This was the first episode of season 5. It is called 'Hail and Farewell' which seems a rather appropriate title since it would be Ginger Rogers' acting farewell. She had been working in Hollywood since 1930.
Incidentally, this was Ginger's third time guest-starring on an Aaron Spelling program. She had done a two-part episode of The Love Boat in 1979 and she also guest-starred on one of his short-lived series called Glitter in 1984. It was now 1987, and she was 76 years old. They have cast her as a channeler. I guess this was the lingo at the time for a psychic medium.
The set-up for this main plot is fairly ingenious. A wealthy man from Georgia (Ted Shackleford) checks into the St. Gregory to meet Natalie Trent, the channeler (Ginger's character). First, it's interesting the writers are re-using the name Trent, since it was the surname of Bette Davis' character in the show's pilot back in 1983. Anyway, Shackleford is recently widowed and he's eager to speak to Miss Trent, a noted communicator with telepathic abilities. He has arranged the appointment so she can help him speak to his dead wife.
At first, you think this is going to play fairly predictably. That Shackleford, rich and grieving, will be conned by Rogers. And yes, she is a con artist...it's interesting how Ginger gives us these tiny suggestions in the beginning that her character is not fully above board. There are the expected seance scenes in Ginger's hotel room. Then Shackleford heads back to his room and goes to sleep. In the middle of the night, he is awakened by a phone call from his dead wife. Is it really her spirit contacting him more directly after the seance?
Of course, we want to find out more...it turns out that Ginger's character is the aunt of the dead woman, and the dead woman is not really dead. She was in a car accident and presumed dead. The real twist is that Shackleford is a villain, he attempted to kill his wife to get his hands on all her money. She survived, contacted her aunt the channeler, and they've been working to fool Shackleford into confessing. A key plot point is that when Ginger's character does her seances she records everything that is said on tape.
Eventually Shackleford realizes what is going on. He sets up another meeting with Ginger, and this time he's going to turn the tables on her and try to kill her too! It's all very suspenseful. What I thought was great was how Ginger is playing a con artist, so you expect her to be the least sympathetic character, but then we end up rooting for her to defeat Shackelford when he is trying to kill her.
One thing that I noticed watching the episode was how many gorgeous blouses and dresses they had Ginger wearing. She has a different Nolan Miller creation on in each one of her scenes. She is noticeably heavier, and it looked like she was having trouble walking (my guess is she may have used a cane in real life, but wanted to stand up and walk on camera without it).
There is a later scene where she is supposed to be fleeing from Shackleford, which was likely filmed with a stunt double since I don't think a heavyset 76 year old gal who probably uses a cane would have been able to run that fast or even run at all (the glimpse of her character running was shot under a table where we only saw her legs as she supposedly fled from Shackleford). But it's still a well-played conclusion, because we sense her character is in great danger and don't want her to end up dead. Fortunately for us, she isn't killed off. All in all, I felt this was a very good final performance for Ginger Rogers...a good way to wrap up a long career on screen.
Incidentally, this was Ginger's third time guest-starring on an Aaron Spelling program. She had done a two-part episode of The Love Boat in 1979 and she also guest-starred on one of his short-lived series called Glitter in 1984. It was now 1987, and she was 76 years old. They have cast her as a channeler. I guess this was the lingo at the time for a psychic medium.
The set-up for this main plot is fairly ingenious. A wealthy man from Georgia (Ted Shackleford) checks into the St. Gregory to meet Natalie Trent, the channeler (Ginger's character). First, it's interesting the writers are re-using the name Trent, since it was the surname of Bette Davis' character in the show's pilot back in 1983. Anyway, Shackleford is recently widowed and he's eager to speak to Miss Trent, a noted communicator with telepathic abilities. He has arranged the appointment so she can help him speak to his dead wife.
At first, you think this is going to play fairly predictably. That Shackleford, rich and grieving, will be conned by Rogers. And yes, she is a con artist...it's interesting how Ginger gives us these tiny suggestions in the beginning that her character is not fully above board. There are the expected seance scenes in Ginger's hotel room. Then Shackleford heads back to his room and goes to sleep. In the middle of the night, he is awakened by a phone call from his dead wife. Is it really her spirit contacting him more directly after the seance?
Of course, we want to find out more...it turns out that Ginger's character is the aunt of the dead woman, and the dead woman is not really dead. She was in a car accident and presumed dead. The real twist is that Shackleford is a villain, he attempted to kill his wife to get his hands on all her money. She survived, contacted her aunt the channeler, and they've been working to fool Shackleford into confessing. A key plot point is that when Ginger's character does her seances she records everything that is said on tape.
Eventually Shackleford realizes what is going on. He sets up another meeting with Ginger, and this time he's going to turn the tables on her and try to kill her too! It's all very suspenseful. What I thought was great was how Ginger is playing a con artist, so you expect her to be the least sympathetic character, but then we end up rooting for her to defeat Shackelford when he is trying to kill her.
One thing that I noticed watching the episode was how many gorgeous blouses and dresses they had Ginger wearing. She has a different Nolan Miller creation on in each one of her scenes. She is noticeably heavier, and it looked like she was having trouble walking (my guess is she may have used a cane in real life, but wanted to stand up and walk on camera without it).
There is a later scene where she is supposed to be fleeing from Shackleford, which was likely filmed with a stunt double since I don't think a heavyset 76 year old gal who probably uses a cane would have been able to run that fast or even run at all (the glimpse of her character running was shot under a table where we only saw her legs as she supposedly fled from Shackleford). But it's still a well-played conclusion, because we sense her character is in great danger and don't want her to end up dead. Fortunately for us, she isn't killed off. All in all, I felt this was a very good final performance for Ginger Rogers...a good way to wrap up a long career on screen.
