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Thanks for posting this. I'd be curious to know when the strike material started and to know at what point Chastain took over before the official announcement. My guess is that will remain a mystery. It's interesting to read some of the syndicated columnists from the time. They share their opinion that Chastain injected humor into the series and the boxing storyline involving Brian Emerson seems well received. I have to chuckle that the same columnists also suggested that the reason Chastain was dumped was because his projections for the show were so out there that they had to fire him. Considering how insane the Sunburst story seems, written by his successors, I cannot imagine how crazy Chastain's planned storylines must have been. In rereading this thread, I saw Paul you posted about John Burnett being announced as the headwriter in late November 1981 with the intention of his work starting mid-December. Pure speculation, but I think John Burnett might have been scrapped because the show was moving to NBC. In early December, the deal between NBC and P&G was announced. I wonder if they wanted to go with a more known writer than Burnett. Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt are said to take over in December 1981 and they are still there in the early December 1982 episodes I watched today. Jarrod, I'm curious about what you, and others think, about Rusty. I don't know how I feel about him. It's clear that Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt are trying to craft him as a long term threat to Liza and Travis' happiness as well as making him a major antagonist in the lives of many Hendersonites. The problem I have is it just seem to work, which is odd because Warren Carter works beautifully in this sort of role as sh*t stirrer who also seems to have some of his own emotional angst. I would have to say my biggest gripe with Rusty is the lack of attention that the writers pay to the relationship between Rusty and Travis. There are very few scenes with Travis and Rusty connecting or trying to connect. The Rusty and Liza dynamic fascinates me now that we've gotten to a point where Liza has Rusty's number, she knows she can't change Travis' mind about his father, and she just takes some pleasure in knowing that she and Travis will be stronger if she doesn't give Rusty the power to break her. And Rusty continues to try to break her. In the last few episodes I've watched, the latest stage of Rusty's plan is playing out. He has Ringo trail her in his car to convince her that someone is after her. To make the situation more real for Liza, Rusty misplaces documents that Travis needs for a Sunburst experiment at TI requiring Liza to drive the papers to him. The whole situation is engrossing, but then we finally learn Rusty's motivation from a conversation with Aja. Finally, Rusty admits that he wants Liza away from Travis because of a stipulation in the General's will that Rusty will be the guardian for the stocks that have been set aside for Travis' first born. Of course, there's a deadline for the birth of said child that, if it isn't met, the stocks revert to Travis and Martin. So Rusty wants money and power. Simple and compelling motivation except it is predicated on the idea that this was written when the General believed Rusty was dead. Did the General really not remove a codicil for nearly twenty years before he died? That's a stretch especially given how much attention has been given to things like the dynamic between the General / Martin / Rusty. It would make more sense for Rusty to buy the stocks that Martin has with Rusty trying to make the argument that he is family. Maybe that's where this was heading, who knows. Those are the credits for the first episode on NBC. The closing announcer refers to the March 30th episode of "Flamingo Road." By the end of the year, a good number of those actors are out. Steele is still doing the voiceovers in December 1982. I agree that thematically, it really works. I really like the computer generated "Search for Tomorrow" sequence, but I admit it probably is too representative of the era. I'm not a big fan of the live action shot of the bird flying over the water, but I love the concept of the show going from day to night by the episode's end. I have no clue why Tom is listed as 'Trip.' He's back to be listed as Tom when he leaves town in October 1982. Tom relocates to Washington, D.C., with hopes of reuniting with Kathy, who he apparently was seeing. Litrofsky appeared in only one episode I have and it's for his goodbye scenes with Stu and Jenny on the Riverboat.

I'm watching episodes of "Search for Tomorrow" from late 1982. The NBC years are clearly influenced by the Luke and Laura phenomenon. In the October episodes, there are several stories going on, but once Warren's plane crashes in the jungles of Belogua with Warren, Ringo, Brian, and Suzy on board, all bets are off. It's pretty much all Suzy, Brian, and Warren fighting for their lives while everyone else back home worries about these young people. I'm impressed that the show put out the money for a jungle set and pays for things like a monkey to be present on the set for some establishing shots, but I just can't handle these three in the jungle. It took me a lot longer to get through November than it did the October episodes. With that said, I think some of the emotional beats and outcomes are nice. Kristen, who spends all of October stumbling around looking for Brian, finally admits to Jenny that she is pregnant, Brian is the father, and she is probably going to have an abortion. It's a nice chance for the show to intersect Jenny's story (she's admitted to Stu she had a daughter that was taken from her) into another story. Also, Suzy's sudden trip to the Galapagos gives us a nice chance for Stephanie to be offended, Jo to be annoyed, but also for Jo and Stephanie to look to each other while worried about Suzy's safety. Finally, when Suzy realizes that Brian is right, Warren is a bad guy, Suzy really goes in on Warren. And when Warren continues to lie and claim that it was only one time that he sold guns, Suzy doesn't believe him. He lies too easily. With that said, there is some angst as a viewer watching Brian and Suzy reunite at the makeshift hospital in Belogua planning to start their lives together back in Henderson knowing what awaits them. I'm up to Thanksgiving 1982, and Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt are still listed as the headwriters. Despite the clear influences of the "love on the run" style stories, there is also a P&G feel to the show still. Characters meet up to chat over cups of coffee, or Stu's homemade cider, and there is a lot of talk about how characters feel even if we don't get that emotion from them when they are speaking. Stu appears a lot. Jo not so much. Liza and Travis are still dealing with the crappy Operation Sunburst nonsense and with the insane return of Rusty Sentell. I think Rusty Sentell best personifies what works and doesn't work about the show in its present form. Rusty, who was only introduced to the show in the summer, has returned from the dead, revealed himself to be a former spy, hidden the fact that he is the head of the gun running operation Ringo and Warren are involved in, reconnected with his goddaughter scientist Aja Doyann (now that there is a name for you), and exhibited a nearly diabolic hatred for his daughter-in-law Liza. Of all of this, the hatred for Liza is probably the most interesting aspect of his character. The man just despises her, and Liza, as a result, has become a bit of neurotic mess. It's the little things he does; the backhanded comments about her music career, her leisurely lifestyle, and her fear regarding Travis' involvement in Sunburst. In the last week or so of episodes, Dane Taylor, Liza's friend and confidante, has convinced Liza to sing publicly for the first time, in a long time, at the Riverboat with Rusty and Travis in attendance. It's the impromptu singing arrangement which reenergizes Liza leading to a glorious little morning meeting between Liza and Rusty, which are very common since Rusty is staying with his son and daughter-in-law and Travis is often at work. When Liza thanks Rusty for making her realize how strong she is, Rusty acts like Liza has misinterpreted him; she hasn't. Liza doesn't care. She kind of brushes Rusty off. As Liza plans her trip to New York with Dane to find a producer for her music, Rusty plots to undermine Liza. He sends Ringo to trash the Sentell's home. When Liza and Rusty return from a night on the town, Liza is horrified; it's happening again. Someone is after them. The following day, stage two of Rusty's plan commences; Ringo starts calling the Sentell home and says nothing. Liza is afraid. Rusty is psychotic. The show didn't need a jungle or ninjas or island remotes. They just needed a man who despised his daughter-in-law and will do whatever it takes to see her break. It has the potentially to be really compelling, and, at this moment, it is. That said, it's hard to rectify all of this because, in the meantime, Rusty is also arranging to send Ringo to North Africa to sell more guns and there's the bizarre relationship between Aja and Rusty. Aja is his goddaughter who he spent a lot of time with when Aja was younger. It provides an interesting element to the story because Aja clearly cares for Travis, but Travis struggles working with Aja (she's a scientist at TI) because he's jealous of the time Rusty spent with her growing up. So, Rusty is completely Team Aja, but Aja and Rusty spend so much time socializing that there is almost a romantic aspect to their relationship. Ellis and Hunt don't seem to know what to do romantically with Rusty. Besides the complicated at best father-daughter pseudo-incest between Rusty and Aja, Rusty has also become emotionally invested in Jenny Deacon. Apparently, she reminds him of Aletha, a Greek freedom fighter he knew during his spy days. This little connection was both bizarre and interesting as, for a second, I thought they were going to reveal that Rusty knew Jenny from her days as a hooker in Los Angeles where she also knew Warren and Ringo and later lost her memory (Hunt and Ellis love plying their new characters with TONS of soap opera tropes). Later, when Ringo tries to strangle Jenny (she can connect him and Warren to a murder back in LA), it is Rusty that saves Jenny. And when Rusty realizes it was Ringo who attacked her (Ringo was wearing a mask), Rusty flies into a rage and tells him not to touch her again. I guess the show could pursue a Rusty / Jenny angle, which would either complicate or end what they are doing with Jenny / Stu (which is more poignant and less icky than I thought it would have been). But fear not, for Hunt and Ellis are not done with Rusty and seem to want to have a slew of possibilities to play with. Rusty has also bought the television station with Stephanie Wyatt (as a part of the jungle storyline of all things). Rusty and Stephanie would be an interesting pairing due to their relationships with Martin. Martin despises Rusty because the General (Martin's father) always favored heroic Rusty over aging wanderer Martin. Rusty's return gives the writers a chance to really dig into the dysfunctional family dynamics of the Tourneur/Sentell clan in a way that resonates with the current canvas. Martin is still a screw up and Travis has trouble rectifying the romantic image his mother and grandfather have created of Rusty with the man he knows him to be, the man who abandoned him and his mother and had another family. There is an attempt to make Rusty a gray character when he really shouldn't be. Anyway, Martin clearly loves Jo still, but also seems to be aware that he isn't the type that can be tied down to any woman for to long a period of time. It makes a relationship impossible, but I could also see him concerned about Stephanie becoming caught up with Rusty. There's a great Stephanie / Martin scene where Martin has stayed the night, and the two are having breakfast the next morning. Stephanie talks about Martin's aftershave, which she bought for Brian, but he refused to use. Casually, Stephanie mentions she kept it upstairs in case she ever had company. Martin coyly replies that the bottle was already open when he used it and Stephanie shows no remorse. It's wicked and Maree Cheatham at her best. So overall, it's maddeningly frustrating and compelling at the same time. I can see why longtime fans might stick around but why new fans would be cautious to tune in on a regular basis.

There was a custody trial for MJ at some point and Angarano was in the role then. I've seen clips of him testifying. I don't know when that was.

If I remember correctly, the Peapack transfer happened in February, 2008, during the Writer's Strike. I believe "Guiding Light" had a short period with no writers credited because they planned ahead and had extra scripts. Also, I think one of the early scenes pre-transition or post-transition involved a wedding or some other gathering where Mallet and Marina were fighting about something and, in the background, the weather was constantly changing in the window. It rained one minute, the next it was sunny, and the next it was raining again. Something along those lines. Am I making this up? I didn't like the "Inside the Light" episodes. One every now and then could have worked. I think they were trying to hard when they did one every week. I was already waning in my viewership by that point, but when they had Lizzie trying to figure out who slept with who and it turned out to be Olivia and Buzz I was done. Horrifying. I didn't even stick around long enough to see the superhero one. I do remember Ross being declared dead, buried, and Blake declaring she would run for office all in a single episode. At the very least, I felt it was two "In the Light" episodes. To be fair, I do believe those Wednesday episodes helped the ratings didn't they? I felt Wheeler was constantly trying to create a show that would never work with the budget limitations she was given. I almost would have respected her more if she and Kriezman made careful, but painful, cuts to the cast and tried to rebuild a Springfield that could survive. I really didn't see the Spauldings as a functional unit without Phillip around. I'm sure others will disagree. It all seemed so fractured. For a moment, I thought the show was going to pull it together when they brought back Alan-Michael, had Beth marry Alan at Ravenwood, and their was a looming board meeting. There was a great scene where Harley and Gus are in their obnoxious glory ranting and raving about something and Beth just looks on mortified that they are the ones who will lead the family. At the time, Beth was gunning for CEO of Spaulding, or whatever the main title was, which was why she married Alan, and he married her to goad Phillip into returning. I understood why the characters were doing what they were doing and then suddenly they decided that Harley was going to be the new CEO and I just couldn't bother. St. Harley wins again. I'll pass. I never understood how characters like Mallet, Natalia, Grady, Cyrus, and Susan became so prominent in the shows final years. So much low-energy to no-energy additions that I just couldn't get behind. They weren't necessarily played by bad actors, but I felt so many of Wheeler and Kriezman's additions brought so little to the show in those final years. If the storytelling was stronger it could have worked, but I don't know if Kriezman told any story that built to a satisfying climax that didn't involve mental gymnastics to make the story work. There were always interesting ideas and dynamics that would be touched on occasionally, but anything that seemed worth investing in longterm just petered out. I didn't like Natalia and Olivia. I'm glad they didn't go the route I thought they were hearing with using Gus' heart as the reason the two women were falling in love with each other, but I felt Olivia with Natalia was as awful as Olivia with the Cooper men. The Peapack episodes were just so poorly done. I do remember trying to watch once Grant Alexander returned, but the production was just awful. I feel like everything echoed in the "Spaulding mansion" and it was surreal to watch Buzz sitting on a bench in the middle of the suburbs talking to ghost Jenna. And I can't remember what song they blasted over Buzz sobbing over Coop's dead body, but it completely took me out of the moment.

On "Texas," Michael Galloway played Mr. Hampton, Ginny and Jeb's father who had spent time in the military.

"Texas" aired on WTBS from October 4, 1983 until June 29, 1984. The episodes were split in half. The dropping of the "Texas" reruns coincided with the end of the 11:00pm airing of "The Catlins." Starting July 2, "The Catlins" only aired in its morning spot. The announcement about the single airing of "The Catlins" was made no later than March 20, 1984, before the anniversary and about the time that Proctor and Gamble became the credited production company for the show replacing Empire Media (which I believe was C.T. McIntyre's company).

Has anyone else read this article about Irna Phillips? She mentions Anthony Heilbut's article on radio soap operas, "Brave Tomorrows for Bachelor's Children," which is also a fascinating read. Heilbut is interesting in that he really analyzes the work, and lives, of the writers. Even if his analysis is sometimes more conjecture than pure fact, it's interesting to reading Lynn Liccardo's piece calling out Heilbut for his selective use of material. Liccardo's passion for Phillips is clear, and I think she really points a more sympathetic light onto the tragic life of Irna Phillips. I believe Liccardo also wrote several other blog entries about her love for "As the World Turns."

I pay for a subscription to newspapers.com. It's a great way to look at specific dates and papers.

Thanks. I do think Wendy's final scenes with Stephanie are emotional. It's a shame that it sort of ends that way, but I think the complexity of the Wendy / Stephanie dynamic is fascinating to see play out. I'm not sure if it's true to the nature of their relationship, but those scenes are compelling. Stephanie talking about acting like they'll never see each other again is pretty heart breaking. I know people didn't like Wendy's exit. I wonder how they would have liked to see Wendy written out. There is Estelle. I guess TR is her only child still on the canvas by that point. I was also watching an episode from late February 1985. By this point, Jeanne Glynn is credited as the sole head writer. The episode featured Suzy arriving at the police station after murdering Warren swamped by reporters. TR also received a fur from Lloyd Kendall and, by this point in the story, she knows she is Rebecca Kendall. Chase is flashing back to sleeping with Adair (it looks like they are still using clips of Page Hannah as Adair even though I think Susan Carey Lamm is in the credits, but probably hasn't aired yet). Anyway, they are playing that song Chase sang to Adair. A lot of people are credited in the cast list. I was surprised to see two different actresses listed as playing Jonah in the same week. I don't think I've ever seen something like that in a cast list even when something like that occurs.

I'm looking at newspaper listings. I tried to check with at least two states in different time zones to make sure that it wasn't just a preemption in one part of the country. On January 2, 1989, it looks like CBS aired the Tournament of Roses parade preempting their daytime lineup. On January 20, 1989, it looks like all soaps (ABC, CBS, and NBC) are preempted for the inauguration. On February 20, 1989, it looks CBS aired a NBA game between Houston and Cleveland which preempted their soaps.

I was watching Christmas 1983 and Christmas Eve 1984 episodes I received on DVD a while back. I had forgotten how quickly Joanna Lee departed "Search for Tomorrow." Her hiring is announced in February, 1983, but she is gone by Christmas. Barrett is credited as the executive producer in the Christmas episode. I like Ellen Barrett's work on "Ryan's Hope," which I know isn't a popular opinion. I also am aware that Barrett's work on "Search for Tomorrow" wasn't beloved by fans. This also means the date rape episode was under Barrett. I thought the date rape episode had occurred under Lee. I guess its entirely possible it was still in the cards when she was there. Also in the Christmas episode, a bunch of characters on their way out of town. Cathy Phillips has offered Tom Bergman a job in Washington he is accepting, Rhonda Sue Huckaby is leaving to sing in Nashville, the Moreno family is heading out to California to see Barbara's sister, and, from my reading, Cain Devore's days as Danny Walton are numbered. It was nice to see Elizabeth Swankhammer as Suzy so I have a visual, but she isn't given much to do. Seeing more and more from the 1980s, I get it. Maree Cheatham continues to be a delightful revelation in the role of Stephanie and I can see why people were furious when Louise Shaffer replaced her. I love Shaffer, but Stephanie isn't the role for her. Like Lambie, I think it would have been fun to cast her as Stephanie's sister, a sort of faux high society type who comes to town down on her luck looking to sponge off of her sister and to make a play for Lloyd. Anyway, I loved what I saw of the Lloyd / Stephanie (with Maree Cheatham) pairing. Did that go very far? Did Steve have a say in any of it? Anyway, Christmas 1983 was a mixed bag. There was some good drama with Wendy as she has lost her and Warren's baby. Lisa Peluso is a bit overwrought as Wendy, but Jay Avocone does a nice job as Wendy's big brother. Knowing where its going is interesting, but it isn't really working. There is a bit with Sunny in jail for the holidays and some Hogan / Sunny scenes. Both actors are appealing but the writing is a little flat for me. Laurie Klatcher (the first Natalie on "The Doctors") plays Sunny's working girl cell mate who hits on Hogan. There is a nice little bit where Hogan brings Sunny a gift which she thinks is from him. McCabe plays it like she knows its from Hogan, but I believe later we learn its from Jack Benton. There are some little moments I like. The Martin / Lloyd exchange is fun. Lloyd and Stephanie have some fun interplay. Jo and Martin share a moment. The Stu / Josh relationship is incredibly sweet and its a bit heartbreaking knowing he's leaving town with Barbara in the next couple of episodes. I just think there is too much going on. Warren, Kristen, and Suzy all appear in the background and Ringo has some moments with Rhonda Sue. The cast is really big at this point so I see why they were trimming it down. Barrett says the cuts were planned before she arrived. Who knows. There are elements of the 1984 Christmas episode which are a bit more appealing. The action bit isn't appealing. Kentucky is having a heart attack midflight which requires Liza to land the plane. That doesn't do much for me. In Liza's absence, though, Lloyd has come to the Sentell home to tell TR the big Christmas miracle; she is Rebecca Kendall. Instead, Lloyd learns that the adoption went through and now TR is happy to be a Sentell. TR is snipy, Lloyd is devastated, and Stu has to play mediator. Lloyd leaves without ruining TR's Christmas. By the time he shows up to Stephanie's, the younger set has already arrived. Alec is thrown by Stephanie's glee about his new relationship with Wendy. The problem is they aren't dating and Wendy failed to let Alec know about the lie. There is a little more of the Chase / Justine interaction. This is clearly the post-Adair story plans for the Kendall boys. The Alec / Wendy angle has potential. I wonder if the plan was to play a Justine / Chase / Adair triangle which got lost when Stephanie Braxton and Paul Avila Mayer arrived. They quickly write out Justine and Chase / Adair never really have much conflict after that do they? There seems to be more story in the 1984 episode, but I think that might be because of the difference between a Christmas Eve vs a Christmas day episode. Anyway, I'd be curious to see what Christmas 1985 looked like. Didn't Wendy actually leave on Christmas Eve?

In the summer of 1983, Jack Forbes went to see his parents, an older couple who gave him to Ann and Roger because of their age. I don't know if these became his grandparents, the Hendersons, but by the time Tony Perilli arrives in the fall, I think its possible the plan was to make Dane Hammond Jack's father. Tony's parentage could have played into that story if had been played properly with either the Hendersons leading Dane to believe Tony was his son, but that certainly wasn't the angle pursued. I hadn't considered the Rick angle before, but combining the two would have been interesting. If the man that Dane thought was his son turned out to be Clay and Gwyn's son, there would definitely be some interesting dynamics to play there. The clip of Isabelle, Curtis, and Ava is nice. I believe that's from Bill Levinson's time as headwriter, correct? I wish the show had committed to the Curtis and Jack rivalry. Curtis should have had the Rick role in the triangle with Jack and Stacey.

Paul Raven mentioned that Max Wylie wrote for the show. Wylie and Winsor seemed to have stayed in touch. It is Wylie's book that has the script and projection for "Love of Life" from Robert J. Shaw and Roy Winsor. The show weaved the characters in and out of the story, but Winsor's planned mass exodus doesn't really seem to play out the way it was described here. The Rysdale contingent seems to fade from the show about 1965, but that may have had to do with backstage dealings. In the 1960s, Haila Stoddard became more and more involved in the theatre as a producer. I know she leaves on mutually agreed upon absences for periods of time, but also seems to be willing to return to the show for some brief bits. I think the Kip / Janet affair is the last major story for Arthur Rysdale. He and Pauline do return later on. In the fall of 1964, right after this projection is written, David O'Brien quits "The Secret Storm" and Edward Griffiths is hired as the new Kip. The show seems to pursue the Kip / Janet angle as the longterm story with Kip and Janet ending in 1965 with Janet leaving as well as Kip (I believe). When Janet returns in 1966, she is involved with Tony Porter and gains a stepdaughter, Wendy. In the fall of 1966, the show brings on Julie Mannix as the second Wendy Porter to pursue a triangle with Janet and Kip. Janet's return sounds rather compelling. It's a shame the show never saw fit to bring her back a third time and have her in the middle of the Belle / Amy saga. Amy's story changes as well. The return of Paul Britton doesn't seem to appear to play out as outlined as Amy and Paul do reunite and do marry. Amy and Paul are written out at the end of 1966. What is interesting is Amy is out of town when they kill off Peter Ames. I wonder if they brought someone in as Amy or if Amy simply missed the service. Based on the Remembering Woodbridge article, it would seem that Amy sort of mellows after this. Ann ends up leaving, but I think Alan stays around for a couple of years. When the story was outlined, Mary Foskett was still playing Susan, but by the fall, she has left and Frances Helm briefly appears before Judy Lewis takes over by the years' end. It is Lewis who plays the Ann / Alan story and plays Susan the alcoholic. I know Lewis talked about being happy that she would be able to reduce her episode guarantee after her first year because she felt she was being played a lot as Susan. Similarly, Bibi Besch spoke about having a 1-episode a week guarantee and a six-month contract during her first run on the show that they blew through rather quickly. The show does play the Janet / Jerry angle, and I believe even a brief Janet / Alan angle, before resetting Jerry. By late 1965, he becomes involved with Hope Crandall, Pamela Raymond's artist character, and their romance is pretty heavy for the next year with John Colicos being introduced as the gallery owner Matthew Devereaux. Colicos leaves in June, 1966, and I don't think Hope and Jerry leave much long after that. In terms of characters being introduced, Janet's husband Dr. Tony Porter meets the medical role that Winsor outlined, but it would be only conjecture to assume his character was an outcome of the conversation had regarding where Winsor saw the series heading. The TV station angle does get some immediate play with Peter Ames becoming involved with the station. Also, when she appears, Ann Wicker is now a television personality. After Wicker leaves, Peter becomes involved with George Bennett, a producer, and Brooke Lawrence, his assistant. Julie Wilson is only on for about thirteen weeks as Brooke and manages to kill George, attempt to seduce Peter Ames, and then dies in a battle with Valerie as outlined by Brent in an earlier post. The Brooke Lawrence story was from June until September 1966 unless she was kept on a bit longer. The political angle may have morphed into the mob angle with the Casey Arnold story which would have played out in 1965-1966.

Alan and Ann do not marry. Alan and Ann's affair ended with Ann leaving town and marrying her psychiatrist according to the Remembering Woodbridge article from several years back. Also, I could have sworn I read an article about Ann leaving abruptly when Diana Muldaur was cast in a play. I can find articles from August 1965 about her being cast in a play, but nothing about her leaving. It actually says Muldaur is continuing in the role of Ann, but then I don't have any more mentions of her in the paper as appearing on the show.

I meant to mention this when I posted about the other proposed storylines, but it's interesting to see what must have been Ann Marcus' first attempt to tell the Vietnam story. Later, the story would be pitched at "Days of our Lives" (with Chris Kositchek) and then finally play out with Tony Alphonso on "Love of Life." I imagine Marcus must have attempted to tell the story on "Search for Tomorrow." I wonder who she planned on telling it with?

I posted what I had for "The Catlins" from Groves' column. I don't think he covered any more. I would love to be wrong. A couple of days ago, I went looking through the Atlanta Constitution for references to "The Catlins." I found a name @slick jones asked about a few years back. Tom Even played Bunker Nelson, a Texas oilman. Slick, do you remember where you found the name? I'm assuming he was referenced in the clip that Machiste posted several years ago involving his scenes as Joseph High Otter and Medger Quinn's plot involving the mountain and some sort of mineral deposit. If so, that means Tom Even was on in 1985. Also found some solid confirmation that "The Catlins" was called "Catlin's Cove." Marti Ruffin, a Georgia businesswoman, was interviewed several times about her investment in the soap opera. Before WTBS bought the series, C.T. McIntyre secured 14 investors to put up the money for the production of the pilot, and I believe the test episodes. I don't believe the shows that aired were the same as the test episodes. Anyway, Ruffin refers to the project as "Catlin's Cove" and an early summary for the show describes the Catlins as owning a club. I don't know if they were wrong or if things evolved just as the show's title did. Ruffin, by the way, appeared as an extra on the show at least twice. She was one of the jurors on Jennifer Catlin's trial, which would have taken her into July 1983 if she appeared the entire time. She also appeared in a scene in a disco. I have several names I'll have to put together for Slick. It does seem that Charles Honce appeared in 1984 as Bryce Draper, the Quinn family attorney who earlier tried to become involved with Maggie Catlin. Also, found additionally confirmation that show ended May 24, 1985, not May 31st like most of the books state. I've never seen episode listings for the last week of May 1985 and have now seen two articles state that the show was ending on May 24th. The latest was a rebuttal from one of the writers to Lewis Grizzard for his remarks about the show in his columns throughout its run. I found another little bit of backbiting from the production team to detractors printed in the papers. Hugh Merrill, a writer for the Constitution, published a fairly lengthy piece on "The Catlins" in June or July 1983. It's tone is condescending (not surprising) but its provides a rather interesting (and detailed) glimpse into the show. The paper later published a piece from Marti Ruffin, the aforementioned backer, who said that Merrill wouldn't be invited to any of the events held by "The Catlins" team. I suspect he was heart broken. The loyalists were definitely loyal. Arlene Peck, a columnist for another paper, published bits about "The Catlins." I believe she was friends with Muriel Moore, the original Annabelle Catlin. Peck never talked down about the show, and, later, in 1985 she is in the show credits for helping arrange the travel accomodations for when the show was on location.

Aaron Scott and Anne Marie Barlow are listed as the writers of the Christmas 1981 episode of "The Doctors." Harding Lemay is listed as the writer of New Years Eve 1981. They may have been interim headwriters after Elizabeth Levin was fired and Lemay became available. I know someone posted an SOD interview from Levin where she outlined some of the stories she was planning for 1982 (it was very broad and I don't think there were many specific details). Levin was hired after the strike, as I recall, and I think replaced the writers who wrote before the strike who came back, Lawrence and Ronnie Wenker-Conne. Lemay, also, had been displaced by the strike having been dropped by "Search for Tomorrow" in favor of Don Chastain, an actor on the series. 1981 is an incredibly rocky year for "The Doctors." The weekly summaries for the summer of 1981 are maddening. I hope we get to that period on Retro for the sheer insanity that the show becomes. I'm still curious to see how an impotent Matt Powers impregnates his wife.

Ettlinger and Hardy worked together on "Love of Life." I believe they were the ones who helped create Rosehill and the Sterling family, but I may be wrong about that. At the very least, they were in charge for a good chunk of the early 1960s. Ettlinger and Hardy were both at "Flame in the Wind" when it became "A Time for Us." I don't know when Ettlinger left and Gordon Russell came on. Later, Ettlinger and Hardy would end up at "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" in the spring of 1968. Don Ettlinger would replace Ira and Jane Avery and introduce the Garrison family. Ettlinger later ended up "The Secret Storm" either before or after "Love is a Many Splendored Thing."

I've seen one person in all my time online say they had episodes of "A New Day in Eden." They had a massive soap collection on VHS. Unfortunately, with the changes in technology, I think a lot of soap material, like this one, will be lost. I also suspect people have episodes (or at least partials) and don't realize it because they came on after a late night movie they were recording. I would have thought a "Dark Shadows" fan might have recorded it because of Lara Parker, but maybe the lack of access hurt the show. On another note, Ron Roy claims he was Clint Masterson in the pilot for "A New Day in Eden." In an article on "Eden," producer Michael Jaffe claims that both HBO and Spotlight were interested in Eden, but that Showtime snagged the rights.

I wasn't doubting the character's popularity, but rather the ability of the show to craft meaningful story around a well liked character/actress. Ryder was interesting. I believe he was introduced at the tailend of Carolyn Franz and Jeanne Glynn's work. I believe he was introduced with the McCullas, Joseph C. Phillips' Cruiser and Angela Bassett's Selina. There was definitely suppose to be a class element to the Ryder / TR relationship, but Mayer and Braxton went for the circus story instead (only God knows why). When I started watching clips of 1984, it seemed pretty clear to me that they were going to pursue Lloyd / Liza because it would allow conflict in the dynamic between Liza and TR as well as TR and Lloyd. TR's rejection of her natural family was a natural beat to play as well as a stumbling block to Lloyd and Liza just as the dissolution of Liza and Lloyd's relationship should have been a natural conflict for TR and Liza. I don't get the sense that any of this really played out in any meaningful way mainly because, as you stated, the constant turnover is writers as well as producers. Tomlin seems to be the last one to try and make the Kendalls work, which isn't surprising since he created them. Steve is brought back, Estelle is introduced, and Lloyd and Liza are still a couple getting a lot of story. This all seems to fall apart quickly. Steve's return was probably intended to be brief, but it might have worked better if he was kept around with a stronger actor in the role. Chase is quickly dropped. Alec is off at med school. While I don't think Joe Lambie was age appropriate for Lloyd (more appropriate as a newly created younger half-brother for Lloyd vying for his empire), I cannot even imagine Robert Reed in the role. You would think the tension between TR's two mothers would have kept TR and Liza in the same orbit. I think Krakowski was in the musical "Starlight Express" or went off to college which was why she returned to the show later. I don't think she was fired, but I could be wrong. Suzi and Cagney burned through a lot of story quickly. I don't blame the writers for backburnering them, at least temporarily, but I think marrying them off so quickly was the biggest mistake. In a short time, Suzi and Cagney meet, Suzi gets pregnant with Jonah, the couple lies about the paternity, Warren goes to jail, Warren escapes jail, Justine makes a play for Cagney, Suzi shoots Justine, Warren kidnaps Suzi, Suzi kills Warren, Wendy makes a play for custody, and so on and so on. I really liked Cagney and Suzi living with Kate and Kate driving Suzi crazy with her needling about how she was raising Jonah. I thought those scenes were very real, but they didn't really drive a story. I would have liked to see Suzi played more in the story with Sarah, Quinn, and Wendy. I think having Suzi and Cagney torn between Suzi's cousin and stepsister involved with Cagney's rascal brother should have been sufficient reactionary material for the couple until a new story could have been generated for them (which could have been the return of Brian Emerson as Cagney's instructor at the academy or fellow officer on the Henderson PD). I also really liked Caldwell House and was disappointed when I realize how quickly it would be gone. I don't get Evie and Cagney, or Evie and Quinn, as a couple. Evie didn't work for me played by either actress despite both actresses being competent.

The comment about the family structure is interesting. The show definitely eliminated that 30 / 40 something set during the early 1980s. I think bringing back Scott and Kathy would have been a step in the right direction. By 1987, Scott's stepson Erik would have been in his early 20s and would fit into that younger set. The show didn't really have a regular lawyer character so Kathy could have filled that role. I would have liked to see the show take Scott into another profession, if only temporarily, after his incarceration. Something that could have been used to generate conflict between Scott and Kathy or Scott and others in order to generate story. Bringing back Patti was a step in the right direction, but, as has been stated repeatedly, the show should have cast someone more age appropriate. Anyone have any suggestions on who'd they have liked to have seen cast based on who was available at the time (1986). They should have kept Patti as a nurse and then worked Len back into the script even as a recurring character. I would have liked to have seen a more age appropriate Patti paired with an age appropriate Lloyd Kendall (I would have brought back Peter Haskell after "Rituals" was cancelled). Then you could have Estelle Kendall going after Patti and using Len, who (in my fictional Henderson) would mentor Alec Kendall during his internship. In the show's final year, Craig Walton, Gary and Laine's son, did come to stay with Sunny for the summer, didn't he? I think I've read here (was it saynotoyoursoap?) that the plan was to pair Sunny with a Gary recast? Gary would have provided another doctor for the hospital set. Even if it was in the short term, I would have had Laine work for Lloyd Kendall handling the business end of the newspaper in order to put her at odds with Sunny. Eventually, you could bring Ted Adamson back in as a rival to Lloyd and have him go after everything that was Lloyd's. The Bergman/Walton males never fared well. Tom was played by several actors without much story. I think during his last run he was paired with Kathy. My first introduction to SFT was the SOD summaries that they post on the Remember When section of their website so I think of Tom being paired with Cindy French, the devious nurse. As mentioned, Danny was never given much to do and Gary faded after his affair with Laine produced a child. The problem with any, and all of this, is who do you eliminate in order to make the show work. The half-hour required a smaller cast. I do think the show needed an overhaul, but it would have taken a year to eighteen months to do right.

Regarding the comparison between Warren Carter and Roger Thorpe, that makes sense. In what I've seen, Warren was definitely seen as an obstacle that Suzi and Cagney had to overcome. In terms of potential storyline down the road, I think it set up an interesting scenario for Jonah to deal with as his mother killed his father and both Suzi and Wendy had a strong attachment to Jonah. Killing off Suzi a couple months later kind of killed all of that potential (that would have been killed anyway when the show was cancelled). I didn't care for Sunny's suicide. Most people I've met don't like the Liza / Hogan / Sunny story. I liked Hogan and Liza because it did complicate the friendship between Sunny and Liza. Mathis definitely played the angst for all it was worth and I would have liked to see Liza and Sunny work their way back to being friends. To me, Bela's presence was an example that the show was creatively finished. There was no need to keep Bela around after the circus storyline. There were too many characters who were written as if they had longterm potential when they didn't (Brett Hamilton comes to mind as well). Krawkowski never seemed to get a leading many, or much of a story, that was popular other than the initial adoption plotline. I did see some scenes between Liza and TR where they were fighting after Travis died about the adoption that mentioned TR was learning to read. That's a story I hope pops up.

Anything is possible. I got the information on "The Outsider" from two articles from May, 1965. One was a press release type talking about Shaw being on leave from "Peyton Place" to develop "The Outsider," a daily series, for CBS. The other was an interview with Shaw where he discussed "The Outsider" and the other potential series. I found some more information about "Masterson's Valley." The articles I found state the show was set to start in October 1965 and was to revolve around a female veterinarian in New England or upstate New York (depending on the article). This sounds more rural than the untitled Shaw project. That project may never have made it past the idea phase. From the Shaw interview: Of course, Shaw eventually would work for Roy Winsor as the head writer for "Love of Life" around 1967 - 1968. At the time he was writing "Love of Life," he was also creating a soap set in Hawaii. Do we have any information on that one?

Robert J. Shaw was working with Roy Winsor Productions on "The Outsider" in 1965. It was about a Milwaukee brewing family who, despite having made it financially, were never truly accepted. Around the same time he was also developing a series (it isn't clear based on the article whether or not it was a soap) based on the teenage drinking problem in a Connecticut town. I believe he was referring to Darien, an affluent community where Ira and Jane Avery (the writers of "The Secret Storm") lived. Several parents were arrested for serving alcohol to minors at parties rather than have them cross state lines and get drunk in New York where the legal drinking age was 18.

The final piece that the poster posted: