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Documentary

All Episodes of The Fifties

Browse all episodes of The Fifties

All Episodes of The Fifties

Archival footage and interviews with historians mark this fascinating documentary on the 1950s, based on David Halberstam's bestseller. Among the subjects covered: work and the...
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Season 1

  • The Fear & The Dream
    N/A/100 votes

    The Fear & The Dream

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/30/1997

    Following the victorious end of World War II, America was looking forward to new prosperity and relief from the shortages and rationing that the war required. New affluence, new low-cost suburban homes, and dreams of the good life resulted in a baby boom. With the advent of the Hydrogen bomb, a growing awareness of the communist threat and the beginning of the cold war, those dreams threatened to morph into nightmares.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Selling the American Way
    N/A/100 votes

    Selling the American Way

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 12/7/1997

    Television makes its popular debut. TV is a great selling tool, manufacturing demand for everything from automobiles to zany inventions. Business and governments all begin to learn (and wield) the power of the new media.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Let's Play House
    N/A/100 votes

    Let's Play House

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 12/14/1997

    Conforming to the idealized visions of family as depicted on their new televisions, Americans settle into enjoying their American Dreams but discordant voices are beginning to be heard. Grace Metallious's Peyton Place, Sloan Wilson's The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, and the opinions of feminists like Betty Friedan begin to make Americans question the idealized nuclear family.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • A Burning Desire
    N/A/100 votes

    A Burning Desire

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 12/21/1997

    During an otherwise repressed time, Americans again question their ideas of "normal" when the Kinsey report is published, Marilyn Monroe debuts as the centerfold in Hugh Heffner's Playboy, and Margaret Sanger and "Goody" Pincus begin to make noise about "The Pill."

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Beat
    N/A/100 votes

    The Beat

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 12/28/1997

    Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Elvis. Conformity is questioned and homogenized America begins to differentiate. The teenager as a class is born. Popular music is forever changed by the advent of Rock n Roll. Beat poets push our boundaries and America begins to question everything.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Rage Within
    N/A/100 votes

    The Rage Within

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 1/4/1998

    From Emmet Till to Willie Mays, Americans begin to seriously reconsider how they confront issues of race in America.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Road to the Sixties
    N/A/100 votes

    The Road to the Sixties

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 1/11/1998

    Fast food and fast cars occupy Americans' thoughts until the Soviets launch Sputnik and the space race begins.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown