Scruples (TV miniseries)
Encyclopedia
Scruples is a 1980 television mini-series, based on the 1978 novel
by Judith Krantz
. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television
and starred Lindsay Wagner
.
Scruples included the final screen appearance of Gene Tierney
.
Billy returns to America and moves to New York where she is hired by Ikehorn Enterprises as a secretary. During a business meeting in California, she becomes romantically involved with the wealthy CEO, Ellis Ikehorn, who is far older than she. The couple then marry and the next several years are happy ones, as Billy and Ellis live a glamorous life. However, Ellis later suffers a stroke, and Billy moves them from Manhattan to the exclusive Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles for the better climate.
Billy hires a male nurse, Jake Cassidy, to look after Ellis. However, Billy lives as a recluse in their enormous house and looks aimlessly for some purpose in her life, eventually developing a compulsion to shop in Beverly Hills. Ellis advises her to find something to do that she is good at, perhaps in fashion. Some time later, Ellis dies and leaves Billy an enormous fortune. Jake, motivated by debt, then tries to blackmail Billy but fails.
Heeding Ellis's advice, Billy decides to open a luxury boutique on Rodeo Drive called "Scruples." She hires a young French designer, Valentine O'Neil, to design couture clothing for the customers, and also hires Valentine's close friend, Spider Elliot, a former fashion photographer who becomes the Creative Director of the store. However, Valentine and Spider have a history of rocky relationships of their own, with Valentine first getting herself involved with her closeted gay boss and later with Billy's married attorney Josh Hillman, and Spider's involvement with troubled model-turned-actress, Melanie Adams.
With Scruples a success, Billy then marries Vito Orsini, a film director. As she is also part-owner of a Hollywood studio (assets left to her by Ellis), she helps Vito to finance his new film, "Mirrors." However, studio boss Curt Arvey is not happy with Billy's interference in his studio and intends to sabotage any chance of the film's success. During this scenario, Billy also becomes friends with Dolly Moon, a flamboyant supporting actress in Vito's film.
A power struggle later ensues when Curt Arvey attempts to confiscate Vito's film before it can be finished and keeps it locked in the studio's vaults. Billy and Spider manage to steal the film back so that Vito can finish editing the film at home. Meanwhile, Billy is once again menaced by Jake Cassidy, who breaks into her home and attempts to rape her, but he is apprehended by the police just in time. The story ends as Vito's film wins an Academy Award for Best Picture, and Billy announces that she is pregnant with their first child. At the same time, Spider and Valentine realize that their long friendship has turned into love.
, Scruples was a huge ratings success for the CBS
network, capitalising on the public's new-found taste for glossy television melodramas that would dominate the ratings for much of the 1980s, and for the mini-series format which had become popular with productions such as Rich Man, Poor Man
(1976) and Roots
(1977). Similar opulent productions based on bestselling novels would ensue over the next few years, including Lace (1984), Hollywood Wives
(1985), Sins
(1986) and I'll Take Manhattan
in 1987, which was also based on a novel by Krantz.
Due to the success of the mini-series, a pilot for a potential weekly series (featuring a different cast) was produced in 1981, but was unsuccessful.
Lindsay Wagner would go on to appear in another Judith Krantz adaptation, Princess Daisy
, in 1983. Barry Bostwick would also appear in the TV adaptations of Krantz's novels I'll Take Manhattan
in 1987 and Till We Meet Again
in 1989.
It was released on DVD for the first time in 2008, but only in Australia (region 4). In January 2010, Warner Bros. made the mini-series available on DVD in the U.S. as a 3-disc set via the Warner Archive Collection, an online service in which customers can purchase "made to order" DVDs from the Warner Bros. library. http://www.wbshop.com/Scruples/1000147977,default,pd.html?cgid=ARCHIVENEW
Scruples (novel)
Scruples is a 1978 novel by Judith Krantz. A direct sequel, Scruples Two, was published in 1992.The novel details the life story of protagonist Wilhelmina Hunnewell Winthrop , as she evolves from the overweight "poor relation" in an aristocratic Boston Brahmin family to become a thin, stylish...
by Judith Krantz
Judith Krantz
Judith Krantz , is an American novelist who writes in the romance genre. Her works include Scruples, Princess Daisy, and Till We Meet Again.-Early years:...
. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
and starred Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
.
Scruples included the final screen appearance of Gene Tierney
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
.
Plot
Wilhemina Winthrop is a plain young woman, and a "poor relative" of the Winthrops, a wealthy Boston family. After she graduates from high school, she is given a sum of money by an aunt and goes to live in Paris with family friends. There, she undergoes a transformation of both body and soul, first losing weight, then gaining Parisian style under the guidance of Liliane, the elegant Frenchwoman who is her hostess. She is also introduced to Edouard, Liliane's nephew, who gives her the nickname "Billy." It is her first intimate love affair, but when the aristocratic but impecunious Edouard discovers that Billy is just a poor relative of the Winthrop family, he shows his true colors and ends the relationship.Billy returns to America and moves to New York where she is hired by Ikehorn Enterprises as a secretary. During a business meeting in California, she becomes romantically involved with the wealthy CEO, Ellis Ikehorn, who is far older than she. The couple then marry and the next several years are happy ones, as Billy and Ellis live a glamorous life. However, Ellis later suffers a stroke, and Billy moves them from Manhattan to the exclusive Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles for the better climate.
Billy hires a male nurse, Jake Cassidy, to look after Ellis. However, Billy lives as a recluse in their enormous house and looks aimlessly for some purpose in her life, eventually developing a compulsion to shop in Beverly Hills. Ellis advises her to find something to do that she is good at, perhaps in fashion. Some time later, Ellis dies and leaves Billy an enormous fortune. Jake, motivated by debt, then tries to blackmail Billy but fails.
Heeding Ellis's advice, Billy decides to open a luxury boutique on Rodeo Drive called "Scruples." She hires a young French designer, Valentine O'Neil, to design couture clothing for the customers, and also hires Valentine's close friend, Spider Elliot, a former fashion photographer who becomes the Creative Director of the store. However, Valentine and Spider have a history of rocky relationships of their own, with Valentine first getting herself involved with her closeted gay boss and later with Billy's married attorney Josh Hillman, and Spider's involvement with troubled model-turned-actress, Melanie Adams.
With Scruples a success, Billy then marries Vito Orsini, a film director. As she is also part-owner of a Hollywood studio (assets left to her by Ellis), she helps Vito to finance his new film, "Mirrors." However, studio boss Curt Arvey is not happy with Billy's interference in his studio and intends to sabotage any chance of the film's success. During this scenario, Billy also becomes friends with Dolly Moon, a flamboyant supporting actress in Vito's film.
A power struggle later ensues when Curt Arvey attempts to confiscate Vito's film before it can be finished and keeps it locked in the studio's vaults. Billy and Spider manage to steal the film back so that Vito can finish editing the film at home. Meanwhile, Billy is once again menaced by Jake Cassidy, who breaks into her home and attempts to rape her, but he is apprehended by the police just in time. The story ends as Vito's film wins an Academy Award for Best Picture, and Billy announces that she is pregnant with their first child. At the same time, Spider and Valentine realize that their long friendship has turned into love.
Cast
- Lindsay WagnerLindsay WagnerLindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
as Billy Ikehorn - Barry BostwickBarry BostwickBarry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, replacing Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler in the sitcom What I Like About You, and playing mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City...
as Spider Elliott - Marie-France PisierMarie-France PisierMarie-France Pisier was a French actress. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:...
as Valentine O'Neill - Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. is an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice behind the character Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series...
as Ellis Ikehorn - Nick MancusoNick MancusoNicodemo Antonio Massimo "Nick" Mancuso is a Canadian cinema and stage actor.-Career:Mancuso was born in Mammola, Calabria, Italy and immigrated to Canada in 1956...
as Vito Orsini - Connie StevensConnie StevensConnie Stevens is an American actress and singer, best known for her roles in the television series Hawaiian Eye and other TV and film work.-Early life:...
as Maggie McGregor - Robert ReedRobert ReedRobert Reed was a prolific American character actor of stage, film and television. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular...
as Josh Hilman - Kim CattrallKim CattrallKim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
as Melanie Adams - Gavin MacLeodGavin MacLeodGavin MacLeod is an American actor most notable for playing Happy Haines on McHale's Navy, Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat...
as Curt Arvey - Gary GrahamGary GrahamGary Graham is an American actor. He is probably best known for his starring role as Detective Matthew Sikes in the television series Alien Nation , which was followed by the TV movies Alien Nation: Dark Horizon , Alien Nation: Body and Soul , Alien Nation: Millennium , Alien Nation: The...
as Jake Cassidy - Gene TierneyGene TierneyGene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
as Harriet Toppingham
History
Based on the blockbuster novel by Judith KrantzJudith Krantz
Judith Krantz , is an American novelist who writes in the romance genre. Her works include Scruples, Princess Daisy, and Till We Meet Again.-Early years:...
, Scruples was a huge ratings success for the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
network, capitalising on the public's new-found taste for glossy television melodramas that would dominate the ratings for much of the 1980s, and for the mini-series format which had become popular with productions such as Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man is a novel written by Irwin Shaw in 1969. It is the last of the novels of Shaw's middle period before he began to concentrate, in his last works such as Evening In Byzantium, Nightwork, Bread Upon The Waters, and Acceptable Losses, on the inevitability of impending death...
(1976) and Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
(1977). Similar opulent productions based on bestselling novels would ensue over the next few years, including Lace (1984), Hollywood Wives
Hollywood Wives (TV miniseries)
Jackie Collins' Hollywood Wives is a 1985 television mini-series based on the 1983 novel by Jackie Collins.Hollywood Wives tells the stories of several women in Hollywood, from long-time talent agents and screenwriters to vivacious screen vixens and young, innocent newcomers...
(1985), Sins
Sins (miniseries)
Sins is a 1986 CBS television miniseries starring Joan Collins. An adaptation of the 1982 novel of the same name by Judith Gould, it is the story of a woman who survives the horrors of the Nazi occupation of France and suffers a succession of challenges as she rises in the world of fashion.Produced...
(1986) and I'll Take Manhattan
I'll Take Manhattan (TV miniseries)
I'll Take Manhattan is a 1987 American television miniseries, adapted from Judith Krantz's novel of the same name. Screened by CBS, it tells the story of the wealthy Amberville family, who run their own publishing company in New York. After Zachary Amberville, the patriarch of the family, dies,...
in 1987, which was also based on a novel by Krantz.
Due to the success of the mini-series, a pilot for a potential weekly series (featuring a different cast) was produced in 1981, but was unsuccessful.
Lindsay Wagner would go on to appear in another Judith Krantz adaptation, Princess Daisy
Princess Daisy (film)
Princess Daisy is a 1983 film by Waris Hussein, based on the 1980 novel of the same name by Judith Krantz.-Plot:Princess Daisy tells the story of a young girl who is sent to England to live with her father, Prince Valenski, after her mother's death in a car crash...
, in 1983. Barry Bostwick would also appear in the TV adaptations of Krantz's novels I'll Take Manhattan
I'll Take Manhattan (TV miniseries)
I'll Take Manhattan is a 1987 American television miniseries, adapted from Judith Krantz's novel of the same name. Screened by CBS, it tells the story of the wealthy Amberville family, who run their own publishing company in New York. After Zachary Amberville, the patriarch of the family, dies,...
in 1987 and Till We Meet Again
Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again
Judith Krantz's Till We Meet Again was a 1989 TV mini-series based on the Judith Krantz novel, Till We Meet Again. Its stars included Mia Sara, Bruce Boxleitner, Hugh Grant and Courteney Cox.-External links:...
in 1989.
Video/DVD
Scruples was released on a double cassette home video in the mid 1990s by Warner Home Video.It was released on DVD for the first time in 2008, but only in Australia (region 4). In January 2010, Warner Bros. made the mini-series available on DVD in the U.S. as a 3-disc set via the Warner Archive Collection, an online service in which customers can purchase "made to order" DVDs from the Warner Bros. library. http://www.wbshop.com/Scruples/1000147977,default,pd.html?cgid=ARCHIVENEW