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Frontline

PBS Documentary 5.0/5 · 6 votes

What it is

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..

Episode highlights

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The Crown Prince & the President

s2026e10 · 2026-07-01

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Episode guide

24 this season · 1634 total
s02e01 Crisis at General Hospital 1984-01-17 03:00

Crisis at General Hospital

s02e01 · 1984-01-17 · 03:00

Most Americans regard health care as a social responsibility undertaken for the common good. We assume government and charity programs will allow for everyone with serious health problems-no matter how poor-to be provided treatment. Frontline examines how many investor-owned, for-profit hospital chains are aggressively marketing themselves to treat only the insured, or wealthy patient.

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s02e02 We are Driven 1984-01-24 03:00

We are Driven

s02e02 · 1984-01-24 · 03:00

The industrial might of Japan has taken the U.S. by storm as American corporations begin to adopt the Japanese style of management, stressing worker involvement in a family-like corporate environment. Frontline looks at the darker side of Japanese labor relations through the tough management style of the Nissan Motor Company in Japan and Smyrna, Tennesee.

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s02e03 The Old Man and the Gun 1984-02-07 03:00

The Old Man and the Gun

s02e03 · 1984-02-07 · 03:00

Frontline looks at the conflict in Northern Ireland through the eyes of Irish Americans who support the IRA and its strategy of violence. Frontline cameras follow Michael Flannery through his day as Grand Marshal of New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade and then back to Ireland to the spot where Flannery participated in an ambush on British troops some 50 years ago.

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s02e04 Give Me that Big Time Religion 1984-02-14 03:00

Give Me that Big Time Religion

s02e04 · 1984-02-14 · 03:00

Television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart's weekly ministry was seen by over two million people in big cities and small towns across the U.S. and Canada.But of the tens of millions of dollars he raised through his appeals, only a tiny portion actually went into charity work. Several years before his fall, Frontline investigated whether the money these modern revivalists raise goes to do God's work or to keep the preachers on TV. Should the government regulate religious fund raising?

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s02e05 The Campaign for Page One 1984-02-28 03:00

The Campaign for Page One

s02e05 · 1984-02-28 · 03:00

On the eve of the 1984 New Hampshire primary, Frontline presents the first of four national election reports. Correspondent Richard Reeves takes a behind-the-scenes look at the presidential candidates and the political reporters who cover them, examining the story behing the story and who writes it.

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s02e06 The Mind of a Murderer (1) 1984-03-20 03:00

The Mind of a Murderer (1)

s02e06 · 1984-03-20 · 03:00

A terrifying look into the mind of mass murderer Kenneth Bianchi, who killed two women in Bellingham, Washington, and was one of the Hillside Strangler murderers in Los Angeles. Yet, he almost escaped punishment for these crimes because he convinced a group of experts that he had multiple personalities and was not mentally competent to stand trial.

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s02e07 The Mind of a Murderer (2) 1984-03-27 03:00

The Mind of a Murderer (2)

s02e07 · 1984-03-27 · 03:00

Part 2 raises serious questions about the use of psychiatric evidence in criminal proceedings. Kenneth Bianchi convinced experts that he had multiple personalities and was mentally unfit to stand trial for his cirmes. Before Frontline cameras, Bianchi is unmasked and is proved to be an accomplished faker.

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s02e08 The Struggle for Birmingham 1984-04-03 03:00

The Struggle for Birmingham

s02e08 · 1984-04-03 · 03:00

This special election report focuses on Birmingham, Alabama, which was a key battlefield in the black struggle for civil rights in the 1960's. Now, 20 years later, Birmingham is one of the new battlefields for a mature black political movement. Frontline correspondent Richard Reeves examines black political power today and the struggle for the heart and soul of the black voter.

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s02e09 Captive in El Salvador 1984-04-17 03:00

Captive in El Salvador

s02e09 · 1984-04-17 · 03:00

Much of the debate over the role of the U.S. in Central America focuses on this tiny nation about which filmaker Ofra Bikel says 'we know so much, but we know so little.' In this report, Bikel takes us into the heart of El Slavador to examine the politics and the people the U.S. government supports there.

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s02e10 Chasing the Basketball Dream 1984-04-24 03:00

Chasing the Basketball Dream

s02e10 · 1984-04-24 · 03:00

Many young men, especially many poor blacks in the nation's cities, dream of making it big by playing basketball. Charlie Cobb looks at some who make it-and many who will not-and at many of the issues in high school and college sports today. College recruiters seek the best of them, promising an educations in exchange for play. But 75% never get a college degree because, as this film suggests, colleges are too busy with their big-time sports programs to be concerned with educating their players.

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s02e11 The Other Side of the Track 1984-05-08 02:00

The Other Side of the Track

s02e11 · 1984-05-08 · 02:00

Horseracing is American's number one spectator sport. In 1982, more that 77 million people wagered almost $12 billion at the nation's racetracks. Frontline gives an insider's look at the 'sport of kings,' focusing on tracks at Belmont, NY, where the rich indulge their interest in racing, and at Great Barrington in Massachussetts where infirm horses run for purses that can barely pay the feed bill.

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s02e12 Return of the Great White Fleet 1984-05-15 02:00

Return of the Great White Fleet

s02e12 · 1984-05-15 · 02:00

Frontline profiles Navy Secretary John Lehman and the growing debate inside the Navy establishment to build a multibillion dollar fleet which critics say may not be able to fight the kind of wars the nation would be most likely to fight.

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s02e13 Warning from Gangland 1984-05-22 02:00

Warning from Gangland

s02e13 · 1984-05-22 · 02:00

In 1984, Los Angeles had the worst gang problem in the nation, and more than 1,000 people were killed in gang violence during the previous three years. More than half of those killed were not gang members but residents who were murdered or were caught in the cross fire of gang warfare. Frontline explores what LA is trying to do about its gang problem.

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s02e14 Bread, Butter and Politics 1984-06-05 02:00

Bread, Butter and Politics

s02e14 · 1984-06-05 · 02:00

National attention has focused on hunger in America after a presidential commission and several private advocacy groups reported new findings. Frontline looks at what those commissions saw-and did not see-in this examiniation of both the human story and the political environment surrounding the issue of hunger.

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s02e15 Man's Best Friends 1984-06-19 02:00

Man's Best Friends

s02e15 · 1984-06-19 · 02:00

Frontline examines the ethical arguments over the use of animal testing in American laboratories, hospitals, and medical schools. Some animal rights groups have even broken into labs to steal research animals. But many scientists say that eliminating or severely restricting animal testing means an end to medical progress.

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s02e16 So You Want to Be President 1984-10-10 02:00

So You Want to Be President

s02e16 · 1984-10-10 · 02:00

From the lonely, early days of presidential ambition, through the months of promise, to the day of denial, Frontline follows the 1984 presidential campaign of Gary Hart, revealing presidential politics as it has never before been seen on television.

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s02e17 Welcome to America 1984-10-17 02:00

Welcome to America

s02e17 · 1984-10-17 · 02:00

The bittersweet story of four unforgettable people who flee repression in Poland to find a better life in Chicago. They succeed, fail, fight, love, laugh, and confront an America unlike anything they had ever imagined.

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s02e18 Not One of the Boys 1984-10-24 02:00

Not One of the Boys

s02e18 · 1984-10-24 · 02:00

As more women are voting and running for elected office, have the changed the face of American politics? Through the eyes of women as different as UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, correspondent Judy Woodruff looks at women and politics in 1984.

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s02e19 Living Below the Line 1984-10-31 03:00

Living Below the Line

s02e19 · 1984-10-31 · 03:00

It could never happen to you. One day it happened to Farrell Stallings. After 28 years at the same job, he was laid off-a victim of the recession. Now he's broke, afraid, and at the mercy of the welfare system. Frontline follows him into the maze of the bureaucracy.

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s02e20 The Arab and the Israeli 1984-11-14 03:00

The Arab and the Israeli

s02e20 · 1984-11-14 · 03:00

Two men, a Palestinian and an Israeli, born thirty miles apart, journey to America. In synagogues and universities, on television talk shows and interviews, they try to project a message: that a solution for the West Bank is possible.

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s02e21 Better Off Dead? 1984-11-21 03:00

Better Off Dead?

s02e21 · 1984-11-21 · 03:00

Frontline goes inside the hospitals where every day doctors, lawyers, and parents face the agonizing choice: how far do we go with medical treatment for infants born so physically and mentally damaged that they have no hope of leading normal lives? Several intimate case histories are examined, as are the politics of recent legal decisions and government rules relating to the medical care for critically ill babies.

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s02e22 Cry, Ethiopia, Cry 1984-11-28 03:00

Cry, Ethiopia, Cry

s02e22 · 1984-11-28 · 03:00

In one of the first comprehensive reports broadcast in the U.S., Frontline presents the searing reality of the famine in Ethiopia. In desert camps described as 'the closest thing to hell on earth,' nearly 100 children, old people, and the infirm were dying every day. They were dying while the US and the Soviet Union argued over how to feed them and what to do about Ethiopia.

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s02e23 Red Star Over Khyber 1984-12-12 03:00

Red Star Over Khyber

s02e23 · 1984-12-12 · 03:00

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. On the fifth anniversary of the invasion, Frontline correspondent Richard Reeves reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan, examining the stalemate in the Persian Gulf and the pressure placed on Pakistan to accept over one million Afghan refugees.

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s02e24 Marshall High Fights Back 1984-12-19 03:00

Marshall High Fights Back

s02e24 · 1984-12-19 · 03:00

Marshall High School is one of the poorest in Chicago-both academically and economically. But it is fighting back, trying desperately to upgrade academic standards and to make a difference in the lives of it students. Frontline looks at the struggle to salvage Marshall High and the lessons this school has for a nation trying to improve its public schools.

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