Brewster Place

Brewster Place
Genre Drama
Written by Maya Angelou
Paul W. Cooper
Earl Hamner, Jr.
Dianne Houston
Gloria Naylor (Story)
Don Sipes
Directed by Ivan Dixon
Jan Eliasberg
Bill Duke
Helaine Head
Starring Oprah Winfrey
Brenda Pressley
Olivia Cole
Rachael Crawford
Kelly Neal
John Cothran Jr.
Oscar Brown Jr.
John Speredakos
Jason Weaver
Theme music composer David Shire
Opening theme Performed by Take 6
Composer(s) David Shire
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 11
Production
Executive producer(s) Earl Hamner, Jr.
Don Sipes
Oprah Winfrey
Producer(s) Reuben Cannon
Stan Kallis
Editor(s) Dann Cahn
Quinnie Martin, Jr.
Joe Morrisey
Running time 22 minutes
Release
Original network ABC
Original release May 1 – May 30, 1990
Chronology
Preceded by The Women of Brewster Place

Brewster Place is an American drama series which aired on ABC in May 1990. The series was a spinoff of the 1989 miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, which was based upon Gloria Naylor's novel of the same name. The series starred talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who also served as co-executive producer.

Plot

Set in 1967, the series begin with events following the end of the 1989 miniseries. Mattie Michael (Winfrey) is fired from her job as a beautician, and agrees to purchase a neighborhood restaurant with her best friend Etta Mae (Brenda Pressley). Kiswana (Rachel Crawford), Abshu (Kelly Neal), and Miss Sophie (Olivia Cole) are still residents of Brewster Place, and various other individuals move onto the block as the series progresses.

The series was filmed entirely in Chicago, on the lot of Winfrey's Harpo Productions. It failed to capture the audience and critical acclaim of the miniseries, and was cancelled after a month. However, the full season of 11 episodes has since been released on both VHS and DVD.

Cast and crew

TV Ratings

Reception

Entertainment Weekly: While it's not remotely as good as Twin Peaks, Brewster Place is yet another example of the fact that ABC is trying things no other network would attempt. In this case, we have a half-hour drama featuring a black cast that tries to show the strength and difficulties of lower-middle-class family life.

One of the show's executive producers is Oprah Winfrey, who also reprises the role she had last year in the TV-movie version of Gloria Naylor's award-winning novel The Women of Brewster Place. As Mattie Michael, Winfrey is the show's wise, kindly centerpiece, and Mattie's luncheonette, a neighborhood gathering place, is where each week's story begins.

So far, the Brewster Place stories have been gentle cautionary tales, occasions for Winfrey to rumble in a voice-over, Little did I know what a test this day would put us to. . .

There's something warm and comforting about Brewster Place, and something complacent and artificial as well. It didn't surprise me at all to learn that another of the show's executive producers is Earl Hamner, who oversaw The Waltons — Winfrey's all-seeing, all-knowing voice-overs are very reminiscent of the ones Hamner himself used to intone at the start of a Waltons tale.

So far, the scripts have been lightweight. But, filled with solid actors of all ages, Brewster Place could become an urban version of The Waltons-not a bad idea at all. Grade: B-

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.