Generations

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.

I really miss this show! I used to watch this everyday along with Another World and Days of Our Lives. I would come home from school and watch it with my Grandmother. I do not remember a lot about the story lines now, it has been so long since it was taken off air, and I was in jr high when I started watching it) I do, however have 2 autographed pictures of cast members, Robert Torti (who played Det. Kyle Masters) and Kelly Rutherford (Stephanie "Sam" Whitmore). I think I might still have the last episode on VHS somewhere. Anyhow, I am glad to see that I am not the only one who remembers this show. (and a great one it was too!) Looking forward to see more of both Kelly Rutherford and Robert Torti.

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.

People have talked about 'Generations' and its problems over the years. I just wanted to point out the positives. One of them being that it was a major network's first honest attempt to make a soap opera with black characters in the forefront of the story. They were not maids or chauffeurs or domestic servants, but they were in business. The Marshalls had a successful ice cream business that was made with the sweat and blood of a black man, Henry Marshall, despite having a limited education.

Ruth Marshall, Henry's wife, grew up as the daughter of the maid of Rebecca Whitmore. She had a very difficult experience, but she turned that resentment and became an ambitious person. Ruth brought the Whitmore estate, and the problems she faced in doing it, which I thought was a very good storyline, which represented to her that she finally made it big. Vivian, Ruth's mother, was Rebecca's housekeeper who worked for her for years and remained friends ever since. Rebecca's oldest daughter, Laura, wasn't close to Ruth growing up and the feeling seemed mutual.

For me, I liked the way the writers introduced the viewers with voice-overs. Also I like how the characters' backgrounds were shown through the writing. I guess the problem was that people weren't' that excited about a family who owned an ice cream business That would have been more of a plot for a sitcom on primetime than a daytime soap opera. Plus some it its characters could have been more developed in its short run.

All in all, "Generations" is an example of black success on television, even though its overall aim didn't make an impact.

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.