Frontline

Today's teenagers have money and independence, their lives the object of obsessive focus by corporate America. FRONTLINE explores the culture of today's teenagers and how they view themselves and their parents. Teenage tastes, attitudes, and aspirations are endlessly sampled by marketers to determine exactly what they want, while Hollywood and Madison Avenue tell a carefully tailored version of teenage life in movies, TV, music and advertising.

In 1970, a public school teacher in Ricevile, Iowa, divided her all-white, Christian third-graders into blue and brown-eyed groups for a lesson in discrimination. This program follows their reunion 15 years later when the former students relate the enduring effects of their lesson.

Examines the prevalence of plea bargaining in the American justice system, and the failures of justice that result when the practice is misused. Reveals that nearly 95 percent of all cases resulting in felony convictions never reach a jury, but instead are settled through plea bargains, in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence. Critics contend that the push to resolve cases through plea bargains jeopardizes the constitutional rights of defendants, who may be pressured to admit their guilt whether they are guilty or not.

Explains that the average American family today carries 10 credit cards and that credit card debt and personal bankruptcies are at an all time high. Also discloses that with no legal limit on the amount of interest or fees that can be charged, credit cards have become the most profitable sector of the American banking industry with more than $30 billion in profits in 2003 alone. Frontline and the New York times investigate how an industry few Americans understand became so pervasive, so lucrative, and so powerful.

In 1970, a public school teacher in Ricevile, Iowa, divided her all-white, Christian third-graders into blue and brown-eyed groups for a lesson in discrimination. This program follows their reunion 15 years later when the former students relate the enduring effects of their lesson.

Explores the social, cultural and dietary factors that led to the fattening of America, and examines how the medical and diet industries responded to consumers' desire to lose weight.

Frontline examines the controversy over complementary and alternative medical treatments. Through interviews with staunch supporters, skeptical scientists and observers on both sides of the debate. These popular treatments are facing increased scrutiny as the first real studies of their effectiveness are published.

A journalistic investigation of the FDA approval process of prescription drugs, the pharmaceutical industry, and the consumers who trust the FDA stamp of approval on new drugs. Includes case studies.