20130817

TELEVISION

"I don't know anything about New York," Heather Locklear confessed in 1999. "I'm looking forward to checking out the culture there." Between 1999 and 2002, the Los Angeles-based Heather could be seen in the New York-based TV sitcom, 'Spin City'. It was noted the series moved production to Hollywood between 2000 and 2002.
 
Richard Kind remarked, "'Spin City' is such a guy's show - it's all about politics. You know, cigar-chomping, back-room politics. So we needed a woman on the show. And Heather was perfect because not only is she easy on the eyes, but she can go with the quick-talking political stuff. She fit right in." Aaron Sorkin reasoned, "Any time people disagree intelligently, it's entertaining. And the White House is a world of gigantic and complicated issues, of strategy and intrigue and glamorous characters." One Representative shared, "I learned from Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan that if you want to build support for things you care about, you have to be able to communicate. And to be effective, you have to do it in an entertaining, appealing and comedic way."
 
On 'Spin City', "I play a campaign manager, so I don't think I'll be wearing short, short skirts," Heather said from the outset. Between 1993 and 1999, Heather played an advertising executive on the TV drama 'Melrose Place', "At first they put me in long skirts and blouses, but when we realized what kind of character Amanda was going to be, they started putting me in suits." On 'Spin City', Patricia Field emphasized, "I hear that question quite a bit, 'What will Heather be wearing?'...In general, my philosophy is that it's a triangle: You have an actress, you have a character and you have a wardrobe. We want to deal with Heather as a person and an image and combine that with her character, who is a highly paid campaign strategist. That means: Keep her clean and simple, expensive, with a little bit of a rock edge, and let's say sophisticated. In real terms, it means she'll be wearing Gucci, possibly some Dior. Her accessories are Hermes and Chanel. Hemlines? New York hemlines. Knee length. She's wearing pants also. No ornamentation, as in lace or ruffles. She wears classic colors. She wears black, white and creams. She wears red."
 
Heather admitted, "I love New York, but Gucci, Prada...I can't imagine wearing any of those clothes (in Los Angeles). (In New York), you always feel like you have to dress up and be so sophisticated...I'm not that fashion-conscious. I guess I've always considered myself a jeans-T-shirt-and-thongs person—your basic California girl."

Heather made her TV acting debut in 1979 in 'Tales of the Unexpected', then "I went to audition for a part on 'CHiPs'. It was for one line - 'Make them stop, please make them stop.' The scenario was that there was a motorcycle gang that was holding a blanket and throwing my girlfriend up in the air, and I was supposed to ask them to stop. Like that was real life: throwing someone up in a blanket! I remember thinking, What do I say? 'Please make them stop' or 'Please make them stop'? The other girl who was up for the part happened to go in front of me, and I could hear her audition, so I copied her. It's like Michael J. Fox — he has such amazing timing, I always ask him if he'll say a line for me, and then I'll say it. Anyway, I got the line. And she got tossed up in the blanket."

Of comedy, "I had done a sitcom for a year with Alan Ruck before 'Melrose Place'. It was called 'Going Places'. It lasted a year, and it was one of the scariest times I ever had as an actress...It's a completely new venue, and the challenges of being in front of an audience, memorizing lines and the timing are all things I worry about. But I've done all that dramatic stuff, and now I’m looking forward to doing something a little risky." 'Going Places' centered around 4 TV scriptwriters who shared a house in Los Angeles. The show ran between 1990 and 1991.

Alan Ruck recounted, "In 'Going Places' I play a guy named Charlie, a high-strung, neurotic comedy writer...When I began acting professionally (in 1980) there was still a stigma for movie and stage actors getting involved in TV. But a lot of young actors in the 1980s kind of broke that open...I'm 32 (in 1990), but I look much younger because I'm skinny and have a long face...Personally, I’m kinda stuck between a leading man and a character actor...Maybe by the time I’m 45 and put on some weight I’ll be able to play characters my own age. My most adult role to date is in ('Going Places'). Last November (1989) when Tom Miller and Bob Boyett called out of the clear blue sky about 'Going Places' I was ready. They said they wanted to see me, not to audition but to talk about the show and see how I felt about it. A couple of weeks later they began putting together a pilot with a cast that includes Heather Locklear."

Blog Archive