American Playhouse

Background

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, a television version of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Broadway musical Passion, aired on September 29, 1996.

The series proved to be a 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.

As part of WGBH's development of the Descriptive Video Service (DVS), American Playhouse was one of the first American 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.

In 1994, the series announced an ambitious joint venture with The Samuel Goldwyn Company, in which American Playhouse would produce theatrical motion pictures that would be released by Goldwyn. Those films included Angels and Insects (1995), Reckless (1995), Palookaville (1995), My Family (1995), and I Shot Andy Warhol (1996). However, the series was cancelled before any of the films aired on PBS.

Episodes

Season 1 (1982)

Marshall W. Mason Rob Nilsson

Season 2 (1983)

Season 3 (1984)

Season 4 (1984–1985)

Season 5 (1986)

Season 6 (1987)

1| Title = Charley's Aunt

Season 7 (1988)

Season 8 (1989)

Season 9 (1990)

| ShortSummary

Season 10 (1991)

Season 11 (1992–1993)

Season 12 (1994)

Season 13 (1995–1996)

Notable cast

• Tom Aldredge
• Anne Bancroft
• Christine Baranski
• Claire Bloom
• Jacques Boudet
• Kenneth Branagh
• Kate Burton
• Christopher Collet
• Jeff Daniels
• Jeffrey DeMunn
• Pedro De Pool
• Ruby Dee
• Matt Dillon
• Olympia Dukakis
• Megan Follows
• Matt Frewer
• Boyd Gaines
• Lillian Gish
• Joanna Gleason
• Danny Glover
• Annie Golden
• Louis Gossett Jr.
• George Grizzard
• Julie Hagerty
• Ed Harris
• Rosemary Harris
• Edward Herrmann
• Helen Hunt
• Glenda Jackson
• James Earl Jones
• Raul Julia
• Swoosie Kurtz
• Cloris Leachman
• John Malkovich
• Butterfly McQueen
• Caroline McWilliams
• Rita Moreno
• Paul Newman
• Geraldine Page
• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Estelle Parsons
• Mandy Patinkin
• Bernadette Peters
• Lenka Peterson
• Vanessa Redgrave
• Keanu Reeves
• Lee Remick
• Jason Robards
• Esther Rolle
• Liliane Rovère
• Susan Sarandon
• Sylvia Sidney
• Jean Simmons
• Gary Sinise
• Anna Deavere Smith
• Elaine Stritch
• Richard Thomas
• Anne Twomey
• Dick Van Dyke
• Chuck Wagner
• Christopher Walken
• Eli Wallach
• Robert Westenberg
• Lynn Whitfield
• Paul Winfield
• Alfre Woodard
• Chip Zien

Accolades

Some of the productions won multiple Emmys: one for Robert Morse in Tru, Outstanding Children's Program for Displaced Person and technical achievements for The Meeting alongside many nominations.

Academy Award recognitions included *El Norte'''s nomination for Best Original Screenplay, a Best Actress nod for Jane Alexander in Testament, a Best Live Action Short Film win for Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall, a Best Actor nod for Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver, a Best Supporting Actor nod for Bruce Davison in Longtime Companion and a Best Original Screenplay nod for *Metropolitan''.

Golden Globe recognitions included three for Stand and Deliver (two for Olmos (Leading Actor) and Diamond Phillips (Supporting Actor) and one for Best Motion Picture - Drama).

American Playhouse also won a Peabody Award in 1990.

Legacy

Episodes like Nothing but a Man, The Thin Blue Line, El Norte and Stand and Deliver were each inducted into the National Film Registry.

Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was featured as an episode of the cult science fiction series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

References

References

1. (9 June 1987). "American Playhouse' Appoints Lynn Holst (Published 1987)". The New York Times.
2. (24 January 1990). "Review/Television; 'Hallmark' vs. 'American Playhouse' (Published 1990)". The New York Times.
3. (16 June 1993). "Review/Television; Cultures Clash on 'American Playhouse' (Published 1993)". The New York Times.
4. King, Susan. (September 28, 1996). "Sunday, No Park, Lots of 'Passion'".
5. Gibson, Gwen. (29 December 1989). "Words worth 1,000 pictures".
6. Molotsky, Irvin. (1988-01-13). "New TV System Offers Descriptions for Blind". The New York Times.
7. Ellis, Katie. (2019-02-01). "Disability and Digital Television Cultures: Representation, Access, and Reception". Routledge.
8. (March 31, 1994). "Untitled". Warren Publishing.
9. Carver, Benedict. (February 21, 1999). "Gannon prod'n director at Fox Searchlight pics".
10. [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8906-michael-roemer-s-patient-and-unflinching-study-of-mortality Michael Roemer's Patient and Unflinching Study of Mortality. Current. The Criterion Collection]
11. [https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=ozzie&p=5&item=T:21305 american playhouse: northern lights (tv) - The Paley Center for Media]
12. [https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=first&p=100&item=T:26953 american playhouse: heartland (tv) - The Paley Center for Media]
13. "Jan Hartman | Writer".
14. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwTN6Pyyo8Q&t=6s American Playhouse Promos (1990) - 4K Tape Archive on YouTube]
15. [https://www.emmys.com/shows/tru-american-playhouse Tru (American Playhouse). Television Academy]
16. [https://www.emmys.com/shows/displaced-person-american-playhouse Displaced Person American Playhouse. Television Academy]
17. [https://www.emmys.com/shows/meeting-american-playhouse The Meeting American Playhouse. Television Academy]
18. [https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1985/D 1985. Oscars.org]
19. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il6P0bgjRTQ Robert Benton and Peter Shaffer winning Writing Oscars® - Oscars on YouTube]
20. [https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984 1984. Oscars.org]
21. [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WqSEH_bVRz8 Shirley MacLaine Wins Best Actress: 1984 Oscars]
22. [https://www.oscars.org/film-archive/collections/chanticleer-films-discovery-and-directed-shorts-collection Chanticleer Films Discovery and Directed By Shorts Collection. Oscars.org]
23. [https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1989 1989. Oscars.org]
24. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErqHXzhSuv4 Dustin Hoffman Wins Best Actor: 1989 Oscars]
25. [https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991 1991. Oscars.org]
26. [https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/stand-and-deliver Stand and Deliver. Golden Globes]
27. "American Playhouse".
28. [https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/descriptions-and-essays/ Brief Descriptions and Expanded Essays of National Film Registry Titles. Film Registry. National Film Preservation Board]
29. Vorel, Jim. (April 13, 2017). "Ranking Every MST3K Episode, From Worst to Best". [[Paste (magazine).
30. Cecchini, Mike. (April 15, 2017). "The Top 100 Best MST3K Episodes". Den of Geek.