American Playhouse
Season 8
198920 episodes
Episode 1
A Raisin in the Sun
Feb 1, 19892h 51m
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.
Episode 2
Ask Me Again
Feb 8, 19892h 1m
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.
Episode 3
Stacking
Feb 15, 19891h 36m
After her father is injured, a teenager and an alcoholic employee struggle to save their financially troubled farm in 1954 Montana.
Episode 4
My American Cousin
Feb 22, 19891h 30m
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.
Episode 5
Love and Other Sorrows
Mar 1, 198956m
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.
Episode 6
Stand and Deliver
Mar 15, 19891h 43m
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.
Episode 7
The Silence at Bethany
Mar 22, 19891h 24m
A young man, seeking meaning and focus in his life, returns to the Mennonite farm community where he was born.
Episode 8
The Lawrenceville Stories, Part 3: The Beginning of the Firm
Apr 5, 198955m
Hickey and Tennessee Shad combine their mischievous talents to make life miserable for an insufferable freshman while staying one step ahead of the headmaster.
Episode 9
Life Under Water
Apr 12, 198956m
Feeling alienated from the world and his mother, Kip enters a complicated relationship with two girls he meets on the beach.
Episode 10
A Great Wall
Apr 15, 19891h 42m
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.
Episode 11
The Diaries of Adam and Eve
Apr 26, 19891h 30m
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.
Episode 12
The Meeting
May 3, 19891h 14m
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.
Episode 13
A Walk in the Woods
May 10, 19891h 45m
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.
Episode 14
Big Time
May 17, 19891h 24m
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.
Episode 15
The Thin Blue Line
May 24, 19891h 43m
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.
Episode 16
Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss
May 31, 19891h 29m
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.
Episode 17
Imagining America
Jun 7, 19891h
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).
Episode 18
Belizaire the Cajun
Jun 14, 19891h 43m
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.
Episode 19
Rachel River
Jun 21, 19891h 25m
A divorced radio personality in a small Minnesota town returns to her roots and investigates the life of a reclusive, recently deceased woman.
Episode 20
Thousand Pieces of Gold
Nov 30, 19891h 45m
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.