Generations

First of all,"Generations" ran on NBC-TV from 1989-1991. Second,this soap opera was the first daytime serial to feature an all multiracial cast which centered mainly on the African-American characters and the first to do so on any major network. It was also to featured not only the first interracial relationships,but the first to show an interracial marriage. The whole storyline of Generations chronicles the sequences of the proud African-American family The Marshalls who owned one of the Chicago's exclusive Ice Cream empire and had the luxury house on Chicago's lakeshore resort. It was like any other soap,and it had the same twist and turns within the complexity of the characters. However,the show had several actors who went big after this show went off the air like Vivica Fox,Kristoff St. John,Kelly Rutherford,Joanelle Allen,and Christopher Duncan(basically all of the actors mention were making a name from themselves before they went big time)and not to mention a very young looking Halle Berry who only came on in the first season of the series.

After it was cancelled after 22 months,but it clearly excelled over its competition,but the sad thing was it was on the lowest-rated network(in daytime ratings anyway)since the network put it on a sorry time slot. However,after it was cancelled in 1991 it reappear on cable's BET network in all new episodes but it was yank off the airwaves again in 1993. Since it was seen only in prime time. After all,the show was making in the history by bringing African-Americans into the light.

The first and foremost show that made soap opera history.

I've grown up with 'generations'. I remember the days that my mother, my sister and especially me anxiously wait for the next episodes of 'generations'. We were usually coming together at one of us' home and watching the hottest chain of events. Even all the people from my family were curious about the new episodes, that had the only one meaning for me: Kyle Masters. My first love, whom all the friends of mine know.. The one that made me feel some kind a 'strange' once in a life time, at my 10. The one that made me feel that I fell in love, for the first time. The one that made me feel that there's something in life that people called 'love', something makes you feel like drunk or makes you feel like you're walking on air. Even though I ever know him or I will hardly ever have a chance to meet him in my life time... Although he is 20 years older than me... He was my precious platonic first love, who made me notice my feelings for the very first time.

i remember back in 1992, surfing the channels and i saw these African-American characters in a soap opera like setting and sat and watched it thru to the end. i found out the name of the show was called "Generations" on NBC. i was immediately hooked. it was the story of a well-to-do African-American family in the ice-cream business, the Marshalls, who resided on the North Shore of Chicago, i think around Evanston. i couldn't wait for the next day to see this groundbreaking soap with predominantly all African-American characters. i loved it! the plots and story lines were good, and some of the characters from "Generations" have moved on to other things...i.e., Kristoff St. John (Adam Marshall) went to CBS' "Young and the Restless", Vivica Fox gained stardom in movies like "Set it Off", "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", "Soul Food" (the movie); Rick Fits (Martin Jackson) i've seen in commercials, and who was the nemesis of Henry Marshall in the show, and Jonelle Allen (Doreen Jackson) i think went back to Broadway. anyways i was real upset when "Generations" was suddenly snatched off NBC, because it was just getting good. i believe BET tried to pick it up but failed, so i can only hope "Generations" will be put on DVD one day. i remember a part where Maia (Vivica Fox) and Adam (Kris St. John) were in bed together and Adam was singing to her the popular song by After 7 called "Ready or Not"....it was very sexy to me. FYI: Kristoff St. John's dad played in the 1971 version of "Shaft" as one of the militant brothers.

why is it that shows like "Generations" or other positive black shows are kicked off the air and silly shows like "The Parkers", continue with their buffoonery? for the life of me i just cant understand it...and i guess i never will.

Generations was a soap that featured primarily african americans and sported interacial relationships. it was cancelled in 22 months. i LOVED generations!. the theme song was awesome and the intro was touching with the montage of struggles overcome by african americans such as vietnam and civil rights. whew! 22 month and abc let it get away. i think it was abc. that is a station so notorious for sticking with bad shows till they can't stand it or getting rid of potention ones way too early. we can't watch generations for two years but we can sit thru Drew Carey forever. common abc! anyway...generation was awesome and culturally diverse and smart and sexy and richard roundtree was a doctor on it. the end.

First of all, "Generations" was an NBC soap, not ABC. Second of all, as a prime time series, the tenure of "The Drew Carey Show" has no bearing on the decisions which determine the life or death of a daytime program. No matter how much a viewer loves a show, the show will die if the ratings aren't high enough, and "Generations" ranked far behind every other daytime drama for its entire run.

The concentration on African-American characters was both what made the show unique and a large part of the problem with it. The creator of the show evidently went out of her way to portray the characters as normal, down-to-earth, middle-class Americans. Unfortunately, it is "abnormal" characters which spice up the drama. The main family on "Generations" were the owners of an ice cream parlor. Much of the day-to-day action was mundane, even banal compared to that on other soaps of the period.

Even if "Generations" had clearly excelled over its competition, it would likely have lived a short life; it was on the lowest-rated network (in daytime ratings anyway), it had an iffy time slot, and it was a cold half-hour launch, in a time when virtually all of the shows were an hour. So it was doomed to end up an admirable but regrettably short-lived effort.