4x1 - Testament

November 26, 1984

4x2 - A Matter of Principle

December 3, 1984

4x3 - Solomon Northup's Odyssey

December 10, 1984

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.

4x4 - Tomorrow

December 17, 1984

4x5 - Go Tell It On the Mountain

January 14, 1985

4x6 - Noon Wine

January 21, 1985

4x7 - The Joy That Kills

January 28, 1985

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.

4x10 - Some Men Need Help

February 18, 1985

4x11 - Charlotte Forten's Mission: Experiment in Freedom

February 25, 1985

4x12 - Breakfast with Les and Bess

March 11, 1985

4x13 - Nightsongs

April 15, 1985

4x14 - Under the Biltmore Clock

April 25, 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.

4x15 - Displaced Person

May 6, 1985

4x16 - The Europeans

May 15, 1985

4x17 - El Norte

May 20, 1985

4x18 - Three Sovereigns for Sarah: Part I

May 27, 1985

4x19 - Three Sovereigns for Sarah: Part II

June 3, 1985

4x20 - Three Sovereigns for Sarah: Part III

June 10, 1985

4x21 - Paper Angels

June 15, 1985

4x22 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

June 24, 1985