Inspired by the studies of Robert and Helen Lynd in 1929 and 1935, this classic six-part series by Academy Award and Emmy winner Peter Davis (Hearts and Minds) explores both the continuity and the change embodied in the people and institutions of one Midwestern community: Muncie, Indiana.

Titles in the series:

• The Big Game - The role of competitive sports, in this case basketball, in the community, for the coaches, and, most of all, for the players themselves.

• The Campaign - A mayoral race in middle America.

• Community of Praise - Examines faith working in the lives of a fundamentalist family.

• Family Business - A prototypical American entrepreneur struggles to make his pizza business go.

• Second Time Around - The complexities of contemporary American marriage.

• Seventeen - High school seniors hurtling toward maturity experience joy, despair, and an aggravated sense of urgency.

In intimate detail, the six films that comprise MIDDLETOWN demonstrate how the society and culture of Muncie, perhaps of the entire American social fabric, have changed less than one might think in the six decades since the Lynds' studies.

"MIDDLETOWN is a masterpiece, one of the most important films ever made of the American experience."—Boston Globe