Fresno

If you remember this line out of the opening segment, then you're still laughing, as I am. For those who don't, the line refers to how the town got it's name: the Spanish explorers catching a whiff of a foul odor and asking what the smell is-"Smells like...FRESNO!" From Carol Burnet riding backwards in her station wagon to Gregory Harrison barechested with a white t-shirt stuffed in the back pocket of his jeans, this is without a doubt the finest spoof ever created. I would dearly love to see this movie on VHS. It would be a favorite in my house.

FRESNO was a television rarity...a multi-part comedic TV miniseries. This near brilliant spoof of nighttime soaps like DALLAS and DYNASTY came right on time in 1986 when those shows were in their heyday. This laugh out loud miniseries followed the adventures of the Kensington family, the owner of the largest raisin dynasty in Fresno, California. The large and wonderful all-star cast included Carol Burnett, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, Anthony Heald, Bill Paxton, Michael Richards, Theresa Ganzel, Valerie Mahaffey, Melanie Chartoff, Pat Corley (Phil on "Murphy Brown")and despite the presence of all this comic talent, this entire mini series was stolen by Charles Grodin, in a brilliant comic turn as eldest son Cain Kensington. His JR Ewing take-off was perfectly executed comic genius and quite possibly Grodin's finest work on any screen anywhere. Just an exceptionally funny miniseries that stays fresh and hilarious throughout its extreme length. I, too used to have FRESNO on tape and lost it during a move. As another poster intimated, I too would gladly pay for a copy of FRESNO on VHS or DVD. If CBS hasn't put it on video it should be. A forgotten classic that is worthy of a second look for those who missed it the first time.

I am looking for a copy of this Show. This by far the funniest show I have ever seen. My favorite about this show is they take "class" and "refinement" and make a mockery of it. My favorite part of the show is the "Martini in the Face"

I have always thought that was so funny. It makes my stomach hurt.

If you have not seen this show I strongly recommend it if you like to laugh. I have been looking for it for 3 years and finally found this site. If anyone has this show on tape or DVD I would be ecstatic. Thanks Scott

As far as we know, we are two of about ten people on planet Earth to have watched this show. This is so frustrating, because Fresno has to be one of the best shows of its kind ever produced.

Fourteen years later, my spouse and I still quip about certain memorable scenes and lines. For me, the most memorable was the breakfast table scene culminating in the "You'd think this was Roots or something" comment. For my spouse, it was Carol Burnett always telling the driver to bring around the Bentley (always in the garage under repair), and then riding, facing backward, in a broken down station wagon like nothing was wrong.

We wish other people could/would watch Fresno, so we can be sure that it was as funny as I remember (and we aren't crazy).

After so many years, I still get these spontaneous flashbacks about "Fresno" - like LSD, except this is even tripier! Think of an extended Carol Burnett skit as the most outlandish take-off, with the most insane dialogue and characters; and think of all of this as dead on target - the soap opera mini-series à la "Dallas" and "Dynasty," with a little "Santa Barbara" thrown in, and you get (I'm laughing as I type this) "Fresno".

Usually, after the premise has worn off, this kind of satire doesn't have the inventiveness or the talent to sustain a feature. But with "Fresno," the idiocy, the inanity, the hilarity is indeed sustained throughout: for the whole ride you really don't know what new goof is around the corner.

I would love to have seen Harvey Korman in the cast. Hey, can't have everything, though with "Fresno," I almost do. Something else outrageous, though un-funny, about "Fresno" is that no video has been issued for this, one of the greatest comedies in television history.