Evening Shade

Overview

Evening Shade is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from 1990 to 1994. The series stars Burt Reynolds as Wood Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to rural Evening Shade, Arkansas to coach a high school football team with a long losing streak. Reynolds personally requested to use the Steelers as his former team because he is a fan. The general theme of the show is the appeal of small town life. Episodes ended with a closing narration by Ossie Davis summing up the events of the episode, always closing with "... in a place called Evening Shade." The show's final episode saw the guest appearances of Willie Nelson and Buzz Aldrin as escaped convicts on the run from authorities, the final scene being a spectacular shoot-out reminiscent of the final scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The opening segment included clips from around Arkansas, including the famous McClard's Bar-be-que, which is situated on Albert Pike Blvd. and South Patterson St. in Hot Springs National Park.

Cast

Burt Reynolds

Wood Newton

Marilu Henner

Ava Evans Newton

Hal Holbrook

Evan Evans

Charles Durning

Harlan Elldridge

Ann Wedgeworth

Merleen Elldridge

Michael Jeter

Herman Stiles

Jay R. Ferguson

Taylor Newton

Ossie Davis

Ponder Blue

Candace Hutson

Molly Newton

Elizabeth Ashley

Freida Evans