The Best Episodes of Playhouse 90
Every episode of Playhouse 90 ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Playhouse 90!
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s were usually hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual, a weekly series of hour-and-a-half dramas rather than 60-minute plays. Playhouse 90 began as a pitch by Frank Stanton—the formidable, forward-thinking right-hand man to CBS chairman William S. Paley—during a brainstorming session for program ideas. The project was ultimately developed by Hubbell Robinson, a CBS vice president who received no screen credit on Playhouse 90 but is often described as its creator.
Top Episode Highlight
The best episode of "Playhouse 90" is "The Time of Your Life", rated 9.6/10 from 28 user votes. It was directed by N/A and written by N/A. "The Time of Your Life" aired on 10/9/1958 and is rated 0.4 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Old Man".
9.6/10 28 votes#1 - The Time of Your Life
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 1958-10-09
William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning play revolves around the denizens of a San Francisco bar in 1939. Lonely, lovelorn, weary or cynical, the characters drift in and out of the bar and each other's lives, giving voice to Saroyan's philosophies as they randomly comment about the impending world war, the beauty of art, and traditional notions of good and evil.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 9.2/10 15 votes
#2 - Old Man
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 1958-11-20
To fight a Mississippi flood in 1927, a prison farm releases some convicts.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.7/10 44 votes
#3 - Alas, Babylon
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 1960-04-03
Americans try to cope with the aftermath of a nuclear catastrophe.
Director: Robert Stevens
Writer: N/A
- 8.5/10 24 votes
#4 - In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 1960-05-16
In the Warsaw ghetto, a Jewish man seeks revenge for the rape of his sister by a German soldier.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/10 323 votes
#5 - Requiem for a Heavyweight
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 1956-10-11
An over-the-hill heavyweight boxing champion who suffers from the ravages of years of head trauma is exploited by his manager, despite the efforts of a compassionate young woman who tries to help him recover his self-respect.
Director: Ralph Nelson
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/10 28 votes
#6 - Portrait of a Murderer
Season 2 Episode 25 - Aired 1958-02-27
Based on a true story, Donald Bashor robs and bludgeons two women to their deaths. While committing the crimes he maintains a normal existence with his girlfriend Florry.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/10 65 votes
#7 - A Town Has Turned to Dust
Season 2 Episode 38 - Aired 1958-06-19
A weakling sheriff is unable to prevent a lynching. Can he redeem himself by preventing a second one?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/10 16 votes
#8 - The Miracle Worker
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1957-02-07
The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/10 10 votes
#9 - Clipper Ship
Season 1 Episode 27 - Aired 1957-04-04
A romance on the high seas revolving around the comely widow of a shipping magnate, and her growing love for a handsome young political prisoner who was scheduled to be put to death when the vessel reached its destination. Though unyielding at first, the ship's stern captain eventually helped the woman to make a clean getaway, with the condemned man in tow.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/10 33 votes
#10 - The Plot to Kill Stalin
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 1958-09-25
In late 1952, an aging and increasingly paranoid Stalin puts in motion a purge against his doctors, with anti-Semitic overtones. His lackeys, including Khrushchev, Molotov and Beria, fear it will spread to the Politburo, and plan to strike first.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10 12 votes
#11 - Invitation to a Gunfighter
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 1957-03-07
A gunfighter is terrorizing a small western town. The townspeople finally pool their money to a hire another gunfighter to drive him out of town. The townsfolk thought they had it bad until they handed the reigns over to the new terror. Pooling their money again, this time to hire Jeffers to get rid of Dancer.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10 17 votes
#12 - The Last Tycoon
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 1957-03-14
A movie producer is slowly working himself to death.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10 38 votes
#13 - The Velvet Alley
Season 3 Episode 16 - Aired 1959-01-22
Ernie Pandish has tried to be a writer for years and has never made much money out of it. But now he seems likely to hit the big-time.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10 77 votes
#14 - Judgment at Nuremberg
Season 3 Episode 28 - Aired 1959-04-16
In the later stages of the Nuremberg Trials, four German judges are accused of perverting the course of justice.
Director: George Roy Hill
Writer: Abby Mann
- 8.0/10 25 votes
#15 - Tomorrow
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 1960-03-07
Slow witted, and tired, Fentry leads a lonely life of grinding poverty in his sharecropper's shack until a sick, pregnant woman escaping her abusive husband comes there. He takes her in and cares for her, eventually falling in love with her.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10 282 votes
#16 - The Comedian
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 1957-02-14
Sammy Hogarth, a vaudeville comedian who now has his own TV show, is a ruthless egomaniac who demands instant obedience from his staff and heaps abuse on those in lesser positions than his. His most vituperative behavior, however, is reserved for his weak-willed brother, Lester, whom Sammy has hired as his assistant but whom he really uses as his whipping boy.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: Rod Serling
- 7.8/10 178 votes
#17 - Days of Wine and Roses
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 1958-10-02
An alcoholic falls in love with and gets married to a young woman, whom he systematically addicts to booze so they can share his "passion" together.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10 13 votes
#18 - A Marriage of Strangers
Season 3 Episode 32 - Aired 1959-05-14
Marry in haste, repent at leisure? Well, maybe.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/10 10 votes
#19 - The Great Gatsby
Season 2 Episode 39 - Aired 1958-06-26
A Midwesterner becomes fascinated with his wealthy neighbor, who obsesses over his lost love.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/10 9 votes
#20 - The Nutcracker
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 1958-12-25
This telecast of George Balanchine's famous production was broadcast only four years after it was premiered by the New York City Ballet. This was the only episode of the series televised in color.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10 17 votes
#21 - The Helen Morgan Story
Season 1 Episode 33 - Aired 1957-05-16
Broadway legend Helen Morgan 's life as told by her mother, from her early start in second rate speakeasies to star of top rated shows and owning her own club. Also seen is her poor choices, such as her affair with a married man, her short marriage to a much younger man, a court fight over an adopted baby and her fatal descent into booze addiction.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10 29 votes
#22 - Bomber's Moon
Season 2 Episode 35 - Aired 1958-05-22
A hard-hearted Colonel loses many men in his group's bombing missions over World War II Germany, but keeps on going and won't tolerate a young lieutenant losing his nerve under the strain, who refuses to continue.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10 13 votes
#23 - Without Incident
Season 1 Episode 36 - Aired 1957-06-06
Captain Russell Bidlack, commander of a U.S. Cavalry unit in 1870, determines to complete a rescue mission through dangerous Indian territory. In the course of the mission, he rescues the wives of two slain traders and captures the Indian chief accused of the murders. When he returns to the fort, he's faced with a revolt among his own men.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10 14 votes
#24 - Ain't No Time for Glory
Season 1 Episode 38 - Aired 1957-06-20
American soldiers must use stealth to take over a German command post in Normandy.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10 13 votes
#25 - The Death of Manolete
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 1957-09-12
The last hours in the life of Spain's most celebrated matador.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A