diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/pbs.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/pbs.py
index 6923c60948..82218b933a 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/pbs.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/pbs.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ class PBSIE(InfoExtractor):
             'params': {
                 'skip_download': True,  # requires ffmpeg
             },
+            'skip': 'Expired',
         },
         {
             'url': 'http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/losing-iraq/',
@@ -108,12 +109,12 @@ class PBSIE(InfoExtractor):
         {
             'url': 'http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/death/player/',
             'info_dict': {
-                'id': '2280706814',
+                'id': '2276541483',
                 'display_id': 'player',
                 'ext': 'mp4',
-                'title': 'American Experience - Death and the Civil War',
+                'title': 'American Experience - Death and the Civil War, Chapter 1',
                 'description': 'American Experience, TV’s most-watched history series, brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.',
-                'duration': 6705,
+                'duration': 682,
                 'thumbnail': 're:^https?://.*\.jpg$',
             },
             'params': {
@@ -134,6 +135,7 @@ class PBSIE(InfoExtractor):
             'params': {
                 'skip_download': True,  # requires ffmpeg
             },
+            'skip': 'Expired',
         },
         {
             # Video embedded in iframe containing angle brackets as attribute's value (e.g.
@@ -231,13 +233,18 @@ def _real_extract(self, url):
                 'Downloading %s video url info' % encoding_name)
 
             if redirect_info['status'] == 'error':
-                if redirect_info['http_code'] == 403:
-                    message = (
-                        'The video is not available in your region due to '
-                        'right restrictions')
+                http_code = redirect_info['http_code']
+                if http_code == 403:
+                    message = 'We\'re sorry, but this video is not available in your region due to right restrictions.'
+                elif http_code == 101:
+                    message = 'We\'re sorry, but this video is not yet available.'
+                elif http_code == 404:
+                    message = 'We are experiencing technical difficulties that are preventing us from playing the video at this time. Please check back again soon.'
+                elif http_code == 410:
+                    message = 'This video has expired and is no longer available for online streaming.'
                 else:
                     message = redirect_info['message']
-                raise ExtractorError(message, expected=True)
+                raise ExtractorError('PBS said: %s' % message, expected=True)
 
             format_url = redirect_info.get('url')
             if not format_url: