American Playhouse

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American Playhouse
American Playhouse (1986).jpg
GenreAnthology
Directed byPerry Miller Adato
Robert Allan Ackerman
Paul Bogart
Kirk Browning
Jonathan Demme
Bill Duke
Peter H. Hunt
David Hugh Jones
Barbara Kopple
Jack O'Brien (director)
Philip Leacock
Marshall W. Mason
Vivian Matalon
Sharron Miller
Joanne Woodward
Composer(s)David Amram
Country of originUSA
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons11
Production company(s)KCET, South Carolina Educational Television, WGBH, WNET
Release
Original networkPBS
Original releaseJanuary 12, 1982 (1982-01-12) –
December 22, 1993 (1993-12-22)

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States.[1][2][3]

Overview[edit]

It premiered on January 12, 1982, with The Shady Hill Kidnapping, written and narrated by John Cheever and directed by Paul Bogart. Its final broadcast, In the Wings: Angels in America on Broadway, a rerun of a behind-the-scenes look at Tony Kushner's award-winning play in two parts, aired on January 1, 1994.

The series proved to be the springboard for the careers of numerous performers, including David Marshall Grant, Laura Linney, A Martinez, Conchata Ferrell, Eric Roberts, Lynne Thigpen, John Malkovich, Peter Riegert, Lupe Ontiveros, Ben Stiller, and Megan Mullally.

American Playhouse won a Peabody Award in 1990.[4]

As part of WGBH's development of the Descriptive Video Service (DVS), American Playhouse was one of the first U.S. television programs to air with audio description for the visually impaired on the Secondary audio program (SAP). After trialing the system during previous seasons, the 1990 season was the first to offer it as part of their wider rollout of DVS, initially through 32 member stations.[5][6][7]

Notable productions[edit]

Episodes[edit]

Season 1 (1982)[edit]

  • The Shady Hill Kidnapping (January 12, 1982)
  • King of America (January 19, 1982)
  • Seguin (January 26, 1982)
  • Who Am I This Time? (February 2, 1982)
  • Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby Is a Friend of Mine (February 9, 1982)
  • Come Along With Me (February 9, 1982)
  • For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf (February 23, 1982)
  • Carl Sandburg: Echoes and Silences (March 2, 1982)
  • Fifth of July (March 9, 1982)
  • The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters (March 16, 1982)
  • Pilgrim, Farewell (March 23, 1982)
  • Northern Lights (March 30, 1982)
  • Medal of Honor Rag (April 6, 1982)
  • Working (April 13, 1982)
  • Weekend (April 20, 1982)
  • Private Contentment (April 27, 1982)
  • My Palikari (May 4, 1982)
  • Oppenheimer (1) (May 11, 1982)
  • Oppenheimer (2) (May 18, 1982)
  • Oppenheimer (3) (May 25, 1982)
  • Oppenheimer (4) (June 1, 1982)
  • Oppenheimer (5) (June 8, 1982)
  • Oppenheimer (6) (June 15, 1982)
  • Oppenheimer (7) (June 22, 1982)
  • The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (June 29, 1982)

Season 2 (1983)[edit]

  • The Skin of Our Teeth (January 18, 1983)
  • Miss Lonelyhearts (January 25, 1983)
  • Family Business (February 1, 1983)
  • Keeping On (February 8, 1983)
  • The File on Jill Hatch (1) (February 15, 1983)
  • The File on Jill Hatch (2) (February 22, 1983)
  • The File on Jill Hatch (3) (March 1, 1983)
  • For Us the Living (March 22, 1983)
  • Verse Person Singular (March 29, 1983)
  • Until She Talks (April 5, 1983)
  • Wings (April 26, 1983)
  • The Rothko Conspiracy (May 3, 1983)

Season 3 (1984)[edit]

  • The Ghost Writer (January 17, 1984)
  • Pudd'nhead Wilson (January 24, 1984)
  • True West (January 31, 1984)
  • Nothing But a Man (February 7, 1984)
  • Popular Neurotics (February 14, 1984)
  • The Cafeteria (February 21, 1984)
  • Refuge (February 28, 1984)
  • The Gin Game (March 6, 1984)
  • Haunted (March 20, 1984)
  • The Killing Floor (April 10, 1984)
  • Heartland (April 17, 1984)
  • City News (April 24, 1984)
  • Hughie (May 1, 1984)
  • Concealed Enemies (1) (May 7, 1984)
  • Concealed Enemies (2) (May 7, 1984)
  • Concealed Enemies (3) (May 8, 1984)
  • Concealed Enemies (4) (May 9, 1984)

Season 4 (1984–1985)[edit]

  • Testament (November 26, 1984)
  • A Matter of Principle (December 3, 1984)
  • Solomon Northup's Odyssey (December 10, 1984)
  • Tomorrow (December 17, 1984)
  • Go Tell It on the Mountain (January 14, 1985)
  • Noon Wine (January 21, 1985)
  • The Joy That Kills (January 28, 1985)
  • Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (February 4, 1985)
  • The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski (February 11, 1985)
  • Some Men Need Help (February 18, 1985)
  • Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom (February 25, 1985)
  • Breakfast with Les and Bess (March 11, 1985)
  • Nightsongs (April 15, 1985)
  • Under the Biltmore Clock (April 22, 1985)
  • Displaced Person (May 6, 1985)
  • The Europeans (May 13, 1985)
  • El Norte (May 20, 1985)
  • Three Sovereigns for Sarah (1) (May 27, 1985)
  • Three Sovereigns for Sarah (2) (June 3, 1985)
  • Three Sovereigns for Sarah (3) (June 10, 1985)
  • Paper Angels (June 17, 1985)
  • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (June 24, 1985)

Season 5 (1986)[edit]

  • The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket (January 20, 1986)
  • The Roommate (January 27, 1986)
  • Valentine's Revenge (February 3, 1986)
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1) (February 10, 1986)
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (2) (February 17, 1986)
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (3) (February 24, 1986)
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (4) (March 3, 1986)
  • Tell Me a Riddle (March 17, 1986)
  • The Little Sister (April 7, 1986)
  • The House of Ramon Iglesia (April 14, 1986)
  • A Flash of Green (April 21, 1986)
  • Damien (April 28, 1986)
  • Rocket to the Moon (May 5, 1986)
  • A Case of Libel (May 12, 1986)
  • Painting Churches (May 19, 1986)
  • Roanoak (1) (May 26, 1986)
  • Roanoak (2) (June 2, 1986)
  • Roanoak (3) (June 9, 1986)
  • Sunday in the Park with George (June 16, 1986)

Season 6 (1987)[edit]

  • All My Sons (January 19, 1987)
  • The Prodigious Hickey (January 26, 1987)
  • The Wide Net (February 2, 1987)
  • Smooth Talk (February 9, 1987)
  • A Mistaken Charity (February 16, 1987)
  • Eleanor: In Her Own Words (March 9, 1987)
  • The Innocents Abroad (March 23, 1987)
  • Story of a Marriage (1) (April 6, 1987)
  • Story of a Marriage (2) (April 13, 1987)
  • Story of a Marriage (3) (April 13, 1987)
  • A Case of Libel (May 4, 1987)
  • Charley's Aunt (May 11, 1987)
  • Gal Young 'Un (May 18, 1987)
  • The House of Blue Leaves (May 25, 1987)
  • Blue Window (June 1, 1987)
  • Dottie (June 8, 1987)
  • Waiting for the Moon (June 15, 1987)

Season 7 (1988)[edit]

  • Strange Interlude (1) (January 18, 1988)
  • Strange Interlude (2) (January 19, 1988)
  • Strange Interlude (3) (January 20, 1988)
  • The Return of Hickey (February 3, 1988)
  • Lemon Sky (February 10, 1988)
  • The Revolt of Mother (February 17, 1988)
  • Pigeon Feathers (February 17, 1988)
  • Billy Galvin (February 24, 1988)
  • A Flash of Green (March 23, 1988)
  • Journey Into Genius (April 6, 1988)
  • Suspicion (April 20, 1988)
  • The Trial of Bernard Goetz (May 11, 1988)
  • I Never Sang for My Father (June 15, 1988)
  • Native Son (June 29, 1988)
  • The Big Knife (July 27, 1988)

Season 8 (1989)[edit]

  • A Raisin in the Sun (February 1, 1989)
  • Ask Me Again (February 8, 1989)
  • Stacking (February 15, 1989)
  • My American Cousin (February 22, 1989)
  • Love and Other Sorrows (March 1, 1989)
  • Stand and Deliver (March 15, 1989)
  • The Silence at Bethany (March 22, 1989)
  • Life Under Water (April 12, 1989)
  • The Diaries of Adam and Eve (April 26, 1989)
  • The Meeting (May 3, 1989)
  • Big Time (May 17, 1989)
  • Land of Little Rain (May 24, 1989)
  • The Thin Blue Line (May 31, 1989)
  • Imagining America (June 7, 1989)

Season 9 (1990)[edit]

  • Sensibility and Sense (January 24, 1990)
  • Women & Wallace (January 31, 1990)
  • Zora Is My Name! (February 14, 1990)
  • Andre's Mother (March 7, 1990)
  • Hyde in Hollywood (July 6, 1990)

Season 10 (1991)[edit]

  • Into the Woods (March 15, 1991)
  • The Grapes of Wrath (March 22, 1991)
  • Three Hotels (March 29, 1991)
  • The Sunset Gang (April 5, 1991)
  • Hot Summer Winds (May 22, 1991)
  • The Hollow Boy (June 12, 1991)

Season 11 (1992–1993)[edit]

Season 12 (1994)[edit]

  • Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City (January 10, 1994)
  • The Sunset Gang (March 21, 1994)
  • Brother's Keeper (May 2, 1994)
  • Tales from Hollywood (June 10, 1994)
  • Tales from Hollywood (June 17, 1994)
  • Tales from Hollywood (June 24, 1994)
  • Tales from the Crypt "Only Sin Deep" (July 8, 1994)
  • Tales from the Crypt: Part 2 (July 15, 1994)
  • Tales from the Crypt: Part 3 (July 22, 1994)
  • Long Shadow (August 26, 1994)
  • Break of Dawn (September 9, 1994)
  • La Carpa (September 23, 1994)

Season 13 (1995–1996)[edit]

  • The Making of Angels and Insects (January 2, 1995)
  • Fires in the Mirror (February 3, 1995)
  • Blown Sideways Through Life (July 19, 1995)
  • Drawn from the Memory (October 30, 1995)
  • The Beans of Egypt, Maine (August 11, 1996)
  • Passion (September 8, 1996)

Notable cast[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The New York Times
  2. ^ The New York Times
  3. ^ The New York Times
  4. ^ "American Playhouse". Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  5. ^ Gibson, Gwen. "Words worth 1,000 pictures". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  6. ^ Molotsky, Irvin (1988-01-13). "New TV System Offers Descriptions for Blind". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  7. ^ Ellis, Katie (2019-02-01). Disability and Digital Television Cultures: Representation, Access, and Reception. Routledge. ISBN 9781317627845.
  8. ^ The New York Times
  9. ^ The New York Times
  10. ^ The New York Times
  11. ^ The New York Times
  12. ^ John Corry (August 28, 1985). "Les and Bess, A Play About Radio, On PBS". The New York Times.
  13. ^ John O'Connor (May 5, 1986). "Odets's 'Rocket to the Moon on 13". The New York Times.
  14. ^ Charles Isherwood (November 11, 2006). "A Square Caught Up in a Love Triangle". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Don Shirley (1988-02-17). "Television Reviews : 'Revolt of Mother'; 'Pigeon Feathers'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  16. ^ The Los Angeles Times
  17. ^ The New York Times

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Playhouse&oldid=943384452"