Jean Shepherd's America

Episode 01

The Phantom of the Open Hearth Lives -- Somewhere in Indiana

Apr 11, 1971 · 29 min

Shep recalls the sights, sounds, and experiences of working in a steel mill at age 17, as the operations of a contemporary steel mill play out on screen.

Episode 02

...One Man's Version of Heaven Is a Super Howard Johnson's with 28 Flavors and No Lines for the Rest Room

Apr 18, 1971 · 29 min

Shep loses his bait but comes up with some tall tales on a fishing trip in Maine's backwaters on the banks of the Kennebec River, with a stop at the Skowhegan County Fair to meet Bob, champion horse weight-puller.

Episode 03

...The End of an Era -- Riding the 'City of Los Angeles' on Its Last Journey Across the American West

Apr 25, 1971 · 29 min

While rumbling across Wyoming aboard a Union Pacific railroad car, Shep recalls a previous trip during his World War II Army days when he pulled KP duty on a troop train.

Episode 04

A Bunch of the Boys Were Whooping It Up at the Malamute Saloon

May 2, 1971 · 29 min

Recalling the origins of his interest in Alaska in the second grade, Shep journeys through the Alaskan frontier exploring the captivating landscape, the sights and sounds of an Eskimo village, and the pervading silence.

Episode 05

There's More to Life Than a Hostess Twinkie

May 9, 1971 · 29 min

While he cracks lobster claws, Shep cracks jokes and stories about his crazy love affair with all manner of delicacies, from rainbow trout to pecan pie.

Episode 06

And the Bad Guys Are Back on the Shore, Shaking Their Fists

May 16, 1971 · 29 min

Recalling a comic-strip from his boyhood in which the hero escapes on a houseboat from the pursuing villains, Shep takes the helm of a houseboat and contemplates a nomadic life at sea.

Episode 07

The Perpetual Swish of Windshield Wipers Is the Soundtrack of Our Lives

May 23, 1971 · 29 min

Shep gets behind the wheel and moves out on the turnpike of life, as he muses on the mystique of the open road.

Episode 08

It Won't Always Be This Way

May 30, 1971 · 29 min

Shep contrasts man's "nesting" instinct with his desire for mobility in a vision of tomorrow's styles of living.

Episode 09

...From Its Golden, Ice-cold Depths Come the Echos of Lost Battles, the Sound of Ancient Victories, the Noise of a Million Ball Games

Jun 6, 1971 · 29 min

Beer, considered by some to be the universal language, is the focus as Shep travels to the archetypal neighborhood tavern in Milwaukee and presents a poetic pastiche of beer commercials -- "the folk music of our time."

Episode 10

I Might Even Snag One for Old Ahab Himself

Jun 13, 1971 · 29 min

Shep talks with one of Florida's natural wonders: Sea Weed Ernie, a hermit who lives in an old wrecked boat in the middle of a watery nowhere, trades fish stories and casts a line in the fabled Black Water Bay.

Episode 11

When There's No Place to Go But Up

Jun 20, 1971 · 29 min

Tall stories -- airborne. Shep takes off at the controls of his four-seater and visits a convention that features home-made airplanes built with some interesting components.

Episode 12

Like All Great Inner-Tube Specialists, He Finally Made the Classic Mistake

Jun 27, 1971 · 29 min

What happens when you let a guy like Jean Shepherd loose in a place like Hawaii? He has a luau, watches the surfers and talks about his old man, the All Time Inner-Tube Specialist of America.

Episode 13

Make School or Die

Jul 4, 1971 · 29 min

Stranded during a blizzard in Wyoming, Shep and the crew romp in the snow outside the "Little America" motel while he recalls another childhood memory of cold mornings in northern Indiana, and his mother's unsympathetic reply to his plea to stay home from school.