Evening Shade
Friday, November 17th, 2000SEASON 1
Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Theme music by Sonny Curtis performed by Hans Olson, narrated by Ossie Davis
- 001. A Day in the Life of Wood Newton – 9/21/1990
- Woodrow “Wood” Newton (Burt Reynolds) is a retired Pittsburgh Steelers player, who currently coaches the losing high school football team the Mules in Evening Shade, Arkansas, where he lives with his wife, Ava (Marilu Henner) and their children Taylor (Jay R. Ferguson), Molly (Melissa Renee Martin), and Will (Jacob Parker). Among the other residents of the town are: Ava’s father Evan Evans (Hal Holbrook), the owner of the local newspaper, who claims that Wood ruined his life by marrying his daughter when she was 18; Ava’s annoying Aunt Frieda (Elizabeth Ashley); Dr. Harlan Eldridge (Charles Durning) and his wife Merleen (Ann Wedgeworth); paper delivery boy Nub Oliver (Charlie Dell); Ponder Blue (Ossie Davis), owner of Blue’s Barbecue Villa – home of the town’s oldest juke box that Wood loves; and Ponder’s sister Francis (Virginia Capers), who looks after Evan. Francis’ son R.C. (Marlon Archey) returns to Evening Shade to play on the football team. On the day of Wood and Ava’s fifteenth wedding anniversary, which is also Wood’s birthday, in addition to a game loss, a stripper named Fontana Beausoleil (Linda Gehringer) streaks across the field and is shown in the paper with Wood. She does this to protest the policies of Ava, who is running for local Prosecuting Attorney. Wood and Ava also discover that Ava is pregnant, despite the fact that Wood has had a vasectomy. They decide to try and keep it secret as not to hurt her campaign. All of the above leads to an argument that carries throughout the day. Wood also is appointed a meek assistant coach, math teacher Herman Stiles (Michael Jeter) by principal Margaret Fouch (Ann Hearn). Wood visits Harlan to find out what went wrong with his operation, and Harlan does indeed verify that he still has a high sperm count, although he offers no explanation what happened. While Wood takes his kids shoe shopping, Taylor tells him he no longer wants to play football. The kids express support to their mother and new baby. Everyone convenes at the Villa for Wood’s birthday party, where Wood sadly finds out that Ponder has sold the jukebox. He gives a heartfelt toast to his wife and reveals that she is pregnant, although most already knew. They narrowly avoiding Fontana appearing nude inside a birthday cake, but she shows up after the party and is given a ride home by Nub. Back at home, he finds that Ava has gotten him the jukebox for his birthday, even though Ponder ripped up her check. They make up and enjoy their anniversary. Burton Gilliam is Virgil. Florence Schauffler is Wood’s mother Pauline. Pepper Sweeney is reporter Neal Heck, one of Wood’s former students. Terry Wills is Ralph. Jane Abbott is Dorothy. NOTE: This premiere episode runs 49 min. 11/16/14