Smithsonian TV Guide — Thursday TV Listings & Schedule

Browse the full Smithsonian TV guide for Thursday, 27 August 2026. 24 programmes listed , including 6 tonight. US listings updated daily — scroll down to tonight's highlights or use the day tabs above to browse the weekly schedule.

Early Morning

00:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S1 · E2 · Racing the Storm True

Racing the Storm

An American Airlines captain tried to land in a thunderstorm in Little Rock, Arkansas and failed to engage its ground spoilers, losing control of the craft.

01:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S12 · E1 · Fight for Control True

Fight for Control

While flying over the Aleutian Islands, one of an aircraft's four propellers comes off and tears a hole in the cabin, causing decompression and loss of control.

02:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S11 · E12 · The Invisible Plane Documentary

The Invisible Plane

A small jet taxis in front of a large airliner and is destroyed, and the airliner tries to take off in spite of having lost an engine, but it cannot fly.

03:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S16 · E4 · Grounded: Boeing Max 8 True

Grounded: Boeing Max 8

Indonesian investigators work to understand why one of the world's best-selling new airplanes fell into the Java Sea.

04:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S15 · E10 · Carnage in São Paulo Documentary

Carnage in São Paulo

Members from the Brazilian Air Force team up with the National Transportation Safety Board to determine what caused a plane to crash seconds after takeoff.

05:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S12 · E3 · Caution to the Wind True

Caution to the Wind

During heavy rainstorms caused by a nearby typhoon, a pilot in Singapore taxis his jet airliner to the wrong runway because of poor visibility.

Morning

06:00 1h

Mayday: Air Disaster

S7 · E3 · Blown Apart True

Blown Apart

In 1989 a Convair 580 has a structural failure off the coast of Denmark after substandard replacement parts were used to couple the tail section to the fuselage

07:00 1h

Combat Ships

S3 · E4 · Gulf War Warriors Documentary

Gulf War Warriors

Persian Gulf naval conflicts including Desert Storm, the Iran-Iraq War and present day.

08:00 1h

Combat Ships

S1 · E8 · The Smallest Ships Documentary

The Smallest Ships

Stories about the USS Philadelphia and the M33 gunboat are shared as an analytical look is taken at how small wartime vessels made an impact of battle.

09:00 1h

Combat Ships

S3 · E5 · Sunk Documentary

Sunk

A sunken WWI cruiser and WWII submarine are found by a series of high-tech missions.

10:00 1h

Combat Ships

S3 · E6 · Top Guns Documentary

Top Guns

Exploring naval armaments throughout history featuring cannon armed sailing ships, to revolutionary weapons technology.

11:00 1h

Combat Ships

S4 · E1 · Courageous Captains Documentary

Courageous Captains

Four remarkable captains that have gone above and beyond the call of duty throughout naval history.

Daytime

12:00 1h

Combat Ships

S3 · E8 · River Raiders Documentary

River Raiders

Examination of river warfare from the story of Harriet Tubman's victorious gunboat raid to the high-speed river Patrol Boats in Vietnam.

13:00 1h

Combat Ships

S2 · E7 · The Battle of Leyte Gulf Documentary

The Battle of Leyte Gulf

The largest naval battle in modern history, which was fought in October 1944 in the waters of the Philippine Islands, and its ships are examined.

14:00 1h

Combat Ships

S3 · E3 · The Battle of Inchon Documentary

The Battle of Inchon

The riskiest amphibious assault during the Korean War.

15:00 1h

Combat Ships

S4 · E8 · Lightning Strikes Documentary

Lightning Strikes

Joseph Balderrama and Kieran O'Brien examine maritime history's most effective lighting strikes and how they turned the tides of many battles.

16:00 1h

Combat Ships

S4 · E2 · Explosion! Documentary

Explosion!

Featuring the destruction of a Nazi mega structure, the devastation of an atomic blast on a battleship fleet and the sinking of a British Battleship.

17:00 1h

Air Warriors

S8 · E1 · F-86 Sabre True

F-86 Sabre

A look at one of America's first fighter jets, includes tales of its battles against the Soviet MiG jet during the Korean War and beyond.

Evening

18:00 1h

Air Warriors

S9 · E3 · Top Ten 21st Century True

Top Ten 21st Century

Experts examine the best aircrafts of the 21st century, from stealth fighters to drones, and feature the combat of the A-10 Warthog against the AC-130 gunship.

19:00 1h

Air Warriors

S1 · E3 · Osprey True

Osprey

The U.S. Marines' V-22 Osprey can convert from helicopter to airplane and back again, and it has proved itself in dangerous missions and humanitarian rescues.

20:00 1h

Air Warriors

S1 · E1 · F-15 True

F-15

The F-15 Eagle fighter jet has been flown by the U.S. Air Force since 1976, and it is still undefeated in air-to-air combat 35 years after its first kill.

21:00 1h

Air Warriors

S6 · E7 · P-38 Lightning True

P-38 Lightning

The history behind the World War II warplane known as the P-38 Lightning is revealed as a look is taken at the pilots' struggle to learn how to fly it.

22:00 1h

Air Warriors

S1 · E2 · Apache True

Apache

The U.S. Army's AH-64 Apache attack helicopter backs up ground troops all over the world, striking with a variety of lethal weapons.

23:00 1h

Air Warriors

S11 · E5 · F-100 Super Sabre True

F-100 Super Sabre

Narrators Beau Weaver and Bob Naughton tell the story of the North American F-100 Super Sabre and how it became a sonic powerhouse after some difficulties.