''The American Collection'' was a spinoff series of '' Masterpiece Theater'', which ran from 2000 to 2003, for the former series' 30th anniversary. It was funded originally by Exxon Mobil (later Mobil); however, funding for both series was withdrawn in 2005. It aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. This was a widely acclaimed limited run program.

History

This program featured film adaptations by renowned works by American literary giants, and debuted in October 2000. The films are produced by WGBH and ALT films.

Theme music

The theme for this series was created by John Williams, and featured cellist

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

. It can be listened to here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/americancollection/music.html

Title design

Karin Fong, Dana Yee and Grant Lau won a 2001

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design presented for the best main title sequence in television programming. Prior to 1997, the award was presented for Outstanding Individ ...

for their work on this series.

Programs

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

's ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 thro ...

'' *

Esmeralda Santiago Esmeralda Santiago (born May 17, 1948)Santiago, Esmeralda. ''"When I was Puerto Rican." Norton Anthology of Latino/a Literature.'' Stavans, Ilan. New York, London: Norton, 2011. 1700-1714. Print. is a Puerto-Rican author known for her narrative me ...

's '' Almost a Woman'' * James Agee's ''

A Death in the Family ''A Death in the Family'' is an autobiographical novel by author James Agee, set in Knoxville, Tennessee. He began writing it in 1948, but it was not quite complete when he died in 1955 (with reputedly many portions having been written in the hom ...

'' *

Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel '' The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerou ...

's ''

The Ponder Heart ''The Ponder Heart'' is a novella written by Eudora Welty and illustrated by Joe Krush, originally published in ''The New Yorker'' in 1953, and republished by Harcourt Brace in 1954. The plot of ''The Ponder Heart'' follows Daniel Ponder, a wealthy ...

'' *

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including '' O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and '' My Ántonia''. In 192 ...

's '' The Song of the Lark'' *

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

's '' The American'' * Langston Hughes's ''

Cora Unashamed ''Cora Unashamed'' is a 2000 American made-for-television drama film from The American Collection directed by Deborah Pratt, starring Regina Taylor and Cherry Jones. The film was shot on location in October 1999 in central Iowa. Cities such a ...

'' (a short story from his 1934 collection '' The Ways of White Folks'')

References

External links

*
National Council of Teachers of English's ''American Collection'' site
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Collection 2000 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings PBS original programming Television series by WGBH