TBT: DISCOVERY CHANNEL TO UPDATE 'NORTH AND SOUTH'; STAY TUNED REVISITS THE 1985 MINI-SERIES

Discovery Channel and Lionsgate are working on the cable network's next mini-series, North and South. Based on the trilogy of novels written by John Jakes in the 1980s, North and South is set in the era of the Civil War and focuses on the friendship between two friends as they fight on opposing sides. Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of Pennsylvania become best friends while attending the United States Military Academy at West Point prior to the Civil War. The Main family, northern factory owners, and the Hazard family, southern plantation owners, soon find themselves on opposing sides during the war and living with the repercussions after it ends. The stark differences between the two families in regards to slavery fuels the tension and ensuing battle between the Confederacy and the Union.

This wouldn't be the first time North and South has been adapted into a television production. Today's news arrives almost 30 years after ABC originally aired the first part of the trilogy in 1985. The follow-up sequel, Book II, was released a year after in 1986 and the final part, Book III, aired in 1994.

Multi-evening mini-series events were huge ratings winners for broadcast networks in the 1970s and 1980s. After the reception and critical acclaim that Roots received for its production, networks clamored at assembling mega events featuring film and television's biggest names at the time, as well as spotlighting rising Hollywood stars. Patrick Swayze was cast in the lead role of Orry Main, while Kirstie Alley took on the role of outspoken abolitionist Virgilia Hazard. For Swayze, North and South was his first major success and placed him on the map for his future film role in Dirty Dancing.

Numerous Hollywood screen legends also participated in the expanse production including Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly, Jean Simmons, Jimmy Stewart, Lloyd Bridges, Johnny Cash, Olivia de Havilland, David Carradine, and Peter O'Toole.

The events of North and South occurred from 1842-1866 and each episode was dedicated to specific period of time, as it related to the events of the Civil War. Due to the stellar writing, acting, and production values, the mini-series received many award nominations and was awarded an Emmy for its costuming. The trilogy was released as a complete collection on DVD in 2004. The mini-series also recently aired on Starz.

As a Throwback Thursday treat to the news of a new version, we have provided a snippet from the first episode of Book I.

Keep it locked to Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television.

IT'S THROWBACK THURSDAY! FLASHBACK TO ONE OF 'WHOOPI'S FLOPS!

It's Throwback Thursday on Stay Tuned and we've decided to take a look back at a show that premiered 10 years ago at the end of summer/beginning of fall. Out of the vaults we have unearthed the one-season, mostly forgotten sitcom Whoopi, starring who else but Whoopi Goldberg.

Whoopi hit the airwaves in September 2003 on NBC's ratings-challenged Tuesday nights. There was a lot of hype and promotion due to Whoopi Goldberg's star power, even though her movie career had been dwindling for several years. Goldberg was an executive producer on the show so she pretty much ran things on-screen and off, but the lack of chemistry in one of the weirdest cast ensembles didn't help the flat sitcom one bit.

Goldberg played Mavis Rae, a one-hit wonder songstress who used her earnings to purchase a hotel in downtown Manhattan. Mavis was a cigarette smoking, boozy, loudmouth who had no filter when it came to voicing her opinions, especially to her close circle of friends and family. Mavis' brother Courtney was the complete opposite of the hotelier -- conservative, politically correct, and a practical bore. The only thing that made him interesting was his white girlfriend Rita, who spoke jive and portrayed every black stereotype in the books. Rounding out the cast was Nasim and Jadwiga, hotel workers that assisted Mavis and were just about as one-dimensional as the cheap wallpaper on the set.

Most of the sitcom's plots were driven by the tension between Mavis and Rita, which became stale after a couple of episodes. To boost Whoopi's ratings and spark interest, the show began to utilize stunt casting and have special guest stars for several episodes. Patrick Swayze, Diahann Carroll, Celeste Holm, and Rue McClanahan were just a handful of the film and television stars brought on during the run of the show.

The episode we have found in the vault includes special guest star Patrick Swayze. In the episode, Swayze portrays Mavis' former choreographer Tony. Hmmm, a dancer...sound familiar? The show harkened back to Swayze's Dirty Dancing era, as well as the actors' Ghost days when planning this episode. Despite the blatant use of stunt casting, it cannot be denied that Goldberg and Swayze had chemistry on-screen. And their previous work history only increased the comfort level on the half-hour episode.

So relax and rewind to 2003 (Ok, technically 2004 but this show had slim pickings on decent episodes) for this episode of Whoopi.



Keep it locked to Stay Tuned for future updates on anything and everything television!