Shark Bytes

an excellent, charming, funny, gentle-humoured show that deserved a longer run.
It does get a bit tiresome when people on this site read 'liberal-bias' into every thing.

I loved this show and living in Arkansas and going to Evening Shade to visit friends made this show special to me. I loved, loved the one when Richard Simmons was supposed to interview Charles Durning's charactor because he had lost weight on Simmon's program. Since he really didn't lose the weight he was going to have Micheal Jetter's character stand in as him! It was the funniest show and would love to see it again!

This was the funniest sitcom I've ever seen! The cast lineup was remarkable! All the actors were extremely talented and their roles were very believable. It was a wonderful representation of what small town life used to be like. I sure wish it would come out on DVD or that they would put it back out in re-runs!

I caught a rerun of this show the other day and had forgotten jsut how good it was. Burt was okay, but the "corball character5s" were great- Jeter, Davis, DUrning and the guy who rode around in the little read wagon. Also loved the relationship between Hal Holbrook and the former exotic dancer.

Evening Shade was the best show ever. CBS made it difficult to keep up with because they kept shifting time slots and days.

This show never jumped. Many people touched on Bert Reynolds off-screen activities led to the downfall of this show and I tend to agree. I think this show blended good clean comedy (which by itself is hard to find) with a special type of southern charm which is also very appealing. This show definitely could have survived for a few more years. Hopefully we'll see Evening Shade out on DVD soon! For you trivia buffs, there is indeed a little tiny town in Arkansas called Evening Shade. It's located on US-167 in the northern part of the state.

Not all shark jumps occur on-screen or backstage. "Evening Shade" represents just such an outside factor. The show had everything going for it: Burt Reynolds' triumphant return to the small screen, a strong supporting cast that included several established stars, and the creative team behind "Designing Women". Unfortunately, Reynolds' ladies man reputation had not subsided. Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson appeared on the surface to be happily married. But at the height of "Evening Shade's popularity, their marriage fell apart. There may very well have been enough blame to go around, but CBS simply could not handle the bad publicity. It's too bad for the exceptional cast and their crafty show that they all had to pay for it.

The best show was the one where they lost their clothes and had to run around naked in the woods. Reminded me of "Deliverance" Then, when they got home, they were told they'd have to pay $10,000 for the search and rescue team if they are not found by them. The last scene shows them shuffling their naked asses back to the woods so the search team can "find" them.

The first two seasons of this show were fantastic! Michael Jeter was funny as hell, but like all of Linda Thomason's shows during the Clinton administration it jumped the shark when it became too preachy and politically correct. (See Designing Women & Murphy Brown) Comedy took a back seat to the political agenda in the final seasons.

Melissa Renee Martin was the original Molly, and was replaced in the 2nd season by Candace Hutson. The show thrived after that change, but usually this is an indicator that the shark is circling. Otherwise, I liked this show.

Emily Newton's birth wasn't such a big deal, because there was plenty else going on with the characters, but babies often mean trouble for shows. there's proof in the pudding.

Evening Shade was a high-quality show showing major cornball humor. Burt wasn't out of his element, he was just supposed to be the straight-man for a LOT of neurotic folk (like Eddie Albert in Green Acres and Bob Newhart on his three shows). It was a little heavy on his cronies (Charles Durning, Burton Gilliam, etc.), but brought in enough new blood to be interesting. Special kudos to Ann Wedgeworth as Merlene (speaking pattern straight from her 3's Company days) and Michael Jeter, WONDERFUL as Herman Stiles (NO, he was not the little guy in Bachelor Party). BUT....their attempt to clobber us with every damn contry music star was sickening toward the end, and that what made it jump. The Kenny Rogers episode was actually amusing, but it went straight to overkill after that. And it was JUST that, not the other special guests - Richard Simmons' appearance was hysterical. Reba, Vince Gill, etc.... and of course, everyone had to FAWN over them....I'm your BIGGEST fan....yea, right. I'd watch CMT or Hee-Haw if I wanted to see country music.

Never jumped! This was one funny show! Especially that little guy with the glasses who reminds you of Barney Fife in The Andy Griffith Show. Evening Shade, as the name implies, had a warm, small town ( southern?) charm and I thought that " nothing too harsh" made it really nice viewing.

There was an episode in the second season where Burt Reynolds and Charles Durning somehow lost their clothes. They spent a considerable amount of time wandering around the country, hiding behind trees, and trying to find new clothes. I was in a bar having a well-deserved beer at the time, but the sight of Durning's huge, saggy, man-breasts sent me screaming into the night.

The hour-long episode where "Evening Shade" regular Ossie Davis met up with a former partner in political activism (played by his real-life wife Ruby Dee), and they reminisced about the '60s blacks' march on Washington. When the entire cast started singing "We shall not be moved," I knew it was supposed to be touching, but I remained at bay. Then after that show, Burt Reynolds started caring more about a Florida cocktail waitress then about his TV series, and a charming show went straight downhill.