Poster: Clint Eastwood Fan
(see this users gallery)
Good News ran from August 1997 until August 1998 on UPN.
In this amiable comedy, Randolph ( David Ramsey), was the new acting pastor at the Church Of Life in Compton, California. When he arrived he was greeted by a staff announcing they were leaving the church to start ther own congregation. He took over as choir director and tried to rebuild things with the help of a few devoted congegants. Among them were Mrs. Dixon ( Roz Ryan), the battle-axe volunteer church cook; Little T ( Guy Torry), the hip young hustler who took over as janitor; Cassie( Tracey Cherelle Jones), Little T's sexy outspoken girlfriend; and Mona ( Alexia Robinson), the church's youth director, with her sights on the eligible but apparently disinterested new pastor. A few weeks after the series premiered , she got competition from Vonita ( Jazsmin Lewis), the newly hired church secretary, but Pastor Randolph was preoccupied with his congregation and didn't date anyone during the run of the series. There was rousing gospel music in most episodes, with real-life musician Billy Preston portraying the Church Organist.
A Review from The New York Times
Television in Review
By CARYN JAMES
Published: August 25, 1997
New Minister in Town, No Angels in Tow
'Good News'
UPN, tonight at 9
To some, the fluttering of angels' wings signals spiritual uplift. To the people behind the current boom of shows with religious themes, it sounds like money in the bank. Inspired by the success of ''Touched by an Angel,'' the fall season will bring comic ministers (Dan Aykroyd in ''Soul Man'') and sensitive priests (Kevin Anderson in ''Nothing Sacred''). The first to arrive is ''Good News,'' a sitcom about a young black minister and his new, hostile congregation.
The show has its premiere tonight at 9 on UPN (Channel 9 in New York City), and anything from that struggling netlet arrives under a cloud. But ''Good News'' is surprising in its promise. David Ramsey is appealing as the bright but slightly flummoxed minister. And the first episode has enough freshness and wit to suggest that ''Good News'' might develop into something more than another stale sitcom.
The show doesn't begin by breaking any molds. The Rev. David Randolph (Mr. Ramsey) turns up at the Church of Life and finds a staff that is ready to quit and a congregation that resents him for replacing their venerated (unseen) former pastor. The minister is surrounded by stock characters, including a jive-talking janitor and an infatuated young secretary. And just when he gets the choir to turn a sluggish hymn into real gospel music, everyone runs out the door because dinner is ready. ''I just lost my choir to smothered chicken,'' he complains, in the kind of line that does not suggest a bright future.
But after the show gets past its clumsy setup, a young man in the congregation asks for the minister's help with a problem: telling his mother he is gay. The brash, no-nonsense mother (Roz Ryan, terrific at making this type an individual) takes the news in stride. ''That's it?'' she yells. ''Boy, I knew that even before you did. I knew it when you was 9 years old.'' Then the scene takes another turn that is funny, true to character, and, for a sitcom, daring. The episode was written and directed by Ed. Weinberger (a veteran of ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show,'' ''The Cosby Show'' and other series). He brings a deft touch to social issues that in a different context would be weighty: homosexuality and racial separatism.
There is, of course, a cheerful, formulaic ending. But there is also a large and welcome dose of music, and at least a hint that the angels of commerce might be on this series' side. ''Good News'' is one of three new UPN sitcoms with debuts today and tomorrow, and the only one with a hope of matching the appeal of the network's ''Moesha.'' CARYN JAMES
|
