The Temptations | |
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Screenplay by | Robert Johnson Kevin Arkadie |
Directed by | Allan Arkush |
Starring | Charles Malik Whitfield D.B. Woodside Terron Brooks Christian Payton Leon Tina Lifford Jenifer Lewis Gina Ravera Obba Babatundé J. August Richards Vanessa Bell Calloway Christopher Reid Mel Jackson Smokey Robinson Alan Rosenberg Bianca Lawson |
Narrated by | Charles Malik Whitfield |
Theme music composer | Smokey Robinson |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 2 |
Production | |
Producers | Jay Benson Otis Williams Shelly Berger |
Cinematography | Jamie Anderson |
Editors | John Duffy Neil Mandelberg |
Running time | 177 minutes |
Production companies | de Passe Entertainment Hallmark Entertainment Babelsberg International Film Produktion |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | November 1 – November 2, 1998 |
The Temptations is a four-hour television miniseries broadcast in two-hour halves on NBC, based upon the history of one of Motown's longest-lived acts, The Temptations. Executive produced by former Motown executive Suzanne de Passe, produced by Otis Williams and Temptations manager Shelley Berger, and based upon Williams’ Temptations autobiography, the miniseries was originally broadcast on November 1 and November 2, 1998. It was filmed on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1998. Allan Arkush directed the miniseries.
The miniseries was based upon Otis Williams' book; as such, it came from his perspective: the focus of the story tended to be on Williams and Melvin Franklin, with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks seen as antagonists for much of the second half (although Kendricks was still given a more sympathetic portrayal than Ruffin). Dennis Edwards was not heavily focused upon, nor was much said of the problems he later had with Otis Williams. Nevertheless, the miniseries gave a general overview of both the history of the group and that of Motown, and, thanks to de Passe's connection, the film was able to use authentic props and locations.
A number of liberties were taken with factual events for dramatization purposes:
As a result, Otis Williams and the producers would be sued by several people portrayed in the film and their families, notably Melvin Franklin's mother and the children and estate of David Ruffin.
Although the movie is set mostly in Detroit and Los Angeles, the producers chose to shoot the film in Pittsburgh, presumably to take advantage of the many different architectural and geographical looks that Pittsburgh offers. de Passe Entertainment had, some six years earlier, shot The Jacksons: An American Dream in Pittsburgh as well.
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(August 2017) |
In 1958, Otis Williams, at the time a teen, is running to meet his friend Elbridge "Al" Bryant at a musical performance by The Cadillacs, where Otis and the singer lock eyes, which he credits as the moment he devoted his life to music. After the concert, Otis and Al go to a barber where they get the Tony Curtis and DA-style process. Later, Otis arrives home for dinner, where his stepfather is angered by his hairstyle and pressures him to go to work at the assembly line instead of going into music, which Otis heatedly rejects. Six months later, Otis, Al and two new band members, are singing on a street corner when they see another group of singers, the Voicemasters, across the street, and are impressed by one singer's bass voice type. The next day after school, Otis spots the singer leaving to walk home, and decides to follow him. The singer sees Otis and begins to run away, thinking him to be a gang member. Otis eventually catches him and introduces himself, finding out that the singer's name is Melvin Franklin, and invites him to join his group, Otis Williams & the Siberians. Melvin agrees on the condition that his mother approves. After talking to her, Otis convinces Melvin's mother to let him join.
The group are practicing their singing after school one day when they notice a group of girls watching them sing. Upon seeing this, the group follows them while singing "Earth Angel". The girls go their separate ways until one girl, Josephine, remains, and Otis asks her out on a date. The next Saturday, the group are making out with the girls when they hear for their group to come to the radio station, and hastily drive to the station, which turns out to be a run-down apartment. Johnnie May Matthews, the owner of the pirate radio studio in the basement, declares herself their new manager and producer, and also changes their name to Otis Williams and the Distants. In April 1960, the group are waiting to perform at a party where they meet Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, singers for The Primes, Diana Ross, lead singer for the Primettes, Smokey Robinson, lead singer of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, and Berry Gordy, founder and owner of Motown Records. Al arrives late at the party and shows hostility towards Eddie and Paul, while hitting on Diana. The Primes and Primettes perform and the Distants are impressed by their sound. After they perform, Otis and Melvin see Berry Gordy entering the bathroom and follow him. After some talking, Berry gives them a business card to contact him later on. Once the party ends, Johnnie shows up in a new car, bought with the money earned from their record, while also showing off rolls of money. Awestruck, they ask about when they get paid, which angers Johnnie and she immediately fires them, kicks them out of the car and drives away. Al and two other members promptly quit the group.
Shortly after, Melvin approaches Otis and tells him that Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams recently left their own group and are interested in joining them. Otis is reluctant, but ultimately accepts when Al rejoins the group. With this new line-up, they rename themselves the Elgins. Paul teaches them how to dance and becomes their unofficial choreographer, while Eddie becomes their falsetto singer. In March 1961, Otis enters Motown Studios and meets up with Berry Gordy. After the meeting, Otis finds the others waiting outside for an answer. He informs them that Berry will sign them if they can come up with a better group name. After sitting outside the studio for hours waiting to be called in and thinking up a new name, a secretary named Martha Reeves finds them outside and calls them in to meet Berry. When they get to Berry, he asks them for their name, to which Otis replies "The Temptations".
Berry likes the name and agrees to hear them sing. After hearing them perform "Oh Mother of Mine" (which would become their debut single for Motown) Berry enthusiastically signs them under the Motown label. The group are now in high spirits and make a pact to never leave the group. Otis arrives home to find out that Josephine is pregnant, and although he is shocked, he promises to take responsibility. In a voiceover, Otis explains that he and Josephine were married shortly after and later gave birth to their son, Lamont. While making moderately successful records written largely by Berry, such as "Paradise" and "I Want a Love I Can See", and getting real choreography from Cholly Atkins, the group start to become known as "The Hitless Temptations" in their first three years under the Motown label. The group start to doubt themselves and Al starts to lose his passion for singing and becomes more negative and volatile. This comes to a head when, after performing at a New Year's Eve party, Al smashes Paul in the side of the head with a beer bottle when asked to do an encore on stage. He is kicked out the group immediately. The remaining four go back on stage and perform the classic party song "Shout". While singing, Jimmy Ruffin and his younger brother David Ruffin jump on stage and sing as well. The group are impressed with the duo's singing, especially David's. After the party, the four, along with David, go to Melvin's mother's house to eat. While they eat and talk, the four invite David to join, which he accepts. They make a toast to the future success of the Temptations.
In January 1964, the group head to Hitsville to record a song written for them by Smokey Robinson, called "The Way You Do the Things You Do", which puts them on the map. Shortly after the song hits the charts, the group go on a tour with various other Motown artists, such as the Vandellas, the Miracles, and Marvin Gaye. One afternoon, while changing a tire on the tour bus, a gang of racist Southerners shoot at them while driving. The tour eventually ends and they all arrive back in Detroit. While Josephine is waiting for Otis in front of Hitsville, she sees him with another woman, and assumes that they are having an affair, and storms off. Soon after, the Temptations go on tour again. In November that year, Smokey writes them another song called "My Girl". The song debuts early the next year and becomes a massive success, reaching number one on the charts that year. The group enjoys their newfound success and wealth, spending money on themselves and their loved ones.
By early 1966, however, David starts to develop an ego, thinking himself to be solely responsible for the Temptations' success. He also begins using drugs and starts showing up late for rehearsals and meetings, if at all. This behavior starts to take a toll, and soon after recording "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", Otis and Melvin pay David a visit, staging an intervention. They warn him to clean up his act or else be fired. Later, Berry introduces the group to their new manager, Shelly Berger. Shelly plans to expand the Temptations' fanbase to the mainstream white audience, which they are somewhat reluctant about. After some consideration, they agree and are put on a month-long tour with the Supremes. The tour is successful and gets them to the Copacabana, although David's destructive behavior continues, and he declares his shady friend, Flynn, his new manager instead of Shelly. Flynn informs the group that David wants to change their name to "David Ruffin & The Temptations" or else he will not perform, which they reject. David shows up anyway, albeit late, and performs "I'm Losing You" at the Copa, and leaves in a separate limo. After the show, the others take a vote on whether or not they should keep David, and all but Eddie vote to kick him out. Shortly after, David shows up at Hitsville in his limo. While the four watch from a window, Shelly meets David outside and hands him a note informing him of their decision. Upon reading this, David flies into a rage, yelling at them through the window. He then gets into his limo and drives off. Melvin rhetorically asks "So now what"?
Later in 1968, the Temptations hire Dennis Edwards, an old friend, as a replacement for David. It is around this time that the group enters their psychedelic soul era, started with their 1968 single "Cloud Nine". During a concert performance, the group is about to sing "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" when David jumps on stage and steals the microphone from Dennis and sings himself. The others go along with this to save face, but then chase him backstage afterwards. David and Otis get into a brief argument before getting security guards to escort him out. By 1969, Paul's drinking becomes debilitating, and Melvin develops rheumatoid arthritis in the legs and starts taking cortisone shots despite his doctor's advice, yet both continue performing. Around this time Otis and Josephine also get a divorce. As Paul's condition gets progressively worse, the others begin to consider whether Paul should retire, at least for the time being. Eddie is against this. In November 1970, Eddie visits David, who begins to turn him against Otis and Melvin while giving him his first shot of cocaine. Shortly after, Paul becomes well enough to sing again, and the Temptations record a new song written by their producer Norman Whitfield called "Just My Imagination". Eddie quits the group after recording the song. Later, Otis and his son Lamont visit Paul at his house. Paul asks to be back in the Temptations, while demonstrating his dancing, almost falling over. Otis tell him that he will be back when he gets better. In June 1972, Norman writes another song called "Papa Was a Rolling Stone", which the group are initially against recording, but eventually go along with it. In a montage set to the song, Paul is seen struggling with his addiction, while fighting with his wife, and later driving around town, ending with Paul committing suicide in a parking lot. Eddie reunites with the others at the funeral, with Melvin telling him that they will always be family.
By 1977, the Temptations have moved from Detroit to Los Angeles and have been hit with a dry spell in their career. The group, now with Otis and Melvin as the only remaining original members, fire Shelly as their manager, leave the Motown label and start recording under the Atlantic Records label. Eddie is still under the Motown label and has made two major hits, while David, who has had some hits after the Temptations, is also under a dry spell. One day, while Melvin is helping a woman with her grocery bags, a thief gets in his car and tries to start it. When Melvin tries to stop him, the thief shoots him in both of his legs, kicks him out, and drives off in his car. Melvin tells Otis to go on tour without him, as they need the money. After the tour, Otis goes back to Detroit with Lamont to visit his mother, who tells him that she has cancer. They then have a heart-to-heart on the porch.
In 1980, Melvin's legs are still recovering and the Temptations leave Atlantic Records. Eddie's success is starting to fade and he is reduced to playing in small nightclubs. While performing one night, Eddie spots David in the audience and once he finishes the song, brings David on stage and they sing together. After everyone leaves the club, Eddie and David have a drink at the bar and agree to start their own faction of the Temptations, along with Dennis Edwards, who was fired from the Temptations in 1978. Otis and Melvin move back to Detroit and go back under the Motown label and Shelly becomes their manager again. Not long after, Motown becomes interested in setting up a reunion tour between both sets of the Temptations.
By 1982, the tour is officially underway and both sets of Temptations come together to rehearse and become reacquainted. While on tour, Josephine calls and informs Otis that Lamont died in a construction accident. After Otis gets back from the funeral, the tour starts to fall apart, as Otis' grief gets the better of him and David's drug addiction starts to trigger his destructive nature.
In 1989, the Temptations are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, Otis and Melvin are reunited with David, Eddie, and Dennis. Despite their past squabbles and rivalries, for one moment, they are all friends again as they accept their honor and remember Paul.
In June 1991, a dead body is found in front of a hospital. After a week in the morgue, the body is finally identified as that of David Ruffin, dead of an apparent drug overdose. Eddie dies soon after of lung cancer in October 1992.
In February 1995, Otis and Melvin, now in a wheelchair, visit Melvin's mother. While preparing to eat dinner, Melvin, despite being in a wheelchair, volunteers to get short ribs from the kitchen. While he's gone, Melvin's mother thanks Otis for taking care of Melvin and keeping the Temptations together through all the good and bad times. The two then call for Melvin, but he doesn't respond. They go into the kitchen and find him unresponsive. Many people show up at the funeral, including Smokey Robinson, who sings his song "Really Gonna Miss You".
The film ends with the "classic five" Temptations (Otis, Melvin, Eddie, Paul, and David) in their youth, singing "My Girl" on a stage. At the end of the song, they take a bow, with Otis saying in a voice-over "Temptations, forever."
The miniseries was a ratings success with 45 million viewers in total watching the two-part series; [8] the first half alone averaged a 15 rating/23 share in Nielsen ratings. [9] Arkush won a 1999 Emmy award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Movie. The miniseries has been subsequently rerun on the VH-1 cable television network and released to VHS and DVD. The VHS release notably omitted a few scenes which had previously aired on the television premiere. One such scene includes David Ruffin, clearly under the influence of drugs and his ego, becoming belligerent during a picnic celebration with the other members of the group. The removal of this scene is possibly due to the ensuing suit.
Otis Williams' ex-wife Josephine Miles, Melvin Franklin's mother Rose Franklin, Johnnie Mae Matthews, and on David Ruffin's behalf, the Ruffin family, filed suit against Williams, Shelly Berger, David V. Picker, Motown, De Passe Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment, and NBC for use of their likenesses in the film, defamation of character, and emotional distress because of the inaccurate depictions of events. [10] They also alleged that the miniseries misportrayed them and/or their relatives and twisted facts. The judges ruled in favor of the defendants, and the ruling was upheld when the plaintiffs appealed in 2001. [11] Otis Williams later claimed that while his book was the source material for the film, he did not have a great deal of control over how the material was presented.
Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
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1999 | Motion Picture Sound Editors | Best Sound Editing - Television Mini-Series - Music | Kevin Crehan (music editor) and Tom Villano (music and scoring editor) (For episode "Night One") | Won |
Best Sound Editing - Television Mini-Series - Dialogue & ADR | Suzanne Angel, Mark Friedgen, G. Michael Graham, Anton Holden, Kristi Johns, Mark R. La Pointe, Michael Lyle, Scott A. Tinsley, and Tim Terusa (For episode "Night One") | Won | ||
NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Television Movie or Mini-Series | - | Won | |
Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Allan Arkush | Won |
The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1960 as the Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 10 hit single "Cloud Nine" in October 1968, pioneered psychedelic soul, and was significant in the evolution of R&B and soul music. The group members were known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and dress style. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are among the most successful groups in popular music.
Paul Williams was an American baritone singer. He was noted for being one of the founding members and the original lead singer of the Motown group the Temptations. Along with Elbridge "Al" Bryant, Otis Williams, and fellow Alabamians Eddie Kendricks and Melvin Franklin, Williams was a member of the Temptations.
Edward James Kendrick, better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do the Things You Do", "Get Ready", and "Just My Imagination ". As a solo artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s including the number-one singles "Keep On Truckin'" and "Boogie Down."
Otis Williams is an American second tenor/baritone singer. He is occasionally also a songwriter and a record producer. Williams is the founder and last surviving original member of the Motown vocal group The Temptations, a group in which he continues to perform; he also owns the rights to the Temptations name.
David Melvin English better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin or his nickname "Blue", was an American bass singer. Franklin was best known for his role as a founding member of Motown singing group The Temptations from 1960 to 1995.
David Ruffin was an American soul singer most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–1968) during the group's "Classic Five" period as it was later known. Ruffin was the lead voice on such famous songs as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." He later scored two top-ten singles as a solo artist, "My Whole World Ended " and "Walk Away from Love."
Dennis Edwards Jr. was an American soul and R&B singer who was best known as the frontman in The Temptations for Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David Ruffin and sang with the group from 1968 to 1976, 1980 to 1984, and 1987 to 1989. In the mid-1980s, he launched a solo career, recording the 1984 hit single "Don't Look Any Further". Until his death, Edwards was the lead singer of The Temptations Review, a Temptations splinter group.
Sky's the Limit is the fourteenth studio album by the Temptations, released in 1971 through Gordy Records. The album includes the #1 hit "Just My Imagination ", the Top 40 hit "Ungena Za Ulimwengu ", and the original version of "Smiling Faces Sometimes", later a Top 5 hit for The Undisputed Truth.
"Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)" is a 1971 hit single for the Gordy (Motown) label, recorded by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield. Something of an early ancestor to the "diss songs" prevalent in hip hop music towards the end of the 20th century, "Superstar" is an attack at two former Temptations members, David Ruffin (who had been fired back in 1968) and Eddie Kendricks (who quit the act in early 1971 and negotiated a Motown solo deal). The song appears on the 1972 album Solid Rock.
Meet the Temptations is the debut studio album by the Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1964. It includes most of the group's early singles, excluding only the first, "Oh Mother of Mine", and its b-side, "Romance Without Finance" ; as well as the single "Mind Over Matter", in which the group is credited as The Pirates. The album consists entirely of previously released singles, including the group's first hit single, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".
The Temptations in a Mellow Mood is the sixth studio album by the Temptations, released in 1967 by Gordy Records. Composed primarily of pop standards such as "Ol' Man River" and "For Once in My Life", and similar songs written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and other Motown staff songwriters, the Mellow Mood album was part of Motown chief Berry Gordy's crossover plans for the group. Gordy wanted the Temptations, already the most popular male group among black audiences, to attract a large white fanbase and be able to secure playdates at supper clubs like the Copacabana, where the group had first performed in the summer of 1967.
Greatest Hits II is a 1970 greatest hits album for The Temptations, released by the Gordy (Motown) label. The sequel to the first Temptations greatest hits LP from 1966, Greatest Hits II collects several of the late-1960s hits that followed the release of the first compilation. Included here are the final collection of David Ruffin-led singles, including "(I Know) I'm Losing You", "I Wish It Would Rain" and "I Could Never Love Another ", and the first of the Dennis Edwards-led psychedelic soul records, including "Cloud Nine" and "Psychedelic Shack". A new non-album single, the #3 hit "Ball of Confusion ", is also included.
The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul is the fifth studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1967. Featuring four hit singles, With a Lot o' Soul is the most successful Temptations album from their "classic 5" era, during which David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams constituted the Temptations' lineup.
Temptations Live! is the first live album to be released by The Temptations. The album was recorded on October 3, 1966, at the Roostertail in Detroit, Michigan. The album cover photograph was taken in March 1966 at The 20 Grand, 14th and Warren in Detroit, Michigan, and the album was released on Gordy (Motown) Records in 1967. The album features David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams performing their regular live repertoire for a highly receptive crowd mostly consisting of young women. Included in the set are Temptations hits such as "My Girl", "My Baby", "Get Ready", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", "Don't Look Back", and the group's then-current single, "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep". Out of the several live albums the group recorded during their career, this is the only one to feature David Ruffin. The album remained on the Billboard pop albums chart for 51 weeks, peaking at number 10.
The Temptations Wish It Would Rain is the seventh studio album by the Temptations, released in 1968 via Gordy Records. It was the final release from the group's "Classic-5" era, during which David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams constituted the Temptations' lineup.
The Temptin' Temptations is the third studio album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label released in 1965. The album includes several of the group's hits from 1965, and also includes a handful of singles that were not included on the Temptations' first 1965 album, The Temptations Sing Smokey. Among these are the 1964 singles "Girl " and "I'll Be in Trouble"; and the 1965 singles "Since I Lost My Baby", and "My Baby". Seven of the album's 12 tracks had previously been released as singles and their B-sides, though "My Baby" preceded the album only by a month.
The Temptations Sing Smokey is the second studio album by the Temptations for the Motown label, released on the Gordy Records subsidiary in 1965. As its name implies, it is composed entirely of songs written and produced by Smokey Robinson, and several other members of the Miracles as well.
"Farewell My Love" is a 1963 single by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. It was the last single that was written and produced by Motown president Berry Gordy for well over a decade, and the last released during the period of the "Original 5" lineup. It is also noted as the group's last single to miss the Billboard pop chart's Top 40 until 1971's "It's Summer". Up until now the group was jokingly referred to at this time as the "Hitless Temptations" by the Motown staff, much like their "sister" group, The Supremes, were called the "no-hit Supremes". However, their next single, the Smokey Robinson-produced "The Way You Do the Things You Do", would reach the Top 20 of the U.S. pop chart, breaking the group's streak of being "hitless".
"Just One Last Look" is a 1966 song written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, and recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, and The Four Tops for the main Motown label. Intended for release as a single for both, it was blocked from doing so and shelved.
"Standing on the Top" is a funk song recorded by the Motown group The Temptations, written and produced by musician Rick James.