TV series
American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.
Streaming, rental and purchase options
Checked Jul 22, 2026
American Masters is available to stream on YouTube TV in United States. You can also rent or buy it from Google Play and Apple TV. Use the direct links below to open the provider.
American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 1
Discover the man behind the legend. With full access to the Miles Davis Estate, the film features never-before-seen footage, including studio outtakes from his recording sessions, rare photos and new interviews.
Where to watch American Masters
Episode 2
American Masters — Mae West: Dirty Blonde is the first major documentary film to explore Mae West’s life and career as she "climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong" to become a writer, performer and subversive agitator for social change. West achieved great acclaim in every entertainment medium that existed during her lifetime, spanning eight decades of the 20th century. She possessed creative and economic powers unheard of for a female entertainer in the 1930s and still rare today.
Directed by Julia Marchesi, Sally RosenthalGuest stars Mae West, Candice Bergen, Margaret Cho, Ringo Starr, Jeanine Basinger, Rona Barrett, Molly Haskell, Kathy Najimy
Episode 3
Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers and critics on an exploration of the powerful themes she confronted throughout her literary career in this artful and intimate meditation that examines the life and work of the legendary storyteller.
Where to watch American Masters
Episode 4
Mark the women’s suffrage centennial with stories of pioneering women who shaped American politics.
Where to watch American Masters
Episode 5
Meet Walter Winchell, the newspaper columnist, radio commentator and television personality who pioneered the fast-paced, gossip-driven, politically charged journalism that dominates today. At his peak, his audience was 50 million. Stanley Tucci portrays Winchell in a new American Masters documentary.
Where to watch American Masters
Episode 6
Explore the life and career of the Grammy-winning conductor, pianist and composer. A National Medal of Arts recipient and longtime Grammy-winning music director of the San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas helped set the standard that an American orchestra should champion modern music.
Where to watch American Masters
Episode 7
Explore the definitive story of international art sensation Keith Haring who blazed a trail through the art scene of ‘80s New York and revolutionized the worlds of pop culture and fine art. The film features previously unheard interviews with Haring.
Where to watch American Masters
Episode 8
An unvarnished look at the unlikely author whose autobiographical fiction helped shape American ideas of the frontier and self-reliance. A Midwestern farm woman who published her first novel at age 65, Laura Ingalls Wilder transformed her frontier childhood into the best-selling “Little House” series.
Where to watch American MastersEpisode information updated Jul 24, 2026
Scarlett JohanssonSelf
Goran VišnjićRobert Capa (voice)
Patsy ClineSelf (archive footage)
Maya AngelouSelf
Sidney LumetSelf
Oprah WinfreySelf
CommonSelf
Bill ClintonSelf
PBSUnited States
Eagle Rock EntertainmentUnited Kingdom
ThirteenUnited StatesMore shows like American Masters.
