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EVENING SHADE
“EVENING SHADE” was a half-hour situation comedy that first aired on CBS Television from 1990-1994.  The show was nominated for many major awards, with its cast winning Emmy and Golden Globe awards. It starred Burt Reynolds as “Wood Newton,” a former professional football player who returned to his tiny hometown of Evening Shade, Arkansas, to raise his family and become the high school football coach. Marilu Henner played his wife, and Emmy winner Michael Jeter played the assistant coach.  The show also featured Charles Durning, Ossie Davis, Hal Holbrook, Elizabeth Ashley and Ann Wedgeworth.  There were often big-name guest stars from the TV & movie, sports and music industries.
As Bobby Goldsboro has told the story, he got a telephone call in 1992.  Burt Reynolds told him that “Evening Shade” had just won an award, but the band had no theme music to play as the winners walked to the stage.  Reynolds asked him to write a new song for the show.  Bobby wrote and performed the opening theme song in the third and fourth seasons of the series.  The theme song won a 1993 BMI Film & TV songwriting award.  Bobby regularly performed the song at the Friday night tapings for the live audience at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California. He also performed background music for those episodes, with occasional vocals.  He wrote three songs for a 1994 episode featuring country singers Tammy Wynette and K.T. Oslin, appearing onscreen as a guitar player.
WITH PEN IN HAND The Songwriting of Bobby Goldsboro
They got ten-cent stores No locks on the doors And everybody knows your name They got Sunday school The Golden Rule And every day that passes Is slower than molasses
Episode, Original Air Date, Episode Title, Notes 301 09/21/92 First Heroes Features the opening theme song sung by Dr. John Features Bobby singing Garth Brooks’ “Nobody Gets Off in This Town” on jukebox 302 09/28/92 The Diary of Molly Newton Features Bobby singing “Paradise in San Antone” on jukebox 303 10/05/92 You Scratch My Back, I’ll Arrest You Features Bobby singing on jukebox 304 10/12/92 What a Night 305 10/19/92 Father/Child Campout First episode to feature Bobby singing opening theme song 306 10/26/92 The Hole Story 307 11/09/92 Harlan Deals-A-Meal 308 11/16/92 The Resurrection of Wood Newton Features Bobby singing “Each Time I Look into Your Eyes” on the jukebox and “The Very Thought of You” on the living room stereo, along with an instrumental version of “Another Night Alone.” 309 11/23/92 NFL on CBS 310 12/07/92 The Really Odd Couple 311 12/14/92 Bring Me the Head of Carl the Mule 312 12/21/92 I’ll Be Home for Christmas Features Bobby singing “Jingle Bells” and instrumental version of “Christmas All Year Long” 313 01/04/93 Freida and the Preacher 314 01/18/93 Private School 315 02/01/93 Ava Takes a Shower, Part 1 316 02/08/93 Ava Takes a Shower, Part 2 317 02/15/93 They Can’t Take That Away from Me 318 03/01/93 She What? 319 03/15/93 Another Baby Show 320 03/22/93 Cousins Behind Bars 321 04/12/93 Mommy Goes A.W.O.L. 322 05/03/93 Teaching is a Good Thing 323 05/10/93 Saint Bobby 324 05/17/93 The Graduation Show Features Bobby singing Jim Croce’s “Photographs and Memories” during graduation montage, and instrumental version of “Christmas All Year Long” Episode, Original Air Date, Episode Title, Notes 401 09/20/93 Four Naked Women First episode to feature Bobby singing abridged version of theme song 402 09/27/93 One Down, Three to Go 403 10/04/93 One Hot Game 404 10/11/93 Witness for the Prosecution 405 10/18/93 Kiss of the Ice Cream Woman 406 10/25/93 Night of the Living Newtons 407 11/01/93 The Dance 408 11/08/93 Wood and Evan’s Excellent Adventure 409 11/15/93 Small Town Girl 410 11/22/93 Where There’s Smoke 411 11/29/93 Chain of Fools 412 12/13/93 Sleepless in Arkansas 413 12/20/93 The Proof is in the Pudding 414 01/03/94 The People’s Choice 415 01/10/94 Educating Calvin 416 01/24/94 Paint the Town Nude 417 01/31/94 The Perfect Woman 418 02/07/94 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad Wood 419 02/28/94 The Fabulous Frasier Girls Features three songs written by Bobby:  “When Somebody Mentions Your Name” sung by    Tammy Wynette, “Love Just Don’t Know When to Die” sung by K.T. Oslin, and “Paradise in    San Antone” sung by Wynette and Oslin.  Bobby appears onscreen as a guitar player. 420 03/07/94 I Did, I Did 421 03/14/94 Mr. Newton Goes to Hot Springs 422 03/28/94 Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wood? 423 04/11/94 Wood Goes to New Heights 424 05/09/94 Mama Knows Best 425 05/16/94 The Odder Couple 426 05/23/94 I Left My Ring in Evening Shade
“EVENING SHADE”  SEASON THREE  1992-1993
“EVENING SHADE”  SEASON FOUR  1993-1994
HARLAN & MERLEEN CBS-TV aired a spin-off pilot featuring Charles Durning & Ann Wedgeworth’s “Harlan & Merleen” characters, as a two-part episode on July 12th and 19th, 1993.  The show did not get ordered to become a weekly series. Bobby Goldsboro wrote and performed the theme song, titled “It’s Never Too Late” (an early working title for the show).