Dot Emerson was a divorced mother who owned a successful publishing house, for which her best friend, Ellie, wrote best-selling romance novels. When the series first aired, Val was brought in as Dot and Ellie's old girlfriend from college who was pregnant and leaving her husband, much to the dismay of Ellie, who wanted nothing to do with her. Against Ellie's wishes, Dot let Val move in with her.

It's off to Hollywood after an Alvin Spalding (HS's punch at Aaron Spelling) buys the rights to one of Ellie's novels for a television movie. Having given up creative control, Ellie is devastated to find that he has re-written her whole novel and publicly slams the production - until of course the ladies are offered walk-on roles in the film. Dott hires them both a renowned acting coach, but the ladies make spectacles of themselves at the filming - doing their beach scene in formal gowns, Ellie making out on the set with one of the stars, and adding their own outrageously inappropriate dialogue - causing their scene to basically be cut.