robbwolff

Carolee last aired in late February/early March 1976. According to someone who saw a Doctors episode at the Paley Center, Carolee was still in the credits as of early summer. What I find interesting is that Jennifer Houlton (Greta) isn't credited. She used to be but no longer appears in the list.

And toward the end, Steve got a half-brother and sister-in-law. I believe there were plans to introduce their children. Stephanie was also aged toward the end. Anne Rose Brooks played Stephanie in the final year after finishing up a stint as Diana Frame on Another World. Ian Ziering of 90210 and Sharknado fame portrayed Erich. Mark Andrews also played Erich after wrapping up his role as Chad Sutherland on The Edge of Night.

He didn't head write GL. So either he misremembered or the interview was confused. Lemay returned to Another World in 1988. I believe the story goes that he was rehired and then the writer's strike hit. Donna Swajeski wrote the show during the strike. After the strike was over, Lemay was credited as head writer for about two months when Swajeski replaced him. There is much speculation that Swajeski used much of Lemay's bible during her first year. That said, Swajeski's stint was better than previous writers but disappointing in many respects. I often felt that she started out strong with her story ideas but the resolutions were disappointing and anticlimactic.

What's odd is that someone recently ran what he purported to be an interview with Lemay that many, myself included, found suspect. Perhaps it was legit and Lemay simply forgot facts, but I'm not so sure. In the interview, Lemay claimed he had been head writer of Guiding Light in the early 80s and then went on to say he was The Doctors' final head writer. He was head writer for about six months -- till mid-1982.

This newspaper article was posted on my hometown's Facebook page. It covered the taping of April Scott's car accident on "The Edge of Night" in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Some years later, an autographed copy of Edge's final script was auctioned off at my old elementary school. As I understand it, one of Edge's personnel (maybe a director) lived in East Brunswick. Have never attached images here before, so fingers are crossed this works!

Someone posted a fascinating article about LIAMST on one of the Facebook groups. It addressed some of the storylines that were planned should the series had continued. One indeed involved Betsy and was inspired by the movie "The Children's Hour." The article said Inga Swenson had been cast to play a protagonist in the storyline.

My hometown rag ran the synopses every Saturday too. They were fascinating to read...and sometimes had errors. Whether the errors were the result of changes in the script or the columnist’s mistake is unknown. For instance, Maureen Reardon was referenced as Noreen in the synopsis I read. As for Ruth/Iva, it’s possible Marland planned for the older daughter to be named Ruth especially since it refers to her as Emma’s estranged daughter. And perhaps the youngest was to be named Iva. But then Marland had a change of heart. I can’t recall if the Snyders are mentioned in Marland’s bible that showed up online some years back.

Not sure if this was ever reported here but I just saw that longtime Guiding Light director Harry Eggart passed away in October 2017. I had the privilege to meet Harry in a writing workshop on Cape Cod in the summer of 2005 (he lived on the Cape). The instructor was William J. (Bill) Mann, who has written biographies about Katharine Hepburn, Barbra Streisand, and Elizabeth Taylor, among others. Harry was a sweet, humble man. There were about 6 students in the workshop and Harry had shared the beginning of a novel he was writing. It was a murder mystery set behind the scenes at a soap opera. As the instructor Bill and I were chatting with Harry, he shared that he had directed Guiding Light. Bill and I were immediately captivated as we had both watched the show in the 80s. We talked about the Nola, Kelly, and Morgan storyline. Harry shared tidbits about working on the show, and the honor of being involved in the memorial to Charita Bauer. We lost touch after the workshop so I'm not sure if he ever finished his novel. I can tell you that he was a very caring, compassionate man and that his writing was suspenseful, intriguing, and polished.

Isabelle was Celeste Holm's second character on Loving. Earlier (around 1986), she played another character. According to her Wikipedia page, the character was named Lydia Woodhouse. I believe the character's story had to do with a teenager and involved homelessness.

Are you sure about John Allen Nelson playing both Duke and Chuck? I was just reading Loving synopses on Tumblr and both Duke and Chuck are mentioned in one synopsis. Apparently, Lorna was named queen of the winter carnival and there was some kind of drug-fueled party going on back at Duke and Chuck's apartment.

The episodes with Jermaine Jackson and Whitney Houston aired on August 1-2, 1984. Eileen Fulton returned as Lisa on the August 3 episode where she discovered Whit's dead body.

Delphi also played Jody’s mother Leonie Travis on The Edge of Night in 1982. Prior to actually appearing, the character was known as Billie Lorraine.

Jody was not featured in the 1984 location shoot, which was done in Mexico, not the Hamptons. The sequence involved bad guys on motorcycles chasing Raven and Sky in their Jeep to a cliff. I believe Preacher came to they rescue. The chase was not incorporated into the opening credits. A 1983 car chase involving Preacher and Jody (then Lori Loughlin) was featured in the opening credits. The story had something to do with a formula. Both Alicia Van Dine and Del Emerson were included in the story. Yes, their names were Beth and Liz. And the family name was Corell, not Correlli.

And his obit said that Jo didn't have one but two mastectomies. Paul Raven's post with Shaw's timeline of writing stints makes me pretty certain that the soap book I saw featured his storyline plans for Love of Live, with Meg returning in the late 60s. I'll have to get over to Alexander Library at Rutgers and see if I can find it. Mind you, it was decades ago when I came across the book.

Thanks for sharing. That bible sounds quite interesting. Gibson's character Lynn departed Love of Life in November 1978 according to synopses I read online. Prior to that, she didn't seem to have much of a storyline. Perhaps Shaw was head writer back in 1976 when Lynn grappled with alcoholism. I can't recall the title of the book but I remember coming across a fascinating book about soaps in my college library back around 1984. It was written in the 60s or 70s and included storyline projections for Love of Life. It discussed Bruce Sterling cheating on Van and involved the return of Van's sister Meg when their mother got ill. Not sure why that storyline never came to pass. This was well before Labine and Mayer brought Meg back to the show.

His New York Times obit says he was hired to write Search for Tomorrow in the 1977-1978 season. That matches what other sources say. His obit says he wanted to give Jo a breast cancer storyline and a mastectomy but Mary Stuart had said that Jo had already had two mastectomies. Not sure how accurate that claim is. In what ways was his soap bible brilliant? What was it about? I recall an article in late 1981 that CBS chose Capitol over another soap titled Beverly Hills.

Georgann is featured in this Somerset clip, which focuses on Marie Wallace's India.

Also, sometime in the mid-1980s, Variety reported that DePriest was creating a soap for NBC titled Deadline. It was to be set in the newspaper industry.

Carolee Campbell

As I recall, the Bauer's kitchen set in the 1990s and 2000s was similar in design to what it was earlier albeit smaller in scale. I don't recall the living room changing much over the years. It still had the same white pillars in episodes from 2002 that were there back in 1993. Meanwhile, the Spaulding house seemed to grow substantially in size over the years. I believe it was Pam Long who coined the Hill circa 1983. I believe the Spauldings lived next to the Bauers. Quint and Nola moved into a big mansion on the Hill in 1983. And I believe HB had a mansion there, too. After Reva and HB eloped, they lived there. So Reva lived on the Hill before she married Josh. I think the Chamberlain mansion disappeared after Quint and Nola left. Henry later had a hotel room or a small apartment. Yes, the Reardon family lived on Seventh Street. The production model switch in 2008 really changed things. The small city that was Springfield was suddenly akin to a Peyton Place type-sized town. I still remember the scene where Cassie hooks up with Cyrus at Towers. They cut to them going to her car, which is parked on a country road. They then have sex in a barn, I believe. It made no sense at all. Towers was in a downtown area, not a countryside location. Towers had long been established as having a parking garage so why would Cassie park on a country road?

Actually, Barcroft joined AMC well before ABC hired Denise Alexander for General Hospital. Alexander joined GH in 1973. According to everything I've seen, Barcroft first appeared as Anne in 1971.

Very interesting and insightful. How about Elaine Princi? What were your thoughts on her portrayal of Dorian?

I believe Mark Faulkner is the guy responsible for the Edge and Somerset pages. I think he's been rebuilding the Edge site over the past year and providing new content.

I gave up on The Doctors with the early 1974 episodes but have to say that Campbell and O'Brien had amazing chemistry over the years, all the way back to when he first appeared in late 1967. The Carolee and Steve you've seen are but shadows of what they were back in the late 60s. Steve was a dashing cad back then who broke lots of hearts, including Carolee's. And Carolee was someone who could be funny at times yet heartbreaking at other times (like when she shared about a boyfriend's death - I think in a war). In my mind, with many of the couples on The Doctors, the writers/producers underplayed sexual tension/passion.

I'm so disappointed that they didn't list her name and that she was only seen so briefly. I really enjoyed her in this role.