TV series

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

2009 · 1 season

A stately, visually majestic documentary that unfolds like a leisurely historical essay, blending breathtaking landscapes with intimate human stories.

Created by: Ken Burns
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Adam Arkin, Philip Bosco, Peter Coyote

Overview: Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales – from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska - “The National Parks: America's Best Idea” is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background – rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy.

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Created by: Ken Burns
Genres: Documentary
Starring: Adam Arkin, Philip Bosco, Peter Coyote

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: earneststrength 3 of 3
warmstrength 2 of 3
upliftingstrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: nature
environment
politics
identity
art
Places: wilderness
countryside
small town
Era: period
Audience: family
Form: documentary
true story
serialised
Content intensity: Gore none
Language none
Violence none
Sex none

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	1
Horror	0
Humour	2
Realism	9
Romance	1
Tension	2
Darkness	2
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	6

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Details

Genres: documentary
Created by: Ken Burns
Written by: Dayton Duncan
Starring: Adam Arkin, Philip Bosco, Peter Coyote, Amy Madigan, Tom Hanks, Murphy Guyer
Length: 1 seasons, 6 episodes, 120 min each
Network: PBS
Languages: English

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The National Parks: America's Best Idea

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