Set in Fresno, California, the story focuses on the once-wealthy Kensington family, whose raisin-growing empire has fallen on hard times. The Kensingtons are led by widowed matriarch Charlotte (Burnett), who is locked in a deadly power struggle with rival raisin magnate Tyler Cane (Coleman).
Parodying elements from other prime time soap operas of the era, Fresno centers on the ruthless battle between the Kensingtons and Tyler Cane for domination of the Fresno raisin industry, and follows the marital conflict between Charlotte's scheming son Cane (Grodin) and his bitchy wife Talon (Garr), the travails of Charlotte's "sensitive" younger son Kevin (Heald), who at one point announces that he is becoming celibate as a protest against whaling, the appearance of a mysterious, perpetually-shirtless ranch hand named Torch (Harrison), and the gradual exposure of Byzantine hidden relationships between the main characters sparked by the quest by Charlotte's supposedly adopted daughter Tiffany to find her real parents. As the story reaches is climax, it is revealed that Tiffany is in fact Charlotte's biological daughter, fathered by her mother's arch-rival Tyler shortly after Charlotte's husband's had died in a tragic raisin dehydrator accident
1 "Episode 1" 16 November 1986
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" 17 November 1986
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
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
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
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.
Production[edit source | editbeta]
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 previously directed episodes of some of the shows parodied in Fresno, include Dynasty, Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest.[1]
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.[1]
The production shot for two days in the city of Fresno, California in July 1986, completing its remaining 53 days in Los Angeles.[2] The music was composed by John Morris, and the Emmy-nominated gowns worn by the female leads were designed by Bob Mackie.
Fresno was run twice. The 1989 showing had an altered soundtrack, with canned laughter added so that the audience would know Fresno was supposed to be funny.
Award 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
