| The Women of Brewster Place | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Drama |
| Based on | The Women of Brewster Place byGloria Naylor |
| Teleplay by | Karen Hall |
| Directed by | Donna Deitch |
| Starring | Oprah Winfrey Robin Givens Jackée Paul Winfield Lynn Whitfield Mary Alice Lonette McKee Leon Larenz Tate Cicely Tyson Moses Gunn Shari Belafonte Phyllis Yvonne Stickney |
| Music by | David Shire |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Carole Isenberg Oprah Winfrey |
| Producers | Reuben Cannon Patricia K. Meyer |
| Production locations | Chicago,Illinois |
| Cinematography | Alexander Gruszynski |
| Editor | Jerrold L. Ludwig |
| Running time | 178 minutes |
| Production companies | Harpo Productions Phoenix Entertainment Group |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | March 19 (1989-03-19) – March 20, 1989 (1989-03-20) |
The Women of Brewster Place is an American televisionminiseries that was broadcast on March 19 and 20, 1989 onABC. Theminiseries is based upon the critically acclaimed1982 novel of the same name byGloria Naylor.[1] It was produced byOprah Winfrey'sHarpo Productions with a teleplay byKaren Hall.[2][3] The show's theme song was performed by AmericanR&B singerVesta Williams, who performed both the opening and closing credits.[4]
Theminiseries stars anensemble cast of African-American actors and actresses such as Winfrey,Cicely Tyson,Jackée Harry,Robin Givens,Lynn Whitfield,Paula Kelly,Lonette McKee,Paul Winfield,Mary Alice,Olivia Cole,Moses Gunn,William Allen Young, andLarenz Tate.
In 1990, it was adapted into a weekly series entitledBrewster Place.
Mattie Michael resides on a farm with her parents. After she becomes pregnant by local womanizer Butch Fuller, Mattie leaves home and stays with her friend Etta Mae Johnson until her son Basil is born. When Etta Mae moves to New York City, Mattie struggles to find another place to live. By chance, she meets an old woman, Miss Eva Turner, who allows Mattie and Basil to live with her, and her baby granddaughter Ciel. When Miss Eva dies unexpectedly, Ciel's parents reappear, and take her with them. Mattie buys the house, using the money she secretly set aside for the rent that Miss Eva never charged.
Basil grows into a spoiled, irresponsible young man due to Mattie's overbearing parenting. One night Basil is arrested and thrown in jail for killing a man during a bar fight. Mattie puts up her house as bail for Basil, but when he flees town, Mattie is forced to leave her home.
With nowhere else to go, she moves to Brewster Place, a run-down urban tenement, where she is welcomed by the now-adult Ciel and her infant daughter Serena. Mattie helps Ciel deal with her itinerant husband, Gene, who rejects the prospect of a second baby, resulting in Ciel's having anabortion.
Other residents of Brewster Place include Ben, the elderly handyman; Cora Lee, a welfare mother with six unruly children by different fathers; Miss Sophie, an elderly self-righteous gossip; and a young educated couple, Melanie "Kiswana" Browne and her boyfriend Abshu. Each of these characters have their own subplots which occasionally intersect with Mattie. Melanie and Abshu start atenants' association to take action against the landlord for lack of building maintenance.
Alesbian couple, Lorraine and Theresa, move into Brewster Place and are victims of Miss Sophie'shomophobia. Lorraine is raped by drug dealer C.C. Baker, who leaves her, bleeding and battered, behind the trash cans near the brick wall. Ben discovers Lorraine and attempts to help her. But Lorraine, traumatized from the attack, mistakes him for C.C. and attacks him with a board. She holds off all the other residents until the ambulance arrives. Both she and an unconscious Ben are driven away with Tee, who is alerted by a neighbor. Mattie, whose anger has finally overcome her apathy towards life, grabs a crowbar and starts to chip away at the much-despised brick wall. All the other residents grab tools and, finally coming together as a community, join together in knocking down the wall.
| No. | Title | Air date | Timeslot (ET) | Rating/share (households) | Viewers (millions) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Part 1" | March 19, 1989 | Sunday 9:00 p.m. | 23.5/36 | 35.7 | [5] |
| 2 | "Part 2" | March 20, 1989 | Monday 9:00 p.m. | 24.5/38 | 37.4 | [6] |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 41st Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie | Paula Kelly | Nominated | [7] |
| Outstanding Miniseries | Nominated | [8] | |||
| 1989 | Casting Society of America | Best Casting for TV Miniseries | Eileen Mack Knight | Nominated | [9] |
| 1990 | GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series | Outstanding TV Mini-Series | Won | [10] | |
| 1991 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Drama Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie | Won | [11] |