TAVIS SMILEY GUEST-STARS ON NBC�S �AMERICAN DREAMS� ON NOVEMBER 7

TAVIS SMILEY GUEST-STARS AS CELEBRATED JURIST THURGOOD MARSHALL ON NBC�S �AMERICAN DREAMS� ON NOVEMBER 7

Smiley -- First Personality to Have Signature Daily Talk Show on Both PBS and NPR -- Portrays Legendary Future U.S. Supreme Court Justice

BURBANK, Calif. -- October 26, 2004 � Radio-television talk show host Tavis Smiley ("The Tavis Smiley Show from NPR" and PBS' "The Tavis Smiley Show") -- known for his political commentary and emphasis on African-American community issues -- will portray Thurgood Marshall, one of the most renowned American civil rights figures who would become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, on NBC's "American Dreams," Sunday, Nov. 7 (8-9 p.m. ET).

In the episode, "What Dreams May Come," African-American freshman Sam Walker (Arlen Escarpeta) leaves his University of Pennsylvania studies to spend Thanksgiving dinner at his girlfriend's home -- and has a fortuitous meeting with another guest in the Honorable Marshall, 12 years after the landmark 1954 decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education and just before his appointment to the nation's highest court.

Smiley made history when he became the first African-American to host his own signature talk show on National Public Radio, and is well known for his exclusive interview with then-President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He also conducted significant interviews with Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II.

Most recently, Smiley was honored, in conjunction with his 40th birthday, with the opening of the Tavis Smiley School of Communications and the Tavis Smiley Center for Professional Media Studies at the historically black college, Texas Southern University.

"American Dreams" is from NBC Universal Television Studio. Dick Clark, Jonathan Prince, and David Semel are executive producers.