Past Productions

WETA has produced and presented hundreds of television series for broadcast on PBS stations nationwide.

The following are highlights from WETA National production portfolio through the decades. 

Please also see WETA list of ongoing and recent television productions and projects that are coming soon.

2020 to the present

• Elton John & Bernie Taupin: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2024)
• GOSPEL (2024)
• The American Buffalo (2023)
• Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories with David Rubenstein (2023)
• Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2023)
• Jon Stewart: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2022)
• Benjamin Franklin (2022)
• Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness (2022)
• Making Black America (2022)
• Muhammad Ali (2021)
• Hemingway (2021)
• The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song (2021)
• History with David Rubenstein (2021)
• The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations (2021)
• Capitol Fourth ⁠(Annual) 
• When My Time Comes (2021)
• Not Done: Women Remaking America (2020-2021)
• Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Season 7-9 (2021-2024)
• Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan (2020)
• Vernon Jordan: Make It Plain (2020)
• Harbor From the Holocaust (2020)
• Asian Americans (2020)
• Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History (2020)
• The Definition of Insanity (2020)
• East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story (2020)
• Garth Brooks: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2020)
• Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2020)

2010s

• College Behind Bars (2019)
• Country Music (2019)
• KOREA: The Never-Ending War (2019)
• Reconstruction: America After the Civil War (2019)
• Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Season 5 (2019)
• Emilio & Gloria Estefan: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2019)
• Globe Trekker (2001-2018)
• In Principle (2018)
• Joseph Smith: American Prophet (2018)
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2018)
• The Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science (2018)
• Mystery of the Mountain: Hidden in Plain View (2018)
• PBS NewsHour Election Night Coverage 2018 (2018)
• Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution (2018)
• Tony Bennett: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2018)
• Vermeer: Beyond Time (2018)
• Africa’s Great Civilizations (2017)
• Audubon (2017)
• Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Season Four (2017)
• Smokey Robinson: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2017)
• The Vietnam War (2017)
• American Umpire (2016)
• Bill Murray: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2016)
• Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise (2016)
• A Celebration of Creativity: In Performance at the White House (2016)
• The Concert to Face Addiction (2016)
• Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War (2016)
• Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Season Three (2016)
• Jackie Robinson (2016)
• PBS NewsHour & NPR Convention Coverage: Democratic National Convention (2016)
• PBS NewsHour & NPR Convention Coverage: Republican National Convention (2016)
• PBS NewsHour Democratic Primary Debate (2016)
• PBS NewsHour Election Night Coverage 2016 (2016)
• Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House (2016)
• Washington Week in Milwaukee (2016)
• Willie Nelson: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2016)
• America After Charleston (2015)
• American Experience: The Pilgrims (2015)
• A Celebration of Peace Through Music (2015)
• Debt of Honor: Disabled Veterans in American History (2015)
• Eddie Murphy: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2015)
• The Gospel Tradition: In Performance at the White House (2015)
• The Italian Americans (2015)
• Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies A Film By Barak Goodman  (2015)
• The Address (2014)
• ​​Billy Joel: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize (2014)
• James McNeill Whistler and the Case for Beauty (2014)
• Jay Leno: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2014)
• The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (2014)
• A Salute to the Troops: In Performance at the White House (2014)
• Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House (2014)
• Carol Burnett: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2013)
• Carole King: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize In Performance at the White House (2013)
• The Central Park Five (2013)
• In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul (2013)
• Independent Lens: Playwright: From Page to Stage (2013)
• Latino Americans (2013)
• Makers: Women Who Make America (2013)
• Burt Bacharach & Hal David: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2012)
• In Performance at the White House (2012)
• The Dust Bowl (2012)
• Ellen DeGeneres: The Mark Twain Prize (2012)
• First Freedom: The Fight for Religious Liberty (2012)
• Halsted (2012)
• In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues (2012)
• America in Primetime (2011)
• Prohibition (2011)
• The War of 1812 (2011)
• Forgiveness: A Time to Love, A Time to Hate (2011)
• Lafayette: The Lost Hero (2010)
• Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham & the American City (2010)
• The Tenth Inning (2010)
• Paul McCartney: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song In Performance at the White House (2010)
• In Performance of the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement (2010)
• Benjamin Latrobe: America's First Architect (2010)

2000s

• Anatomy of a Pandemic (2009)
• Bill Cosby: The Mark Twain Prize (2009)
• In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina (2009)
• The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009)
• America at a Crossroads: The Mosque in Morgantown (2009)
• George Carlin: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2009)
• Stevie Wonder In Performance at the White House: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize (2009)
• America at a Crossroads: Dissonance and Harmony: Arabic Music Goes West (2008)
• Medal of Honor (2008)
• America at a Crossroads: The Trial of Saddam Hussein (2008)
• Toddling Toward Reading (2008)
• Another Day in Paradise (2008)
• America at a Crossroads: STAND UP: Muslim American Comics Come of Age (2008)
• Carrier (2008)
• Sara's Weeknight Meals (2008)
• The Jewish Americans (2008)
• Billy Crystal: The Tenth Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: The Anti-Americans (a hate/love relationship) (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Europe's 9/11 (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Faith Without Fear (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Gangs of Iraq (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: JIHAD: The Men and Ideas Behind Al Qaeda (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Security versus Liberty: The Other War (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Struggle for the Soul of Islam: Inside Indonesia (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: The Brotherhood (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: The Case for War: In Defense of Freedom (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: The Muslim Americans (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Warriors (2007)
• Air Group 16: We Came to Remember (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Campus Battleground (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Homegrown: Islam in Prison (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Inside America's Empire (2007)
• America at a Crossroads: Kansas to Kandahar: Citizen Soldiers at War (2007)
• In Performance at the White House: Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (2007)
• Paul Simon: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2007)
• Reading Rockets: A Chance to Read (2007)
• The Mysterious Human Heart (2007)
• THE WAR (2007)
• Through Deaf Eyes (2007)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: The 2006 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: Neil Simon (2006)
• Reading Rockets: Reading and the Brain (2006)
• Cézanne in Provence (2006)
• Cultivating Life (2006)
• Free Speech: Jim Lehrer with Ben Bradlee (2006)
• In Performance at the White House: Dance Theater of Harlem (2006)
• In Performance at the White House: The Congressional Picnic (2006)
• Sweetwater Rescue: The Willie and Martin Handcart Story (2006)
• The People's President: Man, Myth and the Media (2006)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: The 2005 Mark Twain Prize: Steve Martin (2005)
• Reading Rockets: Becoming Bilingual (2005)
• Reading Rockets: Empowering Parents (2005)
• Cancer Cures?: Sesno Reports (2005)
• Great Performances in America: Dance in America: "Swan Lake" with American Ballet Theatre (2005)
• Great Performances: From Shtetl to Swing (2005)
• In Search of Myths and Heroes (2005)
• More Money Help is On the Way (2005)
• The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo (2005)
• The Road to 9/11 (2005)
• Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2005)
• On Stage at the Kennedy Center: The 2004 Mark Twain Prize: Lorne Michaels (2004)
• America Drinks: Sesno Reports (2004)
• Flashpoints USA with Bryant Gumbel and Gwen Ifill: America at War (2004)
• Flashpoints USA with Bryant Gumbel and Gwen Ifill: God and Country (2004)
• My Journey Home (2004)
• On Stage at the White House: The Governors' Dinner (2004)
• Reading Rocks! (2004)
• The College Track: America's Sorting Machine (2004)
• The Congregation (2004)
• The Cost of War: Sesno Reports (2004)
• Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered (2004)
• Washington National Opera's "Die Fledermaus" (2004)
• Where History Lives: A Tour of the White House (2004)
• On Stage at the Kennedy Center: The 2003 Mark Twain Prize: Lily Tomlin (2003)
• A Tale of Two Schools (2003)
• American Valor (2003)
• Avoiding Armageddon (2003)
• Flashpoints USA with Bryant Gumbel and Gwen Ifill: Sacrifices of Security (2003)
• Flashpoints USA with Bryant Gumbel and Gwen Ifill: The Media Today: Truth or Lies (2003)
• Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip (2003)
• Ken Burns American Stories (2003)
• Lance Loud! A Death in an American Family (2003)
• On Stage at the Kennedy Center: A Holiday Concert for the Troops with Marvin Hamlisch (2003)
• Reporting America at War (2003)
• The 2003 Washington Opera Celebration (2003)
• The White House: In Tune With History (2003)
• On Stage at the Kennedy Center: The 2002 Mark Twain Prize: Bob Newhart (2002)
• Bringing Down a Dictator (2002)
• Mark Twain (2002)
• Mary Cassatt: A Brush with Independence (2002)
• Nathan the Wise (2002)
• On Stage at the Kennedy Center: The Richard Rodgers Gala (2002)
• Reading Rockets: Fluent Reading (2002)
• Reading Rockets: Reading for Meaning (2002)
• Reading Rockets: Sounds and Symbols (2002)
• Reading Rockets: The Roots of Reading (2002)
• Reading Rockets: Writing and Spelling (2002)
• Rediscovering George Washington (2002)
• Rough Science (2002)
• America Responds: A National Conversation (2001)
• America Responds: A Special Report (2001)
• Bioterror: Coping With a New Reality (2001)
• Conversation with Bill Moyers (2001)
• In Performance at the White House: The President's Own (2001)
• JAZZ (2001)
• On Stage at the Kennedy Center: The 2000 Mark Twain Prize (Whoopi Goldberg) (2001)
• People Like Us: Social Class in America (2001)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: A Concert for America (2001)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: The 2001 Mark Twain Prize (Carl Reiner) (2001)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: The Irish Gala (2001)
• The Washington Opera Production of "Le Cid" (2001)
• A Force More Powerful (2000)
• Exploring Your Brain: The Brain-Body Connection (2000)
• In Search of China (2000)
• John Singer Sargent: Outside the Frame (2000)
• The Great Campaign of 1960 (2000)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: Speak Truth to Power (2000)
• There Once Was a Town (2000)
• Yeltsin (2000)

1990s

• Emotional Intelligence with Daniel Goleman (1999)
• Glorious Gospel: In Performance at the White House (1999)
• In Performance at the White House: The Singer and the Song (1999)
• Moms (1999)
• Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999)
• Renoir to Rothko: The Eye of Duncan Phillips (1999)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Behind the Punch (1999)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: When Cancer Hits Home (1999)
• The Blues: In Performance at the White House (1999)
• The Derek McGinty Show (1999)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: A Tribute to Muddy Waters, King of the Blues (1999)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: The Americanos Concert (1999)
• The Washington Opera Production of "La Rondine" (1999)
• Van Gogh's Van Goghs (1999)
• Cancer Wars (1998)
• Exploring Your Brain (1998)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (1998)
• In Performance at the White House: Savion Glover: Stomp, Slide and Swing (1998)
• Michael Flatley... Talking with David Frost (1998)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Good Cop, Bad Cop (1998)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Kids in Trouble (1998)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Straight Talk on Addiction (1998)
• The Berlin Airlift (1998)
• The Face of Russia (1998)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: The Washington Opera Production of "Il Pagliacci" (1998)
• The Legacy of Generations: Pottery by American Indian Women (1998)
• The World in 1998 (1998)
• Walter Cronkite... talking with David Frost (1998)
• Woven by the Grandmothers: Navajo Textiles from the 19th Century (1998)
• State of the Union: Mother's Day Special (1997)
• After Diana: A... talking with David Frost Special (1997)
• Divided Highways: The Interstates and the Transformation of American Life (1997)
• Impressionists on the Seine (1997)
• In Performance at the White House: Gladys Knight (1997)
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... talking with David Frost (1997)
• Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997)
• Look What You've Done! (1997)
• Planet Neighborhood (1997)
• Reverend Billy Graham... talking with David Frost (1997)
• Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan... talking with David Frost (1997)
• Sir Paul McCartney... talking with David Frost (1997)
• State of the Union: Inaugural Special (1997)
• State of the Union: Looking for America (1997)
• State of the Union: That's Why They Call It Work (1997)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Chemistry of Love (1997)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Women in Sports: The Title IX Generation (1997)
• Thomas Jefferson (1997)
• When the Chips Are Down... with Richard Lavoie (1997)
• Wynton Marsalis... talking with David Frost (1997)
• A Gulf War Exclusive: President George Bush... talking with David Frost (1996)
• A. Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom (1996)
• African-American Artists: Affirmation Today (1996)
• Citizens '96: A Citizens' State of the Union (1996)
• Citizens '96: Election Year Survival Guide (1996)
• Citizens '96: Iowa '96 (1996)
• Citizens '96: Is this any way to pick a President? (1996)
• Citizens '96: Whose Family, Which Values? (1996)
• Cover to Cover (1996)
• Five Presidents... talking with David Frost (1996)
• Kennedy Center 25th Anniversary Celebration (1996)
• Larry King... talking with David Frost (1996)
• Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville: In Performance at the White House (1996)
• Mikhail Gorbachev... talking with David Frost (1996)
• National Geographic's Heart of Africa (1996)
• National Geographic's Inside the White House (1996)
• Peter Ustinov... talking with David Frost (1996)
• Prime Minister Shimon Peres... talking with David Frost (1996)
• Ross Perot... talking with David Frost (1996)
• Sean Penn... talking with David Frost (1996)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Black and White in America (1996)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: Money, Class and Politics (1996)
• Straight Talk with Derek McGinty: The American Family (1996)
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1996)
• The Vice Presidential Candidates... talking with David Frost (1996)
• The West (1996)
• Vote for Me/Politics in America (1996)
• Who Plays God? Medicine, Money and Ethics in American Health Care (1996)
• Willliam F. Buckley... talking with David Frost (1996)
• Across the River (1995)
• Bill Gates... talking with David Frost (1995)
• F. Lee Bailey... talking with David Frost (1995)
• General Colin Powell... talking with David Frost (1995)
• Henry Foster Confirmation Hearings (1995)
• Inside the FBI (1995)
• Jacques Cousteau... talking with David Frost (1995)
• Martin's Lament: Religion and Race in America (1995)
• Maya Angelou... talking with David Frost (1995)
• Mystery of the Senses: A NOVA Miniseries (1995)
• National Geographic's The Great Indian Railway (1995)
• Newt Gingrich... talking with David Frost (1995)
• Public Broadcasting Hearings (1995)
• Radovan Karadzic... talking with David Frost (1995)
• Ralph Reed... talking with David Frost (1995)
• Senator Robert Dole... talking with David Frost (1995)
• Talking with David Frost Roundtable '95 (1995)
• Terrorism Hearings (1995)
• The Challengers '96: A Washington Week in Review Special Series (1995)
• The U.S. News Debate on Medicare (1995)
• The U.S. News Debate on Welfare Reform (1995)
• Waco Hearings (1995)
• Women of Country: In Performance at the White House (1995)
• A Fighter Pilot's Story (1994)
• Aretha Franklin: In Performance at the White House (1994)
• Barbara Bush... talking with David Frost (1994)
• Baseball (1994)
• Benazir Bhutto... talking with David Frost (1994)
• Building Hope (1994)
• Challenge to America (1994)
• Coming and Going (1994)
• Dan Quayle... talking with David Frost (1994)
• Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994)
• In Performance at the White House: "Cabaret" (1994)
• Lord David Owen... talking with David Frost (1994)
• Luciano Pavarotti... talking with David Frost (1994)
• National Geographic Special: Island of the Giant Bears (1994)
• National Geographic Special: Jewels of the Caribbean Sea (1994)
• National Geographic Special: Reflections on Elephants (1994)
• National Geographic's China Beyond the Clouds (1994)
• Nixon Tribute... talking with David Frost (1994)
• Off Limits (1994)
• Ralph Nader... talking with David Frost (1994)
• Stephen Breyer Confirmation Hearings (1994)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: A Salute to Slava (1994)
• The Kennedy Center Presents: Concert of the Americas (1994)
• Understanding Whitewater (1994)
• Vladimir Zhirinovsky... talking with David Frost (1994)
• Whitewater Hearings (1994)
• William Kennedy's Albany (1994)
• In Performance at the White House: A Salute to the Newport Jazz Festival (1993)
• Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992)
• In Performance at the White House: The House I Live In: Hosted by Marilyn Horne (1990)
• The Civil War (1990)

1980s

• Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land (1989)
• In Performance at the White House: The House I Live In: Hosted by John Denver (1989)
• In Performance at the White House: The House I Live In: Hosted by Lynn Redgrave (1989)
• In Performance at the White House: A Salute to Broadway: Chorus Lines (1988)
• In Performance at the White House: A Salute to Broadway: Showstoppers (1988)
• In Performance at the White House: A Salute to Broadway: The Shows (1988)
• In Performance at the White House: A Tribute to American Music: Cole Porter (1987)
• In Performance at the White House: A Tribute to American Music: Jerome Kern (1987)
• In Performance at the White House: A Tribute to American Music: Rodgers & Hart (1987)
• In Performance at the White House: A Tribute to American Music: George Gershwin (1986)
• The Africans (1986)
• Smithsonian World (1984)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Howard University Choir (1983)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Mary Martin, John Raitt, Jack Everly (1983)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Metropolitan Opera (1983)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: The Juilliard String Quartet and the Muir String Quartet (1983)
• Summer of Judgment: The Watergate Hearings (1983)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Chic Corea, Jim Faddis, Diane Schuur (1982)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Gene Kelly, Martha Graham Dance company, San Francisco Ballet (1982)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Itzhak Perlman, Ken Noda (1982)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Merle Haggard, Mark O'Connor (1982)
• A Capitol Fourth (1981)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Beverly Sills (1981)
• In Performance, Young Artists at the White House: Rudolf Serkin, Ida Levin, Beverly Sills (1981)
• The Lawmakers (1980)

1970s

•     Andres Segovia at the White House (1979)
•     Baryshnikov at the White House (1979)
•     Horowitz at the White House (1978)
•     Leontyne Price at the White House (1978)
•     Rostropovich at the White House (1978)
•     PBS NewsHour (1976)
  • Other titles: The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
•     Senate Watergate Hearings (1974)
•     Watergate Impeachment Hearings (1974)

1960s

• Washington Week (1967)
  • Other titles: Washington Week in Review, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill
• Neil MacNeil Reports (1964)