I'm binge watching China Beach

More importantly, the cutie who played Delaney's BF was done away with and I lost interest.

he was kind of bland r1. Boonie was the real looker of the show.

I wanted Webb to stay in the show. She and Delany were great together in their scenes.

I agree, R3; loved Chloe Webb in this. (I also loved her in Tales of the City and was not pleased when she didn't come back for subsequent installments, but that's off topic)

Chloe Webb only agreed to do the pilot and six episodes. She tends to not want to play characters for a long time (e.g. her refusal to reprise her "Tales of the Cities" character). TPTB at China Beach would call her every year like clockwork to ask if she wanted to do a guest spot, and she always said NO

In terms of Nan Woods (Cherry) she quit the show because she didn't want to act anymore and wanted to return to her native Chicago

Was it ever explained how Marg Hellenberger's character came to be a prostitute at an American army base?

Yes. She was a secretary to a general if I remember correctly.

One of the best shows ever.

Webb didn't have much of a career. She left China Beach and Tales of the City but then there are huge gaps in her resume.

Delaney is really riveting. She's never really found the right role since. I guess Exit to Eden made her kind of a joke and then her TV work since has been sort of same old same old.

She deserved better.

R8 I think she made a mistake by leaving CB and not returning but maybe she thought she will have lots of offers coming.

R10 Chloe Webb came to China Beach fresh off her much buzzed role in "Sid & Nancy". If you notice she was billed in China Beach as "Special Appearance By" as she was considered a indie film star

Yes r11. It the billing makes it look like she is a big star doing them a favor by appearing. I think she left CB to do "Twins" with Arnold and Danny DeVito.

Her character may not have had enough storyline potential to last beyond what she did.

Plus it was probably pretty clear to everyone by the end of the first season that this was Delaney's show.

Anyone know which episodes Delaney won Emmys for? She won for the first and the last season.

My favorite show of all time! I was so happy when it came out on DVD, so I could finally dump all those damn VHS tapes. They got the music that really mattered.

Both of Dana Delany's CHINA BEACH Emmy wins were big surprises/upsets. The first time because there was only 6 episodes; it was a mid-season replacement. It was an honor to be nominated type thing, against Angela Lansbury (who must have odds-on favorite), Linda Hamilton, Susan Dey & Jill Eikenberry. No one knew who she was prior to China Beach....unless you'd watched As The World Turns.

The 1992 win was shocking because China Beach had been cancelled in 1991. Because ABC delayed the airing of the final episodes, Delany was eligible for 1992 -- against Angela Lansbury, Sharon Gless, Kate Nelligan, Shirley Knight, & Regina Taylor.

Angie never won Emmy for Murder, She Wrote.

Delaney was a real casting bonanza for them. I heard her say once she had done episodes of Moonlighting and Magnum PI that got her the audition.

She's really perfect from episode one on. Surprising that they were able to predict that she would be so talented based on her previous work. Was she good on the soap opera and the guest roles?

I found some info where she caused a furor among soap actors because she said in an interview with Bob Costas that the soap just taught her the worst skills and she thought soap acting was the worse thing for an actor's talent. She said she went back to acting school post the soap to relearn how to act. Soap actors were not happy that she said this obviously.

A lot of what was so genius about Delany's acting was all the stuff she didn't say. The camera LOVED her and so she could convey so much with just a look. She was really fantastic on it, as was Marg. Their chemistry was off the charts and usually the best episodes were when they were paired up. "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "Unquiet Earth" are some of the best.

that's surprising r16, many actors praise the training they got from appearing on soaps, particularly managing the pace and learning dialog.

I had a crush on Colleen McMurphy, despite being 100% gay.

I remember Marg's Emmy win being a huge surprise, too. She was a first-time nominee against the likes of Susan Ruttan (fourth nomination) and Diana Muldaur (the odds-on favorite to win that year). She was also 8 months pregnant, and looked like she was going to pop at any moment. LOL.

Dana's big comeback could have been on the L Word if they used her for more then the one episode. Opportunities lost forever.

Brian Wimmer was gorgeous as Boonie.

Nan Woods must have left on bad terms. I just finished the first season and there are tons of interviews and reunion footage. On one of them the producers analyse every major character and discuss them in great detail. Woods is not even mentioned. Webb is a lot and participates in the reunions and interviews.

I was at China Beach three years ago. I don't know if Marriott has built the 5 star resort at that adjoining cove they were planning to build. So much for the great socialist victory.

R22 Nan Woods became disenchanted with acting during China Beach and decided acting was not for her. I believe she was only slated to be with the show one year anyway, so it worked out all around. She never acted again.

It is just odd on the DVDs that they just don't even mention her at all. She's a major character in the first season. Webb is there and talks about how wonderful it was and how they were her family. (just wish she had stayed with it. She was a compelling character.)

(There is a commentary track for the pilot I haven't listened to yet. They will probably have to discuss Woods there.)

I only watched it for Terence Knox, whom I wish would fuck me forever.

Wrong show, R26. That was "Tour of Duty."

The first season of "China Beach" was ok. The pilot is great and the show is building but once John Wells takes over with the second season and Nancy Giles and Megan Gallagher join, it's amazing and goes to some really dark places. That final season is especially grim but excellent. Some of my favorite episodes of the entire series aren't even set in Vietnam but take place years later when the characters have been home for a long time and are still dealing with the fallout.

[quote] Both of Dana Delany's CHINA BEACH Emmy wins were big surprises/upsets. The first time because there was only 6 episodes; it was a mid-season replacement.

She did not win during season one (six episodes). She won for season two (22 episodes). And it wasn't that much of a surprise, because she was getting heavy play with TV critics who were lobbying for her to win.

Nor was it a surprise for Marg Helgenberger to win because by the time her first nomination came around, the show was re-jigged to revolve around her and Dana Delaney.

No "e" in Delany.

[quote] Nan Woods must have left on bad terms

Well actors usually sign for five years, but after shooting the six episodes, Nan gave in her notice that she wanted out. So maybe some noses were out of joint, as if you notice Nan Woods is billed second after Delany. So I think the show was envisioned to revolve around those two.

So it must of screwed up their long-term story planning. But Nan Woods didn't leave them high and dry. She could of split right after the six episodes, but she returned to wrap her storyline appearing in 7 episodes in season two.

Maybe she is not mentioned on the DVD because she never attended any reunions, so they figured what is the point in mentioning her?

McMurphy and KC had a great, contentious friendship. Anybody remember that scene on the water tower when McMurphy was having a breakdown?

The writers also wrote in a good "backdoor" in Season Four as to why these two headstrong women were not very friendly to one another on the series until the Tet Offensive episode and then we saw what had transpired between them before episode one.

Nan Woods may have pout some noses out of joint but they gave her a hell of a memorable send-off that was shocking and heartwrenching.

Cherry's story was pretty much done after Season One anyhow. But her final scenes, calming down the frightened donut dolly, were perfect.

There is a wonderful long interview with Webb on the DVDs. Wow she is really different then I thought of her. I always thought she was some flaky actress who quit her two best roles.

She's really articulate and talks with such depth about the character and the war.

She still acts (I see listed she was on Shameless recently but also is an equine therapist who does that thing they do where they take kids with drug problems or homeless kids and teach them caring through taking care of animals. (horses in this case.)

China Beach really fell into her lap. She was friends with some writer or producers wife and went to their house for Thanksgiving. Someone else had been fired or quit the role. She said the producer/husband just started chatting with her and asked what she did. She said she was an actress and had just had this film out called Sid and Nancy. He said he had just seen that and didn't even recognize her. Then he asked do you sing and she said yes (reading her bio she studied voice in college) that she had had a band and made an album. He then said take over this role we need someone Monday. She learned the choreography over the weekend in was then just thrown on stage in front of hundred of extras (just like Laurette kind of is) and she had to just do the songs and dances.

Anyone know who the first actress was that they got rid of?

oh and in regards to her leaving she said she was just hired as a guest star, did the role and then went on to other films she had lined up all before the series even aired. She had no idea what a hit it would be. (Delaney says this too in her interview. She had a lot of doubts about how the show would turn out an at first questioned if she really wanted to do it.)

I guess Webb felt her whole arc was so complete that she didn't want to return and ruin it. (as someone said above they would ask her every year but she said no.)

Yes Delaney won her first Emmy for the second season. The seventh episode of the first season of seven episodes aired after the Emmy deadline so Webb got a guest actress nomination for her last episode in the second year (the same year as Delaney first won.)

The show actually won a directing award for the first season. Criminal that the actors branch ignored Delaney and Webb.

Loved this show as a kid, The actresses were superb. As a young gayling, I thought Bonnie was all right, but I stayed for the stories and acting.

My bad, thank you for correction, R28. Memory is an imperfect thing (and clearly mine is becoming more imperfect with each passing year!). I guess I just remember my friends & I watching those Emmy telecasts, and being VERY surprised (but elated) when Dana & Marg won their Emmys.

"Everybody comes with a price." = truest words ever spoken.

R16 Delany played alongside a preppy Peter Reckell as his girlfriend on As The World Turns circa 1980. The characters were both fairly bland and eventually were written out.

[quote]She's never really found the right role since. I guess Exit to Eden made her kind of a joke and then her TV work since has been sort of same old same old.

I think she put her foot wrong by sexing herself up too much - she had a good girl vibe and should have worked it instead of running from it. I remember reading an interview with her years ago in some magazine around the time of Exit To Eden, and the writer commented on how tight her clothes were, how much cleavage she was showing. There was a quote from some executive she'd been introduced to in the course of doing her job, and he mentioned that when they met and shook hands, 'I didn't know where to look,' meaning her boobs were all up in his face. She probably thought that in that era of Basic Instinct she needed to project something edgier, but It backfired.

Delaney had that memorable guest spot on Moonlighting as an ex-girlfriend of David’s that had featured her in a rather appealing, sexy way, complete with a soul classic musical motif. It undoubtedly brought her to the fore.

Dana has been in lots of things lately, such as Desperate Hoisewives, Hand of God, and Bidy of Proof.

Although I liked Dana abd Chloe, I thought the series did pick up in the second and third seasons. Why did Megan Gallagher leave?

I'm not sure if Gallagher left or was fired. I think she was supposed to take off as the other female lead to replace Chloe Webb. BUT Marg Helgenberger proved the more interesting character and she eventually evolved into the second lead female.

I loved the first (half) season but when it was renewed, they'd tamed it down a lot. Marg H's character went from being a hooker to being a hairdresser. Chloe Webb was gone. The woman who was head of the USO club got a large role.

R43 - Why would they have fired her?

China Beach was an excellent show and part of a whole wave of dramas at the time based in the Vietnam era. The theme song was perfect for the show.

Dana’s great-grandfather invented the flush mechanism used on most urinals.

Dana must have a picture in the attic.

As R43 mentioned above, Megan Gallagher joined the cast at the beginning of Season 2, sort of as a replacement for Chloe Webb....but Marg Helgenberger quickly established herself as the second-female lead. Not only was K.C. the more interesting character, Marg Helgenberger had better chemistry with Dana Delany as a "frenemies."

Gallagher was let go after Season 2, and Ricki Lake joined the cast as the young, naive Red-Cross "donut dolly". (sort of a Cherry replacement).

I noticed that Megan Gallagher didn't appear in the cast panel/Q&A on the CHINA BEACH dvd extras -- although both Chloe Webb & Ricki Lake did (even though they appeared in fewer episodes). Hmm. Makes you wonder whether she was not invited, or declined?

I cried my eyes out when Cherry died.

Daba’s Interview on Letteman (1990).

Dana and Robert Picardo tipsy.

Do any cable channels stream it? It's on Daily Motion but the audio isn't synchronized.

DVDs are available and relatively cheap.

I don't believe I've seen China Beach broadcast since (A&E?) in the early 90s.

It’s worth a rewatch.