As of July 2026, Frontline Season 3 aired in 1985 with 21 episodes — streaming now on PBS. Full episode guide and where to watch below.
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Frontline Season 3

1985 21 Episodes Documentary · News ⭐ 7/10

Right now you can watch Frontline Season 3 on and — and it earns the access it was given. A compact run that never overstays its welcome. 57 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Will Lyman's involvement signals a level of cooperation that is hard to secure. Start it whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Frontline Season 3 arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. What makes Frontline Season 3 work is a willingness to sit with complexity instead of resolving it neatly. Season 3 of Frontline includes 21 episodes. It aired from January 1985 to May 1985. This season stars Will Lyman and Judy Woodruff. Will Lyman and Judy Woodruff lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was aired in 1985. The restraint in Frontline Season 3 is what makes it trustworthy — it does not need to editorialise to make its point. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Documentary fans who value serious storytelling will find Frontline Season 3 essential viewing. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. Short enough to finish in a weekend, substantial enough to feel satisfying. The subject drives every choice here, not the other way around. The kind of production you finish and immediately want to read more about.

📡 Where to Watch Frontline Season 3

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🎬 Frontline Season 3 — Episode Guide

E1
Vietnam Under Communism
1985-01-15
Frontline takes a rare look inside the new Vietnam, 10 years after the fall of Saigon and the US pullout. While the Vietnamese celebrate their victory, the countryside remains scarred and war-torn. Frontline examines the legacies of the longest and most unpopular war in American history on the count...
E2
Shootout on Imperial Highway (1)
1985-01-22
Seventy-two year-old James Hawkins,Sr. has turned his home and business into an armed camp. Living in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Hawkins is fighting gang members who live across Imperial Highway. It's a war being fought on the streets and in the courtroom between gang members and the Hawkins ...
E3
Shootout on Imperial Highway (2)
1985-01-29
The trial of gang members accused of conspiracy concludes this special two-part report. Through interviews in prison and inside the housing project where they live in the Watts section of Los Angeles, gang members talk about gangs and why they form, and the threat they pose to ordinary citizens.
E4
The Lifer and the Lady
1985-02-05
He was a convicted murderer. She was a prison volunteer. They fell in love. Frontline follows the story of Ron Cooney, who tries to work his way through the prison system to parole from a life sentence, and Lesley Earl, the woman who wants to help him go straight.
E5
The Child Savers
1985-02-12
Over a million cases of child abuse were reported in 1984-and the figure is growing. Frontline follows a dedicated group of case workers from the Emergency Children's Service of New York into homes where they confront violent parents and battered children.
E6
Down for the Count
1985-02-19
Professional boxing is one of the most popular and profitable sports in America. It can also be fatal. Frontline goes inside the world of fighters, promoters, and fans who love the sport-and critics who say it should be banned.
E7
Retreat from Beirut
1985-02-26
They went to keep the peace. But 241 died-caught in a military and political cross fire.
E8
Buying the Bomb
1985-03-05
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh presents his first television investigation for Frontline. After six months of work, Hersh uncovers the story of a Pakistani businessman who tried to ship electrical devices which can be used as nuclear bomb triggers out of the US to Pakist...
E9
A Class Divided
1985-03-26
One day in 1968, Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in discrimination. This is the story of that lesson, its lasting impact on the children, and its enduring power 30 years later.
E10
Potomac Fever
1985-04-02
Every two years, a desire to represent their home districts in Washington brings a group of first-time freshmen congressmen to the nation's capital on the shores of the Potomac river. Frontline follows two newly elected representatives from their homes to Washington where they experience the rewards...
E11
Crisis in Central America 1: Yankee Years
1985-04-09
From the Spanish-American War in 1898 until the 1950's, US preeminence in Central America and the Caribbean was never successfully challenged. Part 1 looks at these turbulent years that set the stage for today's crises-from the glory days of building the Panama Canal, through the early US Marine occ...
E12
Crisis in Central America 2: Castro's Challenge
1985-04-10
The Cuban revolution of the 1950's was the first successful challenge to US preeminence in the Western hemisphere. Part 2 looks at the roots of the revolution, Fidel Castro's rise to power, the establishment of the first Communist state in the Americas, the support for his revolution abroad, and Cub...
E13
Crisis in Central America 3: Revolution in Nicaragua
1985-04-11
In 1979, the Sandinistas led a revolution that overthrew the Somoza dynasty which had ruled Nicaragua for almost 50 years. It was a revolution the US first tried to prevent, then tried to court, and later tried to undermine. Part 3 traces the evolution of US involvement in Nicaragua and the struggle...
E14
Crisis in Central America 4: Battle for El Salvador
1985-04-12
Many Americans had never heard of El Salvador until a few years ago. It is now the focus of American policy in Central America. Part 4 traces the evolution of El Salvador's civil war and the US policy toward El Salvador.
E15
Men Who Molest
1985-04-16
Experts estimate there are at least four million child sexual abusers in the US, and they do not fit our stereotypes. Almost half of those guilty of incest also molest children outside the family. Many also commit adult rape-and they come from every social background. Should they be treated, punishe...
E16
Catholics in America: Is Nothing Sacred?
1985-04-23
One in four American citizens is Catholic, yet few seem to agree with-or follow-every doctrine and practice of their church. Frontline examines the conflicts within the American Catholic Church and its ongoing struggle with the Vatican.
E17
The American Way of War
1985-04-30
Frontline examines the complex relationship between the US Army, its fighting doctrine, the American people, and the government in an effort to understand the army's role in fighting modern wars.
E18
Memory of the Camps
1985-05-07
Forty years ago, Allied troops invaded Germany and liberated Nazi death camps. They found unspeakable horrors which still haunt the world's conscience. Frontline presents the world broadcast of a 1945 film made by British and American film crews who were with the troops liberating the camps. The fil...
E19
You Are in the Computer
1985-05-14
You go to rent an apartment and are turned down without any obvious reason. Then you find out your name is in a computer file of undesirable tenants and every other landlord in the city has access to the information. Correspondent Robert Krulwich investigates computerized information systems and the...
E20
What About Mom and Dad?
1985-05-21

🎭 Cast of Frontline Season 3

Will Lyman
Will Lyman
Self - Narrator (voice)
Judy Woodruff
Judy Woodruff
Self - Host

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