''The National Parks: America's Best Idea'' is a 2009

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

by director/producer

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

and producer/writer

Dayton Duncan Dayton Duncan (born September 3, 1949) is an American screenwriter, producer and former political aide. He is best known for his collaborations with documentary maker Ken Burns. Early life and education Born and raised in Indianola, Iowa, Du ...

which features the United States National Park system and traces the system's history.PBS To Air Ken Burns’s ''The National Parks: America's Best Idea''...
a July 2008 press release from the

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 ...

website The series won two 2010

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

; one for Outstanding Nonfiction Series and one for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming in Episode 2 "The Last Refuge". A companion book () was released alongside.

Cast

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, and narrator of films, theater, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films, such as ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' C ...

is the narrator of all episodes, with first-person voices supplied by

Adam Arkin Adam Arkin (born August 19, 1956) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the role of Aaron Shutt on ''Chicago Hope''. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony Award, Tony (Best Actor, 1991, ''I Hate Ha ...

Philip Bosco Philip Michael Bosco (September 26, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American actor. He was known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Saunders in the 1989 Broadway production of '' Lend Me a Tenor'', and for his starring role in the 2007 f ...

, Kevin Conway,

Andy García Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956) is an American actor, director, producer, and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's '' The Untouchables'' (1987) alongside Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and ...

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen as well as for his work at the Royal National Theatre, he has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, two ...

Clay Jenkinson Clay Straus Jenkinson (born February 4, 1955, in Dickinson, North Dakota) is an American humanities scholar, author and educator. He is currently the director of The Dakota Institute, where he co-hosts public radio's '' Listening to America, fo ...

John Lithgow John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his John Lithgow filmography, diverse work on stage and screen. He has rece ...

Josh Lucas Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including ''American Psycho'' (2000), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (2001), '' Sweet Home Alabama'' (2002), '' Wonderland'' (2003), ...

Carolyn McCormick Carolyn McCormick is an American actress who played Dr. Elizabeth Olivet in the ''Law & Order'' franchise. Life and career McCormick has worked in television, movies, theatre, and voice acting. Her breakthrough role was in '' Enemy Mine'', ...

Campbell Scott Campbell Scott (born July 19, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. His roles include Steve Dunne in '' Singles'', Mark Usher in ''House of Cards'', Joseph Tobin in ''Damages'', Richard Parker in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and '' The Amazi ...

, Gene Jones,

George Takei George Takei ( ; born April20, 1937), born , is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS ''Enterprise'' in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. Takei was born to Japanese-American parents, with w ...

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach ( ; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. Known for his character actor roles, his entertainment career spanned over six decades. He received a British Aca ...

and

Sam Waterston Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television, and film. He has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actor ...

Shelton Johnson Shelton Johnson (born 1958 in Detroit, Michigan) is a park ranger with the U.S. National Park Service, and works in Yosemite National Park. As of 2023 he had worked in Yosemite for 30 years of his 37-year career. Johnson began his career in Yello ...

, a National Park ranger, was also featured.

Episodes

Some foreign releases of the series – notably Australia – have separated it into 12 one-hour-long episodes.

Release

The series was previewed in a seven-minute segment at the end of the fourth episode of Burns's 2007 PBS documentary, '' The War''. The first two-hour episode premiered at the

Hopkins Center for the Arts Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College is located at 4 East Wheelock Street in Hanover, New Hampshire. The center, which was designed by Wallace Harrison and foreshadows his later design of Manhattan's Lincoln Center, is the college's ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

on April 17, 2009. Episodes debuted daily, airing from Sunday, September 27 to Friday, October 2, with full episodes online the following day.

Critical reception

''The National Parks: America's Best Idea'' has received generally positive reviews from television critics. Mark Rahner of ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'' wrote, "Stirring and sublime."

References

External links

Official website
from

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...

Documentary trailer, Q&A with Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan
from the

National Park Foundation The National Park Foundation (NPF) is the official charity of the National Park Service (NPS) and its national park sites. The NPF was chartered by Congress in 1967 with a charge to "further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, scientif ...

Learn more about ''America's Best Idea''
fro
National Park Service Archeology Program

''The National Parks: America's Best Idea''
a
the Internet Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Parks: America's Best Idea, The 2000s American documentary television series National Park Service Films directed by Ken Burns