Crossfire (soap opera)

Crossfire is a seven-episode series inspired by the prime-time soap operas of the 1980s. Produced by and starring members of Western Star Dancers.

Synopsis

The Hockstedders are a very rich San Francisco family, their fortune made during the building boom that followed the great earthquake through the shrewd business dealings of Madame Hockstedder's late father-in-law Horace. Our story begins in the present (c. 1987), seven years after the disappearance of Madame's husband Elliot, who rode off in a hot-air balloon at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival and hasn't been seen again. Madame was supposed to be on that balloon with him but was indisposed due to a combination of shrimp enchiladas and double margaritas the night before. Consumed by guilt and grief, she hit the bottle hard and wound up as a skid row bag lady, where she was befriended by the slow-witted but kind-hearted Dumpster Lover. One night she heard square dance music wafting from an upstairs window at the YMCA; she wandered in and was offered snacks; one thing led to another, and she soon turned her life around.

The 7th anniversary of Elliot's disappearance is imminent, after which he will be declared legally dead, and Madame will be in sole control of the Hockstedder fortune. She plans to give her square dance club The Western Squares a large endowment, to the horror of her four greedy children, who hire shady lawyer Melvin Smiley to help thwart her plans. When that doesn't pan out, daughter Lezzie hires a hitman, later taking customer dissatisfaction to extremes when he botches the job. But an unknown person is plotting against the plotters...how will this fadge? Oh, and Elliot turns up alive (of course) in the series finale. Twenty years later there will be more illegitimate heirs turning up, but that's (technically) another series.

Episodes

#	Title	Length	Premiere
1	Squaring Off	19 minutes	1988-??
2	All Eight Litigate	25 minutes	1988-??
3	Stir the Bucket	51 minutes	1989-06-17
4	Sides Face, Times Square	63 minutes	1990-04-28
5	Lights, Camera, Linear Action	64 minutes	1991-12-31
6	Explode the Line	71 minutes	1994-05-13
7	The Next Generation	77 minutes	2007-03-27

Cast

Surname	Full Name	Picture
!Nike!	Car of Darkness	Ep.3, 4
Alan	Bodyguard #1	Ep.5
Alice Gone-Wilde	herself	Ep.1, 3
Ammon Corl	Donnie Hockstedder	Ep.7
Andy Shore	The Square Dance Caller	Ep.2
Anna Damiani	Violet	Ep.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Anthony Cava	Mr. Y	Ep.4
Art Bradley	The Chef	Ep.5
Art McDermott	The Jogger	Ep.6
Bil Blades	Angus McNab	Ep.5
Bill Mussman	Detective #1	Ep.6
Bill Whitefield	The Caller	Ep.5
Cap Moran	Dr. Bucky Claire	Ep.6
Carolyn Matthews	Madame Zara	Ep.3, 4, 6
Chris Anderson	The Receptionsist	Ep.4
Claire Meisel	Evangeline Wood	Ep.4
Clark Husemann	Dumpster Lover	Ep.3, 4, 5, 6
Connie Champagne	The Girl	Ep.7
Dan Smith	Dan	Ep.7
Daniel Schweitzer	Ronnie Hockstedder	Ep.7
David Elkins		Ep.5
Davida Ashton	Cynthia	Ep.7
Denise Mathews	Client	Ep.6
Denise Young	Honey Hockstedder	Ep.2, 3, 4. 5, 6
Dennis Silva	Tollbooth Operator	Ep.5
Don Greco	Dame Edna	Ep.6
Donna Weidenfeller	The Nurse	Ep.7
Eddie . Smith	Cousin Reba	Ep.5
Eddie Smith	Lyle Hockstedder	Ep.2, 3, 4
Ernie Casello	Dancer	Ep.4
Felix Fornino	The Unmasked Singer	Ep.5
Gary Gray	News Anchor #1	Ep.6
Gary McDermott	Voice Academy Salesman	Ep.4
Grey Todd	Buck Hardin	Ep.7
Harry Koga	Dr. Brad Lee	Ep.6
James Ozanich	Ben/Benetha Hockstedder	Ep.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Jerry Michaelson	The Appraiser	Ep.7
Jess Alvarez	News Anchor #2	Ep.6
Jim Armstrong	Dancer	Ep.4
Jim Worlund	Horace Hockstedder	Ep.4
Joe Casserly	Garrotte	Ep.7
Joe Sobiesiak Jr	Ezra Smirky	Ep.3, 4, 5, 6
Joe Sobiesiak Jr	Deborah Nodoze	Ep.5
Joel McElligot	Hat Check Boy	Ep.3
John Conley	The Gardener	Ep.1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
Ken	Ken Do	Ep.5
Kenny Almos	Connie Povich	Ep.6
Kent Hansen	Secretary	Ep.5
Kevin	KOKX announcer	Ep.5
Larry Brown	Eliot Hockstedder	Ep.6, 7
Larry Fritts	Melvin Smiley	Ep.2, 3, 4, 6
Laurie Bushman	Joannie	Ep.7
Lauro De Haan	Dancer	Ep.4
Lee Chandler	Dancer	Ep.4
Leigh Crow	Johnny	Ep.7
Leslie Lauderdale	Scottish Dancer	Ep.6
Lynn Green	City Hall Correspondent	Ep.6
Marc Machado	Detective #2	Ep.6
Marie Mohr	Agent Marie	Ep.4, 5, 6
Marilynn Fowler	Desiree	Ep.7
Mark "Bubbles" Savino	The Jock	Ep.3
Mark "Bubbles" Savino	Ezra's Assistant	Ep.4
Mark Carey	Cafe Patron	Ep.4
Mark Carey	Mr. Gibbon's Secretary	Ep.6
Matthew Webster	Buzz Sawyer	Ep.3, 4, 5, 6
Max Robb	Dr. Protocol	Ep.5, 6
Melinda Napier	Melinda "Lezzie" Hochstedder	Ep.2, 3, 5, 6, 7
Members, Friends & Pets of Western Star Dancers	themselves	Ep.7
Messalina	Cockatiel	Ep.4
Michael Stokes	Angelique Hockstedder	Ep.3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Michael Stokes	Angelique's mother	Ep.4
Mimi Mueller	Crazed Student Dancer	Ep.4
Monte Roush	Dancer	Ep.4
Mustang Mary	Dancer	Ep.4
Patty White	Miss Pattycakes	Ep.3, 6, 7
Paul Waters	J.D. Spending	Ep.3, 4, 5, 6
Peggy Waters	Nancy Regan	Ep.4
Peter		Ep.5
Philip Stover	Floyd	Ep.5
Piers Greenhill	Barbershop Patron	Ep.5
Ramona	Ramona Pamona	Ep.5
Ray	Radio announcer	Ep.5
Rich Reel	Shane Pantsalotte	Ep.7
Rick Wheeler (Trixie)	Dancer	Ep.4
Robert Frank	Maxwell Tart	Ep.5, 6
Robert Smith	Mr. X	Ep.4
Rod Morrell	Hank "Mary" Xmas	Ep.3, 4, 5, 6
Rod Odgers	The Great Leader	Ep.5, 6
Ron Bozeman	Cowboy Visitor	Ep.5
Ron Douglass	Voice of Mysterious Caller	Ep.4
Ron Masker	Bodyguard #2	Ep.5
Ron Norman	Alice's Friend	Ep.3
Scott Carey	Mr. Gibbons	Ep.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
SF Class of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society		Ep.5
Sneaky	Black & White Cat	Ep.4
Stan	The Nurse	Ep.6
Steffany Stamper	Madame Hockstedder	Ep.1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Steve Scott	Stanley Seed	Ep.7
Sue Siegfried		Ep.7
Sweeney Todd	Yellow Cat	Ep.4
Todd Tryon	The Hitman	Ep.5
Todd Young	Corel	Ep.7
Tom Tripp	Nurse Stanwyck	Ep.5
Tomas Todd	Tomas	Ep.7
WSD Green 91 Class	themselves	Ep.5

Credits

#	Director	Writer	Editor	Videographer	Assistant Director
1	Scott Carey	Russ King	Scott Carey	John Conley
2	Scott Carey	Russ King	Scott Carey	John Conley
3	Scott Carey	Russ King	Scott Carey	John Conley	Joe Sobiesiak Jr
4	Scott Carey	Russ King	Scott Carey	John Conley
5	Scott Carey	Russ King	Scott Carey	John Conley
6	Russ King	Russ King	Russ King	Russ King
7	Russ King	Russ King	Russ King	Russ King

Background

Why Crossfire, one might ask. Well, just as Charles Foster Kane thought it would be fun to run a newspaper, we thought it would be fun to make our very own square-dance-oriented prime time video soap opera. Why not?

The initial idea came from Scott, who got Larry Brown to write up a treatment with the working title Square Dance Wives (a reference to Hollywood Wives, a 1985 television mini-series). Scott liked Larry's basic idea of a wealthy matriarch with a love for square dancing in conflict with her four greedy children, but they completely disagreed on how to cast it (Larry wanted Carolyn Matthews as the matriarch, Scott wanted Steffany; Carolyn wound up playing Madame Zara, a fake psychic), so Larry bowed out.

Scott brought me in to do a revised and expanded treatment with Steff in mind as our leading lady Madame Hockstedder, which I renamed Blue Genes. It sat on the shelf, however, until Scott started the Window to the Stars series of video newsletters and decided he needed something besides news to mix in for added interest. However, he needed to film it almost immediately, and needed it to be with a greatly reduced cast and no more than two locations. The result was predictably awful, but Scott is a quick learner, and in Episode 2 he recapped everything that had happened in Ep. 1, which means that Episode 1 need never be seen by human eyes ever again. (By this time Scott had renamed it Crossfire. Why? Well, why not?)

Episode 1 was 20 minutes; episode 2 was 25, and the last time it would be part of Window to the Stars. Windows and other home square dance videos were periodically shown at large parties at the homes of various members, including Scott, Freeman and the late Alice Gone-Wilde (James Fowle). After Ep 2, club members would come up to me as screenwriter with ideas about characters they'd like to play; I would try to oblige as best I could, so the cast of off-beat supporting characters slowly grew. One night at another, non-video party given by a newer club member at his Twin Peaks home, Scott came up to me and said that Crossfire needed more sex; shortly afterwards, in walked Michael Stokes, and a light bulb went off in my head--thus was born Angelique Hockstedder, illegitimate daughter of Madame's late father-in-law Horace Hockstedder (based on Dominique, the character played by Diahann Carroll on Dynasty, with a lot of Alexis mixed in). So, like Topsy, Crossfire just grew.

Although I wrote detailed scripts for Crossfire, it wasn't unusual for Scott as director to add or delete new material based on the availability of cast members and other contingencies on the day of shooting, the upside being that I sometimes got credit for clever dialogue that had been improvised on the spot. Episode 4 took improv to a whole new level, however. Crossfire 3 premiered in mid-June 1989; two weeks later most of us were in New York for Peel The Apple, with great locations all around us, but no script written script, and only a general idea of what the basic plot would be. Eddie's Lyle Hockstedder was a shopaholic, so Scott filmed him checking out the 5th Avenue scene, then Eddie, Anna, Scott and I convened in an upper room at the Convention hotel to film a scene with Violet reproaching him for over-spending. I wrote frantically, they memorized the gist, and the scene got shot. Several other scenes were filmed that way.

As it happened, that was the year that Freeman Stamper got the Golden Boot Award. Most impressive was the way Scott and Freeman contrived to combine footage from the presentation, with Freeman/Steff taking the stage to the cheers of many hundreds (real), followed by the assassination attempt on Madame's life (fake). Freeman and Scott hung around after the large crowd departed to film closeups of Freeman smiling to the crowd then suddenly clutching the side of his neck and falling to the floor. I've seen the raw footage, and the actual soundtrack consists of the clinking of plates and silverware being collected by the hotel staff. The closeups of the gunman, clutching a toy rifle painted black, were filmed back in SF at a WSD club night and edited in later. Oh, the magic of the movies!

Another improvised scene in New York had Angelique hooking up with caller Hank ('Mary") Xmas for a passionate tryst in Hank's hotel room, with Angelique seen from behind writhing orgasmically on top of him. The 1990 Vancouver Convention was the first one I missed, during which there was a showing of Crossfire 4 in someone's hotel room. Scott later told me that someone walked in during that scene and beat a hasty retreat, apparently assuming the group was watching porn.
— Russ King

---