For TV viewers of a certain age, the idea of a brand-new show featuring The Brady Bunch’s Peter Brady and Melrose Place‘s Jack Parezi battling for the love of Growing Pains wallflower Carol Seaver could possibly blow your mind. But it’s about to go down.
On Aug. 13, Investigation Discovery — ground zero for unabashedly campy TV that blends fact and fiction into lesson after lesson in what to avoid in a prospective life partner — will premiere the three-part summer series Heartbreakers, starring the aforementioned trio, Christopher Knight, Antonio Sabato Jr. and Tracy Gold, plus additional throwback faves Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Melrose Place’s Jack Wagner, Jamie Luner and Rob Estes, and Baywatch bombshell Nicole Eggert.
Touted as reminiscent of the prime time soaps that dominated television in the ’80s and ’90s, with a shot of true-crime gravitas, Heartbreakers blends over-the-top storytelling with docu-style reporting.
“There are moments of real seriousness in these stories,” Heartbreakers’ executive producer Pamela Deutsch told reporters at yesterday’s Television Critics Association summer press tour “There are moments of tenderness. There are moments of humor. So it has sort of ebbs and flows in that way.”
Each hourlong episode will feature the TV icons acting out true-life romances that went murderously wrong, interspersed with interviews with real folks who are intimately connected with each case. “I think the interviews with the family and friends, the people who were really involved in these people’s lives kind of anchor it and really speak to that emotion of the story,” said Deutsch.
“Shot Through the Heart,” which premieres Aug. 13, features Knight as a nerdy school principal who falls for school secretary Tracey Gold and finds his romantic efforts thwarted by hunky new football coach played by Sabato Jr.
“I think you have to approach it with a realistic sensibility because it is real life and it is real people, and you don’t want to approach it as a joke,” said Gold. “Obviously, there’s a camp element to it, but I think that will come through on its own. If you approach it straightforward, then I think it plays way better.”
For Knight, the lure of taking on a character that is guaranteed to make Brady buffs laugh aloud at first glance was the chance to play a role rarely afforded him in the wake of his post-Brady fame.
“The appeal was that I’m not asked to do this kind of work,” he said. “And playing a character is a lot more freeing than playing or having to stay in the box that a leading man normally is placed in. So the character had these elements. And the plot — which is a real plot — is outlandish.”
In the “Tainted Love” episode, Hercules star Sorbo plays a private investigator trying to help a naive newlywed (Eggert) escape her duplicitous spouse (Nelson).
Eggert said that she genuinely connected with Jayne Miller, the woman on whom her character was based, keeping pictures of the doomed single mother in her trailer on the Heartbreakers set.
“We bonded with these people through pictures every day,” she explained. “It’s a true story, so for me, I really sympathize with this woman. And being a mother, you know, it was very touching. And it was very emotional, honestly.”
“What I like about they did with these is when you watch these, it’s sort of a documentary style,” Sorbo added. “It has a 20/20 feel to it, where you’re not only going to see us playing these characters that are real, but you’re also going to see the real characters talking in between the scenes, talking about what they were going through.”
Speaking of characters, asked about the iconic roles and series to which their names and faces will forever be linked, all three cast members on the panel agreed that there are far worse fates to befall an actor.
“They don’t ever go away, so I’m fine with it,” said Knight. “I’ve reached a peace with it. [Peter] will be in the room long after I’m gone. He’s always in the room before I get there, … It’s a privilege to have been placed in this position.”
“If somebody knows your character so well that they just associate you totally with that character, that’s an honor,” Gold agreed. “That means you did your job. You resonated with the audience, and that’s what you want, you know?”
Heartbreakers premieres Aug. 13 at 10/9CT on Investigation Discovery. Episode descriptions and premieres are as follows:
HEARTBREAKERS: “Shot Through the Heart”
World Premiere: Wednesday, August 13 at 10/9c
- Starring Christopher Knight, Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Tracey Gold
Set in the mid-1980s, a small Texas town is rocked by a love triangle that takes place at its Junior High School. Principal Hurley Fontenot (Knight) leaves his wife to be with the pretty, young new school clerk, Laura Nugent (Gold). And their relationship is blossoming, that is until Billy Mac Fleming (Sabato, Jr.) came to town. Fleming, the new Football Coach, swept Laura off her feet. Both men wanted her, but only one could have her. It was a classic showdown of brains versus brawn. They would all end up heartbroken. But one of them would end up in a dark, desolate ditch, the victim of an execution style murder.
HEARTBREAKERS: “Losing My Religion”
World Premiere: Wednesday, August 20 at 10/9c
- Starring Jack Wagner, Rob Estes and Jamie Luner
Pastor David “Brother” Love (Wagner) presides over a close-knit church in a community outside of Kansas City in 2000. The parishioners admire him, maybe none more so than Randy Stone (Estes), a loyal church member and one of his closest friends. But loyalties are tested when Love becomes too close with Randy’s wife, Teresa (Luner). The forbidden relationship leads to a decade long affair full of secrets and lies. Manipulation, jealous, money and heartbreak all play a part in this chilling story that leads to a shocking investigation of murder.
HEARTBREAKERS:“Tainted Love”
World Premiere: Wednesday, August 27 at 10/9c
- Starring Judd Nelson, Kevin Sorbo and Nicole Eggert On New Year’s Day in 1991, David Russell Miller (Nelson), a wealthy businessman, and Jayne (Eggert), a beautiful single mother, boarded a flight from Orlando to Los Angeles. It would change both of their lives. The chance encounter led to a whirlwind romance and a Valentine’s Day marriage six weeks later. It was a fairy tale life full of expensive dinners, exotic travel and extravagant living that they both loved. But there would be no happy ending. After a few months of marriage, private investigator Bob Brown (Sorbo) made some starling discoveries about the dark secrets that had been hidden. Once exposed, a standoff occurred and one of them was left the victim of a brutal and gruesome killing in broad daylight.
Photos: Investigation Discovery/Chris Leschinsky