▁college ▁educ ator ▁who ▁wrote ▁a ▁book ▁about ▁the ▁series , ▁told ▁me ▁that ▁roughly ▁ 2 9 0 ▁were ▁made .) ▁'" News re els '" ▁seems ▁in ade qu ate ; ▁they ▁are ▁longer , ▁more ▁detailed ▁and ▁much ▁more ▁opinion ated ▁than ▁the ▁standard - issue ▁news re els ▁that ▁preced ed ▁them . ▁" Document aries " ▁is ▁closer , ▁but ▁the ▁bl aring ▁orch estr ations ▁and ▁out land ish ▁voice - o vers ▁sound ▁nothing ▁like ▁a ▁modern ▁document ary . ▁It ' s ▁tempt ing ▁to ▁give ▁up ▁and ▁label ▁these ▁what s - its ▁a ▁mass - media ▁Ne ander th al ▁— ▁an ▁evolution ary ▁dead ▁end ; ▁an ▁attempt ▁to ▁merge ▁the ▁tools ▁of ▁new sg ather ing ▁and ▁film making ▁that ▁had ▁its ▁moment ▁but ▁died ▁out . ▁Ex cept ▁that , ▁once ▁you ▁watch ▁a ▁few ▁and ▁learn ▁about ▁how ▁they ▁were ▁made , ▁you ▁start ▁to ▁see ▁a ▁little ▁March ▁of ▁Time ▁in ▁almost ▁everything : ▁Fox ▁News , ▁The ▁Daily ▁Show ▁with ▁Jon ▁Stewart , ▁the ▁History ▁channel , ▁sch lock y ▁reality ▁shows ▁of ▁the ▁I ▁Should n ' t ▁Be ▁A live ▁variety , ▁P BS ' s ▁P . O . V . ▁Tom ▁Sh ales , ▁The ▁Washington ▁Post ▁( Se ptember ▁ 4 , ▁ 2 0 1 0 ) ▁— ▁F asc in ating , ▁ent hr alling , ▁en light ening — many ▁a ▁super l ative ▁applies ▁to ▁these ▁document ary