20160214

PAPER DOLLS

'Paper Dolls' originally went on air between September and December in 1984. For 12 Tuesday nights, viewers were invited to enter the "multi-million dollar world of high fashion, the playground of paper dolls." It was noted 'Paper Dolls' was preempted on some weeks by the baseball playoffs. Morgan Fairchild admitted, "I was sorry that we replaced Lindsay Wagner's show ('Jessie')." By his own admission, Leonard Goldberg conceded, "The truth is that it's a lot easier to sell 'Paper Dolls' than it is to sell 'Family' (1976-1980). TV has never done a show built around the world of fashion, and I think that arena will be attractive to people." David Jacobs confessed, "I was intrigued by 'Paper Dolls'. It was gorgeous." 

Morgan played a woman of power in the world of glamor. "I've specialized in playing bitches and it's been great fun. She was a great character and she was funny. I've had so little chance to play comedy, and it's something I'd like to do more of. For some reason, casting directors don't seem to think I can do it. Donna Mills told me that's why she likes playing Abby in 'Knots Landing', so much. Abby's the first part she's had where she's the manipulator and not the victim." Donna told Toni Reinhold of 'TV Data Service' in 1986, "I think she has a wonderful sense of humor about things and a real stick-to-itiveness. If something goes wrong for her she figures a way around it. There are roadblocks but Abby never sits down and cries. She never cries on anybody's shoulder. She figures out a way to get around it." 

Lloyd Bridges told Michael Hill of 'The Washington Post' on a soap such as 'Paper Dolls' with an ensemble cast, no one star would be required to carry the show "but everyone gets a time at bat." In 1977, Donna starred in the TV pilot movie, 'The Hunted Lady'. She told Harry Harris of 'Knight News Service' in 1981, "I do believe that everything works out for the best. If I had done 'The Hunted Lady' (series) I'd probably be in a home by now. The character was in every shot. The whole burden of the show would have been on my shoulders. Starring in a series means an enormous workload, particularly for a woman. That's because of the extra time required for make-up. A woman has to look nice. 'Knots Landing' is easier. A lot of things revolve around Abby, but there are 9 regulars."

Lloyd described his role, Grant Harper, as "a successful businessman and as honest as a businessman can be. I worked my way up from poor beginnings. I don't know whether he's a nice guy but he's very human." Lloyd's counterpart Sam Wanamaker who played Simon Berrenger on 'Berrenger's' described his role, "He's cut in the tradition of the American capitalist who's made it from the ground up. He's developed his business into one of the country's leading department stores, on a very high-quality level. He's not just a rich man born wealthy, but one who has accomplished it himself; therefore, he has a very large ego and believes in himself. He's very strong and forthright – and sometimes very wrong, especially in his judgments about his own family." 

Terry Farrell played Laurie Caswell on 'Paper Dolls' told 'People' magazine "the show rings true but is a Hollywood version. All of the dramas are just condensed. What do they call that? Heightened reality? But when I tested for the part, people were shocked at how similar my story was to hers." In 1982, Elite modeling agency flew to Iowa to interview Terry, who was still in high school, before recruiting her to work for them on the 'Mademoiselle' magazine contract, reportedly earning "$2,500 a day at a mere 18." 

Back in 1980, Terry was voted Miss Photogenic in the Miss Teenage Iowa Pageant. Jennifer Miller acknowledged, "It was luck or brilliant casting that we found somebody who so nearly fit the character in the pilot. So far (in the early stage of production) we haven't had to make any adjustments in her part." Terry also told 'People', "People who use drugs don't last. Looks go first for a model, and that's what it's all about. It sounds corny but it's true. People had to tell me who to look out for, what parties to avoid. I didn't even know how to tell if someone was gay. I grew up on red meat and corn but I don't eat like that anymore." 

Lloyd told 'The Washington Post' the 'Paper Dolls' script "was brought to my attention by Goldberg himself", hence he was familiar with his character. "There's a reason for that. It's the head writer and co-producer, Jennifer Miller, and the line producer, Michelle Rappaport, and of course Goldberg pulling the strings at the top. We had 6 episodes ready before we started shooting. The production staff listened to the actors. The plot line is still open (in the early stage of production), but I feel that I know what I would do and what I would not do." 

Angela Lansbury told Barbara Holsopple of 'The Pittsburgh Press' in 1984, "I've been critical of television in the past. But in recent years (in the early 1980s) I've been impressed with the quality of some TV movies and mini-series. It's time I took television seriously. I've seen lots of interesting things, lots of varied styles of acting. The night time soaps feature a kind of reacting which is really fascinating. Nobody says anything … they just sort of swoon and stare, but they do it with such style. I would watch and think 'I could do that, with enough blue eye shadow', but then I'd forget about it."

The 'Morgan Fairchild's Super Looks' was published in 1984. Morgan made known, "The greatest thing that happened to me was when I discovered how to use eye make-up. I was a washout, because you couldn't see my eyebrows and eyelashes. They were white." Donna did her own make-up and made a video to show fans how to do it, "It's much faster for me to do it. I have a make-up video out called 'The Eyes Have It'. It's been out for 2 years (since 1986), and it went platinum. It's still selling very well."

Production of 'Paper Dolls' wrapped in the first week of December. The last episode was shown on Christmas day. Morgan told Jane Ardmore of 'King Features Syndicate' in 1987, "I had been truly shocked when 'Flamingo Road' was canceled (in 1982), because we were doing so well. The series had a style of its own. I think someone new took over the network, and it's common for a new regime to cancel everything from the old regime.

"Then 'Paper Dolls'! It was my favorite show I'd ever done; everyone seemed to love that show. It's the one prime time soap that ever had good reviews. But ABC became nervous that first season. There were 5 shows in all getting good reviews that year. ABC canceled us, but NBC hung on until it ('Flamingo Road') found its audience, which, of course, it did. We would have, too. It became very discouraging." Morgan made the point in 1984 to Bettelou Peterson of 'Knight-Ridder Newspapers', "Shows like ours take time. 'Dallas' and 'Dynasty' didn't take off for more than a season. The only reason 'Falcon Crest' was a hit right away was because it came after 'Dallas'. 'Knots Landing' was nearly canceled twice."

In 1995, Morgan appeared on the daytime drama, 'The City', a rebirth of 'Loving', a soap opera which went on air in 1983. From the outset, Morgan told the press, "We're trying to break the genre here. This is so much bigger than what anybody's ever attempted in daytime. It's a giant leap into the abyss." Set in SoHo, real-life New York and centered around the Greene Street apartment building, 'The City' however "was too much of a revolution." And so on Good Friday, 1997, 'The City' left the airwaves.

Of casting, head writer, James Harmon Brown told Robert Rorke of the 'Los Angeles Times', "We knew we needed a star. We needed an identifiable name to help sell the new show." Barbara Esensten added, "It was really important to us not to have somebody who was a diva type. We'd worked with people like that before. And we really wanted it to be more reality-based. We'd just seen (Morgan) do some comedy. So when her name came up, we said she'd be great."

James also observed, "We're having a great time with Morgan. She's got a great sense of humor. We wanted a new kind of soap-opera family, where it wasn't the richest people in the world living on the hill and the have-nots over here. We came up with the concept for the SoHo loft. We took all these desperate folks and put them in the same place to see how they interact. We are going to be telling stories at a faster pace."

Before the first episode went on air, Morgan hinted, "The first time you see her, she gets off the helicopter in all-white Versace. The chauffeur comes up and says, 'How was Barcelona?' She says, 'They all lisp.' It's deadly. It's funny. A lot of people in middle America may not get it. But we get like a whole new group of people who do get it. Instead of going for the lowest common denominator, we're going for a whole other level of humor and speed and everything else."

After watched the movie pilot, 'Paper Dolls' in 1984, Arthur Unger of 'The Christian Science Monitor' told readers, "If you listen carefully you can hear all the obvious signs of what used to be called 'in': references to Elaine's, the tinkle of Bobby Short's music at the far end of the room, and people exclaiming 'Sonny Tufts!' as some acerbic female nearby is introduced as 'the divine Jaws 4.' 'Why aren't you in the Manhattan directory?' one paper doll is asked. 'Because I don't live in Manhattan,' she replies. 'Not New Jersey. Anywhere but New Jersey,' is the response. Now that's sophistication!"

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