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Is American Masters coming back?

American Masters (1986–present) — music on PBS

The answer: Yes — returns in 10 days. Next episode · S40E04 · "W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause" · on PBS
American Masters poster
Genre
Music
Network / streamer
PBS
Premiered
June 23, 1986
Runtime
~89 min per episode
TVMaze rating
7.5 / 10
40seasons
314episodes
1upcoming
7.5/ 10

About American Masters

Now in its 30th year, American Masters has produced an exceptional library of more than 160 television programs, bringing unique originality and perspective to exploring the lives and illuminating the creative journeys of our most enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists and filmmakers – those who have "left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape". Balancing a broad cast of characters and artistic approaches, while preserving historical authenticity and intellectual integrity, these portraits resonate the attention, style and substance each subject deserves. American Masters sustains high audience awareness and loyalty, averaging 2-to-5 million viewers per program.

American Masters episode schedule

1 upcoming · 313 aired . Next episode: May 19, 2026.

Upcoming · 1

DateEp.Title
May 19, 2026 S40·E4 W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause

Aired · 313

DateEp.Title
February 20, 2026 S40·E3 Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
January 27, 2026 S40·E2 Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
December 16, 2025 S40·E1 Ten Times Better
December 12, 2025 S39·E8 Starring Dick Van Dyke
October 14, 2025 S39·E7 Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
July 11, 2025 S39·E6 Marcella
June 27, 2025 S39·E5 Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny
June 20, 2025 S39·E4 Janis Ian: Breaking Silence
April 15, 2025 S39·E3 Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse
April 1, 2025 S39·E2 LIZA: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
February 21, 2025 S39·E1 The Disappearance of Miss Scott
December 16, 2024 S38·E6 Brenda Lee: Rockin' Around
September 17, 2024 S38·E5 Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined
August 27, 2024 S38·E4 Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames
April 5, 2024 S38·E3 The Incomparable Mr. Buckley
March 29, 2024 S38·E2 Daniel Patrick Moynihan
January 2, 2024 S38·E1 HOPPER: An American Love Story
October 6, 2023 S37·E9 Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes
September 29, 2023 S37·E8 A Song for Cesar
September 22, 2023 S37·E7 Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely
September 15, 2023 S37·E6 Jerry Brown: The Disrupter
June 2, 2023 S37·E5 Little Richard: The King and Queen of Rock and Roll
May 16, 2023 S37·E4 Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV
March 24, 2023 S37·E3 In the Making
March 21, 2023 S37·E2 Dr. Tony Fauci
January 24, 2023 S37·E1 Roberta Flack
December 27, 2022 S36·E8 Groucho & Cavett
December 12, 2022 S36·E7 The Adventures of Saul Bellow
November 22, 2022 S36·E6 Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
June 14, 2022 S36·E5 Brian Wilson - Long Promised Road
Show next 200 of 283 earlier episodes
June 3, 2022 S36·E4 Joe Papp in Five Acts
May 10, 2022 S36·E3 Waterman - Duke: Ambassador of Aloha
February 8, 2022 S36·E2 Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands
January 11, 2022 S36·E1 Ailey
October 19, 2021 S35·E10 Becoming Helen Keller
October 5, 2021 S35·E9 Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It
July 27, 2021 S35·E8 Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away
June 4, 2021 S35·E7 Ballerina Boys
May 3, 2021 S35·E6 Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir
April 9, 2021 S35·E5 Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
April 2, 2021 S35·E4 Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story
March 26, 2021 S35·E3 Twyla Moves
March 23, 2021 S35·E2 Flannery O'Connor
January 18, 2021 S35·E1 How It Feels To Be Free
December 29, 2020 S34·E9 Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page
December 11, 2020 S34·E8 Keith Haring: Street Art Boy
October 23, 2020 S34·E7 Michael Tilson Thomas: Where Now Is
October 20, 2020 S34·E6 Walter Winchell: The Power of Gossip
July 10, 2020 S34·E5 Unladylike2020: The Changemakers
June 30, 2020 S34·E4 And She Could Be Next Part Two
June 23, 2020 S34·E3 Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
June 16, 2020 S34·E2 Mae West: Dirty Blonde
February 25, 2020 S34·E1 Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
November 18, 2019 S33·E12 N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear
October 25, 2019 S33·E11 Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous
September 13, 2019 S33·E10 Raul Julia: The World's a Stage
August 2, 2019 S33·E9 Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin
June 21, 2019 S33·E8 Robert Shaw - Man of Many Voices
June 14, 2019 S33·E7 Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life
April 19, 2019 S33·E6 Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable
April 12, 2019 S33·E5 Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People
March 1, 2019 S33·E4 Holly Near: Singing for Our Lives
February 22, 2019 S33·E3 Charley Pride: I'm Just Me
February 19, 2019 S33·E2 Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me
January 2, 2019 S33·E1 Decoding Watson
October 14, 2018 S32·E8 Itzhak
September 14, 2018 S32·E7 Basquiat: Rage to Riches
September 7, 2018 S32·E6 Andrew Wyeth
September 7, 2018 S32·E5 Everybody Knows... Elizabeth Murray
August 31, 2018 S32·E4 Eva Hesse
July 23, 2018 S32·E3 Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived
May 18, 2018 S32·E2 Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
January 19, 2018 S32·E1 Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart
December 29, 2017 S31·E11 This Is Bob Hope...
November 8, 2017 S31·E10 Inspiring Woman Web Series
October 30, 2017 S31·E9 Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive
September 8, 2017 S31·E8 Tyrus Wong
September 1, 2017 S31·E7 Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny
August 16, 2017 S31·E6 Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me
May 26, 2017 S31·E5 Jacques Pépin: The Art of Craft
May 19, 2017 S31·E4 James Beard: America's First Foodie
March 4, 2017 S31·E3 Patsy Cline
February 21, 2017 S31·E2 Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
January 3, 2017 S31·E1 By Sidney Lumet
December 27, 2016 S30·E9 Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future
October 25, 2016 S30·E8 Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
May 27, 2016 S30·E7 The Highwaymen: Friends Till the End
May 3, 2016 S30·E6 Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue
March 4, 2016 S30·E5 Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
February 26, 2016 S30·E4 Fats Domino: The Birth of Rock N' Roll
February 19, 2016 S30·E3 Carole King: Natural Woman
February 12, 2016 S30·E2 B.B. King: The Life of Riley
January 29, 2016 S30·E1 Mike Nichols: An American Master
September 25, 2015 S29·E7 The Women's List
September 18, 2015 S29·E6 Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer's Journey
September 4, 2015 S29·E5 Althea
May 15, 2015 S29·E4 American Ballet Theatre: A History
April 16, 2015 S29·E3 Jascha Heifetz: God's Fiddler
February 20, 2015 S29·E2 August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
January 23, 2015 S29·E1 Ricky Jay: Deceptive Practice
December 2, 2014 S28·E9 Bing Crosby Rediscovered
September 23, 2014 S28·E7 Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
September 23, 2014 S28·E8 The Boomer List
August 29, 2014 S28·E6 Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning
June 20, 2014 S28·E5 Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun
May 16, 2014 S28·E4 Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself
April 22, 2014 S28·E3 A Fierce Green Fire
February 7, 2014 S28·E2 Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth
January 21, 2014 S28·E1 Salinger
December 27, 2013 S27·E6 Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did for Love
November 5, 2013 S27·E5 Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin'
September 10, 2013 S27·E4 Billie Jean King
May 20, 2013 S27·E3 Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
March 29, 2013 S27·E2 Philip Roth: Unmasked
February 22, 2013 S27·E1 Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock & Roll
December 28, 2012 S26·E8 Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance
November 20, 2012 S26·E7 Inventing David Geffen
September 24, 2012 S26·E6 The Day Carl Sandburg Died
May 14, 2012 S26·E5 Johnny Carson: King of Late Night
April 2, 2012 S26·E4 Harper Lee: Hey, Boo
April 2, 2012 S26·E3 Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel
February 27, 2012 S26·E2 Cab Calloway: Sketches
January 23, 2012 S26·E1 Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
December 29, 2011 S25·E9 Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter
November 21, 2011 S25·E8 Woody Allen: A Documentary: Part 2
November 20, 2011 S25·E7 Woody Allen: A Documentary: Part 1
November 11, 2011 S25·E6 Bill T. Jones: A Good Man
October 21, 2011 S25·E5 Pearl Jam Twenty
June 1, 2011 S25·E4 James Levine: America's Maestro
April 18, 2011 S25·E3 John Muir in the New World
March 2, 2011 S25·E2 Troubadors: Carole King/James Taylor & the Rise of the Singer-Songwriter
January 12, 2011 S25·E1 Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides
December 27, 2010 S24·E8 Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
November 22, 2010 S24·E7 Lennon NYC
October 4, 2010 S24·E6 A Letter to Elia
September 20, 2010 S24·E5 Cachao: Uno Más
July 21, 2010 S24·E4 Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself
May 12, 2010 S24·E3 The Doors: When You're Strange
March 31, 2010 S24·E2 I.M. Pei: Building China Modern
January 11, 2010 S24·E1 Sam Cooke: Crossing Over
December 28, 2009 S23·E8 Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'
October 14, 2009 S23·E7 Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound
September 2, 2009 S23·E6 Trumbo
July 1, 2009 S23·E5 Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes
June 10, 2009 S23·E4 Neil Young: Don't Be Denied
May 27, 2009 S23·E3 Hollywood Chinese
April 8, 2009 S23·E2 Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
February 18, 2009 S23·E1 Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About
September 25, 2008 S22·E9 The Brothers Warner
September 25, 2008 S22·E8 You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: The Big Tent (1980-Present)
September 24, 2008 S22·E6 You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: A New Reality (1950-1970)
September 24, 2008 S22·E7 You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: Woodstock Notions (1970-1989)
September 23, 2008 S22·E5 You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: Good War, Uneasy Peace (1935-1950)
September 23, 2008 S22·E4 You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story: You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet (1923-1935)
May 7, 2008 S22·E3 Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
April 9, 2008 S22·E2 Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
February 27, 2008 S22·E1 Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
November 5, 2007 S21·E9 Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character
October 29, 2007 S21·E8 Good Ol' Charles Schulz
September 19, 2007 S21·E7 Orozco: Man of Fire
September 12, 2007 S21·E6 Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends
July 25, 2007 S21·E5 John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature
July 18, 2007 S21·E4 David Hockney: The Colors of Music
July 11, 2007 S21·E3 Les Paul: Chasing Sound
May 2, 2007 S21·E2 Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built
April 4, 2007 S21·E1 Novel Reflections on the American Dream
January 3, 2007 S20·E9 Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens
September 27, 2006 S20·E8 Sketches of Frank Gehry
September 21, 2006 S20·E7 Andy Warhol: A Documentary: Part 2
September 20, 2006 S20·E6 Andy Warhol: A Documentary: Part 1
July 26, 2006 S20·E5 Walter Cronkite: Witness to History
July 19, 2006 S20·E4 Marilyn Monroe: Still Life
July 12, 2006 S20·E3 Woodie Guthrie: Ain't Got No Home
May 17, 2006 S20·E2 The World of Nat King Cole
May 10, 2006 S20·E1 John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend
September 27, 2005 S19·E7 Bob Dylan: No Direction Home
September 14, 2005 S19·E6 Ernest Hemingway: Rivers to the Sea
September 7, 2005 S19·E5 Willa Cather: The Road is All
July 20, 2005 S19·E4 Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned
July 13, 2005 S19·E3 George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
June 29, 2005 S19·E2 Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice
May 11, 2005 S19·E1 James Dean: Sense Memories
August 18, 2004 S18·E8 Julia! America's Favorite Chef
June 23, 2004 S18·E7 Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues
April 28, 2004 S18·E6 Henry Luce and Time-Life's America: A Vision of Empire
February 25, 2004 S18·E5 Judy Garland: By Myself
January 14, 2004 S18·E4 Balanchine
January 7, 2004 S18·E3 Cary Grant: A Class Apart
October 29, 2003 S18·E2 James Brown: Soul Survivor
September 3, 2003 S18·E1 Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist
July 30, 2003 S17·E8 The Education of Gore Vidal
May 28, 2003 S17·E7 Robert Capa: In Love and War
April 23, 2003 S17·E6 Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied
April 2, 2003 S17·E5 Joni Mitchell: A Woman of Heart and Mind
March 19, 2003 S17·E4 Alice Waters and Her Delicious Revolution
January 29, 2003 S17·E3 Juilliard
October 30, 2002 S17·E2 Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
October 2, 2002 S17·E1 Willie Nelson: Still is Still Moving
March 1, 2002 S16·E8 Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
February 19, 2002 S16·E7 Ralph Ellison: An American Journey
December 16, 2001 S16·E6 Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance
November 28, 2001 S16·E5 Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy of Sun Records
November 18, 2001 S16·E4 Quincy Jones: In the Pocket
October 21, 2001 S16·E3 Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds
October 14, 2001 S16·E2 F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams
October 7, 2001 S16·E1 Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
April 23, 2001 S15·E8 Coming to Light: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indians
April 16, 2001 S15·E7 Alfred Stieglitz: The Eloquent Eye
April 9, 2001 S15·E6 A Conversation with Gregory Peck
February 14, 2001 S15·E5 Bob Marley: Rebel Music
December 3, 2000 S15·E4 Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy
November 22, 2000 S15·E3 On Cukor
October 4, 2000 S15·E2 Mailer on Mailer
September 27, 2000 S15·E1 Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows
May 31, 2000 S14·E7 The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation
April 12, 2000 S14·E6 Isaac Stern: Life's Virtuoso
February 2, 2000 S14·E5 Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
January 5, 2000 S14·E4 Paul Taylor: Dancemaker
December 8, 1999 S14·E3 Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For
November 24, 1999 S14·E2 Norman Rockwell: Painting America
November 1, 1999 S14·E1 Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
August 18, 1999 S13·E7 Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley
June 30, 1999 S13·E5 The Lives of Lillian Hellman
June 30, 1999 S13·E6 Dashiell Hammett: Detective, Writer
April 7, 1999 S13·E4 Robert Rauschenberg: Inventive Genius
February 24, 1999 S13·E3 Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
January 6, 1999 S13·E2 The Line King: Al Hirschfeld
October 28, 1998 S13·E1 Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note
June 17, 1998 S12·E6 Alexander Calder
May 1, 1998 S12·E5 Don Hewitt: 90 Minutes on 60 Minutes

…and 83 earlier episodes not shown. Long-running show.