8.2/108 votesLoading...#1 - Philly Black Mafia
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 10/3/2007
Black Mafia was the most feared force in Philadelphia’s criminal Black underworld. One of the most ambitious criminal enterprises in the history of Black America, the group extorted, hustled, plundered and murdered with impunity. It also maneuvered skillfully through many worlds, shielding itself inside the Nation of Islam, conning politicians and other leaders, and devising multiple layers of protection and cover.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1010 votesLoading...
#2 - Melvin Williams
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/17/2007
Before he was old enough to shave, “Little Melvin” Williams possessed a genius I.Q. and was a prodigy in the gambling haunts and alleyways along glittering Pennsylvania Avenue. His exploits helped inspire the hit series “The Wire.” On this episode of ‘American Gangster’ he tells his story, his way.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/1011 votesLoading...#3 - 'Freeway Ricky' Ross
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 12/5/2006
This installment chronicles Ross' rise and fall in narcotics distribution and his unusual connection to the Reagan-era CIA/Iran-Contras controversy.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/1012 votesLoading...#4 - The Chambers Brothers
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 12/26/2006
Billy Joe, Larry, Willie and Otis Chambers are some of the most notorious drug lords in America. This installment chronicles their high points and their fall in 1988 because Larry videotaped the drug deals, and the tapes were found.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/106 votesLoading...
#5 - Larry Davis
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 10/23/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/107 votesLoading...
#6 - Larry Hoover
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 10/10/2007
“King” Larry Hoover is the architect of Chicago’s largest and most powerful street organization, the Gangster Disciples. This installment presents a complex portrait of a complex man, including interviews with federal prosecutors, former associates of the Gangster Disciples, Larry Hoover’s son, his wife - and Hoover himself.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1011 votesLoading...#7 - Lorenzo 'Fat Cat' Nichols
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 1/2/2007
This installment shows what Queens, NY was really like when Nichols roamed the streets.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1014 votesLoading...#8 - Stanley Tookie Williams
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 11/28/2006
He was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, he worked with troubled youth and he co-founded one of the most infamous gangs that continues to terrorize the Black community nationwide. His life is documented in this installment.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1010 votesLoading...#9 - Leroy Nicky Barnes
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 12/12/2006
This installment chronicles Barnes' life addiction to heroine beginning in the 1950s. He is now known as the most notorious snitch in history.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/106 votesLoading...
#10 - Frank Lucas
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 10/31/2007
Frank Lucas is the subject of a blockbuster movie, also titled "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington as Lucas and Russell Crowe as the detective and prosecutor Ritchie Roberts, who helped bring him to justice. In this episode of BET's "American Gangster," Lucas faces the camera himself and tells his story – with an assist from the real Ritchie Roberts.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1010 votesLoading...#11 - Troy & Dino Smith
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 12/19/2006
This installment explores the Smiths' rise from teen criminals to masterminds of some of Bay Area's most cunning crimes.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 0.5/101 votesLoading...
#12 - Jeff Fort & The Blackstone Rangers
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/14/2007
Before there were Crips and Bloods, there were the Blackstone Rangers – and Jeff Fort was the group's leader. Starting as a small group of teens from the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, the Rangers absorbed countless rival gangs based largely on Fort’s remarkable leadership and organizing abilities. In 1986, Fort was tried for promising to commit acts of domestic terrorism in return for money from Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy. He was found guilty and sentenced to 80 years, which he’s currently serving in a maximum security federal prison.
Director: N/A
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#13 - The D.C. Snipers
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/24/2007
In October, 2002, the ‘D.C. Snipers’ introduced a new kind of terror to the US. public. For three weeks, the killers shot people at random - ordinary citizens doing the most mundane things - shopping, pumping gas, waiting for a bus. John Muhammad, 42, was a deranged dad on a mission to get back his kids. Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, was a homeless juvenile desperate for a father – who John Muhammad methodically transformed into a boy soldier.
Director: N/A
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#14 - Felix Mitchell
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/7/2007
Felix Mitchell, Jr. was Oakland, California’s first major heroin kingpin – and in 1986 he had the funeral to prove it. TV cameras rolled as Felix’s body was transported in a horse-drawn carriage through the streets of East Oakland before awestruck local residents, with 17 Rolls Royces following in procession. Twenty years later, rappers Too Short and Yukmouth, former rival Mickey Moore, former Oakland mayor Elihu Harris, and others help "American Gangster" revisit the life and times of Felix Michell Jr.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#15 - Charles Chaz Williams
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/2007
In the 1970s, Charles “Chaz” Williams went well beyond traditional hustles by robbing over 60 banks in several states. Decades later, Chaz - or Slim as he is known on the streets - takes ‘American Gangster’ on a personal tour of his life’s journey, including how he continued his bank-robbing escapades after going to jail under the blanket protection of the prison work release program.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
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#16 - Rayful Edmond III
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 11/28/2007
To many in his home town of Washington D.C., he was public enemy No. 1 during his 1980s reign as the city’s biggest cocaine and crack dealer. However, Rayful Edmond III says he was only trying to help his family live a better life and enjoy the finer things life had to offer.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
#17 - Kenneth Supreme McGriff
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 12/5/2007
Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff's long, strange journey led him to form a Queens-based drug ring, The Supreme Team. Once released from prison he became a friend and associate of music entrepreneur Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo, and re-invented himself as a movie producer with "Crime Partners," the first Goines novel to be made into a film, and featuring Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, and Ja Rule. However, his newfound career ended abruptly when he was charged and convicted for ordering deadly hits on two rivals, and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Director: N/A
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#18 - Monster Kody
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 10/30/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
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#19 - Midget Molley
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 11/6/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
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#20 - Cornell Jones
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 11/13/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
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#21 - J. Edgar Hoover
Season 3 Episode 5 - Aired 11/20/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
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#22 - Guy Fisher
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 12/4/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
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#23 - Willie Lloyd
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 12/11/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
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#24 - The Shower Posse
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 12/11/2008
No description available
Director: N/A
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#25 - Romper Room Gang
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 1/15/2009
This group of notorious homegrown bank robbers, from the troubled Bay Area suburb of Vallejo, robbed dozens of banks in that area in the mid-'90s.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of American Gangster
Every episode of American Gangster ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of American Gangster!
"American Gangster" chronicles the life and times of some of Black America’s most notorious crime figures. The show will explore without glorifying, and investigate without...
Genre:Documentary
Network:BET
Best Episodes Summary
"Philly Black Mafia" is the best rated episode of "American Gangster". It scored 8.2/10 based on 8 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 10/3/2007. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Melvin Williams".