I'll Fly Away: Then and Now

After NBC cancelled this acclaimed series, PBS stepped in to produce a TV movie wrapping up the story for the Bedford and Harper families
In 1993, Lilly tells her 12-year-old grandson about a terrible incident that occurred during her last days as the Bedfords' housekeeper. Air date 10/11/1993

[@Carolfoasia]

This was my favorite show in the early 90s

[@monaoldham5594]

I loved this show!!!

[@jemmills7792]

what a beautiful ending for a wonderful series....so nice to have closure & to know what happened to both families......i thank you soooo very much for sharing this series & allowing us all the enjoy it......never seen it right through before & it was a big treat.......thank you again

[@MoreDoor03]

Thank you so much for posting all of these. I read about this show so often, but I was too young to see it when it originally aired. Now my mother and I are enjoying watching them together.

[@cew9837]

I remember seeing this years ago.. it was so brave for mainstream US tv in those days

[@annetteholman2999]

This was a beautiful finale to an amazing series. Thank you for touching my heart so deeply that tears flow.

[@BillLivsey-cd8ll]

This is a beautiful.sad ..and well acted story. I loved it.

[@jeffsanchez2086]

It was such a beautiful series

[@jacobtennyson9213]

It will be called Emmett Till 2: The same incident.

[@pkchu2002]

This series is just incredible and timeless. Thank you for posting this impactful show. It was also great to see Regina Taylor on some Law and Order episodes.

[@leasahart4325]

I thought I'd choke when Lily told JM goodbye

[@mariajohnson2647]

Thanks for posting this episode. Ive been looking for this for a long time. This is a historical episode. This was the episode that had emmitt till in it.

[@TomKirkman1]

Almost surely the youngest son died from AIDs. This was a period where gay marriage was not legal and most gay people didn't "come out." The "short illness" and fact that Waterston's character chose to focus on his humanity rather than his sexuality almost certainly shows the intent of the writers to attribute his death to AIDs.

[@patronsaintofnow9765]

This. I knew watching this when it originally aired he was infering that John Morgan had died of AIDS.

[@rmaddenc]

Thank you so much for posting this! We used to have the final episode/TV movie on VHS, but not anymore

[@markelijio6012]

This was one of the final projects produced by Lorimar Television, a Time Warner Company.

[@DramaSheKnows]

Thank you for posting these. I've been looking for DVDs or trying to find this show streaming somewhere for years! I sure wish I could get a copy of this series and of Any Day Now.

[@jemmills7792]

thats whats im going to watch next Any Day Now...i found the whole 4 seasons on Utube

[@perapelman1037]

I was a teenager when this movie came out,still nice to watch😊 Yes life is a battle nonstop on several levels throughout life,we must never give inn,ever surrender🎉

[@madabbafan]

I remember watching this with my mum. If my memory is right it was on Channel 4 in the UK.

[@rubychew6535]

Good quality programming.

[@JohnWest-zq5gs]

I can't figure out why it took so long for forest and Lily to see each other I mean good God couldn't anybody get in a car and meet up somewhere

[@annetteholman2999]

This is the chilling episode I remember most clearly, reminiscent of Emmett Till, the murder of the young boy from Detroit who is brutally torturef and murdered for flirting with a white woman. Also Nathan's awareness of the true character of his childhood friend, Paul Slocum, is revealed and pondered.

[@deborahdapo3210]

This was the best one.

[@gmh471]

I recall this series fondly, but I have to say, the writing in this finale is not very good. Also, the failure to mention how John Morgan died makes me think the cause may have been AIDS. But, it's the south so, quiet as it's kept.

[@valerielutter7921]

My first thought was AIDS also.

[@nicoleberry2750]

@Abe_From an I would like to know if you take requests.

[@andymuratalla8398]

So they repeating emit till story

[@blackpaper_]

I saw you commented on Jonathan Majors. If you are interested in this artist, don't miss my last post

[@valeriedemello1794]

I am so glad I grew up on the west coast, the south has such a shameful history.

[@tishtashtishtash]

And don’t forget Rodney King! All the way back in the mid-’90s.

[@tishtashtishtash]

For those somehow think the west coast is devoid of racism: www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/us/bruces-beach-manhattan-california.amp.html

[@danielherrin]

That's the most ignorant comment I've seen on KZbin. Congratulations to you.

[@annetteholman2999]

No state has a monopoly on injustice or the cruel practices of racism.

[@waivedwench]

Umm..isn't that where they interned Japanese Americans during the war?

[@johnwest7463]

They should have just rough the kid up a little bit and let him know what he did was wrong put a little scare into him but killing someone's going too far

[@forogafold]

The struggle continues: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2HUZZJraqllj5o

[@lasoniajohnson868]

For Jon Morgan to be that old, they sure kept him oblivious. They should have started calling him Jon too. Also they probably didn’t send him back to Detroit because the bus from there probably ran once every few weeks.

[@johnwest7463]

Looks like to me his granddad would have had sent him back to Detroit real fast after that happened

[@WestJason9]

They had no money to send him back in a hurry

[@DramaSheKnows]

I was thinking the same thing. I think I would have took up a community collection for that.

[@WestJason9]

@@DramaSheKnows Granddad had no car...If they had been thinking Lily could've gone to her boss to smuggle him out of town

[@candicane1]

Lewis is not Elden’s grandfather. Elden was the nephew of Lily’s best friend. Remember, Lewis only met him at the bus drop off point for the first time because his Aunt (Lily’s friend) couldn’t meet him. They were not related.

[@johnwest7463]

Why didn't they get eldon on a train or a bus back to Detroit funny they didn't do that knowing what would happen

[@WestJason9]

They didn't have no money nor a way to get him out of town out of harm's way

[@mmisra3]

Sounds similar to the Emmett Till story. A true story of a young black man from the north visiting family in the south. He was kidnapped, tortured, and killed after winking or whistling at a white woman.

[@candicane1]

I agree. He should have been on the first train or bus heading north. They left him to be a sitting duck.

[@candicane1]

@@mmisra3and even the wink/whistle was a complete fabrication based on several eye witnesses. They just wanted to make a young black boy from the north an example of the power they thought they had over black people in the south.

[@jacobtennyson9213]

After the incident with Lily's cousin Eldon from Detroit, she decided to quit her job with the Bedford's and move to Detroit, MI. with her daughter to live with her uncle, aunt and family. In 1964 Lily landed a job working at Hudson's Dept. Store in Downtown Detroit. She brought a home on 15901 Normandy St. south of Puritan St. in Detroit's Northwest Side in 1970. In 1975 Lily's daughter graduated from Mumford High School on Wyoming St. And moved to UCLA in Los Angeles, CA. By 1978 Lily was giving a promotion to head of the first-floor woman's perfume department at Hudson's Dept. Store in Northland Mall, in Southfield, MI. By 1988 Lily decided to retire from Hudson's Dept. Store in Northland Mall. And decided to move to Atlanta, GA.

[@patd25]

They never said on the show proper what state they lived in. The setting was just ‘The South’.

[@patd25]

⁠Lilly lives in Atlanta in the movie. The tv series takes place in a town called Breeland in an unspecified state in the south.

[@JohnWest-zq5gs]

I never knew this was a true story

[@jacobtennyson9213]

@@patd25 I will keep that story.

[@jacobtennyson9213]

@@JohnWest-zq5gs The last episode was a film. Inspired from a true story from Emmett Till.

[@jacobtennyson9213]

This story is right out of Emmett Till.

[@gmh471]

I always though the story line was lazy and not consistent time wise as the Till murder happened in 1955 before the civil rights movement really got going full steam. Since this was 1962, a better story line would have involved sit ins or voter registration and a murder connected to that.

[@MrOystein1977]

What episode was that...

[@jacobtennyson9213]

@@MrOystein1977 .. I 'll fly away.

[@msrain1235]

@@gmh471 people were still getting killed like that though. Mothers, wives, aunts, daughters were afraid to not see their husbands, fathers, sons, cousins, etc. not come home.

[@aniboo72]

Wow, not one tear was shed for John Morgan.

[@Unknown-bq9id]

To be fair, if you look at Waterston's face, he looks like he's struggling not to cry when he mentions John Morgan's death, IMO...

[@MONI-bj1ms]

The story was fiction based on the civil rights movement

[@candicane1]

They forgot Lewis was only 65 in the last episode, and now he’s 72, but the kids are just about 1 year older. 😂 I’m glad they did this movie though. I guess we all see how that “Karen” spirit really got some momentum. They should have put Eldon on the first bus back to Detroit. I’m glad Nathan and Paul weren’t close anymore, although Nathan still seems blind when it comes to Paul. I wish Nathan went on to be an attorney helping with civil rights. I wish he married a black woman and had some bi-racial children so Paul could really see how different they were. Francie is still an annoying brat. I wish they matured her character a bit. And John Morgan saying goodbye. 😢 For the comments saying Lewis was Elden’s grandfather, he was not. Elden was the nephew of Lily’s best friend (Jo-Lynn). They were just helping his aunt out and Lewis simply met Elden at the bus stop to walk him to their neighborhood. I’m not sure why people think Lewis was his granddad. I wish Lily and Joe got married. I love how Lily called him Forrest and not Mr. Bedford at the end. It symbolized they were finally seen as equal. I’m glad for the closure with this finale.

[@WestJason9]

Eldon was a fool

[@gailf1617]

He did not deserve to be kidnapped and murdered for being a foolish teenager.

[@WestJason9]

@@gailf1617 I never said he did

[@mariajohnson2647]

He naive to the ways of the south. He didn't deserve to be treated like that.

[@ralphmiller7889]

It wouldn’t have been much of him left had he called me an old slave They should’ve got him in check then

[@jacobtennyson9213]

He did know about Jim Crow Laws.

[@JohnWest-zq5gs]

I feel sorry for Paul his dad mistreated him his wrestling coach would have made a wonderful father to Paul Paul listen to him the coach is the only one that could control him with a good upbringing I'm sure Paul would have turned out different

[@waivedwench]

Paul now votes for Trump!!

[@JohnWest-zq5gs]

Not making excuses for Paul but his dad really mistreated him Nathan had a good upbringing

[@JohnWest-zq5gs]

That's a little unfair most Trump supporters wouldn't do that

[@candicane1]

I’m sure he was at the capitol insurrection on Jan. 6th, 2021! He’s a mess!

[@JohnWest-zq5gs]

@@candicane1 so that was an act of patriotism not a insurrection the election was a fraud if a thief takes your money and you take it back does that make you a thief no Trump is going to pardon them

[@JohnWest-zq5gs]

@@candicane1 Trump supporters didn't attack the capital that was antifa