Great Books on Screen - A List of the TV Series Episodes

July 13, 2020



While reading and researching the Harvard Classics and Delphian Projects, it's inevitable to find mention of "The Great Books", usually in reference to Mortimer Adler's Great Books of the Western World. Indeed, the idea of The Great Books is what both of my projects focus on: collections of literature, generally of the Western canon, to be read and studied as the basis of a Liberal Education.

With this is mind, I was intrigued to learn that in 1993, the American TV channel, The Learning Channel (now known as TLC) launched a documentary and biography series called Great Books. Premiering on the 8th of September to coincide with International Literacy Day, each episode in the series focused in depth at some of literature's greatest fiction and nonfiction books, along with the authors who created them. Most of the narration was provided by Donald Sutherland, though later episodes were narrated by other well-known celebrities including Uma Thurman, Gary Oldman and Jeff Goldblum.

All of these episodes feature insights from historians, scholars, novelists, artists, writers, and filmmakers who were directly influenced by the books, such as Richard Dawkins on Origin of Species; Leonard Nimoy on War of the Worlds and Arthur C. Clarke on his novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

Sadly, these documentaries are no longer being aired, nor are they available to watch on any outlet I've found (unless you have access to a VHS player and are prepared to shell out a lot of money for a box set). I sincerely hope that these valuable episodes can be remastered for digital distribution at some point. Luckily, though, some wonderful YouTubers have uploaded all of the episodes for us to watch and enjoy online. 

Here is a list, complete to the best of my knowledge, of all episodes of the Great Books TV series, in date order, with links to watch the episodes on YouTube and (where possible) links to download the text in digital formats. 

Le Morte d'Arthur

September 8, 1993.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary by George Lucas, John Cullen Murphy and Geoffrey Ashe.

Available in two volumes from Project Gutenberg (Volume 1 | Volume 2)

Frankenstein

September 8, 1993
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary by Anne Rice, Anne K. Mellor, Marilyn Butler, Betty T. Bennett and Forrest J Ackerman.

Origin of Species

September 8, 1993.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary by Richard Dawkins, Ernst Mayr, James Moore, Jerry Falwell, John Maynard Smith, John Durant, Rebeecca Cann, Dr. Harold Neu, and Dr. Randolph Nesse.

Alice in Wonderland

June 4, 1994
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Grace Slick, Morton N. Cohen, Edward Wakeling, Selwyn Goodacre, Donald Rackin.
Several digital editions are available to download from Project Gutenberg. I particularly like this one, which is illustrated by Arthur Rackham

War of the Worlds

June 11, 1994
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Leonard Nimoy, Michael Coren, Brian Aldiss, David C. Smith, Michael Foote, Howard Koch.


The Art of War

June 18, 1994
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary by William Westmoreland, Võ Nguyên Giáp, Asher Edelman, Chin Ning Chu, Arthur Waldron.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

September 3, 1994
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Victor Doyno, Justin Kaplan, and Nat Hentoff.
A beautifully illustrated edition of Mark Twain's classic is available to download in digital formats from Project Gutenberg.

The Odyssey

September 14, 1996.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Jim Lovell and Irene Papas.
Several different versions are available to download in digital formats from Project Gutenberg, including this English translation by Alexander Pope.

The Republic by Plato

September 14, 1996
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary by Michael Savage, William Bennett, Joseph Brodsky, Thomas Pangle, Martha Nussbaum, Alexander Nehamas, Bonnie Kent.

The Scarlet Letter

September 14, 1996.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Nina Baym, Roland Joffé, Lawrence Buell, Carol Karlsen, Charles Hambrick Stowe.
A beautiful illustrated edition of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter is available to download in digital formats from Project Gutenberg.

Moby Dick

September 14, 1996
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Richard Ellis, Ray Bradbury, John Bryant, Elizabeth Schultz, Hershel Parker, Laurie Robertson-Lorant, Mary K. Bercaw Edwards and M. Thomas Inge.

The Prince

September 14, 1996
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Henry Kissinger, Hanna Holborn Gray, Roger Masters, Gary Hart, Robert Hariman, and Mark Musa.

Native Son

September 15, 1996.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from John Edgar Wideman, Keneth Kinnamon, Maryemma Graham, Margaret Walker, Cedric Robinson, Remi Dreyfus, and Michel Fabre.

Gulliver's Travels

September 15, 1996.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Pat Oliphant, Mark Russell, Anthony Clare, Victor Griffin, and Roger Law.

Catch-22

September 15, 1996. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Joseph Heller, Bill Mauldin, Alan Arkin, Mike Nichols, Art Buchwald.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to find this episode available to watch online. If anyone finds it, please do let me know in the comments so that I can update this entry.
However, Joseph Heller's groundbreaking novel can be read online at The Internet Archive.

Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams

September 15, 1996.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Peter Swales, Peter D. Kramer, Barbara P. Jones, and Robert Altman.
Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners by Sigmund Freud is available to download in digital formats from Project Gutenberg.

Don Quixote

June 28, 1997
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Mario Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa and Carlos Fuentes.
Several editions are available to download from Project Gutenberg, including this delightful illustrated copy.


Great Expectations

June 28, 1997
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary by John Irving, Ethan Hawke, Alfonso Cuarón, Douglas Broyles, Michael Slater, Dr. David Parker, Linda Hooper, and George Newlin.


The Great Gatsby

September 13, 1997
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Richard Lehan, Karal Ann Marling, Jackson R. Bryer, Sam Waterston, Henry Allen, Alfred Kazin, George Garrett, Richard Bausch, and Tobias Wolff.

Walden

September 13, 1997
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Robert D. Richardson, Thomas Blanding, Richard Lebeaux, Elizabeth Hall Witherell, Vidor Jorgensen, Jack Borden, Michael Kellet, Ray Gerke, Cecile Andrews.

Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems

September 14, 1997.
 Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Owen Gingerich, Maurice A. Finocchiaro, George Coyne, Charles Curran.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

September 12, 1998.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Ken Kesey, Jann S. Wenner, John Clark Pratt, Miloš Forman, Dr. Frank Pittman, Ken Babbs, Louise Fletcher, Wavy Gravy, and Saul Zaentz.
Ken Kesey's novel is still under copyright. You can borrow it for free from Open Library for a limited time, should you be unable to locate a copy locally.

The Naked and the Dead

September 13, 1998.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Norman Mailer, Oliver Stone, Terry Teachout, Robert F. Lucid, Eugene Sledge, and Sam Tanenhaus.
Norman Mailer's novel is still within copyright, though can be borrowed from the Open Library should you be unable to source a copy locally.

Lord of the Flies

February 13, 1999
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Patrick Reilly and Peter Green.
William Golding's novel can be read online at The Internet Archive.

The Red Badge of Courage

February 13, 1999.
Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Morley Safer and Bruce Gudmundsson.
Stephen Crane's Red Badge can be downloaded in digital formats from Project Gutenberg.

All Quiet on the Western Front

May 15, 1999
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Thomas Thornton, Philip Caputo, Professor Brian Murdoch, Professor Jay Winter, Bernd Huppauf, and Julie Gilbert.
Eric Maria Remarque's novel is still under copyright, but can be borrowed from the Open Library should you be unable to locate it locally.

Heart of Darkness

August 21, 1999
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from John Milius, Adam Hochschild, Norman Sherry, Laurence Davies, Martin Sheen and Homi K. Bhabha.

Dracula

August 22, 1999
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from David J. Skal, James V. Hart, Leonard Wolf, Nina Auerbach, Barbara Belford.

Pride and Prejudice

September 3, 1999
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Nora Ephron, Helen Fielding, Fay Weldon, Edith Lank, and Roger Rosenblatt.
Jane Austen's novel can be downloaded in digital formats from Project Gutenberg. This edition includes original illustrations.

Madame Bovary

February 19, 2000
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Dominick LaCapra, Erica Jong, Ann-Louise Shapiro, Dalma Heyn, Victor Brombert, and Éric Le Calvez.

Crime and Punishment

June 10, 2000. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Olga Meerson, Harold Bloom, Michael Dirda, Dmitry Dostoyevsky, Edward Wasiolek, Boris Tikhomirov.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate an upload of this episode. If you find one, please let me know in the comments.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

June 11, 2000. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Michael Eric Dyson, Marita Golden, George W. Haley, Ossie Davis, Mike Wallace, Attallah Shabazz.
Published in 1965, Malcolm X remains under copyright, but can be borrowed from the Open Library should you be unable to locate a copy locally.

The Grapes of Wrath

September 17, 2000
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, with commentary from Arlo Guthrie, Susan Shillinglam, Studs Terkel, Gerald Haslam, James J. Rawl, Thom Steinbeck, Robert Demott, Elaine Steinbeck.
Steinbeck's novel remains under copyright, but can be borrowed from the Open Library should you be unable to locate it locally.

Nineteen Eighty Four

October 11, 2000
. Narrated by Donald Sutherland and Nick McArdle, with commentary from Margaret Drabble, Bernard Crick, David Brin, Ray Kurzweil.

Les Misérables

December 24, 2000. Narrated by Uma Thurman, with commentary from Victor Brombert, Graham Robb, Anthony Papa, Mary Brosnahan.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a video of this episode to watch online. Please let me know in the comments section if you find one!

The Jungle

February 17, 2001.
Narrated by James Belushi, with commentary from James R. Barrett, Jeremy Rifkin, Carol Tucker Foreman, Sara Lilygren, William Bloodworth, Nancy Donley, and Rev. Jim Lewis.

The Right Stuff

May 18, 2001
. Narrated by Fred Ward, with commentary from Tom Wolfe, John Logsdon, Chuck Yeager, Walter Cronkite, William McKeen, Gordon Cooper, and Sergei Khrushchev.
Tom Wolfe's non-fiction classic remains in copyright, though you can borrow the book from the Open Library should you be unable to locate a copy easily.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

August 11, 2001. Narrated by Roy Scheider, with commentary from Gavin Scott, Peter Benchley, Greg Stemm, Richard Ellis, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Jean-Jules Verne, Dr. Amy Wright, Walter J. Miller, Al Charette, and Bruce Jones.
Unfortunately I have been unable to locate this episode online. Please let me know in the comments if you find an accessible upload so that I may update this post.
Project Gutenberg has an edition of Verne's novel with colour plates which is available to download in digital formats.

Poe Tales of Terror/Tales of Edgar Allan Poe

October 30, 2001
. Narrated by Gary Oldman, with commentary from Wes Craven, Ray Bradbury, Colin Dayan (called Joan Dayan), Gerald Kennedy, Kenneth Silverman, Poppy Z. Brite, Jeff Jerome.

The Bible: Book of Genesis

December 24, 2001. Narrated by Andre Braugher with commentary from Alan Dershowitz, Thomas Cahill, Jack Miles, Karen Armstrong.
Sadly, neither this episode nor the following (Exodus) appear to be available to stream online.

The Bible: Book of Exodus

December 24, 2001. Narrated by Andre Braugher with commentary from Alan Dershowitz, Thomas Cahill, Jack Miles, Karen Armstrong.

Inferno

February 23, 2002
. Narrated by Christian Slater, with commentary from Robert Pinsky, William R. Cook, Ronald Herzman, Miriam Van Scott, Fr. Stephen Happel.

Wuthering Heights

May 2, 2002
. Narrated by Madeleine Stowe, with commentary from Juliet Barker, John Plotz, Margret Russett, Edward Royle, Edward Chitham.

The Metamorphosis

August 8, 2002. Narrated by Jeff Goldblum, with commentary from Jeff Johnson, PHD, Kamakshi Murti, PHD, Irmgard Wagner, PHD, David Zane Mairowitz, Arnošt Lustig, Arnold Braun, Peter Rehberg, PhD, Kirk Bloodsworth.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate an upload of this episode online. Please do let me know in the comments if you find one.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

August 30, 2002
. Narrated by Richard Thomas. Please note: the video linked here is not the episode from TLC, but instead a BBC programme about the book which closely follows the format of the Great Books series. (Thank you 04aMUSE for uploading this worthy substitute!).
The Wizard of Oz is available in digital formats from Project Gutenberg. I particularly like this gloriously illustrated edition.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

November 8, 2002
. Narrated by Michael Madsen.
Again, I was unable to locate a video of the TLC series, though was able to find a substitute (the "Student Edition") from nctv17.

Arabian Nights

December 5, 2002. Narrated by Gina Gershon, with commentary from Robert Irwin, Zainab Bahrani, Ron Campbell, Fatema Mernissi, and Justin Frank.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate a copy of this episode online.

2001: A Space Odyssey

June 20, 2006
. Narrated by William Shatner, with commentary from Arthur C. Clarke, Vincent LoBrutto, Neil McAleer, Rodney Brooks, Frederick I. Ordway III (as Fredrick Ordway), Joseph P. Allen (as Joe Allen), Guy Gardner, Rita Kempley, Francis Slakey, Anne Foerst, Ray Kurzweil, Steven M. Wise.
Written in 1969, Arthur C. Clarke's novel remains in copyright, but can be borrowed from the Open Library should you be unable to locate a copy.

I hope you have found this list complements your reading of "Great Books"! I really hope that we may see a revival of the series at some point (perhaps on the Discovery channel?), especially as I personally would like to be able to watch the episodes I've been unable to find online.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments, particularly if you've been able to locate a missing video I should include in this list!

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