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The Best Episodes of Frontline Season 4

Every episode of Frontline Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Frontline Season 4!

Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to...
Genres:DocumentaryNewsTalk
Network:PBS

Season 4 Ratings Summary

"Hostage in Iran" is the best rated episode of "Frontline" season 4. It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 1/21/1986. This episode is rated NaN points higher than the second-best, "Sue the Doctor?".

  • Hostage in Iran
    NaN/100 votes

    #1 - Hostage in Iran

    Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 1/21/1986

    While the whole world watched, 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran by Islamic revolutionaries for 444 days. On the fifth anniversary of their release, using never-before-seen footage from inside the American embassy compound in Tehran, the hostages tell the story of their long ordeal.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Sue the Doctor?
    NaN/100 votes

    #2 - Sue the Doctor?

    Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 1/28/1986

    For many doctors, practicing medicine has become a nightmare. Today, one out of every six American doctors faces a malpractice suit. Frontline takes an inside look at the fierce battle developing between doctors and lawyers over medical malpractice suits.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Growing Up Poor
    NaN/100 votes

    #3 - Growing Up Poor

    Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 2/4/1986

    The children of Chester, Pennsylvania are plagued by poor health, malnutrition, drugs, and family problems. Half of them live below the poverty line. Frontline follows them through the maze of social service programs available to them and discovers what it is like growing up poor.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Russia-Love It or Leave It
    NaN/100 votes

    #4 - Russia-Love It or Leave It

    Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 2/11/1986

    A unique look at the Soviet Union through the eyes of Americans as they attempt to escape the confines of a carefully managed Russian tour. They elude their government guides and search for their fellow man on the streets of the Soviet Union.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Tobacco on Trial
    NaN/100 votes

    #5 - Tobacco on Trial

    Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 2/18/1986

    Life-long smokers who say their health has been destroyed by cigarettes are suing tobacco companies. Frontline correspondent Judy Woodruff takes an inside look at the preparation of these massive lawsuits, concentrating on a suit that would later reach the Supreme Court as well as presenting the emphatic denials of the tobacco industry, which says smoking is a simple question of personal choice and responsibility.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Divorce Wars
    NaN/100 votes

    #6 - Divorce Wars

    Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 2/25/1986

    Half of all American marriages end in divorce. Using unique access to mediation and court proceedings, Frontline profiles the couples, the lawyers, the judges, and most poignantly, the children caught between parents.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Who's Running this War?
    NaN/100 votes

    #7 - Who's Running this War?

    Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 3/18/1986

    Eight months before the Iran-contra scandal broke, Frontline investigated the contras, probed the legality of private aid, and asked questions about the role of the White House and a mysterious Marine colonel named Oliver North.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • AIDS: a National Inquiry
    NaN/100 votes

    #8 - AIDS: a National Inquiry

    Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 3/25/1986

    Fabian Bridges, a homosexual prostitute, bragged he had sex with six partners a night and refused to stop even though he knew he had AIDS. In a special broadcast, Frontline first follows Bridges' tragic journey across the US and later, a panel of national experts, led by Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, discuss how Americans should respond to this urgent public health issue.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Standoff in Mexico
    NaN/100 votes

    #9 - Standoff in Mexico

    Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 4/1/1986

    Political violence is breaking out in northern Mexico. Frontline documents the growing unrest in Mexico caused by fixed elections, corruption, violence, and the widening gap between Mexico City and the more conservative border states.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Inside the Jury Room
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    #10 - Inside the Jury Room

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 4/8/1986

    For the first time on American television, Frontline cameras move inside a jury room to record the deliberations in a Wisconsin criminal trial. The results yield a view of 12 Americans grappling with guilt, innocence, and the nature of justice as never before seen.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Taxes Behind Closed Doors
    NaN/100 votes

    #11 - Taxes Behind Closed Doors

    Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 4/15/1986

    For more than a year, Frontline has been behind the scenes with congressmen and lobbyists covering the deals, dollars, and politics of tax reform. Correspondent William Greider investigates how Washington really works as seen through this exclusive access to the inner circles of Congress.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Disillusionment of David Stockman
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    #12 - The Disillusionment of David Stockman

    Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 4/20/1986

    Former budget director David Stockman gives an exclusive interview to correspondent William Greider on what has been called 'the greatest free lunch fiscal policy' in modern times.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Visions of Star Wars
    NaN/100 votes

    #13 - Visions of Star Wars

    Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 4/22/1986

    Frontline and Nova combine resources for the first time to explore the Strategic Defense Initiative. The program contains the most comprehensive information on Star Wars ever produced. Correspondent Bill Kurtis interviews Russian and American scientists, arms-control experts, and politicians to reveal the scientific and political implications of what could become the world's most sophisticated military technology.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Hollywood Dreams
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    #14 - Hollywood Dreams

    Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 5/13/1986

    Hollywood is called an industry, a place, a state of mind. But making it in Hollywood, and making movies, persists as part of the American dream. In the real world of agents, casting directors, aspiring actors, and studio executives, how are movies made? Frontline examines the fantasy and reality of Hollywood's five billion dollar a year industry.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Bloods of 'Nam
    8.3/1013 votes

    #15 - The Bloods of 'Nam

    Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 5/20/1986

    A high percentage of men on the frontlines in Vietnam were young, poor, undereducated, and black. By most accounts, they had the highest casualties. But these young men say they were fighting two wars-against the enemy and against discrimination. Correspondent Wallace Terry, the author of 'Bloods,' the national bestseller on which this film is based, talks with black veterans who fought discrimination in Vietnam and who later confronted disillusionment when they came home.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • A Matter of the Mind
    6.4/108 votes

    #16 - A Matter of the Mind

    Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 5/27/1986

    Millions of Americans are mentally ill. They live in a world that is fragile and often frightening. Inside a halfway house in St. Paul, Minnesota, Frontline examines mental illness from the point of view of those who struggle with it as they fight their psychological demons and confront the social stigma of their disease.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Holy War, Holy Terror
    NaN/100 votes

    #17 - Holy War, Holy Terror

    Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 6/3/1986

    Frontline correspondent John Laurence examines the background of the Islamic Revolution, the roots of radical Shiism and reveals why Iran's war with Iraq is an important step in spreading their brand of Islam throughout the world.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Will There Always Be an England?
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    #18 - Will There Always Be an England?

    Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 6/10/1986

    England is a country divided. One in five workers in northern England is unemployed, while in the south of the country, power, privilege prevail. Ofra Bikel explores Britain's social structure, cultural values, and attitudes toward enterprise and work.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Assault on Affirmative Action
    NaN/100 votes

    #19 - Assault on Affirmative Action

    Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 6/17/1986

    The Supreme Court ruled against a Memphis firefighter who successfully fought for an affirmative action plan for the hiring of fellow firefighters in 1984. As a result, the Justice Department asked 50 cities to tighten their affirmative action policies. Correspondent George Curry examines the 20 year conflict over these policies and reveals the point of view of those whom it affects.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Comrades I: The Education of Rita
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    #20 - Comrades I: The Education of Rita

    Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 7/1/1986

    Rita Tikhonova, 21, is a model Russian citizen. The lifestyle and ambitions of an outstanding Young Communist League member in Moscow are depicted as she completes her education at a prestigious school and begins her first teaching job.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Comrades II: Hunter and Son
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    #21 - Comrades II: Hunter and Son

    Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 7/8/1986

    For four months every year, Mikhail Kuzakov and his son, Yuri, leave the comforts of home for the Siberian wilderness, where they hunt on horseback for sable and other valuable fur animals. Frontline examines life in the taiga and follows the hunt of father and son.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Comrades III: All that Jazz
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    #22 - Comrades III: All that Jazz

    Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 7/15/1986

    Sergei Kuryokhin is a popular Russian jazz and rock musician who is disapproved of by the state because his music is difficult to control. Made without the permission of Soviet authorities on a home video camera, Frontline takes a look at the Soviet music subculture and this one talented musician.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Comrades IV: The Trial of Tamara Russo
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    #23 - Comrades IV: The Trial of Tamara Russo

    Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 7/22/1986

    Frontline examines the differences in Soviet and Western justice systems as it contrasts the lives of Tamara Russo, a 50-year-old hospital orderly on trial for theft in Soviet Moldavia, and Lyubov Bubulic, the female judge presiding over Russo's case.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Comrades V: Master of Samarkand
    NaN/100 votes

    #24 - Comrades V: Master of Samarkand

    Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 7/29/1986

    Abdugaffar Khakkulov is a master craftsman of Uzbek heritage who for 35 years has been restoring the great Islamic mosques in Samarkand. Frontline examines daily life in a Muslim community and explores the uneasy relationship between Islamic faith and Soviet power.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Comrades VI: Pacific Outpost
    NaN/100 votes

    #25 - Comrades VI: Pacific Outpost

    Season 4 Episode 25 - Aired 8/5/1986

    Frontline gained unique access in filming the inner workings of the local government system in Nakhodka, a town six thousand miles and seven time zones from Moscow. Here, Frontline profiles the workaholic lifestyle of Tatyana Naumova, a communist zealot and town official in Nakhodka, and the tensions it creates with her husband, who cares for their two daughters.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A