“the boomer list” on pbs

Boomer List
Photo courtesy of Ā©Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Set your DVRs right now. In honor of the youngest baby boomers turning 50 this year, PBS presents American Masters: The Boomer List, a documentaryĀ by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, premiering tonight from 9:00 to 10:30 p.m.

As a baby boomer myself, Iā€™ve been eagerly awaiting this show. Our generation has been highly influential due to our sheer numbers alone, but the 19 icons featured here prove weā€™ve made powerful and groundbreaking contributions as individuals.

Greenfield-Sanders tells the story of the baby boomers by literally putting faces to the statistics, and showcasing one icon born each year of the baby boom.

1946 Tim O’Brien, Vietnam vet / author

1947 Deepak Chopra, M.D., New Age guru

1948 Samuel L. Jackson, actor

1949 Billy Joel, singer-songwriter

1950 Steve Wozniak, co-founder, Apple Computer

1951 Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer

1952 Amy Tan, author

1953 Eve Ensler, playwright

1954 Julieanna Richardson, founder, The HistoryMakers

1955 Maria Shriver, journalist

1956 Kim Cattrall, actor

1957 Virginia Rometty, CEO, IBM

1958 Ellen Ochoa, Director, Johnson Space Center

1959 Ronnie Lott, athlete

1960 Erin Brockovich, environmentalist

1961 Peter Staley, AIDS activist

1962 Rosie O’Donnell, entertainer

1963 David LaChapelle, artist

1964 John Leguizamo, actor

Itā€™s an impressive list, and each person is fascinating to listen to as they reminisce about the events and experiences that shaped them.

Amy Tan The Boomer List
Author Amy Tan (b. 1952) and ā€œAmerican Masters: The Boomer Listā€ director, producer and photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Photo courtesy of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

I easily related to Ellen Ochoa remembering when girls were allowed to wear pants to school for the first time (that was 6th grade for me), and Eve Ensler learning politics through song lyrics and dreaming of doing in writing what women like Grace Slick and Tina Turner were doing in rock and roll (for me, it was Joni Mitchell).

I listened to peer after peer talk about the values their parents instilled in them: a solid work ethic, stick-to-itiveness, being polite, writing thank you notes. And I hoped we had instilled those same values in our children.

I paid special attention to Ronnie Lott, who was born in 1959 just like me. He points out that the American dream is not about having a house but, rather, itā€™s about exhibiting the qualities that were banged into our generationā€™s heads: doing your best, accepting that youā€™re going to fail and getting up and doing your best again. And I worried that, by teaching our kids that ā€œeverybody wins!ā€ weā€™ve done them a huge disservice.

ā€œWe thought we could rule the world,ā€ says Julieanna Richardson, and we didnā€™t sit back and wait for someone to hand it over. We were willing to fight to right every wrong. We protested against war and racism and sexism. We demanded a treatment for AIDS. And I bemoaned the fact that weā€™ve hovered over our kids, enabling them instead of empowering them, and squashing their own initiative.

When Virginia Rometty says, ā€œWe grew up believing we could do anything,ā€ and explains that we became activists because we understood ā€œgrowth and comfort never co-exist,ā€ I turned to my husband and asked, ā€œDo you think this generation believes they can do anything?ā€ I guess that remains to be seen. I donā€™t mean to suggest that this generation lacks passion or gumption. Weā€™re the ones who raised them, after all. But I do feel that the world these boomers were talking about was a very different one than the one in which we now find ourselves.

So, although this documentary is called The Boomer ā€œListā€ and each individual portrait is certainly compelling, I would have loved more of a narrative to put their lives into a larger context and give them a wider perspective.

Honestly, Iā€™m sure you can find 19 people in every generation to represent similar accomplishments. Iā€™d be more interested in learning about our generation as a whole since, to me, thatā€™s where the real story lies.

Meanwhile, be sure to watch the show and let me know what you think. If you miss it, it will be released on DVD on October 1.

And keep your DVR set for the PBS premiere of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, which will air from 10:30 to midnight, immediately following The Boomer List.

57 thoughts on ““the boomer list” on pbs

  1. I find this whole study of demographics and the impact on the future to be really truly fascinating. I would watch this. I don’t have a DVR but I can catch it later maybe live. I am interested to see when they determine that the cut off is for baby boomers. I am not one but I also relate to the advocacy and the sense that that generation felt they could change the world. I am a baby boomer at heart in that one sense.

  2. I’ve never heard of this before and to be honest I don’t watch too much TV. My TV is usually on Disney Jr but this sounds like a show I may have to DVR and take a look at.

  3. Thanks so much for the reminder. I can’t wait to see this. As Carol said, I never get tired of boomers! I am going upstairs now to set my DVR and I am determined to not get distracted by 10 other things on my way. As a boomer, my memory is not the greatest!

  4. I really enjoyed this (I prescreened it, as you know). I do, though, wish I could see the uncut versions of each person’s “profile.” I’m sure much had to be cut when editing, simply so the show wouldn’t be a bazillion years long. Come to think of it, though, I think it would have been fascinating as a week-long series, ala Ken Burns’ PBS specials.

  5. Love this piece! And I couldn’t agree more that kids/young adults of today don’t speak the language of tenacity and hard work. A documentary of this generation will probably be a lot shorter.

  6. I have my DVR set. Before I read this I was most excited to see Amy Tan and Samuel L. Jackson (his voice just makes me melt a little….) but seriously, the quote by Ronnie Lott and someone talking about the first day wearing pants to school have me intrigued. I might just watch it live and then again later! Thank you for making this so much more personal and relevant and peaking my interest!

  7. Sounds like a really interesting watch. Unfortunately, I think this generation believes they can do anything that is already handed to them. Hard work does not seem to be “in” anymore.

  8. As a member of the Baby Boomer “club”, I will be recording this to watch later. I love stuff like this and I would have missed it.

  9. I was able to catch the show and was impressed, though I missed the interview from my birth year, 1958. Like you, we girls were finally allowed to wear pants in 6th grade. The show was thoughtful, inspiring, a bit sad sometimes, and powerful!

  10. I heard that documentary was great. Thanks for letting me know that it’s coming on. This is an awesome list of boomers. It’s amazing what you can get done in 50 years. I really need to do something more!

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