vetsoapfan

@Reverend Ruthledge , I'm pleasantly surprised to see you uploading all these valuable synopses/history lessons so quickly. It must be a lot of work. Thank you for the time and effort you are devoting to the task. The more you remind us of the past, the more I want to relive those glory days again. As your recaps approach the 1960s, you are very close to hitting the year which I began watching TGL (1963-ish, IIRC). I wonder how many first-hand memories your summaries will unlock in me!

Honestly, while I am aware of who Kimberly Beck is, I have no strong feelings about her one way or the other. I felt she was adequate in the roles I happened to see her in, but (IMHO) she was not destined for superstardom. I'd say she had the moderate amount of success in the industry I would have expected. She found work in the industry for three decades, which is better than a lot of other aspiring actresses. I'll give her that.🙂

As far as I remember, yes, the character of Kim was really deaf. I generally dislike most horror material (with a few exceptions), and did not watch the Friday the 13th saga

I thought Kimberly Beck was adequate, but didn't show a lot of depth or range in the role. IMO, Catherine Hickland was warmer and a better actress, although the role of Julie was always too limited to be interesting, under either actress. The ratings for Capitol were not atrocious, so I probably would not have cancelled it, but like so many soaps with multiple head-writer changes, the writing was a problem which needed to be addressed if the show wanted to succeed better. No, I have neither heard of nor seen such a series.

I read both the books after I had already seen all three miniseries, and while I enjoyed the books, there were significant differences between them and the various TV versions. The BMT mini probably honored the BMT novel more than RMPM or RMPM II series remained faithful to the original book, however.

Lemay started reducing the number of sub-writers in the latter years of his tenure at AW, which would correspond to when the show's quality began to suffer. Honestly, however, there was too much work for anyone to do (no matter how talented any writer was) without a huge amount of assistance. Well said, and ITA.

Yes, he remained at AW until 1979. I agree his work was stellar during the first few years of his tenure (1971-1975), but then his writing seemed to become inconsistent; good points mixed in with bad. Unfortunately, he got weaker towards the end of his run. Even Lemay, himself, acknowledged that he got burned out.

I know who Kimberly Beck is. I first watched her in 1965 ,when she was a child actress and appeared as Kim Shuster on the primetime soap Peyton Place. Later, in 1977, she played a totally different character in the TV movie Murder in Peyton Place. Of all the projects she has been in, I liked the quirky cult film Massacre at Central High (1977). While it was ultra-low budget and had its weaknesses, it had a certain somethin g which made it curiously interesting. And yes, I watched Capitol throughout Beck's run as Julie Clegg. I don't believe she's done much film or television work in many years, aside from performing a few voice-over parts.

Actually, strangely enough, I enjoyed the novel Beggarman Thief much more than the TV miniseries version of it. The casting felt off, which alienated me, and everything just struck me as artificial and contrived. I forced myself to watch it, but did not enjoy the experience. I think the original Rich Man, Poor Man with Nick Nolte had set the bar so high for me that the pale follow-ups were never going to satisfy me.

OMG, it was horrendous! What an awful decision it was to go ahead with that project!🤢

I've always been fascinated by character delineation, exploration of interpersonal relationships and Chekhovian moments more than storyline mechanics, which is why I gravitated towards Lemay's work. I realize that my personal tastes probably fall outside the norm of what most folks enjoy about popular culture. IMHO, Lemay's tenure on AW was so successful because he inherited the structure, framework and wonderful characters that Irna Phillips and particularly Agnes Nixon had set up. His continuation and expansion of AN's world flourished via his focus on life vignettes over plot points. But without the strong structure and characters he inherited, I wonder how well HL's AW would have been received on its own. None of the other soaps he wrote ever gained the ratings and devotion that AW did when Lemay was working within the parameters created by two legendary writers, and focusing on the beloved characters those women had developed. And, tellingly, as he started dismantling and brushing aside so much of his predecessors' contributions to the show in the second half of the 1970s, the soap's ratings and popularity began to dwindle. I truly believe that Nixon's groundwork and set-up had a lot to do with Lemay's being a success at AW because she had left him all the ingredients for success. His Strange Paradise, Search for Tomorrow and Lovers & Friends lacked the magical ingredients to jell, and...did not. While I agree that when he was at his best, Lemay's work was stellar, but (IMHO), his writing started deteriorating a few years before his exit from AW in 1979.

Everyone has the right to have and voice an opinion. I cannot agree that Book II was "a lot of fun," except for masochists, LOL. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

This is the best-possible way to put it. Miniseries were part of a genre unto themselves. Sure, they had themes similar to what we see on soaps (romance, drama, suspense) but those elements run throughout pop-culture in general, not just soap operas.

RMPM was originally conceived as a finite, 12-hour saga, with specific starting and ending points. It did continue from episode to episode, and its focus was on interpersonal relationships, romance, family conflicts, feuds, character development and tragedy. It certainly did have many soapy elements, and the audience became immersed in its characters' lives the way viewers became immersed in the lives of soap opera denizens. Ultimately, however, I never really considered it a true soap opera since I knew it had been conceived as a finite "novel for television" which would reach its conclusion in a few months. The original RMPM was a smashing success. That, unfortunately, lead to the heinous Book Two. The second year was crippled by the mass exodus of most of the lead characters from the successful miniseries, and painfully bad writing. (Nina Laemmle, who swiftly massacred Days of Our Lives when she took over that series in 1980, was listed as executive script and story consultant 🤮). So in the end, I wouldn't classify RMPM as a soap, but rather as a short-term serialized drama with soapy features.

Ahhh, now you have sparked my curiosity about all the actors' ages. Virginia Dwyer was born in 1919. John Beal (Jim Matthews #1) was born in 1909. Leon Janney (Jim #2) was born in 1917. Shepherd Strudwick (Jim #3) was born in 1907. Hugh Marlowe (Jim #4) was born in 1911. So Janney was technically the youngest of the men, and Strudwick the oldest (at 12 years older than Dwyer.) Over the decades, folks have come to accept the idea that Harding Lemay's era of AW was the show's best written period. While I give HL all the credit in the world for his work, Agnes Nixon really helped the show take off and (to me), her material on a par with Lemay's. I wish all fans of the soap had had the privilege of watching her stories play out. I agree that NBC seemed to on a hire-a-star kick in the 1960s, but I've never felt that hiring a former movie actor ended up having significant effects on soap ratings.

I'm glad to see you rolling right along with these well-written and informative synopses. Bravo! Somewhere, Irna Phillips is looking down and smiling. 🙂 Keep up the great work.

I saw this story posted on Facebook, but I didn't even click on it. I just rolled my eyes and kept on scrolling. I, too, felt this was just more fake click-bait, which permeates Facebook everywhere nowadays.

Strudwick was my favorite Jim Matthews. I love the days when he, Virginia Dwyer, Jacquie Courtney, Sam Groom and Beverly Penberthy played key Matthews family members.

What a cool curio! I've always adored JA. Thanks for the tag.

Personal slights, betrayal and pain can be overwhelming and painful to deal with, so I can't totally condemn someone for being unable to suppress or hide their feelings completely. If that's the case and it's evident on screen, probably the best solution is to avoid asking the performers involved to be in scenes together.

It is curious, considering that Hasselhoff and Adair were not even the best or most memorable actors in the roles of Snapper and Jill.

Oh, thank you so much. You are an angel!😘 DH seemed somewhat stiff and stilted, but from the way some posters on the internet were talking about the scene, I thought it would be significantly worse than what it was. The public will likely never know how the alleged feud began (and, really, actors' private lives are none of our business), but it is a shame if BTS tension influences what ends up on screen.

That's where I looked first, Twitter and Facebook. Being unable to track it down, I thought I'd ask here. SONers are known to work miracles.😄

Okay, folks on various social media platforms are really buzzing about the awkwardness and tension in the scene featuring SSH, DH and SR. I'm now dying to see for myself. Is this available anywhere?

I thought several of the original cast members had enough charisma and star power to make it outside of soaps, but as we know, it often ends up being a crapshoot as to who garners success and fame and who doesn't. Some mediocre talents break through and land great, attention-spawning jobs, while much more talented individuals struggle in the background. Trish Stewart, Janice Lynde, Jaime Lyn Bauer and William Gray Espy all could have hit it big, had luck shone down upon their heads and careers.