I'll Fly Away In a Time of Change, Some Values Never Go Out Of Style.

I'll Fly Away is an American drama television series set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, in an unspecified Southern U.S. state. It aired on NBC from 1991 to 1993 and starred Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper, a black housekeeper for the family of district attorney Forrest Bedford, whose name is an ironic reference to Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan. As the show progressed, Lilly became increasingly involved in the Civil Rights Movement, with events eventually drawing in Forrest as well. I'll Fly Away won two 1992 Emmy Awards, and 23 nominations in total. It won three Humanitas Prizes, two Golden Globe Awards, two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Peabody Award. However, the series was never a ratings blockbuster, and it was canceled by NBC in 1993, despite widespread protests by critics and viewer organizations. After the program's cancellation, a two-hour movie, I'll Fly Away: Then and Now, was produced, in order to resolve dangling storylines from Season 2, and provide the series with a true finale. The movie aired on October 11, 1993 on PBS. Its major storyline closely paralleled the true story of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Thereafter, PBS began airing repeats of the original episodes, ceasing after one complete showing of the entire series.

en
Drama
Created By

Joshua BrandJohn Falsey

First Aired on

Oct 07, 1991

3 seaons till Oct 11, 1993

Popularity: 14.2523
4 votes
Networks
(US)
Status: Ended

Show Ended

Last episode: I'll Fly Away: Then And Now

Seasons & episodes

Total 3 seasons, 39 episodes

Season 1

Aired

22 Episodes
  • Episode 1I'll Fly Away (Pilot)60 min

    Lawyer Forrest Bedford struggles to raise a family amid the civil-rights strife of the 1958 South, aided by Lily, a lack housekeeper who comes to work in the opener to find Forrest prosecuting a young white for a bus accident that killed three black; and little John Morgan missing his hospitalized mama.

  • Episode 2The Hat60 min

    When John Morgan loses his cowboy hat out of the car window, Lilly finds it—but then so does her daughter—-while Forrest faces verbal cross-fire over a beating case arising from the demonstration.

  • Episode 3Rules of the Game60 min

    With Forrest away on a weekend hunting trip, womanhood takes aim at Francie, who feels utterly alone; while worries about the fate of an errant arrow dog, John Morgan.

  • Episode 4Amazing Grace60 min

    As Forrest joins the race for attorney general, Lilly considers attending a voting-rights meetings, while Francie elects to overcome her writer's block by committing a betrayal.

  • Episode 5All God's Children60 min

    John Morgan is upset when he doesn't get to go to Lilly's birthday party; the wrestlers aren't celebrating Zollicofer's decision to let a black join the team; Forrest realizes running for office isn't going to be a piece of cake.

Crew & Team

David Chase

Executive Producer

Joshua Brand

Executive Producer

Henry Bromell

Producer

John Forrest Niss

Producer

Barbara Hall

Executive Producer

Ian Sander

Producer

John Falsey

Executive Producer