Mona Kane Croft

The new logo (the show's second) replaced the original so quickly, I've always wondered if the first logo was meant to be temporary from the beginning. Maybe the "real logo" (the second one) was delayed in production, and TPTB had to use a temporary version in order to get the show on the air on the premiere date.. I have no evidence to support this, other than the first logo was so amateurish (even by 1980 standards), and its was replaced so quickly.

She's also in at least one Facebook soap opera group.

Why won't the forum allow the RetroTV rep to join? I read the rationale for no new members, and it seems like the forum chief is a bit too paranoid about spamming. Clearly the RetroTV rep is not going to spam the board. But he's the owner, and I guess he can handle things any way he wants to.

I forget to mention -- I read near the time of Mac's death, that Swajeski had conceived the Red Swan mystery before she officially took over as head-writer, and had planned to use it as a major storyline. But when Doug Watson died, she decided to tweak the details in order to incorporate Mac's demise into the plot. I think Mac's passing should have been handled in a more straight-forward and believable manner, in reverence to both the character and the actor.

And Lemay would never have concocted such a stupid storyline to surround the death of a beloved character.

Are you suggesting Another World in the late '80s was better than As the World Turns in the late '80s? Oh my, you and I definitely have different taste in soaps. LOL. Although those things are often just a matter of taste, I think the ratings do say something about the quality of the two shows during that period.

This era was probably the final time AW really had a chance of surviving long-term, The focus of show had returned to family drama and class conflict. And even a couple of Matthews were on their way back to Bay City. If only a writer like Doug Marland or Agnes Nixon had taken-over the show after Lemay left in '88. Sadly that didn't happen, the show started to decline again, and it limped along for 11 more uninspired years.

I agree about that 1976 interview. Considering the wonderful things Harding Lemay said about her in his 1981 book, Penberthy seemed rather unappreciative of his writing five years earlier. I always got the impression she did not enjoy working with Michael Ryan -- that she perhaps thought he was too old, or that John was too boring, to be Pat's love interest. But that may just be my impression.

Yes, I've read it. Maybe 20 years ago. It is very interesting, and very detailed. But I don't understand how anyone would think "Oh, this guy would be a great writer for a soap opera," based on that book. His plays give a much better understanding of his ability to write drama.

You're right, the incidental music was terrible. Embarrassingly bad. Using that synthesizer was a stupid idea. It made the entire show seem like it was on a shoe-string budget. And when that nazi treasure story stated, I knew the writing was going down hill fast.

His plays were published about a decade ago, and available at very reasonable able prices. They are now out of print, but can be found on Amazon and Ebay occasionally,. Unfortunately, the prices have gone up significantly. Well worth reading, if you are a fan of Lemay.

Has anyone read any of Harding Lemay's plays? I've read a few, and they seem very much like his work on AW. Families with lots of conflict. And nobody is really a total good guy (or girl). All the characters have flaws that influence their actions.

Yes, Miranda was the show's first attempt at replacing Iris. It didn't work -- mostly because Miranda and her clan were introduced as an entirely new family. I've always thought it would have been more successful, if Miranda had been Mac's widowed sister-in-law. Then her move to Bay City would have made more sense, and her family members would have been Corys -- perhaps feeling superior to Rachel (as Iris did) and causing more direct conflict in the Cory family.

Actually, Olivia Delany was never named as Olivia Matthews' mother in any of the episodes. Some fans just assumed that, because of the name "Olivia" and because Russ had briefly dated Olivia Delany after she divorced Robert. But somehow the myth got published, and now most people think it is true. But it was never mentioned in any of the scripts.

The actress who played Rose Livingston in the photo above looks like one of the actresses who played Sarah Dancy Powers on The Doctors in the late 70s. I don't know the actress's name, but I am almost sure it is the same person.

Actually, the mother of Olivia Matthews (Russ's daughter) was never named on the show. Lots of folks assumed her mother was Olivia Delany, because Russ had dated Olivia briefly in the early 1980s. So that has become sort of an urban legend. I think Julie Poll might have even published it in her AW book, but it was never confirmed in any of the scripts. Using the name Olivia for Russ's daughter had no connection to Olivia Delany. It was just a coincidence.

The missing episode may have been preempted, but the writers would not have been able to make changes in the next day's script, because that episode had already been taped. I understand TD was taping about one-week ahead of air-date in 1967-68. And if they needed to purposefully skip and episode for some reason, the missing episode was certainly more important than the following one. The episode with the dress and tuxedo fittings should have been the one to skip.

Kalem's Angie was light-hearted and positive -- something of an ingénue. Her only troubles seemed to be caused by boyfriend, Willis. Kincaid played the role similarly for several months. But later, Kincaid (or the writing) took Angie a little darker and she became a bit neurotic.

A classic VW "bad" Rachel scene is available on YouTube. I believe it is one of Jacquie Courtney's Emmy reels. Check it out -- you get to see VW versus JC at their very best. Sorry, I don't have the link, but it shouldn't be hard to find. Wyndham, Courtney, and Dailey are at their best -- of course, supported by the great writing of Harding Lemay.

I have a question about the sets on Return to Peyton Place. Although I remember being impressed by the sets, I always wondered how they compared to the prime-time version of PP. For example -- Were the sets on the daytime show exacty the same set-designs used on the prime-time show? If not, were they at least similar? Or totally different set-designs? I'm thinking particularly of locations that were used heavily on both shows, such as Connie's house, Connie's bookstore, Ada's bar, and the Peyton mansion.

In earlier posts, folks were discussing Victoria Wyndham's work as Rachel. Not sure how many remember when she played "bad" Rachel -- but oh, she was SO good at being bad. In my opinion, Wyndham's Rachel was far more threatening than Robin Strasser's. I'm not suggesting she's a better actress, but just saying she played the role in a more serious and threatening manner. Stasser's Rachel was more similar to Erica Kane -- a bad girl, but fairly harmless, played with a dose of humor. There was little humor in VW's early years as Rachel. I think we got to know Rachel's motivations more clearly, with VW in the role. We even started to like her. But, VW's Rachel was a dangerous woman at times. And I loved the way she would "hiss" the name Alice like a snake. Such hatred.

Has anyone ever visited SoHo, and tried to find the building which was featured on The City? I was there around a decade ago, looking for the address -- and quickly found it didn't exist. Greene Street doesn't go down that far. So, I looked for the building anyway, since I knew it was in SoHo, regardless of the address. I was unable to recognize the building anywhere. How about you? Does anyone know the real address of the building? Any photos?