I'll Fly Away (TV series)
A drama of change in the American South.
I'll Fly Away is an American television drama series that aired on NBC from October 7, 1991, to February 5, 1993. Set in an unspecified Southern state during the late 1950s and early 1960s, it follows Lilly Harper, a Black housekeeper for district attorney Forrest Bedford, as she becomes involved in the Civil Rights Movement. The series earned critical acclaim and multiple awards, including two Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 60 minutes
- Genre
- Drama
- Creator
- Joshua Brand; John Falsey
- Narrator
- Regina Taylor
- Country
- United States
- Network
- NBC (1991–1993); PBS (1993 TV film)
- First aired
- 7 October 1991
- Last aired
- 5 February 1993 (TV film: Oct. 11, 1993)
Facts from the source article.
Overview
I'll Fly Away won two 1992 Emmy Awards: Eric Laneuville for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing in a Drama Series for the episode "All God's Children", and series creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Miniseries or a Special. The series received 23 Emmy nominations in total, along with three Humanitas Prizes, two Golden Globe Awards, two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Peabody Award. Despite this acclaim, it never achieved high ratings and was cancelled by NBC in 1993 over protests from critics and viewer organizations. After cancellation, a two-hour film titled I'll Fly Away: Then and Now aired on PBS on October 11, 1993, to resolve season two storylines and provide a finale; its major storyline closely paralleled the 1955 murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. PBS then aired repeats of the original episodes through 1995, and the series also aired on PAX. The series takes its name from a 1929 Christian hymn by Albert E. Brumley. In 1999, TV Guide ranked Lilly Harper number 15 on its list of 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time, and in 2013 ranked the series number 9 on its list of 60 shows "Cancelled Too Soon".
Setting
The series is set in the fictional town of Bryland, in fictional Bryland County. The state in which Bryland is located is never specified, though mentions of the District of Columbia and several Southern states eliminate Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia as possibilities. References to "counties" eliminate Louisiana, which uses parishes. In the episode "Freedom Bus", Forrest Bedford is described as a new U.S. Attorney "in the Fifth District", likely the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which in the late 1950s and early 1960s comprised Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and the Panama Canal Zone. With the first five states eliminated, the likeliest setting is Georgia.
More in Television Series by Lorimar Television
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