From October 7, 1971 through January 13, 1972, another TV series, "Hollywood TV Theater,"
took over NET Playhouse's regular Thursday night time slot.
During this time, three NET Playhouse specials were broadcast.
On 20Jan1972, NET Playhouse returned as a weekly series titled "NET Playhouse Biography".

6.1 [---] NET Playhouse: HOGAN'S GOAT (2hr production)
11Oct1971 PBS
Producer & Directed by Glenn Jordan
Story by William Alfred
Videotape Editor Patrick McKenna (EMMY win)
Sets by William Ritman
Costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge
cast:
Faye Dunaway ........... Kathleen Stanton
Robert Foxworth ........ Matthew Stanton
Rue McClanahan ......... Jo Finn
George Rose ............ Mayor Quinn
Margaret Linn .......... Bessie
Philip Bosco ........... Priest
Biff McGuire
Synopsis:
Robert Foxworth who was so good in last year's dismal CBS Series, "The Storefront Lawyers," costars with Faye Dunaway in
the NET Playhouse production of William Alfred's award winning play "Hogan's Goat." The drama, which may be seen on
Public Broadcasting Service stations on Monday, October 11, about a man whose drive for political power is so consuming
it destroys everything around him including his wife. The setting is Brooklyn at the turn of the century, with Foxworth
as the ambitious Irish politician and Miss Dunaway, in the role she created in the original production, as his wife.
(04Oct1971 Yonkers NY Herald Statesman newspaper article)
Synopsis:
An Irish immigrant whose obsessive political ambition destroys the two women who love him. [RF]
*Note:
Another PBS installment of Frederick Wiseman's National Education Television documentary based on the award winning
Off Broadway 1965 play of William Alfred's "Hogan's Goat". [RF]

6.02 [---] NET Playhouse: HOME (90 min) (UK-BBC Production)
(first broadcast in the UK on BBC's "Play For Today" 6-Jan-1972 after its US premiere)
29Nov1971 Mon
Executive Producer Jac Venza / Produced by Jac Venza
Written by David Storey
Directed by Lindsay Anderson
Music by Alan Price
Cast:
John Gielgud ............. Harry
Ralph Richardson ......... Jack
Mona Washbourne .......... Kathleen
Dandy Nichols ............ Marjorie
Warren Clarke ............ Alfred
Synopsis 1:
The interaction of five patients over the course of a single afternoon in the garden of what we can fairly assume is
an English mental hospital. [RF]
Synopsis 2 (newspaper review, by Cynthia Lowry):
"Home," with Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson, was Monday night's NET Playhouse production on public
broadcasting stations and it was like a front row seat in a West End theatre. David Storey's play - a study of loneliness
and emptiness was transferred from stage to television with great success and sensitivity. This was partly because it was
a five-character production confined to a single setting, all suited to television's needs for intimacy. The four
principals of the original played their roles again. Gielgud and Richardson were two very formal, restrained British
gentlemen meeting on a stone terrace. At first they engage in desultory conversation. Then each recalls his youth,
speaks of his background, confesses his ambitions, while the other is completely withdrawn in his own thoughts and politely
responds with such remarks as "I say!" or "By Jove." By the time two raucous noisy women arrive, it has become obvious that
all are patients in a large mental hospital. The women's wrangling conversation, a combination of vulgarity and
maliciousness, is as revealing as the men's. The fifth character is a muscular man who has had, as one woman says,
a bit of his brain nipped out" and who wanders around in a hostile fog, probably no more alone than the others.
The 90 minutes was notable for the exquisite performances of the four. Storey's dialogue was perceptive and subtle,
repeatedly suggesting the inability of each to communicate with the other and of the barren lives each led before
arriving at the hospital. Not every viewer's dish of tea, it was a great treat for the drama-starved.
(30Nov1971 AP article, by Cynthia Lowry) [TA]

6.03 [---] NET Playhouse: AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS - WORDS AND MUSIC
20Dec1971 NYC WNET-13 Mon 8-9pm
Cast:
James Earl Jones
Linda Lavin
Peter Yarrow
Freda Payne
The Harlem Children's Chorus
The Columbus Boys Choir
Synopsis:
Actor Burt Lancaster hosts this Christmas potpourri blending poetry, drama and music. The music includes new and
traditional Christmas songs. Excerpts from the works of Mark Twain, Robert Frost, Frederick Douglass, Lincoln Steffens
and others are read during the show. Among these are the story of an African-American slave's Christmas and Twain's
description of Santa Claus. [TA]

NET Playhouse Biography

6.04 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: LORRAINE HANSBURY: TO BE YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK
20Jan1972 PBS Thur 8:30-10pm
Cast:
Ruby Dee
Claudia McNeil
Al Freeman Jr.
Barbara Barrie
Lauren Jones
Roy Scheider
Blythe Danner
Synopsis 1:
NET Playhouse launches this year's biography series with "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," the moving and sensitively
told story of the late black playwright, Lorraine Hansbury. Miss Hansberry is most well known for her play, "A Raisin
in the Sun." Her husband, Robert Nemiroff, wrote this account of her life from comments she made in letters, diaries
and various other papers. The acting is superb with a talented cast. Excerpts of three of Miss Hansberry's plays are
performed, including the moving climactic scene from "A Raisin in the Sun." (TV Previews column, Niagara Falls Gazette) [TA]
Synopsis 2:
Don't miss this loving portrait of the eloquent young black playwright whose first play, "A Raisin in the Sun," brought
her international acclaim, and whose short life ending in her death at 34 in 1965, was filled with a rebellious quest
for freedom. (Auburn NY Citizen Advertiser) [TA]

[---] 24Jan1972 Mon - Special NET Playhouse broadcast - Repeat of "Paradise Lost" Parts 1 & 2.

6.05 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: GALILEO (Italian Film)(filmed 1968)
27Jan1972 PBS Thur 8:30-10pm
music by Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)
cast:
Cyril Cusack ............ Galileo
Synopsis:
Stunning sets of 17th century Rome and a brilliant performance by Cyril Cusack pave the way for this film.
The astronomer's research leads him to accept Copernican theory that the earth revolves about the sun - a belief that
draws disfavor from the Inquisition. Rome, 1633: Galileo is rigorously interrogated for heresy and must refute his
belief or face death. [RF]

6.06 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: HARRIET (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
03Feb1972 PBS Thur
cast:
Kitty Winn ............... Harriet
Richard A. Dysart ........ Calvin
Paul Hecht ............... Henry
Madeleine Sherwood ....... Catherine
Juanita Bethea ........... Sukey
William Roerick .......... Lyman
Kendall March ............ Eliza
Gretchen Corbett ......... Hatty
Daniel Davis ............. Freddie (as a man)
Bernard Hughes ........... Speaker
Stuart Germain ........... Jerusha
Synopsis:
An adaptation of a 1943 Broadway play on the life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. From young writer of escapist tales to
the committed author who struck out against slavery in "Uncle Tom's Cabin". [RF]

6.07 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
10Feb1972 PBS Thur
(reshowing of the 1930 film "D.W. Griffiths Abraham Lincoln")
cast:
Walter Huston ............ Abraham Lincoln
Una Merkel ............... Ann Rutledge
Kay Hammond .............. Mary Lincoln
Hobart Bosworth .......... General Lee
Ian Keith ................ John Wilkes Booth
Jason Robards Sr. ........ Herndon
Henry B. Walthall ........ Marshall
E. Alyn Warren ........... Stephen Douglas
Fred Warren .............. General Grant
Frank Campeau ............ General Sheridan
Synopsis:
The silent screen's master director D.W. Griffith, made his talkie debut with the episodic 1930 account of Lincoln's
life, from birth to assassination. [RF]

6.08 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: MY MOTHER'S HOUSE
(originally shown 07May1967 on the NET series "Sunday Showcase")
17Feb1972 PBS Thur
Cast:
Colleen Dewhurst ......... Sido, Colette's mother
Kathy Cody ............... Colette
Joanna Miles ............. Colette's half-sister
Synopsis:
The fierce beauty of Colleen Dewhurst's performance dominates this long but fascinating play by Bert Greene, based on
Colette's autobiographical novel of her early life in her mother's house Miss Dewhurst seems like the earth-mother
herself as she deals with her successes and failures with the children of two marriages, of whom Colette was one.
(TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]
Synopsis 2:
NET Playhouse Biography presents "My Mother's House," based on the autobiographical novel by the French writer, Colette.
Suzanne Grossman narrates as an adult Colette, looking back on her adolescent years. In a series of flashbacks, Colette
is seen as a young girl, played by Kathy Cody, struggling to understand her half sister's deep resentment for her
stepfather. Then a teen-aged Colette experiences the first signs of love for a young man. Colleen Dewhurst does a fine
job as the inimitable mother who argues with a priest about her dog going to church since the dog even "gets up and sits
down in unison with the congregation." (TV Previews column, Niagara Falls Gazette) [TA]

6.09 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING (UK-BBC Production)
(first shown in the UK on BBC's "Biography" series 18-Nov-1970)
24Feb1972 PBS Thur 8:30pm
Written by Ian Curteis
Directed by John Glenister
Cast:
Bill Gavin ..... Alexander Fleming
Synopsis:
It's always interesting to learn what a hard-working, persistent and persevering scientist like the discoverer of
penicillin, Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1956), was like in his private life In addition to his unyielding dedication to
his work, Fleming is revealed as a man who was not interested in fame or fortune, but who was pressured by his well-meaning
wife into getting eventual recognition. (TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]

6.10 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: CHARLES DICKENS - THE HERO OF MY LIFE (UK-Thames Television Production)
(first broadcast in the UK on the ITV Network 9-June-1970)
02Mar1972 PBS Thur 8:30pm
Cast:
Johnny Butler ....... Charles Dickens (in his younger years)
Ken Wynne ........... Charles Dickens' father
Michael Jayston ..... Charles Dickens (from his 20s to 50s)
Sheila Grant ........ Catherine Hogarth
Ciaran Madden ....... Mary Hogarth
Synopsis 1:
The rags-to-riches story, showing how Dickens' rise from abject poverty is reflected in his works. [RF]
Synopsis 2:
Johnny Butler, as young Dickens, living in the genteel section of town, soon learns of his father's economic problems.
Ken Wynne, who plays the father, is a kind, generous man, who is continually running into debt. His father being in
debtor's prison and the necessity although brief, for
Charles to work in a squalid factory, affects Dickens the rest of his life. Michael Jayston gives a strong performance,
shifting from Dickens in his 20s when his writings achieve some fame, to his 50s when his torment due to his frustrated
relations with women comes to the surface. This was filmed in many of the places which Dickens knew so the atmosphere
always remains authentic. (TV Previews column, Niagara Falls Gazette)
Synopsis 3:
Although the second half of this biographical study of the great Victorian novelist is more brilliantly evoked by actor
Michael Jayston (the Nicholaa of the film "Nicholas and Alexandra"), than the first half, the fascinating revelation
of Dickens' relentless use of his own life experience in conjuring up his classic tales should hold you enthralled
throughout. (TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]

[---] 09Mar1972 PBS Thur - Repeat of "Isadora Duncan: The Biggest Dancer in the World."

6.11 [---] NET Playhouse: BETWEEN TIME AND TIMBUKTU - A SPACE FANTASY BY KURT VONNEGUT JR
(produced jointly by WNET NYC and WGBH Boston)
13Mar1972 WNET-13 NYC Mon 8-9:30pm
Produced by David Loxton
Directed by Fred Barzyk
Cast:
Bill Hickey ... Stoney Stevenson
Kevin McCarthy
Bob Elliot
Ray Goulding
Synopsis 1:
"Between Time and Timbuktu" is an odyssey through the universe created by Vonnegut. To describe it, one must first
explain "Chronosynclastic infundibulum" which devotees will recognize as a science fiction device used in "The Sirens
of Titan." In that novel, as well as in "Slaughterhouse Five," the author presents the "punctual" view of time, which
is to say that time, rather than a chronological succession of events, can be properly depicted as a straight horizontal
line on which all events are taking place simultaneously. (The Rock Hill Herald)
Synopsis 2:
The Kurt Vonnegut cult finally gets a chance to see some of their idol's work on TV tonight and for the most part,
they will not be disenchanted. Vonnegut has fashioned his own weird version of the "2001" film, in this tale about
a soft-spoken poet who wins a breakfast food contest for which the first prize is the chance to be launched from Cape
Kennedy, and sent off through a time warp ("chronosynclastic infundibulum"), one of the author's favorite imaginative
devices. (TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]
Synopsis 3 (excerpt from NY Times article):
Produced by David Loxton, the 90-minute program is based on material from several of Mr. Vonnegut's published works
compiled for this production by the author. Included are scenes from "Player Piano," "Cat's Cradle," "Welcome to the
Monkey House" and "Happy Birthday, Wanda June."
When Mr. Vonnegut keeps his eye fixed on the more absurd elements of contemporary society, he is at his best. The first
section of this TV drama, the launching of Stoney Stevenson (Bill Hickey) into space is splended fun. Stoney is the
winner of a "Blast Off" contest. His prize is a launching into the "chronosynclastic infundibulum," a science fiction
device used by Mr. Vonnegut to encompass events as happening simultaneously rather than chronologically. It's an
interesting device, but unfortunately the trip proves less successful than the take-off. At the Mission Control Center,
TV anchorman Walter Gezundtheit banters ominously with a former astronaut named Bud (Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding do
the needling honors). The two spend a good deal of time trying to remember a famous quote. Bud: "Was it 'A giant step
for man and a long leap for mankind'?" (New York Times) [TA]

6.12 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: BYRON (UK-BBC Production)
(first shown in the UK on BBC's "Biography" series 25-Nov-1970)
16Mar1972 Thur
Written by Ian Thorne
Directed by John Glenister
Cast:
Keith Barron ....... Byron
Synopsis:
The best thing about this biographical portrait of the last six years in the life of the great romantic English poet,
Lord Byron (1788-1824), is the larger-than-life image Keith Barron manages to create of the flamboyant, cynical,
dissolute, self-destructive figure of the scandal-ridden, essentially sad young man.
(TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]

6.13 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: AUGUST STRINDBERG
23Mar1972 PBS Thurs
Sweden's playwright August Strindberg.

[--] 30Mar1972 Thur PBS - Repeat of "Jesus: A Passion Play for Americans," shown as a "Biography" episode.
(first aired 27Mar1970 NYC).

6.14 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: GERTRUDE STEIN - WHEN THIS YOU SEE, REMEMBER ME
(may have originally been shown on another NET series in 1970)
06Apr1972 Thur
Synopsis:
This is an incomparable portrait of a woman - a rare human being whose personality attracted people as she collected art
— produced with exquisite care and an admirable amount of research. Not only does it move
through hundreds of still pictures as if it were a biographical motion picture, breathing the life of her childhood and
the saga of her adventure with art, artists and writers in Paris, but it fairly bristles with attention to her unique
quality through interviews with people who remember even her casual remarks.
(TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]
Synopsis 2:
The story is based on the works and autobiographical writings of Gertrude Stein. The excitement comes in her interaction
with some of the greats of her day, such as her professor William James, her love of paintings of Gertrude Stein by Picasso
and a bust by Lipshitz all add to completing the portrait. (TV Previews column, Niagara Falls NY Gazette) [TA]
Note:
This episode might have been previously shown on either "Actor's Choice Presents" or "Fanfare," two other NET series that
featured episodes titled "When This You See, Remember Me."
1. The "Actor's Choice Presents" episode was shown Tuesday, July 28, 1970 on WNDT-13. The Yonkers NY Herald-Statesman
described it as "a collection of readings from the work of Gertrude Stein. Hal Holbrook is the host."
2. The "Fanfare" episode was broadcast Sunday, December 20, 1970 on WCNY-24 in Syracuse, NY.

6.15 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: GEORGE WASHINGTON - PORTRAIT OF A HERO AS A YOUNG MAN
13Apr1972 Thur 8:30pm
Synopsis:
The time is the French and Indian War in 1754; the young man, George Washington, is a lieutenant colonel taking over
his first command of ill-equipped soldiers full of dreams of glory and heroism; and the enemy is a foe he misunderstands
both in numbers and in technique,. What makes this portrait of our legendary hero come alive is a script that grasps
the character of a superior young soldier who is forced to learn about becoming a professional in command from a terrible
adversity, as well as the solid and thoughtful performance of Rene Auberjonois at the head of an ambitious production.
(TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]

6.16 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: THE RISE OF LOUIS XIV
20Apr1972 Thur
Synopsis:
"The Rise of Louis XIV" (1965) This film, originally produced for French television, is both unlike and vastly superior
to any of the made-for-TV films we are accustomed to seeing. Made by the great Italian director Roberto Rossellini
("Open City"), it is a thoroughly authenticated re-creation of life at the court of the Sun King, and a straightforward
explanation of his consolidation of power. (TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]

[---] 27Apr1972 - Repeat of "Dante's Inferno" (first aired 20May1971)

6.17 [---] NET Playhouse Biography: VINCENT THE DUTCHMAN (UK Production)
(first broadcast in the UK on BBC's Arts series "Omnibus" 15-Oct-1972 after its US premier)
04May1972 Thur
Richard Price Television Associates Production for BBC Television
Filmed in Provence and the City of Aries, Southern France
Directed by Mai Zetterling
Cast :
Michael Gough ........ Himself/Vincent Van Gogh
Synopsis 1:
This strange, unconventional portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, the 19th century Dutch painter who was unable to relate to
people but could cope with his art, adds up to a fascinating experiment of probing the artist living inside the margin
attempting such a feat British actor-painter Michael Gough, travels to the scenes of Van Gogh's early failures as an
alienated, lonely and tormented man, and then decides to spend most of his time in the sun-filled French town of Aries,
where Van Vogh's most famous paintings were created. (TV Key column, Auburn NY Citizen-Advertiser) [TA]
Synopsis 2:
NET Playhouse Biography presents the story of artist Vincent Van Gogh in Mai Zetterling's "Vincent the Dutchman."
British actor Michael Gough is first seen out of character, as an actor trying not only to look and dress like, but to,
feel like the artist. Gradually he is transformed into Vincent Van Gogh, "the sunburnt, weather-beaten, unattractive man."
The moving narrative is taken from letters Van Gogh wrote to his brother during his troubled life. Michael Gough gives
a brilliant portrayal of the lonely artist against the beautiful background of Aries, France.
(TV Previews column, Niagara Falls NY Gazette) [TA]

01Jul1972 Rerun of - NET Playhouse Biography: HELEN HAYES REMEMBERS (originally aired 11Oct70).

Playhouse New York

[---] Playhouse New York: PARTICULAR MEN (117mins)
08May1972 Mon
A Presentation of Thirteen/WNET New York, National Programming Division, 1972
Executive Producer Jac Venza
Produced & Directed by Glenn Jordan
Written by Loring Mandel
Music by: John Q. Adams
Cast:
Stacy Keach
Verna Bloom
Alice Drummond
William Roerick
Will Gregory
Lois Smith
Liam Sullivan
Douglas Watson
Joseph Warren
Joel Fabiani
Stepan Gierasch
George Voskovec
John Harkins
W.B. Brydon
Clifton James
Nicholas Kipros
Robert Baines
Synopsis 1:
"Particular Men," centers around the development of the atomic bomb, examining the moral responsibilities of scientists
and the relationship between them and the governments that support their work. [TA]
Synopsis 2:
"Playhouse New York — the '40s: Particular Men." Actor Stacy Keach commands and holds your attention with the fascinating
portrait he has built, out of a familiar character whose fictional story playwright Loring Mandel has based on fact.
Stacy Keach plays an atomic physicist whose likeness to J. Robert Oppenheimer is unmistakable, but whose personality he
has fashioned with poetic insight into a figure of strengths, weaknesses, brilliance and depth. [TA]

[---] Playhouse New York: THE '40s HOLLYWOOD - YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS
18May1972 Thur 8:30-10pm
Playhouse New York presents "The '40s Hollywood - You Must Remember This," a program which examines the film industry
during and after the war. You'll see how the film industry aided the war effort with its movies appealing to patriotism.
Then the cooperative arrangement between Hollywood and the government abruptly ends when the "Hollywood Ten" were
subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Committee on Un-American Activities. There are clips from this hearing
that will make you cringe as will many of the war films which propagandized a hate for the Japanese. Besides the
political aspect, there's a look at the stars via excerpts from some of the best films of that decade.
(Niagara Falls NY Gazette)

[---] Playhouse New York: THE LAST G.I.'s
25May1972 Thur 8:30pm
Synopsis:
"The Last G.I.'s." A dramatic exploration of American G.I.'s during and after World II. (Schenectady NY Gazette)