I 40 Paradise Explained

Theme Music Composer:Lionel Cartwright[1]
Country:United States
Language:English
Producer:Ross Bagwell
Runtime:30 minutes

I-40 Paradise is a 30-minute daily cable TV sitcom broadcast on The Nashville Network from March 1983,[2] when the network was first launched,[3] and lasted until at least April 1986.[4]

The series was so popular that a weekly 30 minute spinoff, Pickin’ at the Paradise, began in December 1983.[5]

Premise

"The havoc and hi-jinks involved in running a restaurant and entertainment spot just outside Nashville are explored with hilarious results" was how early television listings described the series.[6] [7]

The series was set in the small town of Crab Orchard, Tennessee, and most scenes took place in the roadside diner, I-40 Paradise, that had a separate-room tavern where country artists often stopped to perform.[8] There was a house-band, The Mighty Notes, headed by singer Buck Taylor. Buck's younger brother, Randy, was also in the band.[5]

Local residents frequented I-40 Paradise, and they were part of the episode storylines. Stories included: Sonny, Buck, Orvis and Calvin join a group that helps fatherless boys, but have to share Crab Orchard's only orphan;[9] Will Georgia quit her job to pursue a career in art?;[10] Lathrop is kidnapped and held for ransom;[11] and Velma and Calvin consider marriage.[12]

Cast

Guest stars

Country music performers would drop in on their way to Nashville and sing a couple of songs on each episode. One of the first guest stars to tape segments for the show was Helen Cornelius, [15] and Ty Herndon was on several episodes before he became well known.[16] Reba McEntire was on two episodes. In one she just sang, but the other had her take part in a conversation about video games, which was one of her first opportunities to act.[17]

Production

The series was produced by Cinetel Productions in Knoxville, Tennessee. Producer Ross Bagwell rented a warehouse to use as a studio, and hired mostly local dinner-theater actors as regulars.[8] Outside shots of the I-40 Paradise building were of the nearby Mount Olive Trading Post, a grocery store that closed in 1987.[18]

Lionel Cartwright, who'd been working at the Wheeling Jamboree, wrote the series theme song, and acted as one of the house-band singers.[19]

Spin off series

On December 25, 1983 Pickin’ at the Paradise began a six-week pilot run as a 30-minute Sunday series, advertised as a weekly visit to the Paradise's music room, where Crab Orchard residents would stop by to hear the house-band sing. Regulars included Lionel Cartwright as Randy, Jack Crook as Buck, and Kelli Warren as Melody Dawn.[5] Lionel Cartwright wrote the series theme song.[19]

The Cineteo Productions[5] series was popular enough that additional episodes were made, and the series aired until at least March 1986.[20]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.google.com/books/edition/All_Music_Guide_to_Country/7Mo7xm-X1r4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22I-40+Paradise%22&pg=PA78&printsec=frontcover Erlewine, Michael, All Music Guide to Country, page 78, Miller-Freedman, 1997
  2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/285176862/?terms=%22I%2040%20Paradise%22&match=1 Daily Listings, The Times Recorder, March 18, 1983, page 15
  3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/408678197/?terms=%22The%20Nashville%20Network%22&match=1 Coming Soon! - TNN ad, The Germantown News (Germantown, TN), March 3, 1983, page 5
  4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/437564994/?terms=%22I-40%20Paradise%22&match=1 Television and Radio, The Boston Globe, April 25, 1986, page 23
  5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/393716972/?terms=%22Pickin%27%20at%20the%20Paradise%22&match=1 New special is paradise, The Daily News-Journal (Murfreesboro, TN), December 11, 1983, page 80
  6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/208625220/?terms=%22I%2040%20Paradise%22&match=1 TV listing, Longview News-Journal, March 27, 1983, page 126
  7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/636042309/?terms=%22I-40%20Paradise%22&match=1 Cable Tonight, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 13, 1983, page 46
  8. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Country_Music_Annual_2001/nrseBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22I-40+Paradise%22&pg=PA16&printsec=frontcover Wolfe, Charles K, & Akenson, James E., Country Music Annual 2001 (ebook), University Press of Kentucky, page 16-17
  9. Weekday TV, New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung (New Braunfels, TX)December 14, 1984, page 34
  10. Weekday TV,New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung (New Braunfels, TX), November 4, 1984, page 55
  11. Weekday TV, New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung (New Braunfels, TX)March 31, 1985, page 49
  12. Weekday TV, New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung (New Braunfels, Texas), December 23, 1984, page 43
  13. https://www.newspapers.com/image/594454768/?terms=%22I-40%20Paradise%22&match=1 Otto, Becky, Actor wants to contribute to new theater movement, Kingsport Times-News (Kingsport, TN), January 1, 1988, page 90
  14. https://www.newspapers.com/image/326413466/?terms=%22I-40%20Paradise%22&match=1 Hull, Christopher, Actress learns to fly on television series, The Morning Star (Vernon, BC, Canada), December 21, 1989, page 45
  15. https://www.newspapers.com/image/285173836/?terms=%22I%2040%20Paradise%22&match=1 Davis, Doug, Country Happenings, The Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio), March 11, 1983, page 31
  16. https://www.newspapers.com/image/109028018/?terms=%22I%2040%20Paradise%22&match=1 Oermann, Robert K., Herndon goes from 'pretty boy' to hit maker. The Tennessean, May 13, 1995, page 30
  17. https://www.newspapers.com/image/636089655/?terms=%22I-40%20Paradise%22&match=1 Sandvold, Jon, Softball to benefit from McEntire show, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 13, 1983, page 33
  18. https://www.newspapers.com/image/788840267/?terms=%22I-40%20Paradise%22&match=1 For Decades, Store Sold Beer On One Side, But Not On Other, The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC), May 17, 1987, page 41
  19. https://www.newspapers.com/image/112495976/?terms=%22I-40%20Paradise%22&match=1 'Chance' carries singer to top, The Tennessean, October 28, 1989, page 57
  20. https://www.newspapers.com/image/501801955/?terms=%22Pickin%27%20at%20the%20Paradise%22&match=1 Pay Television, The Province, March 27, 1986, page 158

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