''Secrets of Midland Heights'' is an American nighttime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

produced by

Lorimar Productions Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...

after the success of ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

''. It ran on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from December 6, 1980 to January 24, 1981 for eight episodes, with three episodes left unaired.

Series overview

''Secrets of Midland Heights'' was aimed at the teen audience, and featured romantic triangles and secrets among the teens and their parents who populated a fictional midwestern college town called Midland Heights. Aired on Saturday night at 10 pm EST/9 pm Central, the series never found an audience and was canceled after eight episodes. The show resembled a dark, 1980s-style '' Peyton Place'', both dealing with hidden secrets and scandalous affairs in a small town. Lisa Rogers (

Linda Hamilton Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress. She played Sarah Connor in the '' Terminator'' film series and Catherine Chandler in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–1990), for which she was nomina ...

) juggled relationships with both college jock Burt Carroll (

Lorenzo Lamas Lorenzo Fernando Lamas (born January 20, 1958) is an American actor. He is widely known for his role of Lance Cumson, the irresponsible grandson of Angela Channing—played by Jane Wyman—in the soap opera ''Falcon Crest'' (1981–1990), for ...

) and fratboy Mark Hudson (Bill Thornbury, in a recurring role), good girl heiress Ann Dulles ( Doran Clark) secretly dated high school dropout John Grey (

Jim Youngs Jim Youngs (born October 13, 1956) is an American actor. Early life Youngs was born in Old Bethpage, New York, the brother of actor John Savage and journalist Robin Young. Career He appeared in such films as '' The Wanderers'', '' Footloose ...

), Holly Wheeler (played by Linda Grovenor in the pilot, and subsequently by Marilyn Jones) wanted to lose her virginity to her boyfriend Teddy Welsh (Daniel Zippi), but the teens were shocked to discover her mother Dorothy ( Bibi Besch) was having an affair with Teddy's father Nathan ( Robert Hogan), a widowed professor at the college. There were also power struggles between the wealthy Millington family, one of Midland Heights' founding families, consisting of the widowed Margaret and her son Guy, and the equally wealthy and powerful Wheelers. The show was produced by David Jacobs, Lee Rich and Michael Filerman, all of whom worked on other serial dramas like '' Flamingo Road'' and '' Knots Landing''. When ''Secrets of Midland Heights'' was pulled from the schedule, the producers stated that the show would be retooled and make a return in some form. Many of the same performers and production staff returned to ABC the following season in the different serial '' King's Crossing'', which similarly had a short run. After the demise of the series, actor Lorenzo Lamas would join the cast of the soap '' Falcon Crest''.

Cast and characters

* Bibi Besch as Dorothy Wheeler *

Jordan Christopher Jordan Christopher (October 23, 1940 – January 21, 1996) was an American actor and singer. He was the lead singer of The Wild Ones, who recorded the original version of the rock classic " Wild Thing" after Christopher had left the band. Earl ...

as Guy Millington * Robert Hogan as Nathan Welsh * William Jordan as Martin Wheeler *

Mark Pinter Mark Pinter (born March 7, 1950) is an American actor best known for his numerous roles in daytime soap operas. Early life and education Pinter was born in Decorah, Iowa. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre arts from Iowa State Univers ...

as Calvin Richardson * Linda Grovenor (pilot only) & Marilyn Jones as Holly Wheeler * Daniel Zippi as Teddy Welsh * Doran Clark as Ann Dulles *

as John Gray *

as Lisa Rogers *

as Burt Carroll * Stephen Manley as Danny Welsh *

Melora Hardin Melora Hardin (born June 29, 1967) is an American actress, known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's ''The Office'' and Trudy Monk on USA Network's ''Monk'', and Tammy Cashman on Amazon Prime Video's '' Transparent'', for which she received ...

as Micki Carroll *

Martha Scott Martha Ellen Scott (September 22, 1912 – May 28, 2003) was an American actress. She was featured in major films such as Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956), and William Wyler's '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), playing the mother of Charlto ...

as Margaret Millington

Episodes

References

{{reflist 1980 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings American television soap operas American primetime television soap operas Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios English-language television shows