Programs by Year: 2003

Nov. 20, 2003

Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?

(180 minutes) An investigative biography examining the life and enduring mysteries of the man who assassinated President Kennedy. (Web site »)

Nov. 13, 2003

Dangerous Prescription

(60 minutes) Why have so many drugs been withdrawn from the market for safety reasons? Investigating the FDA and drug safety. (Web site »)

Nov. 6, 2003

The Alternative Fix

(60 minutes) A $48 billion industry, alternative medicine has entered the mainstream. It's good business. But is it good medicine? (Web site »)

Oct. 16, 2003

Chasing the Sleeper Cell

(60 minutes) They met bin Laden, trained in his camps. But were these six U.S. citizens an Al Qaeda terrorist cell ready to strike? (Web site »)

Oct. 9, 2003

Truth, War, and Consequences

(90 minutes) Did America rush into a war in Iraq for which it was unprepared? (Web site »)

Jul. 3, 2003

Public Schools, Inc.

(60 minutes) Ten years after "edupreneur" Chris Whittle first announced his bold plan to revolutionize the way we educate children, Whittle's Edison Schools continue to be a lightening rod for the issue of for-profit, public education. FRONTLINE and the PBS education series The Merrow Report join forces with The New York Times to investigate the intertwined fortunes of Edison Schools and its charismatic yet controversial leader, and examine whether it's possible to create world-class schools that turn a profit. (Web site »)

Jun. 19, 2003

The Other Drug War

(60 minutes) Why are prescription drug prices so high? The battle between U.S. consumers and the drug industry. (Web site »)

May. 8, 2003

The Wall Street Fix

(60 minutes) How Wall Street drove the telecom boom, took enormous profits, and left millions of investors with worthless stocks. (Web site »)

May. 1, 2003

Burden of Innocence

(60 minutes) After years of wrongful imprisonment, what awaits men who are released after their innocence is finally proved? (Web site »)

Apr. 24, 2003

Cyber War!

(60 minutes) How vulnerable is America to an attack from cyberspace? And what would be the prime targets? (Web site »)

Apr. 10, 2003

Kim's Nuclear Gamble

(60 minutes) The inside story of the highly unstable U.S.-North Korea relationship and how we've arrived at the current crisis. (Web site »)

Apr. 3, 2003

Blair's War

(60 minutes) For the past few months, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been fighting the biggest political battle of his career. Caught in the center of a high stakes political storm, he tried to personally bridge the gap between the United States and its European allies -- particularly France and Germany -- over the impending war in Iraq. FRONTLINE examines the roots of the discord within the Western alliance, the perilous role Blair has played, and the stakes for him and the West should this old alliance fall apart. (Web site »)

Mar. 17, 2003

The Long Road to War: A FRONTLINE Special Report

(120 minutes) America appears to be within days of attacking Iraq. Many observers believe President Bush may soon signal to weapons inspectors, diplomats and members of the press that Iraq will come under fire and they should leave the country. Once again, the U.S finds itself about to battle Iraq, although this time it will likely not be part of a grand coalition. How did the nation come to the brink of war of another war with Saddam Hussein? In a two-hour special "The Long Road to War," FRONTLINE draws on its extensive archives of more than 12 years of reporting on Iraq to tell the history of the U.S. confrontation with Saddam. The special will examine how the West armed Iraq, the mind and methods of Saddam Hussein, the origins of the first Gulf War and its ragged end, the frustrating effort to disarm Iraq through U.N. inspections, how Saddam survived efforts to undermine his power, and the long-standing effort by Washington hawks to remove him. (Web site »)

Feb. 20, 2003

The War Behind Closed Doors

(60 minutes) The people and clashes that shaped the Bush Doctrine on how to deal with Saddam and the rest of the world. (Web site »)

Feb. 13, 2003

China in the Red

(120 minutes) A look at a nation in the midst of an epic transformation and ordinary people living in extraordinary times. (Web site »)

Feb. 6, 2003

Failure to Protect: The Caseworker Files

(120 minutes) The removal of a child from an abusive or neglectful parent is one of the most drastic actions a government undertakes; and yet it does so with little or no public scrutiny. In 2001, the state of Maine gave FRONTLINE unprecedented access to observe the daily lives of its child protection caseworkers, with whom the decision to remove children begins. In a companion presentation to Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr, FRONTLINE cameras follow a small set of caseworkers in one office as they interact with families and each other, dealing with the excruciating dilemmas and heartbreaking choices that confront them every day. Failure to Protect: The Caseworker Files is both moving and probing, asking such questions as when should a child be removed? How much damage do we do to children in the name of helping them? And when should parents lose the right to raise their own child? Following the documentary, FRONTLINE will air a one-hour town meeting on child welfare policy. (Web site »)

Jan. 30, 2003

Failure to Protect: The Taking of Logan Marr

(60 minutes) In January 2001, five-year-old Logan Marr was found dead in the basement of her foster mother's home in Chelsea, Maine. The foster mother, Sally Schofield, was a highly respected former caseworker for Maine's Department of Human Services. FRONTLINE examines the girl's short, troubled life and asks a series of tough questions: Why was a little girl who had never been abused taken from her birth mother? Was her mother given a real opportunity to regain custody? And did the state miss significant clues that she was in danger? Through extensive interviews with key figures involved in the case - including exclusive access to Schofield herself - FRONTLINE rewinds the story to look closely at the events that led up to Logan's death: from the state's decision to remove her from her birth mother's home to her troubled decline and eventual death in foster care. FRONTLINE continues its examination of Maine's Department of Human Services on February 6 with the one-hour documentary "Failure to Protect: The Caseworker Files" followed by a one-hour town meeting on child welfare policy. (Web site »)

Jan. 9, 2003

A Dangerous Business

(60 minutes) An investigation into one of the most dangerous workplaces in America. (Web site »)

Jan. 2, 2003

Much Ado About Something

(90 minutes) His name is synonymous with great literature. Author of timeless masterpieces like "Romeo and Juliet," "Othello," and "Hamlet," William Shakespeare is widely considered to be the greatest writer who ever lived--or was he? FRONTLINE producer Michael Rubbo explores anew the centuries-old controversy over whether the literary masterpieces long attributed to Shakespeare were actually written by his contemporary, Christopher Marlowe. Born in the same year as Shakespeare, Marlowe was at the height of his literary career in 1593 when he was supposedly killed in an argument over a tavern bill. Marlowe's death, however, has been clouded in mystery, with some "Marlovians" insisting the playwright lived to write another day--but under the name of Shakespeare. FRONTLINE takes viewers inside this 16th century detective story in an attempt to unravel what some are calling the "biggest cover-up in literary history." (Web site »)