New York: A Documentary Film: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

In New York: A Documentary Film, Ric Burns (brother of the famed documentarian Ken Burns) presents an exhaustive history of New York City from the settling of the area by the Dutch to the attack by terrorists nearly 400 years later. Told in a sentimental tone, Burns weaves a lyrical tale of the great metropolis that encompasses not only the city's streets, but also that of the history of America. Through around fourteen hours in length, this epic documentary presents a thoughtful, entertaining look at our relatively young country.

Series details

• Title: New York: A Documentary Film
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: History
• Premiere date: 1999-11-14
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: PBS
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 120 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 22526
• IMDb ID: tt0220924
• TVDB ID: 82457

Cast and credited roles

• John Steele Gordon — Commentator
• Kenneth Jackson — Commentator
• Robert Sean Leonard — Narrator
• David Ogden Stiers — Narrator

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1999-11-14; final listed air date 2026-09-22; episode order: 10.

Source and licence

Adapted from New York: A Documentary Film on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.