Parents' Guide to

American Genius

By Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

History docu-drama shows how competition drives innovation.

TV National Geographic Channel Educational 2015
American Genius Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

  • American Genius: Scene #1
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What's the Story?

AMERICAN GENIUS is a series about the competition between some of the greatest innovators and businessmen in American history. It offers dramatizations of the professional (and sometimes personal) rivalries between television creators Philo Farnsworth and David Sarnoff, the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss (both of whom contributed to what is now the modern airplane), and Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, the two men who spearheaded the digital age. In addition to historical reenactments and archival footage, viewers get to hear from historians, journalists, businessmen such as Mitt Romney, educators such as Bill Nye, and fellow innovators such as Steve Wozniak and Twitter cofounder Biz Stone.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This entertaining and informative series tells interesting and dramatic stories about the professional and personal rivalries that drove innovators to work harder and be more creative, despite multiple failures, to produce the technology, industry models, and policies we live with today. It also highlights some of the business practices (ethical or otherwise) that affected the process.

History buffs and tech-oriented folks certainly will appreciate the history lessons being offered here. But the messages it sends about the need for ingenuity and forward thinking to change the world will resonate with larger audiences and encourage them to think about the technology we rely on today a little differently.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what drives people to invent new things. Is it to be able to sell it and make lots of money? For the love of creating? To make the world a better place? What is the difference between being an inventor and an innovator? How does this series make that distinction?

  • Have you invented anything? Is there anything you'd like to invent or that you hope someone else will invent? How can this thing potentially change the way we live?

TV Details

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