DRW50

There are some nice photos in that issue. I guess the years she spent just doing comic relief routines over the phone endeared her to viewers and made them feel like she was one of them.

Wow I didn't recognize Gillian Spencer at first.

Yes she does. That must have been pretty early in her run. I didn't know she was ever on the cover. She was so striking. I'm sorry no soap ever made better use of her. How long was Bob Gentry on A World Apart?

I really want to see some of Ray's work on LOL. Don't know much about Cathy Bacon.

These are great. Liz Hubbard has aged so well but it's weird seeing these old photos, as sometimes she looks very similar to now and then in another photo she looks like a stranger.

What did you think of Eileen's stories after the abortion/breakdown?

February 1956: Carolyn Nelson is certain she can vouch for her son Skip's basic character - certain that, despite the recent secretiveness and resentment he has shown ,he can never become the kind of boy his school pricinpal calls delinquent. But can a mother force a teen-age son to be completely honest when he feels honor-bound to protect some of his friends? What if Carolyn's enemies try to make a tool of her own son? April 1956: Although she was recently widowed, Carolyn Nelson is not the typical helpless woman thrown into a complex world in which she cannot find her way. Carolyn is more than able to make her own way and handle her own problems. But, with the problem of her teen-age son, she finds herself really in need of a man's help. Is Skip actually on the verge of delinquency? And will Carolyn turn to the right man for help? July 1956: Despite her caution and experience, Carolyn Nelson gradually succumbs to the clever attack made on her as a human being and a woman by Jack Townsend. Will the money she holds in trust really find its way to the eager hands of those who play to victimize her and her young son, Skip? August 1956: From the moment Carolyn agreed to accept a dead friend's legacy, she treated it merely as a trust, knowing instinctively that it was bound to bring trouble and complications into her life. But even as trustee, Carolyn is a target for money-hungry connivers. How far will Jack Townsend insinuate himself into her confidence before she is brought up against the shattering truth about him?

August 1955: Ever since Miles Nelson first embarked on a political career, Annette Thorpe has made herself a powerful force in both his public and private life. Not even Miles himself can remain blind to Annette's unconcealed hatred of Carolyn, but he believes he can retain control of the situation and still avail himself of Annette's considerable influence. But Carolyn knows Miles is deceiving himself. October 1955: New understanding unites Carolyn and her husband, Miles Nelson, after the crisis that came close to ending their marriage. And Annette Thorpe is, apparently, defeated as far as Miles personally is concerned. But Carolyn knows Annette too well to be deceived about her attitude toward defeat of any kind. From what quarter will Annette's new attack come - and will Carolyn be able to meet it once more?

A few more Right to Happiness synopses from TV Radio Mirror. December 1952: Carolyn Nelson, returning from her dangerous assignment just in time to see her husband, Governor Miles Nelson, collapse from the strain, is appalled when she at last realizes the forces attempting to divide them. What have her enemies managed to make Miles believe during her absence? Has Miles really lost sight of the boundless faith and love on which their marriage was built?

What did you think of Lisa Richards? I only know her from her very neurotic work as Sabrina on Dark Shadows (although the nightmare scene where PT Sabrina is dead on a lab table is one of soap's scariest, IMO).

Thanks. Was there anyone in the article that surprised you, or you don't know anything about? I don't know that much about the Jardins, or Mascolo's character. I guess I should look through the earlier pages and refresh my memory.

You're right. Do you know if Robyn Millan was gone?

I don't think EJ was too smug towards Delia, at least not at first (at first it was poor EJ manipulated by Delia), it was the other stuff with EJ early on. All the kooky reporter stuff. I remember scenes where she was so desperate to get a scoop on Barbara Wilde that she went into the OR and pretended to be a nurse. I thought this was crazy, since, as Seneca pointed out to her, she could have killed Barbara. I was annoyed that the soap-within-a-soap story, which I found fascinating, was quickly turned into some type of false accusations against Roger, with EJ saving the day. I thought throwing EJ in with Roger was a bad idea. I would have rather seen her with someone like Wes Leonard, or Jack. I didn't really find EJ overly smug towards Delia until they had her get more involved with Roger. Roger was always headshrinking Delia and trying to control her. Then when she tried to get him to sign over some investment he wanted to give to Faith, it was all about how Roger had been manipulated. Why should I feel sorry for someone who had manipulated as often as Roger had and who had never really suffered for it? Not only did he get Delia back by taking her money, the show had the final kick where the investment Delia thought was worthless and signed away turned out to be a huge success, and all that money went to Faith. So this was months of degrading Delia for some purpose I never quite understood. I guess it was supposed to show Roger finally getting over his feelings for Delia because of how she'd wronged him, but I never understood why he would need this reminder, or why I was supposed to love that the ending was Faith and Roger getting even richer. The story basically just turned Roger into a wannabe Ryan, only without some of their warmth or heart that would alleviate the rampant self-righteousness. Frank had been with Jill for almost a decade, off and on, and he had always kept her in his life, always gone back to her. I suppose Faith may have felt this time might be different, because she wasn't scheming like Delia or Rae, but I think she was deluding herself to imagine Frank would ever move on from Jill. I didn't have a problem believing Faith would rewrite history this way. What bothered me was I don't remember Jill or Roger ever saying to her or to each other that her view was wrong. This led me to believe the show wanted us to think that this was true to their history. Just as no one ever saying that Bob spent most of his life loving Mary and only loved Faith for a few months before she got with Frank made me think they wanted us to believe that this was some longstanding part of history. I think Faith did work as a trainwreck and I thought KMG's performances as a trainwreck were very dynamic - there was one I especially remember where she was going to drink and then threw the glass down in a rage - but I could never convince myself that she was supposed to be this way. I thought they kept straddling a line in how she was written, with Roger coddling her, and Jill never really fighting back against her, and her being given romantic stories in the midst of all this (with the cop, and then with Gordon Thomson). If I knew she was supposed to be a mess and if people had really stood up to her, I would have been much more drawn in by her character. I would have shown more of her in business and at her paper. I would have kept her in the Frank story longer, if possible. IMO a story with Kim throwing herself at Frank and helping to put the final nails in Rae's relationship with Frank would have made more sense than the story with Seneca. I would have brought her mother in for a while. I would have tried an All About Eve type story; perhaps this girl could have been the daughter she wanted, with Kimberly on the outside. Mostly I just wish there had been less material about Rae and Kim, Rae losing things to Kim, Rae obsessing over Kim and then over the baby. I always think of those scenes where she was at the police station and kept seeing "MAMA HELP ME" in flashbacks. It was like an SNL parody.

Please don't apologize, I love your info. The Maree photos are great. I have to admit I don't quite get the appeal of Val Dufour but in terms of the ageism that hit soaps in the 70's I'm sorry he was one of those driven off daytime. I wonder if his departure hurt Search's ratings.

She was right - Jill was many things but she wouldn't lie to Frank. She was devoted to him, often to her own detriment.

Those are great. Kind of funny since I don't think Marlena got her old life back for several years. I like the fake covers. Considering how confusing some of the paternities are with Kate's kids they could have just said they weren't hers...

Nice photo! I was reading a Digest from the late 80's, 1987 or 1988, and someone wrote in complaining about Ashley's abortion story, how it could have been written by pro-lifers, and that ever since that story Ashley had lost most of her intelligence and become a bimbo. Do you think that was true?

I don't know. I know Chris left, due to illness, several months before he passed on...I think it may have been worse with Zimmerman because he had not come and gone, as Bernau had done several times. But then Zimmerman was a recast, and the role was successfully recast, with Tony Call, so who knows. I know that Alan was successfully recast too, but that was much later on (about 5 years), and the initial recast didn't seem very popular.

I didn't know they did a cover together.

Tina's ruined return

Gorgeous cover. I've never seen this before. Such lovely colors. Joel Crothers looks so young here.

These are from Paul Raven. I didn't realize that was Joe Stuart. He was at OLTL in the late 70's right?

Thanks for the great covers. Susan Blanchard looks like Carol Burnett.

I was just watching some of that story on Youtube...back when all the Madisons were still around. The scenes of drunk, pathetic Nola are tough to watch. How old was Brian Madison supposed to be? The actor looked about the same age as Owen Madison.

That's nice. When Dick grew into his looks he was gorgeous. Susan dated the guy who played her brother. I don't know how long they were together.