The Best Episodes of American Playhouse Season 7

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   8.3/10(56 votes)

   #1 - Strange Interlude, Part I

   S7:E11/13/1988

   Spanning decades, Nina Leeds, deeply traumatized by the death of her fiancé during World War I, is unable to move past the unconsummated relationship, she embarks on a turbulent journey across different roles in her life (daughter, wife, mistress, and mother).

   Director:Herbert Wise

   Writer:Robert Enders

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   Director:Herbert Wise

   Writer:Robert Enders
2. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #2 - Strange Interlude, Part II

   S7:E21/19/1988

   Spanning decades, Nina Leeds, deeply traumatized by the death of her fiancé during World War I, is unable to move past the unconsummated relationship, she embarks on a turbulent journey across different roles in her life (daughter, wife, mistress, and mother).

   Director:Herbert Wise

   Writer:Robert Enders

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   Director:Herbert Wise

   Writer:Robert Enders
3. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #3 - Strange Interlude, Part III

   S7:E31/20/1988

   Spanning decades, Nina Leeds, deeply traumatized by the death of her fiancé during World War I, is unable to move past the unconsummated relationship, she embarks on a turbulent journey across different roles in her life (daughter, wife, mistress, and mother).

   Director:Herbert Wise

   Writer:Robert Enders

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   Director:Herbert Wise

   Writer:Robert Enders
4. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #4 - The Lawrenceville Stories, Part 2: The Return of Hickey

   S7:E42/3/1988

   The mischievous Hickey returns to school to find himself against a worthy rival. Scheming to outdo each other for the loyalty of their peers, their comedic battle of wits turns the school into the headmaster's worst nightmare.

   Director:Allan A. Goldstein

   Writer:Jan Jaffe Kahn

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   Director:Allan A. Goldstein

   Writer:Jan Jaffe Kahn
5. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #5 - Lemon Sky

   S7:E52/10/1988

   17-year-old Alan strives to build a relationship with his preoccupied father, only to confront his father's emotional dishonesty, cruelty, and lies, leading to a bitter realization that the father he wants doesn't exist.

   Director:Jan Egleson

   Writer:Lanford Wilson

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   Director:Jan Egleson

   Writer:Lanford Wilson
6. 

   7.4/10(29 votes)

   #6 - The Revolt of Mother

   S7:E62/17/1988

   In 1890s New Englans, Father is going to build a new barn. However, Mother wants the new house she's been promised.

   Director:Victor Lobl

   Writer:Cynthia A. Cherbak

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   Director:Victor Lobl

   Writer:Cynthia A. Cherbak
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7. 

   6.9/10(25 votes)

   #7 - Pigeon Feathers

   S7:E72/17/1988

   A young boy suffers a crisis of faith when he begins to question whether or not the soul exists and if there is life after death.

   Director:Sharron Miller

   Writer:Jan Hartman

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   Director:Sharron Miller

   Writer:Jan Hartman
8. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #8 - Billy Galvin

   S7:E82/24/1988

   Boston ironworker Jack Galvin wants his son to become an architect, but Billy wants to be a steelworker like his dad, leading to conflict over their differing dreams.

   Director:John Gray

   Writer:John Gray

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   Director:John Gray

   Writer:John Gray
9. 

   0.0/10(0 votes)

   #9 - Journey Into Genius

   S7:E94/6/1988

   A historical recreation of actual events in the life of playwright Eugene O'Neill, drawing on his troubled youth as he attempts to deal with his conflicting feelings of jealousy, competition and love with his father.

   Director:Calvin Skaggs

   Writer:Lanie Robertson

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   Director:Calvin Skaggs

   Writer:Lanie Robertson
10. 

    6.9/10(30 votes)

    #10 - Suspicion

    S7:E104/13/1988

    A sheltered heiress falls for a charming playboy and elopes with him, but soon discovers his gambling vice and mounting debts. As his lies deepen and those around them meet mysterious ends, she begins to suspect that her husband’s affection may conceal a deadly motive—and that she could be his next victim.

    Director:Andrew Grieve

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Andrew Grieve

    Writer:Unknown
11. 

    5.2/10(148 votes)

    #11 - The Trial of Bernhard Goetz

    S7:E115/11/1988

    A presentation of uncensored portions of the highly emotional December 1984 videotape confession of Bernhard Goetz, known as the 'Subway Vigilante', who opened fire on four teens he feared were about to rob him on a New York subway train.

    Director:Harry Moses

    Writer:Harry Moses

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    Director:Harry Moses

    Writer:Harry Moses
12. 

    6.9/10(24 votes)

    #12 - The Land of Little Rain

    S7:E126/1/1988

    Early feminist and nature writer Mary Austin struggles to write and publish in the male-dominated California of the early 20th-century.

    Director:Evelyn Purcell

    Writer:Doris Baizley

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    Director:Evelyn Purcell

    Writer:Doris Baizley
13. 

    8.1/10(29 votes)

    #13 - I Never Sang for My Father

    S7:E136/15/1988

    A man who wants to move on with his life by moving to California and marry his girlfriend, finds it difficult as he still lives in the towering shadow of his aging father.

    Director:Jack O'Brien

    Writer:Robert Anderson

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    Director:Jack O'Brien

    Writer:Robert Anderson
14. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Native Son

    S7:E146/29/1988

    In 1940s Chicago, a young Black man takes a job as a chauffeur to a white family, which takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills the couple's teenage daughter and then tries to cover it up.

    Director:Jerrold Freedman

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Jerrold Freedman

    Writer:Unknown
15. 

    6.1/10(15 votes)

    #15 - The Big Knife

    S7:E157/27/1988

    Charles Castle is a successful Hollywood actor who has opted for screen success over art. He must make critical decisions regarding his career, his marriage, his art and morality. Castle is pressured by his superiors and manipulated into a potentially murderous cover-up to protect his career.

    Director:John Jacobs

    Writer:Clifford Odets

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    Director:John Jacobs

    Writer:Clifford Odets