1980s Documentary TV Shows

Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.

Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.

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TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

An Australian media analysis television program currently focusing on critiquing the Australian media.

The people, places and stories making news in the British countryside.

Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.

Strip-Tease was created by Jean Libon and Marco Lamensch. The aim of the creators was to produce documentary films of a new genre, in which the commentators take a back seat to let the protagonists have their say. The program mainly deals with excerpts from everyday life (family meals, washing up, the life of a farmer's wife). Viewers can thus recognize themselves in their daily intimacy.

This newsmagazine series investigates intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all aspects of the human experience. Over its long run, the show has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, driven the reopening — and resolution — of cold cases, and changed numerous lives. CBS News correspondents offer an in-depth look into each story, with the emphasis on solving the mystery at its heart.

American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.

The home for the world's boldest contemporary filmmakers, celebrating intriguing personal stories that spark conversation and inspire action.

An in-depth look at news stories. Documentaries that take you behind the scenes giving an insight into people's lives or institutions.

Weekly current affairs show

Presented by Walsh, the show profiles and assist law enforcement in the apprehension of fugitives wanted for numerous crimes, including murder, rape, kidnapping, child molestation, white-collar crime, organized crime, armed robbery, gang violence, and terrorism, and also many of whom are currently on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

The Discovery Channel's Shark Week, first broadcast on July 17, 1987, is a weeklong series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks. Held annually, normally in July or August, Shark Week was originally developed to raise awareness and respect for sharks. It is the longest-running cable television programming event in history. Now broadcast in over 72 countries, Shark Week is promoted heavily via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

MTV's acclaimed music series showcases today's top artists and rising stars in the industry performing acoustic versions of their songs.

Watchdog is a BBC television series that investigates viewers' reports of problematic experiences with traders, retailers, and other companies around the UK. It has had great success in changing the awareness consumers have of their purchasing rights and in changing policies of companies, closing down businesses, and pushing for law changes. It is shown on BBC One and is available for online viewing or download via BBC iPlayer.

Charles Tisseyre explores the world of science and technology through real-world stories. Each episode features reports delving into technological breakthroughs and developments in scientific research, environmental issues, space exploration, as well as health and medicine.

Bharat Ek Khoj is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, that dramatically unfolds the 5000 year history of India from its beginnings to the coming of independence in 1947. The drama was directed, written and produced by Shyam Benegal with cinematographer V. K. Murthy in 1988 for state-owned Doordarshan. Benegal's regular script collaborator Shama Zaidi also co-wrote the script.

Prisoners of Gravity was a Canadian public broadcasting television news magazine program that explored speculative fiction — science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic books — and its relation to various thematic and social issues. Produced by TVOntario, the show was the brainchild of former comic retail manager Mark Askwith and writer Daniel Richler, and was hosted by Rick Green. The series aired 139 episodes over 5 seasons from 1989 to 1994.

This award-winning weekly automotive magazine provides unbiased, consumer-oriented car news with feature stories on related topics.

Nightline, or ABC News Nightline, is a late-night news program that is broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main anchor from March 1980 until his retirement from the program in November 2005. Nightline airs weeknights at 12:37 a.m. Eastern Time, after Jimmy Kimmel Live!. It previously ran for 31 minutes, but in 2011, the program was reduced to 25 minutes. When the program moved to 12:37 a.m. ET, the program was expanded to 30 minutes. In 2002, Nightline was ranked 23rd on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.

Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries can be found on US cable channels without the branding.

The Joy of Painting was an American television show hosted by painter Bob Ross that taught its viewers techniques for landscape oil painting. Although Ross could complete a painting in half an hour, the intent of the show was not to teach viewers "speed painting". Rather, he intended for viewers to learn certain techniques within the time that the show was allotted. The show began on January 11, 1983, and lasted until May 17, 1994, a year before Ross' death.

An Austrian magazine-TV show.

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The Many Dream Journeys of Meme is a Japanese anime television show created by Nippon Animation. The show originally aired from 1983 to 1985 and was primarily educational. Episodes usually dealt with scientific discoveries and inventions, though there were also a few futuristic and science fiction stories and situations. The series has been translated into many languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hebrew, and Arabic and Serbo-Croatian.

Rescue 911 is an informational reality-based television series that premiered on April 18, 1989 and ended on August 27, 1996. The series was hosted by William Shatner and featured reenactments of emergency situations that often involved calls to 911. Though never intended as a teaching tool, various viewers used the knowledge they obtained watching the show. Two specials, titled "100 Lives Saved" and "200 Lives Saved," were dedicated to viewers who had written to CBS with their stories on how the knowledge they obtained watching the show allowed them to save the life of someone else. At least 350 lives have been saved as a result of what viewers learned from watching it.

Carl Sagan covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe.

Attention please! Are you ready for an adventurous tour through the human body? With a lot of humour, our physical appearance is being introduced from head to toe along cells and organs in an educational way. The heart, blood, nerves and kidneys, each single one is a miracle which renders life possible.

In hour-long, in-depth explorations, CNN hosts examine extraordinary individuals, unexpected events and controversial subjects through interviews, stories, images and videos.

The Really Wild Show was a long-running British television show about wildlife, broadcast by the BBC as part of their CBBC service to children. It also runs on Animal Planet in the US. The show was broadcast continuously since 21 January 1986. In April 2006 the BBC announced that the show would be axed that summer, and as such the last ever episode was shown in April 2006, giving the show a run of 20 years.

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National Geographic's Explorer gives viewers special access to the issues of the day.

Investigative news magazine on Chile's social and political contingency.

Cult films receive interesting introductions from an expert, before the entire film is screened.

A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.

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40 Minutes was a BBC TV documentary strand broadcast on BBC Two between 1981 and 1994. The documentaries could be on any possible subject, the only connection being that they last forty minutes. Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, Forty Minutes On.