The Best Episodes of American Playhouse Season 3

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   8.0/10(1 votes)

   #1 - The Ghost Writer

   S3:E11/17/1984

   Aspiring writer Nathan Zuckerman visits the secluded home of his literary idol, E.I. Lonoff. While there, Zuckerman becomes entangled in the author's complex domestic life and becomes captivated by a mysterious young woman.

   Director:Tristram Powell

   Writers:Philip Roth, Tristram Powell

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Tristram Powell

   Writers:Philip Roth, Tristram Powell
2. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #2 - Pudd'nhead Wilson

   S3:E21/24/1984

   A slave switches her light-skinned baby with her master's baby. The child grows up raised by whites.

   Director:Alan Bridges

   Writer:Philip H. Reisman Jr.

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Alan Bridges

   Writer:Philip H. Reisman Jr.
3. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #3 - True West

   S3:E31/31/1984

   Estranged brothers, screenwriter Austin and drifter Lee, clash while staying at their mother's house in suburban Southern California, leading to a chaotic role reversal that explores themes of identity, family, and the American Dream.

   Directors:Gary Sinise, Allan A. Goldstein

   Writer:Sam Shepard

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Directors:Gary Sinise, Allan A. Goldstein

   Writer:Sam Shepard
4. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #4 - Nothing But a Man

   S3:E42/7/1984

   Railroad laborer Duff Anderson struggles to maintain his dignity and marriage to a preacher's daughter in the racially segregated South.

   Director:Michael Roemer

   Writers:Michael Roemer, Robert M. Young

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Michael Roemer

   Writers:Michael Roemer, Robert M. Young
5. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #5 - Popular Neurotics

   S3:E52/14/1984

   Two young urban professionals, Lynne and Murray, meet by happenstance and begin an on-again, off-again relationship in which they struggle to transcend modern-day neuroses concerning courtship.

   Director:Sheldon Larry

   Writer:Aubrey Wertheim

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Sheldon Larry

   Writer:Aubrey Wertheim
6. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #6 - The Cafeteria

   S3:E62/21/1984

   Esther Mirkin, a traumatized Holocaust survivor, frequents a Manhattan cafeteria where she meets Aaron, a Jewish writer, who tries to uncover the ghosts of her past.

   Director:Amram Nowak

   Writer:Ernest Kinoy

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Amram Nowak

   Writer:Ernest Kinoy
TRENDING NOW
The 20 BEST Episodes of American Playhouse
READ
7. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #7 - Refuge

   S3:E72/28/1984

   On a remote island off the coast of Maine, four people attempt to relax but the isolated refuge fails to protect them from their own insecurities and jealousies.

   Director:Huck Fairman

   Writers:Luther Sperberg, Huck Fairman

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Huck Fairman

   Writers:Luther Sperberg, Huck Fairman
8. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #8 - The Gin Game

   S3:E83/6/1984

   Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey reside at a nursing home, and they strike up an acquaintance. Neither seems to have any other friends, and they start to enjoy each other's company. Weller offers to teach Fonsia how to play gin rummy, and engage in lengthy conversations about their families and their lives in the outside world.

   Director:Terry Hughes

   Writer:Unknown

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Terry Hughes

   Writer:Unknown
9. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #9 - Haunted (aka Vengeance Is Mine)

   S3:E93/20/1984

   A recently divorced woman returns to her dysfunctional Rhode Island family home and gets involved in drama with her neighbors.

   Director:Michael Roemer

   Writer:Michael Roemer

   Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

   Director:Michael Roemer

   Writer:Michael Roemer
10. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #10 - The Killing Floor

    S3:E104/10/1984

    During World War I, a poor black Southerner travels north to Chicago to get work in the city's slaughterhouses, where he becomes embroiled in the organized labor movement.

    Director:Bill Duke

    Writer:Leslie Lee

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Bill Duke

    Writer:Leslie Lee
11. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Heartland

    S3:E114/17/1984

    Miraculous occurrences happen to people throughout the world every day. God's Miracles presents personal experiences as well as unvarnished scientific and factual evidence, allowing the viewer to draw their own conclusions as to whether it is possible for God to grant miracles.

    Director:Richard Pearce

    Writers:William Kittredge, Beth Ferris

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Richard Pearce

    Writers:William Kittredge, Beth Ferris
12. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #12 - City News

    S3:E124/24/1984

    The struggles of Tom Domino, publisher and editor of a seemingly doomed, underground newspaper in New York City's East Village are chronicled in this dark comedy.

    Directors:Zoe Zinman, David Fishelson

    Writers:Zoe Zinman, David Fishelson

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Directors:Zoe Zinman, David Fishelson

    Writers:Zoe Zinman, David Fishelson
13. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #13 - Hughie

    S3:E135/1/1984

    In the lobby of a small hotel in midtown New York, small-time hustler Erie Smith talks to the hotel's new night clerk Charlie Hughes, lamenting how Smith's luck has worsened since the death of Hughie, Hughes' predecessor.

    Directors:Terry Hughes, José Quintero

    Writer:Eugene O'Neill

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Directors:Terry Hughes, José Quintero

    Writer:Eugene O'Neill
14. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Concealed Enemies, Part I: Suspicion

    S3:E145/7/1984

    A dramatized account of the actual events that led to the 1950 conviction of former U. S. State Department official Alger Hiss of perjury before a federal grand jury and his resulting imprisonment.

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore
15. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - Concealed Enemies, Part II: Accusation

    S3:E155/8/1984

    A dramatized account of the actual events that led to the 1950 conviction of former U. S. State Department official Alger Hiss of perjury before a federal grand jury and his resulting imprisonment.

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore
16. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - Concealed Enemies, Part III: Investigation

    S3:E165/9/1984

    A dramatized account of the actual events that led to the 1950 conviction of former U. S. State Department official Alger Hiss of perjury before a federal grand jury and his resulting imprisonment.

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore
17. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Concealed Enemies, Part IV: Verdict

    S3:E175/9/1984

    A dramatized account of the actual events that led to the 1950 conviction of former U. S. State Department official Alger Hiss of perjury before a federal grand jury and his resulting imprisonment.

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    Director:Jeff Bleckner

    Writer:Hugh Whitemore