HARLAN AND MERLEEN {PILOT FOR UNPRODUCED SERIES} {PART 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
The first part of this pilot of a comedy series spun off from the comedy series “Evening Shade,” about a country doctor and his wife sheltering three young pregnant women.
Merleen takes in Carmen Ruiz, a young pregnant woman, although she does not inform Harlan about this. Carmen is a native Spanish-speaker and has difficulty speaking English, but soon bonds with Merleen’s housekeeper Paola, who is fluent in Spanish. Merleen tries to accommodate Carmen; she explains that her doctor recommended that she drink goat’s milk, as she is allergic to cow milk. Merleen leaves to run errands and Harlan comes home from work early. He realizes she is gone and relishes the chance to be alone with his big-screen television set. He and Carmen soon discover each other’s presence, and Carmen thanks him for allowing her to stay in his house. Harlan is quite confused by this; she explains that she was born in Cuba and lived in Miami before being invited to stay at the Eldridge residence by Merleen, her friend.
Suddenly another young pregnant woman enters, looking for Merleen. She quickly proves to be more rude and outspoken than Carmen, particularly towards Harlan. The woman introduces herself as Francis “Frankie” Moscow, a magician’s assistant from New Jersey who was fired due to her pregnancy making her unable to fit into small spaces as per her job’s requirements. Carmen explains that she is very much in love with her baby’s father, Hector, but he was sent away since their families will not allow them to marry each other; her family is poor and Hector’s is quite well-off. Frankie’s experiences have left her with an antipathy for men, explaining her rudeness to Harlan.
Later, a third pregnant woman arrives, Sharilee Crump from Van Horn, Texas, along with her young daughter April. Sherilee explains she is looking for “refuge,” although April expresses her distaste for Harlan. Harlan demands an explanation for the presence of all three women, and before they can explain Merleen comes back home. She enthusiastically greets all of the assembled women, and tells an increasingly enraged Harlan that she placed a magazine advertisement and invited all three of them to the house. Commercials deleted.
(This episode is part one of a two-part episode. Part two is not available at this time.)
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: July 12, 1993 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:39
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:67721
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1993
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Burt Reynolds … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- James Hampton … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Lamar Jackson … Producer
- Bernard Oseransky … Producer
- Maggie Parker … Associate Producer
- Scott Jackson … Associate Producer
- Linda Bloodworth-Thomason … Based on characters created by
- Bobby Goldsboro … Music by, Theme Music by
- Charles Durning … Cast, Dr. Harlan Eldridge
- Ann Wedgeworth … Cast, Merleen Eldridge
- Leah Remini … Cast, Frankie
- Maria Canals (See also: Maria Canals-Barrera) … Cast, Carmen
- Kristin Rose … Cast, Sharilee
- Janna Michalls … Cast, April
- Ja'Net DuBois … Cast, Maxene
- Nick Toth … Cast, Doug
- Anita Gregory … Cast, Paola
- Andrea Hampton … Cast, LaDonna