The prime time of Aaron Spelling seemed over.
With the cancellation of "Dynasty" in 1989, the prolific producer had no show on the air for the first time in 22 years.
The show-biz bible Variety headlined, "Spelling's Dynasty Dead," and ABC Entertainment President Robert Iger, in an extremely rare sign of public disrespect, stood and took a bow before TV critics as the man who had canceled "Dynasty.""I went to the cemetery every week to read my epitaph," Mr. Spelling says with a wry smile.
Then along came "Beverly Hills, 90210," which he produces, and suddenly Aaron Spelling has never been hotter. Next month, he'll score a seldom-seen hat trick: having series running simultaneously on three networks.
"We have been shot down - me, personally - because I was behind the times, doing older shows," he says, referring to once-popular but now-dismissed series like "The Love Boat."
"I guess I had something to prove."
Whip-thin and wizened, he resembles a courtly version of William Hickey's Mafia don in "Prizzi's Honor." But eight months shy of his 70th birthday, Mr. Spelling has proved himself to be the leading purveyor of Tube Youth, a genre created by the success of "90210."
His soapy, sexy "2000 Malibu Road," starring 17-year-old Drew Barrymore, debuts Sunday on CBS, and "The Heights," a Fox drama about a struggling rock band, launches Thursday. On Wednesday nights, his "90210" and "Melrose Place" (a.k.a. "The Young and the Shirtless") are winning their time slots for Fox, and NBC hopes for similar success for "The Round Table" - which follows twentysomethings in Washington, D.C. - when it debuts next month.
Tube Youth isn't just a Spelling phenomenon; it's everywhere this fall. Slickly produced, loaded with sex (actual or just verbal) and starring preternaturally good-looking young people, Tube Youth shows are sometimes hard to tell from the Pepsi and Gap ads that accompany them and pay their bills.
But nobody does it with more of a Clearasil eye than Mr. Spelling, who has coined a lot more money than respect in a career spanning four decades. He's worth an estimated $300 million, and his 50,000-square-foot Los Angeles home is said to be the largest in California.
But that house contains only one Emmy Award statue, for the 1989 TV-movie "Day One."
"You can't say he was the first one down this path or that path," says TV historian Alex McNeil, author of "Total Television." "He kind of set the standard for certain formulas - stuff that doesn't purport to be uplifting or educational or controversial."
Although the term "schlockmeister" has frequently been applied to Mr. Spelling, he's really a closet intellectual. The Dallas native studied at the Sorbonne in France, won two Eugene O'Neill Awards for one-act plays he wrote as a young man, and wrote for quality anthology dramas in the '50s like "Playhouse 90."
Once he began producing his own shows, however, he began recycling ideas:
In the '60s, "Burke's Law" was about a millionaire crime-solver. So were "Matt Houston" and "Hart to Hart" in the '80s.
"The Mod Squad" was about three crime-fighters working outside the system. Mr. Spelling followed it up with "The Rookies" and "Charlie's Angels."
Guest stars come to an isolated locale and solve their problems? "The Love Boat," "Fantasy Island" and "Hotel."
And currently, although there are certainly differences, "90210," "Melrose," "The Heights" and "The Round Table" are all ensemble dramas about perfect-looking young people worrying about life and love.
Although he's executive producer of those shows and many more, Mr. Spelling is quick to point out that others deserve credit (or blame) for creating and writing them.
"I hate it when they say `Aaron Spelling's this,' and `Aaron Spelling's that.' I did not create `90210.' " (Darren Star, who also created "Melrose," did.)
But if he doesn't write or direct any of his shows, what does he do?
"We meet with the writers on concepts of each episode. Then the producers of the show do an outline, and we go over the outline together. Then the writer does a first draft on the producer's guidance. I get the first draft of every show, (and) I put notes (for suggested changes) in them. I have final say in casting. I see every day of dailies. I see every rough cut. And I have final approval of every show.
"Outside of that, I don't do anything."
- Aaron Spelling facts:
Born: April 22, 1923, Dallas
Married: To Candy Spelling, since 1968
Children: Victoria (Tori, a "90210" co-star), 19, and Randy, 13
Military: Served in U.S. Air Force in World War II, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Education: B.A., Southern Methodist University; two years of post-graduate study at the Sorbonne
Awards: One Emmy; six NAACP Image Awards; B'nai B'rith Man of the Year twice
On casting his shows: "Tori is probably the best assistant casting director we've ever had. She reads all the fan magazines. She's the one who suggested Shannen Doherty to us. She's the one who suggested Jason Priestley. She's the one who told me I had to meet Grant Show."
On TV's trend away from shows with older characters: "I think it would be stupid for the networks to forget the old audience. It just happens that this year we're doing five (youth) shows."
- A partial list of Aaron Spelling's shows:
"The Round Table." Debuts Sept. 18 on NBC. Young professionals in Washington, D.C., commiserate at a local bar in this one-hour ensemble drama.
"The Heights." Debuts Thursday on Fox. Good-looking working-class kids in a rock band.
"2000 Malibu Road." Debuted Sunday on CBS. Drew Barrymore's cleavage vs. Lisa Hartman's legs.
"Melrose Place." July 1992- present on Fox. "Beverly Hills, 90210" spin-off with older characters (in their 20s!).
"Beverly Hills, 90210." Oct. 1990-present on Fox. Teen hit only got hot when Luke Perry was added midway through first season.
"Nightingales." 1989 on NBC. Short-lived, controversial series about nurses who spent a lot of time changing clothes and doing aerobics.
"Hotel." 1983-1988 on ABC. James Brolin in a land-based "Love Boat."
"T.J. Hooker." 1982-1987 on ABC. William Shatner as a cop.
"Dynasty." 1981-1989 on ABC. Reaganomics as soap opera.
"Hart to Hart." 1979-1984 on ABC. Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers were rich, solved crimes for fun.
"Fantasy Island." 1978-1984 on ABC. De plane, boss, de plane.
"The Love Boat." 1977-1986 on ABC. All aboard the Pacific Princess, where Gavin MacLeod helped aging guest stars find romance.
"Charlie's Angels." 1976-1981 on ABC. First Farrah, Kate and Jaclyn, then Cheryl, Shelley and Tanya.
"Family." 1976-1980 on ABC. Just about the only critically acclaimed Spelling show, "Family" realistically dealt with domestic life.
"S.W.A.T." 1975-1976 on ABC. Stood for Special Weapons and Tactics team. Ultraviolent cop show.
"Starsky and Hutch." 1975-1979 on ABC. David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser undercover.
"The Rookies." 1972-1976 on ABC. Long forgotten, but it launched Kate Jackson ("Charlie's Angels") and Michael Ontkean ("Twin Peaks").
"The Mod Squad." 1968-1973. "One black, one white, one blonde" ran the ads. Seemed kinda hip at the time.
"The Guns of Will Sonnett." 1967-1969 on ABC. Decent western starring Walter Brennan.
"Honey West." 1965-1966 on ABC. Anne Francis as a private investigator, modeled very loosely on 007's Pussy Galore.
"Burke's Law." 1963-1966 on ABC. Gene Barry as a millionaire detective; recycled years later as "Hart to Hart." - Phil Kloer