Great Performances

Television series

Parts of this article (those related to Seasons since 1985) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2016)

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Great Performances

Genre| Performing arts
Created by| Jac Venza
Directed by| Steve Ruggi
Presented by| Hal Holbrook
Walter Cronkite
Julie Andrews
Theme music composer| John Williams
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 51
Production
Production company| WNET
Original release
Network| PBS
Release| November 4, 1972 (1972-11-04) –
present

Great Performances is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member station WNET in New York City (originally in conjunction with KQED/San Francisco, WTTW/Chicago, Maryland Public Television, South Carolina ETV and KERA-TV/Dallas/Fort Worth).

The series is the longest-running performing arts anthology on television and has won 29 Primetime Emmy Awards, three Peabody Awards,[1][2][3] and an Image Award, with nods from the Directors Guild of America and the Cinema Audio Society.[4]

## History

[edit]

Logo used in 1985 through 1991 with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Great Performances' predecessor, New York Playhouse, premiered on October 7, 1972, with a production of Antigone.[5] In 1973, Exxon and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting provided grants to create Theater in America, which reran the New York Playhouse and some NET Playhouse productions.[6] The first original production for Theater in America was of Enemies.[7] In 1974, WNET added The Great Performance, a series of classical concerts.[8]

In 1976, Great Performances became the umbrella title and the music section was named Music in America. A third section, Dance In America, was also added.[9][10] The first episode, "Sue's Leg: Remembering the Thirties", featured choreography by Twyla Tharp. Later episodes featured such performers as Mikhail Baryshnikov. Although it is not seen as often as previously, there have recently been new Dance in America programs, such as the Emmy-winning 2005 production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, starring Angel Corella, Gillian Murphy, and the American Ballet Theatre.

In 2007, Great Performances began telecasting performances from the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series,[11] a series of HD opera tapings repurposed from their original purpose as Fathom Events films carried in high-quality movie theaters for a premium admission price.

Repeat guest hosts include Walter Cronkite, Julie Andrews, Whoopi Goldberg, and Hugh Bonneville. Major underwriters have included The National Endowment for the Arts, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS viewers, Exxon, Martin Marietta, Texaco, Deluxe, Duracell, Ernst & Young, Chase Manhattan Bank, and UBS.

In 2009, new theme music for Great Performances was introduced, composed by John Williams.[12]

On October 18, 2013, Great Performances celebrated its 40th anniversary with the release of the episode "Great Performances 40th Anniversary Celebration".[13] The episode was taped at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in November 2012 and dedicated to the memory of Phil Ramone, who died from complications due to surgery in March 2013.

## Episodes

[edit]

Main article: List of Great Performances episodes

## Critical reception

[edit]

Great Performances has received generally positive reviews from television critics. Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant called it "The classiest thing on TV".[14] Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine wrote of the episode "Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert", "Annie Lennox brings the house down".[15] Linda Winer of Newsday called the episode "Billy Elliot" "As good as it gets".[16] Melanie McFarland of Salon.com called the episode "Hamilton's America", "Enthralling [and] uplifting".[17] Marissa Martinelli of Slate called the episode "An American in Paris" "spectacular".[18]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 73rd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2014.
2. ^ 69th Annual Peabody Awards, May 2011.
3. ^ 63rd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2004.
4. ^ Comprehensive IMDb listing of awards
5. ^ O'Connor, John J. (October 6, 1972). "TV Preview". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
6. ^ "Exxon Gives WNET A $1-Million Grant For Drama Series". The New York Times. May 2, 1973. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
7. ^ Brown, Les (January 10, 1974). "Channel 13 to Air Regional Theater". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
8. ^ Brown, Les (September 25, 1974). "Public TV to Ease Into Its New Season". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
9. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (June 13, 1975). "$3-Million Dance Series on WNET". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
10. ^ Brown, Les (December 20, 1975). "PBS Gets Exxon Grant for 100 Classics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
11. ^ PBS: Great Performances: Opera on Film
12. ^ "John Williams Composes Theme Music for Thirteen's Great Performances in Unique Collaboration" (Press release). WNET. March 16, 2009. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2017 – via Reuters.
13. ^ "Great Performances 40th Anniversary Celebration". pbs.org. September 17, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
14. ^ Catlin, Roger (March 25, 2009). "STAYINGIN?". Hartford Courant. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
15. ^ Berenz, Ryan (January 19, 2015). "TCA: Annie Lennox brings the house down". Channel Guide Magazine. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
16. ^ Winer, Linda (October 22, 2015). "'Billy Elliot the Musical Live': As good as it gets". Newsday. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
17. ^ McFarland, Melanie (October 19, 2016). ""Hamilton's America" takes us into the rooms where it happened". Salon.com. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
18. ^ Martinelli, Marissa (September 21, 2018). "An American in Paris: The Musical Is Not Content to Be Simple Escapism". Slate. Retrieved December 14, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Great Performances at TV Guide
* Great Performances at IMDb

Awards for Great Performances

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special

1970s|

* The Body Human / The Great Whales: National Geographic Special (1978)
* Scared Straight! (1979)

1980s|

* The Body Human: The Magic Sense (1980)
* The Body Human: The Bionic Breakthrough / Steve Allen's Meeting of Minds (1981)
* Creativity with Bill Moyers / The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1982)
* The Barbara Walters Specials / The Body Human: The Living Code (1983)
* A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers / America Remembers John F. Kennedy (1984)
* * Cousteau: Mississippi / The Living Planet (1985)
* Laurence Olivier: A Life (Great Performances) / Planet Earth / W.C. Fields: Straight Up (1986)
* Agnes, the Indomitable DeMille (Great Performances) / Smithsonian World / Unknown Chaplin (American Masters) (1987)
* Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (American Masters) / Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam / Nature (1988)
* Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me (American Masters) / Nature (1989)

1990s|

* Bob Fosse: Steam Heat (Great Performances) / Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre (American Masters) / Smithsonian World (1990)
* The Civil War / Edward R. Murrow: This Reporter (American Masters) (1991)
* Abortion: Desperate Choices / MGM: When Lions Roared (1992)
* Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers / Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993)
* I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School / Later with Bob Costas (1994)
* Baseball / One Survivor Remembers / Taxicab Confessions / TV Nation (1995)
* Survivors of the Holocaust / Time Life's Lost Civilizations (1996)
* Biography / The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century / National Geographic Special: Tigers of the Snow / Without Pity: A Film About Abilities (1997)

2010s|

* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown / Inside the Actors Studio (2013)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown / Vice (2014)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2015)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2016)
* Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (2017)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2018)
* Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2019)

2020s|

* Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (2020)
* Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (2021)
* Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (2022)
* Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (2023)
* My Next Guest with David Letterman and John Mulaney (2024)

Between 1998–2012, the award was bestowed as Outstanding Nonfiction Series.

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music

1990s|

* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Dennis McCarthy (1993)
* seaQuest DSV by John Debney (1994)
* Star Trek: Voyager by Jerry Goldsmith (1995)
* Murder One by Mike Post (1996)
* EZ Streets by Mark Isham (1997)
* Fame L.A. by Robbie Buchanan, Maribeth Derry, Richard Barton Lewis, and Tom Snow (1998)
* Trinity by Martin Davich (1999)

2000s|

* The West Wing by W. G. Snuffy Walden (2000)
* Gideon's Crossing by James Newton Howard (2001)
* Six Feet Under by Thomas Newman (2002)
* Monk by Jeff Beal (2003)
* Monk by Randy Newman (2004)
* Desperate Housewives by Danny Elfman (2005)
* Masters of Horror by Edward Shearmur (2006)
* The Tudors by Trevor Morris (2007)
* Pirate Master by Russ Landau (2008)
* Great Performances by John Williams (2009)

2010s|

* Nurse Jackie by Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin (2010)
* The Borgias by Trevor Morris (2011)
* Page Eight by Paul Englishby (2012)
* Da Vinci's Demons by Bear McCreary (2013)
* Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey by Alan Silvestri (2014)
* Transparent by Dustin O'Halloran (2015)
* Marvel's Jessica Jones by Sean Callery (2016)
* Stranger Things by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon (2017)
* Godless by Carlos Rafael Rivera (2018)
* Succession by Nicholas Britell (2019)

2020s|

* Hollywood by Nathan Barr (2020)
* The Flight Attendant by Blake Neely (2021)
* The White Lotus by Cristobal Tapia de Veer (2022)
* Wednesday by Danny Elfman (2023)
* Palm Royale by Jeff Toyne (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live)

1977–2000|

* American Ballet Theatre: Swan Lake (Live from Lincoln Center) (1977)
* American Ballet Theatre's "Giselle" (Live from Lincoln Center) (1978)
* Balanchine IV (Dance in America: Great Performances) (1979)
* Live from Studio 8H: An Tribute to Toscanini (1980)
* Live from Studio 8H: An Evening of Jerome Robbins (1981)
* La Bohème (Live from the Met) (1982)
* Paravotti in Philadelphia: La Bohème (1983)
* Placido Domingo Celebrates Seville (Great Performances) (1984)
* Tosca (Live from the Met) (1985)
* Wolf Trap Presents The Kirov: Swan Lake (1986)
* Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic (1987)
* Nixon in China (Great Performances) (1988)
* Bernstein at 70! (Great Performances) (1989)
* Aida (The Metropolitan Opera Presents) (1990)
* Tchaikovsky: 150th Birthday Gala from Leningrad (1991)
* Perlman in Russia (1992)
* Tosca: In the Settings and at the Times of Tosca (1993)
* Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence (1994)
* Verdi's La Traviata with the New York City Opera (Live from Lincoln Center) (1995)
* Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler's House (Great Performances) (1996)
* Puccini's La Bohème with the New York City Opera (Live from Lincoln Center) (1997)
* Yo-Yo Ma Inspired by Bach: Six Gestures (1998)
* Itzhak Perlman: Fiddling for the Future (1999)
* Dance in America: American Ballet Theatre in Le Corsaire (Great Performances) (2000)

2001–present|

* La Traviata from Paris (Great Performances) / Survivor (2001)
* Sweeney Todd in Concert / The West Wing Documentary Special (2002)
* Contact (Live from Lincoln Center) (2003)
* New York City Ballet – Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100 (Live from Lincoln Center) (2004)
* Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" (Live from Lincoln Center) (2005)
* Dance in America: Swan Lake with American Ballet Theatre (Great Performances) (2006)
* The 60th Annual Tony Awards (2007)
* The 61st Annual Tony Awards / Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago (Great Performances) / New York City Opera: Madama Butterfly (Live from Lincoln Center) (2008)
* Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (2009)
* The 63rd Annual Tony Awards (2010)
* The 64th Annual Tony Awards (2011)
* The 65th Annual Tony Awards (2012)
* The 66th Annual Tony Awards (2013)
* The 67th Annual Tony Awards (2014)
* Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Live from Lincoln Center) (2015)
* Grease Live! (2016)
* The 70th Annual Tony Awards (2017)
* Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018)
* Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons (2019)
* Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times" (2020)
* Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 (2021)
* The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent (2022)
* Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium (2023)
* The Oscars (2024)

* v
* t
* e

PBS

Documentaries|

* Independent Lens (episodes) (since August 9, 1999)
* PBS Short Film Festival (since 2012)
* POV (episodes) (since July 5, 1988)

Drama|

* Masterpiece (since January 10, 1971)

Music and fine arts|

* American Masters (episodes) (since June 22, 1986)
* Art:21 (since 2001)
* Austin City Limits (performers) (since January 3, 1976)
* Bluegrass Underground (since 2011)
* Craft in America (since 2007)
* Great Performances (episodes) (since November 4, 1972)
* Next at the Kennedy Center (since 2023)

History|

* American Experience (episodes) (since October 4, 1988)
* Antiques Roadshow (since January 9, 1997)
* Finding Your Roots (episodes) (since March 25, 2012)
* Secrets of the Dead (since May 15, 2000)

News and public affairs|

* Amanpour & Company (since September 10, 2018)
* BBC World News America (since June 3, 2019 from American Public Television)
* Firing Line (episodes) (April 4, 1966 – December 26, 1999; since June 22, 2018)
* Frontline (episodes) (since January 17, 1983)
* PBS News Hour (since October 20, 1975)
* To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbé (since April 3, 1992)
* Washington Week (since February 23, 1967)

Personalities|

* Samantha Brown
* Ken Burns
* Ric Burns
* Amy Holmes
* Bill Moyers
* Hari Sreenivasan
* Judy Woodruff

How-to and special interest|

* MotorWeek (since October 15, 1981)
* This Old House (episodes) (since January 1, 1979)

Science and nature|

* Nature (episodes) (since October 10, 1982)
* Nova (episodes) (since March 3, 1974)

Networks|

* Create
* PBS
* PBS America (UK)
* PBS Digital Studios
* PBS Kids
* PBS YOU1
* World Channel

Major stations|

* Boston
* WGBH
* WGBX
* Chicago
* WTTW
* Dallas
* KERA
* Houston
* KUHT
* Los Angeles
* KCET
* KLCS
* KOCE
* Maryland
* MPT
* Miami–Ft. Lauderdale–West Palm Beach
* WLRN
* WPBT
* WXEL
* New Jersey
* NJ PBS
* New York
* WLIW
* WNET
* Philadelphia–Wilmington–Lehigh Valley
* WHYY
* WLVT
* Pittsburgh
* WQED
* San Francisco/Watsonville/San Jose
* KQED/KQET
* KQEH
* Tampa–St. Petersburg
* WEDQ
* WEDU
* Washington, D.C.
* WETA
* WHUT

Former|

* BBC OS (January 1, 2020 – March 30, 2023)
* A Chef's Life (September 7, 2013 – October 22, 2018)
* Need to Know (May 7, 2010 – June 28, 2013)
* We'll Meet Again with Ann Curry (January 23, 2018 – January 8, 2019)

Related|

* Public broadcasting in the United States
* Corporation for Public Broadcasting
* America's Public Television Stations
* List of PBS member stations
* List of programs broadcast by PBS
* PBS Distribution
* PBS Satellite Service
* Executive Order 14290

* 1Defunct network
* 2Distributed by American Public Television (APT)

Authority control databases

National|

* United States

Other|

* MusicBrainz series

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