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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 36 movies from NET
Workers in an auto parts warehouse in 1933 New York City inhabit a bleak, dead-end world in the depths of the Depression where, at least, they have jobs. Introduced by its playwright, Arthur Miller, it was the first in a series of NET Playhouse programs concerning life in America during the Depression years.
Jan 1971
A commercial television preview of the new children's educational series, Sesame Street.
Nov 1969
Fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm come to vivid life in this innovative production. Taking classic narrative stories — such as "The Golden Goose," "The Clever Gretel," "The Goose Girl," and "The Bremen Town Musicians" — Paul Sills eliminated the customary use of elaborate sets and costumes and relied instead on the transforming talents of his gifted actors. Utilizing gestures, mime, music, and the actors' own imaginations, he has created a fresh and unique theater piece to present these timeless tales.
A filmed version of Aaron Copland's most famous ballet, with its original star, who also choreographed.
Jan 1959
In 1967, Canadian documentarian James Beveridge traveled to Kolkata to film director Satyajit Ray at work. The resulting program, produced for the American public television series “The Creative Person,” features interviews with Ray, several of his actors and crew members, and film critic Chidananda Das Gupta.
Jan 1967
A poet-astronaut is shot through an area of space called the Chronosynclastic Infundibulum. He is duplicated into infinite copies of himself, each of whom finds himself in a bizarre situations on a different world.
Mar 1972
A collection of ten vignettes by Tennessee Williams offering various viewpoints on life, love, and death.
Oct 1966
At his Long Island beach house, and on the occasion of the publication of his masterful nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, reporter Karen Dennison interviews celebrated writer Truman Capote, who displays his exuberant personality, makes witty jokes, shares his thoughts on writing, reflects on various aspects of the book and, in a sweet and endearing voice, reads and explains some of its highlights.
Jan 1966
In 1964, National Educational Television decided to make a program as a memorial to President Kennedy. Since he had been assassinated just a year before, it seemed unnecessary to recite the events of his death again. Executive Producer, Brice Howard, discussed with Hurwitz the possibility of making a film for television that, instead of engaging the assassination head on, would deal with the inevitablity of mortality and its trauma. Essay On Death uses a story of a camping trip by a father and son to weave the thoughts about death that intercede in our everyday affairs. The commentary is made up of writings, ancient and modern, on the life and death. Beautifully realized, it succeeds at a task that mainstream television rarely attempts.
Nov 1964
Beginning as a city-symphony of Newark streets, buildings, and people set to wordless chanting, The New-Ark quickly arrives at its political imperatives: Black Power must be accomplished through nationalism, and "a nation is organization." The film focuses on black education, urban public theater, and political consciousness-raising inside and outside of Spirit House - director Amiri Baraka's Black nationalist community center.
Feb 1969
A series of programs designed for the adult layman who has a curiosity about the skies and the makeup of the universe in which we live. The terms used during the series are fully explained and materials from a number of great observatories and institutions of learning are used for visual illustration. It begins with the solar system and works outward, stimulating interest in this area and awakening a desire for further study and investigation.
A documentary that covers issues such as petroleum discovery, distribution of wealth, and new venture planning in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Jun 1968
A short documentary subject made for National Educational Television's Black Journal television program documenting a political rally in Newark, the 1970 mayoral campaign of Ken Gibson, and an African-American voter registration drive with special musical performance by Stevie Wonder.
Jul 1970
A short film made for William Greaves' "Black Journal" that discusses the influence of Malcolm X, and includes an interview with his widow, Betty Shabbazz.
It covers the activities of Malcolm X University in Durham, North Carolina (which operated for only three years), but above all devotes an entire segment to the Black athlete, focusing on an episode at the University of Wyoming, where 14 football players were suspended after attempting a protest against the rival team’s religious and racial views, the Brigham Young University. The 1960s black student movement at Duke University evolved into a separate institution to study and engage with the history and culture of the African diaspora. This film was produced for the National Educational Television (WNET) Black Journal.
Documentary of the Symposium on the Dialectics of Liberation and the Demystification of Violence, held in London, July 1967, organized by R.D.Laing, with Stokely Carmichael, Allen Ginsberg, Paul Goodman, Herbert Marcuse, John Gerassi, and many others. An important record of the spectrum of left-wing politics and personalities during the turbulent Sixties.
Nov 1967
In this intimate portrait—produced for a segment of National Education Television's "Black Journal" television program—legendary jazz musician Alice Coltrane plays the harp and discusses her thoughts on music, spirituality, family, and the legacy of her late husband, John Coltrane.
Oct 1970
Produced and directed by Hurwitz for National Educational Television (precursor of PBS), Hurwitz uses biographer and Columbia professor, John Unterecker, to help him look for the poet, Hart Crane, in his work and in the memories of many of his contemporaries. In Search of Hart Crane, 1966, is one of the very first interview-driven documentaries and is still a masterpiece of the literary documentary film.
Profile of Duke Ellington featuring performances and interviews with the legendary bandleader. The performance footage was recorded in a number of places from The Basin St. West Jazz Club, the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival, and his first Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral. This program was described by Ellington in his autobiography as the best film about Duke Ellington ever made...
Jun 1967
Major aspects of life in Israel are reflected in the faces of its multi-ethnic society.
Sep 1967