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The Best Episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse

Every episode of The Philco Television Playhouse ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse!

The Best Episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series...

Seasons8

  1. Background image for What Makes Sammy Run?
    8.0/10(13 votes)

    #1 - What Makes Sammy Run?

    S1:E28

    The story of Sammy Glick, the man with a positive genius for being a heel, who runs through New York's East Side, through newspaper ranks and finally through Hollywood, leaving in his wake the wrecked careers of his associates; for this is his tragedy and his chief characteristic-his congenital incapacity for friendship.

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    Director:Fred Coe
  2. Background image for The House in Athens
    7.3/10(6 votes)

    #2 - The House in Athens

    S5:E27

    Three people are thrown together by the death of a man.

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    Director:Delbert Mann
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for A Christmas Carol
    6.8/10(14 votes)

    #3 - A Christmas Carol

    S1:E12

    The skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve.

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    Director:Fred Coe
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Bethel Merriday
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - Bethel Merriday

    S2:E19

    A small-town girl named Bethel Merriday is determined to become an actress.

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    Director:Delbert Mann
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for Ann Rutledge
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - Ann Rutledge

    S2:E24

    The short life of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln's one true love who passed away at age 22 of typhoid fever.

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    Director:Gordon Duff
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Leaf out of a Book
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - Leaf out of a Book

    S3:E17

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Philco Television Playhouse

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  8. Background image for The Sisters
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - The Sisters

    S4:E6

    The lives of two sisters are disrupted by a psychopath who appears claiming to be their godson.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for Rich Boy
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - Rich Boy

    S4:E9

    This well-received adaptation of the 1924 F. Scott Fitzgerald short story starred Gene Lyons as rich playboy Anson Hunter, who realizes too late that he has wasted his life by allowing the one woman he truly loved (Kelly) to slip out of his grasp.

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    Director:Delbert Mann
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for The Death of Billy the Kid
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - The Death of Billy the Kid

    S7:E23

    How Pat Garrett hunted down and killed the legendary outlaw Billy The Kid.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Run Like a Thief
    5.5/10(2 votes)

    #10 - Run Like a Thief

    S6:E26

    Alexander has been a faithful employee of Madame Pollard as maitre d' at her elegant resort. Eager to introduce his protege Rob, things go wrong when his wife Della finds an expensive bracelet lost by Pollard and begs to keep. The police are called and Alexander's dreams of his future begin to crumble.

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    Writer:Sam Hall
  12. Background image for Dinner at Eight
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Dinner at Eight

    S1:E1

    Social-climbing Mrs. Oliver Jordan, whose husband's firm is in financial trouble, feels obligated to reciprocate hospitality for a visiting British aristocratic couple by arranging a small dinner party. The guests are chosen both to impress--a faded stage star, a well-known if over-the-hill alcoholic actor--and to meet certain social obligations. This means the necessary inclusion of a philandering doctor and his wife, and a gauche, nouveau-riche couple who are loathed but powerful.

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    Director:Fred Coe
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Rebecca
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #12 - Rebecca

    S1:E2

    Brooding and moody Maxim deWinter returns from an extended trip to the continent with a young bride, less than a year after the tragic death of hi first wife, Rebecca. The staff of Manderley, his country home, including Mrs Danvers the housekeeper who rules over the house, are still devoted to their former mistress, the socialite Rebecca and they find it difficult to accept the new, shy Mrs deWinter who is inexperienced running a large home.

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    Director:Fred Coe
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Counsellor-at-Law
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #13 - Counsellor-at-Law

    S1:E3

    An upscale Manhattan attorney torn between his greedy practices of insider trading and embezzlement and his desire to help the working-class Jews from his old neighborhood.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Angel in the Wings
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Angel in the Wings

    S1:E4

    An understudy for a stage show's star takes over when an accident circumvents the stars performance. The understudy takes over and brings down the house.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Street Scene
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #15 - Street Scene

    S1:E5

    Abraham Kaplan lives with his family in a row house populated by a kaleidoscope of characters looking to break out of poverty. Kaplan's revolutionary, socialist views grate against some of his neighbors.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for This Thing Called Love
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #16 - This Thing Called Love

    S1:E6

    A professional couple marry and the wife insists on celibacy for three months to see if they really are compatible or not. The husband tries to lure her with all kinds of excuses and tricks to the marital bed.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Camille
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    #17 - Camille

    S1:E7

    Camille, a beautiful courtesan and Armand Duval, a young man in the foreign service, are in love. Their relationship jeopardizes his career and prevents the marriage of his sister into a ""respectable"" family, if Duval marries Camille. Camille becomes ill and dies.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for An Inspector Calls
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #18 - An Inspector Calls

    S1:E8

    When Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family, his startling revelations not only shatter the very foundations of their lives, but challenge us all to examine our consciences.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for I Like It Here
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #19 - I Like It Here

    S1:E9

    Willie is a refugee who works as a houseman at a professor's home. He's a sweet and lovable man even when he's interfering in other people's lives. The Professor's daughter is in love with Brad, a young lawyer. Of course, Willie sees fit to give Brad all kinds of advice.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Suspect
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Suspect

    S1:E10

    20 years ago, a Scotswoman was accused of an ax murder and let off with the ignominious Scottish verdict of Not Proven. She changes her name and lives down her past, but when her son becomes engaged, his fiancée's godfather spots the mother and recognizes her. In his efforts to trap her, and hers not to be trapped trouble arises.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Parlor Story
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Parlor Story

    S1:E11

    An ambitious professor wants to become President of his university. He is soon caught up in the political opportunism of the State Governor, the wiles of an unscrupulous newspaper publisher and the parlor tricks of his own meddling wife.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for The Old Lady Shows Her Medals
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #22 - The Old Lady Shows Her Medals

    S1:E13

    The basement flat of Mrs Dowey, a Scottish charwoman who lives and works in London, during World War I, and Mrs Dowey and her guests - three other charwomen whom she has invited for tea - are discussing the tactics of trench warfare with the confidence of people who have never been near the Front.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for Ramshackle Inn
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Ramshackle Inn

    S1:E14

    An old maid librarian has saved her money for twenty years, in order to buy a hotel where she can meet interesting people. She purchases a strange rundown place near the ocean and gets what she bargains for.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for Cyrano de Bergerac
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Cyrano de Bergerac

    S1:E15

    The poetry-spouting soldier with the oversized nose, Cyrano uses the handsome but inarticulate Christian as a conduit for his feelings, the ugly but eloquent Cyrano pours his heart out to the lovely Roxanne. And she, wooed by the beauty of the words, falls in love with Christian, not realizing that it is Cyrano whose voice has aroused her passion.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Papa Is All
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Papa Is All

    S1:E16

    Papa is an ugly tempered, overly strict, scrupulously religious Pennsylvanian Dutch, his wife and children rebel.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"What Makes Sammy Run?" is the best rated episode of "The Philco Television Playhouse". It scored 8/10 based on 13 votes. Directed by Fred Coe and written by Paddy Chayefsky, it aired on 4/10/1949. This episode scored 0.7 points higher than the second highest rated, "The House in Athens".