Evening Shade

Evening Shade Cast

Series Description

The Evening Shade TV show was a 30 minute comedy series on CBS about a retired professional football player who returned to his home town to coach the High School's persistently losing team. The coach's interactions with his wife, father-in-law, teachers, and the town's residents provided endless fodder for the funny scripts.

Evening Shade Cast

Burt Reynolds .... Wood Newton
Marilu Henner .... Ava Evans Newton
Michael Jeter .... Herman Stiles
Ann Wedgeworth .... Merleen Elldridge
Hal Holbrook .... Evan Evans
Charles Durning .... Dr. Harlan Elldridge
Ossie Davis .... Ponder Blue
Elizabeth Ashley .... Freida Evans
Jacob Parker .... Will Newton
Jay R. Ferguson .... Taylor Newton
Charlie Dell .... Nub Oliver
Linda Gehringer .... Fontana Beausoleil
Burton Gilliam .... Virgil
Ann Hearn .... Margaret Fouch (1990-1993)
Candy Hutson .... Molly Newton (1991-1994)
Melissa Martin .... Molly Newton (1990-1991)

Evening Shade Trivia

The series was named after the town where it took place. Its name was "Evening Shade, Arkansas". The title and locale was, believe it or not, suggested by Senator and former first lady of Arkansas (and the U.S.), Hillary Rodham Clinton!

There is a real Evening Shade, Arkansas. During the series' run, businesses in the town did quite well selling t-shirts and other "touristy" items adorned with the show's logo.

The name of the high school's football team was "The Mules". When coach Newton took over, they hadn't won a single game in two years!

Cast won most of the Awards for Evening Shade. Burt Reynolds won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award! The show itself didn't win either an Emmy or a Golden Globe for "Best Series" but it did get two nominations! In 1992 it lost to "Brooklyn Bridge" and in 1993 it lost to "Roseanne".

Evening Shade attempted to "spinoff" another series titled, "Harlan and Merleen". It would have starred Charled Durning and Ann Wedgeworth as Harlan and Merleen Elldridge, their roles on Evening Shade. A pilot was produced but wasn't sold as a series. The pilot was broadcast, however, as a two part special on July 13 and July 20, 1993.

Burt Reynolds also starred in movies and five other TV series titled "Riverboat", "Gunsmoke", "Hawk", "Dan August", and "B.L. Stryker"!

Charles Durning served in an engineering battalion during World War II. Mr. Durning's entire battalion was captured by the Germans and taken to a big open field. Then machine guns that had been hidden in trucks suddenly opened fire on the captives! Many of the dead soldiers had only one bullet in their heads meaning that the survivors of the machine gun fire were killed execution style! Only about 20 out of the 100 soldiers managed to survive and Charles Durning was one of them, although he did get shot in both legs and in one hip! You can see a recreation of that horrible massacre by watching the 1965 film, "Battle of the Bulge".

Even with the damage from his being shot, Charles Durning became a professional dancer and a dancing teacher after the war! He also spent a while as a professional boxer. He even boxed in Madison Square Garden!

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

Season 1

  1. A Day in the Life of Wood Newton (9/21/1990)
  2. There Once Was A Boy Named Wood (9/28/1990)
  3. Whatever Happened to Clutch Newton? (10/5/1990)
  4. Sadie Hawkins Dance (10/16/1990)
  5. Fast Women (10/29/1990)
  6. The Moustache Show (10/2/1990)
  7. All for Charity (11/9/1990)
  8. Something to Hold Onto (11/19/1990)
  9. Mr. Mom (11/26/1990)
  10. Hooray for Wood (12/10/1990)
  11. The Wood Who Stole Christmas (12/17/1990)
  12. Wood and Ava and Gil and Madeline (1/7/1991)
  13. Wood's Thirtieth Reunion (1/21/1991)
  14. Vote Early and Vote Often (1/28/1991)
  15. Chip Off the Old Brick (2/4/1991)
  16. The Trials of Wood Newton (2/11/1991)
  17. Into the Woods (2/18/1991)
  18. Nothing to Fear But Harvey Lujack (2/21/1991)
  19. Gambler Anonymous (3/4/1991)
  20. Sex Education (3/24/1991)
  21. I am Wood, Hear Me Roar (4/1/1991)
  22. Herman and Margaret Sitting in a Tree (4/8/1991)
  23. Far from the Madden Crowd (4/29/1991)
  24. The Baby Show (5/6/1991)
Season 2
  1. Three Naked Men - Part 1 (9/16/1991)
  2. Three Naked Men - Part 2 (9/23/1991)
  3. I'm With Stupid (9/30/1991)
  4. Tying the Knot (10/7/1991)
  5. Miss Emily's Wild Ride (10/14/1991)
  6. The Road Trip (10/21/1991)
  7. Where's My Watch? (11/11/1991)
  8. I Do, I Don't (11/18/1991)
  9. The Thanksgiving Show (11/25/1991)
  10. Busted (12/9/1991)
  11. Rear Window (12/16/1991)
  12. The Getaway (1/6/1992)
  13. Herman In Charge (1/13/1992)
  14. The Au Pair Affair (1/27/1992)
  15. Goin' To the Chapel - Part 1 (2/3/1992)
  16. Goin' To the Chapel - Part 2 (2/24/1992)
  17. Goin' to the Chapel - Part 3 (3/2/1992)
  18. Play Herman For Me (3/9/1992)
  19. Callous Hearts of Rage (3/23/1992)
  20. Taylor Buys A Car (4/6/1992)
  21. Hasta la vista, Baby (5/4/1992)
  22. Cousin Readith (5/11/1992)
  23. No Pain, No Gain (5/18/1992)
  24. The Perfect Birthday Party, Sort Of (5/18/1992)
Season 3
  1. First Heroes (9/21/1992)
  2. The Diary of Molly Newton (9/28/1992)
  3. You Scratch My Back, I'll Arrest You (10/5/1992)
  4. What A Night (10/12/1992)
  5. Father-Child Campout (10/19/1992)
  6. The Hole Story (10/26/1992)
  7. Harlan Deals A Meal (11/9/1992)
  8. The Resurrection of Wood Newton (11/16/1992)
  9. The NFL on CBS (11/23/1992)
  10. The Really Odd Couple (12/7/1992)
  11. Bring Me the Head of Carl the Mule (12/14/1992)
  12. I'll Be Home For Christmas (12/21/1992)
  13. Frieda and the Preacher (1/4/1993)
  14. Private School (1/18/1993)
  15. Ava Takes a Shower - Part 1 (2/1/1993)
  16. Ava Takes a Shower - Part 2 (2/8/1993)
  17. They Can't Take That Away From Me (2/15/1993)
  18. She What?! (3/1/1993)
  19. Another Baby Show (3/15/1993)
  20. Cousins Behind Bars (3/22/1993)
  21. Mommy Goes AWOL (4/12/1993)
  22. Teaching Is A Good Thing (5/3/1993)
  23. Saint Bobby (5/10/1993)
  24. The Graduation (5/17/1993)
Season 4
  1. Four Naked Women (9/20/1993)
  2. One Down, Three to Go (9/27/1993)
  3. One Hot Game (10/4/1993)
  4. Witness for the Prosecution (10/11/1993)
  5. Kiss of the Ice Cream Woman (10/18/1993)
  6. Night of the Living Newtons (10/25/1993)
  7. The Dance (11/1/1993)
  8. Wood and Evan's Excellent Adventure (11/8/1993)
  9. Small Town Girl (11/15/1993)
  10. Where There's Smoke (11/22/1993)
  11. Chain of Fools (11/29/1993)
  12. Sleepless in Arkansas (12/13/1993)
  13. The Proof is in the Pudding (12/20/1993)
  14. The People's Choice (1/3/1994)
  15. Educating Calvin (1/10/1994)
  16. Paint the Town Nude (1/17/1994)
  17. The Perfect Woman (1/31/1994)
  18. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Wood (2/7/1994)
  19. The Fabulous Frazier Girls (2/28/1994)
  20. I Did, I Did (3/7/1994)
  21. Mr. Newton Goes to Hot Springs (3/14/1994)
  22. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wood? (3/28/1994)
  23. Wood Climbs to New Heights (4/11/1994)
  24. Mama Knows Best (5/9/1994)
  25. The Odder Couple (5/16/1994)
  26. I Left My Ring in Evening Shade (5/23/1994)

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