"Knots Landing" fans who've missed having a conniving blond, uh, witch around since Donna Mills bailed out of the series have a treat in store: Michelle Phillips is back - permanently.
Oh, Phillips (who plays that nasty Anne Matheson) has been on the show off and on for the past three seasons. But now she's a fixture, with her name in the opening credits and everything."I'm thrilled," Phillips said. "There's nothing I'd rather do than be on this show right now."
Mills, whose Abby Cunningham Ewing character had caused trouble for nearly a decade, left "Knots" at the end of the 1988-89 season. And waiting to return to the series wasn't easy for Phillips after that.
"When Donna left the show, I'll tell you, I was sitting by the phone waiting and waiting for a call," she said. "Finally, I had my agent call them."
Phillips ended up appearing in a single episode early last season - without any assurance she'd return to the show later. "I think they (the producers) were covering themselves," she said. "They weren't sure which direction they were going to go."
Late last year, "Knots" producers called Phillips' agent asking about her availability from January through April. And after spending the latter part of last season with the show, she's signed a long-term contract.
"They have made a commitment to the character," she said. "That commitment wasn't there three years ago. But then, Anne came in trying to break up Mack and Karen's marriage - the one really sacred marriage on the show. You couldn't do much with that story."
When Phillips was first signed to appear on "Knots," speculation was that her casting came because of her strong resemblance to Nicollette Sheridan, who plays her TV daughter, Paige. But Phillips thinks it may have come about because of her real daughter, actress/ singer Chynna Phillips.
"My daughter read for the the part of Paige," she said. "For whatever reason, she didn't get the part - too young, not experienced enough, whatever.
"I think it was when Chynna read that it put a bee in their bonnet, like, maybe I'd be someone to play Paige's mother. A couple months later they called me."
Chynna, along with Carnie and Wendy Wilson - daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson - formed appropriately named Wilson Phillips, which recently hit the top of the music charts with "Hold On."
Her success is "Absolutely the greatest relief a mother can have," Michelle said. "It's what she's always wanted to do. And so many people told her it would never happen because they'd have to live up to a certain ridiculous standard because of who they were."
Not only does the group consist of two daughters of a Beach Boy, but Chynna's parents, Michelle and John, were members of the Mamas and the Papas back in the '60s.
Michelle's personal life has certainly been as interesting as anything "Knots" writers could dream up - her marriage to John Phillips, the craziness of the Mamas and the Papas days; her affair with the other "Papa," Denny Doherty, which reportedly led to her being thrown out of the group.
She's had liaisons with a number of Hollywood men, including Warren Beatty, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson. She's had a career, largely unsuccessful, as a big-screen actress.
On "Knots Landing," she plays a deliciously bad woman. She's not evil incarnate, but she has no particular moral constraints when it comes to getting what she wants.
In one classic "Knots Landing" scene, Phillips' screen persona and her real past were wonderfully blended. Anne took a sleeping pill overdose in an apparent suicide attempt, although she knew she'd be saved - it was an attempt to win Mack back. (This is the way things go in soap operas.)
Anyway, as Anne is drifting off, a "Mamas and the Papas" tune was playing in the background. And as the camera panned across the room, there was the album cover lying on the floor.
"The producers called me up and asked me if I had any objections (to use the music)," Phillips said. "I said, `Don't do that.' It was my first reaction. Then, about 15 minutes later I called them back and said, `I changed my mind. It's a great idea.'
"I got so much mail on that. People just loved it."
Although actors in night-time soaps don't get the respect some others do, Phillips said she's more than happy with her role.
"They challenge me," she said. "I've had some ridiculously long monologues. They have made my character a sort of chatty Cathy."
Phillips shares a good many of scenes with Sheridan. And while they play mother and daughter, they act like a couple of kids on the set sometimes.
"I love working with her," Sheridan said. "We have a lot of fun. I know the crew really enjoys it when we're on together."
Most recently, heiress Anne - apparently now broke - has been trying to steal a trust fund away from her own daughter. And she may still make a move on the wealthy Gregory Sumner (William Devane), who up until now has been more interested in Paige.
"I'm going to get into some pretty desperate situations this season," Phillips said. "But, hey, this is the most fun I've ever had. And they call this a job!"