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The Best Episodes of American Playhouse Season 8

Every episode of American Playhouse Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of American Playhouse Season 8!

Binge this in 1d 6h•Peaking at 8.8/10

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 8 Episode 2 - Ask Me Again
    8.8/10(55 votes)

    S8:E2

    Rebellious young literary editor Elizabeth Leopold clashes with her wealthy, snobbish mother over her life choices, including her job and a leftist boyfriend, as her mother tries to arrange a more 'suitable' marriage for her.

    Director:Deborah Reinisch
    Writer:Richard Greenberg

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  2. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 10 - A Great Wall
    8.8/10(31 votes)

    S8:E10

    When computer programmer Leo Fang is passed up for promotion, he feels it is because he is Chinese, and quits. He takes his Chinese-American family to Mainland China to visit his relatives, the Chao's, for a vacation. The clash of cultures, between the men, wives, and teenagers, leads to some confusion, and misunderstanding.

    Director:Peter Wang
    Writers:Shirley Sun, Peter Wang

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  3. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 9 - Life Under Water
    8.3/10(21 votes)

    S8:E9

    Feeling alienated from the world and his mother, Kip enters a complicated relationship with two girls he meets on the beach.

    Director:Jay Holman
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 13 - A Walk in the Woods
    8.0/10(13 votes)

    S8:E13

    A true story about one US and one USSR delegate who, during 1982 talks in Geneva between USA and USSR on limiting medium-range nukes in Europe, met by accident in a nearby forest while on a stroll and informally started a key discussion.

    Director:Kirk Browning
    Writer:Lee Blessing

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  5. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 1 - A Raisin in the Sun
    7.4/10(259 votes)

    S8:E1

    Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.

    Director:Bill Duke
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 14 - Big Time
    7.2/10(19 votes)

    S8:E14

    In the fast-paced materialistic world of the late 1980s, three morally ambiguous players navigate an unfulfilling corporate world, emphasizing themes of greed, ambition, and emotional detachment.

    Director:Jan Egleson
    Writer:Keith Reddin

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  7. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 5 - Love and Other Sorrows
    6.9/10(24 votes)

    S8:E5

    In St. Louis, circa 1950, Ben Griffin lives with his widowed mother and beautiful older sister, Dodie. The restoration of the family's affluence seems to hinge on Dodie's romances and hoped-for-marriage to a wealthy husband. But Dodie's ambivalence toward the rich and eligible Sonny confuses and upsets Ben. He wants to trust and believe in love, but worries that he may never find a girl to understand his romantic ideals.

    Director:Steve Gomer
    Writer:Dick Goldberg

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  8. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 8 - The Lawrenceville Stories, Part 3: The Beginning of the Firm
    5.2/10(118 votes)

    S8:E8

    Hickey and Tennessee Shad combine their mischievous talents to make life miserable for an insufferable freshman while staying one step ahead of the headmaster.

    Director:Allan A. Goldstein
    Writer:Jan Jaffe Kahn

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  9. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 3 - Stacking
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E3

    After her father is injured, a teenager and an alcoholic employee struggle to save their financially troubled farm in 1954 Montana.

    Director:Martin Rosen
    Writer:Victoria Jenkins

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  10. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 4 - My American Cousin
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E4

    Sandy Wilcox is a pre-teen girl in rural 1950s British Columbia whose longing to be treated as an adult is roused even further when her older American cousin, Butch Walker, comes for a visit.

    Director:Sandy Wilson
    Writer:Sandy Wilson

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  11. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 6 - Stand and Deliver
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E6

    Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a poor Hispanic neighborhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students.

    Director:Ramón Menéndez
    Writers:Tom Musca, Ramón Menéndez

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  12. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 7 - The Silence at Bethany
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E7

    A young man, seeking meaning and focus in his life, returns to the Mennonite farm community where he was born.

    Director:Joel Oliansky
    Writer:Joyce Keener

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  13. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 11 - The Diaries of Adam and Eve
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E11

    Explores the humorous conflicts and eventual partnership between the sexes, with Adam portrayed as a reclusive creature of habit and Eve as a curious, enthusiastic innovator who names the animals and discovers fire.

    Director:William Woodman
    Writer:David Birney

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  14. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 12 - The Meeting
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E12

    In 1965, at a hotel in Harlem, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X engage in a conversation.

    Director:Bill Duke
    Writer:Jeff Stetson

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  15. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 15 - The Thin Blue Line
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E15

    One night in November 1976, after his car breaks down on a road outside Dallas, Randall Dale Adams accepts a ride from teenager David Harris. Harris is driving a stolen vehicle and, later that night, when Dallas police officer Robert Wood pulls the car over to check its headlights, he is shot and killed. A jury believes Adams is the killer, but stylized reenactments and interviews with key figures, conflicting testimonies and evidence are presented to argue that Adams was framed by a corrupt justice system, ultimately leading to his exoneration.

    Director:Errol Morris
    Writer:Errol Morris

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  16. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 16 - Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E16

    Follows Ralphie's first summer job, his family's chaotic road trip to the 'Haven of Bliss', and the misadventures that ensue, including losing their dog, Fuzzhead.

    Director:Richard Bartlett
    Writer:Jean Shepherd

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  17. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 17 - Imagining America
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E17

    An anthology consisting of four shorts with the central theme of life in the United States, including a surreal narrative about a man's search for his past in Los Angeles (This Ain't Bebop); an impressionistic look at American myths and rituals, featuring a large dance sequence (Tribe); a stylized portrait of the South Bronx (Reflections of a Native Son); and a delve into the history of Route 66 (Get Your Kicks on Route 66).

    Directors:Ralph Bakshi, Ed Lachman, Mustapha Khan, Matt Mahurin
    Writer:Ralph Bakshi

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  18. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 18 - Belizaire the Cajun
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E18

    Belizaire Breaux, a charismatic herb doctor, becomes entangled in a struggle for his people's survival against prejudiced vigilantes, while also dealing with a romantic rivalry.

    Director:Glen Pitre
    Writer:Glen Pitre

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  19. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 19 - Rachel River
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E19

    A divorced radio personality in a small Minnesota town returns to her roots and investigates the life of a reclusive, recently deceased woman.

    Director:Sandy Smolan
    Writer:Judith Guest

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  20. American Playhouse Season 8 Episode 20 - Thousand Pieces of Gold
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    S8:E20

    In 1880s China, Lalu is sold into marriage by her impoverished father. Rather than becoming a bride, Lalu ends up in an Idaho gold-mining town, the property of a saloon owner renames her China Polly, with plans to sell her as entertainment for the locals. Refusing to become a whore, Lalu ultimately finds her own way in this strange country filled with white demons.

    Director:Nancy Kelly
    Writer:Anne Makepeace

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Season 8 Ratings Summary

"Ask Me Again" is the best rated episode of "American Playhouse" season 8. It scored 8.8/10 based on 55 votes. Directed by Deborah Reinisch and written by Richard Greenberg, it aired on 2/8/1989. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "A Great Wall".