Fresno The Miniseries (Full Film)
159,952
Published 2013-05-31
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
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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
All Comments (21)
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Glad this is the version without the laugh track. I watched it when it first aired. Few years later, started to watch it on a rerun, but they had added a laugh track, and it just killed it for me.
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This is such a brilliant send-up of the 1980s night time soaps - such cutting satire of the memes and tropes with clever dialogue - it probably went right over the head of most of the audience, but that doesn’t detract from the wonderful work here. 👍👏❤️
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This mini series was on in Melbourne Australia during the late 80s and everyone I hung out with was hooked on it. Hilarious and such a great cast. So many twists and turns it was amazing how it all came together at the end. Thank you so much for posting this.
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My family came to Fresno in '89 and I am just now hearing about this show in '22. I've come to love the rich history of this town. That you for posting this little gem. Happy Raisin Day.
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I don't why this show didn't become more popular , it was so funny. The cast was great especially Carol Burnett , Charles Gordin and Dabney Coleman.
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You will never know how much I appreciate you posting this classic mini-series in it's full glory. I have a VERY difficult time explaining Fresno to people from other parts of the world and this epic cinematic classic has been VERY helpful!!!
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I can't believe someone posted this either this either!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! As a huge Carol Burnett fan I loved this!! You would not believe how many, "so called Carol Burnett fans" don't know what Fresno is. Thank you again!!!
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What a cast. It's not as broad or cartoonish as its contemporaries like Sledge Hammer or Police Squad, but in some ways it's much funnier. Some of the scenes are absolute gems - and a particular standout is the use of music.
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From my brother: You got up at 4:00 am to watch FRESNO?!!! How did you find it? Life is complete!! My response: Yes! I watched the first half, went back to sleep and just finished the second half. It was great. No laugh track and it was edited perfectly so you could watch the whole thing straight through without interruption. If you scroll to the bottom of the guy's messages there are many interesting comments there. He did a great job. It's all there and good quality. Yes, life is complete! Well said.
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Thank you for uploading this. I remember watching this as a kid, and I have lyrics from the Number One with a Bullet song in my head ever since.
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When I watched this miniseries at the time it came out, I thought it was the funniest thing shown on network TV. It is brilliant and we are so grateful that you have made it available to view. Thank you.
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Fabulous! I remember this miniseries and it's great to see it again! The cast was great and it's so funny! I think it's great that they had Carol Burnette as Scarlett O'Hara for the masquerade ball as one of the funniest sketches she did on her show was the Gone With the Wind episode-"Went with the Wind" where she played the same character and I think Bob Mackie designed that gown as well! If you haven't seen that skit, you really should- hilarious! Thank you for posting this movie!
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Thanks so much for posting this. I was just thinking of “Fresno” and did a YouTube search out of curiosity... Wow, the whole thing! It holds up surprisingly well as a parody of 80’s soaps and TV miniseries!
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While portions of the miniseries were filmed entirely in Fresno, California (just the exteriors), the remainder was shot at MTM's regular soundstage, CBS Studio Center.
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Omg I haven’t seen this in over 30 yrs. very underrated and so worth the view!! 😂😂😂👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
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I can't believe someone posted Fresno! I recorded this off the tv when it first aired in the 80s and it has always been one of my favorite shows. Hilarious. I lost the video tape years ago but here it is again. Thx so much for posting!!
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Came looking for this just now as saw Valerie Mahaffey in something else & reminded me of this - saw as a kid in the 80s in England & remember I loved it, but never saw again! Thanks for uploading
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I've been quoting lines from this miniseries for YEARS since it first came out. The absolute BEST EVER!! Thanks so much for posting this!! (y)
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Thank you so much for posting this,I really enjoyed it : ) Such a great cast.Even though it's thirty years old it needs to be given another chance digitally remastered and put out into the world again. So much fun. Thank you again.
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OMG I remember this so fondly! Favorite line: "My God you'd think this was ROOTS!" LMAO! It helped that I was into "Dallas" and "Falcon Crest" back then (shows you hated yourself for being so addicted to). I'm going to introduce hubby to this, who never saw it. Thank you for uploading it!
