American Experience: Season 18
Season 18 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of American Experience Season 17.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 18 Progress Shield
Two Days in October
Oct 17, 2005 · 55 min
"Two Days in October" recalls two 1967 events -- a Vietcong ambush and a violent antiwar demonstration at the University of Wisconsin -- that together marked a turning point in Ame
Race to the Moon
Oct 31, 2005 · 55 min
"Race to the Moon" chronicles Apollo 8, the first voyage to the moon. "It was an event beyond all other events," says Walter Cronkite of the December 1968 mission, which laid the g
Las Vegas: An Unconventional History (1): Sin City
Nov 14, 2005 · 55 min
The story of the gambling mecca is told via news clips and reminiscences. Part 1 of 2
Las Vegas: An Unconventional History (2): American Mecca
Nov 15, 2005 · 55 min
News clips and reminiscences tell the story of the gambling mecca, from a dusty railroad town to a leading tourist attraction. Part 2 of 2
John and Abigail Adams
Jan 23, 2006 · 55 min
An engrossing portrait of the second U.S. president and first lady, costars Simon Russell Beale and Linda Emond. Included: the friendship (and enmity) between John Adams and Thomas
The Nuremberg Trials
Jan 30, 2006 · 55 min
A gripping study of the groundbreaking prosecution, which began Nov. 20, 1945, as Nazi Germany's leaders were held accountable for war crimes, infamously blamed on "following order
Jesse James
Feb 6, 2006 · 55 min
A striking profile of the outlaw (1847-82) is told through reenactments, comments from historians and archival photographs. The hour traces James' life from age 16 to his death at
Hijacked
Feb 25, 2006 · 55 min
A look at the coordinated hijacking of four jetliners in 1970 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which blew up the evacuated planes in Jordan. Included: the mili
Eugene O'Neill
Mar 21, 2006 · 55 min
An absorbing profile of the esteemed playwright (1888-1953). Included: excerpts from his plays are performed by Al Pacino, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Plummer, Vanessa Redgrave, Liam
The Boy in the Bubble
Apr 10, 2006 · 55 min
The absorbing story of David Vetter (1971-84), who had severe combined immunodeficiency and lived inside a sterile plastic chamber for 12 years. Included: comments from his mother,
The Alaska Pipeline
Apr 24, 2006 · 55 min
The history of the Alaska Pipeline, which was built in the 1970s to transport oil across 800 miles of pristine wilderness, from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. Included: the 1968 discovery
Annie Oakley
May 8, 2006 · 55 min
An on-target profile of the sharpshooter (1860-1926) who was “the first American woman ever to become a superstar.” Included: Oakley, at 15, winning a shooting match with future hu
The Man Behind Hitler
May 22, 2006 · 55 min
A profile of Joseph Goebbels (1897-45), who helped launch Hitler's rise to power. Kenneth Branagh provides voice-over readings of Goebbels' personal diaries. Included: footage from