American Experience, Vol. 1: Season 22 Selections

I praise the quality content that PBS brings to American homes. I bought the episode "the bombing of Germany" not only because of its educational value but also because I thought the video's definition would be good, but I was disappointed. I'm not talking about the war films portions but about the rest (historian interviews, blurry fonts, etc.) I wish iTunes had improved the image quality.

AE makes great TV look easy. Season after season they prove why they're the gold standard in history documentaries. The episodes are consistently well researched, well written, and constructed with excellent attention to crafting a compelling narrative as well as visuals. Moreover, the AE never feels they need to blast music, create quick cut graphics, or dumb down the topic to capture and hold their audience's attention. They know that a great story always beats fluff. Whats amazing is that although this series has been created by hundreds of different people over the years, the quality is almost always consistently high. All others pale by comparison. I was especially surprised by this season's episode on Dolley Madison. Surprised because I usually hate documentaries that rely heavily on reenactments. But the actress portraying Dolley was so engaging and wonderfully spirited that I felt that AE really captured her completely. Dolley was renown as the preeminent hostess of the day, able to charm anyone and everyone with a gentle and authentic compassion and wit. The producers and actress bought this story to life as no one else could -- and with sincerity and expert attention to even the smallest historical detail.

Simply amazing!

The American Experience has been one of the most interesting, compelling, professional, and inspiring documentary series ever produced. My first question is: Why aren't there more of these on iTunes? There are hundreds of episodes of AE on many topics. The productions are top notch. They are partially funded by the American People through taxes and donations. I won't argue that they should be free and I'm glad they're available, but why not put ALL of them up for rental? I asked people from PBS and CPB and received very strange answers. Things like "We can't release the older ones because we're not allowed to" And other mysterious answers. If these are funded by PBS which is funded by CPB which is funded by the American People, then I don't understand why these are not more available? As to the content, I cannot say enough good things. It is simply my favorite documentary series. But why there are only EIGHT episodes out of the hundreds that have been produced, is a real mystery and quite confounding. It's not like we're not willing to rent or buy. If PBS had any sense they'd put them all up for rent and rake in the cash and use it to make more great shows. OK, that sounds harsh. I just don't understand PBS/CPB. It should NOT be that complicated!! The charter of the CPB is fairly simple! Apple, why don't you ask PBS to post all of their shows and see what they say? American Experience is terrific and I want to own every show, or at least, rent every one. VERY Highly Recommended! Please make more available!

This is perhaps one of the best shows on PBS if not TV, so It's about time. Thanks I-Tunes!