When did Ken Burns The Civil War first air on PBS?
The series premiered on PBS from September 23 to 27, 1990. Five years of development preceded this initial broadcast date.
The series premiered on PBS from September 23 to 27, 1990. Five years of development preceded this initial broadcast date.
Geoffrey C. Ward wrote the script alongside co-producer Ric Burns. They collaborated with a large cast of actors who voiced correspondence and memoirs throughout the run.
Jay Ungar composed Ashokan Farewell in 1982 after annual Ashokan Music & Dance Camps ended. This instrumental piece appears twenty-five times during the film yet is the only modern music heard throughout.
More than 39 million viewers tuned in to at least one episode of the miniseries. Viewership averaged more than 14 million viewers each evening making it the most watched program ever to air on PBS.
Academic historians argue that the war was fought to preserve slavery yet Burns presented Shelby Foote's framing as a failure to compromise. Critics also note that the production team lacked sufficient coverage of women, blacks, or Reconstruction due to their demographic makeup.
PBS remastered the series in high definition for the 150th anniversary of the end of the war and the 25th anniversary of the series. It aired on PBS from September 7 to 11, 2015 with Blu-ray and DVD editions released on the 13th of October 2015.