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.
#1 - The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/8/1974
#2 - Paradise Lost
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/6/1974
#3 - In Fashion
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/13/1974
#4 - Feasting With Panthers
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/27/1974
#5 - A Memory of Two Mondays
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/3/1974
#6 - The Contractor
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/10/1974
#7 - Bach's Mass in B Minor
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/12/1974
#8 - Ceremony of Innocence
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/17/1974
#9 - A Touch of the Poet
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/24/1974
#10 - Bernstein's Mass
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/27/1974
#11 - Monkey, Monkey, Bottle of Beer, How Many Monkeys Have We Here?
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/22/1974
#12 - Concertgebouw Orchestra: Rubinstein
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/16/1974
#13 - Berlin Philharmonic: Herbert von Karajan
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/13/1974
#14 - Bernstein at Tanglewood
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/25/1974
#15 - 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)
#16 - 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.
#17 - Brother To Dragons
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/19/1975
#18 - Forget-Me-Not Lane
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/12/1975
#19 - Moby Dick From San Francisco Opera
Season 41 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/2013
#20 - Great Performances at the Met: Giulio Cesare
Season 40 - Episode 27 - Aired 8/31/2013
#21 - The Music of Kurt Weill: September Songs
Season 23 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/25/1995
#22 - The Hollow Crown: Richard II
Season 41 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/2013
King Richard is called upon to settle a dispute between his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, and Thomas Mowbray. Richard calls for a duel but then halts it just before swords clash. Both men are banished from the realm. Richard visits John of Gaunt, Bolingbroke’s Father, who, in the throes of death, reprimands the King. After seizing Gaunt’s money and lands, Richard leaves for wars against the rebels in Ireland. Bolingbroke returns to claim back his inheritance. Supported by his allies, Northumberland and the Duke of York, Bolingbroke takes Richard prisoner and lays claim to the throne.
#23 - The Hollow Crown: Henry IV - Part 1
Season 41 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/2013
The heir to the throne, Prince Hal, defies his father, King Henry, by spending his time at Mistress Quickly's tavern in the company of the dissolute Falstaff and his companions. The King is threatened by a rebellion led by Hal’s rival, Hotspur, Hotspur’s father Northumberland, and his uncle Worcester. In the face of this danger to the state, Prince Hal joins his father to defeat the rebels at the Battle of Shrewsbury and Kill Hotspur in hand-to-hand combat.
#24 - The Hollow Crown: Henry IV - Part 2
Season 41 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/2013
In the aftermath of the Battle of Shrewsbury, Northumberland learns of the death of his son. The Lord Chief Justice attempts, on behalf of the increasingly frail King, to separate Falstaff from Prince Hal. The rebels continue to plot insurrection. Falstaff is sent to recruit soldiers and takes his leave of his mistress, Doll Tearsheet. The rebel forces are overcome. This brings comfort to the dying King, who is finally reconciled to his son. Falstaff rushes to Hal’s coronation with expectations of high office, only to be rebuffed by the former prince who has now become King Henry V.
#25 - 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.