The Sixties

Executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, this CNN original series offers a 10-episode survey of one of the most tumultuous decades in recent American history: the 1960s, from the first televised presidential debate in 1960 that captured a sweaty Nixon facing off against a cool Kennedy, to the murderous rampage by the Hells Angels at the Altamont rock concert in 1969. The Sixties does an excellent job of following a semi-chronological format that is nevertheless divided into chapters dealing with the heightened influence of TV, the Cold War, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the British music invasion, the space race, 1968 (a seminal year that sadly witnessed the murders of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy), and the communal social experiment of the hippies in San Francisco. Along the way, the series also covers other touchstone moments (Rachel Carson's Silent Spring kicking off the environmental movement, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique laying the foundation for women's liberation, and the Stonewall riot launching the fight for gay rights). Although sometimes reduced to mere sound bites, the series features a stellar array of commentators, including Robert Caro, Gloria Steinem, Richard Reeves, John Lewis, Gail Collins, Dan Rather, Lawrence Wright, Tim O'Brien, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Jann Wenner, Todd Gitlin, Grace Slick, and Tom Wolfe. But what makes The Sixties truly shine is the original video source material that includes so many iconic moments: the Zapruder film of Kennedy's assassination, the dogs and fire hoses in Birmingham, AL, Bob Dylan being booed after going electric at the Newport Folk Festival, and—wonder of wonders—a man stepping on to the Moon. One could rightfully quibble about the annoying commercial bumpers, but overall this is an incredible overview of a chaotic time that was well-documented by the camera's eye. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)