Bill Persky

The "me" generation is hilariously heralded in Cyra McFadden's satiric novel that playfully jabbed the residents of California's Marin County and their whirlwind search for the ultimate lifestyle. Set just across the bay from San Francisco, "Serial" depicts a year in the life of an affluent suburb where each new trend is eagerly consumed, from organic foods and EST to group jacuzzis. Harvey Holroyd (Martin Mull) gamely suffers through the insanity in an effort to please his wife Kate (Tuesday Weld) and their pouty teenage daughter (Jennifer McAllister). An all-star comedy cast including Sally Kellerman, Tom Smothers, Bill Macy, Peter Bonerz, and screen villain Christopher Lee brings "Serial" to life in a frank, funny parody of present-day-America.

New detective in town Quentin Marsh is welcomed by the news of local high school student being slaughtered while walking home after cheerleading practice. Marsh immediately accuses the principal of the high school, but after he takes his own life and other deaths follow, Baxter Jackson, the towns sheriff, questions Quentin's role in the murders. After enduring the ignorance of the town's police force for too long, Quentin with the help of a local reporter decides to find out what exactly is happening in the town. Is Quentin the solution or has his past made him part of the problem?

New detective in town Quentin Marsh is welcomed by the news of local high school student being slaughtered while walking home after cheerleading practice. Marsh immediately accuses the principal of the high school, but after he takes his own life and other deaths follow, Baxter Jackson, the towns sheriff, questions Quentin's role in the murders. After enduring the ignorance of the town's police force for too long, Quentin with the help of a local reporter decides to find out what exactly is happening in the town. Is Quentin the solution or has his past made him part of the problem?

It's the end of the 70s. Hippies are assimilating, women are raising their consciousness, and men are becoming confused and ineffectual. Don't expect to be able to keep track of all the names or who's sleeping with who; the picture very skillfully conveys the hopeless muddle through which the many characters move as they try to Find Themselves.