''Married in America'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

series that follows the lives of nine American married couples. Directed by British director

Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...

, it is a similar take on his famed ''

Up Series The ''Up'' series of documentary films follows the lives of ten males and four females in England beginning in 1964, when they were seven years old. The first film was titled ''Seven Up!'', with later films adjusting the number in the title t ...

''.

Premise

Beginning in 2001, interviews were intended to be conducted every five years to gauge the lives of the couples and to evaluate American married life as a whole. Participants were asked about their feelings and perceptions of their marriage and married lives. The collective interviews were intended to provided insight into the state of marriage and how it changed over time, but were limited to just a short five-year period by the series' cancelation after release of the second movie.

Participants

Participants were selected to highlight the different social, economic, and cultural factors that can affect marriage. *Amber and Scott – Scott, a former

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, is married to Amber, a cosmopolitan woman. They currently live in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. *Betty and Reggie are an interracial couple that have known each other since childhood. They were childhood sweethearts, and were married and now live in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York. *David is a widower who found companionship in Brenda after his wife's death. They were married in

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,0 ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, near where Brenda's family lives. *Chuck and Carol have been married multiple times in their lives. They have children and grandchildren already with other partners. *Cheryl and Neal are a multicultural couple. Cheryl is Filipino, and Neal is Jewish. Cultural and religious differences between their families have led to tension. They were married in

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

and currently live in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. *Donna and Todd are upwardly-mobile "

yuppie Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...

" New Yorkers. They were married shortly before the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. *Nadine and Frank are an African-American couple. Nadine is a pharmacist, while Frank is a steelworker. They got married despite the seven-year age disparity between them. *Toni and Kelly are a lesbian couple living in central

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. They were initially wed through a civil union in Vermont, later having a non-binding ceremony for family and friends. They have been involved in same-sex activism and gay rights issues. *Vanessa and Chris were married days after the

. Chris is a New York City police officer, and Vanessa is a housewife.

Episode list

*''Married in America'' - June 17, 2002 on A&E *''Married in America 2'' - May 23, 2007 on

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...

External links

Interview with director Michael Apted about the ''MIA'' series
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Married in America American documentary television films Biographical documentary films 2000s American documentary television series Films directed by Michael Apted