vetsoapfan

It didn't surprise me at all that the soaps which premiered after the practice of wiping was discontinued have been saved, either by TPTB or by fans on home-recorded videotape. A quick search on Youtube confirms the debuts of Texas, Capitol, Port Charles, Generations, Santa Barbara and The City are still up and available for viewing. The only one I did not find was Sunset Beach, but I'm sure that's around somewhere. I have never seen or found confirmation that the 90-minute pilot of How to Survive a Marriage exists, but you never know. TEON's 90-minute debut on ABC, from 1975, is up on YT. Anything is possible! All in all, soap lovers are fortunate this many debut eps are in circulation.

I believe P&G wiped their videotapes through 1978, but starting archiving them in 1979. I may be off by a year, but I believe this to be the case. Of course, various episodes from prior years were kept (like Papa Bauer's funeral from TGL in 1973).

I figured Loving's first episode would have been saved, since the show began after wiping was discontinued. I'd say Strange Paradise counts as a soap. It was a daily continuing drama like Dark Shadows (just a lot weaker, quality-wise). Primetime's Peyton Place survived, and so did The Long, Hot Summer, so I'd love to know Our Private World did too. It would be wonderful to see the entire run! Thanks for the additions; I knew I'd forget some potential titles.👍 Thanks for mentioning the surviving scripts. I considered adding them to this list once I collected enough titles. The actual videos are perhaps more emotionally coveted, but the scripts being available to read is also a major thrill!

A fellow soap fan lamented to me recently that since most daytime dramas were "wiped" for decades, almost no debut episodes survived to be seen and enjoyed today. True, a huge amount of soap history has been lost forever...but we are fortunate to have uncovered and archived several first/pilot eps. I won't list every single show that began well after networks/sponsors decided to archive their material, but here are the golden oldies (and a few newer titles) whose premiere eps are known to exist today: --Search for Tomorrow --The Edge of Night (episode number two, not one, but still noteworthy) --General Hospital --Peyton Place (primetime, but a soap and significant) --Days of our Lives --Dark Shadows --All My Children --The Young and the Restless --Ryan's Hope --Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman ("iffy" to include here, I know, but it's soapy enough) --The Bold and the Beautiful --Tribes I'd guess that The Doctors' pilot survived, since Colgate-Palmolive kept everything until they sold TD to NBC, but I have seen no official confirmation of this. Does anyone else know of other daily soaps that have their first broadcasts conserved?

To be fair, Nancy Wickwire was fine as an actress, but after the ferocious intensity Audra Lindley brought to the role of Aunt Liz, Wickwire's more restrained, pallid interpretation was a major disappointment. Aunt Liz was just not Aunt Liz anymore.

To me, Wesley Pfenning and Linda Borgenson were the worst Alices. Other weak recasts: Margie Impert (Rachel #2) Robert Hover (Russ #2) David Bailey (Russ #3: handsome but bland) Lynn Milgrim (Susan Matthews #4) Brian Murray (Dan Shearer #2) Nancy Wickwire (Aunt Liz #3: a major come-down after Audra Lindley) ...to name but a few. Some of the Jamies were not cast well; Richard Bekins owned the role. On the other hand, AW struck gold with Beverly Penberthy as Pat #2 and Susan Sullivan as Lenore #2.

Mine is but one opinion, of course, although according to other GH viewers whom I knew, they didn't feel the recasts were particularly captivating, either.

IMHO, she was the best of the three actresses to play the role. She had screen presence and spark. Her replacements were adequate, but Gina became much less interesting after Stuart left.

But that house is not the Powers' house, either. Not to be contrary, LOL.

Thank you! I watched most of The Doctors' run, and I can guarantee that a family named Parker, who were allegedly "central" on the show for "many years," did not even exist.

Speaking of Valiant Lady actor James Kirkwood, Jr (mentioned above), when he later became a playwright and novelist, he turned out some stellar work. Aside from collaborating on A Chorus Line, his novels P.S.: Your Cat is Dead and Good Times, Bad Times are well worth a read. Both are mesmerizing and impossible to put down.

Of course, I cannot make definitive evaluations about any potential BH90210 sets which are being sold today. Without my personally being aware of it, perhaps another manufacturer took over the DVD rights to the show and produced a different, superior product to the discs I bought. That happened with Little House and WKRP, two series that were first made available in highly butchered and edited versions. Their later re-releases received wide viewer acclaim for how superior they were. I just have a feeling that if improved sets of BH90210 had been produced, I would have heard about it. On the original LHOTP, some DVD episodes clocked in at 37 minutes. They were supposed to run for 47. And scenes were cut right in the middle of characters' dialogue! The opening and closing credits of many eps were cut out, and the film was sped up (God knows why), making Michael Landon sound like Mickey Mouse. Good luck in your search for good copies. If I hear about anything, I'll let you know.

There are more than just "some" music changes, alas. And scenes and chunks of episodes got hacked away too. I'm not sure if any full eps are missing; I've blocked the entire experience from my mind, LO L.

Dear God in heaven!!!! Please read the disclaimers on the box(es) before you spend a penny on the BH90210 DVD sets. I had the entire series on home-recorded VHS, uncut and with all the music intact from the original primetime broadcasts. STOOPIDLY, I traded them away when the DVDs came out, because I wanted to upgrade the quality for future viewing. BIIIIIIIIIG mistake! To my horror, the episodes were badly butchered, with elevator musak and general junk replacing most of the original soundtrack. This was particularly egregious during an episode where the girls had a slumber party and were supposedly lip-syncing to some songs of the day. Unfortunately, with the songs being cut out, the entire scene looked idiotic. I could go on and on about the defects of these DVDs, but suffice to say, they and the first releases of Little House on the Prairie discs from ImaVision were the THE most badly hacked up and poorly-produced boxsets I have ever encountered. Eventually, Lions Gate re-released LHOTP in full-length, lovely transfers, but as far as I know, BH90210 never has been done over and fixed.

I haven't been this excited since Bradley Cole was rehired after being let go by The Guiding Light!!!🙃

Thanks for the tag, @slick jones!🙃

Thanks for the tag, @DRW50! This is a treat treat to enjoy on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Thanks @slick jones for bring this SFT episode here, and for @GymnastGuy for originally sharing so much vintage and rare material on YT. @DRW50, I'm so grateful to you for always taking the time to tag me, specifically, when interesting videos pop up. I'd miss a lot of them if it weren't for you!

Speaking as one viewer who had been watching since 1968, the yee-haw invasion was too much, too fast, and really ended up altering the foundation and tone of the show over the next few years. Of course, when the OLTL added science-fiction idiocy into the mix during the 1980s, the class and integrity disintegrated. I couldn't make it beyond 1983 as a regular viewer. At least I had had 15 great years! I agree. The role was not flashy or attention-getting like some of the others, but Snyder's quiet and poignant delivery always hit the mark. Light and Anthony were just so charismatic and mesmerizing, and had a likeability factor that shone through, regardless of what their characters were doing. OLTL had a stellar cast back then.

Alas, no. I've never heard of anyone else even mentioning these great scenes, let alone finding them available on the internet.

I want to say yes, because I remember stumbling across it out of the blue in recent years. I think some Maggie material was in the string of Viki and Clint-centric playlist on Youtube. I was surprised to find Carla Hall's wedding to Jack Scott too. All sorts of stuff is hidden in the nooks and crannies of YT! I would have signed on as a customer! (I jest, I jest!) Sort of.😝🙃

Thanks to @EricMontreal22 or notifying the board about this, and to @DRW50 for tagging me. I adored Jacquie Courtney and had the hots for Luke Perry, so this video is a real treat for me! I've always thought JC was an excellent actress, and moreover, she had an indefinable "je ne sais quoi," a strong star appeal. The only time I felt she was out of her depth was playing Maggie Ashley on OLTL. The role was a caricature, and it was made worse by the gratuitous "British" accent, the fabulously fake wig, and a hideous pair of glasses which kept slipping down her nose. UGH! When the actress was given a role with depth, however, she was top-notch. The scene on AW, when John Randolph presented Alice with her divorce papers from Steve, and the one on OLTL, with Pat visiting her son Brian's grave, were mesmerizing. IMHO, these were two of JC's finest performances.

David Bailey was indeed very attractive, but--alas--it wasn't enough to make his Russ compelling. He was certainly serviceable enough, acting-wise, but the show needed someone really strong and magnetic in the role, and Bailey just never rose to the challenge AW needed to keep Russ viable and on-screen. I loved when we had Virginia Dwyer as Mary, Sheppard Strudwick as Jim, Beverly Penberthy as Pat, Sam Groom as Russ, Jacquie Courtney as Alice, and Audra Lindley as Aunt Liz. The Matthews family was on fire, with the best and most memorable performers (IMHO) bringing the clan to life. Ahhh, the good old days! Had Groom stayed on as Russ, I'd like to believe AW would have featured him prominently on a permanent basis, but considering how TIIC fired Dwyer, Courtney, Reinholt, Penberthy, etc., I'd look at P&G and NBC with distrust. The "suits" never fail to live down to my expectations, LOL.

There's no doubt that Agnes Nixon's great writing and her deft handling of the Alice/Steve/Rachel saga had a huge impact on the ratings. I'd say, personally, that her stints on TGL and AW represented Nixon's very best work. I enjoyed her early AMC material, and loved her on OLTL, but TGL and AW were mesmerizing under her pen. To me, Rachel (under Strasser) started out as an immature young woman, stunted by her emotional problems (abandonment issues, low self esteem, misdirected anger, desperation to attain social status and respect), who simply did not understand how to fix her own issues or control her anger. She was infuriating, but I could understand where she was coming from. When Wyndham came aboard, Rachel became...demonic. She was filled with unbridled fury and venom, and behaved like a sociopath. To me, the delicate balance between human being and villainess was lost. I was never able to accept when Lemay turned Rachel into an insta-heroine later on. Harding Lemay made this assertion in his book (and he would have his own reasons for making such a claim), but certainly in the fan magazines, the rooting factor was overwhelmingly in favor of Steve and Alice. I'm sure there must have been viewers who rooted for Rachel, but I never saw any evidence of that. David Bailey was not bad, per se, but he was just rather bland and limited. While handsome, he did not have much spark or charisma, and was such a let down after the depth, nobility and quiet strength Sam Groom had shown as Russ.

Oh dear, what have I started?😝 Well, of course, the time Rachel cornered Alice in the Matthews home and triumphantly told her that she, Rachel, was carrying Steve's baby almost made my head explode. When a money-strapped Russ saw how much Rachel coveted all the nice things Lenore Curtin had, he went out and spent a huge chunk of his meager funds on starting a crystal-goblet set for Rachel, just like the one Lenore had. He was all proud and sweet when he presented her with the very first one, and assured her he was going to keep adding the others as he could afford them. Rachel became enraged and bitterly complained that gifting her with just one goblet at a time was stupid ("What am I going to do with just one?"), and hurled it against the wall, smashing it. Seeing the obvious cracks in their marriage, Russ told Rachel they need to have a serious talk about where they were headed, and told her to be ready for it when he came home from work. Rachel--being Rachel--took a dose of sleeping pills shortly before his arrival, and so when he returned to the apartment, she dismissively told Russ that she could not stay awake and therefore there would be no discussion. Russ, impotent with rage, was left to watch as Rachel just rolled over and went to sleep for the rest of the night. After Alice had had a miscarriage and divorced Steve, he married Rachel and moved her into the country house which he had specifically built for Alice. Rachel found the baby bunting which Alice had originally bought for her lost child. She immediately shipped the bundle to Alice, with a note that said (something like), "I thought you might want these." After Steve divorced Rachel, he and Alice wed for the second time, but they were soon separated when Steven went to prison. Alice had a nervous breakdown and was in a very precarious emotional state, living without him in their country home. (Aunt Liz, at least, moved in to care for her.) Even knowing how unwell Alice was at the time, Rachel marched into the house to torment her, announced that Steve never loved Alice the way he loved Rachel ("We had the kind of love you'll never know!"), and really drove the knife into Alice by demanding, "Where's the son YOU'VE ever given him?" AAAAUUGH!!! I realize now, that are many more instances which precipitated my fury than I thought. The Aunt Liz Audra Lindley played would have ripped Rachel to shreds; I was disappointed when Harding Lemay had Irene Dailey's version of Liz simply sit meekly by, teary-eyed, as Rachel was abusing her niece. I had been ready to open up a fresh can of whup-ass on Rachel for six long years!