The Fruits of Passion

For the film, see: The Fruits of Passion (film)1

The Fruits of Passion was a sataric Soap Opera spoof featured on public access in Iowa City, Iowa from 1994-1995 and then again from 1997-1998. The show achieved cult like popularity in the years following its initial run after episodes were provided to video stores throughout the Midwest and subsequently viewed by a much larger audience.

The show primarily focused on the rivaling Rock and Hardplace families. In the fifth episode, the show was revealed to take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, although the majority of the show was filmed in Iowa City and Des Moines, Iowa.

The show was created by Shawn Wilson, Jeff Clayton, and Colt Valenti, who also appeared on the show. The three were also writer, producers, and directors during the first season. After Valenti's departure following the first season, Wilson and Clayton remained as the sole writers, producers, and directors. During later episodes, Kurt Hagge also was a producer.

While episodes GeneRally followed a written outline of the storylines taking place in the particular episode, the majority of scenes were improvised by the actors. Most episodes contained music videos which propelled the story to a song relevant to that particular episode.

Characters

In the initial episodes, the Rock family consisted of Richard "[...]" Rock (Shawn Wilson), his identical twin sons Jim and Buck Rock (both played by Jeff Clayton), and [...]'s second wife Delayla Rock (Christie Corkery). The Hardplace family consisted of Hector Harplace (Colt Valenti), his wife Carla Hardplace (Alexis Bierman), their son Aaron Hardplace (Nick Von Bergen) and their daughter Korin Hardplace Diamond (primarily played by Korin Sanderson and, later, Erica Fogue).

Later additions to the core families included Richard's long lost sister Sally Rock (also played by Shawn Wilson), who had been placed in a nunnery years ago, and Richard's nephew Randy Rock (Kurt Hagge). Additions to the Hardplace family included Hector's brother Hermie Hardplace (Craig Mueller) and Hector's illegitimate daughter Alibi Malone (Kathy Trim).

Other notable characters during the show's run included Tofu Hempley (Phong Pham) and his daughter Sheila Hempley (Andrea Lichtenberger); Dr. Chaz McCoy (Scott Mikesell), the first husband of Alibi Malone; Dr. Lipton, Carla's psychiatrist and eventual husband; Oscar Hallahan (Marc Shoemaker), Alibi's uncle; and the Puppeteer (Joe Medina), a love interest of Sally.

Overview

Major storylines during the course of the show's run included the love story of Buck Rock and Korin Hardplace, including her presumed death falling over a cliff and his subsequent engagement to her sister Alibi; the attempted [...] of Ace Diamond, Korin's first husband; Alibi sleeping with Richard Rock and claiming the resulting child was Buck Rock's child; and Korin's trial for [...] Sheila Hempley in self defense.