Mona Kane Croft

This will be interesting. I'm glad you seem interested in verifying the information. So much incorrect information gets passed around from message-boards and websites. Now, some of it has even been published in books, and it is not accurate. So keep up the effort.

I would call Mary's billing special billing, but certainly not star billing. And obviously not star billing in the opening, like Prinz, Andrews, and McKenzie received. There is a long list of soap opera actors who received special billing in the closing credits. But only three known to have been given star billing in the opening.

I know that in Cenedella's original storyline projection, Robert Delany was supposed to die fairly early in the series. I don't know if Jasper's death was a substitute for killing-off Robert, but it is possible Slesar decided to save Robert and dispense with Jasper.

There has always been speculation that the scab writers were using Harding Lemay's plot projections as a basis for their day to day scripts, since he had been hired and had submitted his plan before the strike began. If you are familiar with Lemay's writing style, you may be able to recognize things that may have originated from his ideas. And you may also be able to notice things that were certainly not his ideas -- the Nicole/Cass ghost story, for example. I would suggest the focus on smaller moments between characters you mention probably originated with Lemay, as he preferred to write character development, rather than strong plots. Also, the Drew Marston story may have been his idea, since it flowed so well into the introduction of Iris (after the strike). But the way the scab writers plotted the details of the Marston tale probably diverted from Lemay's intent quite a bit. Also, Chris may have been a Lemay creation since she was a character with a lot of internal emotional problems -- a favorite Lemay character device. Additionally, taking Lisa/Jamie/Vicki in the same direction as Alice/Steve/Rachel (years earlier) likely was one of Lemay's contributions. On the other hand, anything overly dramatic, over the top, or overly "soapy" was probably concocted by the scabs, who were under no obligation to follow Lemay's projections, if they decided not to. I'd enjoy hearing more of your thoughts on the 1988 strike era. If my memory is correct, the Felicia's hypnotism stuff occurred after the strike and was written by Lemay -- believe it or not!! It certainly didn't seem like something he would write, but I think perhaps he was trying to loosen up a bit, and not be so stubborn about what he was and was not willing to write, this second time around.

Thank you for doing the research and finding verification which can finally clear up this error among soap opera historians. I sincerely appreciate it. Can you please post this in the TEXAS discussion page too?

Sadly, the incorrect information is so ingrained as truth in popular soap-opera culture, it is very possible the person in charge of Beverlee's IMDB page will simply not believe you. Perhaps if you added a bit more evidence, like the following statement: "McKinsey is among a very small group of daytime actors (including Rosemary Prinz and Dana Andrews) who were given star billing in the opening credits. And to date, McKenzie is the last actor to receive that recognition. Her billing on TEXAS included her face and the words, "starring Beverlee McKenzie." This is just an idea that might convince IMDB that your edit is indeed factual. Or at least it might convince them to do a little research to find the truth. But feel free to disregard it, if you feel it is unnecessary.

I looked up the numbers of each of the episodes, and I was wrong -- the episodes I described are not two in a row. But they are very close together. The episode numbers are #658 and #661. Just in case you want to watch them. There is something about those lengthy inserted scenes that seem very awkward. In addition, they are edited badly.

Was there ever a writer's strike during the original run of Dark Shadows? I'm a long time DS fan, and have recently been watching DS on Tubi. I noticed a couple of strange episodes just a few weeks into the werewolf/Quentin storyline. In what I believe is Joe Haskell's final episode, there is a strange lengthy and unnecessary dream sequence that goes on for several minutes. Franky, it just seems like some kind of time filler. And in the very next episode there is an extremely lengthy and unnecessary flashback of Barnabas telling Julia about his vampirism in 1795. This 1795 flashback consumes most of the episode, and is only vaguely connected to what is going on in the current plot. Again, it really seems like nothing more than a time filler. I don't recall other episodes of DS ever including this type of interruption in the action for something that seemed so out of place. I'm wondering if they included these two lengthy scenes in order to avoid writing new material and dialogue for the actual episodes. Writer's strike, perhaps? Has anyone else ever noticed these? Any speculation on what might have influenced the decision to do this?

Marlowe was the fourth actor to play Jim Matthews. He assumed the role in 1969 (possibly '68). The names and premiere dates of the other three actors are available on the AWHP. Also, I'm almost positive the Paley Center does not have the first week of Another World in their collection. Perhaps you watched the first week of another soap, is that possible? I believe there were four actors who played Steve Olson over the years. I do not have their names at the moment.

I watched Hugh Marlowe during most of his run on Another World (1969 to 1982), and he struggled with his lines almost continuously -- sometimes to the point of embarrassment Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't get fired. On the other hand, he was charming and lovable as Jim Matthews (despite his acting difficulties), and I liked him in the role. I have seen Marlowe in several movies, and he was a very fine film actor. It appears he just couldn't handle the rigors of daytime television, or was perhaps unwilling to prepare adequately. But the differences in his film performances and his work on Another World are jarring. An actor who played one of Jim Matthews' children on Another World reportedly shared that Marlowe had new marriage and a late-in-life child in 1969, and took the job on AW in order to support his new family. The actor also commented that Marlowe more or less phoned-in his performances on AW and did not take the job very seriously.

It seems a bit more of an intentional effort at NBC. Because around 1969, three out of four NBC soaps had a significant movie actor in a lead role. And although soaps on other networks had cast film actors occasionally, only Joan Bennet on ABC had a lead role. The others seem more incidental, in my opinion. It would be interesting to know who was head of NBC daytime programming throughout the 1960s. Was it one person for the entire decade? Or did the position change hands several times? And did the person in this position prioritize hiring film actors into lead roles, or was it just coincidence??

When Hugh Marlow was hired to play Jim Matthews on Another World in 1969, he had been a movie actor for many years, having roles in at least thirty-five films (and major roles in many of those). Does anyone think perhaps NBC pressured P&G to find a movie actor to play the Matthews family patriarch in order to follow the success of MacDonald Carey (another movie star of comparable stature) playing a similar patriarchal role on Days of Our Lives? Additionally, during this time Dana Andrews was cast as the star of another NBC soap opera, Bright Promise. And a few years earlier (1965), movie star Ann Sheridan had been cast as Kathryn Corning on Another World. That left The Doctors (and later Somerset) as the only NBC soap(s) of that era without a movie actor in a lead role. I've often been curious if NBC was intentionally attempting to pepper their daytime dramas with film actors -- something the other networks seemed to have little interest in at that time.

Putting someone on ignore does not really stop one from seeing their posts, because many of their posts still appear in the narrow column on the right. Even when the poster is on ignore. I'm just pointing out that, in general the ignore feature is not effective. If it were, that would be a great option to stop seeing a poster who is bothersome.

There is no way AW would have ever given Mary Page Keller star billing. Wyndham and Watson were given special billing (top billing) in the closing credits, and that was included in both of their contracts. So the best AW might have offered Keller could have been third billing in the closing. At the time, Connie Ford had third billing, but that was because of seniority, and not contractual. Personally, I don't believe tptb at AW would have even seriously considered third billing for Keller.

Of course it was unintentional. But her statement should not go down in history as being correct, when it clearly is not. She obviously worked hard for everything she got, but she was not the first daytime actor to receive star billing. She was the last. That's all I'm saying. It doesn't mean I do not respect Beverlee.

Well, Beverlee's statement about being the first to get star billing in the opening was absolutely incorrect. I'm not going to agree with her mistake, just to be respectful. Are you kidding??

That's interesting. I have never heard about that. I do have all the DVDs, and there is no star billing in those openings that I have noticed. But anything is possible. I would want to see proof, before I shared it as truth.

You probably realize, none of the actors on Dark Shadows ever got star billing in the opening. Just wanted to clarify, so as not to confuse others who are reading this thread.

Well, I think there is a big difference between being literally called the star by the announcer in the show's opening, and being first in the closing credit crawl. I don't see them as equivalent. Sometimes the first in the closing crawl is more or less the star of the show. But other times it just means that actor is the cast member with the most seniority. And other times closing credits are done in alphabetical order, and at times there is no rhyme or reason at all. I think when most soap fans use the term star billing, they are making reference to an actor being identified as the star in the show's opening. And even though that is very rare, it has been done several times. I'd submit that Beverlee McKenzie was the last actor to get star billing on a soap opera, not the first.

This is one of several big errors in soap opera history, along with Erica Kane having the first abortion on daytime, and several others. Rosemary Prinz had star billing in the opening on two different soaps in the 1970s -- All My Children and How to Survive a Marriage. Dana Andrews had star billing in the opening of Bright Promise. And I believe there is at least one other example of star billing in an opening, previous to Beverlee McKenzie. MacDonald Carey was the opening narrator on DOOL, and he mentioned his own name daily. But I believe he only received true star billing on the premiere episode, where another announcer did the opening narration and said "starring MacDonald Carey."

Did anyone ever notice that in almost all cases of "A Middle-Aged Woman Ate My Soap," the woman has been a former bad-girl? AW - Rachel, AMC - Erica, GL - Reva, ATWT - Carly, GH - Carly, EON - Raven, etc?? Is this just a coincidence? Of course there are a few exceptions, when a nice character eats a soap: DOOL - Marlena (and at times Hope), OLTL - Vicki (but Vicki really always was the leading lady from day-one. So I'm not sure she fits this mold), etc. Also, would others agree that this phenomenon has never happened on Y&R and B&B? I'm curious how and why writers on those two shows seem to have avoided this trend. At least so far.

Actually, Rachel was not a native. She and Ada moved to Bay City from somewhere in the South, and they discussed their move briefly on camera. Ada even spoke with a Southern accent for a few weeks when the characters premiered. I assume Connie Ford got sick of the accent and just dropped it.

Yes, that house stayed within the Lowell/Stewart family from day-one of the show, until it's final appearance, just a year or two before the cancellation. At the time, the Lowell/Stewart set was the oldest set in daytime, and had been for years and years. Far older than even the Horton house on DOOL.

Did Jacquie get that haircut while she was still on OLTL? I thought she just showed up on AW with that haircut upon her return. It was certainly not a good look for Alice.

But Pat's romance with Adam Brewster occurred around 1979, and her relationship with Bo took place several years later -- around 1982-83.