Khan

MG was right about the lack of focus on the subject of homosexuality -- especially where GL was concerned. I'm trying to think a gay-themed storyline besides Otalia and...I can't.

Didn't ABC own all their soaps at that point? If so, then that's probably why the P&G- and Bell-produced shows on CBS were more resistant to change, because they weren't network-owned.

Couldn't you say the same about AS THE WORLD TURNS?

Nope. Brian Frons - yes, Brian Frons - canceled SEARCH because he felt the show was too old-fashioned and would never capture the sort of young, upwardly mobile crowd that its replacement, CAPITOL, would. By the way, Frons would go on to cancel SEARCH again when he became president of NBC Daytime.

But in Slesar's defense, I don't think it was a reflection of any dip in EDGE's quality. As with SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, EDGE's big problem was CBS' monumental(ly unsound) decision to move its time-slot, not taking it into account that especially where EDGE was concerned, time-slots made all the difference.

Conventional wisdom? Well, you could argue that de-emphasizing Jo as the show's central heroine hurt it. Yet, judging from ratings alone, SEARCH managed to hold onto its audience throughout all that. You could say, also, that certain HW's preference for crime-oriented storylines played as a factor as well. Yet, SEARCH seemed to be the kind of show that could support both crime and "domestic" stories. On the other hand, when CBS moved its' time-slot and then refused to move it back...it wasn't so much the change that hurt it irrevocably as it was P&G's reaction to it. My belief is that if P&G had just waited a bit longer, SEARCH would have rebounded. It would've taken time, of course, but all that was really needed, IMO, was the audience getting accustomed to seeing their show at a new time. That's it.

I loved RYAN'S HOPE during that period as well. Granted, thanks to SoapNet, I've had multiple opportunities to watch the show's first 5-6 years and then compare it to the years I remember (1982 onward); and, having done so, I can understand why most would look upon the last 9-or-so years of its life unfavorably. Those who dismiss RH in the '80's, however, do so at their own peril. Some of it was atrocious, but some of it was good, too. And I think the one constant in all that, aside from the core actors, was EP Joe Hardy, a fine director who, IMO, gets a somewhat harsh rep for working with HW's who weren't as brilliant as Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer had been.

Not necessarily a farm family, Mitch. (The Reardons weren't farmers, were they?) But, yes, I believe Marland would've taken one look at SEARCH's canvas and asked, "Where are the have-nots? Where are the blue-collar folks striving for a better life?" And yeah, he definitely would have restored the Bergman/Walton clan, too. True, hacks working in soaps are nothing new, especially where the West Coast soaps are concerned. I hesitate in labeling Fred Bartholomew as one, however. (For one thing, it's hard to hate on little Freddie Bartholomew, know what I'm saying, lol?) By my estimation, he, along with Bob Short, Stan Potter, and Ed Trach, was part of the old guard at P&G who cared deeply about this industry and about their shows in particular. Were they conservative? Yes -- and okay, they were conservative to a fault, point taken. But ask anyone (well, almost anyone) who worked with these gentlemen BITD, as writers, as directors, as producers, and most say they also were supportive of their production teams. Compare that to what happened to P&G once they retired and/or quit, and their successors began allowing the networks to have too much control over their product. God knows not every decision they made or supported was the right one. We have to remember, though, that in the late 1970's and early '80's, there was tremendous pressure on all shows to capture younger audiences. Now, perhaps I'm being a tad too apologetic on their behalf (I tend to get that way when it comes to the so-called "glory days" of the P&G soap factory), but P&G's shows were, by and large, very old-fashioned to the point of becoming passe. The production values still were...pretty good (although, SEARCH, in particular, often looked like "The Sun Also Sets"); and of course, they always employed the best actors. From a writing standpoint, however...well, there's a difference between evenly paced and downright glacial. Factor in that push for youth, and P&G was on the horns of a proverbial dilemma. It had to catch up with younger audiences but not at the risk of alienating older ones or throwing out the basic tenets of serialized storytelling. I think the evidence speaks for itself: some shows (AS THE WORLD TURNS, EDGE OF NIGHT, GUIDING LIGHT) managed the balance okay; others (ANOTHER WORLD, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, TEXAS), not so much. Moreover, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Fred Bartholomew EP when Bridget and Jerome Dobson first joined ATWT in 1980? Now, I'm not saying that period compared to the Irna Phillips/Bill Bell/Ted Corday years. Not by a long shot! Some of that material is available online, though; and what I've seen of it...it's pretty good! It holds my interest, anyway. But then...so does the stuff that's available from before the Dobsons, and Bartholomew was EP then, too. Frankly, aside from the occasional "rough patch," ATWT was an engaging, character-driven show from the beginning straight through to the late-'90's, when, again, the network started exerting more and more influence on the show, making terrible decisions that ultimately cost the show its life... Besides, if anyone took a hatchet to ATWT in the '80's, it was Mary-Ellis Bunim.

All these years later, and it still feels like ABC taking a big dump on the legacy of LOVING.

They must've interviewed Adam Crane between rehearsals with his barbershop quartet.

No, Jo and Stu never would have run a place like the River Boat. To me, Jo served best as owner and proprietor of a boarding house, allowing her to become involved with various people living in Henderson. According to the credits at the end of the 1983 episode, Fred Bartholomew, not Joanna Lee, still was EP. I once heard a rumor about Douglas Marland becoming SEARCH's new HW before returning to AS THE WORLD TURNS. I wonder if there was any truth to that, though.

I think the only time where I had to question Marland's vision for a particular story was during the "Who Killed Carolyn Crawford?" period. Not so much because it went on for almost two years, but because it seemed as if for most of that time, the story just lacked momentum. I mean, you really had to keep notes, or you'd forget the story was still happening.

I blame the WGA strike for the confusion with Sonni/Solita. The Valere story, though -- that was just bad writing. He didn't. Say what you will about Pam Long, but if not for her '87 return, there's no telling what would have happened to GL.

When Peapack has you looking back at Diamondhead and the Paul Valere murder mystery with fond memories, you know something's wrong.

It depresses me to see Doug Marland's writing picked apart so much, lol. (Seriously, was I wrong for loving his ATWT as much as I did?)

AFAIK, Linda Hamner (who worked as a production assistant on "Soap" at one point) worked with Gary at ANOTHER WORLD and TEXAS, and worked alone at GH and SANTA BARBARA.

I think dc's referring to Gary and Linda Hamner, not Earl and Scott. I really have to wonder how much of "Eden" was influenced more by the network's and producers' vision than by Marland's. Granted, Marland never shied away from pushing the envelope, but the synopses posted above seems a little much even for him!

I also would've enjoyed reading a bit more about KZ's stint on THE DOCTORS. It seems all anyone can say about that show's final years is, "They sucked."

For a hot second there, I thought you said, "Obama Fever," lol.

Believe me, I'm the last one ever to accuse anyone of deliberately making a bad show. (Seriously, when it often takes herculean strength to put a regular series on air, on time and on budget, why go out of your way to chase viewers off "on purpose"?) Yet, the more I think about GL's final days, the more I think P&G's final and ultimate agenda was just that. They hired Wheeler because she was cheap and because they knew she didn't have what it took to save GL.

Was she tough? Probably. (No, make that "definitely," lol.) OTOH, most actors in the industry, especially those who, like KZ, had the privilege to work with her, admired her for her professionalism and her unwillingness to suffer fools at all. As KZ remarked in her book, BM always had a wearied look in her eye, but only b/c she had worked long enough in daytime to know how it's really run, something KZ herself never fully appreciated until she had to suffer through GL's horrifying final years.

Never mind, I got the joke. LOL!

Wait, where did you get that information, lol?

Oh, did I forget to mention Ellen Wheeler's insane plans for GL's last anniversary, lol? Again, according to KZ and her book, Wheeler basically wanted to rename the show "The New Guiding Light," w/ the big anniversary episode being "Episode One," meaning, all the decades of history that had come before would get tossed out, and the old clock would be reset, so to speak. For once, though, P&G did the right thing and said no. But they DID allow her to revamp the show's opening, which KZ described as (and maybe I'm paraphrasing, I don't have the book w/ me) "a bunch of hairy-ass arms reaching out for other hairy-ass arms." Look, on the one hand, I might've cut Wheeler some slack had GL been a brand-new show. But, you know, even under THOSE conditions, I just think (and KZ probably would agree here) that the poor girl simply had no idea how to run a daytime drama.

Nope, and nope. :-) For the most part, KZ's book was entertaining, but I think she held back in terms of the BTS stuff, reserving most of the scuttlebutt for Ellen Wheeler (who, apparently, cried as often as, well, KZ). Whenever she spoke about certain GL actors, such as Larry Gates or Beverlee McKinsey, she did so in a kind fashion. Also, as was typical w/ the other soap-related book Laura Morton co-authored, Susan Lucci's "All My Life," KZ's book made several factual errors. For instance, Nurse Lillian Raines was NOT the first character on daytime to battle breast cancer (I could be wrong, but I think that distinction goes to Y&R's Jennifer Brooks) and it did NOT happen in 1980. :-(