Miracle
When I first wrote the header of the Emmy page I included the word miraculous. It seemed to me it was miracle that the actress Tyne Daly was given an Emmy for her work in Christy. It was intended to be a movie by MGM but it was shelved. As you may have already read the executive producer Ken Wales, finally succeeded in getting the rights from MGM after many years. Ken Wales had to put his life savings and mortgaged his home for the project. At the time CBS was looking for more family oriented television that would bring families together in front of the TV.
It’s my understanding that at the time ‘the powers that be’ at CBS were in the process of changing hands and Christy snook by. Christy obviously has some religious tones and talks about God. But the series really doesn’t preach at you. For the most part it was based on a true story and took place in the ‘Bible belt’ of the United States. Not too far off, the show ‘Touched by an Angel’ premiered but it didn’t come off as a genuine story. It was essentially a theme of ‘investigations’ as was not based on true events. The series never won an Emmy like Christy. Christy included several extras and actors from the area of Tennessee and boasted genuine accents. It’s production was on-location only an hour from the actual mission in Del Rio, Tennessee.
I was surprised to discover that there is a feature called ‘The Miracle of Christy’. It was only published on VHS. It goes in depth of behind the scenes, with interviews of the cast and crew. It’s hosted by the man who put his heart, money, belief and love of the story, Ken Wales. You can watch it here: The Miracle of Christy