Frontline Episode Rating Graph
Jan 1983 - present
Jan 1983 - present
8.6
Browse episode ratings trends for Frontline. Simply click on the interactive rating graph to explore the best and worst of Frontline's 818 episodes.
S31 Ep17
8.3
19th Nov 2013
FRONTLINE marks the 40th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination with an encore broadcast of Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? — an investigative biography of the man at the center of the political crime of the century. The three-hour documentary special traces Oswald’s life from his boyhood to that fateful day in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, posing a number of questions: Was Oswald the emotionally disturbed “lone gunman”? Was he one of two gunmen that day in Dallas? Or was he an unwitting scapegoat for the real assassins?
S41 Ep14
8.3
25th Oct 2022
Frontline and the Associated Press trace Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pattern of atrocities in Ukraine and across other conflicts, exposing the challenges of trying to hold Russia to account. The documentary offers a window into the lives of Ukrainians living under siege, capturing the devastation of the war and the ongoing pursuit for accountability.
S40 Ep7
8.2
13th Apr 2021
Over the last three years, FRONTLINE has collaborated with ProPublica to investigate the rise of extremism in America. In the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, FRONTLINE and ProPublica team up again to examine how far-right groups were emboldened and encouraged by former President Trump and how individuals were radicalized and brought into the political landscape.
S40 Ep3
8.1
26th Jan 2021
From his first days as president to his last, how Trump stoked division, violence, and insurrection. FRONTLINE investigates Trump’s siege on his enemies, the media, and even the leaders of his own party, who for years ignored the warning signs of what was to come.
S42 Ep13
8.1
11th Jul 2023
With Vladimir Putin facing down a mutiny, how the Russian leader reached this moment of crisis. The story of Putin’s rise, his clashes at home and abroad, and how his troubled Ukraine war led to the greatest threat yet to his grip on power.
S42 Ep6
8.1
11th Apr 2023
How America's 20-year investment in Afghanistan culminated in Taliban victory. Drawing on decades of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with Taliban and U.S. officials, part two of this epic three-part investigation traces the missteps and consequences.
S41 Ep15
8.1
1st Nov 2022
Meet some of the defiant Russians pushing back against President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on critics of the war in Ukraine. FRONTLINE tells the inside stories of activists and journalists risking arrest and imprisonment to protest and speak out about the Kremlin’s war effort.
S41 Ep7
8.0
3rd May 2022
Frontline examines the fossil fuel industry’s history of casting doubt and delaying action on climate change. As leading climate scientists issue new warnings about climate change, Part Three examines how the fossil fuel industry worked to delay the transition to renewable energy sources — including by promoting natural gas as a cleaner alternative.
S40 Ep1
8.0
8th Jan 2021
With press freedom under threat in the Philippines, we go inside the escalating war between the press and the government. The documentary follows Maria Ressa, a renowned journalist who has become a top target of President Duterte's crackdown on the news media.
S36 Ep8
8.0
27th Feb 2018
FRONTLINE investigates how a dangerous political rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has plunged the Middle East into sectarian war.
S36 Ep7
8.0
20th Feb 2018
FRONTLINE investigates how a dangerous political rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia has plunged the Middle East into sectarian war.
S30 Ep5
8.0
3rd Jan 2012
Frontline reports on the unexpected collateral damage of the counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan.
S29 Ep18
8.0
6th Sep 2011
A report from the Washington Post on US government intelligence spending
S29 Ep7
8.0
1st Feb 2011
A collaboration with NPR and ProPublica reveals how dysfunction, low standards, and lax oversight impacts investigations into sudden or suspicious deaths.
S42 Ep5
7.9
4th Apr 2023
How America's 20-year investment in Afghanistan culminated in Taliban victory. Drawing on decades of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with Taliban and U.S. officials, part one of this epic three-part investigation traces the missteps and consequences.
S42 Ep19
7.9
21st Nov 2023
The AP's Mstyslav Chernov and two colleagues document atrocities and their own escape from the Russian siege of Mariupol.
S41 Ep12
7.8
6th Sep 2022
Frontline’s season premiere investigates American political leaders and choices they’ve made that have undermined and threatened democracy in the U.S. In a two-hour documentary special premiering ahead of the 2022 midterms, Frontline examines how officials fed the public lies about the 2020 presidential election and embraced rhetoric that led to political violence.
S41 Ep5
7.8
19th Apr 2022
Frontline examines the fossil fuel industry’s history of casting doubt and delaying action on climate change. Part One of this three-part series charts the fossil fuel industry's early research on climate change and investigates industry efforts to sow seeds of doubt about the science.
S39 Ep2
7.8
28th Jul 2020
How trafficking in conspiracy theories went from the fringes of U.S. politics into the White House. Frontline examines the alliance of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Trump advisor Roger Stone, and the president, and their role in the battle over truth and lies.
S41 Ep11
7.8
9th Aug 2022
An undercover investigation into the Taliban’s crackdown on women in Afghanistan. Frontline correspondent Ramita Navai finds women who are being punished by the regime and confronts Taliban officials.
S42 Ep3
7.8
31st Jan 2023
Vladimir Putin’s clashes with American presidents as he’s tried to rebuild the Russian empire. FRONTLINE traces the miscalculations and missteps of American presidents over five administrations, culminating in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
S42 Ep7
7.7
25th Apr 2023
How America's 20-year investment in Afghanistan culminated in Taliban victory. Drawing on decades of on-the-ground reporting and interviews with Taliban and U.S. officials, part three of this epic three-part investigation traces the missteps and consequences.
S41 Ep6
7.7
26th Apr 2022
Frontline examines the fossil fuel industry’s history of casting doubt and delaying action on climate change. Part Two of this three-part series explores the industry’s efforts to stall climate policy, even as evidence about climate change grew more certain in the new millennium.
S42 Ep11
7.7
13th Jun 2023
FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate deadly truck accidents and the fight over measures that could save thousands of lives. As deaths rise, the documentary examines decades of legal maneuvering, political influence, lax regulation and industry opposition.
S37 Ep21
7.7
28th May 2019
Sex Trafficking in America tells the unimaginable stories of young women coerced into prostitution – and follows one police unit that’s committed to rooting out sexual exploitation.
S35 Ep20
7.7
4th Oct 2017
Who killed Kim Jong-un’s half brother, Kim Jong-nam? What does the murder reveal about the North Korean leader and his regime? As nuclear tensions grow, Frontline examines claims that Kim Jong-un ordered the assassination of his half brother, and sheds light on his broader intentions.
S31 Ep1
7.7
8th Jan 2013
Examine the legacy of controversial former chancellor of Washington, DC, public schools, Michelle Rhee.
S23 Ep6
7.7
23rd Nov 2004
The surprising history and clever tactics of an industry few Americans fully understand.
S42 Ep1
7.6
3rd Jan 2023
Investigating the powerful spyware Pegasus, sold to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. This two-part series from FRONTLINE and Forbidden Films examines how the hacking tool was used to spy on journalists, activists, the fiancée of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and others.
S42 Ep15
7.6
26th Sep 2023
The story of one journalist's battle to defend free speech in Putin's Russia. With unique access, the film follows Nobel prize-winner Dmitry Muratov as he fights to keep his newspaper alive and his reporters safe amid a government crackdown.
S42 Ep2
7.6
10th Jan 2023
FRONTLINE and Forbidden Stories investigate the powerful spyware Pegasus, sold to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. Part two of a joint investigation into the hacking tool used to spy on journalists, activists, the fiancée of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and others.
S41 Ep10
7.6
2nd Aug 2022
A dramatic and intimate look inside the Russian assault on Kharkiv. Frontline follows displaced families trying to survive underground, civilians caught in the fight and first responders risking their lives amid the shelling of Ukraine’s second largest city.
S41 Ep1
7.6
15th Feb 2022
FRONTLINE and Retro Report tell the story of the 1967 killing of Wharlest Jackson Sr., a local NAACP leader in Natchez, Mississippi. The documentary follows Jackson’s family as they search for the truth about what happened and examines the history of white supremacy in Natchez. It is part of FRONTLINE's multiplatform Un(re)solved initiative.
S40 Ep8
7.6
26th Apr 2021
The epic story of how people around the world lived through the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, from lockdowns to funerals to protests. Filming across the globe and using extensive personal video and local footage, FRONTLINE documented how people and countries responded to COVID-19 across cultures, races, faiths and privilege.
S41 Ep4
7.6
29th Mar 2022
Frontline and ProPublica examine how lies about election fraud in 2020 have made their way to the center of American politics and how a handful of people have had an outsized impact on the current crisis of democratic legitimacy in the United States.
S40 Ep15
7.6
20th Jul 2021
FRONTLINE investigates the consequences of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. With exclusive access to a militant wing of the Taliban, correspondent Najibullah Quraishi tells the story of Iran’s growing influence across Afghanistan. Also this hour, a report on politics and rape in India.
S43 Ep2
7.5
30th Jan 2024
The roots of the criminal cases against former President Trump stemming from his 2020 election loss. Amid the presidential race, examining the House Jan. 6 committee’s evidence, the threat to democracy and the historic charges against Trump.
S43 Ep3
7.5
16th Apr 2024
FRONTLINE examines how thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken and held in Russian-controlled territory since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The documentary follows Ukrainian families searching for their missing children, organizations investigating the alleged abductions and Ukrainian teenagers who escaped and say they were subjected to Russian propaganda.
S42 Ep22
7.5
19th Dec 2023
Part 1: As the war in Gaza continues with devastating consequences, a major 90-minute documentary offers a sweeping examination of the critical moments and missteps that led to this crisis over the course of the past three decades, and the pivotal role of a central player: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Part 2: How Hamas was able to breach Israel’s vaunted security barrier on Oct. 7, 2023. This special collaboration stems from a Washington Post reconstruction, now deepened with additional on-the-ground reporting and riveting interviews that present a remarkable picture of how, as The Post reporters show, Hamas was planning the attack in plain sight, and Israel was blinded to its own vulnerabilities.
S42 Ep9
7.5
23rd May 2023
The enduring story of the battle of Fallujah, told by the people who lived through it. Twenty years after the invasion of Iraq, soldiers, journalists and ordinary Iraqis recount one of the defining episodes of the war.
S37 Ep4
7.5
14th Aug 2018
Thomas Erdbrink shares a rare journey into a private Iran often at odds with its conservative clerics and leaders. The series offers surprising encounters inside the closed society of Iran, as Erdbrink gets Iranians to reveal the intricacies of their private worlds and the challenges of living under theocratic leaders.
S37 Ep3
7.5
13th Aug 2018
Thomas Erdbrink shares a rare journey into a private Iran often at odds with its conservative clerics and leaders. The series offers surprising encounters inside the closed society of Iran, as Erdbrink gets Iranians to reveal the intricacies of their private worlds and the challenges of living under theocratic leaders.
S30 Ep24
7.5
13th Nov 2012
FRONTLINE explores the underground world of assisted suicide and takes viewers inside one of the most polarizing social issues of our time – told not only by the people choosing to die, but also by their "assisters," individuals and right-to-die organizations that put themselves in legal jeopardy by helping others to die.
S30 Ep22
7.5
23rd Oct 2012
Four years ago, climate change was a hot issue and politicians from both sides seemed poised to act. Today public opinion on the climate issue has cooled considerably. Politicians either ignore it or proclaim their skepticism. What’s behind this massive reversal? FRONTLINE goes inside the organizations that fought the scientific establishment to shift the direction of the climate debate.
S30 Ep21
7.5
9th Oct 2012
A journey into the places, people, and decisive moments that made the men who are competing for the presidency. Hundreds of hours of research and dozens of original interviews reveal new details and fresh insights about the two candidates — and our choice this November.
S30 Ep14
7.5
26th Jun 2012
Dental care can be a matter of life and death. Yet millions of Americans cannot afford a visit to the dentist. An investigation by Frontline and the Center for Public Integrity reveals the shocking consequences of a broken safety net.
S29 Ep17
7.5
26th Jul 2011
The Pot Republic: FRONTLINE and The Center for Investigative Reporting team up to investigate California's marijuana market. Doctor Hotspot: Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his team are pioneering a practice called “hotspotting,” in which medical care is focused on the hardest-to-treat to improve their health and dramatically reduce costs. The Atomic Artists: FRONTLINE with PRI’s The World meet Chim?Pom, a provocative group of young artists using art to challenge the status quo and ask Japan to rethink their way of life.
S28 Ep10
7.5
18th May 2010
Since the Iraq War began, soldier arrests in the city of Colorado Springs have tripled. At least thirty-six servicemen based at the nearby Army post of Fort Carson have committed suicide. And fourteen Fort Carson soldiers have been charged or convicted in at least eleven killings. Many of the most violent crimes involved men who had served in the same battalion in Iraq. Three of them came from a single platoon of infantrymen. FRONTLINE tells the dark tale of the men of 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st battalion of the 506th infantry; and how the war followed them home. It is a story of heroism, grief, vicious combat, depression, drugs, alcohol and brutal murder; an investigation into the Army's mental health services; and a powerful portrait of what multiple tours and post-traumatic stress are doing to a generation of young American soldiers.
S28 Ep8
7.5
27th Apr 2010
Frontline examines both sides of the debate over vaccines. On one side, the public health community wholeheartedly endorses them. One the other, parents and politicians accuse them of causing disorders like autism.
S26 Ep17
7.5
17th Jun 2008
A remarkably intimate look into the lives of nine young Chinese coming of age in a society changing as fast as any in history.
S26 Ep16
7.5
15th Apr 2008
In the debate over health care, what might the U.S. learn from the successes and failures of five other capitalist democracies?
S21 Ep9
7.5
9th Jan 2003
Each year, six thousand Americans lose their lives on the job. Tens of thousands more are seriously injured or exposed to deadly poisons and carcinogens in the workplace. Yet if one of those workers dies on the job due to a company's willful disregard for federal safety regulations, the maximum penalty his employer faces is just six months in prison. Are America's workplace safety laws tough enough? And are companies being held responsible for protecting the safety of their employees? FRONTLINE investigates workplace safety in one of America's most dangerous industries.
S5 Ep2
7.5
3rd Feb 1987
Frontline examines the startling implications of what will happen when the big earthquake hits California, detailing the awesome effects as systems rupture and the entire nation's economy, industries, and national security are jeopardized.
S2 Ep20
7.5
13th Nov 1984
Two men, a Palestinian and an Israeli, born thirty miles apart, journey to America. In synagogues and universities, on television talk shows and interviews, they try to project a message: that a solution for the West Bank is possible.
S41 Ep2
7.5
15th Mar 2022
FRONTLINE tells the story of what led to Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, examining the events that shaped the Russian leader, the grievances that drive him and how a growing conflict with the West exploded into war in Europe.
S42 Ep21
7.4
12th Dec 2023
How a young Air National Guardsman allegedly leaked classified documents onto the Discord chat platform. With The Washington Post, FRONTLINE examines Jack Teixeira’s alleged leak of national security secrets, why he wasn’t stopped, and the role of platforms like Discord.
S42 Ep4
7.4
14th Mar 2023
The role of the Federal Reserve’s “easy money” policies in the current economic uncertainty. From the Great Recession to the rise in inflation, FRONTLINE examines the ongoing fragility of the financial system and the widening gap between Wall St. and Main St.
S42 Ep12
7.4
29th Jun 2023
With a trove of gripping footage filmed by protestors, this documentary goes inside the uprising that rocked Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody — and sheds new light on a regime under unprecedented pressure. Last fall, anti-government protests swept across Iran after the death in police custody of a young woman, Mahsa Zhina Amini, who was accused of not adhering to the Islamic regime’s strict dress code. In the crackdown on protests that followed, human rights groups estimate that more than 500 Iranians have been killed, including 72 children. In a country where journalists are tightly controlled, young Iranians have been filming the uprising themselves and posting the videos online. For more than six months, FRONTLINE has been gathering and reviewing over 100 hours of this footage, cross-checking it with testimony from eyewitnesses and protestors, and following activists and exiles who have been gathering evidence of human rights violations.
S41 Ep8
7.4
31st May 2022
With Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters from the Star Tribune, the documentary "Police on Trial" investigates the Minneapolis police, from the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests, to the trial of Derek Chauvin, to the struggle for accountability.
S40 Ep17
7.4
7th Sep 2021
From veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker and chronicler of U.S. politics Michael Kirk and his team, this documentary traces the U.S. response to the September 11 terrorist attacks and the devastating consequences that unfolded across three presidencies. This two-hour special offers an epic re-examination of the decisions that changed the world and transformed America.
S40 Ep20
7.3
9th Nov 2021
A leak reveals hidden assets and deals of the wealthy and powerful; the legacy of a 1981 massacre in El Salvador.
S40 Ep10
7.3
4th May 2021
An unprecedented undercover investigation into one of the world’s most repressive regimes — Eritrea. Exclusive secret footage and testimony shed new light on shocking allegations of torture, arbitrary detention and indefinite forced conscription.
S39 Ep1
7.3
21st Jul 2020
An examination on how the COVID crisis has hit vulnerable immigrants and undocumented workers. The documentary follows the coronavirus pandemic’s invisible victims, including crucial farm and meat-packing workers who lack protections and have been getting sick.
S38 Ep20
7.3
23rd Jun 2020
The story of a drug company that pushed opioids by bribing doctors and committing insurance fraud. With the Financial Times, FRONTLINE investigates how Insys Therapeutics profited from a fentanyl-based painkiller 50 times stronger than heroin.
S38 Ep13
7.3
18th Feb 2020
FRONTLINE examines Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ascent to power and the global impact of the empire he built. The film also investigates the darker side of the company’s rapid growth, and the challenge of trying to rein in the power of the richest man in the world.
S38 Ep4
7.3
29th Oct 2019
A year after the devastating Camp Fire, FRONTLINE examines who’s to blame and why it was so catastrophic. With accounts from survivors and first responders, the documentary tells the inside story of the most destructive fire in California's history, its causes and the impact of climate change.
S38 Ep1
7.3
1st Oct 2019
A year after the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, FRONTLINE investigates the rise of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. In a two-hour documentary, Martin Smith — who has covered the Middle East for FRONTLINE for 20 years — examines the crown prince's vision for the future of Saudi Arabia, his handling of dissent and his ties to Khashoggi's killing.
S36 Ep15
7.3
24th Jul 2018
An investigation into sex abuse by United Nations peacekeepers in the world’s conflict zones. Award-winning correspondent Ramita Navai (Iraq Uncovered) traces allegations from Congo to the Central African Republic, with firsthand accounts from survivors, witnesses and officials.
S34 Ep9
7.3
24th May 2016
When disaster strikes, who profits? FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the Business of Disaster, focusing on the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy: the thousands still not home, the agencies that were supposed to help and the companies that made millions.
S34 Ep4
7.3
23rd Feb 2016
FRONTLINE looks at America's heroin crisis in a fresh and provocative light -- telling the stories of individual addicts, but also illuminating the epidemic's years-in-the-making social context, deeply examining shifts in drug policy, and exploring what happens when addiction is treated like a public health issue, not a crime.
S33 Ep3
7.3
10th Feb 2015
FRONTLINE follows renowned New Yorker writer and Boston surgeon Atul Gawande as he explores the relationships doctors have with patients who are nearing the end of life. In conjunction with Gawande’s new book, Being Mortal, the film investigates the practice of caring for the dying, and shows how doctors — himself included — are often remarkably untrained, ill-suited and uncomfortable talking about chronic illness and death with their patients.
S31 Ep19
7.3
2nd Apr 2013
In a special two-part series, acclaimed filmmaker David Sutherland (The Farmer’s Wife, Country Boys) creates an unforgettable portrait of Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old divorced single mother and Oglala Sioux woman living on North Dakota’s Spirit Lake Reservation. Sutherland follows Robin over three years as she struggles to raise her two children, further her education, and heal herself from the wounds of sexual abuse she suffered as a child. Kind Hearted Woman is a special co-presentation of FRONTLINE and Independent Lens.
S31 Ep15
7.3
8th Oct 2013
An investigation of the health crisis threatening NFL players and the long-term fortunes of football.
S43 Ep8
7.3
30th Jul 2024
Since the Holocaust, Germany has worked to overcome its Nazi history. But over the past decade, Germany has faced a rising wave of far-right violence and plots against Jews, Muslims, immigrants and politicians. Amid accusations that the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD) has provoked violence, which it denies, FRONTLINE investigates the rise of far-right extremism in Germany today.
S40 Ep12
7.3
1st Jun 2021
A powerful Syrian militant called a terrorist by the U.S. seeks a new relationship with the West. In his first interview with a Western journalist, former Al Qaeda commander Abu Mohammad al-Jolani says his fight is with Syrian President Assad, not the U.S.
S40 Ep11
7.3
18th May 2021
FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19. The documentary examines how pressure to increase profits and uneven government support is widening the divide between rich and poor hospitals, endangering care for the most needy.
S40 Ep13
7.2
29th Jun 2021
FRONTLINE investigates the rise of far-right extremism and violence in Germany. The documentary traces how extremists have carried out terror plots and attacks on Jews and migrants, infiltrated the security services, and what authorities are doing to confront the growing problem.
S42 Ep14
7.2
5th Sep 2023
In this two-part special, FRONTLINE looks at a little known "two strikes" law and pregnancy in prison. In collaboration with The Marshall Project, the first half examines how a former West Point cadet got life in prison under a "two strikes" law. The second half documents what happens to pregnant women in prison and their newborns.
S41 Ep16
7.2
6th Dec 2022
Part 1: Crime Scene: Bucha - FRONTLINE, The Associated Press and SITU Research team up to present an exclusive visual investigation of the atrocities committed in the Ukrainian town of Bucha during Russia’s month-long occupation earlier this year. Drawing on hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, intercepted phone calls and a 3D model of Bucha, the collaborative investigation maps the scope of the carnage — more than 450 deaths in all — and with forensic detail charts how Russian soldiers ran “cleansing” operations. Part 2: After Zero Tolerance - The story of a family’s struggle to reunite after being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
S41 Ep3
7.2
22nd Mar 2022
An examination of the powerful and polarizing Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. The documentary traces Pelosi's life and legacy, how she has gained and wielded power across three decades, and how she has faced grave challenges to her leadership and to American democracy from Trump and his allies.
S43 Ep1
7.2
23rd Jan 2024
Beyond Gaza, the power of Hamas, Hezbollah and other forces in the region. Correspondent Ramita Navai investigates militants in the West Bank and Lebanon, their ties to Iran and their role in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
S42 Ep17
7.2
10th Oct 2023
Elon Musk’s long and often troubled relationship with Twitter. FRONTLINE traces Musk’s journey from one of the platform’s most provocative users to its sole proprietor, exploring the acquisition, free speech issues and the company’s uncertain future.
S43 Ep7
7.1
23rd Jul 2024
Filmed over 34 years, two families struggle to survive in a changing American economy. Through hard times, falling wages, and loss of manufacturing jobs, the continuation of Bill Moyers’ chronicle of perseverance as the American dream slips away.
S42 Ep10
7.1
30th May 2023
A year after the Uvalde school shooting, FRONTLINE, Futuro Investigates, and The Texas Tribune document the community's trauma, efforts to heal, and the fight over assault rifles.
S43 Ep5
7.0
14th May 2024
With the Venezuelan news outlet Armando.info, FRONTLINE investigates the shadowy figure at the heart of a corruption scandal spanning from Venezuela to the U.S. This 90-minute documentary tells the inside story of Alex Saab, his capture and then release by the U.S. in a controversial prisoner swap, and what has happened to the journalists who helped uncover the corruption scandal.
S43 Ep4
7.0
30th Apr 2024
FRONTLINE and The Associated Press investigate deaths that occurred after police used tactics like prone restraint and other “less-lethal force.” The documentary and accompanying reporting draw on police records, autopsy reports and body cam footage, and the most expansive tally of such deaths nationwide.
S42 Ep8
7.0
9th May 2023
As controversy erupts around Clarence and Ginni Thomas, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of their path to power. This investigation from veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team traces how race, power and controversy collide in the rise of the Supreme Court justice and his wife and how the couple has reshaped American law and politics.
S41 Ep13
7.0
18th Oct 2022
How did Michael Flynn go from being an elite soldier overseas to waging a “spiritual war” in America? In collaboration with the Associated Press, Frontline examines how the retired three-star general has emerged as a leader in a far-right movement that puts its brand of Christianity at the center of American civic life & institutions and is attracting election deniers, conspiracists & extremists.
S41 Ep9
7.0
26th Jul 2022
Why have American families struggled to keep their homes during the COVID pandemic, despite a federal ban on evictions? With Retro Report, Frontline offers an intimate look at the United States’ affordable housing crisis through the eyes of tenants, landlords, judges and law enforcement.
S40 Ep19
7.0
12th Oct 2021
The Taliban take over Afghanistan, and the threat of ISIS and Al Qaeda intensifies. On the ground, reporter Najibullah Quraishi investigates uncertainty and fear among the Afghan people and revisits the lead-up to the U.S. defeat and the Taliban’s return.
S40 Ep5
7.0
9th Feb 2021
How Iranian-backed Shia militias are terrorizing Iraq. FRONTLINE investigates allegations that militias are threatening and killing critics with impunity and targeting U.S. interests. Also in this hour, how COVID is worsening Yemen's humanitarian crisis.
S39 Ep9
7.0
17th Nov 2020
A FRONTLINE post-election special on the lives, fears and hopes of Americans, from the pandemic to the polls. This documentary was filmed around the U.S. for much of the year, following Americans as they dealt with COVID-19 in their communities this spring, responded to George Floyd’s killing this summer, and then experienced this divisive election and its aftermath this fall.
S39 Ep8
7.0
20th Oct 2020
As America chooses its next president in the midst of a historic pandemic, Frontline investigates whose vote counts — and whose might not. New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb reports on allegations of voter disenfranchisement, how unfounded claims of extensive voter fraud entered the political mainstream, rhetoric and realities around mail-in ballots, and how the pandemic could impact turnout.
S39 Ep7
7.0
6th Oct 2020
Why was the United States left scrambling for critical medical equipment as the coronavirus swept the country? With the Associated Press and Global Reporting Centre, FRONTLINE investigates the fragmented global medical supply chain and its deadly consequences.
S39 Ep6
7.0
22nd Sep 2020
In this 2-hour special from veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team, hear from friends, family, colleagues and adversaries about the challenges that shaped Trump and Biden’s lives and could inform how they confront the crises facing the nation at this pivotal juncture.
S39 Ep4
7.0
8th Sep 2020
The experience of childhood poverty against the backdrop of a pandemic and a national reckoning with racism. Set in Ohio, the film follows children and their families navigating issues of poverty, homelessness, race and new challenges due to COVID-19.
S38 Ep21
7.0
14th Jul 2020
This is the story of the Iraq war, told by Iraqis who lived through it. They share their personal accounts and lasting memories of life under Saddam Hussein, the U.S.-led invasion of their country and the 17 years of chaos that followed — from the sectarian violence to the rise and brutal reign of ISIS.
S38 Ep16
7.0
7th Apr 2020
With undercover footage and firsthand accounts from survivors of China's detention camps, FRONTLINE investigates the Communist regime’s mass imprisonment of Muslims, and its use of sophisticated surveillance technology against the Uyghur community.
S38 Ep15
7.0
31st Mar 2020
With the plastic industry expanding like never before, and the crisis of ocean pollution growing, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the fight over the future of plastics.
S38 Ep14
7.0
24th Mar 2020
Once an unrivaled political power, the NRA is facing challenges from all sides. FRONTLINE examines how the NRA aligned with President Trump and his base, and finds itself under attack ahead of the 2020 election.
S38 Ep12
7.0
11th Feb 2020
FRONTLINE goes inside the battle for Hong Kong, following protesters through the most intense clashes over several months of pro-democracy protests. The film examines their struggle against what they say is growing influence from the communist government of mainland China.
S38 Ep11
7.0
21st Jan 2020
FRONTLINE reporter Najibullah Quraishi goes on a dangerous journey into both Taliban- and ISIS-held territory amid efforts to end nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan. Also in this two-part hour, an investigation with the ICIJ into how Isabel dos Santos became Africa’s richest woman.
S38 Ep10
7.0
13th Jan 2020
A two-part investigation into America’s increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics. Part Two of the documentary examines how Donald Trump’s campaign exploited the country’s divisions and how his presidency has unleashed anger on both sides of the divide.
S38 Ep9
7.0
13th Jan 2020
A two-part investigation into America’s increasingly bitter, divided and toxic politics. Part One of the documentary traces how Barack Obama’s promise of unity collapsed as increasing racial, cultural and political divisions laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump.
S38 Ep8
7.0
7th Jan 2020
FRONTLINE investigates how El Paso, Texas became the Trump administration’s immigration testing ground, and then the target of a white supremacist. Interviews with current and former officials, Border Patrol agents, advocates and migrants tell the inside story from the epicenter of the border crisis.
S38 Ep7
7.0
19th Nov 2019
In a time of conflict and darkness in her home in Aleppo, Syria, one young woman kept her camera rolling — while falling in love, getting married, having a baby and saying goodbye as her city crumbled. The award-winning documentary unfolds as a love letter from filmmaker and young mother Waad al-Kateab to her daughter — Sama.
S38 Ep6
7.0
12th Nov 2019
In an investigation with The Associated Press, FRONTLINE examines the widespread consequences — and business — of the mass confinement of migrant children. The documentary details the traumatic stories of migrant children detained under President Trump’s immigration policies. Also in this two-part hour, a report on the sexual exploitation of women and girls in Iraq.
S38 Ep5
7.0
5th Nov 2019
From fears about work and privacy to a rivalry between the U.S. and China, FRONTLINE explores the promise and perils of AI. The documentary traces a new industrial revolution that will reshape and disrupt our lives, our jobs and our world, and allow the emergence of the surveillance society.
S38 Ep3
7.0
22nd Oct 2019
How Trump turned immigration into a powerful political weapon that fueled division. Inside the effort by three insurgents to tap into populist anger, transform the GOP, and crack down on immigration.
S38 Ep2
7.0
8th Oct 2019
A searing, on-the-ground look at President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly campaign against suspected drug dealers and users in the Philippines, "On the President's Orders" is told with unprecedented access to the police themselves. It offers a gripping, visually stunning window into the war on drugs — those carrying it out, and those most impacted by it.
S37 Ep22
7.0
10th Sep 2019
Five years after the start of Flint’s water crisis, FRONTLINE exposes its hidden toll. Our two-year investigation traces how a public health disaster that’s become known for the lead poisoning of thousands of children also spawned one of the largest outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease in U.S. history.
S37 Ep20
7.0
21st May 2019
Inside the no-holds-barred war for control of the Supreme Court. From Brett Kavanaugh to Robert Bork, an investigation of how a 30-year-old grievance transformed the court and turned confirmations into bitter, partisan conflicts.
S37 Ep19
7.0
7th May 2019
The inside story of President Trump’s gamble to confront China over trade. Reporting from the U.S. and China, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate what led the world’s two largest economies to the brink, and the billions at stake.
S37 Ep18
7.0
30th Apr 2019
As young children, they lived through the Holocaust. More than seventy years after World War II, some of the last remaining survivors recount their memories and the lingering trauma. FRONTLINE offers a haunting look at how disturbing childhood experiences and unimaginable loss have affected the daily lives and relationships of some of the Holocaust’s youngest victims – from survivor’s guilt, to crises of faith and second-generation trauma.
S37 Ep17
7.0
23rd Apr 2019
FRONTLINE goes inside the fight over abortion, told through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. Drawing on a landmark FRONTLINE film from the 1980s, the documentary takes a look at both sides of the abortion divide in a community still embroiled in the conflict.
S37 Ep16
7.0
15th Apr 2019
Elizabeth Perez, a decorated U.S. Marine veteran, fights to reunite her family after her undocumented husband, Marcos, is deported. Meanwhile, Marcos is alone in Mexico, working as a soccer referee, struggling with depression and fighting the urge to cross the border illegally to see his family.
S37 Ep15
7.0
25th Mar 2019
For two years, special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election has dominated headlines. Drawing from interviews with U.S. officials, Trump advisers, legal experts and journalists, FRONTLINE offers an inside look into the investigation that President Donald Trump has continually deemed a “witch hunt.” Update aired 5/14/2019.
S37 Ep14
7.0
19th Mar 2019
Victims call him the Butcher of Bosnia. Defenders say he protected the Serbs. With exclusive access to the prosecution and defense teams, the film chronicles the trial of Ratko Mladić accused of genocide and war crimes. FRONTLINE offers an epic story of justice, accountability and a country at odds over its bloody past.
S37 Ep13
7.0
26th Feb 2019
Thousands of New Yorkers with severe mental illnesses won the chance to live independently in supported housing, following a 2014 federal court order. FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate what’s happened to people moved from adult homes into apartments and find more than two dozen cases in which the system failed, sometimes with deadly consequences.
S37 Ep12
7.0
12th Feb 2019
FRONTLINE and The Wall Street Journal investigate the decades-long failure to stop a government doctor accused of sexually abusing Native American boys for years, and examine how he moved from reservation to reservation despite warnings.
S37 Ep11
7.0
22nd Jan 2019
Frontline and NPR investigate the rise of severe black lung disease among coal miners, and the failure to respond. This joint investigation reveals the biggest disease clusters ever documented, and how the industry and the government failed to protect miners. Also in this two-part hour, Frontline presents a report from Yemen.
S37 Ep10
7.0
20th Nov 2018
An investigation of a neo-Nazi group that has actively recruited inside the U.S. military examining the group’s terrorist objectives.
S37 Ep9
7.0
30th Oct 2018
A series of mounting crises at Facebook, from the company’s failure to protect users’ data, to the proliferation of “fake news” and disinformation, have raised the question: How has Facebook’s historic success brought about real-world harm? Frontline traces a series of warnings to the company as it grew into a global empire.
S37 Ep8
7.0
29th Oct 2018
Facebook’s promise was to create a more open and connected world. Frontline finds that multiple warnings about the platform’s negative impact on privacy and democracy were eclipsed by Facebook’s relentless pursuit of growth.
S37 Ep7
7.0
23rd Oct 2018
FRONTLINE investigates the role of state governments and Wall Street in driving America’s public pensions into a multi-trillion-dollar hole. Marcela Gaviria, Martin Smith, and Nick Verbitsky go inside the volatile fight over pensions playing out in Kentucky, and examine the broader consequences for teachers, police, firefighters and other public employees everywhere.
S37 Ep6
7.0
2nd Oct 2018
FRONTLINE goes inside President Trump’s fight against the investigation of his campaign and whether he obstructed justice. With the threat of impeachment growing, this two-hour documentary from filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team traces Trump’s unprecedented war against the special counsel, the FBI, and even his own attorney general.
S37 Ep5
7.0
11th Sep 2018
Intimate stories of one Rust Belt city’s struggle to recover in the post-recession economy. FRONTLINE and ProPublica report on the economic and social forces shaping Dayton, Ohio, a once-booming city where nearly 35 percent of people now live in poverty.
S37 Ep2
7.0
7th Aug 2018
FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate the white supremacists and neo-Nazis involved in the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. This is the first in a series of two Documenting Hate films from FRONTLINE and ProPublica, with the second coming later in 2018.
S37 Ep1
7.0
31st Jul 2018
The inside story of what happened to immigrant children separated from their parents at the border. The film explores the impact of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, and how both Trump and Obama dealt with minors at the border.
S36 Ep14
7.0
8th May 2018
Secret footage and eyewitness accounts shine new light on a brutal campaign by the Myanmar military against Rohingya Muslims — an effort that has been described by both the United Nations and the United States as “ethnic cleansing.”
S36 Ep13
7.0
1st May 2018
FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the humanitarian and economic crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, examining how the federal response, Wall Street and years of neglect have left the island struggling to survive.
S36 Ep12
7.0
24th Apr 2018
FRONTLINE and the Investigative Reporting Program at U.C. Berkeley tell the inside story of Guatemalan teens who were forced to work against their will on an Ohio egg farm in 2014.
S36 Ep10
7.0
10th Apr 2018
FRONTLINE goes inside President Trump’s high-stakes battle for control of the GOP, examining how he attacked fellow Republicans and used inflammatory rhetoric that rallied his base and further divided the country in his first year as president.
S36 Ep9
7.0
2nd Mar 2018
FRONTLINE investigates how Harvey Weinstein allegedly sexually harassed and abused dozens of women over four decades. With allegations going back to Weinstein’s early years, the film examines the elaborate ways he and those around him tried to silence his accusers.
S36 Ep6
7.0
13th Feb 2018
Some 25 dead bodies have been found on Long Island since 2016, all linked to the violent gang MS-13. Numerous immigrant teens are missing. As law enforcement tries to stop the gang, FRONTLINE goes inside the crackdown — investigating how the slew of gruesome killings led to many immigrant teens being accused of gang affiliation and unlawfully detained.
S36 Ep5
7.0
23rd Jan 2018
The intimate stories of refugees and migrants, caught in Europe’s tightened borders. Amid the ongoing migration crisis, the film — a sequel to the award-winning 2016 documentary, Exodus — follows personal journeys over two years, as countries become less welcoming to those seeking refuge.
S36 Ep4
7.0
22nd Nov 2017
In 2012, FRONTLINE spent months following four young children as their families struggled with financial ruin. This documentary revisits the families to see what their lives are like now, offering a powerful, firsthand look at what poverty means to children.
S36 Ep3
7.0
1st Nov 2017
The dramatic story of a Gitmo detainee released from the controversial U.S. prison after more than a decade. With NPR, a report on the struggle over freeing prisoners once deemed international terrorists. Also in this two-part hour: “Forever Prison,” a collaboration with Retro Report exploring the untold history of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
S36 Ep2
7.0
25th Oct 2017
Reporter Ghaith Abdul-Ahad goes inside the battle against ISIS for control of the city of Mosul. Also in this two-part hour: "Hunting ISIS," a dramatic report on an Iraqi unit at the center of the fight.
S36 Ep1
7.0
18th Oct 2017
The battle to drive ISIS out of Iraq’s second-largest city was brutal and grueling. Shot over the course of the nine-month battle, “Mosul” follows one Iraqi special forces unit as they lead the fight. Also in this two-part hour: “Inside Yemen” offers a rare, up-close look at the country that’s home to what the United Nations recently called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
S35 Ep21
7.0
11th Oct 2017
How did Scott Pruitt go from fighting the EPA to running it and rolling back years of environmental protections? With access to key players behind his rise, and former EPA officials, Frontline provides an inside look at the ascent of the anti-regulatory movement in America.
S35 Ep19
7.0
12th Sep 2017
From acclaimed director Steve James, the little-known story of the only U.S. bank prosecuted in relation to the 2008 financial crisis. An Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature in 2018.
S35 Ep18
7.0
18th Jul 2017
With unique access, Frontline and The New York Times go inside an effort to change the way parole works in Connecticut and reduce the number of people returning to prison. The film follows four former inmates as they try to find work, stay sober and keep out of trouble while navigating their first year on parole.
S35 Ep17
7.0
23rd May 2017
The team behind "The Choice 2016" and "Divided States of America" tells the inside story of Trump adviser Stephen Bannon and his war with Washington, with White House rivals and with Islam. Frontline explores Bannon's personal crusade to dramatically transform America, and his role in the power struggles and policy clashes within the Trump administration.
S35 Ep16
7.0
16th May 2017
Frontline investigates how the Bundy family's fight against the government invigorated armed militias and "patriot" groups. The film goes inside the family's standoffs over public land in the West, and examines how groups aligned with them have grown to levels not seen in decades.
S35 Ep15
7.0
9th May 2017
An investigation with NPR into the billions spent on housing low-income people, and why so few get the help they need. The film examines the politics, profits and problems of an affordable housing system in crisis.
S35 Ep14
7.0
2nd May 2017
Frontline investigates the fight over the fate of juveniles serving life in prison for murder, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling. The film examines the impact of the order to re-evaluate thousands of juvenile murder cases and follows two of the first convicts to be released.
S35 Ep13
7.0
25th Apr 2017
Best-selling author and lifelong fisherman Paul Greenberg spends a year eating fish at breakfast, lunch and dinner to help answer the question: “What fish should I eat that’s good for me and good for the planet?”
S35 Ep12
7.0
18th Apr 2017
Inside one state’s ambitious attempt to decrease its use of solitary — and what happens when prisoners who have spent considerable time in isolation try to integrate back into society.
S35 Ep11
7.0
21st Mar 2017
FRONTLINE investigates allegations of abuse of Sunni Muslim civilians by powerful Shia militias.
S35 Ep10
7.0
21st Feb 2017
Out of Gitmo: The dramatic story of a Gitmo detainee released from the controversial U.S. prison after more than a decade. With NPR, a report on the struggle over freeing prisoners once deemed international terrorists. Forever Prison: a collaboration with Retro Report exploring the untold history of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
S35 Ep9
7.0
31st Jan 2017
Battle for Iraq: Reporter Ghaith Abdul-Ahad goes inside the battle against ISIS for control of the city of Mosul. Hunting ISIS: a dramatic report on an Iraqi unit at the center of the fight.
S24 Ep1
3.5
4th Oct 2005
On October 3, 1995, an estimated 150 million people stopped what they were doing to witness the televised verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial. For more than a year, the O.J. saga transfixed the nation and dominated the public imagination. Ten years later, veteran FRONTLINE producer Ofra Bikel revisits the "perfect storm" that was the O.J. Simpson trial. Through extensive interviews with the defense, prosecution and journalists, FRONTLINE explores the verdict -- which, more than any other in recent history, measured the difference between being white and black in America.
S43 Ep14
3.5
29th Oct 2024
Following the changing views and experiences of Americans from the 2020 election to today; revisiting voters filmed four years ago, to see how their hopes and fears have changed amid another polarizing election season.
S5 Ep1
4.0
27th Jan 1987
One year after the Challenger disaster, Frontline examined the all-too-human side of the space program as seen through the eyes of the astronauts and engineers responsible for making it work. Correspondent James Reston tells the inside story of a program plagued by problems and politics.
S12 Ep12
4.0
1st Mar 1994
Sarajevo: the Living and the Dead is a 1993 documentary film directed by Radovan Tadic.
S13 Ep5
4.0
15th Nov 1994
In 1969, Hillary Rodham Clinton and four hundred other smart, privileged, young women graduated from Wellesley College into a world that for the first time was opening its doors to women. But what about her classmates who left college believing they could do anything? In 1969, Hillary Rodham Clinton and four hundred other smart, privileged, young women graduated from Wellesley College into a world that for the first time was opening its doors to women.
S13 Ep18
4.0
6th Jun 1995
Prozac is the most prescribed antidepressant drug in America. FRONTLINE travels to the prozac capital of the world, Wenatchee, Washington, and talks to the ‘Pied Piper of Prozac,’ Dr. Jim Goodwin, a clinical psychologist who says Prozac is ‘probably less toxic than salt’ and has had it prescribed for all his seven hundred patients. Psychiatrist Peter Breggin and members of the Prozac Survivors Support Group, however, question the use of the drug.
S14 Ep1
4.0
17th Oct 1995
FRONTLINE investigates the April 1993 FBI siege of the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, Texas. With access to secret government documents, audio and videotapes, correspondent Peter Boyer of "The New Yorker" probes the untold story of the fierce political infighting inside the FBI's Waco command center and in the corridors of power at the Justice Department in Washington.
S14 Ep5
4.0
14th Nov 1995
FRONTLINE takes a riveting and intimate look at a notorious murder case--the story of Maduev, a cunning Russian gangster and killer known as 'The Wolf.' Maduev charmed and seduced all who crossed his path, including his state prosecutor, Natasha Voronstova, who smuggled him a gun to make his escape from prison. With exclusive access to the central characters, the trial, and to secret KGB tapes, this film reveals the heart of a killer's chilling story that has mesmerized Russia.
S14 Ep8
4.0
16th Jan 1996
In this investigative biography of the outspoken and controversial speaker, which first aired in 1996, correspondent Peter J. Boyer takes an inside look at how Gingrich led the GOP to become the majority party and examines the childhood, people and events that shaped his personality and political career.
S14 Ep10
4.0
6th Feb 1996
Clinic workers Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols are murdered by John Salvi, a radical, young, Catholic abortion opponent.
S14 Ep14
4.0
17th Apr 1996
FRONTLINE producer Marian Marzynski travels to Poland to search for remnants of the lives and memories of an entire Jewish village, a shtetl lost in the Holocaust.
S17 Ep16
4.0
25th May 1999
An intimate portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest leaders.
S18 Ep4
4.0
19th Oct 1999
Conyers, Georgia is a prosperous bedroom community just outside Atlanta. FRONTLINE examines the link between an outbreak of syphilis among a group of its teenagers and the well-off community in which they live. The film reveals a parent's worst nightmare--children as young as fourteen naming scores of sexual partners; others telling of binge drinking, drugs and sex parties. In a series of intertwining profiles, FRONTLINE uncovers the roots of the Conyers syphilis epidemic and reveals the turbulent psychology of America's suburban teenagers.
S18 Ep8
4.0
18th Jan 2000
FRONTLINE explores what led Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old Oregon boy, to kill his parents and two classmates, and shoot and injure 25 others at his high school.
S18 Ep16
4.0
23rd May 2000
During the election year of 2000, George Bush and Al Gore battled over issues regarding education. This program explores the heated political debate over the reform of public education and investigates the spectrum of "school choice" options, from vouchers to charter schools to for-profit academies
S19 Ep7
4.0
16th Jan 2001
A look at Bill Clinton's life from the Arkansas governor's mansion through a hard-fought presidential campaign and his eight years in the White House.
S20 Ep24
4.0
27th Jun 2002
How the Israeli-Palestinian peace process begun at Oslo was derailed.
S22 Ep9
4.0
19th Feb 2004
In "Tax Me If You Can," FRONTLINE correspondent Hedrick Smith investigates the rampant abuse of tax shelters since the late 1990s. Through interviews with government officials, tax experts, and industry insiders, Smith uncovers an avalanche of bogus transactions -- created by some of America's biggest and most-respected accounting firms, law firms, and investment banks -- that were then aggressively marketed to big corporations and wealthy individuals.
S22 Ep16
4.0
17th Jun 2004
Nearly 95 percent of all cases resulting in felony convictions never reach a jury. They are settled through plea bargains in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence. But what are the implications of a system that relies on pleas to expedite justice?
S23 Ep7
4.0
25th Jan 2005
Al-Qaeda's New Front is PBS documentary on Islamic terrorist network in Europe and its relationship to Islam and Al-Qaeda.
S23 Ep14
4.0
10th May 2005
A report on the new reality for the mentally ill in America: Nearly 500,000 are serving time in U.S. jails and prisons. How did we get here, and are we doing anything to help them?
S24 Ep3
4.0
8th Nov 2005
The abortion debate rages on in the U.S. as laws regulating women’s access to abortion flip in each state. In what direction is the country headed on its abortion policies – diminishing options state by state, or access for all?
S24 Ep8
4.0
7th Feb 2006
Hidden cameras trail "Olga" as she takes the women from the port of Odessa to Istanbul and then to a parking lot in the Aksaray district where the women are sold. An undercover journey deep into the world of sex trafficking, following one man determined to rescue his wife -- kidnapped and sold into the global sex trade.
S25 Ep7
4.0
17th Apr 2007
Day after day scores of bodies litter the streets of Baghdad. To staunch the violence, the U.S. has spent billions to "stand up" the Iraqi forces. In Gangs of Iraq, a joint production of FRONTLINE and the "America at a Crossroads" series, FRONTLINE takes a hard look at how the four-year training effort has fared and how the coalition-trained forces have themselves been infiltrated by various sectarian militias. Now, with President Bush sending new U.S. troops to Iraq, it remains to be seen if America and its allies can build a national Iraqi army and police and restore order.
S25 Ep15
4.0
21st Nov 2006
With 35 million elderly people in America, “the old, old” — those over 85 — are now considered the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. While medical advances have enabled an unprecedented number of Americans to live longer and healthier lives, this new longevity has also had unintended consequences. For millions of Americans, living longer also means serious chronic illness and a protracted physical decline that can require an immense amount of care, often for years and sometimes even decades. Yet just as the need for care is rising, the number of available caregivers is dwindling. With families more dispersed than ever and an overburdened healthcare system, many experts fear that we are on the threshold of a major crisis in care.
S26 Ep3
4.0
5th Feb 2008
Five years ago, FRONTLINE and The New York Times joined forces to investigate death and dismemberment in one of America's most dangerous industries -- the iron pipe foundry business. One company stood out, the McWane Corporation. It had more health and safety violations than all of its competitors combined, and there were a number of environmental violations as well. In the five years since our original broadcast, federal prosecutors obtained indictments against and juries convicted the company in five cases in four states. Today McWane says it has made a dramatic turnaround and that worker safety and environmental protection are now high priorities. FRONTLINE revisits its original broadcast with correspondent Lowell Bergman who then reports on what has changed at McWane and whether the company has become a less dangerous business.
S26 Ep5
4.0
8th Jan 2008
Millions of U.S. children are taking psychiatric drugs, most never tested on kids. Good medicine - or an uncontrolled experiment?
S26 Ep14
4.0
11th Nov 2008
In the wake of yet another hard-fought and bitter presidential campaign, FRONTLINE presents a spirited and revealing biography of Lee Atwater, the charming, Machiavellian godfather of modern, take-no-prisoners Republican political campaigns. Through eye-opening interviews with Atwater's closest friends and adversaries, the film explores the life of the controversial political operative who mentored Karl Rove and George W. Bush, led the GOP to historic victories, and wrote the party's winning playbook. The story tracks Atwater's rise from his beginnings in South Carolina as a high school election kingmaker all the way to the White House and his subsequent battle with cancer and final search for forgiveness and redemption. To Democrats, Atwater was a political assassin who one Congresswoman dubbed "the most evil man in America," but to Republicans he remains a hero for his deep understanding of the American voter and his unapologetic vision of politics as warfare.
S27 Ep11
4.0
31st Jan 2002
Teenagers are often described as erratic, unthoughtful, and rapidly changing human beings. But is there a universal explanation for the stereotype? FRONTLINE reveals new scientific studies that dig deep into the workings of the teenage mind.
S29 Ep12
4.0
19th Apr 2011
Frontline reveals a little-known chapter of the Catholic Church sex abuse story: decades of abuse of Native Americans by priests and other church workers in Alaska.
S29 Ep13
4.0
3rd May 2011
The fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
S29 Ep19
4.0
27th Sep 2011
The struggle of one man to develop a tourist destination in Haiti and bring economic prosperity.
S30 Ep15
4.0
10th Jul 2012
Nearly half of the one million people in the United States infected with HIV are black men, women and children. Trace the history of the AIDS epidemic through the experiences of individuals who tell their stories.
S30 Ep26
4.0
20th Nov 2012
Through the stories of three families told over the course of half a decade, FRONTLINE explores what poverty means to children in America.
S1 Ep1
5.0
17th Jan 1983
In its premiere broadcast, Frontline investigates the underbelly of the NFL--the secret connections between professional football and the world of sports gambling and organized crime.
S32 Ep11
5.0
27th May 2014
FRONTLINE draws on personal and dramatic footage to reveal the deep-seated hatreds between right-wing Ukrainian nationalists with historic ties to the Nazis and violent pro-Russian separatists vying for control of the country. FRONTLINE finds Syrian rebel fighters who say they’re being secretly armed and trained by the United States.
S35 Ep1
5.0
26th Sep 2016
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are two of the most polarizing presidential candidates in modern history. Veteran Frontline filmmaker Michael Kirk goes beyond the headlines to investigate what has shaped these two candidates, where they came from, how they lead and why they want one of the most difficult jobs imaginable.
S43 Ep10
5.0
20th Sep 2024
FRONTLINE and The Associated Press examine allegations of fraud and abuse in South Korea's historic foreign adoption boom. The documentary investigates cases of falsified records and identities among the adoptions of 200,000 children to the U.S. and other countries over decades.
S3 Ep9
5.3
26th Mar 1985
One day in 1968, Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in discrimination. This is the story of that lesson, its lasting impact on the children, and its enduring power 30 years later.
S25 Ep9
5.3
30th Apr 2007
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of America's fastest growing religions, and its influence circles the globe. The church has 12 million members today and over half of them live outside the United States. Yet the birth of Mormonism and its history is one of America's great neglected narratives. This four-hour documentary brings together FRONTLINE and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE in their first co-production to provide a searching portrait of this fascinating but often misunderstood religion. Produced by award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney ("Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero," "John Paul II: The Millennial Pope"), the film will explore the richness, the complexities, and the controversies of the Mormons' story as told through interviews with leaders and members of the church, with leading writers and historians, and with supporters and critics of the Mormon faith.
S25 Ep10
5.3
1st May 2007
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of America's fastest growing religions, and its influence circles the globe. The church has 12 million members today and over half of them live outside the United States. Yet the birth of Mormonism and its history is one of America's great neglected narratives. This four-hour documentary brings together FRONTLINE and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE in their first co-production to provide a searching portrait of this fascinating but often misunderstood religion. Produced by award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney ("Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero," "John Paul II: The Millennial Pope"), the film will explore the richness, the complexities, and the controversies of the Mormons' story as told through interviews with leaders and members of the church, with leading writers and historians, and with supporters and critics of the Mormon faith.
S26 Ep18
5.3
13th May 2008
As darkness fell on May 10, 1996, a fast moving storm of unimaginable ferocity trapped three climbing teams high on the slopes of Mount Everest. The climbers, exhausted from their summit climb, were soon lost in darkness, in a fierce blizzard, far from the safety of High Camp at 26,000 feet. World-renowned climber and filmmaker David Breashears, who aided the rescue efforts back in 1996, now returns to Everest to tell the fuller story of what really happened on that legendary climb. Through remarkably intimate interviews with the climbers and Sherpas many who have never spoken before on American television Breashears sheds new light on the worst climbing tragedy in Mount Everest s history.
S38 Ep17
5.5
21st Apr 2020
How did the U.S. become the country with the worst known coronavirus outbreak in the world? FRONTLINE investigates the American response to COVID-19 — from Washington State to Washington, D.C. — and examines what happens when politics and science collide.
S39 Ep5
5.7
15th Sep 2020
George Floyd's killing triggered mass demonstrations nationwide calling for racial justice and police accountability in the United States. In the wake of those protests, New Yorker writer and historian Jelani Cobb returns to a troubled police department he first visited four years ago to examine whether reform can work, and how police departments can be held accountable.
S43 Ep13
5.8
15th Oct 2024
The horrifying accounts of living through the Hamas attack and the war in Gaza; stories from the people directly impacted on both sides of the conflict.
S5 Ep13
6.0
9th Jun 1987
She was from Minnesota. Young, pretty, and fresh. She went to Hollywood in search of a dream and found herself in X-rated movies, on drugs, and estranged from her family and friends. Correspondent Al Austin retraces her story, discovering why after two years as a porn queen, she took her own life.
S26 Ep15
6.0
25th Nov 2008
FRONTLINE looks at Venezuela's controversial and outspoken president Hugo Chavez and the revolution he claims is turning his country into an anti-capitalist beacon for Latin America and the world. Through the lens of his unique weekly program "Al Presidente" and the eyes of the Venezuelans who know him well, FRONTLINE digs below the surface of his presidency and his personality to try to understand the mercurial leader.
S38 Ep19
6.0
16th Jun 2020
As COVID-19 spread from Asia to the Middle East to Europe, why was the U.S. caught so unprepared? Despite repeated warnings of a potent contagion headed our way, America’s leaders failed to prepare and protect us. Why and who is accountable?
S39 Ep3
6.0
11th Aug 2020
Two intimate stories of immigrant families whose lives were upended by the coronavirus. "Love, Life and the Virus" follows Zully, a 30-year-old mother, who is diagnosed with COVID-19 — and gives birth while on a ventilator. “Undocumented in the Pandemic” tells the story of an family’s struggle to stay together, as a father is detained by ICE in a facility where COVID-19 is spreading.
S40 Ep6
6.0
23rd Mar 2021
At Black-owned funeral homes in New Orleans, COVID-19 reshapes the grieving process. How the pandemic has transformed mourning in a city known for its jazz-filled funerals. Also in this hour, follow a mother’s fight to survive COVID-19 and see her newborn baby. FRONTLINE filmmaker Oscar Guerra documents how the coronavirus hit one immigrant family, their struggle to be reunited, and the community that rallied around them.
S43 Ep12
6.1
8th Oct 2024
Investigating the lives and views of J.D. Vance and Tim Walz as they run for vice president; those who know the candidates reveal the influences and ideas they'd bring to the White House.
S39 Ep10
6.3
15th Dec 2020
The story of an American mother who takes her son to the ISIS-controlled city of Raqqa. A special report three years in the making investigating how the family ended up in Syria and what happened when they came home to the United States.
S40 Ep4
6.4
2nd Feb 2021
The untold story of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and how China responded. Chinese scientists and doctors, international disease experts and health officials reveal missed opportunities to suppress the outbreak, and lessons for the world.
S43 Ep6
6.5
11th Jun 2024
FRONTLINE and Retro Report tell the inside story of the protests dividing college campuses over Israel and the war in Gaza. The documentary investigates the polarizing debate over free speech, antisemitism, Israel and the Palestinians, and the political forces behind the crisis.
S19 Ep11
6.5
27th Feb 2001
FRONTLINE explores how America's giant media corporations skillfully court the teenage consumer.
S19 Ep13
6.5
10th Apr 2001
What explains the surge in behavior-modifying drugs for children? How safe – and necessary – are they?
S25 Ep4
6.5
14th Nov 2006
In May 2005, Jim West, the once-popular mayor of Spokane, Wash., made headlines with rampant accusations of abuse. FRONTLINE takes a look at West’s two lives: the public and the private, the political and the deeply, disturbingly possible.
S26 Ep10
6.5
1st Apr 2008
FRONTLINE captures the realities of war through a "virtual embed" with a National Guard platoon serving in Iraq.
S27 Ep9
6.5
28th Apr 2009
What happens to the mentally ill when they leave America's prisons? Why do they return at such alarming rates ?
S27 Ep15
6.5
27th Oct 2009
Producer Ofra Bikel chronicles the recession's impact on one unlikely neighborhood--New York's Upper East Side..
S29 Ep2
6.5
26th Oct 2010
Frontline investigates BP's record of safety violations and accidents in the years leading up to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf.
S32 Ep14
6.5
9th Sep 2014
When the radical Islamist group Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls in April, it sparked international outrage and worldwide pressure to #BringBackOurGirls. But now, FRONTLINE investigates evidence that in the fight against Boko Haram, members of the Nigerian military and state-sponsored militias have been committing atrocities against suspects, many of them innocent civilians. FRONTLINE travels to the epicenter of the Ebola crisis to find out how and why the outbreak has spiraled out of control — and to track the fight to contain the virus’s deadly spread. With special access to teams fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone, FRONTLINE, in collaboration with the Channel 4 foreign affairs series Unreported World, brings you an up-close, on-the-ground look at how and why the outbreak is endangering civilians and health-care workers, overwhelming hospitals and getting worse.
S32 Ep18
6.5
17th Dec 2014
What happens when we lock up juvenile offenders in adult prisons? “Stickup Kid,” a FRONTLINE digital exclusive, tells the story of Alonza Thomas — sent to adult prison in California at age 16 — and how spending over a decade behind bars impacted him.
S36 Ep11
6.5
17th Apr 2018
Inside John McCain’s complicated relationship with President Donald Trump and his own Republican Party.
S40 Ep18
6.6
14th Sep 2021
In an investigation with The New York Times, FRONTLINE examines the commercial pressures, flawed design and failed oversight behind Boeing’s 737 Max jet and the crashes that killed 346 people.
S40 Ep14
6.6
13th Jul 2021
When COVID struck, the Federal Reserve stepped in to try to avert economic crisis. As the country’s central bank continues to pump billions of dollars into the financial system daily, who is benefitting and at what cost?
S40 Ep16
6.6
10th Aug 2021
How seven men in Miami were indicted for the biggest alleged Al Qaeda plot since 9/11. From the director of "Leaving Neverland," the bizarre story of an FBI sting that led to a terror prosecution, though the men had no weapons or connection to Al Qaeda.
S40 Ep21
6.6
23rd Nov 2021
Amid record police shootings in Utah, an investigation into the use of deadly force in the state. With local journalism partner The Salt Lake Tribune, FRONTLINE examines police training, tactics and accountability, as well as racial disparities in the way force is used.
S28 Ep2
6.7
9th Feb 2010
One year after the deadly airline crash of Continental 3407 in Buffalo, NY, FRONTLINE investigates the accident and discovers a dramatically changed airline industry, where regional carriers now account for half of the nation's daily departures. The rise of the regionals and arrival of low-cost carriers have been a huge boon to consumers, and the industry insists that the skies remain safe. But many insiders are worried that now, 30 years after airline deregulation, the aviation system is being stretched beyond its capacity to deliver service that is both cheap and safe.
S32 Ep4
6.7
18th Feb 2014
Thanks to social media, today’s teens are able to directly interact with their culture — artists, celebrities, movies, brands, and even one another — in ways never before possible. But is that real empowerment? Or do marketers still hold the upper hand? In Generation Like, author and FRONTLINE correspondent Douglas Rushkoff (The Merchants of Cool, The Persuaders) explores how the perennial teen quest for identity and connection has migrated to social media — and exposes the game of cat-and-mouse that corporations are playing with these young consumers. Do kids think they’re being used? Do they care? Or does the perceived chance to be the next big star make it all worth it?
S33 Ep1
6.7
6th Jan 2015
FRONTLINE investigates how the NRA uses its unrivaled political power to stop gun regulation in America. With first-hand accounts of school killings in Newtown and Columbine, and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, "Gunned Down" examines why, despite the national trauma over gun violence, Washington hasn't acted.
S38 Ep18
6.7
19th May 2020
FRONTLINE goes inside a hospital battling the coronavirus crisis in northern Italy, as doctors are forced to make life and death decisions. An intimate, exclusive story that follows one besieged ER doctor, her staff and the patients suffering from COVID-19, from the darkest days to the signs of hope.
S40 Ep2
6.7
19th Jan 2021
The story of how crisis and tragedy prepared Joe Biden to become America’s next president. Those who know him best describe the searing moments that shaped President-elect Biden and what those challenges reveal about how he will govern.
S32 Ep5
6.8
25th Feb 2014
Secrets of the Vatican tells the epic, inside story of the collapse of the Benedict papacy — and illuminates the extraordinary challenges facing Pope Francis as he tries to reform the powerful Vatican bureaucracy, root out corruption, and chart a new course for the troubled Catholic Church and its 1.2 billion followers.
S43 Ep9
6.8
6th Aug 2024
A look at President Joe Biden's rise to the presidency, the personal and political forces that shaped him and his historic decision to step out of the 2024 presidential race.
S40 Ep9
6.8
27th Apr 2021
The epic story of people around the world living through the year of the pandemic continues in a second part. With extensive personal video and local footage, FRONTLINE shows the differing struggles, beliefs and responses, across cultures, race, faith and privilege.
S42 Ep16
6.8
3rd Oct 2023
FRONTLINE examines the Houston Astros cheating scandal and what it says about baseball today. With reporter Ben Reiter, the documentary traces the making of one of the best teams and worst scandals in modern Major League Baseball history, the limited accountability and how the Astros’ approach to baseball changed the sport.
S42 Ep18
6.8
31st Oct 2023
How Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell helped transform the Supreme Court and U.S. politics. Amid scrutiny of the high court and a power struggle in the GOP, FRONTLINE examines McConnell's rise and role in pushing the judiciary to the right and America's polarized democracy.
S42 Ep20
6.9
5th Dec 2023
Drawing on real-time, firsthand accounts and using official bodycam and audio, FRONTLINE, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reconstruct the chaotic response to the Uvalde school shooting and examine the missteps. The documentary delves into the lessons learned and the lingering trauma of that day.
S43 Ep11
6.9
24th Sep 2024
Investigating the lives and characters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they seek the presidency. In a historic election, those who know the candidates best reveal key moments that shape how they would lead America.
S1 Ep2
7.0
24th Jan 1983
On the morning of November 3,1979, five civil rights demonstrators were killed by a group of Klan and Nazi Party members in Greensboro, North Carolina. Correspondent James Reston, Jr.,investigates the role of a police informant who was with the group when the attack was planned and when it was carried out.
S1 Ep3
7.0
31st Jan 1983
Frontline correspondent Charles Cobb journeys to a Washington, DC that tourists rarely see. The nation's capital, seventy-five percent black, faces widespread poverty, yet it is run by some of the civil-rights movement's most effective and militant organizers, including Mayor Marion Barry.
S1 Ep4
7.0
7th Feb 1983
For thirty-four years, those who fled to Taiwan in the wake of the Communist victory have had only their memories and fantasies of mainland China. Now they want to know much more, and a political struggle is underway to determine how Taiwan will relate to the mainland.
S1 Ep5
7.0
14th Feb 1983
In 1982,a man was discovered hanging from a bridge over the Thames River in London. He was Roberto Calvi, head of Italy's largest bank and chief advisor to the Vatican's bank. Reporter Jeremy Paxman investigates Calvi's links with the Vatican and with P-2, a secret Italian society, and questions whether his death was really a suicide.
S1 Ep6
7.0
21st Feb 1983
Frontline investigates the power of the Pentagon as a business and economic force in the domestic economy. Politicians find themselves chasing Pentagon dollars for the jobs those dollars create in their districts; scientists and universities find themselves dependent on the military if they want to do research in many high-tech areas.
S1 Ep7
7.0
28th Feb 1983
Frontline looks beyond the cliches and stereotypes in the debate over gun control. Visiting prison inmates, victims of gun crime, and the sharpest minds on both sides, Frontline explores the underlying fears that make gun control such an emotional issue.
S1 Ep8
7.0
7th Mar 1983
Kojo Odo, a 42 year-old single black man, took in his first child a decade ago-a 7 year old boy with his arm missing. No one wanted the youngster. Each of Odo's 21 children came to him with a physical or mental handicap. Frontline looks at the daily life of this remarkable family and Odo's battle to keep the family together.
S1 Ep9
7.0
21st Mar 1983
Before Gorbachev and glasnost, three young Americans journey to the Soviet Union on a whirlwind two-week, six-city debating tour. They encounter young, articulate Russians whose world view is completely contradictory to their own.
S1 Ep10
7.0
28th Mar 1983
Daisy is 55 and terrified of growing old. She feels she needs a facelift. From the moment of her decision, Frontline follows her through all the procedures, but the heart of the story is an exploration of values, character, cosmetics, and the business of plastic surgery.
S1 Ep11
7.0
11th Apr 1983
Before President Reagan introduced Star Wars, Frontline examined how in the previous 25 years the US and the Soviet Union had gone from designing satellites to designing weapons to blast them out of the sky. The superpowers were converting space from an arena for communications, to a concept of space as 'high ground,' the battle area to control.
S1 Ep12
7.0
18th Apr 1983
For the first time on American television, Frontline's cameras record the most intimate details and one of the most personal decisions a woman can make. By focusing not only on the clinic, but also on a right-to-life doctor who pickets the clinic every Saturday, the film becomes a revealing study of people confronting their most deeply held values.
S1 Ep13
7.0
25th Apr 1983
Rhodesia, a symbol of white racism, has become Zimbabwe and white minority rule has given way to black majority rule. However, the end of the guerilla war may not mean an end to fighting. Correspondent Charlie Cobb finds a rift between the nation's two black leaders that threatens to split the country along tribal lines.
S1 Ep14
7.0
2nd May 1983
Frontline investigates the frightening aftermath of one of the worst air disasters in U.S. history-the June 9, 1982 crash of Pan Am flight 759 at the New Orleans airport. The report discovers how human greed and legal machinations over hundreds of millions of dollars bring new horror to survivors and victims' relatives alike.
S1 Ep15
7.0
9th May 1983
Only seven years after Mao's death, it is clear that China is undergoing another revolution. This is a revolution of political and social relaxation. Frontline explores what has been retained and what has been rejected from the days of the Cultural Revolution.
S1 Ep16
7.0
16th May 1983
For eight years, Rafik Halabi covered the West Bank and Gaza strip-the only Arab reporter working in the Hebrew section of Israeli Television. This is Rafik's story-a story in which his identity and loyalty became a national controversy.
S1 Ep17
7.0
23rd May 1983
Frank Kaler's story begins simply enough when he requests a water test. Why? Because his children develop skin lesions after bathing in it. Frontline chronicles Kaler's six-year battle with local and federal officials over the chemical pollution of his drinking water.
S1 Ep18
7.0
30th May 1983
Frontline tells the story of five days in the fall of 1982 when more than 150,000 people gathered in Washington D.C. for the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial. Parents, friends, and survivors came to the emotion-filled event reflecting the pain and conflict many still feel about that war.
S1 Ep19
7.0
6th Jun 1983
When a national recreation site between Cleveland and Akron was first mandated by Congress in 1974, everyone applauded the project. But Frontline found that park policies of condemning hundreds of businesses and homes soon generated intense local opposition as well as charges that the homes of politically influential citizens were being spared.
S1 Ep21
7.0
20th Jun 1983
Frontline investigates the Reagan administration's effort to remove tens of thousands of people from the Social Security disability rolls. Disabled people face personal hardship and bureaucratic indifference as they take their cases to the courts and to Congress.
S1 Ep22
7.0
27th Jun 1983
In 1983, El Salvador was a nation where murder and torture were an everyday occurrence, a place where loved ones disappear and truth remains elusive. Frontline interviews government soldiers, rebels, and noncombatants to find out why the killing continues.
S1 Ep23
7.0
4th Jul 1983
Frontline follows the journey of a Guatemalan family through the 'new underground railroad' and considers the plight of the people who seek refuge from governments allied to the United States.
S1 Ep24
7.0
11th Jul 1983
Developing countries have borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars from Western banks. Some of the biggest borrowers, Brazil and Mexico,are struggling even to repay the interest. Correspondent Anthony Sampson finds that threats to repudiate the loans are causing American bankers to fear financial catastrophe.
S1 Ep25
7.0
18th Jul 1983
Klaus Barbie, a hated Nazi war criminal, was returned to France in 1983 to face justice. But some Frenchmen were worried that he would reveal embarrassing evidence about French collaboration, and some Americans feared that he would talk about his postwar work for U.S. intelligence agencies.
S2 Ep1
7.0
16th Jan 1984
Investor-owned for-profit hospital chains are aggressively marketing themselves to treat only the insured or wealthy patient. But most Americans assume government and charity programs enable everyone -- no matter how poor -- to receive treatment for serious health problems.
S2 Ep2
7.0
23rd Jan 1984
As American corporations begin to adopt a Japanese management style stressing worker involvement in a family-like corporate environment, Frontline looks at the darker side of Japanese labor relations at the Nissan Motor Company in both Japan and Smyrna, Tennessee.
S2 Ep3
7.0
6th Feb 1984
Viewing the conflict in Northern Ireland through the eyes of Irish Americans who support the IRA and its strategy of violence. Profiles Michael Flannery, Grand Marshal of New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade, who participated in an ambush on British troops in Ireland some 50 years ago.
S2 Ep4
7.0
13th Feb 1984
Investigating whether the tens of millions of dollars raised through the appeals of television evangelists like Jimmy Swaggart goes more to doing God's work or to keeping the preachers on TV. Should the government regulate religious fundraising?
S2 Ep5
7.0
27th Feb 1984
On the eve of the 1984 New Hampshire primary, the first of four national election reports. Correspondent Richard Reeves looks behind the scenes at the presidential candidates and the political reporters who cover them -- the story behind the story and who writes it.
S2 Ep6
7.0
19th Mar 1984
Kenneth Bianchi, who killed two women in Bellingham, Washington, and was one of the Hillside Strangler murderers in Los Angeles, almost escaped punishment for these crimes because he convinced a group of experts that he had multiple personalities and was not mentally competent to stand trial.
S2 Ep7
7.0
26th Mar 1984
Amid questionable use of psychiatric evidence in criminal proceedings, Kenneth Bianchi is revealed to be an accomplished faker.
S2 Ep8
7.0
2nd Apr 1984
A special election report focuses on Birmingham, Alabama -- famously a battlefield for black civil rights. Frontline correspondent Richard Reeves examines black political power today and the struggle for the heart and soul of the black voter.
S2 Ep9
7.0
16th Apr 1984
Filmmaker Ofra Bikel takes us into the heart of El Salvador -- a tiny Central America nation about which we know so much, and yet so little -- to examine the politics and the people the U.S. government supports there.
S2 Ep10
7.0
23rd Apr 1984
Charlie Cobb looks at young men who make it big playing basketball, and many who will not. College recruiters promise an education in exchange for play, but 75% of players never obtain a degree. Are colleges too busy with their big-time sports programs to be concerned with educating their players?
S2 Ep11
7.0
7th May 1984
An insider's look at the 'sport of kings' focused on tracks at Belmont, NY, where the rich indulge their interest in horse-racing, and at Great Barrington in Massachusetts where infirm horses run for purses that can barely pay the feed bill. This is America's number one spectator sport, in which tens of millions wager tens of billions every year.
S2 Ep12
7.0
14th May 1984
Profiling Navy Secretary John Lehman and the growing debate inside the Navy establishment to build a multi-billion-dollar fleet which critics warn may not be suited to the kind of wars the nation is most likely to fight.
S2 Ep13
7.0
21st May 1984
Explores what Los Angeles is trying to do about its gang problem. It's the worst in the nation, killing more than 1,000 people over the past three years -- the majority of whom were not even gang members.
S2 Ep14
7.0
4th Jun 1984
Examines findings from a presidential commission and several private advocacy groups on hunger in America, and the extent to which they capture the human story as well as the political environment surrounding the issue.
S2 Ep15
7.0
18th Jun 1984
Examining ethical arguments over the use of animal testing in American laboratories, hospitals, and medical schools. While some animal rights groups break into labs to 'liberate' research animals, many scientists claim any significant restriction on animal testing would end medical progress.
S2 Ep16
7.0
9th Oct 1984
Following the 1984 presidential campaign of Gary Hart to reveal presidential politics as it has never before been seen on television -- from the early days of lonely ambition, through the months of promise, to the day of denial.
S2 Ep17
7.0
16th Oct 1984
The bittersweet story of four unforgettable people who flee repression in Poland to find a better life in Chicago. They succeed, fail, fight, love, laugh, and confront an America unlike anything they had ever imagined.
S2 Ep18
7.0
23rd Oct 1984
As more women are voting and running for elected office, correspondent Judy Woodruff looks at women and politics in 1984 through the eyes of accomplished women like UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro.
S2 Ep19
7.0
30th Oct 1984
It could never happen to you. One day it happened to Farrell Stallings. After 28 years at the same job, he was laid off-a victim of the recession. Now he's broke, afraid, and at the mercy of the welfare system. Frontline follows him into the maze of the bureaucracy.
S2 Ep21
7.0
20th Nov 1984
Frontline goes inside the hospitals where every day doctors, lawyers, and parents face the agonizing choice: how far do we go with medical treatment for infants born so physically and mentally damaged that they have no hope of leading normal lives? Several intimate case histories are examined, as are the politics of recent legal decisions and government rules relating to the medical care for critically ill babies.
S2 Ep22
7.0
27th Nov 1984
In one of the first comprehensive reports broadcast in the U.S., Frontline presents the searing reality of the famine in Ethiopia. In desert camps described as 'the closest thing to hell on earth,' nearly 100 children, old people, and the infirm were dying every day. They were dying while the US and the Soviet Union argued over how to feed them and what to do about Ethiopia.
S2 Ep23
7.0
11th Dec 1984
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. On the fifth anniversary of the invasion, Frontline correspondent Richard Reeves reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan, examining the stalemate in the Persian Gulf and the pressure placed on Pakistan to accept over one million Afghan refugees.
S2 Ep24
7.0
18th Dec 1984
Marshall High School is one of the poorest in Chicago-both academically and economically. But it is fighting back, trying desperately to upgrade academic standards and to make a difference in the lives of it students. Frontline looks at the struggle to salvage Marshall High and the lessons this school has for a nation trying to improve its public schools.
S3 Ep1
7.0
15th Jan 1985
Frontline takes a rare look inside the new Vietnam, 10 years after the fall of Saigon and the US pullout. While the Vietnamese celebrate their victory, the countryside remains scarred and war-torn. Frontline examines the legacies of the longest and most unpopular war in American history on the country where it was fought.
S3 Ep2
7.0
22nd Jan 1985
Seventy-two year-old James Hawkins,Sr. has turned his home and business into an armed camp. Living in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Hawkins is fighting gang members who live across Imperial Highway. It's a war being fought on the streets and in the courtroom between gang members and the Hawkins family.
S3 Ep3
7.0
29th Jan 1985
The trial of gang members accused of conspiracy concludes this special two-part report. Through interviews in prison and inside the housing project where they live in the Watts section of Los Angeles, gang members talk about gangs and why they form, and the threat they pose to ordinary citizens.
S3 Ep4
7.0
5th Feb 1985
He was a convicted murderer. She was a prison volunteer. They fell in love. Frontline follows the story of Ron Cooney, who tries to work his way through the prison system to parole from a life sentence, and Lesley Earl, the woman who wants to help him go straight.
S3 Ep5
7.0
12th Feb 1985
Over a million cases of child abuse were reported in 1984-and the figure is growing. Frontline follows a dedicated group of case workers from the Emergency Children's Service of New York into homes where they confront violent parents and battered children.
S3 Ep6
7.0
19th Feb 1985
Professional boxing is one of the most popular and profitable sports in America. It can also be fatal. Frontline goes inside the world of fighters, promoters, and fans who love the sport-and critics who say it should be banned.
S3 Ep7
7.0
26th Feb 1985
They went to keep the peace. But 241 died-caught in a military and political cross fire.
S3 Ep8
7.0
5th Mar 1985
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh presents his first television investigation for Frontline. After six months of work, Hersh uncovers the story of a Pakistani businessman who tried to ship electrical devices which can be used as nuclear bomb triggers out of the US to Pakistan.
S3 Ep10
7.0
2nd Apr 1985
Every two years, a desire to represent their home districts in Washington brings a group of first-time freshmen congressmen to the nation's capital on the shores of the Potomac river. Frontline follows two newly elected representatives from their homes to Washington where they experience the rewards-and the frustrations-of making the transition from citizen to congressman.
S3 Ep11
7.0
9th Apr 1985
From the Spanish-American War in 1898 until the 1950's, US preeminence in Central America and the Caribbean was never successfully challenged. Part 1 looks at these turbulent years that set the stage for today's crises-from the glory days of building the Panama Canal, through the early US Marine occupation of Nicaragua, to the Cold War crisis in Guatemala in 1954, which resulted in the CIA's first 'covert' war in the region.
S3 Ep12
7.0
10th Apr 1985
The Cuban revolution of the 1950's was the first successful challenge to US preeminence in the Western hemisphere. Part 2 looks at the roots of the revolution, Fidel Castro's rise to power, the establishment of the first Communist state in the Americas, the support for his revolution abroad, and Cuba's troubled history with the United States.
S3 Ep13
7.0
11th Apr 1985
In 1979, the Sandinistas led a revolution that overthrew the Somoza dynasty which had ruled Nicaragua for almost 50 years. It was a revolution the US first tried to prevent, then tried to court, and later tried to undermine. Part 3 traces the evolution of US involvement in Nicaragua and the struggle for control of the revolution.
S3 Ep14
7.0
12th Apr 1985
Many Americans had never heard of El Salvador until a few years ago. It is now the focus of American policy in Central America. Part 4 traces the evolution of El Salvador's civil war and the US policy toward El Salvador.
S3 Ep15
7.0
16th Apr 1985
Experts estimate there are at least four million child sexual abusers in the US, and they do not fit our stereotypes. Almost half of those guilty of incest also molest children outside the family. Many also commit adult rape-and they come from every social background. Should they be treated, punished, or both? Frontline examines a controversial Seattle, Washington, program aimed at treating child sexual abusers.
S3 Ep16
7.0
23rd Apr 1985
One in four American citizens is Catholic, yet few seem to agree with-or follow-every doctrine and practice of their church. Frontline examines the conflicts within the American Catholic Church and its ongoing struggle with the Vatican.
S3 Ep17
7.0
30th Apr 1985
Frontline examines the complex relationship between the US Army, its fighting doctrine, the American people, and the government in an effort to understand the army's role in fighting modern wars.
S3 Ep18
7.0
7th May 1985
Forty years ago, Allied troops invaded Germany and liberated Nazi death camps. They found unspeakable horrors which still haunt the world's conscience. Frontline presents the world broadcast of a 1945 film made by British and American film crews who were with the troops liberating the camps. The film was directed in part by Alfred Hitchcock and is broadcast for the first time in its entirety on Frontline.
S3 Ep19
7.0
14th May 1985
You go to rent an apartment and are turned down without any obvious reason. Then you find out your name is in a computer file of undesirable tenants and every other landlord in the city has access to the information. Correspondent Robert Krulwich investigates computerized information systems and the issues of privacy they raise.
S3 Ep21
7.0
28th May 1985
In 1984, there were more bank failures in the US than at any time since the Great Depression. Correspondent Judy Woodruff investigates one of the largest banks that failed, Penn Square in Oklahoma City, and another which nearly failed, Continental Illinois in Chicago, to examine the implications on the nation's banking system.
S4 Ep1
7.0
21st Jan 1986
While the whole world watched, 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran by Islamic revolutionaries for 444 days. On the fifth anniversary of their release, using never-before-seen footage from inside the American embassy compound in Tehran, the hostages tell the story of their long ordeal.
S4 Ep2
7.0
28th Jan 1986
For many doctors, practicing medicine has become a nightmare. Today, one out of every six American doctors faces a malpractice suit. Frontline takes an inside look at the fierce battle developing between doctors and lawyers over medical malpractice suits.
S4 Ep3
7.0
4th Feb 1986
The children of Chester, Pennsylvania are plagued by poor health, malnutrition, drugs, and family problems. Half of them live below the poverty line. Frontline follows them through the maze of social service programs available to them and discovers what it is like growing up poor.
S4 Ep4
7.0
11th Feb 1986
A unique look at the Soviet Union through the eyes of Americans as they attempt to escape the confines of a carefully managed Russian tour. They elude their government guides and search for their fellow man on the streets of the Soviet Union.
S4 Ep5
7.0
18th Feb 1986
Life-long smokers who say their health has been destroyed by cigarettes are suing tobacco companies. Frontline correspondent Judy Woodruff takes an inside look at the preparation of these massive lawsuits, concentrating on a suit that would later reach the Supreme Court as well as presenting the emphatic denials of the tobacco industry, which says smoking is a simple question of personal choice and responsibility.
S4 Ep6
7.0
25th Feb 1986
Half of all American marriages end in divorce. Using unique access to mediation and court proceedings, Frontline profiles the couples, the lawyers, the judges, and most poignantly, the children caught between parents.
S4 Ep7
7.0
18th Mar 1986
Eight months before the Iran-contra scandal broke, Frontline investigated the contras, probed the legality of private aid, and asked questions about the role of the White House and a mysterious Marine colonel named Oliver North.
S1 Ep1
5.0
17th Jan 1983
In its premiere broadcast, Frontline investigates the underbelly of the NFL--the secret connections between professional football and the world of sports gambling and organized crime.
S1 Ep2
7.0
24th Jan 1983
On the morning of November 3,1979, five civil rights demonstrators were killed by a group of Klan and Nazi Party members in Greensboro, North Carolina. Correspondent James Reston, Jr.,investigates the role of a police informant who was with the group when the attack was planned and when it was carried out.
S1 Ep3
7.0
31st Jan 1983
Frontline correspondent Charles Cobb journeys to a Washington, DC that tourists rarely see. The nation's capital, seventy-five percent black, faces widespread poverty, yet it is run by some of the civil-rights movement's most effective and militant organizers, including Mayor Marion Barry.
S1 Ep4
7.0
7th Feb 1983
For thirty-four years, those who fled to Taiwan in the wake of the Communist victory have had only their memories and fantasies of mainland China. Now they want to know much more, and a political struggle is underway to determine how Taiwan will relate to the mainland.
S1 Ep5
7.0
14th Feb 1983
In 1982,a man was discovered hanging from a bridge over the Thames River in London. He was Roberto Calvi, head of Italy's largest bank and chief advisor to the Vatican's bank. Reporter Jeremy Paxman investigates Calvi's links with the Vatican and with P-2, a secret Italian society, and questions whether his death was really a suicide.
S1 Ep6
7.0
21st Feb 1983
Frontline investigates the power of the Pentagon as a business and economic force in the domestic economy. Politicians find themselves chasing Pentagon dollars for the jobs those dollars create in their districts; scientists and universities find themselves dependent on the military if they want to do research in many high-tech areas.
S1 Ep7
7.0
28th Feb 1983
Frontline looks beyond the cliches and stereotypes in the debate over gun control. Visiting prison inmates, victims of gun crime, and the sharpest minds on both sides, Frontline explores the underlying fears that make gun control such an emotional issue.
S1 Ep8
7.0
7th Mar 1983
Kojo Odo, a 42 year-old single black man, took in his first child a decade ago-a 7 year old boy with his arm missing. No one wanted the youngster. Each of Odo's 21 children came to him with a physical or mental handicap. Frontline looks at the daily life of this remarkable family and Odo's battle to keep the family together.
S1 Ep9
7.0
21st Mar 1983
Before Gorbachev and glasnost, three young Americans journey to the Soviet Union on a whirlwind two-week, six-city debating tour. They encounter young, articulate Russians whose world view is completely contradictory to their own.
S1 Ep10
7.0
28th Mar 1983
Daisy is 55 and terrified of growing old. She feels she needs a facelift. From the moment of her decision, Frontline follows her through all the procedures, but the heart of the story is an exploration of values, character, cosmetics, and the business of plastic surgery.
S1 Ep11
7.0
11th Apr 1983
Before President Reagan introduced Star Wars, Frontline examined how in the previous 25 years the US and the Soviet Union had gone from designing satellites to designing weapons to blast them out of the sky. The superpowers were converting space from an arena for communications, to a concept of space as 'high ground,' the battle area to control.
S1 Ep12
7.0
18th Apr 1983
For the first time on American television, Frontline's cameras record the most intimate details and one of the most personal decisions a woman can make. By focusing not only on the clinic, but also on a right-to-life doctor who pickets the clinic every Saturday, the film becomes a revealing study of people confronting their most deeply held values.
S1 Ep13
7.0
25th Apr 1983
Rhodesia, a symbol of white racism, has become Zimbabwe and white minority rule has given way to black majority rule. However, the end of the guerilla war may not mean an end to fighting. Correspondent Charlie Cobb finds a rift between the nation's two black leaders that threatens to split the country along tribal lines.
S1 Ep14
7.0
2nd May 1983
Frontline investigates the frightening aftermath of one of the worst air disasters in U.S. history-the June 9, 1982 crash of Pan Am flight 759 at the New Orleans airport. The report discovers how human greed and legal machinations over hundreds of millions of dollars bring new horror to survivors and victims' relatives alike.
S1 Ep15
7.0
9th May 1983
Only seven years after Mao's death, it is clear that China is undergoing another revolution. This is a revolution of political and social relaxation. Frontline explores what has been retained and what has been rejected from the days of the Cultural Revolution.
S1 Ep16
7.0
16th May 1983
For eight years, Rafik Halabi covered the West Bank and Gaza strip-the only Arab reporter working in the Hebrew section of Israeli Television. This is Rafik's story-a story in which his identity and loyalty became a national controversy.
S1 Ep17
7.0
23rd May 1983
Frank Kaler's story begins simply enough when he requests a water test. Why? Because his children develop skin lesions after bathing in it. Frontline chronicles Kaler's six-year battle with local and federal officials over the chemical pollution of his drinking water.
S1 Ep18
7.0
30th May 1983
Frontline tells the story of five days in the fall of 1982 when more than 150,000 people gathered in Washington D.C. for the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial. Parents, friends, and survivors came to the emotion-filled event reflecting the pain and conflict many still feel about that war.
S1 Ep19
7.0
6th Jun 1983
When a national recreation site between Cleveland and Akron was first mandated by Congress in 1974, everyone applauded the project. But Frontline found that park policies of condemning hundreds of businesses and homes soon generated intense local opposition as well as charges that the homes of politically influential citizens were being spared.
S1 Ep21
7.0
20th Jun 1983
Frontline investigates the Reagan administration's effort to remove tens of thousands of people from the Social Security disability rolls. Disabled people face personal hardship and bureaucratic indifference as they take their cases to the courts and to Congress.
S1 Ep22
7.0
27th Jun 1983
In 1983, El Salvador was a nation where murder and torture were an everyday occurrence, a place where loved ones disappear and truth remains elusive. Frontline interviews government soldiers, rebels, and noncombatants to find out why the killing continues.
S1 Ep23
7.0
4th Jul 1983
Frontline follows the journey of a Guatemalan family through the 'new underground railroad' and considers the plight of the people who seek refuge from governments allied to the United States.
S1 Ep24
7.0
11th Jul 1983
Developing countries have borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars from Western banks. Some of the biggest borrowers, Brazil and Mexico,are struggling even to repay the interest. Correspondent Anthony Sampson finds that threats to repudiate the loans are causing American bankers to fear financial catastrophe.
S1 Ep25
7.0
18th Jul 1983
Klaus Barbie, a hated Nazi war criminal, was returned to France in 1983 to face justice. But some Frenchmen were worried that he would reveal embarrassing evidence about French collaboration, and some Americans feared that he would talk about his postwar work for U.S. intelligence agencies.
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The first episode of Frontline aired on January 17, 1983.
The last episode of Frontline aired on October 15, 2024.
There are 818 episodes of Frontline.
There are 43 seasons of Frontline.
Yes.
Frontline is set to return for future episodes.