Scruples (miniseries)

Scruples
Scruples mini-series title card
Genre	Drama
Written by	Judith Krantz (novel) James Lee (teleplay)
Directed by	Alan J. Levi
Starring	Lindsay Wagner Barry Bostwick Marie-France Pisier Efram Zimbalist, Jr. Kim Cattrall Gene Tierney Nick Mancuso Gavin MacLeod
Composer(s)	Charles Bernstein
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	3 x 90 min.
Production
Producer(s)	Leonard B. Kaufman Supervising: Ron Samuels Executive: Paul R. Picard
Cinematography	Joseph F. Biroc
Editor(s)	Howard Deane Erwin Dumbrille
Production company(s)	Warner Bros. Television
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	1.33:1 (colour film)
Audio format	mono
Original release	February 25, 1980

Scruples is a 1980 television mini-series, based on the 1978 novel by Judith Krantz. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television and starred Lindsay Wagner.

Scruples included the final screen appearance of Gene Tierney.

Wilhemina Winthrop is a plain young woman, and a "poor relative" of the Winthrops, a wealthy Boston family. After she graduates from high school, she is given a sum of money by an aunt and goes to live in Paris with family friends. There, she undergoes a transformation of both body and soul, first losing weight, then gaining Parisian style under the guidance of Liliane, the elegant Frenchwoman who is her hostess. She is also introduced to Edouard, Liliane's nephew, who gives her the nickname "Billy." It is her first intimate love affair, but when the aristocratic but impecunious Edouard discovers that Billy is just a poor relative of the Winthrop family, he shows his true colors and ends the relationship.

Billy returns to America and moves to New York where she is hired by Ikehorn Enterprises as a secretary. During a business meeting in California, she becomes romantically involved with the wealthy CEO, Ellis Ikehorn, who is far older than she. The couple then marry and the next several years are happy ones, as Billy and Ellis live a glamorous life. However, Ellis later suffers a stroke, and Billy moves them from Manhattan to the exclusive Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles for the better climate.

Billy hires a male nurse, Jake Cassidy, to look after Ellis. However, Billy lives as a recluse in their enormous house and looks aimlessly for some purpose in her life, eventually developing a compulsion to shop in Beverly Hills. Ellis advises her to find something to do that she is good at, perhaps in fashion. Some time later, Ellis dies and leaves Billy an enormous fortune. Jake, motivated by debt, then tries to blackmail Billy but fails.

Heeding Ellis's advice, Billy decides to open a luxury boutique on Rodeo Drive called "Scruples." She hires a young French designer, Valentine O'Neil, to design couture clothing for the customers, and also hires Valentine's close friend, Spider Elliot, a former fashion photographer who becomes the Creative Director of the store. However, Valentine and Spider have a history of rocky relationships of their own, with Valentine first getting herself involved with her closeted gay boss and later with Billy's married attorney Josh Hillman, and Spider's involvement with troubled model-turned-actress, Melanie Adams.