Serial (1980 film)
Encyclopedia
Serial is a comedy
film
from 1980
produced by Paramount Pictures
. The screenplay
, by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, is drawn from the novel
The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County
by Cyra McFadden
, published in 1977. Produced by Sidney Beckerman
and directed by Bill Persky
, the film stars Martin Mull
, Tuesday Weld
, Sally Kellerman
, Christopher Lee
, Bill Macy
, Peter Bonerz
, and Tom Smothers
. The original music
score was composed by Lalo Schifrin
.
during a year in the 1970s, uptight Harvey Holroyd is losing patience fast.
On one hand, his wife Kate and her friends are thoroughly caught up in new age
consciousness-raising and psychobabble
. On the other hand, his rebellious teenage daughter Joanie is about to join a cult.
Harvey’s best friend Sam, meanwhile, is having marital troubles, and Harvey is trying to land a higher-paying job with his corporate recruiter Luckman.
As marital problems persist, Kate and Harvey separate. Each becomes sexually involved with someone else, albeit rather awkwardly. Harvey tries to avoid the advances of his newly hired secretary, Stella, who lures him to an orgy, but he does begin seeing Marlene, a free-spirited, 19-year-old, strictly vegetarian supermarket cashier. Kate links up with Paco, a bisexual Argentinian aspiring to be an artist, whose profession for now is to trim her dog's hair.
Being unhappy at home, Joanie is lured by "concerned" members of a flower-peddling cult
. She goes voluntarily at first and finds peace and tranquility there, but eventually finds herself virtually imprisoned in their house in the big city.
Harvey and Kate manage to patch up their differences for Joanie’s sake. By means of a little blackmail that ensues from a surprise revelation involving Luckman, a gay motorcycle gang joins forces with Harvey to rescue Joanie. Thus, the Holroyds are reunited and prepare for Harvey’s new job in Denver.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
from 1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
produced by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, is drawn from the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County
The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County
The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County is a satirical novel about Marin County, California, written by Cyra McFadden . Beginning in 1976, the book's chapters had been serialized in the Marin County alternative newspaper, Pacific Sun...
by Cyra McFadden
Cyra McFadden
Cyra McFadden is an American writer, living in the San Francisco Bay Area.McFadden's 1977 novel The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County satirized the trendy lifestyles of the affluent residents of Marin County, California, just north of San Francisco...
, published in 1977. Produced by Sidney Beckerman
Sidney Beckerman
Sidney "Sid" Beckerman was an influential klezmer clarinet player. He learned the style from his father Shloimke, who was himself a well known klezmer soloist....
and directed by Bill Persky
Bill Persky
Bill Persky is an American Emmy Award-winning director, screenwriter, producer, and actor for television. With his long time late collaborator Sam Denoff he wrote and created the television show "That Girl" starring Marlo Thomas.-External links:...
, the film stars Martin Mull
Martin Mull
Martin Mull is an American actor who has starred in his own television sitcom and acted in prominent films. He is also a comedian, painter, and recording artist...
, Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld is an American actress.Weld began her acting career as a child, and progressed to more mature roles during the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960...
, Sally Kellerman
Sally Kellerman
Sally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
, Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
, Bill Macy
Bill Macy
Bill Macy is an American television and stage actor.Macy was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to Mollie and Michael Garber, a manufacturer...
, Peter Bonerz
Peter Bonerz
Peter Bonerz is an American actor and director who is best known as the character Dr. Jerry Robinson on The Bob Newhart Show....
, and Tom Smothers
Tom Smothers
Tom Smothers is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy team The Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.-Early life:...
. The original music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
score was composed by Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
.
Plot
In trendy Marin County, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
during a year in the 1970s, uptight Harvey Holroyd is losing patience fast.
On one hand, his wife Kate and her friends are thoroughly caught up in new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
consciousness-raising and psychobabble
Psychobabble
Psychobabble is a form of prose using jargon, buzzwords and highly esoteric language to give an impression of plausibility through mystification, misdirection, and obfuscation. The term implies that the speaker of psychobabble lacks the experience and understanding necessary for proper use of a...
. On the other hand, his rebellious teenage daughter Joanie is about to join a cult.
Harvey’s best friend Sam, meanwhile, is having marital troubles, and Harvey is trying to land a higher-paying job with his corporate recruiter Luckman.
As marital problems persist, Kate and Harvey separate. Each becomes sexually involved with someone else, albeit rather awkwardly. Harvey tries to avoid the advances of his newly hired secretary, Stella, who lures him to an orgy, but he does begin seeing Marlene, a free-spirited, 19-year-old, strictly vegetarian supermarket cashier. Kate links up with Paco, a bisexual Argentinian aspiring to be an artist, whose profession for now is to trim her dog's hair.
Being unhappy at home, Joanie is lured by "concerned" members of a flower-peddling cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
. She goes voluntarily at first and finds peace and tranquility there, but eventually finds herself virtually imprisoned in their house in the big city.
Harvey and Kate manage to patch up their differences for Joanie’s sake. By means of a little blackmail that ensues from a surprise revelation involving Luckman, a gay motorcycle gang joins forces with Harvey to rescue Joanie. Thus, the Holroyds are reunited and prepare for Harvey’s new job in Denver.
Cast
- Martin MullMartin MullMartin Mull is an American actor who has starred in his own television sitcom and acted in prominent films. He is also a comedian, painter, and recording artist...
– Harvey Holroyd - Tuesday WeldTuesday WeldTuesday Weld is an American actress.Weld began her acting career as a child, and progressed to more mature roles during the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960...
– Kate Holroyd - Jennifer McAllister – Joanie Holroyd
- Sally KellermanSally KellermanSally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
– Martha - Sam Chew Jr. – Bill, Martha's latest husband
- Anthony BattagliaAnthony BattagliaAnthony Battaglia is an American professional ice hockey player, currently playing for the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.-Playing career:...
– Stokeley, Martha's son - Nita TalbotNita TalbotNita Talbot is an American actress. Talbot was a leading lady who spent the first decade or so of her career playing "slick chicks" and sharp-witted career girls, but is perhaps best known for her role as Marya, the White Russian spy in the 1960s sitcom, Hogan's Heroes, as well as Sheila Fine in...
– Angela Stone - Bill MacyBill MacyBill Macy is an American television and stage actor.Macy was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to Mollie and Michael Garber, a manufacturer...
– Sam Stone - Pamela BellwoodPamela BellwoodPamela Bellwood is an American actress most famous for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera, Dynasty....
– Carol - Barbara RhoadesBarbara RhoadesBarbara Rhoades is an American actress, known primarily for her comedy and mystery roles, especially as lady bandit Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings in The Shakiest Gun in the West...
– Vivian - Ann Weldon – Rachel, Martha's housekeeper
- Peter BonerzPeter BonerzPeter Bonerz is an American actor and director who is best known as the character Dr. Jerry Robinson on The Bob Newhart Show....
– Dr. Leonard Miller, a psychiatrist - Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
– Luckman ("Skull") - Patch Mackenzie – Stella
- Stacey NelkinStacey NelkinStacey Nelkin is an American film and television actress. She is well known for her role in the 1982 horror film Halloween III: Season of the Witch as Ellie Grimbridge. Her best-known TV role is on the soap opera Generations as Christy Russell in 1990...
– Marlene - Tom SmothersTom SmothersTom Smothers is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy team The Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.-Early life:...
– Spike - Clark BrandonClark BrandonClark Brandon is an American actor. His most notable roles were as Max Merlin's apprentice Zachary Rogers in the CBS series Mr. Merlin and as Sean Fitzpatrick in the CBS series The Fitzpatricks. He also starred with Jim Varney in the 1989 comedy film, Fast Food.- Filmography :Fast Food .......
– Spenser - Clyde Ventura – Paco
Other information
- Tag lines:
- Honor thy wife, and everyone else's.
- One mellow movie about creative divorce, group jacuzzis, organically-fed mistresses, and therapeutic adultery.
- The film is framed visually by having the camera approach the setting from the clouds at the beginning, and returning to the clouds at the end, as well as plot-wise by means of parallel, but contrasting, open-air wedding scenes near the beginning and end.
- The main theme song of the film, "It's a Changing World", was composed by Schifrin with lyrics by Norman GimbelNorman GimbelNorman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
, and is sung during the credits by singer/songwriter Michael JohnsonMichael Johnson (singer)Michael Johnson , is an American pop, country and folk singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1978 hit song "Bluer Than Blue". To date, he has charted four hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and nine more on the Hot Country Songs charts, including two Number One country hits...
. - During the motorcycle trip to rescue Joanie, Steppenwolf'sSteppenwolf (band)Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
"Born to Be WildBorn to Be Wild"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
" plays in the background. - Certain scenes or lines have been included in presentations of this film on broadcast television (albeit with overall censorship applied), but are lacking on the commercial VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
tape (issued by Paramount Pictures Corp., 1989). - Amidst an abundance of plot twists, cultural references (e.g., Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
), and wacky situations and characters, the film contains many memorable lines, beginning with the wedding vows near the start.