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I think, but cannot be positive, that the "Loving" promo features Neil Zevnik as Judd Beecham. He was briefly Ava's suitor in 1986 after her marriage to Curtis failed and before they introduced Tony, the former medico who was working for casino operator Nick Diantos.

Thanks for posting this. I chuckled at the fact that, even in the 1970s, the idea of long time characters becoming "benevolent goodies" was around. The sequence with Ben and Betsy at the boat house sounds entertaining.

It's disheartening to see so much space given to Ron C.'s fan fiction. I've been rewatching random episodes from 1987. The show was so sharp and lively. In particular, I love Johnno's attempts to get Lizzie back from Ben. There is some nice conflict for Jill, who loved Johnno as a son and had only recently met her brother, Ben. In one scene, Johnno stops by Jill and Frank's place and talks to Jill about not wanting Owen to go through what he went through growing up. It was really nice to see that written by people who were there when it originally happened. Does anyone know if Jill and Frank's penthouse/apartment in the late 1980s is the same set as Rae Woodard's place? Structurally, it looks like an updated version of the same set, but I'm not sure if it's the same. Anyway, there were some really nice scenes at Deja Vu where Johnno thanked Delia for keeping Lizzie on after their breakup. I think Delia was a better mother to an adult Johnno then she ever was to Jadrien Steele's Johnno. There was one really well written scene where Delia suggests to Johnno that he try to gain custody of Owen in order to keep himself in position of power when it came to Lizzie. In response, Johnno politely dismisses his mother's suggestion saying he didn't want to use his child in order to get what he wanted. Ilene Kristen plays it with a bit of regret having Delia recognize that she did this all of Johnno's young life. It's interesting to see the development of the Shelby family. I didn't realize how prominent they were in the 1980s and basically usurped the Coleridges by blending with them. I think its rather successful, but I did enjoy the dysfunctional dynamic between Jill/Roger/Faith.

Seymour was the lead in "Mary Marlin" as well. She did some later soap roles ("AW" and "GH"). The YDM ad is neat. It's definitely in the vein of the "Ma Perkins" ad, but I suspect this one is a bit more appropriate. I don't think YDM had the comical elements "Perkins" did.

Great picture of the show's early cast. Early on, there were several members of Ben Sr.'s generation on the show including Aunt Mildred. I've seen Mildred or another aunt (Myra) in another photo and the caption insinuated that the aunt was meddling in the relationship between Liz and Bruce Crawford.

I consider RC and his 'work' a hallucination so it all pans out. Forbes Riley appeared as Maria Gianni in "Fashion House," the role assumed by Bo Derek. I do miss the MyNetworkTV novelas.

Joe De Santis, Margaret Draper, sounds familiar. Did he do any of the early soaps? Maybe I just remember him from Madame X. The "Big Sister" story was interesting. I think Neddie was Ruth's brother, but I don't see that mentioned in the article. The original story was Ruth raising Ned with her other sister, played by another big name radio actress (I want to say it was the actress who played Carson Vickers on RoL and Constance Wakefield on RTH). I think the new doctor that was alluded to in this article was Reed Bannister, who was another love interest for Ruth. Maybe Reed arrived earlier in the story. Thanks again for these.

The J.J. casting call went up around late October / November 2012.

Thanks for posting these. \ Does anyone know who's child is baby David? Did Lyling and David have a child together? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Thank you for these. I'll definitely give them a more thorough read through when I get a moment. For whatever reason, I always think Mary Jane Higby's name is Joan Davis. I assume that's the name of her character on "When a Girl Marries." It's interesting that they featured articles on two of the daytime doctors, Dr. Malone and Dr. Brent. In the Daytime Diary section, the story about Jocelyn MacLeod Fuller is given a fuller treatment in a subsequent addition of the Radio-TV Mirror right before the show went to television. The story on "Brighter Day" with the power plant seems different and I think Alan Butler was involved with one of the Dennis girls, but I don't remember which one. The summaries for "The Right to Happiness" are always so vague, but it definitely feels like most of the 1950s had a criminal element until the show introduced Grace, the girl from the wrong sides of the track who fell for Skippy, Carolyn's son. I didn't realize Nat Polen was the voice of Mark Douglas, one of Wendy Warren's husbands on "Wendy Warren and the News." Provo and Pickard ("From These Roots") wrote that serial. Warren seems to move at a pretty good pace compared to others. Of course, it had to move due to the nature of the series. Because each episode started with the news broadcast, every episode featured a new day. I don't think Mark was Wendy's husband when the Daytime Diary section ended in 1956. By then, I think she was involved with another emotionally disturbed writer.

It has been a while since I’ve looked at “The Doctors” synopses, but I think Mike Powers was still around when they introduced Jack Garner. Though, I think Mike seemed to come and go during that time period. After Mike’s marriage to Sara ended with her death, I think they paired him with M.J. Match and I think they toyed with a flirtation between Mike and Nola, but then Mike left town. Then, Mike returned in the fall of 1981 and they did the Katy Whitney storyline. From the weekly synopses, I think Jack was one of the better integrated characters. The stuff with Ashley Bennett was rather melodramatic, but that was only a portion of Jack’s story. While the show featured the young interns Darcy, Alan, and Brad, an additional intern named Jeff was a part of the same program. Jeff struggled with his internship and Matt was very critical of the young man. Tension developed between Matt and Jack over Matt’s treatment. At the same time, Jack was involved with Greta Powers. Towards the end of Jack’s run, Jack was involved in a triangle with Greta and the newly returned Billy Aldrich. I have to wonder what people thought of the introduction of the Jack, the Bennetts, and the interns. While they were all new characters, it did sort of re-center the show around the hospital after Marland introduced the Dancys and expanded the Aldriches. I do realize that a lot of these characters were well liked, but some of those characters had only marginal ties to the hospital.

Levinson was a writer on "General Hospital." I think he was the headwriter before Labine arrived in the 1990s. Later, he was on the writing staff for "The City." Looking at the credits of the episodes saynotoursoap has posted of "Loving" from 1987, it would seem Ralph Ellis was also listed at the top. I believe Ellis is credited as headwriter in Schemering's book, but Levinson wasn't. It would appear that Levinson took over from Marland in 1985 and was gone by January 1987. Not sure what is going on with Ava and the gun. I really think the show began to fall apart again around this time. A lot of this stuff doesn't really go anywhere all that interesting, which is a shame because Ava / Curtis / Stacey / Jack should have played out for years. Really, Heather should have been Curtis' daughter and Curtis should have been involved in Lily's return in the late 1980s. Eventually, the quad should have been usurped by Cooper / Ally / Casey / Steffy. Mike was the Vietnam vet. I think he was emotionally distant and had trouble connecting with everyone, including the ones he loved. Your timing on that October 1985 summary is perfect. Your summary would probably be late August/early September, which places the partial episode in August 1985. Marland would have been gone about two months. Marland stayed two years and there was tons of turnover even when he was there. The show dumped two of the main plots rather abruptly. The LIly story was quickly wrapped up in January 1984 with the younger set switching things up a bit. Stacey / Tony / Lorna had a brief run before the show settled into Stacey / Jack / Ava. Similarly, the Doug / Merrill / Roger story was wrapped up rather quickly in the spring of 1984. Merrill left for D.C. in March, Roger died in April. By May, Doug had married newcomer Edy Lester and was involved in the first round of the Jonathan Maitlane story. Around December, you have another casting purge. Jonathan and Edy are killed off. Doug leaves town. Rita Mae catches Billy in bed with a co-ed and Billy takes a coaching job in the South in January 1985. In return, Gwyneth and Trisha return to Corinth for Christmas and Steve Sowolsky also pops up. Really, the show rarely had a stable cast. I have a book from 1984 where some cast member states they had nicknamed the soap "Leaving" because no one stayed long in the beginning. It featured a picture of W.T. Martin and Marilyn McIntyre, who were the latest to depart the soap at the time of the publication.

Boyton's character Beau was the one Lauren Woodard had recently married in the July 1983 episode that was on youtube. Lauren was the tormented blonde ingénue pregnant by a Catlin and taunted by a catty Crissy Catlin. I'm not sure if Boyton played the character when Beau and Lauren were involved. Alice Mitchell Barrett stated spent most of the summer of 1984 with Boyton and Hill. By the fall, Boyton was released from his contract because the character was in Argentina at Thanksgiving. Hill and Barrett have appeared in other episodes that popped up online. Barrett was briefly seen in the July 1984 episode at the very end drinking a soda at the race track while Julie Ridley's Maggie Catlin contemplated what to do about her relationship with Dirk. I think Lionel Richie's "Stuck on You" played in the background. Barrett and Hill also popped up in a November 1984 episode. They were in a cabin being watched by someone, or something. I'm not really sure where that story was going. I'm wondering if this clip features the first appearance of Jacquie as she is being introduced to Beau and Woody, who were the major players. It does seem like she knows Lucian and that she is already working at the stables, so maybe she has been around for a little bit. Anyway, these were fun.

Thank you so much for this. I know this show was mainly a mess, but it fascinates me. They were clearly setting up a big cliffhanger with hopes of an eventual return and tagged on the stuff in the convent at the end. Christine Jones' speech was once featured on youtube, audio only. It's nice to read it as some parts were fuzzy. I don't remember why Jeff was in jail. I assume it had something to do with the gambling / boxing / racing story he was involved with. The stuff involving Youngblood and C.J. is interesting as I had read little about it. I thought Youngblood was attached to the white supremacy storyline for some reason. It's interesting to read they brought Aaron Fields in so late in the game and how Taylor Chapin's return in the form of Lorrine Voznoff goes completely unmentioned, as well as Patrick Chapin being Michelle Davenport's father. Anyway, it was given a fair chance, but I still would like to have seen what might have happened in another six months or so. I think the Carter-C.J. stuff could have gone on for a while, but some of the younger set definitely needed some work. Thanks again! Your contributions don't receive enough praise.

Here's a partial episode from 1985 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmjjy4PTh04 I want to say this was late summer / early fall. As I recall, Elizabeth Burr's Noreen Donovan wasn't around all that long. I think April until November. Again, Levinson is listed at the start of the writers credits. Baby Johnny was born in May/June and became sick and September, which I think either led to Ava/Jack reuniting or just Jack/Stacey separating. Jeff Trachta's character was around until May / June 1986. I'm thinking he died in a police shootout, but I cannot really remember all the details. He was intended as a spoiler for Dolly / Keith and they weren't around much longer either. I think their last big moment in the story was Dolly meeting her daughter. Jane Powell's Rebekah Beecham was Linc's businesswoman mother. Marland had introduced Linc Beecham and his brother Judd as Dane Hammond's partners in the takeover of Alden Enterprises. Dane had worked for the Aldens for years and had been dismissed because Curtis suspected him of embezzlement. Anyway, Linc fell for Susan Walters' Lorna and, of course, their conflict was that Linc had stolen Lorna's family company. At this point, Marland left and subsequent writers (Levinson? Nixon?) introduced Rebekah Beecham, Linc's mother, who was against Linc and Lorna's relationship. She popped up after Linc and Lorna were in a plane crash in the fall. During sweeps, Rebekah revealed Linc already had a wife. Eventually, Zona came to town and claimed she was having Linc's baby. Zona was crazy and Rebekah was egging her on. Rebekah wanted Zona and Linc to remain married in order to get her hands on Zona's land. Eventually, Zona took her own life, but Lorna stood trial for the murder. A SW fan had posted most of the tail end of SW's run in Italian several years ago. SW played the Zona / murder storyline. I think in the final Italian clips we saw SW in jail. I get the impression O'Hara played all the Zach Conway (John Gabriel) stuff. After they dumped Linc, they briefly brought in a Judd recast for Ava, but that didn't last long.

I'm the one usually complaining about the Dolly plot. The more disturbing element wasn't featured. Later, it is revealed that Dolly had had a child with Carl, the pimp she referred to in her conversation with Hunt Belden. Hunt claims to have knowledge of where the child is and attempts to (successfully or unsuccessfully, I cannot remember) lure Dolly into an affair. At one point, Hunt tells Dolly that Carl sold the child to child pornographers in order to cause Dolly grief. Then again, I have similar feelings about the current AMC plot involving Cassandra Foster. The guy speaking with the older woman is identified later as Terry in conversation with Harry and Pirate. I'm not sure how he fits into the story and its odd that we got that bit with him and the lady. Even though he is listed in the credits, Anthony Herrera is on the way out the door at this point leaving both Gwyn and Ann open in terms of romantic story. Maybe they considered increasing Terry's role before going with the Harry triangle. I was surprise to see William Levinson listed as leading the writing staff. I found it bizarre that no one was separated, but I think it was later like that when Ralph Ellis was writer. I don't know what to think.

This was posted ages ago but it seems fairly close in date to this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_6TRwbSqKM

It looks like the real first episode has popped up on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDjGrSw50rU The user has uploaded other episodes including what appears to be most of the final two weeks.

Some brief clips featuring Alice Barrett Mitchell, Peter Boyton (the first online clips I've seen of him in the role of Beau), and Charles Hill. Scene I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT5po_InRvo Scene 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzgEsGSpK08 Scene 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78xnUZpEDX4 Scene 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SDPS5Snxnk Scene 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQZvNqDYESE

A 1986 "Loving." This doesn't seem to be long after the other 1986 already online. This seems to be from about February / March. Part I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUCLvjDDw0w Part II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDLlXS404wg

Shout! Factory is releasing the complete series December 3rd.

In the 1984 AOL episodes, both TR and Martin were present. I think Aniston was only there on a recurring basis and departed within a few weeks of the start of the AOL run.

The Aniston interview was neat. Interesting hearing him talk about both his children. I thought the Jane Krawkowski story was particularly interesting. I agree that Eddie seemed like a wasted role, but I'm not sure I agree with his rationale. Rooney's role on LOL was Dory Patton, wasn't it? Gail was her Rooney's SFT role. I only remember because I believe both roles appeared in the 1977-1978 period and I've read those SOD synopses several times over. I didn't realize how far the prison rape story had gotten. If this was to have happened to Bill, I think that certainly been an interesting dynamic to Laura and Bill's relationship since I suspect they would have utilized Laura's role as psychiatrist and the conception of little Michael to complicate their already rocky history. The 10 tips for Victor were humorous.

In "The Fan Who Knew Too Much," the author states that Orin Tovrov ("Ma Perkins" and "The Doctors") created "The Brighter Day" and that Irna Phillips later took over the show after several years. The writer of this book, Anthony Heilburt(?), was posting years ago on a radio soap board and mentioned he thought he found mentions of the original location on "Ma Perkins." He didn't mention this in his book, but I was rather surprised to read that he seemed confident that BD was Tovrov's work. This site features a letter dated May, 1950 where Tovrov writes to Margaret Draper (Liz). It is shortly after he left the series. http://playingintheworldgame.wordpress.com/tag/brighter-day/ Irna Phillip's script collection in Wisconsin starts with scripts of "The Brighter Day" from December 1950. Heilburt suggests in his book that Phillips took the series away from Tovrov, but I wonder if there was another writer between Tovrov and Phillips. http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-us0076an;focusrgn=C01;cc=wiarchives;byte=321238519

I mentioned Liza Chapman in the "Kitty Foyle" thread. I noticed on IMDb that her son has posted a biography for her that I had not previously seen. It lists her role on "The Secret Storm" as Barbara Bradford. According to her son, she appeared in two episodes. I believe I found an article from the time of Chapman's death that said she had appeared in November 1966. I read here, or another board, that there had been talk of the character appearing in a recurring capacity. I don't know if that's true or if the character was recast.