The Men Who Built America

For outlining the way Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford literally shaped the America in which we still live, this special stands as tall as Rockefeller Center.

The program may not contain any startling revelations about its five principal subjects, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan and Henry Ford. But based on the first episode, it certainly gives them a modern-day relevance, perhaps unintentionally.

The narratives here lack subtlety, historic context or--strangely enough--even drama.

Unlike the game-changing icons it intends to celebrate, Men fails to leave its mark.