Hotel (TV series)

For the situation comedy, see Hot l Baltimore; for the UK documentary series, see Hotel (UK TV series)

Hotel
Format	Drama
Created by	Aaron Spelling
Starring	Anne Baxter James Brolin Connie Sellecca Shea Farrell Nathan Cook Michael Spound Heidi Bohay Shari Belafonte
Country of origin	USA
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	114
Production
Running time	1 hour
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 21, 1983 – May 5, 1988

Hotel is an American prime time drama series which aired on ABC from September 21, 1983 to May 5, 1988 in the timeslot following Dynasty.

Based on Arthur Hailey's 1965 novel of the same name (which had also inspired a 1967 feature film), the series was produced by Aaron Spelling and set in the elegant and fictitious St. Gregory Hotel in San Francisco (changed from the New Orleans setting of the novel and film). Episodes follow both the activities of passing guests as well as the personal and professional lives of the permanent hotel staff.

Premise

Rich aristocrat Victoria Cabot (Anne Baxter) runs the St. Gregory Hotel, assisted by general manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) and his staff. He and assistant general manager Christine Francis (Connie Sellecca) become romantically involved, and other staff members include the charismatic and popular guest relations director Mark Danning (Shea Farrell), ex-conman Billy Griffin (Nathan Cook) who becomes security director, reception manager Julie Gillette (Shari Belafonte), and young couple Dave and Megan Kendall (Michael Spound and Heidi Bohay), a bellhop and a desk clerk respectively.

Cast members Brolin, Sellecca, Belafonte-Harper and Cook appeared in every episode of the series. In later years, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., made numerous guest appearances as an opponent of Victoria Cabot and Peter McDermott who plants his daughter, played by Michelle Phillips, in the hotel staff as the concierge.

Special guest stars

The series employed many notable stars as weekly guests, including Scott Baio, Peggy Cass, Cathy Lee Crosby, John Davidson, Johnny Depp, Sarah Douglas, Patrick Duffy, Nanette Fabray, Morgan Fairchild, Eva Gabor, Estelle Getty, Jon-Erik Hexum, Bianca Jagger, Shirley Jones, Elaine Joyce, Lorenzo Lamas, Gordon Lightfoot, Heather Locklear, Peter Marshall, Erin Moran, Tracy Nelson, Alan Oppenheimer, Dick Van Patten, Donna Pescow, Michelle Phillips, Lynn Redgrave, Ted Shackelford, Jan Smithers, Tori Spelling, Stella Stevens, Elizabeth Taylor, Jan-Michael Vincent, Leigh Taylor-Young, Dee Wallace, Betty White and Shelley Winters.

Bette Davis appeared in the pilot episode as hotel owner Laura Trent, and publicity for the series indicated that Davis was to be a regular on the program. However, the onset of ill health at first forced Davis to withdraw from the series. When Davis's health improved it was intended to bring her back, however, with Anne Baxter playing Victoria Cabot, thus fullfilling the series matriarchal role, it was decided to make Davis's character an offscreen character, who though mentioned, was never seen. Ironically Davis would out live Baxter by four years and the series itself by over a year. .

DVD release

On July 21, 2009, Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS DVD released Season 1 of Hotel on DVD in Region 1 for the first time.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
The 1st Season	22	July 21, 2009

Remake

In 2003, Aaron Spelling tried to make a remake of the show, twenty years after the original's premiere. The pilot, which starred Michael Jai White and Christina Vidal, was shot for UPN, who passed on the show.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Hotel at the Internet Movie Database.
• Hotel DVD review and production history of series