DRW50

Oh. Well, they fooled me then.

Is the clip online where Diana gets a slap from her big brother

...spent most of his twenties thinking that he was ready to give up everything for the happiness that he thought movie-stardom would bring. Although he never did become a "well-known" in his twenties, he had enough of a taste of bits and pieces of stardom - playing leads in such movies as Questions and The Fakers and hosting his own TV talk show in Hollywood - to know that if and when big movie or nighttime TV success did come, it would not have been worth the enormous price that John was paying. "To want to succeed is fine, but if success is going to mean that you're not going to enjoy life after you've achieved it, then is it success? What I saw during analysis is that, more than anything else, I needed a wife that loves me, and children. What I didn't need was the adulation. I saw enough of that - I mean, I was always being cast as someone's handsome boyfriend. It didn't do it for me - maybe for others. "I know how stars live - no privacy, the autograph hounds, always going on location and leaving their families, if they ever manage to achieve enough stability to have them. If someone says to me that I'm going to have to go to India for six months to star in a movie - well, that means that I won't be able to see my kids grow up for those six months. Being in that movie won't give me the same satisfaction as hearing Missy say, 'Gee, Daddy, I loved Magic Mountain.' (That was the amusement park I took Sandy and the girls to when we were in Los Angeles.) That's why I'm so glad now to be on a show like Ryan's Hope. I'm on an average of three times a week and the rest of the time I can be with my family. In the year that we've been living in New York, I've turned down five theater parts so I can be home in the evenings." John's real name is Jack Monkarsh, and he was born in Niagra Falls, New York. But he spent most of his life in or near Hollywood, where his family had moved. He started under contract to Twentieth Century-Fox, and played in such Fox movies as The Hunters and The Story of Ruth. It was an excellent beginning for John. Then the bottom dropped out. TV, in the late sixties, was forcing the studios to end the Big Star system, and Fox dropped all of its contract players. Then John appeared in some independent movies and sang in revues and in nightclubs - but the cancellation of the Fox contract was quite a blow to John and greatly upset him. He had already begun to analyze why he had become such a victim of his ambitions. "Thinking back on it, I'm glad, in a way, that things became tough for me then. Because just suppose my career had been going well and I was making it in the movies and the money was rolling in. I don't think, in that case, my analysis would have worked. A career success would have been a kind of false proof that living for just one goal, as I had been, was not neurotic and would ultimately lead to happiness. I mean, why rush to an analyst if you're doing well? I might have just continued to strive for the wrong things." John wed Sandy Cohen eight years ago, when he was in his very early thirties - during this down-period in his career. It was a first marriage for both of them. As John says, "Thank God I wanted! I had dated a number of beautiful girls who were all wrong for me." At the time they met, John was packaging variety shows and handling actors for an outfit. One day Sandy walked into the office looking for representation. "I think we both knew immediately," says John. Sandy had only just begun her acting career when she and John wed, and right after Missy came along she chose to give up acting to begin a family. "That was her decision," says John. "I never asked her to do it." Now that the girls are a little older, John and Sandy have both decided that it would be good for Sandy to resume her acting career. "That's really why Sandy's mother is living with us - to take some of the household burden off Sandy so that she can act again. She's a terrific performer." John, as Seneca Beaulac, is Ryan's Hope's late-thirty-ish handsome leading man, and he is much appreciated. And John thinks very highly of the show: his part on it, its overall quality, and the daily challenges. "In this show-business world of unreality and pretense, I've got to find as much reality in life as possible. The soap gives me the continuity I need. I like getting up early, going to the studio regularly. I really hate this business of constantly going up for roles that actors do in Hollywood, unless you have a nighttime series. Now I did reasonably well in Hollywood before coming on Ryan's Hope. For a couple of seasons I played Andy Rivers, Mary Tyler Moore's boyfriend. It was a good part, but like a lot of others that I've played. Creatively, I'm doing stuff on Ryan's Hope that was never asked of me on nighttime television. I do light comic scenes. When Nel died, I had to break down on camera in tears. That wasn't easy for me, but it was a tremendous challenge because I hadn't done that a lot. Ryan's Hope has been a growing experience in every way. Clair Labine and Paul Mayer are trying out all kinds of new, exciting things. They're building a romance between Jill - that's Nancy Addison - and me. We went out to the East Hamptons to shoot a whole day of still photographs which will be shown at the beginning of episodes during the height of our love story. And for five episodes they're going to play a song that I recorded just for the show, Jillian's Theme. Then one day we took the remote camera and went out to Jones Beach on Long Island to show me sprinkling Nel's ashes. We're doing more and more interesting things. John says that he enjoys the working situation in New York more than Hollywood, although he does find it a bother to rent his Hollywood home to strangers every year that he remains in New York. He and Sandy seldom go to theater parties, preferring to stay at home with their girls. John sums up his progress in life: "In my twenties I was searching for my own identity and I wasn't prepared to understand the joys of family life. Now, at my age, being married is great. My values have solidified, and I'm making a living doing something that I enjoy. To me that' sit. O.K., if I become a star, that's fine. But if it doesn't happen, that's O.K. too. In Hollywood I kept waiting for the damn merry-go-round to start, hoping that I'd catch the brass ring. It's that waiting-game gamble that so many actors take. Well, I'm on that merry-go-round - I've got the real goods. I don't have to wait any more. My life is in good shape. Nobody's life is perfect, no marriage is perfect, but the good so far outweighs the bad that I can mostly experience love. That's a terrific feeling."

I'm glad someone enjoyed them I'd seen the first two but not the others. The last one especially gets to me, and is fearless (and so casually embraces androgyny with no LOOK AT ME stunts). They did this when they were coming off years of huge international success, it's hard to imagine that happening today.

From 1/77 Daytime TV Stars:

Yeah I thought this was a strong episode. It didn't have the big boom moments but was overall very well-crafted, a good balance of searing drama with Phil (I got chills when he was cutting open the sofa), the quieter but very engrossing attempts by Carol to get help (I agree that this was the most important material she's had since her return -- I'm glad viewers are finally getting to understand her), and the comic moments, my favorite of which was Jack comparing Ricky to Cliff Barnes. The scene where Phil raged at the ATM (at least he didn't punch it out!) was also very good, and Minty trying to help his friend. They really seem to be phasing Billie out. I hope we won't see him again anytime soon, and if we do then it's with a new face. Devon Anderson is awful, and I can't help wondering if those photos Whitney had of him were some kind of a jab at him, as they weren't exactly flattering. Then you had Ryan, out of nowhere, punching him, which was classic. I like the way they are still trying to bridge the gap between characters, like Peggy taking Abi's advice over making a wish to the universe. I can't even remember them interacting, minus group scenes like Phil's wedding to Stella.

Sally Webster - Coronation Street

Thanks for posting this. It helps fill in some blanks as to the stories Hank had (it was fairly rare at the time for a black character to take a central role in a show), and also for the male menopause story with Matt. Sally Gracie -- she was Ina Hopkins on OLTL later on. Did she leave The Doctors or did they fire her? Obonda Fever

Who was that throwing Anne's clothes out? I can't remember. Some great scenes there. One underrated gem (Olivia's meltdown -- even better was the campy yet riveting scene where Abby makes Olivia see the damage done after Brian is beaten up). I tend to not care for stuff that is so overly self-congratulatory and feels false, like Val's "me me me" speech at Laura's funeral or Karen's "Pollyana" speech. You stop seeing characters. I love the person playing Donna Mills. There's no similarity to Donna but he just goes for it, and that makes it work.

This is the photo which went with the article I posted above -- it's a cast shot of two of the female leads.

From the 3/77 SOD, a cast party. SOD Publishing Inc

From the 3/77 SOD, a cast party. S. O. D. Publishing Inc.

Photos from 3/77 Soap Opera Digest, from a cast party.

Cliff! I kind of hope he and Angie get back together.

Overall the show was pretty decent today, with the exception of the scenes with Ste losing his job with Tony and getting punched by Boring Brendan. I think that was supposed to be some kind of fun love to hate moment but Brendan just seems oily and generic to me. The scenes with the Costellos were, on paper, strong. Jasmine lashing out at her father. Carl lashing out at her by nearly throttling Boring Bart. Jem being traumatized over the memory of her boyfriend. The transition to screen didn't quite work, mostly because there was no real tension when Carl pushed Bart against the fruit machine. Remember when Mike Barnes terrorized Josh? THAT was tense. This looked like the actor was afraid to go too far. The scene with Jem and Carl was OK, not the best acting, but they got the point across of how far Carl can go. While I don't understand why all the Valentines needed to leave together (and given that Lauren has imploded over the last year I'm not sure if she necessarily needs to be around Leo or Sasha), I did think their last episode was well-done, and I think they got a respectful send-off. I'm glad so much of the focus was on Carmel's loss of these people she cared so deeply about and her guilt over not telling them about Theresa's baby. Gemma Merna did a great job today and she also looked beautiful, she always looks good when they tone down her hair and makeup. So I guess the person Tony sees is

I think that's a great idea. I wish the show explored more of their past. Aside from Eve, they don't seem very interested. I also think that putting Terry back at the Woolpack would make sense. I haven't seen a lot of the last few weeks, I felt like I needed a break. Tell me, are they going to pair Ryan up with his "hot" female prison guard? That's like something off of Oz, unfortunately minus the gratuitous male nudity.

Well, a lot of people are still enjoying the show, at least at Digital Spy. The ratings seem OK, considering it's summer. I think it might be that some of us just don't share the enthusiasm for some of the characters that may be popular with others. I like the idea of great new characters livening up the atmosphere but so far most of them haven't done a lot for me, and when you add in the nightmarish Duncan and Cheryl it's a drag. I do think the story about Jasmine is pretty good so far.

Apparently Gena Rowlands wasn't interested in doing TV at this time but the role was so rich she agreed to play it. She said her only request was that they film everything in three months and after that her character could just die or disappear. So they agreed.

Wow, Duncan is a pathetic waste of airtime. So pathetic that they actually have to resort to HE'S SO FAT HE EATS DOG TREATS jokes. So I guess it's deliberate that they always dress him several sizes too small and he makes those awful faces. I wonder how the girl who played Chloe feels, as the show always tried to be respectful of her weight and told stories about her insecurities. Duncan is such an awful character I even skipped most of the scenes with Jack and Darren. Rhys and Jacqui don't seem to have a lot of chemistry so far. We'll see. Those scenes with Cheryl as Alan Sugar were awful. She's more like the Chicken Lady. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZRNS98yozM Lauren's moral lecture with Gaz was odd, as she seemed to forget just how actively she was involved in these crimes, and she wasn't just mooning over him. Those scenes were all strange and probably could have been left out, although at least we know Gaz won't be back. I still have no real idea why Lauren decided to go back to being with her mother, but I'm glad she didn't let her father's guilt-tripping work.

Everything with Carol behaving that way in public smacked of just a dramatic scene for the sake of a dramatic scene, which is the type of Eastenders I don't care for. I could see why she doubted Bianca and then Bianca basically challenged her to confront Ricky, but the whole thing just rang false. I love Carol and it makes me sad when I see people dismiss her as just a bitter shrew, but the show isn't exactly doing very much to change their minds. I hope we might see her quieter moments soon, because when we occasionally get to see them (like when she tried to talk to the kids about Bianca), they still shine. Kind of funny that all they do to show Billie has been in the service is to have him wearing fatigues. I guess this makes me a bad viewer but I just skipped all those scenes. I would like to believe Billie is gone for good but Kirkwood may not want to be seen as having any personal issue against the actor if he fires him twice. I hope June Brown hasn't had an injury, walking with the cane. I liked the stuff with Peggy and Dot. The show seems to be trying to soften Zainab, which is probably a good idea. Poor Tamwar was so overpowered in those scenes.

How sad that the editors chose to make that video all about Bronagh. She's not going anywhere. I'm not too sorry to see the Valentines leaves but I wish more interesting characters were replacing them. So far it's mostly been duds. I am happy to not have to see Sasha anymore. I am so tired of her judgmental a$$, constantly lecturing Lauren, and forgetting her own history.

Geez Phil looks awful.

I'm glad that people are enjoying them. You're one of the posters who has such great knowledge of this show's past, and other shows, and I always appreciate people reading these and filling in some gaps. Like I really didn't know any of that about Dino Narizzano. It sounds like The Doctors did have a tough time finding bankable names after the mid-70s, at least those who would stay around. So Gil Gerard wasn't around too long I guess. A year? Two? Didn't you say that the show never really found the right actor for Mike Powers?