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In a Time of Change, Some Values Never Go Out Of Style.

Overview

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.

  1. Joshua Brand

    Creator

  2. John Falsey

    Creator

Series Cast

  1. Mary Alice as Marguerite Peck

    Mary Alice

    Marguerite Peck

    41 Episodes

  2. Sam Waterston as Forrest Bedford

    Sam Waterston

    Forrest Bedford

    39 Episodes

  3. Regina Taylor as Lilly Harper

    Regina Taylor

    Lilly Harper

    39 Episodes

  4. Jeremy London as Nathaniel 'Nathan' Bedford

    Jeremy London

    Nathaniel 'Nathan' Bedford

    39 Episodes

  5. Ashlee Levitch

    Francie Bedford

    39 Episodes

  6. John Aaron Bennett

    John Morgan Bedford

    39 Episodes

  7. Peter Simmons

    Paul Slocum

    39 Episodes

  8. Kathryn Harrold as Christina LeKatzis

    Kathryn Harrold

    Christina LeKatzis

    39 Episodes

  9. Bill Cobbs as Lewis Coleman

    Bill Cobbs

    Lewis Coleman

    39 Episodes

  10. View More

Full Cast & Crew

Last Season

Season 3

1993 • 1 Episode

Season 3 of I'll Fly Away premiered on October 11, 1993.

I'll Fly Away: Then And Now

(3x1, October 11, 1993) Season Finale

View All Seasons

I'll Fly Away
I'll Fly Away

Facts

Status Ended

Network

  • See more TV shows from NBC...

Type Scripted

Original Language English

Keywords

Content Score 

88

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  • Video

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