Prohibition
  • Network: PBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 2, 2011
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 1 out of 18
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User Reviews

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  1. Shortfuse
    Dec 21, 2011
    10
    Fascinating, as usual. Ken Burns is a master, and this is another masterpiece. As is his staple, he breaks the subject into logical, manageable chunks, and turns even the dry (read: boring) parts of the story into a dramatic, engaging piece of television. If you like this, I strongly recommend any other Ken Burns documentary (especially Baseball). At a time when "American Idol" passesFascinating, as usual. Ken Burns is a master, and this is another masterpiece. As is his staple, he breaks the subject into logical, manageable chunks, and turns even the dry (read: boring) parts of the story into a dramatic, engaging piece of television. If you like this, I strongly recommend any other Ken Burns documentary (especially Baseball). At a time when "American Idol" passes for respectable content, do yourself a favour and invest some time in PBS.… Expand
  2. CritiqueGirl
    Oct 4, 2011
    7
    Bottom Line: I know all of this already. It seems Burns has pieced together a lot of other documentaries, statements, photos, footage and such already readily available. I don't think I saw or heard anything that has not been brought out on other programs through the years. Not that history changes but really his other works are so much better. It is like he used wiki for his mainBottom Line: I know all of this already. It seems Burns has pieced together a lot of other documentaries, statements, photos, footage and such already readily available. I don't think I saw or heard anything that has not been brought out on other programs through the years. Not that history changes but really his other works are so much better. It is like he used wiki for his main source of information. I watched it because there was nothing else on. Watching the behind the scenes footage made me cringe. Actors are full of themselves and I could care less about how much fun they had and the talent and insight for so and so. I wish Tom Hanks would just go away.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best TV Season of 2011
42
#42 Most Shared TV Season of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Slate
    Reviewed by: Troy Patterson
    Oct 5, 2011
    80
    Over three nights and five and half hours, Prohibition provides a very fine analytic survey of the noble experiment, and most criticisms of it are quibbles.
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  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Oct 3, 2011
    91
    Talking heads such as Daniel Okrent are eloquently pithy. And narrator Peter Coyote is as soothing as a tumbler of fine Scotch.
    Read full review
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Oct 3, 2011
    50
    At something more than five hours, Prohibition, while interesting from moment to moment, is longer than it needs to be, and made even longer by Burns' habitual stateliness.
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