Paper Dolls Information

Paper Dolls is an American prime time soap opera which aired for 14 episodes on ABC from September 23, 1984 to December 25, 1984. Set in New York's fashion industry, the show centered around top modeling agency owner Racine (Morgan Fairchild), her conflicts with the family of cosmetics tycoon Grant Harper (Lloyd Bridges), and the careers of two teenage models (Terry Farrell and Nicollette Sheridan). The series was based on a 1982 TV movie of the same name.

1982 TV movie

Prior to the TV series, a TV movie had been made and shown in 1982. The TV movie was based more around modeling than the fashion industry, and featured Joan Collins, Daryl Hannah and Alexandra Paul in the roles that would be taken by Fairchild, Sheridan and Farrell in the series (Jennifer Warren and Jeffrey Richman were the only two actors to appear in both the TV movie and the 1984 series). The movie's theme song was "Paper Doll" written by Mark Snow and performed by Brock Walsh.

1984 TV movie pilot and series

In 1984, MGM decided to produce a weekly series based on the TV movie for ABC, recasting several of the original roles from the 1982 production. Racine (Morgan Fairchild) was the modeling agency owner and was frequently at odds with Grant Harper (Lloyd Bridges), who helmed the board of Harper Cosmetics, a division of his family's corporation, Harper WorldWide Incorporated. Playing both sides was Grant's son Wesley (Dack Rambo) who thirsted for more power in the family business and allied himself romantically with Racine. (Wesley also resented his father, whom he blamed for the accidental death of his mother, Grant's first wife, Virginia.) Grant was then married to his second wife, Marjorie (Nancy Olson).

Wesley's sister, Blair Harper Fenton (Mimi Rogers) was a supermodel, (in fact, she was Racine's first client when she opened her modeling agency) who was fearing her career was on the downslide now that she was 30 years old and pregnant. Despite health problems, Blair was determined to carry her baby to full term. Blair's husband David Fenton (Richard Beymer) was a sportswear designer (he owned Tempus Sportswear). Unfortunately, because David was too proud to accept financial assistance from his in-laws, the Harpers, his business partner had to resort to accepting money from loan sharks to fund his upcoming collection, which put David and Blair in serious danger. Eventually, David did ask his father in-law for help, the results of which brought Tempus under the Harper WorldWide banner, paid off the loan in full, and also the interest.

Racine was also at odds with Taryn Blake (Nicollette Sheridan), the top teen model in the business who was proving to be a liability due to unprofessional behavior, problems with drugs and alcohol, and a sensationalized romance with 1980s pop star John Waite (playing himself for several episodes). To keep Taryn and her demanding stage-mother/manager Julia (Brenda Vaccaro) in line, Racine decided to promote a new fresh teen face, a young woman named Laurie Caswell (Terry Farrell).

The naive Laurie wasn't prepared for the fast success, despite her mother, Dinah Anderson Caswell's (Jennifer Warren) best efforts to keep her grounded. Dinah, a former model herself, and having had previous modeling experience, spent a lot of time on her daughter's career which in turn started causing problems in her marriage to Michael Caswell (John Bennett Perry), who was Laurie's stepfather. Michael disagreed with Laurie being a model; while Dinah saw it as a rewarding experience for Laurie, which would help her build up her low self-esteem and it also reminded her of her own days as a model.

Despite their vast differences, Taryn and Laurie became good friends. Laurie attended public school in her hometown on Long Island, despite her being a model. Taryn wished that Dinah, who was much more compassionate than the overbearing Julia, was her mother. Vindictive and mean-spirited Julia merely saw her daughter as a meal ticket and Taryn, who only wanted to be a normal teenager, clearly resented that. Julia also dreaded the day that Taryn would turn seventeen, because then, her daughter would be considered legal age as a model and the money would go directly to her and not to her mother. Julia and Dinah would also become rivals because of Taryn and Laurie being models.

Because her life as a successful model was severely regimented, Taryn, who had been a model ever since she was a small child, was very lonely and she wasn't often allowed to socialize with other people her age. Because of this, Taryn saw Laurie as the only real friend she had, and she offered to teach her all she knew about the world of modeling and fashion.

Mark Bailey (Roscoe Born), a reporter doing a story on the fashion industry, became enamored with Racine, causing problems in his relationship with sensible lawyer Sara Frank (Anne Schedeen), who was Blair's best friend. A suspicious Sara cautioned her boyfriend on becoming too interested in Racine, commenting "She's been in more beds than a hotel breakfast tray!"

Reception

The series attempted to ride the wave of popular nighttime soaps such as Dallas and Dynasty, when Paper Dolls premiered in September 1984, the first episode achieved an 18.4 rating. It featured the requisite stock pleasures such as big business, glamour, intrigue, catfights and verbal spats (particularly between Racine and most of the other characters). In one scene, Mark entered Racine's office while she was getting a massage. He asked, "Do you want me to wait outside until you're decent?" Racine responded, "How much time do you have?" In another scene, an irate Julia, brandishing a Barbie-style fashion doll of her daughter, stormed into Racine's office. "This will not be the new Taryn Blake doll!" she barked. "The eyes are brown!" Coolly, Racine quipped, "I guess they couldn't quite match that bloodshot tone."

However, even with a series of rave reviews in People magazine urging viewers to give the show a chance, ratings were low and the series was not able to find an audience. The final episode of the series found David on the verge of failure after an influential fashion critic was blackmailed by Wesley and Racine to pan his new sportswear collection; Grant's wife Marjorie (Nancy Olson) was feared dead in a plane crash; and Racine received a call from Mark intimating that his digging into her secretive past had uncovered something very interesting. The cliffhangers were left unresolved.

Cast

• Racine ... Morgan Fairchild
• Grant Harper ... Lloyd Bridges
• Marjorie Harper ... Nancy Olson
• Wesley Harper ... Dack Rambo
• Blair Harper Fenton ... Mimi Rogers
• David Fenton ... Richard Beymer
• Laurie Caswell ... Terry Farrell
• Dinah Caswell ... Jennifer Warren
• Michael Caswell ... John Bennett Perry
• Julia Blake ... Brenda Vaccaro
• Taryn Blake ... Nicollette Sheridan
• Mark Bailey ... Roscoe Born
• Sara Frank ... Anne Schedeen
• Christopher York ... Don Bowren
• Sandy Paris ... Jonathan Frakes
• Jake Larner ... John Reilly
• Colette Ferrier ... Lauren Hutton
• Grayson Carr ... Larry Linville
• Lewis Crosby ... Thom Mathews
• Dr. Van Adams ... Alan Fudge
• Conrad ... Jeffrey Richman
• Marie ... Sue Giosa
• Sammy ... Mark Schneider
• John Waite ... Himself

Syndication and International Broadcast

Reruns of the series have been shown on the SOAPnet cable channel in the United States. The series was also shown in the United Kingdom by the ITV network in the mid 1980s, though schedules varied per region and also in Italy on Canale 5 under the name "Il profumo del successo" (The taste of success).

Footnotes