Jackie Robinson: Season 1

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Universal acclaim based on 10 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Ratings

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5.3

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5.3	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

PBS | Season Premiere Date: April 11, 2016

Summary: The latest documentary from Ken Burns is about the life and impact of African-American baseball player Jackie Robinson.

Genre(s): Sports, Movie/Mini-Series, Documentary

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E2. Part Two
Air Date: April 12, 2016
tbd
S1:E1. Part One
Air Date: April 11, 2016

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Critic Reviews

100

Mark Dawidziak

Apr 11, 2016

From the first frame, it's clear that Jackie Robinson is a genuine labor of love. The warmly crafted two-part, four-hour PBS documentary from filmmaker Ken Burns positively glows with its admiration for the man and his accomplishments. ... Another mighty home run for PBS. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Apr 7, 2016

With Keith David again serving as narrator, and Jamie Foxx providing Robinson’s voice reading correspondence and from his autobiography, Jackie Robinson exudes class--unhurried, stately, yet never dull. And while Burns’ formula hasn’t really changed over the past quarter-century, it can and should be savored even more compared with the tactics broadly employed in so much similar fare these days. Read full review

Neil Genzlinger

Apr 11, 2016

The core portion of Jackie Robinson’s story is so familiar that Part 1 of the new Ken Burns treatment of it may not seem like vital viewing. But Part 2 examines Robinson’s later, less celebrated years, completing a portrait of an eventful life that, in the popular mind, is often confined to the ball field. Read full review

Mark Feeney

Apr 6, 2016

Familiarity makes the story no less gripping. Read full review

Robert Lloyd

Apr 11, 2016

As in his 1994 "nine-inning" film "Baseball," the subject suits the director's deliberate, even poky pace, and the air of what might be called critical nostalgia that colors all his films. Jackie Robinson brings the old world to vivid life, but its messages are for today and any day. Read full review

Kristi Turnquist

Apr 7, 2016

Though there are moments where the film feels a bit too diffuse, what makes Robinson's life so remarkable is how many aspects of American life he touched. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Matt Roush

Apr 1, 2016

Jackie Robinson could have used more fire in its storytelling, but like its subject, there's nobility in its restraint. [4-17 Apr 2016, p.21]

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jeremyp

Apr 26, 2016

A very telling story about America's racial history, but more importantly an in depth look at a complicated hero. Just as we must never forget the Holocaust, or Slavery, or Jim Crow, we must never forget the dismal history of America's favorite sport. While Jesse Owens and Joe Louis couldA very telling story about America's racial history, but more importantly an in depth look at a complicated hero. Just as we must never forget the Holocaust, or Slavery, or Jim Crow, we must never forget the dismal history of America's favorite sport. While Jesse Owens and Joe Louis could compete with and best Caucasians it was deemed improper for Blacks to do so in Sports' biggest venue. They could, and were expected to, fight for their country, and then sit in the back of the bus again. Most appallingly in order for Robinson to break the color barrier he had to accept the racial slurs hurled at him. In other words: appease the apes. Sadly the later younger generation Afro Americans viewed him as an Uncle Tom. Non violence was no longer a badge of honor but a badge of shame.
Interviews with his still living widow draw up a fuller picture of a man whose legacy is all too ignored.… Expand

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Seasons & Episodes

83

Series Overview
Season 1

83
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: April 11, 2016
- tbd
  S1:E2. Part Two
  Air Date: April 12, 2016
- tbd
  S1:E1. Part One
  Air Date: April 11, 2016