Alec Baldwin, Shelley Hack and Jim Metzler
in a promo pic for Cutter to Houston, 1983
Shelley's second foray into series TV was Cutter to Houston. It was about three young doctors from the world-famous Texas Medical Center in Houston who were recruited to run a small hospital in the fictional rural town of Cutter, Texas. Jim Metzler and Alec Baldwin played the other two doctors. Jim played idealistic GP Dr. Andy Fenton, who grew up in Cutter and is glad to be home. Alec played internist/ladies man Dr. Hal Wexler, who is getting through his probation, having been relegated to Cutter for being a little too fast and free with his prescriptions. And Shelley played Dr. Beth Gilbert, an ambitious surgeon on temporary assignment in Cutter who aspired to become a heart surgeon in Houston.
a writeup about Shelley and Cutter to Houston, 1983
Shelley was sort of praised in a write-up about Cutter to Houston. Although the writer gave the series a thumbs down (he wasn't into it), he said Shelley was "the best thing" in the show and "gets the comeback-of-the-year award." By then, Shelley had honed her acting chops and had impressed her critics. On stage, she shined via Vanities, Close Ties and Born Yesterday. On TV, she delivered great work opposite acting veterans George Segal (Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer), Dick Van Dyke and Sid Caesar (Found Money). But most notably, Shelley's performance in the Martin Scorsese film The King of Comedy opposite acting legend Robert De Niro was a big revelation.
Alec Baldwin, Shelley Hack and Jim Metzler
in a promo pic for Cutter to Houston, 1983
