American Playhouse — Season 4

Aired 26 November 1984 • 60 min

Aired 3 December 1984 • 60 min

Aired 10 December 1984 • 60 min

Solomon Northup's Odyssey, reissued as Half Slave, Half Free, is a 1984 American television film based on the autobiography Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The film, which aired on PBS, was directed by Gordon Parks with Avery Brooks starring as the titular character. It was the second film to be funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, following Denmark Vesey's Rebellion in 1982. Parks returned to direct the film after years of absence. He chose to work in the Deep South and to collaborate with a crew of mixed races. The film first aired on PBS on December 10, 1984 and as part of PBS's American Playhouse anthology television series in the following year. It was released on video under the title Half Slave, Half Free.

Aired 17 December 1984 • 60 min

Aired 14 January 1985 • 60 min

Aired 21 January 1985 • 60 min

Aired 28 January 1985 • 60 min

The Joy that Kills is a 1984 television film adaptation of Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour." It was directed by Tina Rathborne and co-written by Rathbone and Nancy Dyer. It was released in 1984 as a part of the PBS series American Playhouse.

Aired 4 February 1985

Aired 11 February 1985

Aired 18 February 1985

Aired 25 February 1985

Aired 11 March 1985

Aired 15 April 1985

Aired 25 April 1985

F. Scott Fitzgerald's comedy of a stylish young flapper (Sean Young) who chooses a husband (Lenny Von Dohlen), but finds she can't compete with his family.

Aired 6 May 1985

Aired 15 May 1985

Aired 20 May 1985

Aired 27 May 1985

Aired 3 June 1985

Aired 10 June 1985

Aired 15 June 1985

Aired 24 June 1985