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Television is often considered a medium that suffices to showcase actors and actresses who can not make it on the big screen and/or after they have seen their hey-day! Not so with the cast of I'll Fly Away, whose brilliant characterizations brought to life a time when change was coming for the better, but with it a whirlwind of emotions that swept up its populace in a way in which no other time has done since. The beautifully painted portraits were a study the human condition, from Forrest to Lily, and down thru the ranks of the Bedford children. To the great discredit of television, this series was cancelled when there was so much that was important left to say! This was a landmark series that should be brought to viewers on DVD if for no other reason than to afford it another opportunity to speak its solid values to those who have never seen it, and speak them again to those of us anxious to re-hear!~

Every week I check the new DVD releases with hopes of seeing "I'll Fly Away." It's amazing what's available while "I'll Fly Away" sits on a shelf. The above comment describes it perfectly. It's history and entertainment. It could be used in schools when discussing the civil rights movement. In my opinion it's the best TV ever. PLEASE release this on DVD and market it so people watch it. This is an important series that should be seen. I almost bought this on line but something didn't seem right since I knew it not to be available. I called the company selling it and a person on the phone actually told me the quality is not too good and that it was recorded from T.V. Well, I did the same thing on VHS. I want high quality, complete set on DVD.

Respectfully, I disagree with the one comment posted so far.

My wife and I discovered this series when it was on PBS. As stated, we are amazed that something this good was originally on commercial TV. Is it totally unrealistic that a maid would ultimately be that outspoken, and that a Southern white lawyer could slowly have his eyes opened? Maybe. But I think the key is that everything developed slowly, over time. There were no unrealistically sudden conversions.

Among the other things that impressed us: There were no easy answers; every episode, it seems, almost painfully explored issues with complexity. If you want easy answers, this is not the series for you.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" was certainly a classic (although, as my 85 year-old father has observed, Gregory Peck played the same essential character in virtually every movie.) And it may be true that its characterization was true of the vast majority of even well-meaning southern whites. But I accept the possibility that, even in that time, at least one person of color "pushed the envelope". And that at least one Southern white of good heart found himself or herself slowly transformed.

If you can accept this, admire this series for its excellent performances and refusal to take the easy way out in any episode.

The quick summary is "To Kill a Mockingbird" made into a TV series, but this show is so much more. It's more sophisticated than Mockingbird in terms of moral ambiguity, political realities, and human relations. The black characters aren't merely background or props to test the virtue of the white characters as they are in so many well-meaning stories about race; They are fully fleshed-out people, with their own stories. Sam Watterson's character, unlike Atticus Finch, is flawed, human. He compromises,stumbles, fails on occasion, and this makes his struggles and progress all the more affecting. Some might complain that Regina Taylor's maid character is perhaps too noble, too perfect, but her dignity under trying circumstances moved me to tears almost every episode. The acting, writing, direction is consistently excellent. When will this landmark series be given the DVD box set it deserves?

"I'll Fly Away" was and always will be my favorite show. Intelligent, well written, and beautifully acted, the show was much more than prime time entertainment and I was absolutely heartbroken when it was cancelled. I was ten when the series premiered, and my mother and I would watch it (and cry) every week. Though it has been years since I have seen an episode, I still never fail to feel a huge lump in the back of my throat at the thoughts of Lily registering to vote, or John Morgan telling his friends that his mother is a famous cowgirl. Each episode was like a small Horton Foote play, and to watch its characters grow over a long period of time was the show's greatest asset.

Though an enormous critical success, I find it tragic that the show has become such a forgotten treasure. In today's cynical world of post-O.J. Simpson, I will always remember "I'll Fly Away" for its shear hope, optimism, and unabashed honesty.

It is high time for this show to be brought back for reruns!!!

Forrest Bedford is an extremely flawed and conflicted character, and his relationship with Lily is deeply strained. Morally, he understands that segregation is wrong and that integration is inevitable, however he worries about the changes Civil Rights will bring as he is bound up with tradition. He beautifully illustrates the mindset of several white southerners as his dilemma is representative of the struggle of tradition vs. change that STILL plagues the modern south.