Set in
Fresno, California, the story focuses on the once-wealthy
Kensington family, whose raisin-growing empire has fallen on hard times. The Kensingtons are led by widowed matriarch
Charlotte (
Burnett), who is locked in a deadly power struggle with rival raisin magnate
Tyler Cane (
Coleman).
Parodying elements from other prime time soap operas of the era,
Fresno centers on the ruthless battle between the Kensingtons and Tyler Cane for domination of the Fresno raisin industry, and follows the marital conflict between Charlotte's scheming son Cane (Grodin) and his bitchy wife
Talon (
Garr), the travails of Charlotte's "sensitive" younger son
Kevin (Heald), who at one
point announces that he is becoming celibate as a protest against whaling, the appearance of a mysterious, perpetually-shirtless ranch hand named
Torch (
Harrison), and the gradual exposure of
Byzantine hidden relationships between the main characters sparked by the quest by Charlotte's supposedly adopted daughter
Tiffany to find her real parents. As the story reaches is climax, it is revealed that Tiffany is in fact Charlotte's biological daughter, fathered by her mother's arch-rival Tyler shortly after Charlotte's husband's had died in a tragic raisin dehydrator accident
1 "
Episode 1"
16 November 1986
Raisin
Baron Tyler Cane seeks to cut off the Kensington
Ranch water supply so he can control the raisin crop of Fresno, but Cane Kensington will fight him for every last drop
.
2 "
Episode 2"
17 November 1986
The Kensingtons need the
Duke tract of land for access to the water they need, and Charlotte uses her female wiles to get it.
Charles frames his brother Kevin to cover up his own foul deed.
3 "
Episode 3"
18 November 1986
Tiffany finds a kindred spirit in Torch, a drifter without a shirt, while searching for her true parents. Tyler uses
Juan as a spy to get the goods on Cane.
4 "
Episode 4"
19 November 1986
Skeletons come out of the closet at the
Annual Raisin
Festival Masquerade Ball, and an attempt to kill Cane goes wrong.
5 "
Episode 5"
20 November 1986
The identities of two killers are revealed amid courtroom pandemonium. Cane has to be in two court rooms at the same time and tell two different stories.
Production[edit source | editbeta]
Fresno was created and co-written by
Barry Kemp,
Mark Ganzel, and
Michael Petryni, and was produced for
CBS Television by
Mary Tyler-Moore's
MTM Productions. The miniseries was directed by
Jeff Bleckner, who previously directed episodes of some of the shows parodied in Fresno, include
Dynasty,
Knots Landing, and
Falcon Crest.[1]
The miniseries starred
Carol Burnett and
Dabney Coleman, with
Charles Grodin,
Terri Garr,
Valerie Mahaffey,
Bill Paxton,
Anthony Heald,
Gregory Harrison,
Luis Avalos,
Jerry Van Dyke,
Charles Keating,
Pat Corley, and
Jeffrey Jones.[1]
The production shot for two days in the city of Fresno, California in July 1986, completing its remaining 53 days in
Los Angeles.[2]
The music was composed by
John Morris, and the Emmy-nominated gowns worn by the female leads were designed by
Bob Mackie.
Fresno was run twice. The
1989 showing had an altered soundtrack, with canned laughter added so that the audience would know Fresno was supposed to be funny.
Award nominations
1987 Casting Society of America Artio Award for
Best Casting for TV Miniseries
1987
Emmy Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a
Special
1987 Emmy Award for Outstanding
Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special
1987 Emmy Award for
Outstanding Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special
1987 Emmy Award for Outstanding Editing for a Miniseries or a Special
1987 Emmy Award for Outstanding
Sound Editing for a Miniseries or a Special
- published: 31 May 2013
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