Fresno (miniseries)

Fresno
Written by	Mark Ganzel Barry Kemp Michael Petryni
Directed by	Jeff Bleckner
Starring	Carol Burnett Dabney Coleman Teri Garr Charles Grodin Gregory Harrison Valerie Mahaffey
Theme music composer	John Morris
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	R. W. Goodwin
Cinematography	Robert Steadman
Editor	Andrew Chulack
Running time	360 minutes
Production company	MTM Productions
Budget	US$12 million
Original release
Release	November 16 (1986-11-16) – November 20, 1986 (1986-11-20)

Fresno is a 1986 television comedy miniseries that parodied popular prime time soap operas of the day such as Falcon Crest, Dallas, and Dynasty. Starring Carol Burnett, Teri Garr, Charles Grodin, Gregory Harrison and Dabney Coleman, it chronicles the struggle of matriarch Charlotte Kensington (Burnett) to keep control of her dysfunctional family and declining raisin empire.

According to a contemporary network press release: " 'Fresno' rips apart the surface gloss and glitter of the nation's 64th largest city to reveal the sun-ripened passions and freeze-dried hearts of wealthy raisin tycoons as they wage a life-and-death battle for money, power and control of the vital raisin cartel.

Synopsis

Parodying popular prime time soap operas of the era such as Dallas, Dynasty and Knots Landing, Fresno centers on the ruthless battle for domination of the Fresno raisin industry between the Kensington family, headed by widowed matriarch Charlotte (Carol Burnett), and their neighbour and arch-rival, the villainous Tyler Cane (Dabney Coleman). Subplots include the marital conflict between Charlotte's scheming son Cane (Charles Grodin) and his bitchy, promiscuous wife Talon (Terri Garr), the travails of Charlotte's "sensitive" younger son Kevin (Anthony Heald), the appearance and identity of the mysterious Torch (Gregory Harrison), the struggles of the Kensingtons' ranch-hand, Bobby Joe Bobb (Bill Paxton) and their maid Billy Jo Bobb (Teresa Ganzel), Bobby Joe's aspiring country-singer wife, and the gradual exposure of Byzantine hidden relationships between the main characters, which is sparked by the quest by Charlotte's 'adopted' daughter Tiffany (Valerie Mahaffey) to find her real parents. .

Prologue

An 'historical' flashback to 1581 explains the foundation of Fresno. We see a party of Spanish conquistadores exploring northern California. An excited scout returns with wild grapes from a nearby valley, and after tasting them, the commander is delighted, declaring them to be delicious. Two other scouts then arrive with more fruit from another nearby valley, but when the commander tastes these new grapes, he immediately spits them out in disgust, angrily shouting, "You call these grapes? They taste like Fresno!"

Part One

In present-day Fresno, the raisin-growing empire of the once-wealthy Kensington family has fallen on hard times, and they are locked in a bitter struggle with their arch-rival and former business partner, the villainous Tyler Cane. The Kensingtons are pinning their hopes on a new grape variety they have developed, a breakfast raisin with the bran already inside the fruit. Their faithful foreman Juan (Luis Avalos) is charged with getting the new fruit to to the patent office in Sacramento, but on the way he is ambushed by Tyler Cane's hired thugs, who destroy the shipment, although Juan is saved by the sudden appearance of a mysterious shirtless stranger, Torch. After an encounter with Tyler Cane (who completes the destruction of the special raisins by backing over them three times in his Rolls Royce), Torch accompanies Juan back to the Kensington ranch. He is immediately hired as a ranch-hand, over Cane's angry protests that they cannot afford it, and much to the chagrin of the long-suffering Juan, who has been vainly seeking a raise for years. As Charlotte shows Torch around the ranch, she recounts the family's vicissitudes, which had begun 20 years earlier, after her late husband Yancey fell out with his former partner Tyler Cane, and then died as the result of a mysterious fall into a raisin dehydrator. Torch begins to investigate the Kensingtons' affairs, awakening suspicions in Charlotte about the circumstances of Yancey's mysterious death, and later, his conversation with Tiffany awakens her interest in finding her real parents.

In a bid to save the Kensington fortune and gain an advantage over Tyler, Cane Kensington strikes a deal with sinister businessman Mr Acme (Jeffery Jones), owner of Acme Toxic Waste. He bribes Cane to allow him to secretly dump waste into Duke Lake, a private dam owned by Cane's neighbour Ethel Duke, which is the main water source for both the Cane and Kensington ranches. Suspecting that their meeting may have been overheard by the family's maid, aspiring singer Bobby Jo Bobb, Cane hastily invents a plan to get Bobby Jo out of the way. He offers to pay for her to go to Bakersfield to appear on a radio talent show hosted by country music impresario Tucker Akerjanian (Jerry Van Dyke). However, Cane's patronage upsets Billy Jo's jealous husband, Kensington farmhand Bobby Joe Bobb (Paxton), and their ensuing quarrel soon has tragic and far-reaching consequences.

Crucial to the fortunes of both Tyler Cane and the Kensingtons are the water rights owned by their common neighbour Ethel Duke (Louise Latham). Tyler visits Ethel, offering to buy the water rights for $500,000, but she refuses, and a furious Tyler briefly loses control, threatening to beat her with an Elvis statuette. Later that day, Charlotte travels into Fresno for a meeting with the local business community, to finalise plans for the highlight of the Fresno social calendar, the annual Raisin Festival Masquerade Ball. The Ball is traditionally always hosted by the Kensingtons, but Charlotte is again frustrated by the scheming Tyler, who vows to erase the Kensington name. With Bobby Jo out of town in Bakersfield, and Cane in Fresno with his mother, Talon tries to seduce Billy Joe, to get back at her husband, but he rebuffs her. That night, a sullen Billy Joe sits in his trailer home drinking and listening to Bobby Jo perform on the radio. He becomes enraged when she makes an on-air dedication to Cane. He grabs his gun and angrily shoots the radio, but the bullet ricochets off it, accidentally killing his neighbour, Ethel Duke. Billy Joe is arrested and charged with murder, and his case is taken up by glamorous public defender Desiree DeMornay (Melanie Chartoff).

When the nature-loving Kevin finds dead fish in Duke Lake, he investigates, and with Juan's help he soon discovers a leaking Acme waste drum in the water. Cane fobs his brother off, denying any knowledge of the dumping, so a furious Kevin drives to the Acme plant to confront Mr Acme, who also denies all knowledge. A worried Acme excuses himself and secretly makes a call from the phone in his office bathroom, ordering his henchmen (J.E. Freeman and Michael Richards) to ensure that Kevin doesn't leave the plant alive. However their first attempt to kill him fails miserably when they blow up Acme's nearly identical truck by mistake.

Talon visits Torch in his room and tries to seduce him. He also rebuffs her, but gains her respect after he calls her a "lady". Worried by his brother's environmental crusade, Cane makes a phone call to an unknown accomplice, and arranges for Kevin to be "scared so good" that he will leave Fresno forever. A desperate Juan confronts Charlotte and demands a raise at gunpoint, but his courage fails him, and Charlotte punishes him by cutting his wages in half. After the hired thug fails to carry out his mission to scare Kevin, Cane makes an anonymous phone call to the police, implicating Kevin in the death of Ethel Duke, and Kevin is also arrested and charged with murder.

With Ethel dead, Tyler Cane and the Kensingtons now desperately vie to buy the water rights from her boorish widower Earl (Pat Corley). Tyler initially gains the upper hand by agreeing to give Earl $250,000 and (at Earl's insistence) a new Chevy Impala, but when Cane Kensington learns of Tyler's offer, he immediately goes to plead with Earl. Explaining that the Duke land is worth twice what Tyler had offered, he make a counter-offer of $300,000, which Earl accepts. Later, and much to Cane's disgust, Charlotte declares that she can seal the deal by using her "wiles" on Earl. She goes to his trailer with the intention of seducing him, but her plan is ruined when she discovers that Tyler has already sent his beautiful "niece" Candy Cane, who emerges from Earl's bathroom clad only in a towel.

The next day Charlotte visits Kevin in jail, fiercely vowing that no Kensington will ever spend a night in "this hellhole of incarceration", but her determination quickly fades when she learns that Kevin's bail has been set set at $250,000. Meanwhile, Cane visits Mr Acme and blackmails him into paying him an additional $300,000, so that he can by the Duke water rights. Cane rushes to the bank to clear the Acme cheque, but Charlotte arrives just after he leaves and withdraws most of the money Cane has just deposited, to bail Kevin out. At the same time, Tiffany meets with Torch at a Fresno restaurant and asks for his help in finding her real parents. After his mother's visit, Kevin is taken back to the cells, where he encounters Billy Joe, who reveals that Bobby Jo had indeed overheard part of the meeting between Cane and Acme. Together they deduce that Cane is behind the entire conspiracy. Meanwhile, Bobby Jo busks her new song, "Number One with a Bullet" to raise money for Billy Joe's defence. She visits him in prison, but when she learns of Talon's attempt to seduce her husband, she suspects the worst and rejects him.

Rushing back to the Duke trailer, Cane tries to stop Tyler from buying the water rights, but when Earl phones the bank to verify Cane's cheque, he learns that it is worthless, because Charlotte has already withdrawn most of the money from their account to pay Kevin's bail. All seems lost for the Kensingtons, but at that moment Ethel's attorney arrives to explain that Earl cannot seal the deal that day, because he will not legally inherit Ethel's estate until the reading of the will at 2pm the following day.

The scene is now set for the final showdown between Tyler and the Kensingtons.

Cast

• Carol Burnett as Charlotte Kensington
• Dabney Coleman as Tyler Cane
• Gregory Harrison as Torch
• Teri Garr as Talon Kensington
• Natalie Gregory as China Kensington
• Charles Grodin as Cane Kensington
• Luis Avalos as Juan
• Pat Corley as Earl Duke
• Valerie Mahaffey as Tiffany Kensington
• Anthony Heald as Kevin Kensington
• Teresa Ganzel as Bobbi Jo Bobb
• Bill Paxton as Billy Joe Bobb
• Jerry Van Dyke as Tucker Agajanian
• Charles Keating as Charles

Production

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 had previously directed episodes of some of the shows parodied in Fresno, including Dynasty, Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest.

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.

The production shot for two days in the city of Fresno, California in July 1986, completing its remaining 53 days in Los Angeles. The music was composed by John Morris, and the Emmy-nominated gowns worn by the female leads were designed by Bob Mackie. It was executive produced by Barry Kemp.

Fresno was run twice. It was originally broadcast on CBS in five parts in November 1986, beginning with a two-hour premiere, followed by three one-hour episodes. (In Australia the miniseries was shown in two two-hours blocks). The 1989 U.S. re-run had an altered soundtrack, with canned laughter added.

Awards and 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

Episodes

Nº	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Air date
1	"The Raisin Basket of the World"	Jeff Bleckner	Mark Ganzel, Barry Kemp, Michael Petryni	16 November 1986 (1986-11-16)
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"	Jeff Bleckner	Mark Ganzel, Barry Kemp, Michael Petryni	17 November 1986 (1986-11-17)
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 (1986-11-18)
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 (1986-11-19)
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 (1986-11-20)
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.

* Unknown

External links

• Fresno at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show