''I-40 Paradise'' was a 30 minute daily cable TV sitcom on the

Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

. The series ran from 1983 to about 1986. The producers made television history by producing an entire episode in a single day. Previous to this, it took an entire week to produce a 30 minute sitcom. each episode also recorded two songs live in stereo with the house band "The Mighty Notes" in the back room of the Paradise, made up of session musicians from across music genres.

Premise

''I 40 Paradise'' was set in a truckstop/restaurant/tavern in the small town of

Crab Orchard, Tennessee Crab Orchard is a city in Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 719 at the 2020 census. History Crab Orchard's position in a gap in the Crab Orchard Mountains made it a gateway to the Cumberland area as early as the late ...

off of

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

between

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

and

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The main characters included "LuAnn Bledsoe", the owner of the Paradise, played by Barbara George; "Sonny Rollins", the goofy, Goober-style mechanic, played by Bruce Carnahan; "Stogie" the bartender, played by John Ribble; "Georgia", the wannabe-country-music-singer-who-sang-off-key waitress, played by Trish Dougherty; "Buck", the house band leader and resident country music singer, played by Jack Crook; "Randy", Buck's kid brother, a multi-talented singer and musician, played by

Lionel Cartwright Lionel Burke Cartwright (born February 10, 1960) is an American country music artist. Between 1988 and 1992, Cartwright charted twelve singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, including a 1 single in 1991's "Leap of Fait ...

; and "Melody Dawn Rainey", the girl singer, played by Kelli Warren. After the original pilot aired several regular characters were added. "Calvin," played by Bruce Borin, a shoe salesman, and "Velma" played by Liz Borin, the local beautician and Calvin's girlfriend as well as a character named "Lathrop Wells" who ran the pool hall was also featured on the series played by Mike McElroy.

Guest stars

Country music stars would drop in on their way to Nashville and perform a couple of music numbers on each episode. Many

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

Stars performed on this show, including

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

Little Jimmy Dickens James Cecil Dickens (December 19, 1920 – January 2, 2015), better known by his stage name Little Jimmy Dickens, was an American country music singer and songwriter famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size (4'11" 50 cm, and h ...

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Po ...

Jerry Clower Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower (September 28, 1926 – August 24, 1998) was an American stand-up comedian. Born and raised in the state of Mississippi, Clower was best known for his stories of the rural South and was given the nickname "The Mouth o ...

Hoyt Axton Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voic ...

Bela Fleck Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal * Bela, Janakpur, ...

Tom T Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more ...

and many others.

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

, star of film and television, also appeared in two episodes. Some of the participants went on to greater fame. Writer J. R. Miller wrote 96 episodes of the 1/2 hour show, including the first. Miller later wrote for the famous comedy show, ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 199 ...

''. Lionel Cartwright went on to be a famous and successful country music star.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt2728866, I 40 Paradise 1980s American sitcoms 1983 American television series debuts 1986 American television series endings Television shows set in Tennessee The Nashville Network original programming