I 40 Paradise
Encyclopedia
I 40 Paradise was a 30 minute daily cable TV sitcom on the Nashville Network. Running from 1983 to about 1986, it made television history by becoming the first sitcom to produce an entire episode in a single day. Previous to this, it took an entire week to produce a 30 minute sitcom.
I 40 Paradise was set in a truckstop/restaurant/tavern on Interstate 40
between Knoxville and Nashville
in a small town, Crab Orchard
, Tennessee. The main characters included "LuAnn Bledsoe", the owner of the Paradise, played by Barbara George; "Sonny Rollins", the goofy, "Goober" style mechanic, played by Bruce Carnahan; "Stogie" the bartender, played by John Ribble; "Georgia", the wannabe-country-music-singer-who-sang-off-key waitress, played by Trish Dougherty; "Buck", the house band leader and resident country music singer, played by Jack Crook; "Randy", Buck's kid brother, a multi-talented singer and musician, played by Lionel Cartwright; "Melody Dawn Rainey", the girl singer, played by Kelli Warren, and "Little Jake", the adorable boy-next-door, played by Jack Victor Miller. A character named "Lathrop" was also featured on the series.
Country music stars would drop in on their way to Nashville and perform a couple of music numbers on each episode. Many Grand Ole Opry
Stars performed on this show, including Reba McIntire, Little Jimmy Dickens
, Porter Wagoner
, Jerry Clower
, and many others. The late great Roy Rogers
, star of film and television, also appeared in two episodes.
Some of the participants went on to greater fame. Writer J. R. Miller wrote 96 episodes of the 1/2 hour show, including the first. Miller later wrote for the famous comedy show, Hee-Haw. Lionel Cartwright went on to be a famous and successful country music star.
I 40 Paradise was set in a truckstop/restaurant/tavern on Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
between Knoxville and Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in a small town, Crab Orchard
Crab Orchard, Tennessee
Crab Orchard is a city in Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 838 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Crab Orchard is located at . The town is situated atop the Cumberland Plateau in a gap amidst the Crab Orchard Mountains, a sub-range of the Cumberland Mountains...
, Tennessee. The main characters included "LuAnn Bledsoe", the owner of the Paradise, played by Barbara George; "Sonny Rollins", the goofy, "Goober" style mechanic, played by Bruce Carnahan; "Stogie" the bartender, played by John Ribble; "Georgia", the wannabe-country-music-singer-who-sang-off-key waitress, played by Trish Dougherty; "Buck", the house band leader and resident country music singer, played by Jack Crook; "Randy", Buck's kid brother, a multi-talented singer and musician, played by Lionel Cartwright; "Melody Dawn Rainey", the girl singer, played by Kelli Warren, and "Little Jake", the adorable boy-next-door, played by Jack Victor Miller. A character named "Lathrop" was also featured on the series.
Country music stars would drop in on their way to Nashville and perform a couple of music numbers on each episode. Many Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
Stars performed on this show, including Reba McIntire, Little Jimmy Dickens
Little Jimmy Dickens
James Cecil Dickens , better known as Little Jimmy Dickens, is an American country music singer famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size, 4'11" , and his rhinestone-studded outfits...
, Porter Wagoner
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
, Jerry Clower
Jerry Clower
Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower was a popular country comedian best known for his stories of the rural South. He was often nicknamed "The Mouth of the South", although this title has also been used for other individuals.Clower began a 2-year stint in the Navy immediately after graduating high school...
, and many others. The late great Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
, star of film and television, also appeared in two episodes.
Some of the participants went on to greater fame. Writer J. R. Miller wrote 96 episodes of the 1/2 hour show, including the first. Miller later wrote for the famous comedy show, Hee-Haw. Lionel Cartwright went on to be a famous and successful country music star.