Built America Presents - Season 1

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) Herman Lay takes regional and small-time chips business to a national scale with his cutting-edge sales techniques and world-changing packaging technology, while a rival innovator invents a new kind of snack chip that will challenge Lay's crown. And when the empires meet, they will have to strike a deal...or go to war.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) In the 1950s, Ray Kroc franchises McDonald's nationwide, but right behind Kroc a wave of other entrepreneurs try to cash in on the fast food restaurant craze. Two Florida visionaries start up what will become Kroc's biggest rival, by re-inventing their kitchen's equipment into the pioneering "flame broiler." Over the next two decades the two iconic restaurants battle it out over burgers, launching signature sandwiches that will become staples all over the world.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) Defense contractor Ralph Baer invents the world's first home video game console. But it is soon eclipsed by a new table tennis game that becomes one of the most famous video games of all time. And when a third pioneer, Jerry Lawson, creates a console featuring swappable games, the fledgling video game industry explodes into an epic contest for control of what will become a multi-billion dollar market.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) In 1919, Milton Hershey is king of the chocolate business. But everything changes when in a Post WW1 sugar price drop, a rush of competitors spring up, including his former employee HB Reese, who will go on to create the best-selling candy on the planet. But Reese isn't Hershey's only rival, when a brilliant marketer soon comes up with not one, but two of the most iconic candy bars in history.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) A down-on-his-luck car salesman has the visionary idea to start the first rental car company in America, and when he joins forces with cab company owner John Hertz, they spread their revolutionary business across the country. But when WWII veteran Warren Avis starts his own rental car company, fierce competition between the two gives rise to a new industry with a $100 billion annual market.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) Out of the ashes of World War One, a new generation of Titan rises. Pierre Du Pont, Walter Chrysler, J.P. Morgan Jr., Henry Ford, and William Boeing. Their fight to reach the top will transform America as they compete to dominate new industries--from the highways to the skyways. 

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) In the 1980s, groundbreaking technology doesn't just improve adult life, it redefines classic toys. For the first time, childhood staples are reimagined by innovators pushing the boundaries of entertainment technology. In 1983, underdog company Tonka sets out to bring a game-changing toy from Japan to America: the transformable robot. After passing on the biggest deal in toy industry history, Mattel President Ray Wagner finds himself a step behind former colleague-turned- rival, Bernie Loomis. In the midst of the 1970s folk art movement, art student Martha Nelson creates a one-of-a-kind doll to sell at local Kentucky craft markets.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) Thanksgiving is the one night a year Americans celebrate by eating the same meal across the country. But 100 years ago, some of the biggest staples of Thanksgiving Dinner weren't around. Gilbert Swanson inherits his father's frozen turkey company and partners with a food chemist to innovate a revolutionary dinner that Americans can heat up at home... they call it the TV Dinner. The top selling candy days of the year revolve around Easter, Valentine's Day and Halloween. And it all started with a few bold pioneers. Santa Claus is one of the most beloved figures--and famous faces--on Earth. But how did this third-century saint become the Santa we know today?

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) In the 1970s, one major cola brand launches a blind taste test marketing plan that takes direct aim at their biggest competitor. Two heavy hitting cereal rivals duke it out for breakfast dominance. Competition heats up when an idea is stolen, beaten to the market, and is a runaway success. As car culture cranks up in the early 1950s, a young machinist in England invents one of the world's most successful toys when he creates a toy car small enough to fit inside a matchbox for his daughter to take to school. 

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) A young boy accidentally discovers a frozen treat on a stick, and grows up to bring an endearing classic to the world. When his ice cream truck breaks down, Tom Carvel discovers that half-melted ice cream is a surefire hit with customers. A cab driver turned ice cream entrepreneur comes up with the idea to mix name brand candy into high quality ice cream to create new novel flavors. Four intrepid food entrepreneurs race to harness emerging technologies like the home freezer and microwave, to bring revolutionary frozen snack icons to a waiting world.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) Walt Disney overcomes immense obstacles to create the first Theme Park, where instead of thrill rides, he gives the visitor an immersive journey into a story, like the experience of being inside a movie.

(Enhanced; 4-hour episode.) At the dawn of the 20th Century, a new breed of innovator rises up to expand American industry and push the limits of new technology. A trailblazer named Milton Hershey bets big on a revolutionary idea, and then a father and son duo named Mars start on a path to challenge the chocolate throne. Plus, the titans of food weather the storm of the First World War and push the boundaries of invention in the Roaring Twenties