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I assume these are Haila's children. Wasn't Whit's daughter Erin on 'A World Apart'? I wonder if she is mentioned in the other part of the article.

I wondered if the writers always intended Jason to be the father of baby Jessica. I seem to recall Colin had lost a son / daughter while he was living in Austrailia. I believe the child died in surgery, which caused problems for Colin. I thought all of this would have driven Colin to claim Jessica when he learned he was the father, but did Colin even learn he might be the father? Also the conflict over the paternity would have spilled over to Steve / Carolee as Steve was Jason's brother and Carolee's cousin M.J. was involved with Colin. Given Steve and Carolee history with Billy and Jason's with Stacey, I could see how this all could become very messy if Colin indeed was the father of Nola's child.

I’ve heard most of the younger actors were fairly green. Biff had a substantial amount of story in these final episodes. Grant Wilson may not have had the time yet to really develop the character for himself in order to make Biff the strong anti-hero he could be. His sexual escapades are trite, but his other interactions tend to be rather interesting. I think the Francie / Biff relationship is interesting and I wonder if they played the dynamics between them and their parents is rather interesting. For a character that gets all the soft core porn stories, Biff is a rather complex character. After sleeping with a stranded motorist, a hitchhiker, and the family maid in the course of a day, Biff has a rather involved conversation with his aunt Miranda before the start of the party. There is more to Biff’s interest to Cynthia, which seems to have missed the script. In the previous installment, Greg warns Biff not to flirt with Laurel or Cynthia because they are not like Biff’s women. After Greg socks Biff in the jaw, Biff, alone, deduces Greg is involved with one of these two women and plans to flirt with both in order to incite jealousy from Greg. While Biff seems to have figured out about Greg / Laurel, I would assume Biff’s hypothesis about Greg / Cynthia is an undercurrent in the scene. Another element I like about this scene is the relationship between Miranda and Biff. There is a sort of twisted parent bond between the two. Biff mentions learning about Pam and Clint, which doesn’t really seem to affect him. Miranda was involved with Clint so I suspect Biff uncovered this information for his aunt. Later, Miranda agrees to cover for Biff with Bryan when Bryan wants to send Biff to Santa Fe for a second time. At this point, Biff is a suspect and cannot leave town, but he doesn’t want his father to know he is considered a suspect.

As promised, this is the Josh / Gail encounter, which closes out part 54. In part 53, Gail Lee returned to Eden and to her fellow AURIC inspectator Josh Collier. The two planned to go to dinner at the Lewis home as the show came to a close. In part 54, Chief Lockhart arrived at Josh Collier's hotel suite at the Eden Towers to investigate a lead in the Campus Strangler murders. Once Lockhart clears Collier, Gail and Josh hug and prepare to go to the party. This is the conversation that follows: Afterwards, there is some plot dictated discussion of Gail's trip to Santa Fe, which leads Josh to realize it was Biff Lewis who impersonated him. The episode ends with Josh calling the police telling them 'the real Josh Collier' is on the phone. Carl, regarding the 'Biff claims to be Josh' arc, I wonder if Biff is one of those liars who lies are good because they are based on the truth. When Biff is bedding Amy or Lori, he claims he has a wife in order to prevent a further hook up. When the woman presses for a name, Biff says his wife is named Francie. Francie is the woman he is attracted to so it's easy to understand why he would choose that name. When Biff does pick up Lori, he is shocked she is related to Shelley Novack, a young woman who has dubious connections to. If Lori were to tell her cousin she was with Biff, Biff believes there would be reprocussions because Shelley / Biff did have a thing once and he was spiteful. So when he creates his false persona of Josh Collier, it falls under that idea of lying about your past. Or at least that's how I'm rationalizing it rather than just accepting it as a weak plot point.

1992 wasn't a good year for 'Loving.' I think there were three different headwriters. Mary Ryan Munisteri started the year. Addie Walsh was hired to write the college revamp only for Haidee Granger to fire her. Granger ghost write the summer of 1992, which was pretty much a mess. Then, Guza and Taggert arrived in the fall. I think there 1992-1993 work won them a WGA award, which I find shocking since the plotting during this time wasn't strong. There seemed to be some highly comical stuff involving Ava / Dinahlee and Shana's insemination, but the Curtis / Tess backstory was a clusterf#$#. I think the belfry story was one of Millee Taggert / Robert Guza's first major stories when they arrived. It ended a long string of drama between Trisha / Trucker. After losing Tommy to Abril, Trucker ended up having an affair with Dinahlee, while Trisha was pregnant with their child. Then, Trisha developed feelings for Giff, who had been her mother's paramour. Then there was a custody battle for baby Christopher. After this, Giff kidnapped Christopher and put him up for adoption for a few weeks only for him to go psycho and kidnap Trisha. It was at the belfry that it all ended, and Trisha and Trucker were heading towards happiness. Originally, it appeared as if Trucker would hook up with Stacey, but this was quickly nixed. Stacey enter a drugged induced marriage to Clay and was saved by Jeremy Hunter, her new love interest. I wonder if they knew Noelle was leaving so they let Trucker / Trisha have some final moments of happiness.

I don't remember the timeline, but I think Catherine came in under Ellis / Hunt as the nanny who Mona hired to look after baby Jessica. Catherine had feelings for Jason or Steve; I'm thinking it was Steve. It was only later revealed that the Shaws and the Aldriches had been tied together in the past. I don't think Mona was aware of the past connection and maybe Shaw wasn't their real name. In regards to the flashback, at some point in the story, Mona had arranged for a photographer to drug Nola and put her in a naughty position with another couple. The pictures of Nola's menage a trois were what caused her to lose custody of baby Jessica. Nola eventually tracked down someone involved in the scheme, I believe the photographer, and got him to confess it was Mona's doing. I don't know exactly how Mona lost Jessica to Nola, but I believe this is the scheme being referred to in the flashback. I may be wrong because I feel like the whole menage a trois plot was from 1979. I'm not sure if Althea / Maggie's friendship would have been ruined by a Matt / Althea pairing. It wasn't like Althea was going to jump into Matt's bed to cure him of his sterility. When Matt and Maggie started having fights, Matt turned to Althea; Althea was Maggie's friend and could understand the fights. Matt was a rather harsh man from what I've read and the little I've seen. Obviously, the pairing would have caused tension, but I think Lydia Bruce, James Pritchett, and Liz Hubbard would have acted the hell out of it. Jerry Dancy wasn't in the episode saynotoursoap posted, but he returned within the month for his sister's wedding. He and Penny married and left town in the late 1970s. The Konners brought back Jerry and Althea and killed off Penny. There was tension in Penny / Jerry's marriage when Jerry returned, but the nature of the drama wasn't clear. There was even some tension about Jerry being back. I cannot remember if Althea didn't want him on staff or Matt didn't want him on staff, but there were issues. Later, Jerry and Jack Garner would go at it over an outpatient clinic or some other hospital subdivision. This rivalry never really went anywhere because both characters were written out. I think Jerry had a few flings; M.J. or Natalie, maybe, but nothing serious as these were brief writer strike arcs. Eventually, it was revealed Jerry had been dealing drugs or providing drugs to Mr. Sebastian, an international drug kingpin, who wound up in Madison to torment some minor characters. Jerry's drug dealing resolved the 'mystery' of Jerry / Penny's marital trouble, but I'm not sure this was the original intentions of the Konners.

I don't know why I found this so shocking, but when I read Nancy Coleman had red hair I was surprised. I couldn't tell based on the picture and all the others I've seen of her are black and white. Thanks, Carl. These have been fun to read.

I did find the episode of 'Young Marrieds' fascinating. ABC Daytime seemed to be trying to differeniate itself from the other soaps of the time, but I have to wonder if they were just not tapping into what the audience wanted. Does anyone think something like 'Young Marrieds' would have done better around 1970? Or was it just not possible for Ann to ever leave her husband and still be considered a rootable heroine by the American audience?

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Burton's role on 'The Doctors' was as the man who raped Carolee during her kidnapping. Burton's role on 'For Richer, For Poorer' surprised me as Lee Ferguson's relationship with Tessa dominates most of the serial's run. From the SOD synopses, I didn't find the relationship particularly interesting. It seemed like a pre-cursor to Luke and Laura with the mob man falling for the sweet innocent young girl. Also, when Lester whined about the relationship between his daughter and Lee, all I could think of was Johnny complaining about Joe and Siobhan on 'Ryan's Hope.' Lee had a myraid of connections to the canvas outside of Tessa, which never seemed to be particularly well played. I think it would have been better if the conflict came out more between Lee and the Saxton boys. Bill had gotten Lee's sister in trouble, while Jason seemed to manipulate Connie in order to achieve whatever goals he had in mind. In turn, Lee had influence over the youngest brother, Bentley, through his work at the shop. I could see where Lemay would might take this sort of story, but King instead focused on the mob melodrama (which may have been at the insistence of the network, who knows).

This is from February 1981 and the strike lasted three months during the summer of 1981 (June / July / August). Jason's death occurred during the strike, but it may have always been the intention of the writers to kill Jason anyway. Glenn Corbett had been on / off the show for some time in the late 1970s; I'm not sure if that was his choice or the writers. Anyway, Jason was killed saving Mona, who had been kidnapped by Kevin and Catherine Shaw. Catherine was the woman scheming with Mona in this episode. I believe Catherine was working as baby Jessica's nanny, but secretly harboring a grudge against the Aldrich clan because of her father's financial ruin / suicide that came about because of the Aldriches. I'm not sure any show suffered as creatively as 'The Doctors' did during the strike. Kevin kidnapped Nola, who he fell in love with and proceeded to 'marry' in a marriage ceremony performed by Kevin himself. Then, he raped Nola. Meanwhile, Catherine plotted to kill Nola, and Kevin revealed that Catherine had sexually abused him years earlier. I don't remember how the story ends, but I think Kevin ends up dead and Catherine in the asylum. By the summer, I believe the Billy / Natalie / Greta story had come to its climax. When the truth came out, I believe Greta moved on with Dr. Jack Garner, but she learned she was pregnant by Billy. Greta eventually lost the baby. Natalie was involved with Steve's sex book storyline, which was dropped. Maybe Natalie and Steve were going to become involved. I don't think the audience would have cared for that though. The only things I remember reading about that seemed to be dropped / changed during the strike were Jerry's Toyko days (the strike writers wrote him as a drug dealer) and the Althea / Matt pairing (instead we got Matt's sterility / Maggie's pregnancy).

Michael Jaffee, the producer, mentioned he had trouble with the nudity / sex aspects. He wasn't sure how they would play out until they worked it out in the editing room. Part of the issue with requiring the nudity is some characters weren't sexual characters. Betty Franklin was the ideal for middle class housewives so she isn't going to go down to the local bar and pick up a random dayplayer for kinky sex in the local motel. Francie Richardson was in a similar position. She was a girl with standards; she didn't want to have sex until she was married. In Francie's case, Biff's sexual fantasies provided the audience to see Francie in a sexual light. I suspect the rape situation was to show us Betty doesn't believe in random sex, while providing the audience the chance to see how violent Wallace truly was. This said, the execution is awkward. On the otherhand, Laurel's sexual awakening was a story that could be told in the context of the series and not on daytime in the manner it was. Greg / Laurel's innocence is only shattered in the final moments of the serial when Betty reveals to Bryan that Laurel is his daughter; Greg and Laurel were not only lovers, but siblings. The fall out of this moment would have shook up the younger set.

The Hamners worked on Texas and Another World. Linda worked on "Santa Barbara" and "General Hospital" as well. Khan, I do think there was some network interference. In the article PaulRaven posted, Ellen Kroger, a representative from Showtime, said they didn't want nudity for the sake of nudity. I don't think that's completely true. It may have been for Showtime, but I know the show aired on other cable systems. Every script I've read includes a sex scene to the point where it starts to stand out. For instance, in part 55, Miranda Stevens (the show's bitch) has this dinner party for the upper echeleons of Eden to introduce Madge Whitehead (Jane Elliott's newly arrived love interest for patriarch Bryan Lewis). The party scene is interesting with Betty Franklin (Lara Parker's concerned mother) catching her daughter Laurel in a lie, sexual tension between Gail Lee and Bryan Lewis, Biff Lewis flirting with both Laurel Franklin and Cynthia Clayborne, and a conversation between Biff Lewis and his aunt Miranda regarding the relationship between Clint Masterson and Pam Evans. What do we have opposite this? Lori Novack, a young girl who Biff slept with, explaining to the chief of police Tim Lockhart the intimate details of her tryst with Biff, including newly filmed material of Lori / Biff going at it. It's unnecessary unless they had a mandate that they needed to include this kind of material. In terms of content, I think Marland was certainly interjecting interesting themes into the younger stories that couldn't be dealt with on daytime. Pam Evans dated Greg Lewis, but Greg harbored feelings for Laurel Franklin, the daughter of his father's employee, Betty. When Greg and Pam split, Pam found solace in the arms of Clint Masterson, Greg's best friend and Miranda Stevens' (Greg's aunt) boytoy. Pam seems to have admired Miranda from the beginning, and Miranda exploited this by seducing an innocent and confused Pam at the Lewis pool one night. Pam realized her feelings for Miranda were strong and she and Clint split up. Meanwhile, Greg and Laurel grew closer while Betty was out of town to the dismay of Hud Richardson, Laurel's neighbor who believes he killed his own mother. It's all very layered and interconnected, but I can see how some of the sexual material could be a turn off.

Linda and Gary Hamner. I've seen them listed as script writers on other soaps. For the most part, I don't find fault with their scripts, but there is an occassion or two where I find something the younger set says to be a bit questionable. Here's the Mulcahey quote about 'Eden' Regarding Parker, I'm wondering how she played the shock of realizing her lies had led her daughter to sleep with her half-brother. The final script is quite a terrifying experience for Betty. She has returned home after being raped, desperately searching for Laurel. When she returns downstairs, she sees the lights are now out; she had left them on. We knew Betty was getting phone calls from a heavy breather, we know the serial killer is on the loose, we know Betty's former husband Joe Franklin is lurking in the shadows. When Betty realizes Laurel has lost her viriginity to Greg Lewis, Betty is horrified by the ramifications of her actions. The fallout of this story would have been very interesting to see playout. Its a shame it came to an end when it did. Similarly, I don't think Greg / Laurel were the only incest storyline. I'm getting the hint that Emmett Claybourne sexually abused his daughter Cynthia. Biff / Miranda chat about Cynthia's cold sexuality; Miranda labels her frigid, while Biff suggests she only acts like she hasn't had sex. Logan Claybourne returned to Eden after living in New York with his mother since his parents divorce. Logan was determined to learn why Emmett had fought for custody of Cynthia and not him. I think Emmett wanted Cynthia for himself. Marland may have recycled some of this on 'Loving' in the Lily plot, but the Clayborne story is more of a gothic tale. There is a dark undercurrent unrelated to the incest that it playing out. While not dead, Emmett's absence acts as a ghost that lingers in the house with his eventual return presenting a air of danger. Logan's discussion of his father suggests Emmett was a physically dangerous man, and Lockhart suspected he was the serial rapist / killer for some time. Overall, I don't know what to think about the show. There are elements that are really intriguing, while some of the sexual elements seem a burden. Over time, these are things that could have worked themselves out. The sexuality of characters like Biff if very different from anything I've seen / read about in televison.

I tracked down one article in which Anne Lockhart mentions guest starring on the pilot of 'a cable soap' and how the producers wanted her to continue, but she didn't want to take her clothes off. This wasn't the article I remembered. I thought she was asked about her role on 'Eden' at a 'Battlestar Gallatica' OS convention. I cannot seem to find that or maybe I'm simply making it up. Anyway, Lockhart's character was involved with Biff, as were all of the early strangler victims. I assume Lockhart would have been tied into the Lewis orbit. At times, I think Lara Parker's Betty might have been a thankless role. In a lot of the episodes I've read she simply goes on and on about Laurel's involvement with men and how she needs to stay away from the Lewis boys. I finally read script #132, which covers Kevin Wallace raping Betty. Patrick Mulcachy wrote the script and I can sort of see why he wasn't pleased with 'Eden.' The episode is vile. Betty has arrived at Wallace's place to find Laurel. This all takes place after the scene i typed up above. While at Wallace's place, Betty is talking about her concerns about Wallace, while Wallace makes pass after pass at her. The rape takes place over the course of three scenes, which seems gratitutious. Mulcachy even seems disinterested in the script. The stage directions state to fade out from the attack to pornographic material that is plastered on Wallace's wall or to use special effects. It's all too much. Given the overly sexual nature of the series, I'm not sure how we are suppose to interpret this scene. I will say Mulcachy's dialogue for the younger set is stronger than the Hamners, who wrote most of the other episodes I have. Mulcachy uses more crass language, while the Hamners tended to use phrases which do not stand the test of time. Regarding Betty, I was wrong about her husband, Joe Franklin. He wasn't dead. He had deserted Betty and Laurel years ago and had returned to town. Joe was seen outside the Franklin cottage on several occassions. During the rape, Betty flashes back to Joe forcing himself on her years ago. Betty had 'heavy breather' calling her, which may or may not have been Joe. At times, it seems to be a bit much, but I do appreciate the density of the text at times. There was certainly story to tell with this group of characters. Josh / Gail's friends with benefits relationship seems very ahead of its time. In another scene, Josh informs Gail he is aware of Gail's attraction for Bryan and says it doesn't threaten him. If I get a chance, I'll post a snippet of that scene.

I like the sad theme. Thank you, saynotoursoap, for this closing. It's from February 1981, right? Hubbard returned in January, the Bennetts left in March, and Jerry returned for Nola / Jason's wedding in March. Also I think Theodora finally died in February, didn't she?

No, I wasn't aware Jeffreys was only on for two months. There was so much publicity about her joining the show; I know the articles about her span from March to July 1971. They must have been interviewing her up until the minute she was fired.

Carl, I think the Campus Strangler killed off dayplayers, not contract characters, but I may be wrong. Four young women died before there were no more new days in Eden. According to the story, all the young women were freshmen in Kevin Wallace’s English Lit course and three of them had been sexually involved with Biff Lewis before their deaths. The first victim was Susan Walsh; I think Anne Lockhart played the role. Muffy Spencer was the second victim and Penny Landis was the third. Penny’s death set in motion the blackmail storyline between Biff Lewis / Shelley Novak. Shelley claimed she had spent the night with Biff the night of Penny’s murder and Shelley extorted money from him in exchange for the alibi. Luann Butler may have appeared in some classroom scenes, but she doesn’t appear in anything I’ve received. I’m waiting on one more script, Carl, which I’m hoping will clarify the Biff / Josh Collier / Lori situation. In regards to Madge / Miranda, both women are losers. Bryan Lewis is in love with Betty Franklin, Lara Parker’s character. After Bryan’s wife Emily died, Bryan had an affair with Betty, who worked as his office manager at the Atlanta operation of Lewis Electronics. For some reason, Betty left Bryan and ran off to Eden where she married Joe Franklin and had Bryan’s child, Laurel. After Betty left him, Bryan became involved with Madge, but Madge knew there had been someone else; she just didn’t know who. This scene is from script #131. At the end of part 60, Miranda apologized to Betty for snapping at her earlier (an incident in #130, the one script I don’t have out of the last nine) when Bryan Lewis arrives with Madge. Bryan mentions the death of another co-ed, which causes Betty to freak out; Laurel didn’t come home last night. This is the follow up. What I found particularly interesting about this is it plays out with both Miranda and Madge present, but the two act as if they are alone. I think it was a well done scene. The scene continues with Madge / Miranda bickering before Josh Collier and Gail Lee arrive to announce Gail’s plans to leave town. This is Gail’s last appearance. A goodbye dinner was arranged by Madge and Bryan at the country club, but Josh announces Gail had to skip out. This is a bit of a shame because it was hinted Miranda intended to use Gail to cause tension between Madge and Bryan. Gail and Bryan slept together around script # 117 or #118, which caused Bryan to realize how lonely he had been. In an exchange with Gail, which Miranda overhears, Bryan thanks Gail for reawakening him sexually. Instead of the Gail reveal, Madge overhears Betty / Bryan admitting their love to one another in the Lewis living room in the final episode.

Flora Campbell seems like such a normal woman. I forget sometimes that soaps allows actors regular employment in order to spend time raising their families. Its a shame they are fading.

Virginia Dwyer played Jane, Bruce's wife. Jane was the housekeeper who fell in love with Peter Ames.

Regina Gleason looks like Bev McKinsey in that pic. I haven't seen that one before. Thanks. Dabney Coleman does NOT come off across well in this interview at all. The interviewer tries, but I think it almost makes it worse. Pamela Murphy's comments about the population explosion and how it relates to soaps was interesting since soaps have always been heavy in children / pregnancy department. I really wish this show had continued. It sounds like there was a solid core, but the show's ratings never exploded. I've read Sandy had an illegitimate child, but I've never uncovered any details regarding that story.

From his interview with WeLoveSoaps earlier this year. I do think they do a wonderful job covering the entire body of the subject's work, and I don't think I praise them enough.

ZoeTate, I do believe this was the show Hall referred to in his interviews. I remember thinking of this when Hal Holbrook discussed how beautiful the speech was at Grayling and Sandra's wedding. Regarding Bell, he did work under Irna Phillips, who was the show's creator. It's possible he wrote for some of the series as I believe she did have ghostwriters. Minor point, I believe it was Althea, not Liz, who had the breakdown.

This is the Madge / Miranda confrontation that follows in Episode 129. Madge and Bryan return from a moonlit walk to find Miranda in the living room. After a few loaded comments from Miranda, Bryan leaves and Madge moves in for the kill. The Atlanta backstory is fleshed out a bit and the dynamics between Madge / Bryan / Miranda become a bit more clear. At first, I was a bit disappointed we don't get a take on Miranda realizing Madge has figured out all the sordid details, but I've come to appreciate it more. Miranda refuses to give up until the moment she says 'I don't need your pity!' This scene is part 58 and follows up to one of the concluding scenes of part 57 where Madge announces to Miranda: "Look, Miranda, I know you came between Bryan and me once before. I want to talk to you about that now and I want you to listen --- very carefully."

Here is the Bryan / Madge scene on the terrace during the party. Captain Lockhart has just taken Biff into the foyer to discuss the Campus Strangler case and Bryan has been stewing on the terrace. I thought this was one of the better scenes and gave a rather interesting insight into the Lewis men. From Part 56 (Episode 128, Part 2)

Aren't the photos of the actresses who were providing the radio voices? Jay Meredith may have provided a voice for a 19 year old while being much older. I think one of the soap books mentions Liz appearing on the show in the early years, but they don't credit an actress in the part. My understanding is Liz faded into the background and later replaced Marcia as the happily married sister who came to town when the family needed to celebrate or was in a crisis. The family does seem to have evolved based on the two articles you have posted. Babby seems to be a perennial teenager, while Patsy has matured into the young unwed sister fighting off the advances of men while trying to hold the family together. It would seem Patsy replaced Liz.