Reverend Ruthledge

No need to apologize at all. I love talking about the pre-1983 story. Julie last appeared in 1949, I believe. Ray was running to her when he was having trouble with Charlotte but there was no rekindling of the romance. Julie had sort of moved on at that point. She kind of faded away and Ray later tells Charlotte that Julie had remarried and was living off somewhere. Jonathan and Claire, I believed, moved off somewhere. Either back to Chicago or NYC. I can't remember. Larry was last seen going to jail for pushing pills. Pamela moved east to get over her heartbreak with Larry and her mother Winifred (Rev. Matthews' sister) went with her. Rev. Matthews goes out to visit them later and winds up staying. So, the whole family drifts away. When Irna decided to focus on the Bauers, a lot, if not all, of the original characters in the reboot just all drifted away. Most just moved away. I might be able to get more specific on where they all ended up but I would have to go back and read the scripts. Because the show was set in Los Angeles this time, most people just "went east" and it wasn't always specific. I'm sure it was frustrating for the listeners who had invested in those characters because there was never big send-offs. People just kind of disappeared and we were lucky to get a single line of explanation of what happened to them. It was almost like there was a "New New Guiding Light". Irna just took everything in a whole new direction. Kind of a shame because the story was so good before the Bauers came on but hard to complain because it was so good once the Bauers came on. Just different. But Trail's End burning to the ground was very symbolic of that old vision of the show coming to an end.

Bert was awful in her younger days. When Bill was talking about Meta loving Chuckie, Bert said, "Who could love that kid?" And Chuckie was a sweet kid. She was just terrible.

Yeah, Bert was talked about but never seen (or, in this case, heard) until her wedding day. Yeah, once Irna decided to focus on the Bauers, all the other characters started to drift away. The Brandons were friends with the Bauers so that kept them around for a while but Julie really didn't have anything to do with the Bauers and she was a despicable character that it would have been hard to redeem her.

She was a piece of work, that's for sure!

Yes, Ray was really innocent. Martin was guilty but pinned it on Ray and Ray was sent to prison. Tim Lawrence was Clare Marshall's husband before she married Jonathan McNeill. He died in a plane crash that Clare witnessed. Well, there was a little ambiguity left even at the end of the storyline, but the consensus was that Frank's wheelchair slipped on the wet pavement and he went off the cliff in an accident.

French Fan is correct. Ned Holden, Clare Marshall and Jonathan McNeill were the only characters to make the transition from the old show. Ned, however, was only on the new show very, very briefly. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe his last episode was when he went to the airport as French Fan said. I would have to reread the scripts to make sure. But I know he was only in five or so episodes before he just disappeared.

From your lips to God's ears.

Well, they were in the TV show quite a bit but there's only one surviving video with Trudy. There aren't any with Clyde.

-1/1/53-1/30/53. Bill is worried about losing his job. Joe threatens Kathy that he’ll tell Dick the truth if she doesn’t. Joey starts dating Lois. Kathy begs Don Crane not to write about what he knows. Meta tries to persuade Kathy to tell Dick the truth. Bill tells Bert he got an offer to work for Gloria’s TV program and Bert says if he takes it that she’ll take Michael and leave him. Joey leaves for military school. The police have reopened the inquiry into Bob’s death and come to take Kathy in for questioning. A frantic Meta tells Dick the truth that Kathy had married Bob. Kathy finally tells the truth of everything to the police but during questioning she snaps and says she killed Bob. Laura clutches her pearls when she hears about Kathy getting arrested, tells Bob that Kathy is probably guilty and urges him to divorce her. Bill loses his job but Bert won’t let him take the job for Gloria’s program due to her jealousy of Gloria. -2/2/53-2/27/53. Dick stands by Kathy. Bill, desperate for work, puts his foot down with Bert about taking the job with Gloria’s program. DA Hanley seems to have it out for Kathy due to his bitterness of Joe switching his testimony at Meta’s trial which caused Hanley to lose the case. Laura won’t let Richard give Dick the money for Kathy’s bond. Joe sets out as a reporter to prove Kathy’s innocence. Dick’s cousin, Peggy Regan, comes to work as a nurse at Cedars. Bert snaps and lays into Meta which causes Bill and Meta to lay into Bert. A guilt-ridden Kathy tries to get Dick to divorce her. Bill gets the opportunity to go into business with someone but is hesitant to invest all his savings into the venture for fear of failure. Bert pushes him to take the leap. Gloria warns Bill not to take the risk. -3/2/53-3/31/53. Kathy goes before the grand jury. Kathy starts to think of her unborn baby as redemption and plans to give the baby the love she never gave to Bob. Joe works hard to uncover evidence for Kathy by trying to track down the mechanic who serviced Bob’s car. Richard offers his support to Kathy but Laura thinks Joe pulled strings to get Kathy off. Dick tells Laura he’s sorry that she’s his mother. Meta thinks that DA Hanley is retrying her through Kathy. Right after Kathy goes before the grand jury, Joe comes in with evidence from the mechanic that Bob’s brake linings were worn and in need of being fixed. Kathy tells Meta that if she goes to prison that she wants Meta to raise her baby. Joe comes in with the news that the jury has brought in a No Bill verdict after the mechanics testimony but Kathy is not appreciative and only whines about how her life has been ruined by the nightmare she went through. Ray and Charlotte want to sell the house Bill and Bert are renting from them and Bert goes to Meta for the money. She makes a reluctant Meta keep it a secret from Bill. -4/1/53-4/30/53. Joey comes back home from military school for Spring Break. Laura gleefully finds out that Dick and Kathy’s marriage may not be valid because Kathy signed the marriage certificate as Kathy Roberts and not Kathy Lang. Laura is quick to tell Dick what she discovered and Dick says he doesn’t care and storms out. On Good Friday, Hanley asks Joe to forgive him for hurting Meta and Kathy and Joe forgives him. Reverend Keeler goes to Carmel to visit Kathy at the sanitarium and she tells him that she has decided to stay with Dick so that her baby will have a father but that she won’t tell him that Bob is the real father. Joey says he wants to leave military school and enlist in the air force. Bill’s short stint of optimism is dashed when one of the few major clients his new company has threatens to leave. Bert’s jealousy leads her to believe Gloria is behind it. Tim, a little boy Kathy befriended at the sanitarium, comes to Los Angeles to visit Kathy. Meta meets him at the train station and has flashbacks to Chuckie. Kathy, guilty of living a lie, is haunted in nightmares by Bob Lang. -5/1/53-5/29/53. Kathy’s sense of urgency and dread becomes realized when she starts to hemorrhage after having another nightmare of Bob trying to take the baby away. Kathy tells Meta that if anything happens to her that she wants Meta to raise the baby and tell Dick that the baby wasn’t his so that Laura won’t have anything to do with the baby’s life. Fearing she might die, Kathy calls for Rev. Keeler and she asks God’s forgiveness for what she did to Bob. Kathy has a caesarian and Robin Lang is born. Dick’s doubts resurface as he wonders about the similarity in Robert/Robin when Kathy chooses to name her baby Robin. Kathy becomes ill after a visit from Laura and becomes delirious. Papa loans Bill some money. -6/1/53-6/30/53. Bill is angry at Bert when he learns she had Meta buy the Brandon house for them. Bill laments to Meta about his financial troubles and Meta lets him know that even though she doesn’t have to worry about money, the rest of her life is falling apart. Joe enters and he and Meta get into a fight both accusing the other of being selfish while Kathy could be dying. Bill heads for a bar and is tempted to drink but calls Gloria instead who bolsters him and talks him out of having the drink. Peggy hears the truth about the baby as she tends to a delirious Kathy crying out. With Kathy in her weakened physical and mental state, Nurse Janet Johnson makes moves toward a vulnerable Dick. Joey comes home to be with the family as Kathy’s life hangs in the balance due to viral pneumonia. Kathy’s fever breaks and she starts to recover physically but not mentally. Tom closes down the business and joins another team, leaving Bill alone and holding the bag which sets Bill off and he falls off the wagon. Bill shows up drunk at the hospital to see Kathy and Meta won’t let him see her. Joe apologizes to Meta and they reconcile. Kathy doesn’t remember having given birth to Robin. -7/1/53-7/31/53. Joey gets engaged to Lois. Dick graduates from medical school and goes to work as Dr. Baird’s resident. Bill and fellow alcoholic Karen party together at Richard and Laura’s after the graduation. Joey says goodbye to Kathy at the hospital as he prepares to be shipped off on his military assignment. Bert goes on the warpath when she finds out Bill borrowed money off his life insurance, driving Bill back to the bar. Sid and Gloria try to help Bill. Kathy runs away from the hospital but returns on her own volition. Peggy confronts Janet about her designs on Dick. Janet denies the accusation but Peggy says she has her number. -8/3/53-8/31/53. Kathy can’t gather the courage to tell Dick the truth so she lies and says Robin is definitely his daughter. Kathy finally leaves the hospital and moves into the Roberts home with Robin. Kathy has gone from neglectful with Robin to obsessed with Robin. Bert can’t take anymore and goes to Arizona to visit her parents with Michael. Laura asks her niece over to pry information out of her about Kathy but Peggy calls her out, refuses to be used and storms out. Dick is feeling neglected by Kathy now that all her attention is going into the baby. At the advice of Gloria, Bill checks himself into the hospital. -9/1/53 thru 9/30/53. Bill is at the hospital for a check-up and to dry out after a bender. Kathy is obsessed with baby Robin and shutting Dick out, making him vulnerable to Janet. Helen Allen reveals she is Bob Lang’s mother to Laura Grant. Bert is visiting her parents in Arizona with Michael and Elsie is trying to get Bert to give up on Bill. Bill gets released from the hospital and heads straight to a bar. Dick and Janet begin an affair and Janet tries to get Dick to face the fact that he’s probably not Robin’s biological father. Helen has second thoughts about meeting Kathy but then Laura tells her that Robin may be Helen’s grandchild. Bill packs his bags, gets some money from Papa and heads out of town to parts unknown. -10/1/53 thru 10/30/53. Elsie takes Bert to a divorce attorney. Meta gets firm with Kathy and tells her she has to leave her and Joe’s house. Helen meets with Kathy and tells her that Bob Lang was her son. Bill comes back to town and takes a job with Sid and Gloria. Bill, trying to build his life back, is served with divorce papers from Bert. Without Bill’s knowledge, Papa flies to Tucson to try and reason with Bert. Bert comes back home to a changed Bill. Dr. Baird warns Dick about his affair with Janet. 11/2/53-11/30/53. Bert and Gloria clear the air about Gloria’s past with Bill and Bert’s concern for Bill’s drinking. Bill tells Bert he’s afraid of moving to New York with Sid and Gloria for work because he might fall off the wagon. Bert gives him the confidence to decide to make the move. Kathy tells Helen that Robin is her granddaughter and Helen encourages Kathy to tell Dick. Kathy tells Dick that Robin isn’t his and he is apathetic and says he already knew. Helen goes back to New York and reassures Kathy that if Dick divorces her, she can come with Robin to live with her. Laura confronts Dick with her suspicions that Robin isn’t his daughter and Dick tells her that he already knows. Richard tells Kathy that she’ll always be a part of his family and then tells Dick he needs to stay with Kathy and ditch Janet. -12/1/53-12/31/53. The new resident, Jim Kelly, is giving a Dick a run for his money with Dr. Baird who thinks Dick is spending too much time on his personal life. Dan Peters, a mysterious man with a scar on his face, reaches out for medical help and ends up at Cedars. Dick tells his parents about his plans to divorce Kathy and marry Janet. Only Laura is happy about the divorce news, neither Richard nor Laura is happy about the Janet news. Peggy warns Dick not to marry Janet. Dan and Peggy start to develop feelings for each other. Bill comes home from NYC for Christmas. -12/25/53. Papa, Bill, Bert and Michael celebrate Christmas. Bill is in town for Christmas as he’s been away for business. He says he doesn’t want to let anybody down again. Meta calls and says Kathy isn’t going to come over but Bert insists she come so Michael and Robin can get acquainted.

Hey! Well, he did kind of just appear. He was an acquaintance of Kathy's who started to pursue her romantically. He came on pretty strong so it seems like there should have been more of a buildup to his introduction but there wasn't.

No. A different Alice. The one in 1952 is Kathy's roommate, Alice Graham. It can be confusing when the same character name is used more than once and I don't always mention last names in my synopses.

By the way, another thing that might be confusing is that Dick's sister also goes by the name "Bunny". So if you see the name Bunny and the name Karen, they are interchangeable. Bunny was a nickname.

Well, Mike killed Karl Jannings in a fight although he didn't mean to kill him.

Yes, she is.

I think I know the sentence you are referring to and I may not have worded that well. Bert was worried that her own baby (who would be Mike) might inherit the same Bauer trait that caused Meta to be a murderer. Meta was not pregnant. Bert was pregnant with Mike at the time.