''The Joseph Smith Papers: Television Documentary Series'' is a documentary television series produced by Ronald O. Barney and the Larry H. Miller Communications Corporation. The series documented the creation of, and work involved in, the

Joseph Smith Papers Project ''The Joseph Smith Papers'' (or Joseph Smith Papers Project) is a project researching, collecting, and publishing all manuscripts and documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint ...

. It also discussed the history of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, the founder and first

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church), as well as the early history of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...

Production

The history of the Joseph Smith Papers Project began with the work of

Dean C. Jessee Dean Cornell Jessee (born 1929) is a historian of the early Latter Day Saint movement and leading expert on the writings of Joseph Smith Jr. Biography Jessee was one of the sons of Phillip Cornell Jessee and Minerva Boss. He was raised in Springvil ...

. Jessee, along with LDS Historian

Leonard J. Arrington Leonard James Arrington (July 2, 1917 – February 11, 1999) was an American author, academic and the founder of the Mormon History Association. He is known as the "Dean of Mormon History" and "the Father of Mormon History" because of his man ...

, wanted to collect and publish all the known works of

, so they could be more easily accessed by scholars and the public. His first attempts at the project were ''The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith'', in 1984, and the two volume ''Papers of Joseph Smith'', the first in 1989 and the second in 1992. In 2001, Jessee's project became a joint venture between

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

and the LDS Church Archives, and was named the Joseph Smith Papers Project. A large amount of funding for the project was donated by Larry H. and Gail Miller the owners of

KJZZ-TV KJZZ-TV (channel 14) is an independent television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate KUTV (channel 2) and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYU (channel 12) in St. George. The st ...

, the station which would later air the television series. The project was then moved from BYU to the

LDS Church Archives The Church History Library (CHL) is a research center and archives building housing materials chronicling the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The library is owned by the Church and opened in 2009 in downt ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. As the project progressed, and the time neared for the publication of the first volume, the Larry H. Miller Communications Corporation decided to produce an hour-long introduction to the project, to air on KJZZ-TV. This introduction aired 5 November 2007, and became the pilot for the series. Eventually it was decided to create a weekly series, to document the project, and to discuss the history of Joseph Smith using original documents. The pilot would differ from the remaining episodes of the series because of changes to the production team and broadcast format. All the episodes were produced in cooperation with the LDS Church Historical Department. The first season of the series premiered early in 2008 and concluded on 22 February 2009. The second season began airing in 2009 and ended later that year. Following the completion of each season, the episodes were rebroadcast on

BYU-TV BYU TV (stylized as BYUtv) is a television channel, founded in 2000, which is owned and operated as a part of Brigham Young University (BYU). The channel, available through cable and satellite distributors in the United States, produces a number ...

(to receive exposure outside the Salt Lake City market). Both seasons were later released on region-all DVD.

Plot synopsis and episode list

The first season documented the creation of, and work involved in, the Joseph Smith Papers Project. It also discussed the history of Joseph Smith, the founder and first prophet of the LDS Church (using original documents); beginning with his ancestral roots and ending with the condition of the Church following his

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. The second season covered many of the same topics, but went into more detail, using a topical approach versus the

chronological Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It ...

approach of the first season. The second season also covered the potentially troubling issues in Joseph Smith's history more thoroughly.

Notes

References

External links

Official SiteWatch episodes online from BYU-TV streaming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph Smith Papers (TV series) 2000s American documentary television series English-language television shows History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints History of the Latter Day Saint movement Works about Joseph Smith 2008 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings 2008 in Christianity 21st-century Mormonism

Production

Plot synopsis and episode list

See also

Notes

References

External links