The WORST episodes of Great Performances

Every episode of Great Performances ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Great Performances!

Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on PBS since 1972. The show is produced by WNET in New York City. It is one of the longest running performing arts anthologies on television, second only to Hallmark Hall of Fame. Great Performances presents concerts, ballet, opera, an occasional documentary, and plays. The series has also won many television awards, including an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and an Image Award, with nods from the Directors Guild of America and the Cinema Audio Society.

Last Updated: 3/26/2024Network: PBSStatus: Continuing
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Berlin Philharmonic: Herbert von Karajan
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#1 - Berlin Philharmonic: Herbert von Karajan

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/13/1974

A Memory of Two Mondays
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#2 - A Memory of Two Mondays

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/3/1974

The Contractor
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#3 - The Contractor

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/10/1974

Bach's Mass in B Minor
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#4 - Bach's Mass in B Minor

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/12/1974

Ceremony of Innocence
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#5 - Ceremony of Innocence

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/17/1974

A Touch of the Poet
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#6 - A Touch of the Poet

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/24/1974

The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd
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#7 - The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/8/1974

Monkey, Monkey, Bottle of Beer, How Many Monkeys Have We Here?
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#8 - Monkey, Monkey, Bottle of Beer, How Many Monkeys Have We Here?

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/22/1974

Concertgebouw Orchestra: Rubinstein
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#9 - Concertgebouw Orchestra: Rubinstein

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/16/1974

Feasting With Panthers
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#10 - Feasting With Panthers

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/27/1974

Bernstein at Tanglewood
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#11 - Bernstein at Tanglewood

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/25/1974

Zalmen, or The Madness of God
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#12 - Zalmen, or The Madness of God

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/8/1975

Joseph Wiseman stars in Elie Wiesel's drama set in post-Stalinist Russia. (THEATER IN AMERICA)

The Seagull
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#13 - The Seagull

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/29/1975

This quintessential Chekhov drama--his first success--is both comic and tragic. A group of friends and relations gather at a country estate to see the first performance of an experimental play written and staged by the young man of the house, Konstantin (Frank Langella), an aspiring writer who dreams of bringing new forms to the theatre.

Directors: John J. Desmond
Brother To Dragons
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#14 - Brother To Dragons

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/19/1975

Forget-Me-Not Lane
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#15 - Forget-Me-Not Lane

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/12/1975

Pagliacci
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#16 - Pagliacci

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/19/1975

The School For Scandal
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#17 - The School For Scandal

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/2/1975

Rules of the Game
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#18 - Rules of the Game

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/30/1975

The main characters are an impulsive young woman, Silvia Gala (Joan Van Ark), the lover she exasperates (David Dukes) and her cynical, sneering spouse, Leone (John McMartin). The husband's apathetic attitude is that life is a game played by arbitrary rules, and his role is that of an unemotional observer. His philosophy is severely put to the test when his wife draws him into a duel with a nobleman who drunkenly accosted her.

Hogan's Goat
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#19 - Hogan's Goat

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/12/1973

The Hollow Crown: Henry V
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#20 - The Hollow Crown: Henry V

Season 41 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/2013

Henry V has settled onto the throne and has the makings of a fine King. The French Ambassador brings a challenge from the French Dauphin. Inspired by his courtiers, including Exeter and York, Henry swears that he will, with all force, answer this challenge. The Chorus tells of England’s preparations for war and Henry’s army sails for France. After Exeter’s diplomacy is rebuffed by the French King, Henry lays a heavy siege and captures Harfleur. The French now take Henry’s claims seriously and challenge the English army to battle at Agincourt. Henry and his meager forces prove victorious against all odds.

Great Performances' 40th Anniversary Celebration
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#21 - Great Performances' 40th Anniversary Celebration

Season 41 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/2013

Stephen Sondheim's 'Company' With the New York Philharmonic
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#22 - Stephen Sondheim's 'Company' With the New York Philharmonic

Season 41 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/2013

Great Performances presents the New York Philharmonic’s concert staging of legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical, “Company,” with an all-star cast. The groundbreaking musical premiered in 1970 and had Broadway revivals in 1995 and 2006. “Company” centers on Bobby, a confirmed bachelor, celebrating his 35th birthday with his ten closest friends, who happen to be five couples. Captured from the stage of Avery Fisher Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Directors: Lonny Price
Moby Dick From San Francisco Opera
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#23 - Moby Dick From San Francisco Opera

Season 41 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/2013

Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma'
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#24 - Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma'

Season 41 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/2013

Hugh Jackman returns in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” in time for the landmark musical’s 70th anniversary. Jackman — who recently starred in the hit film version of “Les Miserables” — can be seen again in his breakout musical role as cowpoke Curly in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!,” Friday, November 15 at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival.

Directors: Trevor Nunn
Pavarotti: A Voice for the Ages
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#25 - Pavarotti: A Voice for the Ages

Season 41 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/6/2013