American biography television series
American Masters
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Created by
| Susan Lacy
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Theme music composer
| Jonathan Tunick
(1986?1995)
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Country of origin
| United States
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Original language
| English
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No.
of seasons
| 36
[1]
[2]
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No.
of episodes
| 279 (as of January 11, 2022)
[3]
(
list of episodes
)
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Executive producers
| Susan Lacy (1986?2013), Michael Kantor (2014?present)
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Producer
| WNET
[1]
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Network
| PBS
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Release
| June 22, 1986
(
1986-06-22
)
?
present
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American Masters
is a
PBS
television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States. It is produced by
WNET
in New York City. The show debuted on
PBS
in 1986.
[1]
Groups or organizations featured include:
Actors Studio
,
Algonquin Round Table
,
Group Theatre
,
Sweet Honey in the Rock
, Women of
Tin Pan Alley
,
Negro Ensemble Company
,
Juilliard School
, the
Beat Generation
, the singer-songwriters of the 1970s,
Sun Records
,
vaudeville
, and
Warner Bros.
History
[
edit
]
American Masters
, a series "devoted to America's 'greatest native-born and adopted' artists", was originally scheduled to premiere in September 1985; for "logistical scheduling reasons" the premiere was delayed until summer 1986, though on October 16, 1985, an
American Masters
"special" called
Aaron Copland
: A Self-Portrait
was aired.
[4]
The first of the 15 first-season episodes was
Private Conversations
,
[5]
a "
cinema-verite
documentary by
Christian Blackwood
done in that trickiest of cinematic forms: a film about a film, in this instance the
television version of
Death of a Salesman
, directed by
Volker Schlondorff
".
[6]
It aired on June 23, 1986, as one of two episodes not specifically commissioned for the show's first season.
[6]
Susan Lacy,
American Masters
creator and former executive producer, selected each subject, matched them to the specific filmmakers, and oversaw a first-season budget of $8 million.
[6]
Before creating the series Lacy had been the senior programmer for
Great Performances
and one of the "architects" of
American Playhouse
, having written the original proposal for the latter. At the time of the show's premiere, she was also the
East Coast
head of the
Sundance Institute
.
[6]
In 2014, Michael Kantor succeeded Lacy as executive producer.
[7]
As an independent producer, Kantor had directed one American Masters episode (Quincy Jones: In the Pocket, season 16, episode 4) and produced and directed the Emmy Award-winning series,
Broadway: The American Musical
and
Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America
with WNET. As head of the
American Masters
series, Kantor created the American Masters podcast in 2016 and the theatrical imprint, American Masters Pictures, in 2016, which brought ten films to the Sundance Film Festival over a period of five years.
After the show's first two seasons,
American Masters
began producing most of its episodes; in those cases, it hires directors, arranges for funding, manages the budget, and supervises the editing; the show reserves the right to make the
final cut
on every film it produces.
[8]
The
American Masters
production company occasionally plays a more limited role and co-produces some of its episodes, such as the 2005 documentary on
Bob Dylan
,
No Direction Home
, and then in 2010
The Doors
,
When You're Strange
.
Episodes
[
edit
]
Reception
[
edit
]
Jevon Phillips of
Los Angeles Times
called the episode "
Amy Tan
: Unintended Memoir", "Fantastic."
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"About the Series - American Masters"
.
PBS
. Retrieved
January 4,
2017
.
- ^
"American Masters Season 32 Episodes"
.
PBS
.
- ^
"Masters - American Masters"
.
PBS
.
- ^
O'Connor, John J. (October 16, 1985).
"A Self-portrait Marks Copland's 85th Birthday"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
May 14,
2010
.
- ^
Private Conversations: On the Set of 'Death of a Salesman
at
IMDb
- ^
a
b
c
d
James, Jamie (June 22, 1986).
"Bringing America's Creative Talent into Focus"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
May 14,
2010
.
- ^
"Introducing Michael Kantor, Executive Producer of American Masters | Blog | American Masters | PBS"
.
PBS
. April 16, 2014.
- ^
"Susan Lacy: Television Producer, Director, Executive"
.
She Made It
.
The Paley Center for Media
. Archived from
the original
on July 19, 2011
. Retrieved
2010-05-14
.
- ^
Phillips, Jevon (May 4, 2021).
"Amy Tan on anti-Asian racism and 'Unintended Memoir,' the new PBS film about her life"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
October 6,
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
Awards for
American Masters
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2010s
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2020s
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Documentaries
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Drama
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Music and fine arts
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History
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News and public affairs
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Personalities
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How-to and special interest
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Science and nature
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Networks
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Major stations
|
- Dallas
- Houston
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco/Watsonville/San Jose
- Boston
- Chicago
- Miami?Ft. Lauderdale?West Palm Beach
- New York
- New Jersey
- Philadelphia?Wilmington?Lehigh Valley
- Tampa?St. Petersburg
- Washington, D.C.
- Pittsburgh
- Maryland
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Former
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See also
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International
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National
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Other
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