Hotel: The First Season

Nominally based on a bestselling Arthur Hailey novel and subsequent 1967 feature film adaptation, ABC's Hotel was considered rather daring by the standards of Reagan-era TV. Initially a 1983 Movie of the Week, the program underwent retooling and a major cast change before debuting as a series that fall. In keeping with his formula for The Love Boat, producer Aaron Spelling insisted on multiple storylines in each episode, a format that allowed innumerable guest stars to appear. The action has simply shifted settings from a cruise ship to a fictional hotel, the St. Gregory, modeled on the famous Fairmont in San Francisco. Owned by the indomitable Victoria Cabot (Anne Baxter), sister-in-law to a character played by Bette Davis in the pilot, the hotel is run by general manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) and his executive assistant Christine Francis (Connie Sellecca), who keep things humming smoothly with the aid of assorted staffers (Nathan Cook, Shea Farrell, Shari Belafonte, Heidi Bohay, and Michael Spound, among others), while a parade of colorful guests liven things up in the grandly appointed suites. Most of the storylines in these 22 episodes from the 1983-84 first season will strike today's viewers as glossy and vapid, with illicit sexual shenanigans mostly delivered with a nudge and a wink, typical of primetime network dramas of the period. Occasionally, the show tackled hot-button social issues, but not always constructively or well. In “Confrontations,” for example, white supremacist Martin Landau torments Scatman Crothers in an obviously heavy-handed way. And “Faith, Hope and Charity” flirts somewhat smarmily with the delicate subject of homosexuality, with Carol Lynley's character confessing that she is sexually attracted to her best friend, played by Barbara Parkins. Confused clergyman Dack Rambo succumbs to temptation and has a fling with married Michelle Phillips in “Secrets.” These and other Hotel subplots offered just enough naughtiness to be titillating, but never substantively grappled with their weighty issues. Today's viewers may still enjoy seeing all the old guest stars, who collectively comprise a Who's Who of the era's primetime luminaries. A strong optional purchase. (E. Hulse)