vetsoapfan

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.

I thought the original casting of the show was perfection. Even though a few actors came across as green in the beginning, they all had a certain "je ne said quoi," a certain star appeal. And they all grew into their roles quite nicely. That has certainly NOT been the case since then, LOL.

So, I've found some stills on Facebook of vintage Y&R eps featuring Bond Gideon as Jill Foster #2 and Patricia Everly as Peggy Brooks #2 (also Charles Gray as Bill Foster, but I can't seem to locate that one again now). I do not suppose they are on Youtube, LOL. I haven't seen these eps since they originally aired.

Riley is available in full on Youtube here in Canada, although its pay-per-view ($3.99 standard definition and $4.99 HD). If you can watch it in the USA on YT for free, go for it. I've seen it, and there's not much that would need to be edited out.

Reading your recaps is more absorbing than sitting through any of the soaps being broadcast today, @Reverend Ruthledge . When I first listened to the radio broadcasts from 1950, I was so pleased and gratified to see how well-written the scripts were, and how strong the actors played their roles. Charita Bauer was a pip even then!

You. Really. Need. To. Compile. All. Your. Soap. Summaries. Into. A. Book. Seriously! All your excellent synopses are so well written, invaluable as historical documentation, and just a joy to read.😊

What TIIC at the time did to Patty is a travesty. Bill Bell must be rolling over in his grave. (Or perhaps "spinning" is more like it.) As the last remaining Williams on the show, giving her a redemption arc would be nice, but probably impossible at this point. What a mess this show is.

@slick jones , I always appreciate the time and work you put in here.😉 That first photo of Maeve McGuire is gorgeous. Jayne Bentzen may have been a model and a lovely woman, but our Maeve was a radiant STAR!😍

Okay, that is the last time I knew of the lamp's whereabouts too. I'm going to continue daydreaming about ways it could have ended up with Papa Bauer!

Thank you for sharing; a wonderful synopsis, as always. You are invaluable when it comes to clarifying and preserving vintage soap history. If I were ever blessed with getting my hands on any artifacts/memorabilia from film and television history, I'd want to possess (okay, I'd kill to possess) Reverend Ruthledge's Friendship Lamp, Dorothy Gale's Ruby Slippers, and Mary Richards' "M" that hung on the wall in her apartment. As far as we know, where was the last place the Friendship Lamp ended up? Since its ultimate fate was never concretely established (as far as I remember/know), I've always daydreamed about it somehow winding up with Papa Bauer. That thought is curiously comforting.