amybrickwallace

I recall reading that when Virginia Vestoff left TD, Althea was sent off on a cruise. When Althea came back in 1970 sometime, she was again played by Liz Hubbard. Was this also the same time Patrick Horgan came on the show as the evil Dr. John Morrison?

His longest-running family member on the show was Uncle Martin (John Aniston), right? I sent Rod Arrants a copy of the Memphis Magazine profile on Sherry Mathis from 2006 along with my letter. He thanked me for sending it and added, "Sherry was a dear friend and an amazing artist - as an actress and a singer."

I'm happy to be back! Things have been pretty crazy lately, but Happy New Year to you, too!! Two latter-day TD actors will be appearing on SVU: John Pankow (Danny Martin, 1981-82) will be guesting in the next episode (1/14) and the week after (1/21), Armand Assante (Mike Powers, 1975-77) will be playing Det. Amaro's (Danny Pino) father.

I love those Ohrbach's fashions that Maggie and Althea are always decked out in. Those dresses are always gorgeous!!

I think that was a very good analysis. One thing's for sure, and it's sad, but no soap today would cast a Faith Catlin type. All they want are glamour babes.

I do believe it was Rod Arrants' choice to leave (I know Ms. Mathis left of her own volition) - but the loss of Travis meant that the show's longest-running hero at that time ensured that the McCleary boys would be gobbling up even more airtime. This is no knock on David Forsyth, Matt Ashford and Jeffrey Meek - they have all proved themselves fine leading men over the years on different soaps. But there's no doubt that they swallowed the show whole those last couple of years.

I am very thankful to all those you mentioned above who have brought TD back for a whole new generation of viewers to enjoy. I certainly do; I was born over a decade after the episodes we are watching now were filmed. There is at least one cast member of TD from this era still with us and watching along with us - I found Carolee Campbell's Ninja Press website and emailed her, sending the link in my message. I just heard from her a couple of days ago and she said, "I am all caught up"!! For those who aren't with us anymore, I hope their family members - spouses, kids, grandkids - are able to watch the episodes and enjoy them, too.

You're right. I have the DVR set. Rick James - Wed. 1/14 9 PM EST Peaches & Herb - Wed. 1/21 8 PM EST

Tyne Daly, wonderful actress, but I could never imagine her on an Aaron Spelling show (with the possible exception of Family). I thought she was already committed to Cagney & Lacey by then, but maybe not. I think the original 1981 movie she had done with Loretta Swit was still considered a backdoor pilot - and when it finally went to series they had to replace Miss Swit because she was still under contract to M*A*S*H. Still, very interesting. Thanks for posting those photos of George Peppard with Linda Evans, but I still cannot see him as Blake Carrington at all. He was great at playing blue-collar crimefighters like Banacek and Hannibal from The A-Team, but I don't think he could have done justice to the role of Blake. He just didn't have the debonair charm and sophisticated elegance that John Forsythe had. Plus, NO ONE ELSE could have ever done justice to Charlie Townsend. "Good morning, Angels!!"

Thank you, saynotoursoap, for your insights. I'll have to go back and re-watch those episodes. Even though it was only briefly, it couldn't have been easy for the show to have two actresses named Nancy playing sisters (thus Nancy Addison being mistakenly identified as Nancy Barrett, Faith #2, in that caption). At least it wasn't as bad as it was on GL years later with two actresses named Beth (Chamberlin and Ehlers) being in the same storyline, fighting over the same man, and to top it off, one actress's character was also named Beth. Plus, they worked together for years, not months, like the Nancys of RH. OY!!! Other than that tiny flaw, great article. It's always a hoot to see Ilene Kristen profiled in an article, whether it's her being interviewed solo or as part of a group. Andy Robinson actually made Frank somewhat tolerable (the Christmas episodes from 1976 where his real-life daughter played his niece coming to visit from out of town were so sweet), and he was the only Frank to get a Daytime Emmy nomination, in 1978. His co-star Michael Levin (Jack) was also nominated, but both lost to Jim Pritchett of TD.

How much do you think SFT was affected by the departures of Rod Arrants (Travis) in 1984 and Sherry Mathis (Liza) in 1985? Travis was killed off and Liza was recast (with Louan Gideon - I can't believe we are coming up on the 1-year anniversary of her passing, God rest her). I know the show never again enjoyed the ratings it had on CBS when it moved to NBC, but they had been the show's main couple for several years. While Sherry's Liza had the short and sweet relationship with Will Patton's character (Kentucky Bluebird) - which was fun while it lasted (he didn't want to sign a contract and left the show after only a few months) - that was really the last decent story she had. It's just too bad, in hindsight, that Liza and Travis never got to ride off into the sunset together with the children they had waited so long to have. I would so love to see more clips of their early years. I recently heard from another SFT alum, Annie Wyndham (Amy Kaslo Carson), who now goes by her married name of Solomon. She very kindly autographed two pictures I sent to her and added a recent photo of herself. I swear, she has found the fountain of youth. She still has the long blond mane and unmistakable smile. Now THAT'S an era of SFT that I want to see so bad - when she, Michael Nouri and Joel Higgins were all on. I hope some of it still exists somewhere...

Thank you. I guess Jamie wasn't a baby for too long because didn't Bobby Doran take over the part around 1972? By that time, the character was no toddler!! LOL

Those are great!!! I mentioned it on the SFT thread, but not too long ago I wrote to Rod Arrants and he sent me a lovely autographed photo and a very kind note. Sorry that more of the L&F/FR, FP company didn't become bigger names. It seems that Rod had the most success in soaps, not just playing Travis on SFT but playing Dr. Steven Lassiter on Y&R in the late 80s. Nancy Marchand, of course, went on to primetime success with Lou Grant and The Sopranos, movies like the Sabrina remake, and guest spots on L&O and Coach.

Thank you!!! Happy New Year, slick!!!

What year was Jamie born? Wasn't he only a baby a short time before he started being subjected to SORAS?

Thanks for sharing those, Carl!!!!

I actually like Lydia Bruce's pixie cut. I'm always struck at how tall and skinny she was. With high heels on, she was almost as tall as Jim Pritchett, who I would guess was between 6' - 6'2". I'm guessing without the heels she was about 5'8". Althea and Nick continue to give us "FEVER!!" like Peggy Lee's famous song goes. That would be a perfect theme for them - and ironic, since they're both doctors. I wish someone would make a montage video of Althea/Nick clips and use the song as the backdrop. They were a supercouple before the phrase was coined. They were pre-Steve and Alice (AW) and pre-Doug and Julie (DAYS), the other major couples of NBC at that time. I didn't get to post about it here yet but the double date that Carolee and Liz went on with Dr. Bill and his friend Albert - I was facilitating between squirming and hysterical laughter. I have to agree with Liz's feelings on blind dates because I had a rather horrible one myself at age 16. Nearly 20 (!!!) years later, the friend who arranged the blind date still apologizes to me about it. LOL Not much else to be said about Dr. Werner that hasn't already been said except that her fixation on Matt is boring, tiresome and annoying. But now she has something else to worry about - she's carrying a new "All Rich"!! Speaking of which, when was the last time Steve was on? Look what he's going to be coming back to!!!

I second it. Someone give this woman a good show (whether TV or stage)!! She would be absolutely perfect on a MSW type show, but I also think it would be awesome if she guested on Castle, starring her OLTL son Nathan Fillion.

How long were the Lewises on the canvas before Kim Zimmer's Reva showed up?

Cruel matron, huh? Quite a far cry from the unstable Ruth!!

Audra Lindley played her as the true monster-in-law, didn't she? I think I read that Aunt Liz really began to become a more compassionate character is when Irene Dailey took over the role.

Big mistake regarding Gerald Gordon's debut on the show from that article. He had already been on TD for quite awhile before the end of 1967. I read that Nick was the first major character created under Rita Lakin's tenure as HW, and that GG started on the show sometime in 1966. This week I received Carolee Campbell's autograph in the mail, which was a thrill!! What a wonderful lady; very sweet. She seemed very touched to learn that she has made a whole new generation of fans!!!

I seem to remember AW was tossing around the idea of casting Jane later on as Felicia's sister (would she have been Lisa's mother - the character played by Joanna Going)? But I don't think Bay City would have been big enough for both Dano and Elliot in the long run.

Kimberley Simms never appeared on another soap, did she?

I have no idea how long Jami Fields lasted, but I've read in several places that Julia Duffy was on from 1973-77. Liz Hubbard also left in 1977 before returning to the show for its last year (1981-82).