Any Day Now is an American drama series that aired on the Lifetime network from 1998 to 2002. The show stars Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint, who are best friends despite the difference in their races.
The show's title is taken from the 1962 Chuck Jackson song "Any Day Now", which was later covered by Ronnie Milsap in 1982. A version performed by Lori Perry served as the show's theme song.
Setting
The show is set Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s, during the peak of desegregation. Any Day Now focuses on the lives and interactions of two female protagonists: Mary Elizabeth O'Brien - Sims ("M.E."), an outgoing Caucasian girl, and Rene Jackson, a shy African-American girl. The two had grown up as close friends but their friendship ends when M.E. becomes pregnant and chooses, despite Rene's disapproval, to keep the child and marry her boyfriend. More than twenty years later, M.E. and her husband still live in Alabama where they struggle to make ends meet. Their oldest son, Bobby, died as a child, but they have two younger offspring (Kelly and Davis). Rene has moved to Washington D.C. where she is a successful attorney. After the death of her father, Rene decides to move back to her old hometown, where she reunites with M.E.. The two quickly resume their close friendship and contemporary storylines are interwoven with a similar storyline from their shared past.
Format
Each episode lasts 60 minutes and consists of alternating scenes from two different timelines. The first timeline follows the young version of the girls, dealing with such issues as: M.E.'s racist parents, her loving grandmother, who often helps M.E. and Rene overcome daily obstacles that threatens their friendship, her uncle who is a Ku Klux Klan member, her brother who goes to war, and her cruel sister, Teresa. The second timeline shows the grown, present day, version of the girls, dealing with such issues as: racism, homosexuality (Rene's clients, Rene's brother Elston), religion, women's rights, rape, natural disaster, poverty, alcohol, suicide, and death. In most episodes there was either a common theme between the scenes presented from each timeline, or a direct connection between the events depicted in the past and how it affected those in the present.
In the fourth season, the young version of the girls became older and more mature. To show this change, the actresses Mae Middleton (M.E.) and Shari Dyon Perry (Rene) were replaced by Olivia Hack and Maya Goodwin, respectively.
Any Day Now ended after its initial 4 season (88 episodes) contract expired. The show would have been renewed, but Annie Potts chose instead to care for her family. The series ended with Rene's marriage, as well as M.E. and Rene's mothers finally putting an end to their decades-long animosity.
Main cast & crew
Supporting cast
- Chris Mulkey as Colliar Sims
- Julie St. Claire as Joy (1998-1999)
- Christopher Winsor as Davis Sims (1998)
- Calvin Devault as Davis Sims (1999-2002)
- Olivia Friedman as Kelly (Sims) Williams
- Derrex Brady as Ajoni Williams
- John Lafayette as James Jackson
- Donzaleigh Abernathy as Sara Jackson
- Christopher Babers as Young Elston Jackson
- William Converse-Roberts as Matthew O'Brien
- Nancy Mcloughlin as Catherine O'Brien
- James Deeds as Johnny O'Brien
- Elise Shirley as Young Theresa O'Brien
- Delta Burke as Theresa O'Brien
- Michael Pavone as Jimmy O'Brien
- Dan Byrd as Young Colliar Sims
- Millie Perkins as Grandma Irene Otis
- Richard Biggs as Bill Moody
- Bronson Picket as Joe Lozano
- Tony Barriere as Young Tully
- Mary-Pat Green as Odessa
- Taneka Johnson as Lakeisha Reynolds
- Don McManus as Graham Pearce
- Alyssa Nichols as April
- Alexandra Hedison as Rhonda
- Monique Edwards as Cynthia
Main crew
Deborah Joy Levine (Executive Producer), Bill Finnegan, Bob Lowry, Nancy Miller, Sheldon Pinchuk, Gary A. Randall, Lori-Etta Taub, Oz Scott, Joe Ann Fogle, Michael Zinberg, Sibyl Gardner, Dayna North, Nicole Mirante, Annie Brunner, Valerie Woods, and Lois Johnson
Joy Levine is an American television writer and producer on Any Day Now, Dawson's Creek, Early Edition, Class Actions, The Division, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Beautiful People, Courthouse, and Strong Medicine.
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