Good News (also known as The Good News) is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from August 25, 1997, to May 19, 1998. The series was the final television series produced by MTM Enterprises, which was folded into 20th Century Fox Television,[1] in 1997 (MTM's then-remaining programs, Good News and The Pretender (1996–2000), were produced by 20th Century Fox Television for the rest of their runs).
Synopsis
The series focused on David Randolph (David Ramsey), a young acting pastor designated to Compton, California's African American Church of Life. Initially, the majority of the church's members balk at the young pastor's new position and resent him replacing their former pastor. With the help of the church's secretary, Vera Hudson (Rose Jackson Moye), Randolph attempts to reunite the church and help his congregation.[2][3]
Other cast members included Roz Ryan as Hattie, the church's cook, Tracey Cherelle Jones as the church's youth director, Guy Torry as a choir member and janitor.[2]
Pastor Randolph arrives at his new church, only to find that the ministers & staff are quite upset that their previous pastor had chosen an outsider to be his replacement, and all have decided to quit and form their own church and take half the congregation with them. Even the cute church secretary has to quit because of her mom.
Pastor Randolph decides its time to remove the gang graffiti from the walls outside the church. This angers the gang members and strikes fear into the hearts of the church congregation. Now the pastor has to find a way to mend fences, stand up for his faith, and bring everyone together in peace, love and harmony.
Pastor Randolph loses one of his members and has to prepare for preaching his first funeral. A stuttering man gets "in the Spirit" during the funeral and begins to speak fluently for the first time.
Pastor Randolph must play Solomon when his parishioners square off over their rights to adopt Joey (Evijan Watson), a four-year-old found abandoned in the church.
Pastor Randolph tries to convince young bride-to-be Cynthia Porter to reconcile with her estranged father before her wedding and to include him in the ceremony. Cynthia is ashamed of her father because he is a little person. Meanwhile, Mr Porter makes a big jump for Mrs Dixon.
Pastor Randolph needs a root canal, but his dentist and his bride-to-be are having problems in their relationship because of her past, and he is in no condition to perform the root canal. Pastor Randolph needs to hurry up and patch their relationship back up, so his can get his painful tooth problem fixed.
The church choir has a hard time completing the telethon they agreed to sing in. They try to finish it in order to receive the money that's been promised to them.
One of Pastor Randolph's old girlfriends comes to town and attempts to seduce him. However, Pastor Randolph is reluctant to respond to her advances because it would make his image look bad.
Rev. Randolph realizes his true calling when a romantic moment with Joanne (Tanya Boyd) is interrupted by a suicidal man who's perched on the ledge of her suite.
The Christmas pageant is fouled up when Joey's duck eats one of Mrs. Dixon's earrings. Meanwhile, a snowstorm reminds Pastor Randolph of home at the holidays.
The church decides to put on a talent show to raise money for the children's summer camp, bringing together a collection of some strange talents from the congregation.