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A couple of things… (1) Larry Jordan and Jordan Williams are the same actor. Williams was credited as Larry Jordan when he appeared on THE CATLINS. (2) Christina Reguli’s character was married to Beau Catlin in July, 1983. My best estimation would be that the marriage was dissolved in the spring of 1984. (3) Maggie Catlin was married. At the very least she should be credited as Maggie Catlin __________. I think it’s a safe guess to say it was Maggie Catlin Brown (married to Roger Brown), but we can wait for further confirmation. This marriage ended in divorce in the fall of 1983 just as Woody Thorpe arrived on the scene. (4) I’m going to have to check and see how Bea Swanson is credited. I believe she is credited as Carla Lockridge, but I think Lockridge is a maiden name, not a second marriage. I may be wrong. (5) Jacqui McCormick was initially credited as Jacqui Miller. Also, Jacqui and Woody were engaged in March, 1985. The characters were set to marry that month, but I’m not sure if they made it to the altar. (6) Where did you get the name of Lockwood for Vanessa? (7) I haven’t seen anything with Robert Boone and Jennifer together. Boone was developing a meaningful emotional connection with Annabelle Catlin when she and T.J. were on the outs. At the same time, Kay Webber was helping out T.J. while he was trying to regain the Catlin fortune. I’m not sure how romantic either became. Also, Lucille and T.J. weren’t a couple; Annabelle thought so, though. I’m not sure how far Dirk and Babe got, but Dirk and Maggie got as far as a spring 1984 engagement. Maggie called it off after losing the baby she was carrying.

As much as I enjoy the 1985 material, I can admit several things. (1) There is very little in terms of longterm storylines that impact the canvas for more than a few weeks in a meaningful way. (2) The tone changes drastically from very dark and ominious under Jeanne Glynn and Madeline David, to more light romance and family oriented under Mayer Avila and Braxton, to a slightly polished NBC cookie cutter NBC serial (couples, foreign locales, MTV-inspired montages, and our very Jo Tourneur doing her best Jessica Fletcher impersonation) under Tomlin. (3) Not having been presented these episodes in their proper manner (30-minutes, 5-days a week) I'm not sure if I would have been able to watch in that manner. Other random comments... - The material popping from early in Cagney and Suzi's marriage is probably the strongest work from Teri Eoff I've seen. I think the domestic conflict between Suzi and her new mother-in-law, Kate McCleary, is brilliantly done and Jo Henderson does a great job delivering some, at times, heavy handed material. I'm a particular fan of Suzi's attempts to hold her own with Kate. It's something I would expect to see on "Ryan's Hope," but not as polished. It works very well though given where Cagney and Suzi are in their story. Similarly, there's a great scene, newly uploaded, of a McCleary family dinner where Quinn has brought Sarah Whiting home for the first time. Sarah dreams of the day she, too, might be a McCleary bride. While the show is obviously heavy on the drama of Iarge Irish family, which isn't SEARCH's bread and butter, the scenes are too strong to criticize. There's a lot of beautiful character moments between the McClearys when Paul Avila Mayer is penning the show. - I was glad the montage featuring "Every Breath You Take" popped up. It is a particularly inspired piece. Clearly influenced by the era, I think the most effective element is that it allows the characters to speak for themselves. There's something particularly haunting about Marcia McCabe's shots that embody the near tragic turns that Sunny's life has dealt with in the past few years. Mary Stuart and the boa shows Jo's vivaciousness in spite of the fact that she is no longer young and restless. My favorite shots though have to be Lisa Peluso as Wendy just loving the camera's attention. Isn't that what we would expect Wendy to do? Michelle Joyner manages to continue to maintain Sarah's awkwardness while also playing Sarah's attempt to put up this façade of a strong, confidant woman. Colleen DIon is lost among these women. - The episode featuring said montage also featured some heavy dramatic moments between Chase and Estelle, which, unfortunately, are not included. Chase practically begs Estelle to the States with him, but she cannot. Robert Wilson was particularly strong in those episodes; both actors playing Chase Kendall were effective. Anyway, the San Marcos sequence was clearly inspired by MIAMI VICE with Chase as our own Don Johnson. - Lisa Peluso has a rollercoaster of a year with some very interesting starts and stops. The end of the Warren storyline really set the stage for a powerful battle between Wendy and Suzi over Jonah. I would have liked to have seen that play out especially since the show was playing Wendy and Alec (which I never knew) and hinting at reuniting Stephanie and Lloyd. This could have lead to some very interesting dynamics. Who would Stephanie side with: her own daughter or the girl she has come to love as a daughter? And what about Lloyd? How would he feel about Wendy's attempts to keep Suzi from Jonah after what had happened between him and TR/Rebecca. The Alec / Wendy pairing was surprisingly refreshing, but I'm not sure how far that could have gone. Alec did want to be a doctor, correct? Wendy might have worked better in that circle rather than the television station. Later, Lisa does some much subtler work as Wendy under Mayer Avila/Braxton when Wendy admits to Suzi that she knows how deceptive Sarah has become, but that she doesn't know what to do because she fears losing Quinn. Some very nice, powerful scenes. - I think the setup for Patti's return is effective even if Jacquie Schultz is way too young for the part. At least in those opening scenes, there is an attempt to dress Patti older, but it's a hard sell. Patti's reaction to the death is well done, and the break up with Len is downplayed, but establishes Patti's purpose. If they had a stronger medical core in place, I wonder if the show would have used Patti in that capacity. I really liked Geoff Pierson as Liza's OBGYN. Maybe they could have done something with that. I don't know. The Jo / Patti talk about Sarah though is well done and closes a chapter on an unfortunate run for a character with a lot of promise and some serious flaws. In the end, the show would be dead itself soon so Sarah's impact never really had the chance to resonate other than having Quinn linger most of 1986 outside of his relationship with super interesting Miss Evie Stone.

I know this isn't always the most popular opinion, but I really like what I've seen of "Search for Tomorrow" 1985 more so than 1986. Here's a couple of partial episodes featuring the Women to Watch Gala at the Henderson Country Club. Also featured in this clip is the murder of Sarah Whiting, Jo's adopted granddaughter. Michelle Joyner isn't listed in many of the soap books for her role as Sarah, but I found her very different and earthy during the Paul Avila Mayer / Stephanie Braxton episodes. Sarah may have been the first bland ingénue Gary Tomlin decided would make a better vixen, but I preferred shy, insecure Sarah pining for dreamer Quinn much more entertaining than schemer Sarah trying to outdo Wendy Wilkins (could Jo's granddaughter really outscheme Stephanie's daughter?) for Quinn. Also, featured heavily in the sequence is the arrival in Henderson of THE Woman to Watch, Estelle Kendall. I love Blythe in the role that was clearly intended to be a poor man's Alexis Carrington. Blythe is fun; I just wish she got to do more with the heavy hitters. Anywhere, here, from November, 1985:

Bernard Barrows played Henry McGill the university president. According to the "Secret Storm" summary republished last summer, Henry had a troubled relationship with his son, who I believe was involved with Wendy Porter. His son's name escapes me at the moment, but I know it's in the WeLoveSoaps reprint.

Florence Freeman was also the star of "Wendy Warren and the News," which was created and originally written by Frank Provo and John Pickard. "Wendy Warren" was cancelled in November, 1958. I think Provo and Pickard were helping out Freeman. Barbara Dana played Margo, who was becoming involved with Jerry (John Karlen) and was connected to Aunt Mildred Fraser (Violet Heming).

The show was definitely playing with the idea, weren't they? I've read Mary Gardner was traipsing around Chicago telling anyone that would listen about the "inappropriate" living situation. Of course, this was before the woman was jumping out of airplanes dressed as a nun with a moosehead full of diamonds. Structurally, I don't see the show pushing Sam / Rob as a longterm couple, but I could see how a Jason / Sam / Rob / Jessica story would produce a lot of in character drama based on the history of the characters. In the beginning, Sam is clearly lacking a longterm love interest until Kyle arrived in early 1990. Also, Doreen and Adam didn't appear to be intended as one of those long term couples, but rather a bump in the road that would produce drama for years between the Jacksons and the Marshalls. I could see where the show might play the line of Adam and Sam as friends who become more if the audience pushed for it. And, in all honesty, both characters were complicated enough where this could have been played out for years. Adam didn't receive his longterm love interest Maya until 1990.

I've really enjoyed this material. Vicky Hathaway's breakdown is delicious. Because it was audio only, I forgot that Vicky was still faking paralysis at this point in the story. I was pleasantly surprised that it seems Joe Prescott is given the heavy lifting admonishing Vicky for her deceitfulness, but I guess it might have been a bit hypocritical from it to come from any of the Hathaways. Milan delivers some of those lines with such venom ("Or was it your big idea, Kate.") and then her begging Michael to protect her is so powerful and raw. And then when she comes for Julian ("I tried to tell you! Why didn't you listen?!" was just so heartbreaking. I wonder if they played out Vicky's accusation (Michael was the baby's father) as I could see that slowly destroying Julian's mentally, but it would have also been the perfect motivation for Julian allowing Michael to marry Liz. The scene between Ed and Vicky was equally powerful. I would have loved to see Ed's physical reaction to the fact that his daughter was completely insane. I also found the scenes between Steve Prescott and his mother surprising. Nan was much more developed than I expected her to be, but I think Joe and Nan represented the good wholesome parental figures that were typical the center of the show rather than on the fringes as the in-laws, or this case future in-laws. I did appreciate that Joe Prescott was the family doctor and Ben Jessup, Allison's father-in-law, was the old law partner of the late Daniel Hathaway. It keeps the story tighter and gives the characters history. I have no clue how Jack Blaine or the Connie character fit into this. Initially, Steve Prescott was in Northcross to get the land that Daniel Hathaway gave away in the will to Kate. Steve was trying to procure the land for Arthur Saxton, the shady real estate developer. I thought it was Arthur who was after Steve when he had amnesia in late 1970/early 1971. I guess I was wrong. Anyway, I was surprised how quickly the story moves. Ellie is killed in May and by June Steve and Kate have married and the Jardin sisters arrive in Northcross to take Peter Jardin. I'm hoping more of this pops up. It has been a real treat.

Larry Atlas' Jules was involved in Steve / Trisha's Quebec adventure. In late 1985, Steve Sowolsky had been accused of sleeping with underage Cece Thompson by Cece's father, which led to Steve's stint in prison. In prison, Steve encounter Spider, who ended up being tied to Hunter Beldon, the wealthy playboy who ran drugs and paid for the services of Dolly Lane. Spider kept threatening to get out and to get Trisha so when provided the opportunity to escape, Steve left prison, grabbed Trisha, and they ended up on the run together. When they ended up in Quebec, Jules was a man who asked a lot of questions about the couple. Initially, Jules seemed like he was part of the drug connection which involved a bunch of unmemorable minor characters, but eventually Jules revealed he was investigating the drug ring. Jules did have a bit of an infatuation with Trisha, he kissed her in her sleep, because she bore a resemblance to his dead wife. When Hunter wanted the couple killed, Spider went to Quebec, tracked them down, and shot Trisha, who ended up in near death in a hospital. Steve called Corinth to reveal where they were. Steve was arrested and Jules seems to disappear from the SOD synopses from that time.

Vicky Lucas Hathaway in all her crazy glory. Audio only. March 1971: Vicky pushes Mary down a flight of stairs. March 31, 1971: The Hathaways gather to for Vicky's confession.

A 1983 promo featuring Nancy Kennedy as Jennifer Catlin, Richard Fagan as Powell Jackson, Fred Covington as Gary Hopkins, J. Don Ferguson as T.J. Catlin, and Jerry Homan as Jonathan Catlin. The person who uploaded has other TBS videos dated July 25, 1983, which this preview is probably from. I'll have to review my notes, but I believe Powell Jackson was Jennifer's psychiatrist, and clearly not all there himself. I think it's possible that Richard Fagan makes Charity Rhamer and Troy Kurtis look subtle. In the July 1983 episode previously uploaded, Jennifer was on trial so I wonder if this is the resolution to the mystery. Maybe Powell is in fact Robert Goode's killer? Covington let his hair gray by April, 1984. I've been meaning to comment on the other episodes I received, but I've fallen behind. Maybe I'll try later tonight.

If I remember correctly, this scene aired in either late August / early September 1990. Eric Royale (Randy Brooks) was still on trial for the murder of a homeless woman he had run over with his car. Chantal Marshall (Debbi Morgan) was the prosecuting attorney during the case. Chantal believed Eric was guilty; just another celebrity using his fame to get away with a crime. I think this was the turning point in Chantal and Eric's relationship. Chantal had gone to the bar to cool off after the stressful trial, and a group of men started bothering her because of her involvement in the case. They were angry because she was going after Eric Royale, football star. Eric showed up and saved Chantal from the men. Shortly after, Chantal proved that Eric wasn't at fault; he had drank cough syrup before driving which had mimicked the symptoms of drinking and driving. Eric was still convicted to lesser charges and sent to prison with Sean Masters, Kyle Masters' kid brother. Sean and Eric were involved in taking down a drug ring in prison, which led to Eric's release from prison. When Eric was released, Eric and Chantal pursued a relationship.

The first episode of the eight I received is from March, 1984. Based on the previews, it appears to be Monday, March 5. The show has already switched over to the opening sequence that doesn't feature the main family pictures. Anyway, the show features 3 storylines, which appears fairly typical for all the episode I've seen. In this episode, there is (1) a crisis at the hospital that Matt Catlin reacts to, (2) Dirk Stack and Cullen Quinn reacting to Cullen's arrest and release due to their drug operation, and (3) T.J. Catlin's proclamation to his daughter, Maggie Catlin, that he plans on selling the Catlin sawmill. The least exciting story involves Matt Catlin. He is featured in a well decorated office space speaking to the chief of staff, Henry, about mundane things like the hospital coffee when Diane, a hysterical woman, comes flying in proclaiming "Craig is dead!' like we are suppose to know or care about Craig. Anyway, the thread picks up with Diane and Matt discussing Craig, now dead, who has been Matt's patient and golf buddy. Apparently, Craig broke his ankle and arrived at the ER just at the same time a bus load of school children arrived after a bus accident (I kid you not). Anyway, the ER is mess, Diane is hysterical, and Craig wakes up, walks around, undoes all his stitches, and bleeds to death. They end up sending Diane to a spare room (thankfully), but she ends up returning to cry on Matt's shoulder. This whole ordeal seems to pivot on the axis that the head of the ER is irresponsible and Henry, the chief of staff, asks Matt to consider running the ER because Matt is a gifted surgeon and independently wealthy. St. Elsewhere, this isn't, but the show does have Matt stand on his soap box and deliver a nice little (but possibly over the top) monologue about the importance of emergency services and why they are so important to the live saving system. Not sure who was still around, but this might have been more effective if say Crissy Catlin rushed in because something happened to Bobby, the son she shared with Matt, that required him to be in the ER. Then, Crissy's whining about Matt's absence would have been more reasonable, while Crissy could capitalize on the situation to reconnect with Matt. Plus, I loved Candy Howard's Crissy, but I suspect she was given the boat fairly early on. In a June, 1983 article from the Atlanta Constitution, Howard received some criticism because she didn't sound like she was from the South. Anyway, there is no resolution to this story in the previews, and it is the only that doesn't pick up in the next installment. In the second story, Cullen Quinn is at his interestingly designed penthouse. I believe it's featured in the Christmas, 1984 episode available online. Anyway, Cullen answers the door for Dirk Stack, who has been working for the Catlin family for several months (as we will learn in the next scene). In all the previous episodes I've seen, Dirk was an ally to the Catlins, so I was initially thrown for a loop, but this story starts to change my perception of Dirk. Anyway, Dirk and Cullen play catch up; Cullen has been arrested because of their drug operation, but was released by Medger Quinn (Cullen's daddy) on bond. Cullen and Dirk attempt to figure out who snitched, but cannot figure it out. The only loose end seems to be a truck driver delivering the load. In terms of establishing character timelines, Cullen mentions Truck Larson, his henchman for all of 1984, and, I believe, into 1985. Dirk mentions Bryce Draper, Medgar's lawyer who is credited in the July, 1983, episode featured online. In the previews for March 6, Bryce appears at Cullen's place to discuss legal matters. I have no clue if the same actor is playing the part. Dirk's involvement with Quinns kind of spins everything that comes after this. I now see Dirk as more of a Roger Thorpe type, a man determined to make something for himself and use people in the process. Dirk's romance with Maggie Catlin seems to be the complication in his desire to achieve happiness. Maggie is smart, and, I suspect, initially, Dirk dated Maggie to keep an eye on her, but it is clear that by December, 1984, Dirk has fallen for her and lost her because of what he has done. The drug storyline, and the fall out, plays out throughout 1984 and probably into 1985. I didn't expect the show to have long term ramifcations like that. Our final plotline plays off the drug storyline, as we will see. T.J. Catlin arrives at his office looking for the financial figures regarding the different divisions of Catlin Enterprises. Looking for liquid capital, T.J. wants to sell any division that is in the red, including the Catlin family saw mill. Maggie is mortified by T.J.'s decision claiming this was the start of the family's fortune. T.J. claims she is sentimental, and Maggie claims he has been blind to everything but the international division since Dirk arrived. T.J. admits he is impressed with Dirk's work in the international division, but he is simply tired of paying the payroll for the mill out of his pocket. The characterization of T.J. in this episode is like nothing I've seen after. He's cold, aggressive, and driven by money. In the later episodes, T.J. is more human, more flawed. He owned his mistakes and seemed determine to make good with his family. I'm curious about when the change occurs. An upset Maggie dines with Dirk at the country club where she goes into her long monologue about the importance of the mill to her and her family. It's a really well done piece explaining how Maggie and the boys played there as children, and how Maggie learned to respect the men who worked for the mill. Maggie talks about how Catherine ran the mill after the death of Catherine's husband, Gus. The conflict over the mill works well because both characters have sufficient reason for feeling the way they do. This story continues into the next episode where Matt tells Maggie she needs to inform their grandmother Catherine, at present in Alaska, before returning to learn the mill has been sold. During Maggie's monologue, she states, "the boys, Matt, Jonathan, and James" and later worries about "James, who still work there." It isn't clear whether James is another Catlin brother, or possibly Beau's birth name, or James O'Neil, the character who is listed in the November 1984 episode. Anyway, in terms of establishing timeline, Dirk Stack has been in charge of the international division for 3 months, which means Dirk probably entered the story around October / November, 1983. He was definitely involved in the story set Catalan, which took place in November / December 1983. It's possible Dirk's been around longer, but this definitely secures his position in the story in late 1983. Overall, not my favorite episode, but there were definitely some strong moments No cast is credited, but the credits are still run over a picture of the Catlin mansion. Empire Media is listed as the production company still, not Proctor & Gamble.

I've never figured out how to upload to youtube, but I'll see if I can figure it out eventually. These are the character descriptions used in the press photos for the show at the time of the premier. Most interesting is the inclusion of Kent Whipple's Roger Brown, who is never listed in any of the books. Roger's description talks about his marriage, but there is no Mrs. Brown in the cast. I think Roger may have been married to Maggie Catlin as one episode I have mentions that Woody became involved with Maggie on the heels of her divorce. Of course, I could be wrong. Catherine Catlin (Mary Nell Santacroce), matriarch of the Catlin empire; T.J. Catlin (J. Don Ferguson), pragmatic, visionary Chairman of the Board of the Catlin’s financial empire; Annabelle Catlin (Muriel Moore), T.J.’s emotionally fragile wife; Matthew Catlin (Dan Albright), brilliant surgeon, overly cautious in romance. Maggie Catlin (Victoria Loving), superficially cold, inwardly frustrated; Jonathan Catlin (Jerry Homan), middle Catlin son desperate to prove himself; Beau Catlin (Larry Jordan), proverbial black-sheep of the family; Eleanor Catlin (Marilyn Martin), Jonathan’s neglected artistic wife. Roger Brown (Kent Whipple), successful attorney, his marriage is a merger, not a romance; Seth Quinn (Brett Rice), burdened by his family responsibilities; Medgar Quinn (Danny Nelson), Chairman of the Board of South Coastal Bank, and personal and business adversary of the Catlins; Jennifer Catlin (Nancy Kennedy), beautiful and naïve, youngest daughter with con man Robert Goode (Dirk Randall).

Receives some episodes/material in the mail regarding this one so more information will be forthcoming... Mark Dember played Alex, the bad boyfriend, according to one article. The article was from the summer of 1984. I think he may have been Jennifer Catlins' Parisian boyfriend. The Machiste/Joseph High Otter scenes that were previously online were from 1985. Machiste is credited in a February/March 1985 episode I received. Dan Albright (Matt Catlin) and Marion Guyot (Faith Braxton) are still married in real life. Benji Wilhoite, a child actor who probably played Marion Guyot's son or kid brother, has since died. However, when on the show, he appeared in a Labor Day Parade with several of the cast members. At the end of the parade, he was lost and given comfort by Coretta Scott King. Later, Benji would befriend Jarrett Beal, an actor who appeared on "The Catlins" in 1985 as Montgomery "MG" O'Neil. Beal appears to be the son of Alveda King, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s niece. Sam Smiley, the show's head writer for several months in spring/early summer 1983, talked about having conflict with the producers over storytelling. Smiley wanted to tell stories about "the inner human potential of the stories" and the "emotional or touching areas" while the producers preferred "melodrama and to make flashy things happen fast." In another article, C.T. McIntyre is on the spot writing the scripts which include the scenes where Lauren Woodard learns she is pregnant after firing the writers. So this means Smiley was probably in the credits until June/ early July. C.T. McIntyre was a very hands on producer when it came to writing. He was dictating a lot of the story and the headwriters were expecting to plot the day to day out. When things didn't go his way, he would rewrite them. Lucille Crowe was played by Jane Berman. Her character seems pretty substantial to the show's last year drifting from her own major summer storyline, to a thwarted romance with T.J. in the fall, and into a potentially more dynamic role in the Quinn family in the winter of 1985. Didi Lanier arrived onscreen as Fayrene Bishop in May, 1984. Her son, John (Lapides? Lanier?), appeared on the show in 1984 as Quinn Catlin, the infant daughter of Jonathan and Eleanor Catlin. In the spring of 1983, Christina Reguli's (Lauren) daughter, Jessica Reguli, appeared as Stephanie Catlin, Jonathan and Eleanor's daughter. Tommy Hill's Bobby Catlin was actually the 13-year-old son of Matthew and Crissy Catlin.

Herbert Bayard Swopes, III, Maggie Hayes' son, appeared on the show c. spring 1966. He was only 17 years old at the time. Jane Reynolds died in the Monday, November 28, 1966, episode. The previous Friday, Jane was driving to meet with her husband, Steve Reynolds, when a bout of blindness caused her to crash the car. On Monday, Jane succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident surrounded by her husband and her son, Mark. In the final moments of the episode, Steve shared the news with his in-laws, Al and Martha Driscoll. Jane is treated by Dave Simon, Steve's friend who loved Jane deeply. Before Steve arrives, Jane and Dave have a very tender conversation in which Jane thanks Dave for loving her and admits, while not in love with Dave, her love for him was something that was very special to her. It was a very different scene than what I was use to. Surprisingly absent from the November, 1966, episode is Linda Driscoll, Jane's sister and longtime rival for Steve's affection. Linda seems to be off the canvas by this point as Jane begs Steve to look after her parents after her death because "they have no one." I guess Josephine Nichols' Louise Austen, Martha's mother, may have also have been written out by this point. Morgan Sterne's Dr. Stan Eastman is mentioned, but not seen.

Regarding AU in the 1990s, yes, the show reintroduced the college campus with some fanfare in the spring of 1992. The previous year, Fran Sears was EP with Mary Ryan Munisteri as HW when it was announced the show would be reviving the college setting. At some point early in 1992, Addie Walsh took over as HW and was promoting the college storyline claiming that she and her associates had researched modern colleges and the Greek system. As a result, Allie Rescott, who was already on the canvas, attended AU and was involved in sorority life with rich girl Staige Prince (Eden Atwood), the sometimes girlfriend of frat president Kent Winslow (a pre-OLTL Roger Howarth). Staige and Kent were supporting players in the story as all the rest had major ties to the canvas. The men vying for Ally's love were Casey Bowman (Paul Anthony Stewart) and Cooper Alden (Michael Weatherly). Cooper was a scion of the Alden clan, a grandson of Cabot Alden's brother, I think. Cooper was young, entitled, and rich so, of course, Ally like all Rescott women were drawn to him. More sensitive to Ally's ways was Casey Bowman, the son of college professor Giff Bowman (Richard Cox). The previous year Giff had arrived in town and was a source of comfort for Trisha McKenzie (Noelle Beck), after Trucker bedded down with Dinahlee Mayberry (Jessica Collins), who had unsuccessfully seduced Jack Forbes (Christopher Cass). Ally was given a rival in the form of sweet as syrup Hannah Mayberry (Rebecca Gayheart), schemer Dinahlee's 'innocent' baby sister. Hannah was your typical Agnes Nixon ingénue, a naïve, virginal country girl and, like several of the attempts made in the 1990s by Nixon, the character didn't work. For whatever reasons, there was struggles behind the scenes. Munisteri left, Addie Walsh came on, Fran Sears left, Haidee Granger came on, Addie Walsh left, there was no headwriter for three or four months, and then Robert Guza and Millee Taggert arrive sometime in the fall of 1992. This makes for a very turbulent year. It was clear some of the stuff Walsh planned was used and some of it was twisted. I wouldn't be surprised if Nixon consulted because there were a lot of minor details from the past that were utilized to jump start stories that were never really referred to or completely developed. In the summer of 1992, the show briefly hinted that Cooper Alden had been the victim of sexual abuse as a child at the hand of his nanny, Selina, but the story was quickly squashed and Cooper claimed he wanted to have sex with her, but he was just so young. When Nixon returned the next year, Cooper admitted to Steffi the truth, Selina had molested him. Also, Coop sought help from Ron Turner, Jr., played by Jeffrey D. Sams. In 1983, a Dr. Ron Turner had treated sexual abuse survivor Lily Slater and PTSD sufferer Mike Donovan. Similarly, in the summer of 1992, Ava returned to Burnell's, a property owned by the Alden family, and was being watched by her mysterious boss who had always had feelings for her. Later, we learned this was Leo Burnell, an old high school classmate, which made no sense. What would have made sense was that the Burnell's boss was Curtis Alden, and I believe the character was even briefly referred to as Mr. C by his associates. Anyway, the college stuff didn't last long. In the summer, the show wrote Kent out after he drugged Ally's drink and she crashed her car. Staige stuck around in a more sympathetic role (she lost her money) until the fall. Ally continued to thwart Coop and Hannah's romance, which led to the messy (in a good way) Coop / Ally / Casey / Steffi quad. In November/December 1992, Hannah went to NYC to try out for some piano competition and ended up at her tutor's apartment. Ally brought Coop there and he spotted Hannah and the tutor and assumed the worse. Ally and Coop fell into bed together, and surprise, Ally ended up pregnant. I believe Coop and Hannah may have become engaged in early 1993, but I may be wrong. Anyway, when the truth came out, Hannah and Coop were done. Hannah hung around until June 1993 and had a minor storyline, she stalked her professor, Pine Valley transplant Jeremy Hunter. Jeremy was involved with Stacey Forbes at the time, but, after the Hannah fiasco, Jeremy was paired with Ava and Stacey became involved in a triangle with Gwyn Alden and Buck Huston, Trucker's half-brother. I believe Hannah last appeared when Dinahlee married Curtis Alden before fading from the canvas. In Hannah's place was Steffi Brewster (Amelia Heinle), an insecure model with a rough home life. She claimed to come from money, but the family home was empty. Steffi was intended as Coop's main love, but she was also effective with Casey, who developed an eye as a photographer. Self destructive Steffi occasionally found a bound with soulful Coop who had lost many things in his life. Ally and Coop entered a marriage of convenience for a bit, which upset everybody and later Tyler Alden was born. Again, the college stories really didn't last long, but this was probably a more effective use, and longer (spring 1992 - summer 1993). By the fall of 1993, Taggert was solo headwriter and things were getting a bit questionable. Gwyn found herself pregnant by Buck and running off to a quickie wedding. The show had invested a good amount of story time in the Curtis / Tess / Buck backstory, but Curtis torched PINS! (Dinahlee's bowling alley) with Louie Slavinski inside and fled town. Tess was a bizarre character, the widow of a Middle Eastern arms dealer who had been saved by pilot Buck Huston and American solider Curtis Alden. When Tess arrived onscreen, she was answering phones in a brothel. By the fall, Tess was involved with Clay Alden, for which I could only hope they were planning on creating a quad with Buck and Gwyn. Nixon quickly cleaned house and reset the show to make 1994 a pretty strong year.

I don’t think the show utilized the university as well as it could have. The pilot movie did a good job dealing with the politics of education with the impact the prostitution ring and the murders had on the campus and the president’s need to get things under control. I think the presidential rivalry between Garth and Roger was doomed though due to the fact Garth was raping Lily and Roger’s ambitions were always bigger than Corinth. The show should have used Garth’s murder to keep Roger in Corinth by Roger’s advisors deciding to wait on backing Roger until things cooled down in his family. By December, 1983, the show was pretty much done with the college campus and started shifting the characters into more business roles. The last college centric story I recall was Doug and Rita Mae’s flirtation while they planned the Faculty Follies. Structurally, the different family units were nice, but too compact. There were way too many married couples when the series started. Personally, I would have had Rose Donovan as a single mother, learning to live on her own after the recent death of her husband. Also, I would have Patrick’s death be a catalyst for some of Mike’s emotional issues reemerging: his father, his hero, the cop having died. Instead of Patrick Donovan, I would have Victor Vochek, father of Jim, Noreen, and Merrill, who would work for Alden University as a groundskeeper. Victor would claim he is a widower and would have a C-level romance with Rose. The death of Gina Vochek, Victor’s wife, would be a mystery alluded to, but not dealt with directly, until Rose and Victor became more serious, at which point Victor would reveal that Gina ran off years ago and he didn’t know where she was. Mike would be suspicious and this angle would create tension among members of both families, which I think was desperately needed. Eventually, Victor and Rose would marry and Gina would return to cause conflict. Along the lines of the families, I think I would have also downplayed the Bristows. They could be a recurring feature, but I don’t think I would have brought them on contract. Instead, I would have given Lilly Slater a brother, which I think would have given the Lily story a different beat, and given Lorna someone to play off of. It's amazing how well the show did given everything that happened. In the first six months, there were only two major plotlines: the Ann / Roger / Merrill / Doug and Jack / Lily / Curtis. Most of the other characters were either reacting to one of the two plotlines or involved in short vignettes that didn't really lead to much story (almost everything having to do with Mike Donovan). I think there were some promising stories (Lorna flirting with Doug Donovan, Noreen's work with AIDS patients) but they never went anywhere. In my opinion, the show didn't really blossom until they introduced a duo of schemers: loyal Alden Enterprises employee Dane Hammond and cunning lawyer Shana Sloane, Cabot's illegitimate daughter. Once they arrive, I think the story starts to solidify with the show's first multi-year arc (Dane's pursuit of everything Cabot Alden possesses). Of course, with the departure of Lily in January, Merrill in March, and Roger in April, 1984, the show basically threw itself into the Dane / Shana revenge plot which slowly brought in Cabot, Isabelle, Ann, Jack, and Mike and also introduced Harry Sowolsky and Kate and Ava Rescott. The show continued to play a lot of mini arcs (the short lived Lorna / Tony / Stacey triangle) or stories that went nowhere (Warren's much talked about but never seen daughter). Dane's revenge linked the remnants of the show's last two storylines and brought them under one story umbrella. With the strong story in place, the show was finally in place to develop other parts of the canvas with the introduction of rich bitch Gwyn Alden and her teenage daughter, Trisha. By this point, the show has pretty much abandoned the college canvas in favor of Alden Enterprises. Curtis Alden, Colby Cantrell, and Lorna Forbes are involved in the work at Burnell's. Gwyn is in charge of the cosmetics company where Keith Lane worked. Dane purchased Forbes Construction which employed Jack Forbes and Ava Rescott. Later, Dane aligned himself with the Beecham brothers in order to get control of AE. Once the business storylines were in place, the show appears to be much stronger. I think one of the biggest misfires in the show's early years was trying to make the character of Jonathan Maitlane happen. Initially, Jonathan was introduced as the villain in the Doug / Edy storyline, a B-story at best, which took Doug away from Corinth and sent him to the West Coast where he was developing a TV show and trying to solve a serial killer storyline. The Doug and Edy story came to an end with Edy's death, Doug's departure from the canvas, and Jonathan's death on the bridge, or so we thought. The show kept the actor, John O'Hurley, around in another secondary role, Keith Lane, a chemist working for the Aldens perfume company (Amourelle? or maybe there was another company). I think they chemistry tested Keith with several characters: Lorna, Colby Cantrell, and Gwyn Alden. Jonathan returned while Keith was involved with Gwyn leading to the first of Gwyn's three sexual with a doppleganger for her current lover. This storyline lead to the awful storyline where former prostitute Dolly believed the daughter she was given up for adoption was involved in a kiddie porn ring. Thankfully, someone wrote Dolly and Keith out after Dolly saw her daughter was safe with her adoptive parents. I’m also not sure how the Shana / Jim storyline would work. Having seen what “Days of our Lives” did with Eric and Nicole, I can see the kind of angst this type of story could serve with strong actors, which I gather Keith and Davies were, but, on a soap, I think this kind of story ruins a character like Keith’s Shana Sloane. Shana was a woman scorned, abandoned by her father, abandoned by the man she loved. It’s this abandonment that drives her. Her relationship with Dane worked because they were both using each other. Shana’s relationship with Cabot remained a rollercoaster, and Taggert and King were smart to link Jim’s death to Cabot in order to fuel that dynamic, but foolishly wrote Cabot out before any of the fall out could be played. The Shana reset in 1990 never played to its potential because Shana was again domesticated with her marriage to Leo Burnell and the birth of her daughter. I think Shana, like Ava, should have been allowed to suffer a little longer and eventually the two should have crossed paths in a more serious storyline. The problem was Marland and Nixon were too different. When Marland leaves, there is a complex business world active in Corinth, which Nixon simply isn't able to maintain. Instead, she emphasizes the emotional aspects of the story and employs some lame twists in order to make them work. For example, Dane Hammond had supported Lorna Forbes' modelling career in return for her shares of her grandfather's company. In the meantime, Lorna was romanced by businessman Linc Beecham, unaware Linc and Dane were plotting to takeover Alden Enterprises. The takeover happened in the final months of Marland's run (early 1985). Instead of continuing the complicated relationship between Linc and Lorna over Linc's business practices we segued into a story involving a meddling mother (Jane Powell's Rebekah Beecham), a secret wife (the Henry Sleasar inspired Zona), a fake pregnancy, and murder trial which results in Linc's departure from Corinth and Lorna's pairing with Zach Conway. Similarly, Dane and Ann’s caustic marriage, which has resulted in the return of Ann’s alcoholism, is quickly scuttled and Dane is shipped out of town. Dane and Ann’s marriage had the potential to be a powerful dynamic to the show by enhancing the relationship between Dane / Lorna, Dane / Jack, Dane / Ann, Dane / Cabot, Dane / Shana, Shana /Ann, and Cabot / Ann. Also, before Roger disappeared in the plane crash (his body was never recovered), Roger revealed he had known Shana from his days in Washington. While I think it was perfectly innocent, dropping a returned Roger Forbes into that story would have opened several wounds and created a new ripple in that storyline. Unfortunately, it was a beat never played. Dane’s departure was significant because it highlighted the lack of complex male characters on the show. The next character of Dane’s type would probably be Randolph Mantooth’s Clay Alden / Alex Masters. Alex is definitely a credit to Mantooth as the storyline was started Ralph Ellis, had a huge thrust written during the writers strike, before being turned over to Tom King and Millee Taggert. Initially, I think the writing for Jeff Hartman suggested that Jeff could have been a complicated male character who created conflict while also creating a bond with the audience, but from the sounds of it, casting could never get it right. By the time Richard Steinmetz was in the role, Taggert and King had already introduced Steve Sowolsky-lite in the form of Trucker McKenzie and decided Jeff was going to go crazy. What a shame. Christopher Marcantel’s Curtis Alden seemed to get some of that sort of writing, but he seemed to be watered down with each recast from playboy racecar driver (Linden Ashby) to heir to the family fortune (Burke Moses). His return in the late 1980s de-ages and whitewashes the character completely. It’s hard to imagine the Curtis Alden of 1983 flirting with Rita Mae while calling himself Jack Forbes would be in competition with Todd Jones over Rocky McKenzie. I think the complex backstory and haunting presence of Perry Stephens may have been put to better use had a writer like Marland stayed. Instead, Jack is pretty much a dud when it comes to Ava’s baby deception and falling for Lilly Slater’s seduction. Also, the absence of both Roger, Dane, and eventually Ann make a lot of that backstory unimportant. I think I would have written in a character who was a brother of Jack’s late mother Linda, who would have toyed with Jack’s moral compass and allowed him to waver between Alden and Henderson. There is no reason Jack Forbes couldn’t have been “Loving’s” answer to Phillip Spaulding. Anyway, my main point is I think “Loving” had potential, but the potential was never properly utilized by any of the show’s writers.

Reading an article on Barry leaving "Loving," it says her Isabelle replaced Celeste Holm abruptly in July, 1992, and was written out in January, 1994. The move was storyline dictated. Agnes Nixon had only been there a short while when Barry's Isabelle was axed. She'd bring back Augusta Dabney's Isabelle in the summer of 1994 for the Cradle Foundation storyline. I disagree with Barry's assessment of Viola. While she was a survivor, she was intended to be a character of a certain stature who would have followed certain rules. Viola would have married a man she hated to support her family, but I don't think she would have operated her own business. How would that have appeared? Anyway, I think Barry won in the end. Didn't Viola open up a second-hand store or something along those lines with Josie Saxton. Or am I confusing my 1970s NBC soaps? Since we are talking "Loving" and "For Richer, For Poorer," I wonder if Millee Taggert wrote for FR,FP or if Tom King consulted with Taggert in her 1992-1993 run. The Brewsters of Corinth are basically a carbon copy of the Brewsters of Point Claire. Both were mother-daughter duos who had been rich, but lost there money with the mothers encouraging their daughters to marry wealthy men. The mother figure was even absent in the early months and had heart problems.

I was looking through the Remembering Woodbridge article and am starting to question things. The RW article states that the Casey Arnold drug plot and the Hope Ames plot occur at the same time. Pamela Raymond definitely played Hope in 1965 and 1966 and the papers make it clear that John Colicos appeared in the spring of 1966 through June 1966 as Matthew Devereaux. If Casey is part of the drug plot that involves Hope Ames, this would all play out prior to the 1966 episode that features Hope. So maybe 1965/1966 is right for Casey and the date on the Jimmy Dobbs episode is wrong? Or maybe Genovese confused the plots? Also, Coster appeared as Paul Britton in 1963. I found an article from December, 1963, stating friends have noticed him appearing in episodes. Paul was probably introduced in the fall when Amy went to college and the Averys arrived. Regarding Nina DiFrancisco, the RW article attributes the story to the Averys so I may be wrong about the dates on Nina, but the character did appear in 1962 so maybe she was on 1962-1963? Which would then allow Paul and Amy to get together late 1963/early 1964 while Kip was in prison and for Kip to pop up to marry Amy in 1964. Again, just trying to work out the logistics.

Pamela Raymond appeared as Hope Crandall Ames no later than fall 1965. She was announced as part of the cast of the revamp of “Flame in the Wind,” “A Time for Us,” but by fall she is credited in newspapers for appearing on “Storm.” So Raymond was on STORM from at least 1965-1966. Casey Arnold appeared in the February, 1967 episode of STORM that saynotoursoap posted. So Arnold should be probably 1966-1967 Robert Fitzsimmons Frank Bennett is referred to in the February 1960 episode on youtube. So I would say 1960 definitely, but more likely 1959-1960. Do you remember where you found the illegal abortion information about Barbara Bradford, Liza Chapman’s character? I believe Canadace Coster played the role as long as Nicolas Coster was in the role so that would 1968-1969 Ira Bromfield was Kevin’s surgeon so that would have been 1973/1974 The article recently posted suggests that Lovelady Powell’s Birdie appeared well into 1971 after Hugh and Jill were killed off. Just found a TV Questions column stating Peter MacLean first appeared as Hugh on November 22, 1969. He and Jill were killed off before Christmas, 1970. Judi Rollin appeared as Didi Clayborne until July, 1971. I believe that was posted in SS thread. Plus, the Remembering Woodbridge article describes the custody case between Didi and the Stevenses after her father’s death, which occurred in late 1970. Jeffrey Lynn premiered as Charlie Clemons in November 1967. I believe the exact date is in the SS thread. He appeared through at least October, 1968 because he can be heard in the Joan Crawford episode. You have Evelyn and Julian Dark appearing in 1968. The Remembering Woodbridge article places them in the early 1960s. Julian would appear at least 1963-1964 and Evelyn most likely 1964 at least. John Colicos played Matthew Devereaux in 1966. The character was written out in June 1966. The actor left, but there had been talk of continuing the character prior to his decision to leave. The announcement appeared in the papers that Colicos had joined the show in early April. Since he was tied to Hope’s story, he probably only appeared in the spring and early summer. Carol Devereaux appeared at the end of his run. Goldensoaps lists Cal Bellini playing Eduardo Degamma in 1962-1963 and Joseph Della Sorte in 1963. The character arrived in Woodbridge in April, 1962. He returned with Pauline after Haila Stoddard had been off the show for almost a year. In December 1962, CBS claimed no one was playing the roles of Degama or Nina DiFrancisco. So Bellini either came back or the 1963 date is wrong. I wonder if Nina was killed off in 1962 as David O’Brien premiered as Kip in March, 1963. In terms of the story, it sounds like Kip was offscreen for Nina’s murder which would suggest at least Goldensoaps has Barnard Hughes as appearing in 1960 as Reverend Farrell. I believe the source is a TV reference book. You have J Fluellen Lawrence as appearing in 1967/1968. Christina Crawford joined STORM in April, 1968. The infidelity suit didn’t occur until the summer of 1968 and played out in the October 1968 episode on youtube. I wouldn’t list 1967, just 1968. Someone appeared as Bryan Fuller in 1960. He is still a sore subject of conversation in August 1960.

Carl, Jane Badler first appeared as Natalie in June or July 1981. I know her picture appears in one of the July 1981 SODs.

This was written by John Kelly Genovese, a soap historian. I've never heard of the publication "The Soap Box," that this was published in. I'm so happy he devoted a whole section to the Avery years.

Frances Fuller played Alice Perkins on "Flame in the Wind." Alice was the mother of Flora Perkins. Fuller was president of one of th eacting guilds at the time and was working with the president of daytime programming at ABC, Leonard Goldberg, to recruit young talent for daytime. I'm sure I butchered a bunch of titles and positions. I don't think Fuller was on "Time for Us," but the last mention I have of her character's daughter, Flora, is in April. Neither Fuller nor Brooks are listed among those appearing in the revamp.

Do you know where you got this information? I know a lot of TV listings often confused actors on TV shows. I've seen an article that lists a full week of synopses for "A Time for Us" as occurring on "A The premier of "High Hopes" is available for viewing at the Paley Center in New York. I saw it nearly 15 years ago. I don't remember Prinz being in the opening episode unless she was featured in the segment on Trudy Bowen's talk show. Is it possible she appeared later on? Jackie Bertell played a second role on the show when it was a soap. Do you have that role? Dr. Paul Popenoe appeared on the November 15, 1965 episode of "Paradise Bay." In the story, Barbara Pulaski, a high school teacher, was attempting to teach a sex education course at the high school. She met resistance from various members of the community, who wanted their children to boycott the sex class. Pulaski was supported by Jeff Morgan, the owner of the local radio station. Jeff brought Popenoe onto his station to address the town about the issue. Regarding the sex education story, it was the story that immediately followed the Sally Baxter murder trial and was actually born out of it. In one article, I read Sally underwent an abortion in Mexico before she died. While Duke Spalding was accused, it was later revealed that another male character did it. I suspect he might have been the father of Sally's child. Anyway, this all seems to be the impetus for Barbara's push to bring sex education in schools as she knew information about Sally's death. Leora Dana as Viola has always interested me as I've only seen in listed in Soap World. I suspect she appeared in only a couple episodes in April/May 1977. The synopses for the final weeks have Laurie fielding a phone call from her mother stating she was returning to Point Claire. Chris Gifford was a doctor. He arrived in August or September 1978. Marlowe appeared on "Lovers & Friends" in 1977. I don't think he made the transition. He was the Cushings' butler. Barbara Manners was divorced. Phillip played in 1977. MacLaren in 1978.

Thanks. I guess I was wrong about Ettlinger being the only headwriter. Since then, I've read that Raphael Hayes wrote the shows opening episodes. After reading the detailed history of "The Young Marrieds" from a wonderful poster on this board, I wonder if Hayes had the same problem that Elward had with scripting and Hardy brought in Ettlinger because they worked together on "Love of Life." Ettlinger's arrival in January would explain why the story begins to shift in the months to come. A lot of the initial story seems to revolve around Craig Reynolds and the publishing. Craig is in an important position at the publishing company, married to the daughter of the company's owner, in love with one of the company's authors (Kate), and the object of affection of one of his colleagues (Flora). When Craig departs in February after conflict with Ted Alcourt, who is described as a narcissist in an early press release, a lot of this seems to fall apart and shift in other directions. I wonder if Ettlinger added crazy Liz Grey to the story. Liz doesn't appear in the story until March, but Tony receives a phone call from the hospital in February which probably indicated the direction the Tony/Kate romance was heading. Also, in the show's initial press releases, it indicated that Kate would be caught up in a defamation suit because of her book, which would certainly impact her relationship with lawyer Tony Grey. I wonder if this played out or if the story was scrapped when Rafael Hayes left the show. Some other random tidbits... - Hebert Bayard Swopes, III, Maggie Hayes' real life son, appeared on the show in 1966 in a running role. This role was announced in April, 1966. - One of the articles Carl posted on ATWT mentioned Jenny O'Hara previously played Susan Michaels. This seems to coincide with most of the press from the 1960s and 1970s. O'Hara said she did a year on the show so Susan appeared into 1966. - In a TV Guide article about the show, Doug Colton's ex-wife was said to be named Evelyn and that she was set to appear on the show in the future. Based on the article we have from Carl, we know "Evelyn" appeared onscreen. I think Evelyn may in fact have been Jenny O'Hara's Susan Michaels, but I'm not sure. - I think the episode that saynotoursoap had posted aired September 23, 1965. The episode synopsis for that day reads: "Dave acts out of desperation." The September 22nd preview reads: "Steve learns shattering news." This is followed by September 24: "Steve makes an irrevocable decision." This would seem to fall in line with what happened in the episode. In the episode previously online, Steve has already learned from Jason Farrell about the pregnancy. Steve still seemed to be unsure what he should be doing, which would line up with him deciding in the next episode. Because of Jane's decision to go to Europe to have her baby, Dave decides, out of desperation, to ask her to marry him. This would set into motion the events leading up to October. It would appear that Jane initially says yes to Dave, but then Steve is forced to tell his friend that Jane is pregnant with his (Steve's) child only for Steve and Jane to marry at the end of October/early November. In November, Jane and Steve honeymoon in Bermuda. - Most of the information we have on this series comes from Wesley Hyatt's book on daytime programming. For the "A Time for Us" entry, he used the information in TV Guide. TV Guide had daily descriptions for many of the NBC/ABC programs in 1965. Also, there is a rather descriptive article on the show in an October 1965 edition. It covers Roxanne Reynolds' dinner party, which actually occured in July 1965. The dinner party was suppose to launch "at least a year's worth" of stories according to Joe Hardy. With that said, Hardy outlines a lot of what is to come in the next year, but until we see more information it should be noted that we don't know for sure what happened. The article outlines the return of Craig Reynolds, Miriam Bentley pushing her pal Roxanne to pair off with Doug, Doug's problems with his ex-wife Evelyn, Doug and Roxanne's marriage plans, and the idea that ultimately Craig and Roxanne would get back together. I haven't seen many November/December synopses for "Time for Us" so they might actually reveal more of the story.