The Best Episodes of American Masters Season 26

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   7.4/10(57 votes)

   #1 - Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

   S26:E11/23/2012

   Three-time Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Kenneth Bowser examines one of American history’s most iconic folk music heroes and political agitators. Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune is a revealing biography of a conflicted, truth-seeking troubadour who, with guitar in hand, stood up for what he believed in and challenged us all to do the same.

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2. 

   7.5/10(79 votes)

   #2 - Cab Calloway: Sketches

   S26:E22/27/2012

   A singer, dancer and bandleader, Cab led one of the most popular African American big bands during the jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s, with Harlem’s famous Cotton Club as his home stage. Best known for his “Hi de hi de hi de ho” refrain from signature song “Minnie the Moocher,” portrayal of Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess (1952), and role in The Blues Brothers (1980), Cab influenced countless performers, including Michael and Janet Jackson, and many of today’s hip-hop artists.

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3. 

   8.3/10(109 votes)

   #3 - Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel

   S26:E34/2/2012

   Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel engages leading historians, biographers and personal friends to reveal a complex woman who experienced profound identity shifts during her life and struggled with the two great issues of her day: the changing role of women and the liberation of African Americans.

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4. 

   4.6/10(103 votes)

   #4 - Harper Lee: Hey, Boo

   S26:E44/2/2012

   One of the biggest bestsellers of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) is the first and only novel by a young woman named Nelle Harper Lee, who once said that she wanted to be South Alabama’s Jane Austen. Lee won the Pulitzer Prize and became a mystery when she stopped speaking to press in 1964. More than 50 years after its publication, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages worldwide, still sells nearly one million copies each year and is required reading in most American classrooms, making it quite possibly the most influential American novel of the 20th century. The 1962 film version, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, won a trio of Academy Awards. Harper Lee: Hey, Boo chronicles how this beloved novel came to be written, provides the context and history of the Deep South where it is set, and documents the many ways the novel has changed minds and shaped history. For teachers, students or fans of the classic, Hey, Boo enhances the experience of reading To Kill a Mockingbird.

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5. 

   8.1/10(712 votes)

   #5 - Johnny Carson: King of Late Night

   S26:E55/14/2012

   Quite possibly the biggest star that television has ever produced, Carson commanded, at his peak, a nightly audience of 15 million viewers – double the current audience of Leno and Letterman – combined. Rarely giving interviews, Carson chose to remain a very private man whose public persona made him an American superstar.

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6. 

   7.8/10(73 votes)

   #6 - The Day Carl Sandburg Died

   S26:E69/24/2012

   For much of the 20th century, Sandburg was synonymous with the American experience, a spokesman on behalf of the people. One of the most successful writers in the English language, Sandburg was a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winner for his poetry as well as part of his six-volume Lincoln biography. Yet, after his death, Sandburg’s literary legacy faded and his poems, once taught in schools across America, were dismissed under the weight of massive critical attack.

   Director:Paul Bonesteel

   Writer:Paul Bonesteel

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7. 

   7.6/10(608 votes)

   #7 - Inventing David Geffen

   S26:E711/20/2012

   David Geffen’s far-reaching influence — as agent, manager, record industry mogul, Hollywood and Broadway producer, and philanthropist — has helped shape American popular culture for the past four decades.

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8. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #8 - Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance

   S26:E812/28/2012

   Documenting how the Joffrey revolutionized American ballet – combining modern dance with classic technique, art with social statement and rock music with traditional choreography – this film is a palpable expression of Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino’s vision and artistry.

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