Description
Original Airdate06/23/2024
Follows those in entertainment who took risks, innovated and blazed trails to redefine performing.
The Icons That Built America
Where to watch The Icons That Built America
- Free On Demand on History
Season 1
7. Fight the System: Hip Hop & Grunge
Air Date 08/04/2024
In 1987, a small-time drug dealer forms a hip-hop based group in his hometown of Compton, California; the group's brand of "reality rap" draws backlash; a Seattle-based rock band pioneers a new sound that channels suburban angst and disillusionment.
6. Comedy Kings
Air Date 07/28/2024
Fitting into the clean-cut roles that comedians occupied in the 1950s, two up-and-coming stand-ups make names for themselves; as society shifts and counter-culture movements take hold, both men realize they need to adapt their comedy.
5. Titans of Talk
Air Date 07/21/2024
Daytime talk shows in the 1980s is aimed at a stay-at-home female audience and has conversational topics and polite discussion; a young politician-turned-TV host rewrites the rules when an unexpected fight breaks out between his guests.
4. Hollywood Warriors
Air Date 07/14/2024
A young martial artist and actor from Hong Kong has dreams of breaking into Hollywood, but in the 1970s, the racial barriers block any chance he has of becoming a star.
3. Shock Jocks
Air Date 07/07/2024
In the 1970s, two maverick broadcasters take a different approach, challenging their bosses, the rules and polite society to help create a new genre: talk radio.
2. Action Heroes
Air Date 06/30/2024
A struggling New York actor, brushed aside, bets on himself to write and star in a movie; by challenging the ideas of what it means to be a leading man at the time, he gives himself a fighting chance in Hollywood.