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Frontline Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
25 Episodes 1983 - 1983
Episode 1
An Unauthorized History of the NFL
Mon, Jan 17, 198360 mins
A look at the connections between organized crime, gambling and professional football in the United States.
Episode 2
88 Seconds in Greensboro
Mon, Jan 24, 198360 mins
James Reston investigates the role of a police informant in the 1979 murder of five civil rights demonstrators by a group of Klan and Nazi Party members in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Episode 3
In the Shadow of the Capitol
Mon, Jan 31, 1983
Frontline correspondent Charles Cobb journeys to a Washington, DC that tourists rarely see.
Episode 4
A Chinese Affair
Mon, Feb 7, 1983
For thirty-four years, those who fled to Taiwan in wake of Communist victory have had only their memories and fantasies of mainland China.
Episode 5
God's Banker
Mon, Feb 14, 1983
A probing documentary probing ties between Roberto Calvi, an Italian banker, found hanging from a London bridge and Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, head of the Vatican bank.
Episode 6
Pentagon, Inc.
Mon, Feb 21, 1983
Frontline investigates power of Pentagon as a business and economic force in domestic economy.
Episode 7
Gunfight USA
Mon, Feb 28, 1983
Frontline looks beyond cliches and stereotypes in debate over gun control. Visiting prison inmates, victims of gun crime, and sharpest minds on both sides, Frontline explores underlying fears make gun control such an emotional issue.
Episode 8
Children of Pride
Mon, Mar 7, 1983
Kojo Odo, a 42 year-old single black man, took in his first child a decade ago-a 7 year old boy with his arm missing.
Episode 9
A Journey to Russia
Mon, Mar 21, 1983
Before Gorbachev and glasnost, three young Americans journey to Soviet Union on a whirlwind two-week, six-city debating tour.
Episode 10
Daisy: Story of a Facelift
Mon, Mar 28, 1983
Daisy is 55 and terrified of growing old. She feels she needs a facelift. From moment of her decision, Frontline follows her.
Episode 11
Space: The Race for High Ground
Mon, Apr 11, 1983
This episode included a story about The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983. The opening sequence shows Jessica Savitch seated next to a laser that she used to destroy a model of a communication satellite. The demonstration was perhaps the first televised use of a weapons grade laser. No theatrical effects were used. The model was actually destroyed by the heat from the laser. The model and the laser were provided by Marc Palumbo, a High Tech Romantic artist from the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT.
Episode 12
Abortion Clinic
Mon, Apr 18, 198360 mins
Abortion Clinic tells the stories of four young women who are confronted by unplanned pregnancies. Two of them decide to carry their pregnancies to term; two chose to have abortions performed at a local clinic.
Episode 13
Crisis in Zimbabwe
Mon, Apr 25, 1983
Rhodesia, a symbol of white racism, has become Zimbabwe and white minority rule has given way to black majority rule.
Episode 14
Air Crash
Mon, May 2, 1983
Frontline investigates frightening aftermath of worst air disasters in US history-June 9, 1982 crash of Pan Am flight 759 at New Orleans airport.
Episode 15
Looking for Mao
Mon, May 9, 198360 mins
This documentary film is a search for the cultural and political legacy of Mao Tse-tung six years after his death. Filmed in Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha and Shaoshan, this film is described by Arthur Unger of Christian Science Monitor as "one of the best documentaries in the Frontline series" and an "incisive quest for the truth."
Episode 16
Israel: Between the River and the Sea
Mon, May 16, 1983
For eight years, Rafik Halabi covered West Bank and Gaza strip-only Arab reporter working in Hebrew section of Israeli Television.
Episode 17
In Our Water
Mon, May 23, 1983
Frank Kaler's story begins simply enough when he requests a water test. Why? Because his children develop skin lesions after bathing in it.
Episode 18
Vietnam Memorial
Mon, May 30, 1983
Frontline tells story of five days in fall of 1982 when more than 150,000 people gathered in Washington DC for dedication of Vietnam Memorial.
Episode 19
For the Good of All
Mon, Jun 6, 1983
When a national recreation site between Cleveland and Akron was first mandated by Congress in 1974.
Episode 20
The Russians Are Here
Mon, Jun 13, 1983
During previous decade, 100,000 Russians came to America to live. Here they found a more difficult freedom than Americans might imagine.
Episode 21
Who Decides Disability?
Mon, Jun 20, 1983
Frontline investigates Reagan administration's effort to remove tens of thousands of people from Social Security disability rolls.
Episode 22
Crossfire in El Salvador
Mon, Jun 27, 1983
In 1983, El Salvador was a nation where murder and torture were an everyday occurrence.
Episode 23
Sanctuary
Mon, Jul 4, 1983
Frontline follows journey of a Guatemalan family through 'new underground railroad'.
Episode 24
Moneylenders
Mon, Jul 11, 1983
Developing countries have borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars from Western banks.
Episode 25
Klaus Barbie: The American Connection
Mon, Jul 18, 1983
Klaus Barbie, a hated Nazi war criminal, was returned to France in 1983 to face justice.