American Playhouse Season 5 Episodes

Episode 1

The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket

Mon, Jan 20, 198684 mins

A young boy is ridiculed by his school mates for his eccentric behavior and assertions that he can fly. Little do they know..... All parts are performed by adults in a stage-play type setting.

Episode 2

The Roommate

Episode 3

Valentine's Revenge

Mon, Feb 3, 1986

A convict serving a 5-year prison sentence writes stories under the name "O. Henry." He encounters a convicted safecracker and is inspired to write the story of Jimmy Valentine, a man invincible in the art of cracking safes.

Episode 4

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Part 1

Mon, Feb 10, 1986240 mins

Huckleberry Finn, a rambuctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River. In HD.

Episode 5

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Part II

Mon, Feb 17, 198652 mins

Huck and Jim find a raft and leave Jackson's Island, but during a foggy night they are clipped by a steamboat and separated.

Episode 6

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Part III

Mon, Feb 24, 198652 mins

After the raft accident Huck washes ashore at the Grangerfords who are in a feud with the Shephardsons. Huck and Jim both evade the shooting and reunite back at the raft where they encounter two swindlers who claim to be a Duke and a King.

Episode 7

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Part IV

Mon, Mar 3, 198654 mins

King and Duke pull their biggest scam but it causes trouble for Huck and Jim. An old friend from Petersburg arrives to help Huck and Jim through the trouble.

Episode 8

Tell Me a Riddle

Mon, Mar 17, 1986

The broadcast of Lee Grant's 1980 film about an elderly couple who are frustrated with each other about how to spend the last years of life yet decide to travel across the USA and visit their children and grandchildren

Episode 9

The Little Sister

Mon, Apr 7, 1986

Episode 10

The House of Ramon Iglesia

Mon, Apr 14, 198656 mins

Ramón Iglesias has plans to retire from his janitorial job, sell his house in a Long Island suburb and return to Puerto Rico with his wife and three sons. Unfortunately, he does not hold the deed to his house which was purchased through a verbal agreement, harping back to a different cultural tradition involving codes of honor and community. Javier, his oldest son, a college graduate who refuses to return to Puerto Rico, chastises him for being so foolish in his business dealings. Ramón seems stuck in a homeowner's limbo until Javier, who is constantly clashing with his family, has a change of heart and decides to help.

Episode 11

A Flash of Green

Episode 12

Damien

Mon, Apr 28, 1986

Father Damien de Vuester, a 19th century Roman Catholic priest who worked with lepers confined to the island of Molokai, discusses his experiences by as a priest.

Episode 13

Rocket to the Moon

Mon, May 5, 1986118 mins

In 1938 New York, a dentist finds his business failing and his marriage on the rocks. Turning 40, he is a hen-pecked husband with little drive left for success. That is, until he starts getting involved with his lively assistant, a free spirit with a penchant for tall tales and a hidden loneliness. Receiving encouragement from his own father-in-law, the two find comfort in each other's attention.

Episode 14

A Case of Libel

Mon, May 12, 198688 mins

Fact-based courtroom drama about a news reporter in 1954 who sued a columnist for libel after he proclaimed him a communist in print.

Episode 15

Painting Churches

Mon, May 19, 198690 mins

A dramatic exploration of the relationship between an artist daughter and her aging parents. Adapted from the critically acclaimed play by Tina Howe.

Episode 16

Roanoak: Part I

Mon, May 26, 1986180 mins

Episode 17

Roanoak: Part II

Mon, Jun 2, 1986

Episode 18

Roanoak: Part III

Mon, Jun 9, 1986

Episode 19

Sunday in the Park with George

Mon, Jun 16, 1986146 mins

Video production of the Pulitzer-prize winning musical stage production. In the first act, "George", a fictionalized Georges Seurat paints his lover, Dot, and "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Le Grande Jatte." Characters who become figures and vice versa walk through the story. In Act 2, George's descendant, a sculptor, comes to terms with his grandmother, Life, and Art.