''Brewster Place'' is an American

drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

which aired on ABC in May 1990. The series was a spinoff of the 1989

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

'' The Women of Brewster Place'', which was based upon

Gloria Naylor Gloria Naylor (January 25, 1950 – September 28, 2016) was an American novelist, known for novels including '' The Women of Brewster Place'' (1982)'', Linden Hills'' (1985) and '' Mama Day'' (1988)''.'' Early life and education Naylor was bor ...

's novel of the same name. The series starred

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

host

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

, who also served as co-

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

Plot

Set in 1967, the series begin with events following the end of the 1989

, '' The Women of Brewster Place''. Mattie Michael (

) 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 Kelly Neal is an actor. He was featured in Oprah Winfrey's series Brewster Place. Filmography *ABC Afterschool Special (1986-87) (Reggie Franklin) (2 episodes) * A Man Called Hawk (1989) (Frank) (Intensive Care) *True Blue (TV series) (1990) (Blu ...

), and Miss Sophie (

Olivia Cole Olivia Carlena Cole (November 26, 1942 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress, best known for her Emmy Award-winning role in the 1977 miniseries ''Roots''. Early life and education Cole was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Ar ...

) 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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, on the lot of Winfrey's

Harpo Productions Harpo Productions (or Harpo Studios) is an American multimedia production company founded by Oprah Winfrey and based in West Hollywood, California. It is the sole subsidiary of her media and entertainment company Harpo, Inc. The name "Harpo" is ...

. 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

as Mattie Michael *

Rachael Crawford Rachael Crawford (born c. 1969 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is an actress best known for her roles in ''Brewster Place'', '' Here and Now'', and '' Show Me Yours'', as well as guest appearances on various television series such as ''Cold Squad ...

as Melanie "Kiswana" Browne *Brenda Pressley as Etta Mae Johnson *

as Miss Sophie *

as Abshu Kamau *John Cothran as Ralph Thomas *

Oscar Brown Jr. Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois state legislature and the U. ...

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 ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' 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."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0098757, Brewster Place 1990s American drama television series 1990 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American television spin-offs Television series set in the 1960s Television series set in 1967 English-language television shows Period television series Television shows set in Chicago