First Aired: January 17th, 1983
Status: Continuing
Network: PBS
Summary: Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.
Next Episode:
New episode date is not available for now
Episode Statistics:
# of Episodes: 1756
# of Episodes I watched: 0
# of Episodes I haven't watched: 1756
Last Episode I watched: -
Episode Summaries
Select Season:
My Season Progress:
0 %
Season 1991
Episode 1: To the Brink of War
Air Date: January 15th, 1991
Summary: On January 15, 1991, the United Nations resolution that allowed the use of force against Saddam Hussein took effect. Frontline correspondent Hodding Carter examined the critical decisions inside the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon that had brought the nation to the brink of war.
Episode 3: The Man who Made the Supergun
Air Date: February 12nd, 1991
Summary: Frontline examines the career of one of the world's most brilliant designers of weaponry, Gerald Bull, who designed long-range artillery used by Iraq during the Gulf War. Bull was murdered at his home in Brussels, Belgium, in March 1990-a murder believed to have been orchestrated by the Israeli secret intelligence agency, Mossad.
Episode 5: The Mind of Hussein
Air Date: February 26th, 1991
Summary: Frontline investigates the personal and political history of Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Through interviews with Hussein's former neighbors, members of his government, military leaders, journalists, and Middle East experts, correspondent Hodding Carter reveals the fears, the passions, and the intellect of the man behind the demonic image.
Episode 6: Black America's War
Air Date: April 2nd, 1991
Summary: Nearly thirty percent of all US soldiers in the Gulf War were black Americans. But blacks were much more skeptical than whites about the decision to go to war. Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree leads a Frontline town meeting that explores the source of black attitudes and the impact of the war on the lives of black Americans.
Episode 7: War and Peace in Panama
Air Date: April 9th, 1991
Summary: Before Operation Desert Storm, there was Operation Just Cause, the 1989 invasion of Panama. Frontline examines the planning and execution of the Bush administration's first war and its impact on the problems still facing Panama's fragile democracy.
Episode 8: The Election Held Hostage
Air Date: April 16th, 1991
Summary: On January 20, 1981, just as Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States, Iran finally released the 52 American hostages it had held for 444 days. Frontline reporter Robert Parry investigates startling new evidence about how both the Carter and Reagan camps may have tried to forge secret deals for those hostages during the 1980 presidential campaign.
Episode 9: Who Pays for Mom and Dad?
Air Date: April 30th, 1991
Summary: Frontline examines the crisis facing middle-class Americans seeking long-term nursing home care for elderly parents. The report focuses on the tremendous financial difficulties faced by families who must decide what's best for their loved ones.
Episode 10: Innocence Lost
Air Date: May 7th, 1991
Summary: What has happened to the small town of Edenton, North Carolina, now that its most prestigious day-care has been closed down because of charges of sexual abuse? Frontline examines the painful personal story of a divided community, the tangled roots of the charges, and the history of the investigation in this highly controversial case.
Episode 11: The Spy Hunter
Air Date: May 14th, 1991
Summary: Correspondent Tom Mangold profiles the mysterious, tortured life of James Angleton, ex-chief of counter-intelligence for the CIA who was obsessed by the belief that the agency was harboring a mole. His pursuit ruined lives and careers and seriously skewed US intelligence.
Episode 12: To the Last Fish
Air Date: May 21st, 1991
Summary: Correspondent Al Austin looks at the mass environmental destruction of the world's fisheries caused by new technologies in the fishing industry. Interviews with fishermen, businessmen, scientists, and government leaders reveal how the vital marine resource is in a dangerous state of decline.
Episode 13: The Color of Your Skin
Air Date: June 11st, 1991
Summary: An intimate journey into America's great racial divide, reported by David Maraniss. For 16 weeks, behind a two-way mirror in a small room at the US military's intensive race relations course, a dozen Americans-black, white, and Hispanic-confront each other with their racial anger, pain, and bewilderment. This group's dramatic struggle poses the vital question - can America overcome its racial conflicts and make equality work?
Episode 14: The Gates Nomination
Air Date: July 15th, 1991
Summary: At the start of US Senate confirmation hearings, Frontline probes the background of Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to head the CIA. The program, anchored by Hodding Carter III, focuses on Gates's role in the Iran-contra affair and in a secret US policy to help Saddam Hussein build and maintain his war machine.
Episode 15: In the Shadow of Sakharov
Air Date: October 15th, 1991
Summary: Frontline recounts the saga of Andrei Sakharov, the nuclear physicist turned human-rights advocate who became the father of the Soviet democracy movement. With unique access to Sakharov's family and friends, the film documents Sakharov's life across seven decades of Communist rule in the USSR and traces his struggle to teach his country and the world important lessons about the moral power of the human spirit.
Episode 16: The Great American Bailout
Air Date: October 22nd, 1991
Summary: The biggest financial disaster in US history continues. Four years into the process of selling off failed savings and loan assets, the Resolution Trust Corporation, the federal agency charged with managing the bailout, hasn't stopped the rising cost - estimated at $600-700 billion in taxpayers' dollars and climbing. In a co-production with the Center for Investigative Reporting, Frontline correspondent Robert Krulwich uncovers the inside story of mismanagement and politics and tells how the bailout itself is now in need of rescue.
Episode 17: The War We Left Behind
Air Date: October 29th, 1991
Summary: Frontline investigates the hidden strategies of the air war against Iraq and its devastating impact on Iraqi civilians. The program reveals how the war destroyed Iraq's power stations-leaving many Iraqis without electricity, sewage lines, or purified water, vulnerable to hunger and disease, and part of the 'slow motion disaster' in post-war Iraq.
Episode 18: Don King, Unauthorized
Air Date: November 5th, 1991
Summary: Frontline investigates the life and career of boxing promoter Don King, from his early street hustling days in Cleveland-where he once killed a man who owed him money-to his current position as the top boxing promoter in America. Correspondent Jack Newfield travels to training camps, title matches, and interviews fighters, managers, and trainers to tell the troubling story of a man who is bigger than the sport he promotes.
Episode 19: My Doctor, My Lover
Air Date: November 12nd, 1991
Summary: Dr. Jason Richter, a psychiatrist, had a sexual affair with his patient Melissa Roberts-Henry. She later sued him for sexual abuse. Frontline examines the history of this patient-therapist relationship, the legal battle that followed, and how the psychiatric establishment dealt with the case. The program details the case history, drawing from videotaped portions of the trial, interviews with Roberts-Henry, Richter, attorneys, and experts.
Episode 20: Losing the War with Japan
Air Date: November 19th, 1991
Summary: Frontline looks at the challenge Japanese-style capitalism poses to the US market. The program examines three industries-automobile, video games, and flat panel displays used in computers. Robert Krulwich introduces the hour-long documentary and anchors a closing half-hour roundtable discussion.
Episode 21: The Secret Story of Terry Waite
Air Date: November 26th, 1991
Summary: Frontline, in co-production with the BBC, examines the secret connections between Oliver North and British hostage Terry Waite, the Anglican church envoy released from captivity in Lebanon after nearly five years. Correspondent Gavin Hewitt investigates the charge North used Waite in an effort to locate the other hostages and to cover up American's covert arms-for-hostages deal with Iran.
Episode 22: Who Killed Adam Mann?
Air Date: December 3rd, 1991
Summary: On March 5, 1990, in New York City, five year-old Adam Mann was beaten to death for eating a piece of cake. The autopsy indicated Adam had been battered by his parents for years. Frontline investigates Adam's death and reveals a documented record, stretching back seven years, of how New York City's child-welfare system failed to protect Adam and his three brothers from their violent parents.
Information about series and episodes are provided by TMDB API. If you think that episode information is wrong or missing, please click here to request an update. After your request, update process can take up to 30 minutes.