''The Byrds of Paradise'' is an American
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
that ran on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
from March 3 to June 23, 1994, during the 1993–94 season. One of the few series executive produced by
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...
that he did not help create, the hour-long drama centers on a father and his three children, abruptly relocated to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
from
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
after the sudden death of the children's mother. Much of the show dealt with the titular Byrd family adjusting to their lives in an entirely new environment as they recovered from their loss, similar to the premise of the later ''
Everwood
''Everwood'' (known as ''Our New Life in Everwood'' in the United Kingdom) is an American drama television series created by Greg Berlanti. Berlanti, Mickey Liddell, Rina Mimoun, Andrew A. Ackerman and Michael Green served as executive producer ...
.''
Filmed on location in the state of Hawaii, ''The Byrds of Paradise'' was unique in the inclusion of the
local culture of Hawaii in the lives of the originally
mainland
Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
Byrd family, rather than their maintaining a lifestyle nearly indistinguishable from that on the mainland with Hawaii's
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
scenery serving primarily as an attractive background.
Plot
Sam Byrd, the family's father, accepts a
headmaster
A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...
's position at a private school in Hawaii, which his children attend along with local students. All of the Byrds interact with local characters, some of whom speak
pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...
(performed with varying degrees of authenticity) and reflect a far more realistic portrait of Hawaii's culture than is usually shown in film and television depictions of Hawaii. This tendency includes the romantic interests of the Byrds, who are local characters (played by local actors) rather than mainland transplants. Topics such as teenage pregnancy and underage drinking were featured, as are usually presented in a television show with teens as central characters.
One of the more distinctive aspects of ''The Byrds of Paradise'' was the role of Dr. Murray Rubinstein, an unpretentious beachside
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
. Originally doctor to Franny, the temperamental middle child who is the most obviously traumatized by her mother's death, Murray eventually treats Sam, the children's father who is also suffering from the loss of his wife. A voice of reason who counsels his patients with an unconventional bedside manner, the doctor makes significant progress with Franny and Sam.
Again in a more realistic rather than idealized representation of Hawaii, a
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
strikes mid-season, threatening the lives of several characters. The doctor's residence is destroyed, prompting him to continue his practice on chairs in the sand while he is rebuilding his house.
While the finished episodes were not aired in their entirety on the mainland, one of the last episodes, entitled 'Twelfth Night o' Whatevah', featuring a school production of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
presented entirely in pidgin, was aired in Hawaii.
Cast
*
Timothy Busfield
Timothy Busfield (born June 12, 1957) is an American actor and director. He has played Elliot Weston on the television series ''thirtysomething''; Mark, the brother-in-law of Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in ''Field of Dreams''; and Danny Concann ...
as Sam Byrd
*
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...
as Harry Byrd
*
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series ''Kids I ...
as Franny Byrd
*
Ryan O'Donohue
Ryan Sean O'Donohue (born April 26, 1984) is an American actor. He is most notable for his performances as a voice actor in many Disney projects especially as Demyx in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game franchise. As a live-action actor, he was ...
as Zeke Byrd
*
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...
as Alan Moon
*
Elizabeth Lindsey as Healani Douglas
*
Bruce Weitz as Dr. Murray Rubinstein
Reception
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' television critic Tony Scott describes the series as a 'viable if familiar concept for family viewing' that 'plays comfortably and attractively.' He further states that the realistic treatment of the difficulties faced by a family moving from the mainland to Hawaii 'give the program heft.' Ken Tucker of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' found the series to be 'at once charming and predictable.' Tucker found Busfield's character to be more confident and decent than his other roles, in particular Elliot Weston on ''
thirtysomething
''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust anyo ...
''. 'When Busfield plays nice, his natural glow dims somewhat.' Benjamin Svetkey, also from ''Entertainment Weekly'', describes the series as a 'shockingly wholesome new drama' from
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...
. Svetkey quotes Bochco describing the series, 'We're not pushing the envelope. We're just doing a show about how families wire up to each other in the 1990s.' Jerry Schwartz of the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
describes the series as 'an archipelago in a sea of earnestness' that does have 'an occasionally quirky sense of humor.' Scott D. Pierce of ''
Deseret News
The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...
'' describes the series as 'a quality hour drama about a family. It is far from a perfect family, but it is an engaging one.' He cautions that parents may want to screen this for their younger children but then goes on to say Byrds of Paradise'' is the sort of family show viewers have been insisting they want to see.'
Episodes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrds of Paradise, The
1990s American drama television series
1994 American television series debuts
1994 American television series endings
American Broadcasting Company original programming
English-language television shows
Television series about families
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television shows set in Hawaii
Television shows filmed in Hawaii