Karen Harris was a talented young woman who seven years before was a rising star. She had significant roles in several prime time TV programs between the time she was fifteen and twenty and was the young lead on the program “Southern High” which was Central Network’s answer to the National Network’s “School Days.”

She was the blond version of Denise Shore, but with a totally differnet personality.  She was much easier to work with, and at twenty she looked fifteen. Southern High debuted two years after School Days hence the older show had already built a loyal audience when it started. ‘Southern High’ never caught a significant audience and was cancelled in it’s third season. Most of the industry considered Central Network’s decision to run it in the same time slot as “School Days” the reason for the failure rather than the writing and acting. This was proven when it’s syndication airings at a different time on cable networks the year after cancellation got better audience ratings than it’s original ones and only slightly below the ratings of new episodes of School Days. It was evident that most of its potential audience was watching the established School Days. Ten years later TIVO might have saved the show by allowing potential viewers to watch both. Surveys showed video taping did help the rating some but at the time it was not generally done by enough viewers. Southern High just couldn’t pull the loyal School Days viewers away.

Authors note: If you want to know more about School Days, check the stories, Denise and Jan in the list of novels at the end of this chapter.

When Southern High folded Karen signed on for one role after another for a year, sometimes appearing in a single episode, sometimes two or three. The big one just didn’t happen but she made enough money to live comfortably. Then she was considered for a lead in a new Police and Detective series that was being planned and she was signed. It was the big role of her dreams. She was cast as a rookie cop, the number two role in the series.

She finished one season on the show and was signed for the second at a substantial increase. The audiences liked her. Surveys showed she was the draw for many of the viewers. She was worth more money. She finished the second year and again got a significant bonus to continue.