Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

PBS | Season Premiere Date: March 30, 2015

Summary: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Siddhartha Mukherjee, the six-hour documentary directed by Barak Goodman (and executive produced by Ken Burns) explores the history of cancer and the latest medical advances with stories of real-life patients.

Genre(s): News/Documentary, Documentary, Science

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Season 1 Episodes

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Critic Reviews

Mary McNamara

Mar 30, 2015

Cancer is, of course, its own ongoing holocaust, and Goodman is determined to examine it thoroughly, objectively (which is not to say clinically) and fearlessly. The result is possibly the least live-tweetable six hours of television you will ever see and also among the most important. Read full review

Matthew Gilbert

Mar 30, 2015

Directed by Barak Goodman, the documentary is an information-stuffed and yet affecting and engrossing work made in the straightforward manner of its executive producer, Ken Burns. Read full review

Neil Genzlinger

Mar 27, 2015

The series is structured as an ever-evolving medical detective story, but the filmmakers give it heart as well by juxtaposing the history lessons with present-day personal profiles of cancer patients.... It’s a well-conceived approach to a subject that in other hands might have been dry. Still, be prepared to give it your full attention. Read full review

Joanne Ostrow

Mar 30, 2015

An engaging work of strong storytelling. Read full review

Verne Gay

Mar 27, 2015

This is an intelligent overview, with the consistent and important theme that medical "paradigms" shift and change. Read full review

Keith Uhlich

Mar 31, 2015

It’s an unbecoming undercurrent [the film frequently sentimentalizes cancer patients' experiences] in an otherwise absorbing nonfiction narrative, and it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Mar 27, 2015

Goodman does a fine job of helping the experts to explain the science, from the use of graphics to the way news footage is woven into the film. But Emperor of All Maladies also stalls at times along the way, to the point where a more focused treatment and fewer anecdotal stories, condensed to two nights, would have likely been beneficial all around. Read full review

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7.2

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dyshpo

May 29, 2015

Sometimes a bit sentimental but very interesting . What we need now is a PBS doc about AIDS.
The book though probably equal to this production Pulitzer is not a noteworthy award anymore .

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