saynotoursoap

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

Does anyone remember when Jennifer Harmon appeared in OLTL as Cathy Craig?? Was it when she came back to town without Kevin who previously she had kidnapped?

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

I don't have the exact airdates, but Conrad Roberts made his debut as Ed towards the end of March 1968. Zaida Coles as Anna began sometime in June 1968, I believe.

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

I always thought she was a little bland on DS, although I did like her as the vampire Roxanne, and she was very beautiful.

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!

I wonder what story was going big in the summer of '74 on AMC?

Anyone know?

I believe that's the year Margo Flax had her infamous facelift.

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.

Nicole's death I remember just because there was a little creativity in it to the point of silliness. As I recall she was killed with poison make up. Something like that.

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.

No, I have tried to remember myself. The bags seemed to be another version of the Everything Bag for which Suzanna Glidden advertised.

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

I remember the commercials.

I would love to see the Ann Flood commercials for the purses! Earlier in th 1960s, she had advertised for Good Seasons salad dressings.

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.

This makes me feel sad that she tried and probably didn't get much assistance. She could've used the Internet and Kickstarter back then. Is Ms. Phillips still alive?

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.

This is Terry Davis, right?

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.

Who did David Straithairn portray?

David played Frankie Raimendo's criminal cohort Dennis.

Awesome info there, S. I had Frankie among my list f characters I was trying to identify. Thanks.

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.

I guess it makes sense but they might as well just played it to the end regardless. B/c Karrie Emerson came on the show when? And when did EON get their cancellation notice? I would've just had them end together.

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.

Thanks for that backstory!

But were people receptive to Preacher/Jodi pairing? Or Preacher in general? Because some EON on Youtube have said they hated the character b/c he was a poor man's version of Luke.

I do like Charles Flohe and his stints on AW & B&B. I do wish that they'd bring Grant back and Flohe to daytime in general.

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!

Thanks for that backstory!

But were people receptive to Preacher/Jodi pairing? Or Preacher in general? Because some EON on Youtube have said they hated the character b/c he was a poor man's version of Luke.

I do like Charles Flohe and his stints on AW & B&B. I do wish that they'd bring Grant back and Flohe to daytime in general.

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!

Thanks for that backstory!

Seeing as there is so little left of EON online since the EON site was taken offline, it's good to pick people's mind who have a great recollection of the show and scope through this site.

The Edge site is online again at a different URL.

http://www.edgehomepage.com

Thanks, Saynotoursoap.

Oh OK. So Preacher was only on the show a month by then. Makes sense.

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.

Thanks for posting this, Carl.

Does anyone know when Nora was murdered [i.e. month that is]?

I didn't know that Gavin was still on the show at this time. I had thought he had already left before then. Was Preacher on the show by then? If so, they really must've used the remainder of 83 and 84 to push Jodi and Preacher hard. Same with Miles and Beth too.

Nora was strangled on Friday, January 7, 1983.

Preacher debuted in December 1982. Gavin left in October 1983.

Thanks. How do you remember dates that well?

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.

I, too, love Zaida Coles as Anna. I find her mesmerizing to watch.

We're now into early January 1969 and rest assured that Liz becomes prominent again. I also wonder how much longer Toll will be on, especially since she was in the premiere cast of Somerset in March 1970.

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

Ed Stark very soon. I have enjoyed Conrad Roberts and his interactions with Gerry Gordon. I feel that so much more story is left for Ed and Anna. Fortunately, we will see more of Zaida Coles. Sadly, later in the year, we also must also bid goodbye to Liz Hubbard as Althea, though we gain Virginia Vestoff in the part. I saw so little of Virginia in the original run. I look forward to seeing more of her, another reason to hold out hope for Retro picking up two more years of the serial. Nancy Bennet's story presence will grow. I like Nancy Donohue, though her hair piled atop her head in hospital scenes is not very attractive. Nancy seems like the type of actress who would have been cast on Ryan's Hope in the 1970s. After what seems a year long pregnancy, Karen finally gives birth to an Aldrich heir, and the child will generate story for years to come. Steve is already casting an eye back in Carolee's direction. Remember a year ago when he was being sweet to her but not for altruistic reasons? Those second glances will ultimately result in years of heartache for each of them.

I hope The Doctors sticks around Retro for 1970 and 1971.

I hope so too - have we heard if they've bought any more episodes? I guess the ratings must be OK if they're still airing two a day.

I'm somewhere around late August, still in disbelief over them having Maggie sing the Theme from The Graduate in her head.

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.