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"Style & Substance" Series Description:
A shortage of shiitake mushrooms or no homemade marmalade for the oven-fresh scones are the kinds of crises that can send the world of Chelsea Stevens (Jean Smart) into a tailspin. It's not exactly that she's shallow so much as she worked hard to achieve her notable status and feels she has a certain standard to uphold. The author of countless books on home decorating and home entertaining and the star of "how to" videotapes that can turn anyone into the perfect hostess or homemaker, Chelsea Stevens also hosts her own television show where she reaches the largest number of her devoted, fawning fans and admirers. She has guested on countless daytime and late night talk shows, graced the covers of magazines worldwide and created an empire finally worthy of the reigning domestic diva.
Chelsea is forced to accept the fact that her company is now owned by the Ferber Corporation of Omaha, and she has to be accountable to its new representative in her office, Jane Sokol (Nancy McKeon). Jane is grounded, practical, honest and determined to do a good job while making a name for herself in the big city. She is also a little tentative about her solo foray into the worldliness of New York and out of the protective cradle of America's heartland and her ex-fiance. Obviously, Jane encounters severe cultural shock when she shows up at the office to meet Chelsea for the first time. It's beyond her comprehension as a well-raised Midwestern girl that Chelsea would "steal" her purse and then rifle through it to learn more about her. Chelsea sees it as an innocent way to get to know each other while Jane is just astonished by Chelsea's actions!
Jumping right into her commentary on Jane's purse, Chelsea is horrified to discover that Jane clips coupons for macaroni and cheese from a box, teases Jane for her beauty regimens when she finds tweezers in the bottom of her purse, and chides Jane for having a package of Hostess Snowballs, even though Chelsea then appropriates one for herself. Jane is annoyed yet tolerant until Chelsea finds a photo of a man and proceeds to relentlessly pummel her until Jane reveals that he is her ex-fiance, Steve, information so much more personal and private than she would ever want to share with anyone at work, much less with Chelsea ten minutes after they have just met.
Exasperated, Jane turns to Chelsea's other employees for help or support, neither of which comes forth in much abundance. Mr. John (Joseph Maher), a sophisticated, mincing perfectionist of an interior designer, has been with Chelsea for years and, out of pure necessity, has adapted to her eccentricities by agreeing with everything she says. He readily admits that she's a freak, but Mr. John is at a stage in his life where he's much more interested in his boyfriend Guy, which rolls off his tongue with a French pronunciation, than he is in trying to understand, let alone change, Chelsea Stevens. Trudy (Linda Kash), who originally coined the "freak" title for Chelsea, is tough, loud, opinionated, abrasive and the best food stylist in New York. She may be on a run of losers in the male companion department, but she can use lard and Quaker State 30-weight motor oil to make the most beautiful hot fudge sundae ever photographed. Chelsea's naive, overwhelmed assistant Terry (Heath Hyche) is oblivious to Jane's dilemma as he has enough problems of his own trying to take a correct phone message for the first time in his career or mastering the technical complexities of operating the office's intercom system.
Ever the manipulator, Chelsea lures Jane to her expansive Connecticut farmhouse under the guise that she is finally willing to sign the budget agreement when in fact she's just lonely and wants Jane's company. Chelsea keeps Jane waiting because, as Jane later finds out, she was obsessively sorting her linens by thread count. As Jane surveys the cozy great room hoping to gain more insight into Chelsea, Earl (Alan Autry), a handsome hunk of a southern gentleman enters with a load of wood for the fireplace. He introduces himself as Chealsea's gardener - property caretaker - spiritual adviser, but offers Jane little help in discovering Chelsea's true self.
As Chelsea and Jane adjust to each other, there are indications that this arrangement might work after all. In an unguarded moment, when Chelsea isn't "on," she admits to Jane that she's a little lonely after her separation, especially when she discovers her husband was the one in the relationship that everyone liked. As "Chelsea Stevens," she can throw the most fabulous dinner party for twelve, but she just can't find the twelve to fill the seats anymore. Meanwhile, Jane decides to believe in herself and sends her ex-fiance back to Omaha alone. She is determined to make it on her own in the Big Apple. Taming and managing her homemaking handful will prove to be a challenge for Jane unlike she has encountered in her life. In the meantime, Chelsea will continue to be Chelsea, professing the pleasures she finds in the exquisite taste of her favorite spice, cardamom.
Future episodes will continue to explore the colliding worlds of Chelsea and Jane, such as when Chelsea tries to wrangle away from Jane a rather rare Chinese plate that Jane received from her deceased grandmother, to when Jane's apartment is appropriated for a magazine shoot after Chelsea decides it's "just perfect!" With no place to stay, Jane ends up as a house guest at Chelsea's house where Chelsea has her up at the crack of dawn milking cows, kneading dough and planting perennial borders in the yard -- much more than Jane bargained for... before breakfast! Jane continues to try to keep some control over the domestic diva when Chelsea decides she's going to be a guest on a political talk show to prove that her scope of intelligence extends beyond making scones, and when Jane tries to get Chelsea to make a good impression on the big boss visiting from corporate headquarters. Both experiences are handled in true Chelsea style... much to Jane's dismay.
Back at the office, Trudy continues to have problems keeping a man, and the ones she does attract are much more than she bargained for; Terry remains overwhelmed by everything, so much so that at one point his job is in jeopardy; Mr. John continues to carry on and on about his relationship with Guy, someone Mr. John's parents don't know about until Guy delivers an ultimatum that if Mr. John doesn't tell them he's gay, Guy walks; and Earl's day job as Chelsea's gardener and caretaker in no way compares to his all-the-time job as Chelsea's spiritual adviser.
"Style & Substance" is produced by the Cloudland Company in association with Touchstone Television. The series was crated by executive producer and writer Peter Tolan. Ian Praiser and Russ Woody are the co-executive producers with Michael Petok as producer and Donald Capen as co-producer. Jay Sandrich directs.
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