Life on the Fringe : Prime-Time Soap Opera Set in ‘West Hollywood Palms’ Complex Brings Wackiness, Relevance to Public-Access TV

Don’t touch that dial.

It’s time once again for those zany characters of “West Hollywood Palms.” Today, Sister Mary Angelus could save another soul. Would-be starlet Lucy might drown her slippery manager, Buddy Foxx. And Mr. President has an important speech to make--that is, if the homeless stranger stops holding him hostage.

Welcome to the first prime-time soap opera set in West Hollywood. In its seven episodes, now airing on Friday nights at 7 p.m. on West Hollywood’s public-access cable channel, it chronicles the lives of residents at the fictional West Hollywood Palms apartment complex.

Created by Ted Harris, a Hollywood playwright/director, and T.H.A.T. (Ted Harris Actors Theatre) Company, the series takes a comical, albeit twisted, approach to ordinary life. It looks at a number of social issues--with big doses of absurdity--that affect its characters. For example, a hostage crisis develops in the pilot episode, in which a homeless stranger kidnaps Mr. President, a deluded man. Both characters think they have answers to the social ills that plague the community.

Mr. President offers his answers in grandiose speeches about the Founding Fathers; all the while, he is hustling tenants for votes. The homeless stranger, convinced that Mr. President is the leader of the country, takes him hostage and vows to keep him until someone will meet his demands of more food stamps and new shoes for the homeless, “and for God’s sake, a better way to get downtown.”

Harris says the scenarios are designed to make viewers aware of conflicts that often go unnoticed.

“This is a view of America from West Hollywood,” Harris said. “We are showing how people are always misconstrued, like the homeless stranger’s attempt to make people listen to him. As far-fetched as the hostage situation may seem, it isn’t nearly as outrageous as the things you read in the papers today.”

Gregg Dickinson, who plays a doctor in the series and doubles as the company’s production manager, said the series is “striking a chord with everyday people.”

“The characters have something to say,” he said, “and the issues are timely.”

“West Hollywood Palms” also is filled with Harris’ observations on the mundane details of life. Nearly all of the scenes take place in the complex’s courtyard, where three elderly residents are locked in a never-ending game of cards. In most scenes, the actors surround the card players.

“We are family in many ways,” said Gayle Vance, who plays Violet, one of the card players. “We have lived next to one another so long that we know each other inside out. We’ve watched people come and go with their problems. If I see something I don’t like, I put my nose into it. I’m like the aunt who always wants to know everyone’s business.”

Professionally, many of the actors know one another’s work well. Harris formed the theater company in 1976, and some of the actors in the series have been with the company since that time.

Since October, 1989, the group’s 31 members have been producing “West Hollywood Palms” at Century Cable Vision’s Santa Monica production facility. They take care of everything, from building the sets to distributing the video to local cable outlets. The company rehearses at Plummer Park in West Hollywood, and holds acting workshops there every Saturday afternoon.

The theater company funds the series through private contributions and occasional benefits with the West Hollywood business community.

Several Westside businesses donated materials, including lumber and paint, to help build the set in 1989. In addition, the actors and technicians donate their time as part of a public-access agreement with the state. Century Cable also provides production facilities free of charge as part of the agreement.

Already, the series has been seen on public access channels throughout the Westside as well in the downtown area and the San Fernando Valley. The advent of a public access channel in West Hollywood this month made it possible for it to air in that city. Between March and May, the series will air in most Westside communities on public access channels 3 and 37.

At least eight more episodes are in the works, Harris says. One of those will bring the residents together around a common cause: What will they do when one of them finds a baby?

Stay tuned.