Quick Info
Status: Ended
Network: CBS
Type: Scripted
Rating: 8.0/10
The Twentieth Century
Overview
The Twentieth Century is a long-running CBS documentary television series that aired from 1957 to 1966, sponsored throughout its run by the Prudential Insurance Company and narrated by Walter Cronkite. Drawing on the resources of CBS News, the series produced both historical compilation documentaries and originally photographed contemporary reports, presenting major political, cultural, scientific, and social developments that shaped the modern world. Episodes combined newsreel footage, eyewitness testimony, and on-location reporting, covering subjects ranging from global conflicts and political change to arts, science, and international social transformation. Popular with audiences and critically respected, the series functioned as a formative model for later American television documentary programming and helped establish the compilation-documentary format as a central mode of broadcast nonfiction.
This production, originally released in 1957, has captivated audiences with its unique storytelling. As a Scripted series, it brings a fresh perspective to the News, Documentary genre, maintaining a strong viewer rating of 8.0 across its 9 seasons.
- Storyline Highlights:
- • Explores themes within News and Documentary.
- • Produced in .
- • Original Language: English.
Directed By
Written By
Starring Cast
Seasons
Season 1
27 Episodes • Aired 1957-10-20
No season overview provided for this season.
Season 2
27 Episodes • Aired 1958-09-28
No season overview provided for this season.
Season 3
27 Episodes • Aired 1959-09-20
No season overview provided for this season.
Season 4
26 Episodes • Aired 1960-10-30
No season overview provided for this season.
Season 5
26 Episodes • Aired 1961-10-29
No season overview provided for this season.