"Paper Dolls" (1984) TV series

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Directors:

Edward Parone
Leo Penn

Writers:

Stephen Black (writer)
Jill Gordon (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

23 September 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This series which was initially a television movie about modelling. The character of Racine, the modelling agent...

Plot Keywords:

Model | Modeling | Agent | Friendship Between Girls | Female Bonding

Cast

Lloyd Bridges	...	Grant Harper (13 episodes, 1984)
Dack Rambo	...	Wesley Harper (13 episodes, 1984)
Mimi Rogers	...	Blair Fenton-Harper (13 episodes, 1984)
Richard Beymer	...	David Fenton (13 episodes, 1984)
Morgan Fairchild	...	Racine (13 episodes, 1984)
Nicollette Sheridan	...	Taryn Blake (13 episodes, 1984)
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Julia Blake (13 episodes, 1984)
Terry Farrell	...	Laurie Caswell (13 episodes, 1984)
Jennifer Warren	...	Dinah Caswell (13 episodes, 1984)
John Bennett Perry	...	Michael Caswell (13 episodes, 1984)
Nancy Olson	...	Marjorie Harper (13 episodes, 1984)
Anne Schedeen	...	Sara Frank (13 episodes, 1984)
Lauren Hutton	...	Colette Ferrier (13 episodes, 1984)
Jonathan Frakes	...	Sandy Parris (13 episodes, 1984)
Roscoe Born	...	Mark Bailey (10 episodes, 1984)
Larry Linville	...	Grayson Carr (8 episodes, 1984)
Don Bowron	...	Chris York (6 episodes, 1984)
Thom Mathews	...	Lewis Crosby (6 episodes, 1984)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

MGM/UA Television

Quotes:

Racine: Everyone... meet Jonathan Westland. Then run like hell.

Movie Connections:

Follows Paper Dolls (1982) (TV)

Wonderfully witty

Although a big soap fan, somehow I never caught this show in its original run, but I've watched every episode currently rebroadcast by SoapNet as part of its dysfunctional Saturday night.

I read that it got great reviews and was recommended by People Magazine in 1984 to save it. I can see why because it's a fun, trashy show. Very, very 80's with lots of retro music. Even special appearances by John Waite singing his then-hit Missing You.

Morgan Fairchild as the acid-tongued head of a modeling agency steals the show with her bitchy one-liners. When asked by a reporter is he should wait outside until she's decent, she retorts, "How much time have you got?" Looking at her towel, tightly wrapped around her luscious body, he asks, "I thought you were expecting me." "I was, darling," she replies, "that's why I bothered to put on the towel."

Rounding out the cast is a beautiful Mimi Rogers, probably in her first role, Terry Farrell from Star Trek fame, a teenaged Nicollete Sheridan (Knot's Landing), and Richard Beymer, several years away from his stint as crooked Benjamin Horne on Twin Peaks.

The show probably didn't make it because its about a diverse group of people in the modeling world, rather than a story about one wealthy family like Dallas, Dynasty, or Falcon Crest. Still, it's a wonderfully witty soap that succeeds on its own merits. Too bad it didn't last longer.