ABC MINI-SERIES: OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: THE WEDDING {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)

Summary

Part one of this two-part made-for-television movie. Based on Dorothy West's novel "The Wedding," this program centers around a family in the elite black community of Martha's Vineyard in the 1950s. Every summer, the Coles and other high-society families flock to their summer residences on the island, but this year the Coles are consumed with the upcoming marriage of their youngest daughter, Shelby. Her engagement to a white jazz musician, Meade, is an item of local gossip, as is the arrival of newcomer Lute McNeil, who is considered unworthy of living in their exclusive neighborhood, the Oval. As the Coles plan an extravagant, fairy-tale wedding, beneath the surface they are divided by fault lines stretching back into history. Shelby's engagement to a white man brings hidden anxieties to the forefront, particularly when Meade admits that his family will not deign to come to the wedding. Color and class status rule the Coles: when the older daughter, Liz, became engaged to a dark-skinned man of a lower class, her mother Corinne neglected to invite his family to the wedding, forcing the couple to elope. The Coles' color-struck attitude lies with the family matriarch, Gram, a Southern white woman obsessed with antebellum Georgia.

A series of flashbacks reveal that Gram's daughter marries a black professor and gives birth to Corinne, but then becomes an invalid and foresakes her black husband and child. Gram raises her granddaughter Corinne to marry a wealthy, light-skinned, and educated man -- like Clark Coles. Corinne, bitter about her own loveless marriage, and Liz, angry about the racism in her own family, encourage Shelby to examine her feelings for Meade before committing to the controversial marriage. Complicating matters, Lute, who carries his own history of interracial problems, tries to seduce Shelby and questions her engagement to Meade. Shelby spends the week before her marriage tormented by doubts while arguing with her family and her fiance. Includes commercials, promos, and public service announcements. Includes commercials. This program is closed-captioned. Continues with T:52471.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: February 22, 1998 Sunday 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:55:00
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:52469
• GENRE: Drama
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; Drama; Romance; Literature - Adaptations
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1998
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - "Hercules" (home video)
  • TV - Commercials - "Kissing a Fool" (feature film)
  • TV - Commercials - "Twilight" (feature film)
  • TV - Commercials - Advil pain reliever
  • TV - Commercials - Almay cosmetics
  • TV - Commercials - Betty Crocker cake mix
  • TV - Commercials - Bisquik pancake mix
  • TV - Commercials - Boost nutritional energy drink
  • TV - Commercials - Buick automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Burger King fast food
  • TV - Commercials - Cadillac automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Certs breath mints
  • TV - Commercials - Chevrolet automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Children's Advil pain reliever
  • TV - Commercials - Clairol Herbal Essences hair care products
  • TV - Commercials - Coldwell Banker real estate company
  • TV - Commercials - Curel lotion
  • TV - Commercials - Duracell batteries
  • TV - Commercials - Ericsson mobile phones
  • TV - Commercials - Florida's Natural orange juice
  • TV - Commercials - Gas-X antigas medicine
  • TV - Commercials - Glade votive candles
  • TV - Commercials - Keri lotion
  • TV - Commercials - LÕOreal cosmetics
  • TV - Commercials - Miracle Whip dressing
  • TV - Commercials - Nicoderm CQ stop smoking aid
  • TV - Commercials - Old English furniture polish
  • TV - Commercials - Pepperidge Farm cookies
  • TV - Commercials - Philips mobile phones
  • TV - Commercials - Playtex brassieres
  • TV - Commercials - Quaker cereals
  • TV - Commercials - Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil
  • TV - Commercials - Robitussin cold medicine
  • TV - Commercials - Saturn automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Serta mattresses
  • TV - Commercials - Therma Silk hair care products
  • TV - Commercials - Trident chewing gum
  • TV - Commercials - Vanish toilet bowl cleaner
  • TV - Commercials - Visine eye drops
  • TV - Commercials - Walt Disney World
  • TV - Commercials - Wizard Stick Ups air fresheners
  • TV - PSA - Partnership for a Drug-Free America
  • TV - PSA - Peace Corps
  • TV - PSA - The Steel Alliance
  • TV - Promos - "70th Annual Academy Awards"
  • TV - Promos - "Christopher Reeve: Celebration of Hope"
  • TV - Promos - "Dharma & Greg"
  • TV - Promos - "Ellen"
  • TV - Promos - "Home Improvement"
  • TV - Promos - "NYPD Blue"
  • TV - Promos - "Pocahantas" (telecast of a feature film)
  • TV - Promos - "Something So Right"
  • TV - Promos - "Spin City"
  • TV - Promos - "That's Life"
  • TV - Promos - "The Drew Carey Show"
  • TV - Promos - "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place"
  • TV - Promos - "Virtual Obsession"
  • TV - Promos - "Will You Marry Me?"
  • TV - Promos - "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings"

CREDITS

• Oprah Winfrey … Executive Producer
• Kate Forte … Executive Producer
• Doro Bachrach … Producer
• Valerie Scoon … Associate Producer
• Charles Burnett … Director
• Lisa Hones … Writer
• Dorothy West … Based on the novel by
• Stephen Taylor … Music by
• Robin Urdang … Music (Misc. Credits), Music Supervisor
• Halle Berry … Cast, Shelby Coles
• Eric Thal … Cast, Meade Howell
• Lynn Whitfield … Cast, Corinne Coles
• Carl Lumbly … Cast, Lute McNeil
• Michael Warren … Cast, Clark Coles
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste … Cast, Helen Coles
• Cynda Williams … Cast, Liz Coles Otis
• Charlayne Woodard … Cast, Rachel
• Richard Brooks … Cast, Lincoln Otis
• Gabriel Casseus … Cast, Hannibal
• Shirley Knight … Cast, Gram
• Ethyl Ayler … Cast, Eunice
• Marge Moorer … Cast, Emmaline
• Shilla Benning … Cast, Gigi
• Deborah Calloway-Duke … Cast, Nita
• Mikaelle Comrie … Cast, Barbie McNeil
• Keenan Corrigan … Cast, Mattie McNeil
• Ashley Gibson … Cast, Young Corinne
• Patrina Hemingway … Cast, the Sorority Girl
• John Lawhorn … Cast, Dean Wright
• Bob Moore … Cast, the Ovalite Man
• White Nelson … Cast, the Female Patient
• Deji Olasimbo … Cast, Young Clark
• Ginnie Randall … Cast, the Wife
• Kelsey Walke … Cast, Tina McNeil
• Maggie Welsh … Cast, Josephine
• Alfred Wiggins … Cast, the Minister