BOBBY
GOLDSBORO
MUSIC.com
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
“EVENING SHADE” reruns previously aired on Antenna TV network.
After airing for the first three months of 2018,
“Evening Shade” is not currently on the Antenna TV schedule.
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).
