Shark Bytes

I don't think it jumped...I think it was a wonderful show, probably a bit a head of it's time. Great performances. I think that movies and series that followed later, with similar themes ("Driving Miss Daisy" and "Any Day Now" on the Lifetime Network) were more accepted, because they were released later. Not a great reason, but I think that we have moved beyond some of this.

Sam Waterston never won an Emmy for IFA. That is one of the biggest travesties in Emmy history.

This was one of the best serialized shows ever. I don't need to reiterate all the positives given by others here; but I do want to add, that it is a masterful example of how to WRITE with a subtle but effective economy of style, and how to impart emotions with class instead of melodramatic overtures. It had total class in every way, with superb acting especially in the leads (Regina Taylor for one) and you have to appreciate the marvel of creative minds producing such first-class writing. Writers who know how to give their audience credit for intelligence and not having to spell everything out in bold for them, are artistic treasures. Less can be more, with this gracious approach that isn't overbearing or over-anything. The acting was stellar, but remember too that the writing came first.

Oh well it never jumped. It tackled a very sensitive matter which though hurtful at times it never made the show jump. That is just how special it was. Always held out hope for the romances that were going on namely Nathan and N'bushe' s character, the dad and the blond babe, Lily and her guy...Ah I'll fly away TVs sweet loss and alas mine

The show didn't jump, the network
pulled the plug on this great family
show. People talk about the great
moral values we should have now, but
this show done in the early 1990s
was the prime example of moral values
I just wish another network would
show the repeat of this show. My
wife and I just love I'll Fly Away.

This sensitive, majestic, well-written and well performed series went off the air in order to replace it with the "Fresh Prince of Belair;" which was not sensistive, majestic, well-written or well performed. It was a cheap Will Smith comedy that had a much larger audience appeal than good drama could ever hold. Needless to say, it paid off for the network, because a lot more people watch trash than brilliant TV fare.

My main memory of this great program was when Lily took the youngest boy to a swimming pool late in the summer when it was unbearably hot. The little boy was swimming while her daughter stood in the sun wiping sweat from her brow and watching enviously, but silently. The looks Lily kept sending over to her--so sad.

I really feel that the American Public couldn't handle this show. I think executives felt that the public could handle the subject matter. It was too realistic, and I really feel a lot of white Americans don't want to have that rehashed. They don't want to see what the South was like for blacks on a week by week show. Even if was great. Every character had a place. Lilly's quiet strength represented the civil right's movement. Forrest's reluctance to do what he felt was right represented the difficult change and reality facing the South. Nathan represented youth and rebellion of the 60's. Paul represented the angry Southerners who didn't want to change. Francy represented the new women's movement that gets overshadowed by the Civil Rights movement. John Morgan and Adelaide represented hope for the future. Lilly's father represented older blacks who were also fearful of change. Great writing. Great sense of the past. You can still watch this show on a cable network, TV One.

NEVER! I first watched this show when it was shown on PBS. Now I'm watching again on TVOne (Thank you, TVOne!). This is one of the best shows I've ever seen, which figures, since it's a David Chase show. Can you believe the same guy who produced this show produced "The Rockford Files" and "The Sopranos"?

I'll Fly Away was probably the best drama ever produced on network television and Regina Taylor as Lilly gave the greatest performances by an actress in the history of TV. That she never won an Emmy is almost as much of a crime as NBC not standing by this tremendous work.

"I'll Fly Away" never jumped the shark, and for my money it was the greatest television drama to ever air on network TV. At the time of its release, many network executives worried that the show was "slow." In my view it was anything but as each episode was filled with understated tension, brilliant observations, and heartwarming moments of truth. Instead, I would argue that the series was quiet. Often the most quiet voices are the ones that make the most noise, and I'd argue that "I'll Fly Away" was a triumph in this regard. Someone bring it back for reruns PLEASE!!!!!!

Never! The show was a quality act from pilot to movie. Regina Taylor and Sam Waterston made us care about their characters from the beginning. What a shame that TV executives can't be a little less interested in the almighty buck and a little more interested in quality. Anyone who's old enough to remember television from the 50s must remember the great plays that were a staple of the programming schedule; i.e. Playhouse 90, General Electric Theatre, etc. Those were consistently quality productions and so was this show. How can we make them (the TV execs) understand that smart people spend money, too.

The fact that this "I'll Fly Away" was cancelled at all, let alone before it was anywhere close to jumping, confirms every dark and paranoid thought you've ever had about TV executives. On top of all its other virtues, no other TV show in memory so movingly and realistically depicted the halting fits and starts through which we grow, hopefully, into our moral selves.

I'LL FLY AWAY only jumped the shark when it was abruptly yanked from the NBC schedule because supposedly no one was watching and then they had that apologetic closure movie which was pretty bad. I loved Sam Waterston and Jeremy London and Ashlee Levitch and John Aaron Bennett and Regina Taylor and Raeven Larrymore Kelly. The cast was fantastic. Even Peter Simmons' Paul was believable. I liked Zollicofter as well. I love the use of Etta James "All I Could Do Was Cry" in the opening scene of the pilot episode. I loved the chemistry between Sam Waterston and Kathryn Harrold...I envied her so much. I loved the scene in the pilot where Forrest is tucking John-Morgan into bed and John-Morgan asks Forrest what he would do if there was a fire, and Forrest says I would run through the house to get you to make sure you were all right. That scene always gets to me. I thought it was very well-written, showing the age of innocence where the love shown from a parent was all you needed to feel safe. I believe it is a metaphor for life, really. If only such reassurance could suffice when life gets really overwhelming. I adored this show, and I especially loved the way Sam Waterston treated his children on this show. I miss it very much.

Yes, the movie was terrible. But otherwise, this was a great show with excellent writing and performances. Part of what made it great was that it basically took the Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) character from "To Kill a Mockingbird" and put him through a long, gradual process of change (this being a weekly series, after all). Sam Waterston's character started out as a regular politically ambitious lawyer in the early-'60s South who wanted to fit into his community and make a success of himself. But week by week, he was pushed a little bit further by events. Gradually he was forced to choose between political expediency (as well as community acceptance) and his own conscience. Every new development jarred him a little further out of complacency. The other characters were also on their own journeys -- Regina Taylor's character gradually awakening to the need for political activism, Jeremy London's character with the stirrings of youth culture and rebellion, and Ashlee Levitch's character with growing up female at the dawn of the '60s/'70s women's liberation movement.