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The Best Episodes of American Playhouse Season 3

Every episode of American Playhouse Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of American Playhouse Season 3!

Binge this in 20h 10m•Peaking at 9.3/10

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 13 - Hughie
    9.3/10(25 votes)

    S3:E13

    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

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  2. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 5 - Popular Neurotics
    8.6/10(10 votes)

    S3:E5

    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

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  3. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 3 - True West
    8.5/10(479 votes)

    S3:E3

    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

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  4. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 6 - The Cafeteria
    8.4/10(22 votes)

    S3:E6

    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

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  5. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 14 - Concealed Enemies, Part I: Suspicion
    8.3/10(57 votes)

    S3:E14

    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

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  6. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 10 - The Killing Floor
    7.3/10(246 votes)

    S3:E10

    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

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  7. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 1 - The Ghost Writer
    7.1/10(48 votes)

    S3:E1

    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

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  8. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 2 - Pudd'nhead Wilson
    7.0/10(79 votes)

    S3:E2

    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.

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  9. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 9 - Haunted (aka Vengeance Is Mine)
    6.8/10(41 votes)

    S3:E9

    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

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  10. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 12 - City News
    6.2/10(21 votes)

    S3:E12

    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

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  11. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 4 - Nothing But a Man
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S3:E4

    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

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  12. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 7 - Refuge
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S3:E7

    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

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  13. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 8 - The Gin Game
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S3:E8

    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

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  14. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 11 - Heartland
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S3:E11

    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

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  15. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 15 - Concealed Enemies, Part II: Accusation
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S3:E15

    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

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  16. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 16 - Concealed Enemies, Part III: Investigation
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S3:E16

    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

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  17. American Playhouse Season 3 Episode 17 - Concealed Enemies, Part IV: Verdict
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S3:E17

    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

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Hughie" is the best rated episode of "American Playhouse" season 3. It scored 9.3/10 based on 25 votes. Directed by Terry Hughes, José Quintero and written by Eugene O'Neill, it aired on 5/1/1984. This episode is rated 0.7 points higher than the second-best, "Popular Neurotics".