Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (History Channel)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Episodes: B

 

 

The History Channel’s documentary mini-series Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America is another strong entry in the many they have logged so far.  The events covered, though they did give specific dates, did not necessarily happen in one day.  Nevertheless, the events are hard to argue against as follows:

 

1)     Massacre At Mystic covers how the genocide of Native Americans became common.

2)     Shay’s Rebellion: America’s First Civil War has Bill Plympton animation about stunning events that led to both The Bill Of Rights and The Constitution.

3)     Gold Rush tells the sometimes-darker story about how a freer country without royalty allowed people to find the still-precious metal all over the place, then shows who really got rich.

4)     Antietam was the biggest battle of The Civil War and remains the bloodiest day in U.S. history.

5)     The Homestead Strike takes place near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and repeats the Johnson County Massacre story of the defenseless and helpless being mowed down in the name of big money interests, except this one involved a union, Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie.

6)     Murder At The Fair: The Assassination Of President McKinley happened at the 1901 World’s Fair and helped the FDR Progressive Era take place in ways many may not know.

7)     Scopes: The Battle Over America’s Soul is the evolution versus Christian Extremism/Creationism/Intelligent Design debate and how the end of the case was only the beginning of scientific fact and progress versus dogma.

8)     Einstein’s Letter involves the one the scientific genius wrote to FDR about developing nuclear weapons.  It turned out to save the free world.

9)     When America Was Rocked is about Elvis nation TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show and how that launched the Rock Era, teen culture and so much more.

10)  Freedom Summer involves Mississippi 1964 when three Civil Rights workers were killed and how the 1965 Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Movement resulted.

 

 

All are pretty good, but the overall I found the installments a bit uneven as a collective and since they were not produced with formulaic limits, so that is to be expected.  Otherwise, they are must-see programs, especially if you do not know the history or significance.

 

Though the package says the image is anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9, the 1.78 X 1 image is actually letterboxed 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 offering inferior picture reproduction.  This is a nicely produced series, but the lack of enhancement holds it back, especially as two HD formats are now on the market.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has limited surrounds.  The only extra is a half-hour making of program, but that is all.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo