This episode of "The American Experience" is about the great inventor, Thomas Edison. If you think about it, it's actually surprising that it took so long for the show to pay homage to the guy since he (in some cases along with his team) came up with some of the greatest inventions of the 19th century--such as the incandescent light, phonograph and the kinetoscope.
As you would expect, the show consists of lots of interviews, archival photos and film as well as narration by Michael Murphy (who, my daughter insists, sounds an awful lot like Sam Waterston). Altogether a quality production about a driven and not particularly nice, but amazingly brilliant guy. The only glitch I noticed is that the show never talked about how litigious he was (particularly when it came to moving pictures)--but as I am a retired history teacher, I'd notice things like this and the average viewer probably would not.
As you would expect, the show consists of lots of interviews, archival photos and film as well as narration by Michael Murphy (who, my daughter insists, sounds an awful lot like Sam Waterston). Altogether a quality production about a driven and not particularly nice, but amazingly brilliant guy. The only glitch I noticed is that the show never talked about how litigious he was (particularly when it came to moving pictures)--but as I am a retired history teacher, I'd notice things like this and the average viewer probably would not.
