Shelley on the cover
of The Sunday Herald
TV and Cable Magazine, Oct 1984
Shelley starred in the 1984 TV movie Single Bars, Single Women. Based on the 1982 Dolly Parton song "Single Women," the film explored the singles scene for women - post women's lib where women were joining the work force in droves and earning their own keep. Women were going out on their own, sans escorts and chaperones; so the rules of dating were changing... fast. Women would go bar-hopping alone to meet the men they wanted to meet. "It's almost impossible for younger men and women to meet people in the big cities, and single bars have become one of the best and quickest ways," Shelley observed.
a writeup about Shelley starring
in Single Bars, Single Women, 1984
Shelley would always do research for any role she was about to play. And in 1984, when she got the part of truck-stop waitress Frankie in the TV movie Single Bars, Single Women, she went into singles bars disguised in a black wig and heavy makeup. She wanted to see what was going on with the kind of women who went there (because Frankie was a singles bar patron). Shelley said, "It's hard to watch what's going on in a big, crowded bar. But I did see some men and women meet, have a drink, talk for a while and then leave together. But that wasn't too common." Shelley added, "The amount of attention a woman draws depends on her attitude. It depends on how much you put out." She also tried her hand at being a truck-stop waitress like Frankie. "I even researched being a waitress by working in a truck stop in Provo (Utah) where we filmed most of the movie. I learned a great deal in the café, too. I made a lot of money in tips and learned some tricks about turning down customers without hurting their feelings," she said.
Shelley in a promo pic
for Single Bars, Single Women, 1984
