Brewster Place
Brewster Place is an American drama series which aired on ABC in May 1990. The series was a spinoff of the 1989 miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, which was based upon Gloria Naylor's novel of the same name. The series starred talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who also served as co-executive producer.
| Brewster Place | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Based on | novel of the same name by Gloria Naylor |
| Written by | Maya Angelou Paul W. Cooper Earl Hamner, Jr. Dianne Houston Gloria Naylor (Story) Don Sipes |
| Directed by | Ivan Dixon Jan Eliasberg Bill Duke Helaine Head |
| Starring | Oprah Winfrey Brenda Pressley Olivia Cole Rachael Crawford Kelly Neal John Cothran Jr. Oscar Brown Jr. John Speredakos Jason Weaver |
| Theme music composer | David Shire |
| Opening theme | Performed by Take 6 |
| Composer | David Shire |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 11 (2 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Earl Hamner, Jr. Don Sipes Oprah Winfrey |
| Producers | Reuben Cannon Stan Kallis |
| Editors | Dann Cahn Quinnie Martin, Jr. Joe Morrisey |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | Amanda Productions The Don Sipes Organization Harpo Productions Hearst Entertainment |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | May 1 – July 11, 1990 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Women of Brewster Place |
Plot
Set in 1967, the series begin with events following the end of the 1989 miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place. Mattie Michael (Oprah Winfrey) is fired from her job as a beautician, and agrees to purchase a neighborhood restaurant with her best friend Etta Mae (Brenda Pressley). Kiswana (Rachel Crawford), Abshu (Kelly Neal), and Miss Sophie (Olivia Cole) are still residents of Brewster Place, and various other individuals move onto the block as the series progresses.
The series was filmed entirely in Chicago, on the lot of Winfrey's Harpo Productions. It failed to capture the audience and critical acclaim of the miniseries, and was cancelled after a month. However, the full season of 11 episodes has since been released on both VHS and DVD.
Cast and crew
- Oprah Winfrey as Mattie Michael
- Rachael Crawford as Melanie "Kiswana" Browne
- Brenda Pressley as Etta Mae Johnson
- Olivia Cole as Miss Sophie
- Kelly Neal as Abshu Kamau
- John Cothran as Ralph Thomas
- Oscar Brown Jr. as Jessie
- John Speredakos as Mickey Adriano
- Jason Weaver as Matthew Thomas
Ratings
- Episode 1: 15.3 rating/21.9 million viewers
- Episode 2: 13.2 rating
- Episode 3: 9.7 rating
- Episode 4: 10.1
- Episode 5: 9
- Episode 6: 7.6 rating/11.9 million viewers
Reception
Entertainment Weekly gave the series a grade of B−, and reviewed the show mildly favorably, stating, "There's something warm and comforting about Brewster Place, and something complacent and artificial as well."[1]
References
- "Television reviews for week of May 11, 1990". 11 May 1990. Retrieved 27 September 2017.