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Season 1 – America in Color

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – America in Color Jul 2017 Documentary History Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 6 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In the early years of TV, from its invention in the 1920s until the mid-'60s, most shows were broadcast in black and white before color TV gained in popularity and become economically viable for broadcasters. That means many historic pieces of video -- including rare home movies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Nixon-Kennedy debate -- have all been relegated to being viewed in the colorless format. "America in Color" looks to change that by restoring and colorizing archival footage from the early 20th century through the '60s. Producers meticulously researched the original colors to make sure the tones are correct when they use revolutionary methods to add the proper hues to footage. Each episode of the hourlong series highlights newly restored footage from a specific decade in the history of the medium.
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America in Color — Season 1

Critics Reviews

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Neil Genzlinger New York Times 06/30/2017
The series is at its best when it uses these home-movie-style vignettes, many of them poignant in their ordinariness. Go to Full Review Dorothy Rabinowitz Wall Street Journal 06/30/2017
In the deeply moving scenes of the early war years on the home front-of a no-longer-isolationist America roused to action, happily undertaken with scrap metal, pots and pans, collections for the war effort, the bond drives. Go to Full Review Diane Werts Newsday 06/29/2017
B+
Even vintage home movies from unexpected sources - Oakland's black community, a Kentucky small-town newspaper - conjure a relatable sense of life being lived, in a continuity that clearly flows through us today. Go to Full Review Kristi Turnquist Oregonian 07/11/2017
The history is mostly a familiar overview, but the straightforward narration, well delivered by actor Liev Schreiber covers the big picture and some smaller, but intriguing, details. Go to Full Review Ed Bark Uncle Barky 06/29/2017
B
America In Color is by no means the full story. But its overall artistry breathes new life into these two incredibly eventful decades, with three more yet to come. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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lio d @RT97337948 11/01/2020 The history of the USA (not America, which are two continents ...) is here extremely well documented and explained simply and without concessions or judgement on sensitive subjects such as racism, immigration, ... The narrative is however filled with superlatives, which are supposed to highlight US's grandeur, but sound more like exaggerations (like, the US scientists invented seismology, which is not a fact), and this sounds both annoying and appealing to nationalist superiority complex. See more Read all reviews
America in Color — Season 1

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Cast & Crew

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Liev Schreiber

Narrator

Charles Poe

Executive Producer

David Royle

Executive Producer

Nick Metcalfe

Executive Producer

Lucie Ridout

Producer

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Jul 2, 2017 The 1920s America undergoes it's greatest period of change and unprecedented growth; the 1920 Wall Street bombing; the Greenwood massacre. Details Episode 2 Aired Jul 9, 2017 The 1930s The Great Depression dominates the decade; Franklin Roosevelt's Presidency; the White House fire of 1930; home movies filmed by Lou Hoover. Details Episode 3 Aired Jul 16, 2017 The 1940s America as the leader of the free world; Pearl Harbor; a new era of consumerism; the birth of suburbia. Details Episode 4 Aired Jul 23, 2017 The 1950s Racial unrest divides the nation; Russia has a nuclear bomb; the Cold War; the brutal murder of 14-year-old black Chicagoan Emmett Till. Details Episode 5 Aired Jul 30, 2017 The 1960s Rare archival films, iconic news footage and home movies during a decade of revolution; the first televised Presidential debate. Details

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America in Color — Season 1

America in Color America in Color America in Color America in Color View more photos

Season Info

Executive Producer
Charles Poe, David Royle, Nick Metcalfe
Network
Smithsonian Channel
Rating
TV-PG
Genre
Documentary, History
Original Language
English
Release Date
Jul 2, 2017