9.6/1028 votesLoading...#1 - The Time of Your Life
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/1958
William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning play revolves around the denizens of a San Francisco bar in 1939. Lonely, lovelorn, weary or cynical, the characters drift in and out of the bar and each other's lives, giving voice to Saroyan's philosophies as they randomly comment about the impending world war, the beauty of art, and traditional notions of good and evil.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 9.2/1015 votesLoading...
#2 - Old Man
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 11/20/1958
To fight a Mississippi flood in 1927, a prison farm releases some convicts.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: N/A
- 8.8/1045 votesLoading...
#3 - Alas, Babylon
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 4/3/1960
Americans try to cope with the aftermath of a nuclear catastrophe.
Director: Robert Stevens
Writer: N/A
- 8.5/1025 votesLoading...
#4 - In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 5/16/1960
In the Warsaw ghetto, a Jewish man seeks revenge for the rape of his sister by a German soldier.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/10336 votesLoading...
#5 - Requiem for a Heavyweight
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/11/1956
An over-the-hill heavyweight boxing champion who suffers from the ravages of years of head trauma is exploited by his manager, despite the efforts of a compassionate young woman who tries to help him recover his self-respect.
Director: Ralph Nelson
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/1028 votesLoading...
#6 - Portrait of a Murderer
Season 2 Episode 25 - Aired 2/27/1958
Based on a true story, Donald Bashor robs and bludgeons two women to their deaths. While committing the crimes he maintains a normal existence with his girlfriend Florry.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/1067 votesLoading...
#7 - A Town Has Turned to Dust
Season 2 Episode 38 - Aired 6/19/1958
A weakling sheriff is unable to prevent a lynching. Can he redeem himself by preventing a second one?
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/1040 votesLoading...
#8 - The Velvet Alley
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 1/22/1959
Ernie Pandish has tried to be a writer for years and has never made much money out of it. But now he seems likely to hit the big-time.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1016 votesLoading...
#9 - The Miracle Worker
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 2/7/1957
The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1010 votesLoading...
#10 - Clipper Ship
Season 1 Episode 27 - Aired 4/4/1957
A romance on the high seas revolving around the comely widow of a shipping magnate, and her growing love for a handsome young political prisoner who was scheduled to be put to death when the vessel reached its destination. Though unyielding at first, the ship's stern captain eventually helped the woman to make a clean getaway, with the condemned man in tow.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1033 votesLoading...
#11 - The Plot to Kill Stalin
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/1958
In late 1952, an aging and increasingly paranoid Stalin puts in motion a purge against his doctors, with anti-Semitic overtones. His lackeys, including Khrushchev, Molotov and Beria, fear it will spread to the Politburo, and plan to strike first.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1027 votesLoading...
#12 - Tomorrow
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 3/7/1960
Slow witted, and tired, Fentry leads a lonely life of grinding poverty in his sharecropper's shack until a sick, pregnant woman escaping her abusive husband comes there. He takes her in and cares for her, eventually falling in love with her.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1022 votesLoading...
#13 - The Last Tycoon
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 3/14/1957
A movie producer is slowly working himself to death.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1012 votesLoading...
#14 - Invitation to a Gunfighter
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 3/7/1957
A gunfighter is terrorizing a small western town. The townspeople finally pool their money to a hire another gunfighter to drive him out of town. The townsfolk thought they had it bad until they handed the reigns over to the new terror. Pooling their money again, this time to hire Jeffers to get rid of Dancer.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1078 votesLoading...
#15 - Judgment at Nuremberg
Season 3 Episode 28 - Aired 4/16/1959
In the later stages of the Nuremberg Trials, four German judges are accused of perverting the course of justice.
Director: George Roy Hill
Writer: Abby Mann
- 7.9/10287 votesLoading...
#16 - The Comedian
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1957
Sammy Hogarth, a vaudeville comedian who now has his own TV show, is a ruthless egomaniac who demands instant obedience from his staff and heaps abuse on those in lesser positions than his. His most vituperative behavior, however, is reserved for his weak-willed brother, Lester, whom Sammy has hired as his assistant but whom he really uses as his whipping boy.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: Rod Serling
- 7.8/10184 votesLoading...
#17 - Days of Wine and Roses
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/1958
An alcoholic falls in love with and gets married to a young woman, whom he systematically addicts to booze so they can share his "passion" together.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/1014 votesLoading...
#18 - A Marriage of Strangers
Season 3 Episode 32 - Aired 5/14/1959
Marry in haste, repent at leisure? Well, maybe.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/1032 votesLoading...
#19 - Bomber's Moon
Season 2 Episode 35 - Aired 5/22/1958
A hard-hearted Colonel loses many men in his group's bombing missions over World War II Germany, but keeps on going and won't tolerate a young lieutenant losing his nerve under the strain, who refuses to continue.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/1010 votesLoading...
#20 - The Great Gatsby
Season 2 Episode 39 - Aired 6/26/1958
A Midwesterner becomes fascinated with his wealthy neighbor, who obsesses over his lost love.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/1012 votesLoading...
#21 - The Nutcracker
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 12/25/1958
This telecast of George Balanchine's famous production was broadcast only four years after it was premiered by the New York City Ballet. This was the only episode of the series televised in color.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.6/1010 votesLoading...
#22 - Free Weekend
Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 12/4/1958
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/1017 votesLoading...
#23 - The Helen Morgan Story
Season 1 Episode 33 - Aired 5/16/1957
Broadway legend Helen Morgan 's life as told by her mother, from her early start in second rate speakeasies to star of top rated shows and owning her own club. Also seen is her poor choices, such as her affair with a married man, her short marriage to a much younger man, a court fight over an adopted baby and her fatal descent into booze addiction.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/1015 votesLoading...
#24 - The Death of Manolete
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 9/12/1957
The last hours in the life of Spain's most celebrated matador.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/1013 votesLoading...
#25 - Without Incident
Season 1 Episode 36 - Aired 6/6/1957
Captain Russell Bidlack, commander of a U.S. Cavalry unit in 1870, determines to complete a rescue mission through dangerous Indian territory. In the course of the mission, he rescues the wives of two slain traders and captures the Indian chief accused of the murders. When he returns to the fort, he's faced with a revolt among his own men.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Playhouse 90
Every episode of Playhouse 90 ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Playhouse 90!
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated...
Genre:Drama
Network:CBS
Best Episodes Summary
"The Time of Your Life" is the best rated episode of "Playhouse 90". It scored 9.6/10 based on 28 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 10/9/1958. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "Old Man".