The WORST episodes of American Experience
Every episode of American Experience ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of American Experience!
Presents an absorbing look at the personalities, events and resources that have had a profound impact on the shaping of America's past and present.
#1 - Daley: The Last Boss
Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/22/1996
Biography of Chicago mayor Richard Daley, considered one of the last major heads of big city "machine" politics in the United States.
#2 - America 1900 (4): Anything Seemed Possible
Season 11 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/25/1998
#3 - America 1900 (1): Spirit of the Age
Season 11 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/18/1998
#4 - Vietnam: A Television History (9): Peace Is at Hand
Season 9 - Episode 21 - Aired 7/14/1997
As President Nixon escalates the bombing of Hanoi and North Vietnamese troops advance, negotiators struggle for four years to sign a peace treaty that will be broken quickly. An edited re-broadcast of the 1983 series Vietnam: A Television History.
#5 - Big Dream, Small Screen
Season 9 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/10/1997
How Philo Farnsworth combined his work with other emerging technologies to contribute to the development of television.
#6 - Hawaii's Last Queen
Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/27/1997
In 1893, the last sovereign ruler of Hawaii is removed by forces that want the islands to come under the official jurisdiction of the United States.
#7 - The Richest Man in the World: Andrew Carnegie
Season 9 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/20/1997
A chronicle of the rise of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, his steel empire, and his philanthropy.
#8 - Spy in the Sky
Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/26/1996
The Cold War forces the United States to build very high altitude U2 planes to record photographs of opposing nations.
#9 - The Wright Stuff
Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/12/1996
The story of Wilbur and Orville Wright and the earliest days of aviation.
#10 - Race for the Superbomb
Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/11/1999
The United States and the Soviet Union work on weapons even more powerful than the earlier atomic bomb during the height of the Cold War.
#11 - Chicago 1968
Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/13/1995
The nation watches a political convention that in many ways is a symbol of the turbulent times in which it was held.
#12 - Edison's Miracle of Light
Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/23/1995
Inventor Thomas A. Edison experiments with electricity, long-burning filaments, and glass bulbs to give America an alternative to gas lights.
#13 - Murder of the Century
Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/16/1995
The nation is fascinated by the high-profile murder of a famous architect, apparently because of jealousy over a popular female stage performer.
#15 - One Woman, One Vote
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/15/1995
The struggle of the women's movement and the 19th Amendment that finally extended national suffrage to women.
#16 - Freedom on My Mind
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/15/1996
An account of the struggle to register African Americans to vote in the state of Mississippi in the 1960s.
#17 - Midnight Ramble
Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/26/1994
Oscar Micheaux and the History of Race. Oscar Micheaux wrote, produced and directed over 40 movies and despite this was really not known because he was African American . This movie recounts the history of the black film industry from 1910 to the 1940s and includes rare clips and highlights.
#18 - The Duel
Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 2/14/2000
The background and aftermath of the 1804 conflict between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.
#19 - Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
Season 13 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/12/2001
The story of Marcus Garvey, his ideas for Black re-settlement in Liberia, and his controversial ideas on race relations.
#20 - Return with Honor
Season 13 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/13/2000
An account of American P.O.W.s in Vietnam and their return to life in the United States.
#21 - The Wizard of Photography
Season 12 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/22/2000
The story of the innovations that made photography affordable and easy enough for any American to enjoy.
#22 - Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life
Season 12 - Episode 14 - Aired 5/8/2000
The life of the "Yankee Clipper," from his humble beginnings as the son of an Italian-American fisherman in California to his world-wide acclaim.
#23 - George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire (2)
Season 12 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/24/2000
#24 - George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire (1)
Season 12 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/23/2000
The tumultuous career of the controversial politician from Alabama.
#25 - Houdini
Season 12 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/24/2000
In 1912 Harry Houdini was lowered into New York's East River in a crate wrapped in chains. The crowd of spectators gasped; reporters pulled out their stop watches. Houdini was out in less than a minute. The resulting media blitz established him forever as the world's greatest escape artist. On stage, Houdini subjected himself to the Water Torture Cell, being buried alive, and other perils of his own design. Throughout his rise from Hungarian immigrant to international star, Houdini confronted our greatest fears entrapment, pain, death -- and emerged victorious. Produced by Nancy Porter. Mandy Patinkin narrates.