vetsoapfan

Yes, that's right. The Russ/Cindy story was quite touching, although Robert Hover, the second Russ, was rather pallid.

Well, it was the 1970s, so many actors on many soaps wore wild fashions, LOL, but I don't recall Harriman's on-screen wardrobe being too far out. One wardrobe choice that I hated, on another soap, was Marlena Evan's ugly, purple polyester suit which she wore throughout 1976. It seemed every time I tuned into DAYS, there was Marlena wearing that monstrosity. I loathed it.

I'd say Russ' most popular romance was with the fragile Cindy Clark. Years later, he was paired with Iris, but to be honest, David Bailey (Russ) was not in the same league as Beverlee McKinsey (Iris), and their storyline never resulted in marriage. If only Sam Groom had remained in the role; his Russ was strong, soulful, noble and altruistic all at the same time. Of all the actors in the role, Groom was definitely the best Russ. He worked so well with Robin Strasser. I believe so.

In general, her work was dreadful. When she was the headwriter for SANTA BARBARA, its creators wanted to fire her, leading to a brouhaha with the network. Patrick Mulcahey, a respected scriptwriter, once commented that during Bailey's tenure, they always had to work to "hide things" because the overall writing was so poor. She was the original headwriter on the 1975 CBS drama BEACON HILL, which was a "rip off", as it were, of UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS. The audience for the initial telecast was huge, but after witnessing the atrocious writing, viewers abandoned the series in droves, and the ratings plummeted. This was annoying, because as soon as Bailey was replaced, the series improved dramatically. (The same thing happened with HTSAM.) Bailey was better at one-shot material, like The Trial of Mary Lincoln, but ongoing, everyday soaps were not her forte. That she won an Emmy for SB just shows again how messed up the Daytime Emmy system really is!

Good grief, he does sort of resemble a young Glen Campbell, although I think Thompson is better looking. Somerset had the bad habit of writing out slews of characters, rather than replacing them multiple times, as some soaps are wont to do. There were three Tony Coopers. Douglas Chapin, who was okay in the role, followed by Thompson, whom I thought was the best, and then finally Barry Jenner, who was a decent actor, but whom I felt was miscast. There were three Ginger Kurtz Coopers: Meg Wittner, Renne Jarrett (my personal favorite), and Fawne Harriman. Another character who was recast multiple times was David Grant, with actors Ron Martin (the best, IMHO), Tom Callaway, and finally Phillip McHale (who would later be the third actor to play Tony Lord on OLTL).

Along with HTSAM, Bright Promise, and WTHI, as Paul Raven mentions, Edelstein also worked on some primetime series like the soap EXECUTIVE SUITE with Mitchell Ryan, and STARSKY & HUTCH (!!!), which seemed rather off his beaten path, but for which he wrote excellent scripts. Never achieving the acclaim from soap audiences that some of his peers did, Edelstein remains an unsung hero of the genre, having produced better material than many of his colleagues in the industry who became better known (James Lipton, Robert Cenedella, Margaret DePriest, etc).

Not very long. The character never really went anywhere, and the romance with Russ fizzled. The only reason I even remember her is because she's in this one episode I have; otherwise, she would have faded into the oblivion of soap opera history.

Of course, your personal opinion of writers like Cenedella, Lipton, Shaw and Russell is your own, and you are free to voice it, although soap historians, who are well versed in the supposed quality of their work can, and will, contest the notion that their material was among the best in the business. You are correct, however, that soaps can take a while to find an audience. AMC and Y and R both did, despite being well-written from the start. Somerset never really soared to the top of the pack, even though after an initial bout of poor writing, it improved a lot under Slesar. If the theme, writing and concept had stabilized and remained consistently good, a wider audience very well may have found the show. That happened with OLTL in the late 1970s. Despite acknowledging the flaws with a few of its directors and some of its cast (and what soap has never had weak performers in key roles?) AMC was never "widely considered one of the worst soaps on TV for many years", not ever. Individual viewers may have seen it that way, but to announce it was the general consensus is undeniably inaccurate. RTPP was cancelled just as it was finally hitting its stride, and it's a shame the network was so quick to axe it for another experimental series, HTSAM, which they also decided to axe after its quality improved dramatically. The lesson here surely is that the networks should not be so quick on the draw, and must learn to be patient, waiting for ratings to come. Sadly, the usual suspects never learn.

At the Matthews house, Jim compliments Mary on being able to pull off organizing Christmas so well, and she reminds him that she's had many years of practice. Steve and Alice are happy (!!!) and discuss their future together. Russ brings along his date, Paula McCray, who tells the Matthews about her own family history. As I say, it's just as sweet, everyday slice-of-life drama which we just don't get much of anymore.

During the middle of its short run, this show was amazing. It was first penned by Anne Howard Bailey, who was simply not good, and who had characters pontificating about social issues, like women's lib, rather than actually TALKING to each other. The people we saw on screen were more caricatures than characters. Then Rick Edelstein took over, and the series was more like a stage play every day, with multi dimensions given to the characters, poignant family drama and sexy romances in the mix. The saga of David Bachman's death was gripping. Against ATWT, however, the audience didn't find the show, and when Edelstein was replaced (by the dread Margaret DePriest, I believe), the writing collapsed again, and the show's cancellation was almost like mercy killing.

RTPP was like Somerset in the sense that it had all the factors needed to become a hit, except consistently good writing. Many of its cast members were very likeable. Ben Andrews, who played Benny Tate, was beautiful and charismatic, if not the best actor in the world. It's a shame he died so young. At the end, the writing improved dramatically and the rating spiked, precipitating some minor speculation about the series going into syndication after ending its run on NBC. Alas, it was not to be. At least the show ended with Rodney and Allisn facing a potentially happy future together.

LOL! Well, if I could stay in the kitchen and time travel back to the inception of the series and see all the episodes from day one, I'd agree. Other than that, no thanks. I agree that the only tolerable part of the wretched Mr. Big nonsense was the performances from the actors, who gave it their all. But I really think the majority of ATWT's audience did not want to see sci-fi on their show. Trying to force the show to be something it wasn't seriously damaged it.

I've also got this wedding article in my Somerset archives. Thanks for posting it, Carl. It brings back lots of memories. Ernest Thompson was a great Tony, and Renne Jarrett was my favorite Ginger, although Fawn Harriman was good too. I imagine you know that Thompson went on the write ON GOLDEN POND. Who says pretty people can't also be talented?

TEON was on fire at that period, I'm surprised it wasn't rated higher, but then again, all the soaps at the top of the ratings were good, and deserved their success. Wouldn't we all love to see more vintage eps from ANY of the soaps from 1971? I have a Christmas episode of AW from that year, and it was just so natural, so realistic, so...homey. It made you feel like you were spending the holiday with old friends. Soaps lost their when when they insisted on serving gimmicks over substance.

Oh good Lord, that dreadful, embarrassing Mr. Big garbage. Low-brow camp and farcical "adventure" stories were NOT part of ATWT's DNA. The networks were desperate to lure in a teenage audience, and foisted all sorts of painful idiocy onto the audience over the years. GH had the Ice Princess. ATWT had Mr. Big. DAYS had Marlena's possession. TGL had Reva The Clone. So many putrid stories that ruined the integrity of once-great soaps, and never did pull in massive audiences like the networks had hoped. If I had had the choice to spend time in Nancy Hughes' or Bert Bauer's kitchen, or go time traveling with Reva (barf), I'd cling to those kitchen sets for dear life!

Dalton was pretty weak on Y&R; to this day, I remember her on that show only because I thought her work was so dreadful, LOL! But it's a shame that TGL dropped the ball with Elizabeth, and just had her disappear from everyone's lives with barely a whisper and no real satisfactory conclusion to her character. With all the behind-the-scenes turmoil and ever-changing Powers That Be during the 1980s and '90s, many important characters suffered from poor writing decisions. Still, from what I watched personally, and from the extensive inventory of eps I have going back to 1940 (on radio), I would say that TGL produced a quality product from 1937 to 1983 or so, which in itself is remarkable.

Good grief. Has it already been 25 years? I was there for the end of Capitol and the beginning of B&B, and must say, although it had its ups and downs, generally depending on who was writing it at the time, Capitol had its strengths, and could have run for many more years than it did. For a long time after its premiere, B&B was dreadful. Bill Bell seemed intent on mirroring situations and characters from the early years of Y&R, with pallid results.

What a great article, Carl. She sounds so sweet and innocent. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, her voice in the audio interview was whisper thin; she sounded very fragile, indeed. It's a shame she didn't work more after leaving Somerset, since she did project an ethereal sweetness that was perfect for the soap opera medium.

It shouldn't make you this enraged that I have "dared" to put faith in Carol Roux's account of her own life--which she lived, and knew about first-hand. Perhaps you could use your education and ability to analyze, to figure out why you are getting yourself so upset. A community message board is not meant to be a combat zone, where one poster needs to be "right" and more knowledgeable than other commentators, and denounce anyone who points out some information he, himself, either didn't have or does not choose to believe. You are free to interpret Roux however you want, based on all the second- and third-hand material you read, just as I am free to accept her own, first-hand accounts of her own life. There need not be such drama about different opinions. JMHO.

"This and other comments elsewhere make it hard for me to swallow the story that she claimed the producer's treated her badly and bullied her." Keep in mind that reading magazine articles gives fans no real, concrete first-hand knowledge of the actress, nor of the backstage interactions she experienced during her tenure on the show(s). She, herself, admitting that certain executives treated her poorly is certainly a more credible account of her history than interpretations and suppositions gained through second- or third-hand sources. She lived it. Who better to know the truth? It's been awhile since I've listened to it, but I remember Roux commenting about an executive who felt she wasn't cooperating with his demands enough, and he bellowed. "Little girl, I'm going to fire you!" The interview is referenced here: http://www.igs.net/~awhp/index12.htm

"As to good or bad writing being subjective, I would agree insomuch as it depends on personal taste, but then again, many people simply have bad taste, or cannot differentiate good writing/bad writing versus preference. Case in point the British series Eastenders. Many dislike its theme and content, but no one who paid attention could fail to realize how well-written the show has always been."--Toml1962 Of course, claiming that other people have bad taste and cannot differentiate between quality and trash is an easy way to proclaim one's own supposedly superior opinion, but again, opinion is subjective and open to interpretation. Some of Somerset's writers were better than others; that's just the way it goes on soaps or any long-running series with a variety of creative personnel in charge.

"I will end it here with saying calling a show badly written does indicate a bad writer - that is my point" I'll be happy to explain again. Saying a show is badly written when writer A is in charge, but that the quality is significantly better when writer B takes over, does NOT by any stretch of the imagination, indicate that the second scribe is a bad writer. Particularly when you specifically acknowledge his excellence. It's the nature of the beast that soaps' quality of writing rises and falls depending on who is in charge. Henry Slesar was excellent. During his tenure, Somerset was well written. That is what what I wrote, which I hope and trust most people who read the thread will understand.

Reviewing my original commentary on the AW thread, I realize that I had phrased it poorly. I said that George Reinholt had already been fired, and his character was already gone, when Mary Matthews passed away. That was, and is, accurate, but while Steve's leaving did indeed occur before Mary's dying, we saw both actors on that same, last day. Steve left earlier, and Mary's death was the ending cliffhanger. I hope this makes it clearer. I wouldn't want any confusion to ferment.

I have already addressed this in the correct, ANOTHER WORLD thread, but I'll be happy to explain again. Steven left Bay City for Australia first. Then Mary Matthews passed away in St. Croix. When the family found out about and dealt with Mary's passing, Steve was already gone. Alice had to call him to let him know what had happened. The timeline of events as I have outlined them does not contradict the summary posted on Eddie Drueding's AW homepage, which you are quoting, so I'm not sure why and what you fail to understand.