Forty years ago on Wednesday, September 21, 1983, HOTEL debuted with this two-hour premiere movie. It paved the way for the following week's DYNASTY's fourth season debut, which would be followed by HOTEL on Wednesday evenings for years to come. In my memory, DYNASTY, HOTEL, and Wednesday nights are as inextricably linked as are LOVE BOAT, FANTASY ISLAND, and Saturday nights.
And speaking of LOVE BOAT, yes, this series is guilty on all charges of being a land-based version of that guest-star-larded guilty pleasure. James Brolin ably plays accommodating host Peter McDermott, steadfastly front and center to warmly greet his guests a la Captain Stubing and Mr. Roarke. And as the guest stars appear, emerging from limousines and taxicabs, one is transported on nostalgic trips to the television shows of yesteryear. There's Shirley Partridge romancing Adam Cartwright, Joanie Cunningham warbling alongside Mel Torme, and the GREATEST AMERICAN HERO's counselor galpal Pam confidently conning her way into a plum position at the St. Gregory.
There was a lot going on in this 100-minute movie, each transition punctuated by the blasting bombast of Henry Mancini's theme song. You'll enjoy it over the opening credits, but after twenty bursts of it you may be screaming as I did to make it stop!
The romance plot featured the recently divorced Pernell Roberts enjoying a brief encounter with Shirley Jones, who just learned her husband is a philandering louse and is on the prowl for payback. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these two veteran stars together, and they lent the show a lot of class. The serious storyline starred Morgan Fairchild as a high-priced hooker who is gang raped by a group of rich kids. Brolin presses her to file charges against the young thugs, but first he has to build up her self-respect as a person before she can muster the confidence.
A strange subplot involved a May-December romance that was saved from being sordid only by its lightheartedness. And saved from being tragic by an admittedly hilarious proto-WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S scene complete with sunglasses.
And she can cook! When the (not) grieving betrothed and former St. Gregory waitress whips up some rustic potato dish the King of Portugal is smitten and adds an additional plane reservation to his exiting entourage. Alejandro Rey of THE FLYING NUN plays the king and gets a number of scenes that demonstrate it isn't so great being the king.
Subplots that go nowhere include the two newlywed staffers whose shifts overlap and they can never find a time or place to enjoy marital bliss. When they do, it's the wrong place at the wrong time. And there's the story of the naive guest relations director who falls for Erin Moran's dubious tale of woe and puts her up in the presidential suite of all places. Yeah, not every subplot can be compelling, especially in a double-length episode. The two misfires were mere speedbumps to the show's momentum.
Bette Davis plays the regal Mrs. Trent, the hotel's owner, who occupies and omnisciently oversees all the hotel's goings on from her well-appointed penthouse suite. If you remember LOU GRANT, Brolin and Davis have virtually the same relationship as Lou and the paper's owner Mrs. Pynchon. And as much as the crones claim they trust their men and won't meddle, they invariably do. Davis appeared only in this pilot; for the series the role was recast with Anne Baxter as Victoria Cabot. That was a wise move as Davis appeared frail and was frankly ineffectual in the role.
HOTEL was scheduled to follow DYNASTY for its first four seasons (for its fifth and final it was unwisely moved to Saturdays). Being a DYNASTY fan, I was eager to see its erstwhile cast member Lloyd Bochner, who headed the guest cast of this pilot episode. I waited and waited and finally he appeared, but only near the tail end and for about four minutes of total screen time. He played the powerful father of the rapists' ringleader, and after some harrumphing after being dressed down by Davis, and some measured words to Morgan Fairchild, he was gone. Just one scene for so good an actor? (Thankfully, Bochner will be back a couple more times.) Also short changed was Bill Macy, the longsuffering Arthur Findlay of MAUDE. His sufferings continued, alas, married here to the stereotypically obnoxious New Yawker Lainie Kazan.
This pilot movie proved a promising start to the longrunning series. Yes, it is overly long and many of the subplots begin to wear thin, but I am confident patience and perseverance will pay off as the show gets steady on its feet and all the old familiar faces parade through the front doors each week.
And speaking of LOVE BOAT, yes, this series is guilty on all charges of being a land-based version of that guest-star-larded guilty pleasure. James Brolin ably plays accommodating host Peter McDermott, steadfastly front and center to warmly greet his guests a la Captain Stubing and Mr. Roarke. And as the guest stars appear, emerging from limousines and taxicabs, one is transported on nostalgic trips to the television shows of yesteryear. There's Shirley Partridge romancing Adam Cartwright, Joanie Cunningham warbling alongside Mel Torme, and the GREATEST AMERICAN HERO's counselor galpal Pam confidently conning her way into a plum position at the St. Gregory.
There was a lot going on in this 100-minute movie, each transition punctuated by the blasting bombast of Henry Mancini's theme song. You'll enjoy it over the opening credits, but after twenty bursts of it you may be screaming as I did to make it stop!
The romance plot featured the recently divorced Pernell Roberts enjoying a brief encounter with Shirley Jones, who just learned her husband is a philandering louse and is on the prowl for payback. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these two veteran stars together, and they lent the show a lot of class. The serious storyline starred Morgan Fairchild as a high-priced hooker who is gang raped by a group of rich kids. Brolin presses her to file charges against the young thugs, but first he has to build up her self-respect as a person before she can muster the confidence.
A strange subplot involved a May-December romance that was saved from being sordid only by its lightheartedness. And saved from being tragic by an admittedly hilarious proto-WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S scene complete with sunglasses.
And she can cook! When the (not) grieving betrothed and former St. Gregory waitress whips up some rustic potato dish the King of Portugal is smitten and adds an additional plane reservation to his exiting entourage. Alejandro Rey of THE FLYING NUN plays the king and gets a number of scenes that demonstrate it isn't so great being the king.
Subplots that go nowhere include the two newlywed staffers whose shifts overlap and they can never find a time or place to enjoy marital bliss. When they do, it's the wrong place at the wrong time. And there's the story of the naive guest relations director who falls for Erin Moran's dubious tale of woe and puts her up in the presidential suite of all places. Yeah, not every subplot can be compelling, especially in a double-length episode. The two misfires were mere speedbumps to the show's momentum.
Bette Davis plays the regal Mrs. Trent, the hotel's owner, who occupies and omnisciently oversees all the hotel's goings on from her well-appointed penthouse suite. If you remember LOU GRANT, Brolin and Davis have virtually the same relationship as Lou and the paper's owner Mrs. Pynchon. And as much as the crones claim they trust their men and won't meddle, they invariably do. Davis appeared only in this pilot; for the series the role was recast with Anne Baxter as Victoria Cabot. That was a wise move as Davis appeared frail and was frankly ineffectual in the role.
HOTEL was scheduled to follow DYNASTY for its first four seasons (for its fifth and final it was unwisely moved to Saturdays). Being a DYNASTY fan, I was eager to see its erstwhile cast member Lloyd Bochner, who headed the guest cast of this pilot episode. I waited and waited and finally he appeared, but only near the tail end and for about four minutes of total screen time. He played the powerful father of the rapists' ringleader, and after some harrumphing after being dressed down by Davis, and some measured words to Morgan Fairchild, he was gone. Just one scene for so good an actor? (Thankfully, Bochner will be back a couple more times.) Also short changed was Bill Macy, the longsuffering Arthur Findlay of MAUDE. His sufferings continued, alas, married here to the stereotypically obnoxious New Yawker Lainie Kazan.
This pilot movie proved a promising start to the longrunning series. Yes, it is overly long and many of the subplots begin to wear thin, but I am confident patience and perseverance will pay off as the show gets steady on its feet and all the old familiar faces parade through the front doors each week.
