The Sixties
The Sixties
The Sixties
The decade that changed the world.
Documentary
73
Watch TV Show
Download TV Show
Overview
The space race, the cold war, "free love," civil rights and more: The decade of the 1960s shaped our history -- and changed the world. In collaboration with Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog, CNN explores perhaps the most transformative decade of the modern era in a 10-part documentary series and brings new insights into how those events shaped today.
Status: Ended
First Air Date: 2014-05-29
Runtime: 1h 0m
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown
Top Cast
Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Self
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Self
David Brinkley
David Brinkley
Self
Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Self
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm
Self
Official Videos
The Sixties: 1968 Trailer
The Sixties: 1968 Trailer
The Sixties on CNN
The Sixties on CNN
Episodes - Season 1
Television Comes of Age (1960 - 1969)
Television Comes of Age (1960 - 1969)
Episode 1
Americans gathered around “the tube,” to be informed and entertained by the news, The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, I Dream of Jeannie, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, and more. Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Dick and Tom Smothers, Carol Burnett, Dick Cavett, Diahann Carroll, Carl Reiner, Vince Gilligan, Petula Clark and others describe how the ground-breaking, rule-breaking, norm-bending dramas, historical events, and sitcoms reflected and influenced who we were.
The World on the Brink (1960 – 1963)
The World on the Brink (1960 – 1963)
Episode 2
The heady days of Camelot were clouded by the political and military tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Marvin Kalb, Richard Reeves, Robert Dallek, Sergei Khrushchev and more explain how close the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis brought us all to World War III – and how two nuclear superpowers moved from near confrontation to the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
The Assassination of Kennedy (1963 - 1969)
The Assassination of Kennedy (1963 - 1969)
Episode 3
A documentary examining the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963. Included: a look at the conclusions drawn from the Warren Report; and eyewitness testimony. Remarks by: historians Robert Dallek and Robert Caro; journalists Robert MacNeil and Dan Rather; and Alexandra Zapruder, whose grandfather captured the assassination on film.
The War in Vietnam (1961 – 1968)
The War in Vietnam (1961 – 1968)
Episode 4
From just several hundred advisors at the start of the decade, to more than 550,000 American troops by the end of it, the escalation of the war in Vietnam – and the fighting and the dying – brought social and political polarization back home. It was also televised – and, the more Americans saw of the war, the more unpopular the conflict became. Tim O’Brien, Frederik Logeval, Karl Marlantes, Neil Sheehan, Andrew Bacevich, George Herring, Tom Hayden, and Philip Caputo discuss the Gulf of Tonkin, and LBJ, for this most complex of American stories.
A Long March to Freedom (1960 – 1968)
A Long March to Freedom (1960 – 1968)
Episode 5
Selma, Birmingham, and the March on Washington are reexamined by eyewitnesses to history. Diane Nash, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rev. C.T. Vivian, Bob Moses, Diane McWhorter, Taylor Branch, David Garrow, and Isabel Wilkerson give critical context to the lunch counter sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Freedom Summer, integration, and the Children’s Crusade for the moral mission of the Civil Rights Movement.
The British Invasion (1964 - 1967)
The British Invasion (1964 - 1967)
Episode 6
Clips of performances by British bands of the 1960s, including Manfred Mann, the Animals, Peter and Gordon, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Procol Harum, the Troggs, the Kinks, the Yardbirds, the Hollies, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Host: Casey Kasem.
The Space Race (1960 – 1969)
The Space Race (1960 – 1969)
Episode 7
Astronaut and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Mike Massimino and Dave Scott, and Walter Issacson, Douglas Brinkley, Tom Wolfe, Andy Chaikin, and Tom Hanks describe the greatest adventure story of all time. The “giant leap” pushed the boundaries of exploration to an unprecedented frontier, inspiring inventions and imaginations around the world for generations.
1968 (1968)
1968 (1968)
Episode 8
Tom Hayden, Gloria Steinem, Lance Morrow, Evan Thomas, Dan Rather, Morley Safer, Tim Naftali, and Mark Kurlansky discuss how one of the most dramatic years in American history was punctuated by a Soviet incursion into Czechoslovakia, devastating assassinations, turning points in the wars in Southeast Asia, a decisive and televised end to the Johnson Administration, violence at the Democratic National Convention, and the election of President Nixon.
The Times, They are A-Changin’ (1960 – 1969)
The Times, They are A-Changin’ (1960 – 1969)
Episode 9
Gloria Steinem, Robert Kennedy, Jr., former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, Cecile Richards, Marlo Thomas, Douglas Brinkley, and Gail Collins discuss how feminism, civil rights, environmentalism, conservatism, and the gay rights movements were fueled by deep yearnings for freedom by a generation unwilling to wait.
Sex, Drugs, and Rock N’ Roll (1960 – 1969)
Sex, Drugs, and Rock N’ Roll (1960 – 1969)
Episode 10
American culture changed fundamentally from the beginning to the end of the 1960s as the tastes, morals, and politics of the Baby Boomer generation came to define America. Jann Wenner, Grace Slick, David Wild, Leonard Steinhorn, Tom Wolfe, Douglas Brinkley, Tom Hanks, and more describe how beatniks, Haight-Ashbury, Andy Warhol, Timothy Leary, hippies, and Hell’s Angels became counter-cultural touchstones that still resonate today.
Recommendations

Chappelle's Show
81
Comedy
Chappelle's Show
The Seventies
73
The Seventies
How to Get Away with Murder
78
Drama
How to Get Away with Murder
Peaky Blinders
85
Drama
Peaky Blinders
Rick and Morty
86
Animation
Comedy
Rick and Morty
Stranger Things
85
Drama
Stranger Things
The Walking Dead
80
Drama
The Walking Dead
The Simpsons
80
Animation
Comedy
The Simpsons
The Big Bang Theory
79
Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Bones
82
Drama
Bones
Chernobyl
87
Drama
Chernobyl
Lucifer
84
Lucifer
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
76
Drama
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Breaking Bad
89
Drama
Breaking Bad
Firefly
83
Drama
Firefly
The 100
78
Drama
The 100
The Vampire Diaries
83
Drama
The Vampire Diaries
Supernatural
82
Drama
Supernatural
Avatar: The Last Airbender
87
Animation
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Good Doctor
85
Drama
The Good Doctor