The four-season sitcom 'Evening Shade' began here with this appealing hour-long pilot, full of good vibes and containing some pretty funny lines. Burt Reynolds stars as Wood Newton, a former pro football player now coaching a high school team - with a perfect losing record for two and a half years. The story here has Wood dealing with an eventful day that is both his birthday and his wedding anniversary. A supposedly risque but ultimately harmless photo is taken of Wood with local stripper Fontana Beausoleil (Linda Gehringer), while Woods' wife Ava (Marilu Henner) plans to run for the office of prosecuting attorney - and learns that she is pregnant, despite Wood having gotten a vasectomy.
A lot of time is spent with an array of very colorful and endearing characters who are worth getting to know. Reynolds is just right, and receives excellent support from one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled for a sitcom - Ossie Davis, Hal Holbrook, Charles Durning, Michael Jeter, and Elizabeth Ashley. Davis also provides the pleasant narration. Durning, as the loud and jovial local doctor, tends to walk away with any scene he's in. But he gets some real competition from character actor Charlie Dell as amiable goofball "Nub". Ann Wedgeworth, Virginia Capers, Ann Hearn, Florence Schauffler, and Burton Gilliam also guest star.
Created by TV veteran Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, this debut script contains a LOT of heart as well as humor, and in the end we're able to like ALL of these characters. Reynolds has a showcase speech near the end where he realizes that he's quite happy with how his life has turned out. Good entertainment overall.
Eight out of 10.
A lot of time is spent with an array of very colorful and endearing characters who are worth getting to know. Reynolds is just right, and receives excellent support from one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled for a sitcom - Ossie Davis, Hal Holbrook, Charles Durning, Michael Jeter, and Elizabeth Ashley. Davis also provides the pleasant narration. Durning, as the loud and jovial local doctor, tends to walk away with any scene he's in. But he gets some real competition from character actor Charlie Dell as amiable goofball "Nub". Ann Wedgeworth, Virginia Capers, Ann Hearn, Florence Schauffler, and Burton Gilliam also guest star.
Created by TV veteran Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, this debut script contains a LOT of heart as well as humor, and in the end we're able to like ALL of these characters. Reynolds has a showcase speech near the end where he realizes that he's quite happy with how his life has turned out. Good entertainment overall.
Eight out of 10.