen hot spots around the world, on constant alert in Afghanistan, and taking casualties every day in Iraq, some current and former officers now say the army is on the verge of being "broken." They charge that the army is overstretched, demoralized, and may be unable to fight where and when the nation desires. This fall, FRONTLINE and the Washington Post join forces for an in-depth assessment of the state of the American army and the nation's military establishment. The program digs into the aggressive attempts to assert civilian control and remake the military by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his allies. - The Persuaders
E4The PersuadersFRONTLINE takes an in-depth look at the multibillion-dollar “persuasion industries” of advertising and public relations and how marketers have developed new ways of integrating their messages deeper into the fabric of our lives. Through sophisticated market research methods to better understand consumers and by turning to the little-understood techniques of public relations to make sure their messages come from sources we trust, marketers are crafting messages that resonate with an increasingly cynical public. - Is Wal-Mart Good for America?
E5Is Wal-Mart Good for America?FRONTLINE offers two starkly contrasting images: one of empty storefronts in Circleville, Ohio, where the local TV manufacturing plant has closed down; the other--a sea of high rises in the South China boomtown of Shenzhen. The connection between American job losses and soaring Chinese exports? Wal-Mart. For Wal-Mart, China has become the cheapest, most reliable production platform in the world, the source of up to $25 billion in annual imports that help the company deliver everyday low prices to 100 million customers a week. But while some economists credit Wal-Mart's single-minded focus on low costs with helping contain U.S. inflation, others charge that the company is the main force driving the massive overseas shift to China in the production of American consumer goods, resulting in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs and a lower standard of living here at home. https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-wal-mart-good-america/ - House of Saud
E8House of SaudThe House of Saud has controlled every aspect of Saudi life and politics since the kingdom was established in 1932. But outside the Desert Kingdom little is known about Saudi Arabia's secretive royal family. In "House of Saud" FRONTLINE explores how the Al Saud family maintains its hold on power in the face of growing tensions between Islam and modernity. Through interviews with members of the royal family government officials and other experts from Saudi Arabia and the U.S. the two-hour documentary also traces America's relations with the Saudi royal family from their first alliance in the 1930s through September 11 and beyond to the present day. - A Company of Soldiers
E9A Company of SoldiersFRONTLINE reports from inside the U.S. Army's 8th Cavalry Regiment stationed in Baghdad for an up-close intimate look at the dangers facing an American military unit in Iraq. Shot in the weeks following the U.S. presidential election the film tracks the day-to-day challenges facing the 8th Cavalry's Dog Company as it suddenly has to cope with a dramatic increase in attacks by the insurgents. - Karl Rove -- the Architect
E12Karl Rove -- the ArchitectPresident George W. Bush called him "the architect" of his reelection victory and he has been the president's chief strategist from the beginning. But Karl Rove is much more than a political guru, he is the single most powerful policy advisor in the White House. FRONTLINE and The Washington Post join forces to trace the political history and modus operandi of the man who has been on the inside of every political and policy decision of the Bush administration, including the current battles on Social Security, taxes, and tort reform. For Rove - observers say - enactment of the Bush agenda is a way to win the biggest prize of all: a permanent Republican majority. - Death of a Princess (Updated)
E13Death of a Princess (Updated)Twenty-five years after the initial broadcast of perhaps the most controversial program in the history of public television FRONTLINE re-issues "Death of a Princess." The 1980 docudrama recounting the public execution of a young Saudi Arabian princess and her lover for adultery triggered vehement protests from the Saudi government and an international uproar when it was first broadcast in the U.S. and Britain. The film which re-creates journalist Antony Thomas's journey through the Arab world to investigate the executions is a portrait of the constricted lives of Arab women and a Rashomon-like exploration of the elusiveness of journalistic truth. This special presentation will feature new interviews with the filmmakers an inside view of the controversies surrounding the film and an analysis of how the lives of Arab women have and have not changed. - A Jew Among the Germans
E15A Jew Among the GermansAs a young boy Marian Marzynski survived the Holocaust in Poland. But his father and most of his relatives did not. In "A Jew Among the Germans" Marzynski sets out on a personal quest to find out how Germans are going to design a memorial to the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. It will be unveiled this May on the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II. Over three years he encounters artists architects and planners who struggle with the big questions of guilt responsibility and memory. He struggles to reconcile his own relationship to the German people and meets a young "third generation" of Germans who declare their distance from their parents and grandparents and how earlier generations have dealt with the Holocaust. - Private Warriors
E16Private WarriorsFRONTLINE returns to Iraq, this time to embed with Halliburton/KBR, and to take a hard look at private contractors like Blackwater, Aegis and Erinys, who play an increasingly critical role in running U.S. military supply lines, providing armed protection, and operating U.S. military bases. These private warriors are targeted by insurgents and in turn have been criticized for their rough treatment of Iraqi civilians. Their dramatic story illuminates the Pentagon's new reliance on corporate outsourcing and raises tough questions about where they fit in the chain of command and the price we are paying for their role in the war.
