Query: pbs great american read

title: GREAT WAR, THE
text: Product Description During the last days of the Great War, a group of U.S. soldiers are sent behind enemy lines to rescue a lost platoon. Product Description During the last days of the Great War, a group of U.S. soldiers are sent behind enemy lines to rescue a lost platoon.

title: Thomas Jefferson: Patriot. Statesman. President. The Entire Life Story: Great Biographies

title: The Great British Baking Show Seasons 1-5
text: Product Description Read. Set. Bake! Follow the trials and tribulations of passionate amateur bakers whose goal is to be named the U.K.'s best. Each week, the bakers tackle a different skill, the difficulty of which increases as the competition unfolds, judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. Product Description Read. Set. Bake! Follow the trials and tribulations of passionate amateur bakers whose goal is to be named the U.K.'s best. Each week, the bakers tackle a different skill, the difficulty of which increases as the competition unfolds, judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.

title: VeggieTales: Bible Heroes 4-Movie Collection (Moe and the Big Exit / The Ballad of Little Joe / Esther - The Girl Who Became Queen / Dave and the Giant Pickle) [DVD]
text: Product Description Product DescriptionFrom the manufacturer About Us Universal Pictures is an American film studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. Universal Studios is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Universal was founded in 1912 by the German Carl Laemmle (pronounced "LEM-lee"), Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour. Six of Universal Studios' films; Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), Despicable Me 2 (2013), Furious 7 (2015) and Jurassic World (2015) achieved box office records, with the first three (which were directed by Steven Spielberg) all becoming the highest-grossing film at the time of its initial release. Read more Read more Read more NBC Universal NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a premium ad-supported streaming service. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. 

title: The Great American Read: The Book of Books: Explore America's 100 Best-Loved Novels

title: Great British Baking Show Season 2
text: Product Description PBS Season 2 (UK Season 4). Judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood devise a new season of baking challenges. Watch the trials and tribulations of passionate amateur bakers striving to be named the U.K.'s best, tackling a different and more difficult technical skill each week. Product Description PBS Season 2 (UK Season 4). Judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood devise a new season of baking challenges. Watch the trials and tribulations of passionate amateur bakers striving to be named the U.K.'s best, tackling a different and more difficult technical skill each week.From the manufacturer About PBS PBS and our member stations are America’s one of the largest classroom, the nation’s one of the largest stage for the arts and a trusted window to the world. In addition, PBS's educational media helps prepare children for success in school and opens up the world to them in an age-appropriate way. We invite you to learn more about America’s one of the largest public media enterprise. Read more 

title: African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross
text: Product Description Product Description Written and presented by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.., director of W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, this six-hour series explores the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed - forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds. Commencing with the origins of slavery in Africa, the series moves through five centuries of remarkable historic events right up to the present - when America is led by a black president, yet remains a nation deeply divided by race. By highlighting the tragedies, triumphs and contradictions of the black experience, the series reveals to viewers that the African-American community has never been a uniform entity, and that it's members have been actively debating their differences from their first days in this country. Throughout the course of the series, viewers will see that the road to freedom for black people in America has not been linear, but more like the course of a river, full of loops and eddies, slowing, and occasionally reversing the current of progress. Review 4 out of 4 stars ...this series is likely to remain the gold standard for its comprehensive treatment. Highly recommended. --Video Librarian Product Description Product Description Written and presented by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.., director of W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, this six-hour series explores the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed - forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds. Commencing with the origins of slavery in Africa, the series moves through five centuries of remarkable historic events right up to the present - when America is led by a black president, yet remains a nation deeply divided by race. By highlighting the tragedies, triumphs and contradictions of the black experience, the series reveals to viewers that the African-American community has never been a uniform entity, and that it's members have been actively debating their differences from their first days in this country. Throughout the course of the series, viewers will see that the road to freedom for black people in America has not been linear, but more like the course of a river, full of loops and eddies, slowing, and occasionally reversing the current of progress. Review 4 out of 4 stars ...this series is likely to remain the gold standard for its comprehensive treatment. Highly recommended. --Video Librarian

title: Broadway: The American Musical [Blu-ray]
text: Product Description Amazon.com Like its fellow PBS series Ken Burns' Jazz , Broadway: The American Musical is an ambitious and absorbing exploration of a unique American art form that has always been best experienced in live performance. Hosted and narrated by Julie Andrews, the six-part, six-hour documentary traces the history of musical theater from its roots in vaudeville, operetta, and minstrel shows, to the dawn of what would become the modern American musical, Show Boat , and on through many changes that seemed to reflect those in American culture itself. Significant creators discussed include Florenz Ziegfeld, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Fosse, and David Merrick, and notable shows ( Oklahoma! , My Fair Lady , West Side Story , Company , Cats , and recent hit Wicked , among others) are analyzed through performance clips and interviews with songwriters, stars, directors, producers, critics, and historians. The series' most obvious weakness is its use of only brief excerpts of the performances--no song is heard in full. The sheer scope of the series no doubt played a part in that, as well as complicated rights issues, but the core problem is that musical theater has always been a live medium, rarely documented and even more rarely released to the general public. The documentary's producers make do with audio recordings, still photographs, and bits of footage, often in grainy black and white. Thankfully, they resist over-relying on feature-film musicals--which look much better and are sometimes excellent (but more often mediocre) translations--and when used such footage is clearly identified. That makes it all the more frustrating, however, that almost all of the other footage is not identified, because that is what fans are less familiar with and would be most interested in. The 1950s footage looks to be mostly from TV programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show ; by the 1960s we have live footage from the Tony Awards (easily identifiable by the backdrops); and the newest shows might have been shot on stage. But early Ethel Merman and other random clips are mysteries, perhaps even to the producers themselves. Because the series is designed to appeal to a general audience (again like Jazz ), a lot of the information won't be new to diehard Broadway fans, but they should be especially pleased by the DVDs' bonus features, which include additional performances and about four more hours of interviews. Stephen Sondheim fans should be fascinated by footage of the composer-lyricist discussing "Someone in a Tree" at the piano, and then running through the song with original cast members of Pacific Overtures , as well as interviews of him talking about his own shows and songs (e.g., listing the songwriters he pastiched in Follies ) and reminiscing about mentor Oscar Hammerstein II. Other bonus performances include vaudeville films from the Library of Congress, original-cast television performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "If I Loved You" (from Carousel , unfolding over 12 minutes) and "Some Enchanted Evening" (the reprise version from South Pacific ), Rent 's Jonathan Larson spoofing Sondheim, and two behind-the-scenes looks at Wicked . --David Horiuchi Product Description Amazon.com Like its fellow PBS series Ken Burns' Jazz , Broadway: The American Musical is an ambitious and absorbing exploration of a unique American art form that has always been best experienced in live performance. Hosted and narrated by Julie Andrews, the six-part, six-hour documentary traces the history of musical theater from its roots in vaudeville, operetta, and minstrel shows, to the dawn of what would become the modern American musical, Show Boat , and on through many changes that seemed to reflect those in American culture itself. Significant creators discussed include Florenz Ziegfeld, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Fosse, and David Merrick, and notable shows ( Oklahoma! , My Fair Lady , West Side Story , Company , Cats , and recent hit Wicked , among others) are analyzed through performance clips and interviews with songwriters, stars, directors, producers, critics, and historians. The series' most obvious weakness is its use of only brief excerpts of the performances--no song is heard in full. The sheer scope of the series no doubt played a part in that, as well as complicated rights issues, but the core problem is that musical theater has always been a live medium, rarely documented and even more rarely released to the general public. The documentary's producers make do with audio recordings, still photographs, and bits of footage, often in grainy black and white. Thankfully, they resist over-relying on feature-film musicals--which look much better and are sometimes excellent (but more often mediocre) translations--and when used such footage is clearly identified. That makes it all the more frustrating, however, that almost all of the other footage is not identified, because that is what fans are less familiar with and would be most interested in. The 1950s footage looks to be mostly from TV programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show ; by the 1960s we have live footage from the Tony Awards (easily identifiable by the backdrops); and the newest shows might have been shot on stage. But early Ethel Merman and other random clips are mysteries, perhaps even to the producers themselves. Because the series is designed to appeal to a general audience (again like Jazz ), a lot of the information won't be new to diehard Broadway fans, but they should be especially pleased by the DVDs' bonus features, which include additional performances and about four more hours of interviews. Stephen Sondheim fans should be fascinated by footage of the composer-lyricist discussing "Someone in a Tree" at the piano, and then running through the song with original cast members of Pacific Overtures , as well as interviews of him talking about his own shows and songs (e.g., listing the songwriters he pastiched in Follies ) and reminiscing about mentor Oscar Hammerstein II. Other bonus performances include vaudeville films from the Library of Congress, original-cast television performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "If I Loved You" (from Carousel , unfolding over 12 minutes) and "Some Enchanted Evening" (the reprise version from South Pacific ), Rent 's Jonathan Larson spoofing Sondheim, and two behind-the-scenes looks at Wicked . --David Horiuchi

title: Masterpiece Classic: Great Expectations
text: Product Description Product Description An orphan boy meets an escaped convict, a crazed rich woman, a bewitching girl, and grows up to have great expectations of wealth from a mysterious patron, in Great Expectations, Charles Dickens remarkable tale of rags to riches to self-knowledge. Amazon.com There isn't an adaptation around that can compete with David Lean's definitive version of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations , but this BBC-PBS coproduction has its pleasures. Though it gets off to a grim start with a violent skirmish on the moors, the proceedings become less off-putting once naive young Pip ( Toast 's Oscar Kennedy) grows into a man of some sophistication (now played by the dashing Douglas Booth). His adventures begin when the openhearted orphan helps out escaped convict Magwitch ( Oliver Twist 's Ray Winstone in fiery form), little realizing the machinations he has set into motion. Afterward, his sister, who resents the burden of his presence, sends him to live with the reclusive Miss Havisham ( Bleak House 's Gillian Anderson), a ghostly figure clinging to memories of thwarted romance. Miss Havisham means for Pip to entertain her haughty ward, Estella (Izzy Meikle-Small), with whom Pip falls in love, but the grown Estella (Vanessa Kirby) finds him unworthy and his guardian returns him to the forges of his youth. Fortunately, a mysterious benefactor steps in to save the day (David Suchet's solicitor makes the arrangements), allowing Pip to reconnect with Estella and to befriend Herbert Pocket (Harry Lloyd, an actual Dickens descendant), but dark shadows lurk around every London corner. If Anderson, who opts for a too-high vocal register, looks young for the part and if the final sequence deviates from Dickens's original text, director Brian Kirk ( Game of Thrones ) still provides a moving conclusion to a two-part series that becomes more involving as it unfolds. --Kathleen C. Fennessy Product Description Product Description An orphan boy meets an escaped convict, a crazed rich woman, a bewitching girl, and grows up to have great expectations of wealth from a mysterious patron, in Great Expectations, Charles Dickens remarkable tale of rags to riches to self-knowledge. Amazon.com There isn't an adaptation around that can compete with David Lean's definitive version of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations , but this BBC-PBS coproduction has its pleasures. Though it gets off to a grim start with a violent skirmish on the moors, the proceedings become less off-putting once naive young Pip ( Toast 's Oscar Kennedy) grows into a man of some sophistication (now played by the dashing Douglas Booth). His adventures begin when the openhearted orphan helps out escaped convict Magwitch ( Oliver Twist 's Ray Winstone in fiery form), little realizing the machinations he has set into motion. Afterward, his sister, who resents the burden of his presence, sends him to live with the reclusive Miss Havisham ( Bleak House 's Gillian Anderson), a ghostly figure clinging to memories of thwarted romance. Miss Havisham means for Pip to entertain her haughty ward, Estella (Izzy Meikle-Small), with whom Pip falls in love, but the grown Estella (Vanessa Kirby) finds him unworthy and his guardian returns him to the forges of his youth. Fortunately, a mysterious benefactor steps in to save the day (David Suchet's solicitor makes the arrangements), allowing Pip to reconnect with Estella and to befriend Herbert Pocket (Harry Lloyd, an actual Dickens descendant), but dark shadows lurk around every London corner. If Anderson, who opts for a too-high vocal register, looks young for the part and if the final sequence deviates from Dickens's original text, director Brian Kirk ( Game of Thrones ) still provides a moving conclusion to a two-part series that becomes more involving as it unfolds. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

title: The Help

title: Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World
text: Product Description For two centuries, American whale oil lit the world illuminating and powering the start of the industrial revolution, and laying the groundwork for a truly global economy. This two-hour film will tell the riveting and extraordinary story of the American whaling industry, from its origins off the coast of New England and Cape Cod, through the great golden age of deep-ocean whaling, to the industrys spectacular demise. Product Description For two centuries, American whale oil lit the world illuminating and powering the start of the industrial revolution, and laying the groundwork for a truly global economy. This two-hour film will tell the riveting and extraordinary story of the American whaling industry, from its origins off the coast of New England and Cape Cod, through the great golden age of deep-ocean whaling, to the industrys spectacular demise.

title: To Kill a Mockingbird

title: The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2021: Every Recipe from the HIt TV Show Along with Product Ratings Includes the 2021 Season (Complete ATK TV Show Cookbook)

title: Anne of Green Gables, Complete 8-Book Box Set: Anne of Green Gables; Anne of the Island; Anne of Avonlea; Anne of Windy Poplar; Anne's House of ... Ingleside; Rainbow Valley; Rilla of Ingleside

title: The America's Test Kitchen Cooking School Cookbook: Everything You Need to Know to Become a Great Cook

title: The Pillars of the Earth

title: The Jewish Americans
text: Product Description Product Description This six-hour documentary follows 350 years of Jewish-American history, from the first settlement in the 17th century to the present, and explores the experience of immigration and assimilation. Liev Schreiber narrates. Amazon.com Originally broadcast on PBS, The Jewish-Americans covers 350 years in the lives of Jews who have struggled to maintain their religious identity and still be fully accepted as Americans. It is a story at once specific and universal, one that can be appreciated by any ethnic or religious minority who tests whether "democracy, like America, can find room for everyone." Beginning with 23 Jewish exiles seeking safe haven in New Amsterdam in 1654, writer-director David Grubin does an admirable job of charting the often rocky and treacherous course for Jews in this country, and their personal "tug of war between being American and being a Jew." Do they consider themselves Jewish-Americans, or American Jews? Carl Reiner, Mandy Patinkin, Sid Caesar, Jules Feiffer, playwright Tony Kushner, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are among the more recognizable personalities who offer illuminating commentary and bittersweet reminiscences. But Grubin presents what he calls "an ensemble of voices" rather than "a star-studded parade." Authors, historians, sociologists, academics, and rabbis share a rich personal and cultural history. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, The Jewish-Americans is comprised of three two-hour episodes, "They Came to Stay," "The Best of Times, the Worst of Times," and "Home." Each is a richly textured tapestry of talking heads, still photos, archival footage, and audio and film clips (the inevitable Gentleman's Agreement ), and reveal how Jews have become woven into the fabric of Jewish life. Songwriter Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America," and the holiday classics "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade." Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster created Superman. Another crossover pop culture success was Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg of the Bronx, offering sage advice and homespun wisdom on radio, television and the movies. One illuminating segment reveals how assimilated movie mogul Louis B. Mayer's Andy Hardy films, with their "fairy tale visions of small town life," were the "American fantasies of a Jewish immigrant." Anti-Semitism rears its ugly head throughout the series. Grubin captures the hysteria surrounding the murder trial of Georgia factory worker Leo Franks, who, in 1915, was falsely convicted in the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, and subsequently lynched by a homicidal mob. The segment that addresses the Holocaust documents America's indifference in dealing with Hitler's "Final Solution." Grubin notes how political activism has long been a part of Jewish-American life, and how Jews took an active role in the Civil Rights struggle. As the old saying goes, you don't have to be Jewish to be compelled and profoundly moved by this ambitious documentary miniseries. But it couldn't hurt. --Donald Liebenson Product Description Product Description This six-hour documentary follows 350 years of Jewish-American history, from the first settlement in the 17th century to the present, and explores the experience of immigration and assimilation. Liev Schreiber narrates. Amazon.com Originally broadcast on PBS, The Jewish-Americans covers 350 years in the lives of Jews who have struggled to maintain their religious identity and still be fully accepted as Americans. It is a story at once specific and universal, one that can be appreciated by any ethnic or religious minority who tests whether "democracy, like America, can find room for everyone." Beginning with 23 Jewish exiles seeking safe haven in New Amsterdam in 1654, writer-director David Grubin does an admirable job of charting the often rocky and treacherous course for Jews in this country, and their personal "tug of war between being American and being a Jew." Do they consider themselves Jewish-Americans, or American Jews? Carl Reiner, Mandy Patinkin, Sid Caesar, Jules Feiffer, playwright Tony Kushner, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are among the more recognizable personalities who offer illuminating commentary and bittersweet reminiscences. But Grubin presents what he calls "an ensemble of voices" rather than "a star-studded parade." Authors, historians, sociologists, academics, and rabbis share a rich personal and cultural history. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, The Jewish-Americans is comprised of three two-hour episodes, "They Came to Stay," "The Best of Times, the Worst of Times," and "Home." Each is a richly textured tapestry of talking heads, still photos, archival footage, and audio and film clips (the inevitable Gentleman's Agreement ), and reveal how Jews have become woven into the fabric of Jewish life. Songwriter Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America," and the holiday classics "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade." Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster created Superman. Another crossover pop culture success was Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg of the Bronx, offering sage advice and homespun wisdom on radio, television and the movies. One illuminating segment reveals how assimilated movie mogul Louis B. Mayer's Andy Hardy films, with their "fairy tale visions of small town life," were the "American fantasies of a Jewish immigrant." Anti-Semitism rears its ugly head throughout the series. Grubin captures the hysteria surrounding the murder trial of Georgia factory worker Leo Franks, who, in 1915, was falsely convicted in the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, and subsequently lynched by a homicidal mob. The segment that addresses the Holocaust documents America's indifference in dealing with Hitler's "Final Solution." Grubin notes how political activism has long been a part of Jewish-American life, and how Jews took an active role in the Civil Rights struggle. As the old saying goes, you don't have to be Jewish to be compelled and profoundly moved by this ambitious documentary miniseries. But it couldn't hurt. --Donald Liebenson

title: The Alchemist, 25th Anniversary: A Fable About Following Your Dream