Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972. The show is produced by WNET in New York City . The series is the longest running performing arts anthology on television, as opposed to a program like Hallmark Hall of Fame, which presents only adaptations of plays and novels as well as made-for-TV films. Great Performances presents concerts, ballet, opera, an occasional documentary such as Toscanini: The Maestro, 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. The program's spin-off, Great Performances: Dance In America, which began on PBS in 1976, concentrates solely on dance, featuring such performers as Mikhail Baryshnikov.
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| On the air: | November 4, 1972 |
| Number of seasons: | 38 |
| Genre: | Comedy |