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!"
Read more about this topic: Paper Dolls
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