saynotoursoap

I imagine the photo is from very early 1977, as Cindy Pickett debuted on Guiding Light in December 1976.

Yes, I remember, and no, Jennifer Harmon assumed the role of Cathy before Cathy kidnapped Kevin.

Ed appears to have debuted on March 27, 1968 (#1388), and Anna on June 24, 1968 (#1451).

Nicholson had a fetish for redheads (Fisher, Moore, Cross). Ironically, a couple of years later, Wandrey did appear a younger recast of Laurinda Barrett's Dr. Allison Perry. If Edge wanted to raid Dark Shadows, I would have first considered Marie Wallace or Virginia Vestoff, but they were even older than Wandrey -a no-go with demo conscious ABC.

I know that Erwin Nicholson was very interested in Donna Wandrey. She was just turning 30 at the time, but ABC wanted a younger actress!

This was the period in which Phil returned from the dead and found true love Tara married to best friend Chuck. Phil was devastated and went to bed with Erica. Around the time of the above ratings, late summer/early fall 1974, Erica discovered that Phil had made her pregnant. He was desperate to reunite with Tara, but would not because she and Chuck had a child together. Of course, the kid was actually Phil's too, fathered the night before he left for Vietnam. Phil agreed to marry Erica, and Ruth, who knew the truth about Tara and Phil's child, admitted this to Tara and begged her to reveal the paternity before Phil married Erica, as he would not marry her with the knowledge that he already had a kid with the woman he really loved. This played out over weeks, with the audience on pins and needles as to whether or not Phil, Tara, and their baby would be reunited.

Yes, death by Maybelline. Henry Slesar told me that he continued viewing Edge for a few weeks after he ceased writing it. He described watching Nicole's death, which he described as "vile and repugnant." He switched it off and never watched Edge again.

Thank you for trying! If I remember, I will let you know.

danfling, do you recall the name of the handbags that Flood promoted? I knew once, and I have been going crazy trying to recall the name of the product.

No. She died in 2009, but as far as I know her brother is still alive.

Yes, and I believe that I have shown remarkable restraint in not spoiling what I knew was coming. Reading post after post about Ed and Anna for the last four months, and not commenting on the outcome, has been difficult. I decided a long time ago to not spoil anything that is not common knowledge from soap history books, and I am happy I made that decision. Spoilers really ruin contemporary soaps in my opinion.

Yes, Carl. She is Terry. Around the same time Joel Crothers slurped beer with the boys in a Lowenbrau commercial, Maeve McGuire extolled the richness of Dove soap with one quarter moisturizing cream, and Ann Flood modelled handbags in a cheap, videotaped 1-800- ad. Edgers were prolific in the 70s.

David played Frankie Raimendo's criminal cohort Dennis.

Frankie was played by Jamey Sheridan.

I had another email from my YouTube poster who shared with me Barbara Morgenroth's comments about The Doctors: NBC hated Alec Baldwin and told Morgenroth to kill off Billy Aldrich. They also wanted Mona gone and did not renew Meg Mundy's contract, which is why Mona expired in the plague story. Ellen Barkin, Holly Hunter, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio all tested for Kit McCormac, but Hilary Bailey was the actress who nailed the audition. Morgenroth intended to cast Holly Hunter as Frankie (the Aldrich crypt grave robber), but NBC insisted on having a male actor in the part. Morgenroth loved David Strathairn and wanted to expand his role, but he was cast in a film and had to be written out. Morgenroth envisioned Ivy Gooding as an Asian woman, but NBC would not allow it because it would be "an Asian story." She feels that if The Doctors had continued, Luke and Ivy would not have been allowed to have an interracial romance. NBC was very uptight. Morgenroth said that many people associated with The Doctors loved it and wanted it to succeed, but NBC just wanted it gone. The last 6 months were filled with "high emotion" and turmoil because of NBC's attitude. She said that line producer George Barimo really held the company together as the ship was sinking.

I do not find the story itself to be a dog, but it is very poorly executed. Ralph Anderson's nutty convictions and taking hostages at Hope Memorial was very plot-driven, too, though it worked because Lakin wisely relegated it to the short-term. The Liz-Townsend plot should not have lasted more than six weeks. Also, Liz's reaction to the situation is not believeable. Not only has she not been aggressive in her attempt to escape, she has not passively played along with Philip either, gained his trust so that he would let his guard down and allow her an opportunity to escape. Liz is a seemingly intelligent girl. One would think she would stop throwing temper tanturms and being deliberately impertinent. Carolee and Jody are acting out of character, too. They both ignore their instinct that something is wrong, and cannot be bothered with making a simple phone call to Keith to verify Liz's safety. This after she she was stalked for several weeks. Instead of quickly moving the plot along, it has stagnated. If it moved quickly and wrapped within a few weeks, it could have been an interesting, entertaining story arc.

Karrie started in December 1983, and Edge was cancelled at the end of October 1984. Preacher and Jody were already on the outs when the axe fell. I agree with Robb. Emerson and Flohe did not have the same chemistry as Flohe and Loughlin. Jody seemed a bit fickle in her affections, so in a way it made sense that she and Preacher would not last. The one scene I clearly remember with Flohe and Emerson wax their final breakup scene where they realized they were not right for one another. It was really the best scene they had together.

I loved Preacher. I found him a breath of fresh air and far more appropriate for Jody than her previous involvements with Kelly and Gavin, both of whom seemed far too old to be paired opposite Lori Laughlin, particularly when Jody was retconned to jailbait. As for other viewers, I believe at the time fans generally liked Charles Flohe. He would not have been made a contract player and kept to the end if he had not enjoyed a significant following. I not remember analogies to him and Geary's Luke, but at the time, I was in my mid-20s and partying dusk to dawn. It was the 80s, dammit. I probably do not recall nearly as much as I should from that era! I loved Preacher. I found him a breath of fresh air and far more appropriate for Jody than her previous involvements with Kelly and Gavin, both of whom seemed far too old to be paired opposite Lori Laughlin, particularly when Jody was retconned to jailbait. As for other viewers, I believe at the time fans generally liked Charles Flohe. He would not have been made a contract player and kept to the end if he had not enjoyed a significant following. I not remember analogies to him and Geary's Luke, but at the time, I was in my mid-20s and partying dusk to dawn. It was the 80s, dammit. I probably do not recall nearly as much as I should from that era!

The Edge site is online again at a different URL. http://www.edgehomepage.com

Preacher debuted as a dayplayer. He appeared on Edge in mid-December as part of Nora Fulton's plot to destroy Dr. Miles Cavanaugh. Nora hired Preacher to rough up Miles's secretary Barbara Montgomery as Miles slept off a drunken bender in Barbara's apartment, but when Miles awoke, Barbara had been bludgeoned into a coma. Preacher was gone. Actor Charles Flohe had been hired for only a few appearances, but he made such an impression on the writer and audience, he was brought back in February 1983 and placed on contract. Jody went undercover at the Video Disco to prove that Preacher had assaulted Barbara. Of course, she discovered that he was innocent and fell in love with him. This brought an end to her relationship with Gavin. Gavin remained for another six months, producing the play that figured prominently in the Del Emerson stolen ruby plot.

Nora was strangled on Friday, January 7, 1983. Preacher debuted in December 1982. Gavin left in October 1983.

Heavens, I cannot remember that well! I have an interview with Pamela shortly after she joined Somerset, and she commented that she appeared on The Doctors as Liz for the last time on Thursday and debuted on Somerset the following Monday.

Pamela stays until she leaves for Somerset. Her last episode of The Doctors is March 26, 1970.

One of my YouTube viewers passed along some interesting information. He has been in contact with Barbara Morgenroth, final co-headwriter of The Doctors. Under a pseudonym, Barbara wrote a novel of her experience working on The Doctors. It is entitled "Soaped", written under the name Ari Robbins. It can be purchased for the remarkably reasonable price of $2.99 on Kindle. On Retro, we are now officially in 1969, which will prove to be a year of significant change in front of and behind the cameras. Behind the scenes, Rita Lakin will depart as headwriter. Had Rita continued writing for The Doctors or other daytime soaps, I feel she would be regarded today as part of an illustrious group including Lemay, Slesar, Gordon Russell, etc. We will see the onscreen departure of I hope The Doctors sticks around Retro for 1970 and 1971.

Now is the time Retro TV viewers should start writing letters and sending emails to the powers that be. As the program is now at the midpoint of its contracted episodes with SFM, I would imagine that Retro is beginning to contemplate their fall schedule and the possibility of purchasing another two years of episodes. I also feel that those of us who do not have access to Retro should also continue to contact them and express our interest in receiving the network because we want to see The Doctors. Such interest can only help. I agree, Carl. The "Graduate" scene was bizarre and a bit uncomfortable to watch. However, it shows the program as being quite contemporary and edgy for that era. At that point, Lydia was still new and finding her way with Maggie. You are not there yet, but in the more recent episodes telecast, we have seen Lydia's Maggie develop a more playful and sexual relationship with Matt, and it is an absolute delight to watch. As much as I love Lydia, I do miss Bethel's amusing facial expressions and her wonderfully raspy voice. Viewers and the series alike were lucky to have had two disparate but excellent actresses for a matriarch.