Any Day Now - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from Any Day Now.

[Bastet]

What a nice blast from the past to see this show up as a forum.  It was one of my favorite shows when it was on, but I remember very little about it.  I wish it was available on DVD, or that Lifetime would air it again.

[Liamsmom617]

  I geeked out recently when I realized that Annie Potts and Renee Toussaint were appearing together on “The Fosters (Potts as Stef’s Mom, Toussaint as Lena’s). 

    Colyar was hot, and I loved how he and he alone always called M.E. “Mary Elizabeth”. 

[Bastet]

I tried The Fosters, liked it briefly, then hated it intensely and tuned out, but still made sure to catch their first episode together just to see them reunited.  They had great chemistry on this show, and it was still there in that one.

Young Collier (IMDb says Colliar, but I've always had it in my mind as Collier, and so he shall stay) was so cute, but adult Collier pissed me off a lot; I kept channeling Anthony Bouvier (Designing Women) and sneering "racist swine" at him.  It always seemed to be consistent with his characterization, though, so I have to give points for that - from what I remember, the main characters were well developed, and any bad acts by any of them made sense, rather than being plot-driven.

I remember being ticked off when they recast the actors playing the young versions of Rene and M.E. - but didn't they keep the kid playing young Collier?  (Holy crap, looking that up to confirm, I just now realized that young Collier is the same guy who played Brandon in Easy A - no wonder I liked him so much in that movie.)

That searching led me to this article from last year, looking back quite fondly on the series (including an interview with co-creator/executive producer Nancy Miller).  This show doesn't get its due when talking about TV's handling of racism and race relations.  From the article:
 

Quote

 

Any Day Now, which did garner some critical acclaim, avoids using white savior plots and offensive, stereotypical characters such as black maids or black criminals. It critiqued white tears and cultural appropriation long before they became subjects for viral social media memes. And the series duly zeroes in on the impact of racism, rather than on an individual's intent.

This is likely due to the make up of the writers' room that, unlike many others, was extremely diverse. At least 50 percent of the writers of Any Day Now were people of color—almost all of them African American. "In the writing room, we got into knockdown drag-out fights, but there was always love and respect and humor," Miller said. "We knew M.E. and Rene could say what they wanted to say to each other about race. They could be honest with each other. They had conversations that we can't seem to have these days in real life."

"Our mandate was to go as deep as we could and not shy away," said Valerie Woods, who started as first executive story editor and later became co-executive producer. "We never wanted to take the safe route. We were not trying to write palatable television."

And so, Any Day Now seamlessly executed themes such as internal and systemic racism, the privilege to remain silent in the face of oppression, and racism-related trauma—themes that remain prevalent in our society, but not so much on our television screens.

 

[ESS]

Does anyone have any favorite episodes/storylines?

[auntiemel]

Dang. I let myself get excited, thinking that someone had created this forum in celebration of this awesome show becoming available somewhere to purchase or stream. The wait continues!

[ESS]

37 minutes ago, auntiemel said:

Dang. I let myself get excited, thinking that someone had created this forum in celebration of this awesome show becoming available somewhere to purchase or stream. The wait continues!

sorry and yeah it's not available for streaming unfortunately, but I have the DVDs of it at least most of the episodes I'm missing 2 anyway they are up on youtube if you're interested.

[auntiemel]

35 minutes ago, ESS said:

sorry and yeah it's not available for streaming unfortunately, but I have the DVDs of it at least most of the episodes I'm missing 2 anyway they are up on youtube if you're interested.

I will check that out! Even at $2 an episode or whatever they charge, it would be well worth it!

[ESS]

6 hours ago, auntiemel said:

I will check that out! Even at $2 an episode or whatever they charge, it would be well worth it!

Well actually they are up for free no charge. Although I don't know if all of the episodes are still up.

[FairyDusted]

Dammit! We can't have nice things! This is another held up by the music I bet. I look all the time for this to pop up because I am grabbing it. 

Loved everything about this show. 

[Bastet]

I just watched the first two episodes on YouTube, and it came rushing back to me how much I loved this show.  Like I've said before, it does not get its due in most discussion of TV's handling of race.  I wish it would pop up on a streaming service and find a whole new audience.

I appreciate that by the end of the first episode, we know the basics of why their friendship ended, and by the end of the second, we know that M.E.'s parents came to adore Renee -- the point is in seeing how everyone got from point A to point B, so there's no need to hide the ball.

I like this from the start of the second episode, when they're meeting up for an early-morning walk, and Renee worries what will happen if they just don't like each other anymore:

Well, let's see.  Who do you believe: O.J. Simpson or Marcia Clark?
Marcia Clark, even though she blew it.
Bill Clinton or Monica Lewinsky?
Neither.
Did you see Titanic?
Ugh, no.
We're going to do just fine.

[Bastet]

I watched season one (minus one episode which wasn't uploaded), and appreciate how real all the characters were allowed to be - which means they have flaws, and even say downright ugly things at times.  I remembered how angry I frequently was with Colliar, but had forgotten how much M.E. had me yelling at the TV. 

Actually, I probably reacted differently back then; as a liberal woman, his sexist attitudes and overt racial biases were obvious to me, but as a young and white liberal woman, M.E.'s latent racial prejudices co-existing with her deep love for Renee were almost certainly not as clear to me then as they are with 20 more years of life experience and listening to others speak their truth under my belt.

And that's one of the things the show is so great at - showing how people look at things in very different ways based on their experiences, and how race and gender have tremendous impact on how people experience life, regardless of their other similarities.  And a good half the time that's not explicitly pointed out by another character - it's just an honest presentation of how these characters receive and react to events, and the differences are sometimes just there for us to pick up on or not.  It's a brilliant example of how important it is to have racial and gender diversity in the writers' room, because when there is, this realism is what results.

This show is fantastic, and I'm greatly enjoying revisiting it, even with the spotty audio/video quality of the uploads and hope I'm able to find most episodes going forward.  A DVD release is unlikely after all this time, but I sure wish a streaming service would pick this up - so the original audience could revisit it and a whole new audience could join in, everyone looking at how it was simultaneously a product of its time and very much ahead of it.

[Bastet]

I recently got back into my re-watch of this, and am about halfway through season two.  I had forgotten what a realistically annoying teenager Kelly is.  She's totally selfish, and she's such a dumbass, changing her personality and interests every time a new boy comes along.  She's utterly infuriating, but she's real.

Also, the two-part "It's Not About the Butter" is great, but thoroughly depressing to watch, because not one goddamned thing has changed in the 21 years since it aired.

[Bastet]

I just read this interview with Lorraine Toussaint from early 2017, in which she said the various entities were arguing about who owns the rights to this show (and thus who could sell it to a streaming service, syndicator, etc.).  Boo. 

It's a good interview; here's the part about Any Day Now:
 

Quote

 

Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine) You've had such a storied career, especially on television. I have to say that Any Day Now is one of my all-time favorite shows.

Lorraine Toussaint: Mine, too. In fact, I was in New York last weekend and stayed at Annie’s apartment. In hindsight, I’ve got to tell you, Nancy Miller, the creator, is my hero. But, that show is so relevant today. It’s like a goldmine that Lifetime and whomever else that owns it has and are just sitting on it for legal reasons because they’re quarreling amongst each other as to who owns it and who can franchise it. It’s so sad.

I’m not saying this from an egotistical point of view, but the world needs it now. The world needs Any Day Now now because black lives matter. We are deeply embroiled in racial issues and desperately looking for areas and ways in which to dialogue. I think it is socially irresponsible of whomever it is that is holding on to this show. It’s socially irresponsible of them to do so. It is needed.

Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine) Set in the South, the show bravely tackled discussions about civil rights, religious conflicts, homosexuality, feminism, the Vietnam War, and many other controversial subjects. It was right on target.

Lorraine Toussaint: Annie and I would read those scripts and go, “Oh, my God!” Talk about collaborative. It’s one of my proudest shows because of Nancy Miller. As the voice of the black perspective on that show, I took it upon myself to push that envelope as far as we could push it because my intention was to out the black community for the purpose of transparency. If everybody is sitting in the dark in their own little corners, nobody gets to see anybody else. Nobody gets to be brave enough to ask the difficult questions without feeling stupid. Most people aren’t malicious. Most people are just afraid of being embarrassed (laughs).

 

And I'm going to link to an article from that same time period that I posted a couple of years ago about just how damn revolutionary this show was and how it needs to be watched again today.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Bastet

[blondiec0332]

I also watched a couple episodes on Youtube and then got sidetracked and moved onto other shows but I really need to start watching them again.

I somehow missed the early seasons when it originally aired on Lifetime but got caught up when they were briefly in syndication during the day. Every day at 3pm I made sure to be home or taped it.

I don't buy DVDs any more but if this was released I would pay whatever the amount.  If it was on Prime to buy episodes I would pay.  I loved this show so much.  And as mentioned above the topics on this show are even more relevant today.

[DXD526]

Beginning on Monday, Start TV will be airing the show daily at 10 a.m.

[ESS]

6 hours ago, DXD526 said:

Beginning on Monday, Start TV will be airing the show daily at 10 a.m.

ugh if only I had that! Thanks for the news though.

[Bastet]

How exciting that this has finally been picked up in syndication!  I don't get StartTV, either (which is really starting to irk me, because this is the third or fourth show I love to air on it; time for a strongly-worded email to Dish about is pitiful offering of over-the-air channels), but I'll check the schedule and, once its airings catch up to where I left off in my re-watch, I'll watch in sync.  Hell, maybe I'll start over and watch in sync.  Hopefully we can get some discussion going.

I suspect the audience for that network skews older, but it would be wonderful if young folks discovered the show; I think they'd be quite surprised to see what was being discussed and presented on this show back in 1998-2002.

[Dr.OO7]

I appreciate the episode where colorism was addressed, mostly because I can count on one hand the number of times it has been. It was brave to show that even with all the prejudice she's encountered, Renee could still display it herself, given her attitude towards her light-skinned campaign manager. It was gutsy to demonstrate that that it can happen both ways.

[Bastet]

On 8/31/2020 at 5:57 PM, Camille said:

I appreciate the episode where colorism was addressed, mostly because I can count on one hand the number of times it has been. It was brave to show that even with all the prejudice she's encountered, Renee could still display it herself, given her attitude towards her light-skinned campaign manager. It was gutsy to demonstrate that that it can happen both ways.

Interestingly, one of the few other times I've seen colorism addressed on TV also featured Lorraine Toussaint - her first appearance as Lena's mom on The Fosters included a brutally real conversation between mother and bi-racial daughter about their differing experiences as Black women.

(That show was way too teen soap for me and I quickly gave it up, but I made sure to watch the episodes with Lorraine Toussaint and Annie Potts [Potts played Stef's mom].)

[shapeshifter]

I have Start TV and have caught 2 episodes so far. 
⭐ ⭐  ⭐  ⭐ 

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by shapeshifter

[shapeshifter]

Episode 3.4 "The Dust of Life" just aired, in which a "Vietnamese man appears in Birmingham and claims that M.E.'s brother is his father."

Having written letters every day for almost 2 years to my only high school boyfriend while he was in training and then in Vietnam, I was very annoyed at actor Ian Bohen for not cutting his hair to look as if it had been recently shaved in the scenes when he came back from boot camp.
IMDb does not show that he had another project at that time, but I suppose he might have needed the hair for auditions, and maybe TPTB for Any Day Now needed his hair to be longer for the other 2 appearances listed --I don't know yet. This is still my first viewing and I'm trying not to be spoiled.

[rmcrae]

Just stumbled across the show last week on Start TV while channel surfing and it was a real doozy. Part 1 of It's Not About the Butter. Like another poster said, the second part was even more depressing. I almost forgot just how evil and vile Uncle Johnny was. I loved M.E.'s response to the news of his passing and her revenge at his funeral. 😁

I'd love to see the cast come back for a virtual reunion.

[rmcrae]

Found some catch up interviews with Olivia Clare Friedman (Kelly) and Shari Dyon Perry (the original young Rene) on Start TV's website:

https://www.starttv.com/catching-up-with-olivia-clare-friedman-from-any-day-now.

https://www.starttv.com/catching-up-with-shari-dyon-perry-from-any-day-now.

I'd like to see what Mae Middleton aka the original M.E. has been up to. Her last role was in 2003's The Fighting Temptations with Beyonce and Cuba Gooding Jr.

[rmcrae]

Just a heads up to anyone who hasn't seen it, the episode "Children Are the Most Important Thing" when the O'Brien's are informed of Johnny's death will air tomorrow. I've been binge watching the series on YouTube, but couldn't find that particular episode. 

ETA: Damn that incorrect episode guide! The episode "What If?" aired instead. Hopefully "Children Are the Most Important Thing" airs tomorrow (Sunday).

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by rmcrae

[Bastet]

On 7/16/2021 at 6:10 PM, rmcrae said:

Just a heads up to anyone who hasn't seen it, the episode "Children Are the Most Important Thing" when the O'Brien's are informed of Johnny's death will air tomorrow. I've been binge watching the series on YouTube, but couldn't find that particular episode. 

ETA: Damn that incorrect episode guide! The episode "What If?" aired instead. Hopefully "Children Are the Most Important Thing" airs tomorrow (Sunday).

It airs at 7:00 a.m. here, which is "the middle of the night" to me, but it happened to coincide with one of my periods of being awake for a while before being able to fall back asleep, so I watched this episode.  (I stalled out in my re-watch in season two a while ago, but since you noted this wasn't available on YouTube - where I'd been watching - I figured I'd give it a look.)

Poor M.E.  I mean, obviously poor Johnny, and my sympathy to the entire family, but he was the only one in that house who understood and accepted her.

The actor playing the young version of Teresa is terrible.  I looked her up on IMDb, and she only has four credits, with this being her last one.

I had forgotten Kelly married Ajoni.  (I remembered the pregnancy, but not the marriage aspect of carrying on the family tradition.)  I love how angry M.E. is about Collier's racism; it's nothing new, but she really thought his love for his daughter would be stronger.  Like when her asshole dad finally invited Rene into the house after Johnny's funeral, knowing that Mary Elizabeth needed her.

And all the stuff about M.E. driving Rene absolutely crazy - and knowing it - while staying with her was great.  I love Rene saying she has a family, M.E.'s - M.E. is crashing in her house, Collier is confiding in her, Kelly has half her silverware.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Bastet

[rmcrae]

43 minutes ago, Bastet said:

It airs at 7:00 a.m. here, which is "the middle of the night" to me, but it happened to coincide with one of my periods of being awake for a while before being able to fall back asleep, so I watched this episode.  (I stalled out in my re-watch in season two a while ago, but since you noted this wasn't available on YouTube - where I'd been watching - I figured I'd give it a look.)

Poor M.E.  I mean, obviously poor Johnny, and my sympathy to the entire family, but he was the only one in that house who understood and accepted her.

The actor playing the young version of Teresa is terrible.  I looked her up on IMDb, and she only has four credits, with this being her last one.

I had forgotten Kelly married Ajoni.  (I remembered the pregnancy, but not the marriage aspect of carrying on the family tradition.)  I love how angry M.E. is about Collier's racism; it's nothing new, but she really thought his love for his daughter would be stronger.  Like when her asshole dad finally invited Rene into the house after Johnny's funeral, knowing that Mary Elizabeth needed her.

And all the stuff about M.E. driving Rene absolutely crazy - and knowing it - while staying with her was great.  I love Rene saying she has a family, M.E.'s - M.E. is crashing in her house, Collier is confiding in her, Kelly daughter has half her silverware.

Glad you caught the episode. I used to watch the reruns on Lifetime back in the day, but had no recollection of this episode so it was pretty much new to me. 

Thank goodness M.E. had both Johnny and Grandma Otis to love and accept her. I shudder to think how she would've turned out with just her parents (who were loving but deeply flawed and racist) and Teresa. And worst of all, Uncle Jimmy. 😳

Speaking of which, I cannot wait until the episode where he dies come up. Usually I'd find merriment over someone's passing incredibly insensitive, but I'd be kicking my legs up in glee too if I'd been M.E. That man was pure evil and, as M.E. said to Rene after her brief reunion in his house, "marinated in hate." I know he busted hell wide open when he croaked. 😈

I was glad to see M.E.'s dad drop the "no coloreds in the house" BS and invite Rene in to be there for her. I'll never forget the episode when Rene's mother came over to the house to properly thank M.E.'s mom for rushing Rene to the hospital and M.E.'s mother wouldn't even shake her hand or treat her like a fellow human being. Shameful.

Edited July 18, 2021 by rmcrae

[Bastet]

Even though I'd forgotten Kelly married Ajoni (she initially said it would be making another mistake, and I somehow blanked out on her changing her mind), I remember so clearly the episode where she told M.E. she was pregnant.

I like the totally raw and sometimes ugly way M.E. was written.  She kept flashing back to her mother's reaction, and she wanted to do better, but she was just so angry; her and Collier's parents had told them absolutely nothing, but they'd talked to Kelly about sex until they were blue in the face and she still made a stupid choice.  M.E. knew better than anyone how scared Kelly was, how hard this was going to be, and how it was going to limit her life, and that fear for her daughter's future came out as anger.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Bastet

[rmcrae]

On 7/18/2021 at 5:55 PM, Bastet said:

Even though I'd forgotten Kelly married Ajoni (she initially said it would be making another mistake, and I somehow blanked out on her changing her mind), I remember so clearly the episode where she told M.E. she was pregnant.

I like the totally raw and sometimes ugly way M.E. was written.  She kept flashing back to her mother's reaction, and she wanted to do better, but she was just so angry; her and Collier's parents had told them absolutely nothing, but they'd talked to Kelly about sex until they were blue in the face and she still made a stupid choice.  M.E. knew better than anyone how scared Kelly was, how hard this was going to be, and how it was going to limit her life, and that fear for her daughter's future came out as anger.

As painful as that particular episode "It's a Mother Daughter Thing" was, it's one of my favorites. That scene where Kelly finally blurts out that she's pregnant and M.E. slaps then hugs her gets me every time. And it hurt seeing Collier alternate between ignoring Kelly and making cutting remarks about her pregnancy (and exposing his own racism in regards to Ajoni being the father). Speaking of Kelly and Ajoni, it'd be interesting to see what their lives would be like now and if they'd still be together. 

[Queena]

I finally found a streaming service with Start TV. They're running Any Day Now guys! After all of these years our wish has come true. They've just started over from episode 1 today, Thursday November 4th. Here's the Start Tv website. I hope that you guys can join me during this re-watch. 

https://www.starttv.com/

[ESS]

38 minutes ago, Queena said:

I finally found a streaming service with Start TV. They're running Any Day Now guys! After all of these years our wish has come true. They've just started over from episode 1 today, Thursday November 4th. Here's the Start Tv website. I hope that you guys can join me during this re-watch. 

https://www.starttv.com/

Unfortunately I can't watch and I'd love too again, but I'm glad you can though. 😢 ☹️

[Bastet]

I've been re-watching this recently, and realizing there's a lot from season four I don't remember (I'm up through episode six).  I even forgot about the Simms house being destroyed by a tornado!  I know I watched it all the way through, but maybe I got so ticked about recasting the girls I didn't watch it as faithfully.  I found it weird they recast with older girls because they wanted to tell high school stories, but kept the young Collier actor who still looked like he was about eight years old.

Also, Renee and M.E. both get pretty obnoxious in high school (as kids do at that age), and that would have been more tolerable if they were the same girls we already adored.  Instead they're just these two new brats on the screen.

Another way this show was groundbreaking was that 30 percent of its episodes were directed by women.  That's not true of almost all shows on TV today, never mind back then!  And the overwhelming majority of the writers were women.  (And, of course, it was created by two women.)  That must have been a great set to work on.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Bastet

[Bastet]

Oh gods, it's all coming back to me how much I hated Turk.  Maybe he's why I apparently repressed so much of my memory of season four.

Also, since I was not a lawyer when this originally aired, I didn't notice all the things they - like all TV shows - got wrong about Rene's job.  Thankfully, this time around it's mostly cracking me up more than distracting me.  

I miss the old office, but I like that Joe is working for her now.

[Bastet]

I about rolled my eyes out of my head when the college gave M.E. an honorary degree so they could hire her to teach a Sociology class on race relations.  And I still can't stand Turk, but I liked the finale well enough.  Kelly and Ajoni's we're moving to Atlanta, no we're not was pretty rushed, but I knew they were going to stay; they rely way too much on both sets of parents to be able to live independently.  But there's no way that relationship lasts, so I suspect Ajoni would wind up resentful that he didn't go to Morehouse.  Kelly only wanted to go to Spelman to follow him, so I don't think she'd care as much about going to a local college.

Something I noticed in this re-watch is that, while I was sometimes on M.E.'s side and sometimes on Rene's when they fought as kids, when they fought as adults I was always on Rene's side.  M.E. doesn't listen!  Like when pretty much everyone in the world painstakingly explained to her that the baby is Black, because that's how he'll be seen, she just kept demanding the birth certificate be changed.  I love that even Collier told her, hey, when you were on me about what an ass I was being about Ajoni, you told me I was going to have a Black grandson.

[Kimmmmmm]

Can't stand M.E. or Collier (adult versions), but still love the show, even on repeated watchings.

[DXD526]

Start TV has begun doing show marathons on Sundays, and tomorrow will feature Any Day Now.

[januaryman]

Hopefully they'll work out the issues and eventually the unmuted episodes will be available to stream.

[DXD526]

The only episodes Start TV hasn't been showing is a two-parter that was the last two eps of S3, 'It's Not Just a Word.' As is evident from the title, it's all about the n-word. In fact, 'n-word' must have just been coming into common usage, because that itself is debated, with Rene not seeming to be a big fan. 

When Start began running this show, they obviously made the decision that they would bleep the n-word. Since in these two eps it's said over and over, they probably figured it's pointless to air something where half of it is bleeped. It's kind of shocking how common the n-word still was on TV in the late 90s; I don't remember it being so ubiquitous on this show, but it is. ME's vile Uncle Jimmy alone utters it at least once every time he appears. I don't remember being shocked by that at the time. It was apparently still considered normal. 

'It's Not Just a Word' is on the toob of U, and is highly recommended for fans who haven't seen it. It fills in some blanks, like Kelly having her baby, and the demise of Jimmy, and how ME manages to get the last word on their relationship.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, DXD526 said:

The only episodes Start TV hasn't been showing is a two-parter that was the last two eps of S3, 'It's Not Just a Word.' As is evident from the title, it's all about the n-word.

FWIW, Start TV did air those episodes in 2020. 

A quick Google doesn't reveal any discussion about the decision, which suggests (to me) that it was pulled to quash social media ugliness.

Edited April 29 by shapeshifter