Fresno (TV miniseries)

Fresno is a 1986 television comedy miniseries that parodied popular prime time soap operas of the day such as Falcon Crest, Dallas, and Dynasty. The series featured high production values, including lavish haute couture gowns by leading costume designer Bob Mackie, a stellar cast of American comedy greats, including Carol Burnett, Teri Garr, Charles Grodin and Dabney Coleman, and a strong supporting cast of character actors including Charles Keating, Pat Corley, Louise Latham, Tom Poston and Henry Darrow. Fresno is also noteworthy for providing early featured roles for future stars Bill Paxton and Michael Richards. It was noted at the time as being the first American satirical TV comedy to be made in the thenpopular miniseries format.

The primary plot of Fresno concerns the ruthless battle for domination of the Fresno raisin industry between the Kensington family and their neighbour and bitter rival, Tyler Cane, as both parties vie to acquire the crucial water rights that will make or break their business. Subplots include the marital conflict between Charlottes scheming son Cane Charles Grodin and his bitchy, promiscuous wife Talon Terri Garr, the travails of Charlottes sensitive younger son Kevin Anthony Heald, the legal and marital troubles of Kensington ranchhand Billy Joe Bobb Bill Paxton and his wife, housemaid and aspiring country singer Bobbi Jo Bobb Teresa Ganzel, and the continuing struggles of the Kensingtons longsuffering foreman, Juan Luis Avalos. Connecting these various subplots is the blossoming romance between a mysterious, perpetuallyshirtless drifter, Torch Gregory Harrison, who works to reveal the truth behind the death of Charlottes husbandyears earlier, and Charlottes naive adopted daughter Tiffany Valerie Mahaffey, whose quest to find her real parents leads to the gradual exposure of the Byzantine hidden relationships between the main characters.In an historical flashback to 1581, explaining 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 Commandante Henry Darrow is delighted, declaring them to be delicious. Two other scouts then arrive with more fruit from another nearby valley, but when the Commandante tastes the new grapes, he immediately spits them out in disgust, angrily shouting, You call these grapes? They taste like Fresno ........

Source: Wikipedia