| Vietnam: A Television History | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Martin Smith Elizabeth Deane Richard Ellison Marilyn Mellowes Bruce Palling Judith Vecchione Austin Hoyt Andrew Pearson |
| Directed by | Judith Vecchione Austin Hoyt Martin Smith Bruce Palling |
| Narrated by | Will Lyman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 13 (1983 version) 11 (1997 version and 2004 DVD release) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 780 min (1983 version) 660 min (1997 version and 2004 DVD release) |
| Production companies | WGBH-TV Central Independent Television Antenne-2 |
| Original release | |
| Network | PBS |
| Release | October 4 – December 20, 1983 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Vietnam: A Television History (1983) is a 13-part documentary mini-series about the Vietnam War (1955–1975) from the perspective of the United States. It was produced for public television by WGBH-TV in Boston, Central Independent Television of the UK and Antenne-2 of France. It was originally broadcast on PBS between October 4 and December 20, 1983.
Later, it was rebroadcast as part of the PBS series American Experience from May 26 to July 28, 1997. However, only 11 of the 13 original episodes were rebroadcast. Episodes 2 and 13 were dropped.
Vietnam: A Television History was the most successful documentary produced by PBS up to the time of initial broadcast. Nearly 9% of American households watched the initial episode, and an average of 9.7 million viewers watched each of the 13 episodes. A rebroadcast in the summer of 1984 garnered roughly a 4% share in the five largest U.S. television markets.[1]