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Shocked by the Michael Nader / Ellen Barber connection. I didn't realize they were once involved. My major Ellen Barber exposure is from her brief stint as the bitchy soap rival of Barbara Wilde's on "Ryan's Hope." Barber was good as the meddling instigator type. Joanna was more of a sympathetic role, no? If the show had continued, I wonder if Joanna would have been more in the mold of her mother-figure, Belle. Was Barber the first or second actress to play the role?

Miles was killed during the investigation into Sherry Wayne's murder. I believe the killer was, or was at least involved, with Jack Townsend. Jack appeared in one of the episodes on archive.org. Jack romanced Carolyn after Miles' death, but he was a baddie.

Ma Perkins, Young Doctor Malone, The Right to Happiness, and The Second Mrs. Burton were all ended on the same day in December 1960.

Actually, it was another article I read about Jennifer Leak and hot pants. She sure talked enough about that subject. In the article I read, Leak specifically mentioned being told by Jerry Layton, her producer, that she was not allowed to wear them onscreen. I wonder if TPTB were trying to lure viewers in thinking Jennifer might actually show some leg. I don't know. It's bizarre that this seems to be mentioned in several different articles. Thank you, Carl. It was nice to see a picture of Leak from her "Bright Promise" days. It is so different from the picture Eddie Drueding has of her on his "Another World" site from her days as Olive.

I don't think Lee MacDonald was pumped with illegal drugs, but rather sedatives. When Lee first came to town, he was working for a prosecutor investigating some shady figures. When Lee got to close to the story, they locked him in a convalesence home and kept him drugged so he couldn't reveal the truth. I've read Lee first appeared in the summer of 1957 during Debby Nelson's wedding to Craig Chalmers. Debby was the sister of the late Miles Nelson, Carolyn's third husband, and Craig one of the many men who fell in love with Carolyn over the years. The final storylines were a bit similar to "Rosemary." Sharon Graham tried to seduce a scientist, Alex Thorpe. Alex was run down in a hit and run and Sharon was accused of the crime. Carolyn believed in Sharon's innonence and was determined to learn who the real culprit was. Dick Braden, a friend of Skip's, had actually been driving the car. This was why he mentioned being on parole in the final episode. I was reminded of Lonny and Monica and their hit an run when I was rereading information on "Right to Happiness."

The St. Petersburg Times covered "The Right to Happiness" on occassion in their Radio Highlights. October 9, 1957 Helen Mason, nurse attending Lee MacDonald, reports overhearing a racketeer's confession of drugging her patient, rushes information to the legal authorities and breaks the defense of a fraudulent insurance claim case. Ruth Newton is featured as the nurse in the series starring Claudia Morgan. December 18, 1958 As plans progress for the wedding of teenaged Skip Nelson and Grace Driscoll, his mother [Carolyn MacDonald]fights her misgivings about the girl's honesty. Grace's parents offer no help with the reception or furnishing of an apartment. NOTE: Grace and Skip didn't marry and hadn't married by the show's conclusion. March 3, 1959 Though widowed Carolyn Nelson resents her teenage son Skip's love for Grace Driscoll, she admires the young girl's heoric effort to save her ne'er do well father from tragedy. By her kindness to Grace at this moment Carolyn regains her son [skip's] confidence. NOTE: It appears between March and May Carolyn has married her final husband, Lee MacDonald. May 7, 1959 Carolyn MacDonald hears her husband [Lee MacDonald] counsel a client on techniques for avoiding direct answers to questions of the opposing attorney under cross examination. Later, he applies a different set of standards when a neighbor asks advice on a martial problem. The MacDonalds come close to their first quarrel over his lack of consistency. June 25 1959 To Carolyn, his bride of only a few months, Lee MacDonald justifies the unusual amount of time he spends with his widowed client, the beautiful Sharon Graham. Through Sharon's retaining him to protect her interst in a large business corporation, he hopes to build prestige and recognition in legal circles he explains. July 28 1959 Over the objections of his wife [Carolyn], Lee MacDonald chooses to remain as independent legal cousnel of wealthy Sharon Graham, rather than accepting a flattering offer to join a distinguished law firm. Carolyn is astonished by his candid explanation. September 17 1959 Carolyn McDonald, bride of less than year, hides the painful knowledge that her lawyer husband [Lee MacDonald] places her wishes second to those of his beautiful widowed client, Sharon. His sudden business trip to New York brings the situation into clear focus.

Years ago, Matt Smith posted them on a site. I would love to read them again if you get a chance. I think you have two of them already up. “Lovers & Friends” is a good read. I know Lemay said he didn’t write much of “For Richer, For Poorer,” but I get the feeling he worked on the concept for FRFP. Characters like Ira Ferguson, Viola Brewster, and Roger Hamilton were introduced, but given little to do (barring Viola). The presence of the brokerage firm is important in the first month or so and then abandoned again quickly. Roger Hamilton was Edith’s true love. I cannot imagine how someone would bring him on and not make a decent go of it between Edith and Roger. Richard was dead and this was Edith’s true shot at happiness. The presence of Viola Brewster seems to fulfill that rich b*tch role Edith had in the beginning, but I think a Viola / Richard / Edith triangle could have been fascinating. Viola was a member of their circle and was desperate to maintain her image. Why not marry Roger? I wonder if “Lovers & Friends” would have worked better if Lester and Josie were brother and sister rather than husband and wife. Sort of Sam and Ada of the “Lovers & Friends” set. Lester could have been Amy’s father who ran his wife away with his drinking. Lester could still be a surrogate father figure to the Saxton kids while opening Josie up for a relationship with an honest man who could stabilize her role as the mother figure for her clan. I don’t know why “Lovers & Friends” was pulled. Rhett Saxton was such a critical role. One of the only things I remember Lemay mentioning in his book about L&F is how early on they knew the original actor wasn’t going to work out. Without strong actors to pull off the central romance, the show was doomed from the start. A lot of complaints were leveled at the show for delving too much into characterization without constructing much plot. From what I saw, it seemed fair, only if you leveled the opposite at “For Richer, For Poorer.” Sometimes the plot seemed to forsake the characterization. I cannot imagine the Austin of “Lovers & Friends” being happy with life as president of Cushing & Sons or Lester falling off the wagon so easily. In terms of fixing L&F, I think “Lovers & Friends” should have been allowed to run its course. I wouldn’t have placed so much emphasis on Rhett/Bill and Megan and slowly built up the stronger parts of the canvas. Ellie could have caused drama for years as could have Jason. If they had held out long enough, Vicky Dawson would have been a strong ingénue. She was well liked later on as Eileen Perrini on AW. I think Abbott might have worked too. After everything else was working, I would have written Rhett/Bill out by killing him off or shipping him out of town. Megan could mourn and move on, while everything else was in place to keep the story moving

I've never seen anything specifically stated about Marchand, but I assume she asked to leave. In the fall of 1977, "Lou Grant" premiered and she was a part of the cast. The show filmed on the West Coast so I would think it would be impossible for her to do both. It looks like she made the right choice. A while back, I saw the premier of "For Richer, For Poorer" at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York as well as an early episode of "Lovers & Friends." "Lovers & Friends" was more fascinating despite the lack of action. In the episode of L&F, the Cushings were hosting an engagement party for Megan and Desmond. Megan was uncomfortable and dashed out to see the new neighbors. Megan and Rhett looked into each others eyes while Jason, Bentley, and Connie looked on. Josie and Sophia chatted in the Cushing kitchen. Edith tried to maintain her cool while Barbara, her husband's mistress, attended the festivities. Before leaving for the Saxtons, Megan found Austin drunk in an upstairs bedroom. Austin had a nice monologue about growing up in the Cushing home. The premier of "For Richer, For Poorer" began with a fake out. The first scene opened with Megan and Rhett reciting their vows. It was only their rehersal. James E. Reilly would have been proud. Connie sat in her middle class abode with her dad, Ira, talking about how she had something that would change everything as she rubbed her stomach. Lester went on a job interview and his drinking was brought up. When he didn't get the job, Lester decided to get drunk. Amy and Austin were preparing to go to the wedding when Rachel Cory arrived and all three left to attend the wedding. There was a scene between Ellie and Josie as well, but it was mainly filler. The dialogue wasn't as rich as it was in L&F. I think the problem with L&F was Harding Lemay presented a very cold vision. Neither Richard and Edith nor Josie and Lester had a marriage the characters would envy. Sophie admitted hers was a farce. Edith's ambitions were crushing her marriage to George. Rhett and Megan were to drawn to each other, but both were engaged to marry others. Megan's relationship with Desmond made sense; her parents were pressuring her to marry Desmond. With Rhett, Connie was sort of innocent about everything. She was getting punished for someone else's crimes. With that said, I think the lack of clear vision also hurt. Megan was involved with Desmond, Jason, and Rhett. Laurie was involved with Jason, Desmond, and Austin. Jason was involved with Laurie and Megan, but also scheming with Connie which could have turned into something more. In their early days, soaps struggle to find their footing. Lemay and Backus talked about the trouble with casting Rhett which meant having story switch from Rhett to Jason. Even with the revamp, it's clear the Desmond / Laurie / Jason story seems to have gained much more prominence than it had in "Lovers and Friends." Despite this, I'm fascinated when I read the synopses. I find Ellie's quest for prominence particularly engaging. You can see where Lemay was taking this story. George and Barbara would eventually engage in an affair. Edith would learn of the situation and keep mum in order to protect her own intersts; if Barbara was with George, she couldn't involve herself with Richard. A child might come into play since George lost his. Richard would eventually learn of the situation and reveal the truth out of jealousy. Ellie would be furious with Barbara and then equally furious with Edith for keeping her secret. Ellie would be forced to see the price of her social climbing and make an honest play for George or move on. Maybe Ellie would have become involved with Barbara's ex-husband, the one she spoke to George about in one of her previous situations. Yet, in For Richer, For Poorer, Ellie and George were the couple struggling to conceive. The twist that George was responsibile for their infertility was neat, but to negate the situation Lemay set up seems criminal. Ellie's fascination with Billy (Connie and Bill's son) worked, but didn't develop into anything. Similarly, Edith seemed defanged as she was hosting Megan and Bill's wedding in the opening episode having gotten over her class issues from the previous series. Barbara was still around, but not as prominent. I always thought the show could have been a hit if it premiered a couple years later during the big business era of Dallas and Dynasty. All the inner workings of Cushing & Sons seems ripe for an 80s audience. Jason seemed very J.R.-esque.

Irna Phillips created "The Right to Happiness" as a spinoff of "The Guiding Light." Philips transplanted Rose Kransky to the new serial with her mother and her brother. They were only the focus for a few months before they were sent back to "The Guiding Light." "Happiness" focused on the story of Carolyn, a young woman who spent nearly twenty years, and four husbands, looking for her 'right to happiness.' When the show moved from Chicago to New York, Phillips left the show and John M. Young took over as headwriter. Young assumed the writing duties in December 1942 as his script collection is available at Cornell's library. He penned the show until it was cancelled. He also wrote the final months of "From These Roots", wrote a few episodes of "Days of our Lives," and created "Golden Windows." After Miles left office, he was involved with Sherry Wayne. Sherry was a wealthy woman who suspected someone was trying to murder her. Wayne did end up dead and Miles did investigate. When he got close to the truth, he ended up dead. What I like about these Radio Times synopses is it gives a sense of pacing and when things occurred. Once Radio Times was discontinued, it is hard to find information about the soaps.

Haila Stoddard died Monday at the age of 97. I know it was posted in the Discuss the Soaps section, but I figured I'd continue the conversation here. Does anyone know when Stoddard left the program? The obituaries have different dates and the soap books tend to be unreliable at times. On a side note, I was just reading an article from December 1967 about daytime actors appearing in plays. Stoddard was listed as co-producing "The Birthday Party." George Reinholdt was appearing in Cabaret as well as playing Eric Fulda on "Storm." Actor Noel Craig was recently hired to play Herbie Vail on "The Secret Storm" and was appearing in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead." Apparently, before appearing as Dan Kincaid, Bernard Barrows played Henry McGill, the president of the local university.

Thanks Carl for "The Right to Happiness" synopsis. It's a shame this show never transitioned to television. I wonder how long Carolyn's story could have continued in the television medium and if she would accumulate any more husbands. In terms of the story, I don't know how far behind the Radio Times is in their summaries. The previous summer, Carolyn Nelson had been locked away in a mental hospital. Carolyn and Miles had toured the facility and Carolyn had caught on to some of the facilities shadier operating practices. The people behind the facility had locked her away and planned to kill her. Carolyn was saved by Dwight Kramer, her former husband. During Carolyn's stay in the institution, Annette Thorpe claimed Carolyn knew she and Miles weren't meant to be and had left town. I don't think Annette knew about the hospital scheme, but its possible she did. However, this summary seems to be from Carolyn's homecoming when it was clear Annette was meddling to come between the Nelsons. There are a couple of episodes at the Internet Archive, including the show's final episode. Unforunately, the final episode seems to be missing the last few minutes. The final scene was between Carolyn and her latest husband, Lee, talking about 'the right to happiness.' When it was uploaded on another site, this scene was included. I don't know what happened. Final Episode: http://www.archive.org/download/RightToHappinessRadioPrograms/Rtoh-TheresAnInfiniteTenderness.mp3

Judith was murdered. Ben, Paul's brother featured in the clip, was the murderer, but I'm pretty sure Van stood trial. I don't know what happened to Carol, but your synopsis suggest a good reason why she never returned: she and Van didn't seem to get along. Granted, this relationship could still have been featured. Doesn't this clip thought confirm Carol isn't Paul's child? I think that's another reason Carol fell by the wayside.

Have you seen the clip on youtube of this story? Where Judith recalls the night her father revealed her sordid story to Paul Raven. It is a very good scene. Very engaging.

Upon additional consideration, I find this very suspicious. I'm not dating you, Goldensoaps, but rather if this was the story truth. Michelle had bedded both Carter and Jeff. Carter and Michelle shared a father; Jeff was Carter's son. I know Christina was involved in this plot. If the show had continued, I wonder if Sarah's illegitimate child would have turned out to be antoher character. I wonder if Christina manipulated the situation to make Sarah look bad because she had allowed her own daughter to sleep with her half-brother and half-nephew. Or did the show's final writers not have a clear sense of the show's history. This is truly a mind boggling plot twist. BTW, Goldensoaps, Sarah did end up shot after her scenes C.J. and Michelle, correct? From what I've learned, the shooting of Sarah was intended to be the 'season finale' for "Rituals." The writers originally left things a bit up in the air in case the show was picked up. Once the show was dead in the water, I assume they tacked on Christina's monologue about the fates of the characters.

WHAT!!!!!! Thank you for this. What a messy family tree!

Jones had also played a heroine on "Lovers & Friends." To an extent, I think Christina may have been meant as a mother figure to the Chapin clan. She was BFFs with Katherine Chapin and consoled Brady when his mother died. Later, Christina decided she wanted to make house with Patrick in a very different way. I think someone realized Pflug wasn't going to play the "Alexis" role in the show and decided to soften Taylor and beef up Christina. I've seen very little mentioned about the story once Tina Louise takes over the role of Taylor. She seems to be a placeholder for C.J. as she plots to get rid of Carter from the family fold. If Pflug had stayed, I'm guessing Taylor and Logan's romance would have been featured more. "Rituals" is an oddity because SOD did cover it. Maybe the cable networks weren't willing to provide the information? Mary Ann Cooper or Lydia Hirsch did cover "Another Life" in their column. I've come across weekly synopses for AL a couple of times. A lot of those columnists covered the more obscure soaps, but, for some reason, I don't think they were always printed in the individual papers for the sake of space. I've never seen "The Catlins" listed in weekly synopses, but I wish it were. Goldensoaps, you have the last episode of "Rituals," correct? Did Diandra's baby have a name? Was Michelle's parentage talked about in the final episode? I love "Cuna de Lobos"! I've only seen the edited compliation that Televisa put out a few years back which is only a small portion of the story (10 hours or so) but it absolutely brilliant. I wish someone would reair it with subtitles. Someone was posting the entire series on youtube without the subtitles and I caught a few episodes. I think it ended in the 30s or 40s though before a lot of the more juicy stuff. I was excited about the remake initially, but I don't like how it will be a weekly series. That's disappointing. Rebecca Jones (Vilma/Catalina) is a strong actress but I'm not sure anyone can replace Maria Rubio in that role. Jones made Vilma vulnerable and sympathetic, which was a hard challenge given Vilma's role in the drama. It's probably the best baby swap storyline in soaps.

Oh! I don't think I've seen the Chapin living room in color before. The first shot is Sister Christina walking into the Chapin living room isn't it? As I said before, someone put the final monologue from "Rituals" online several years back. It was quite lengthy and some of the characters ended up getting rather bizarre or tragic fates. It also took place several years in the future. So these shots were suppose to be set in the late 1980s. Carter was paralyzed and had been stricken mute after someone ran them down with their car. Christina said they never found who the culprit was, but I figured Christina herself was probably the assailant. She was supposedly taking care of Carter since the accident. For some reason, I get a telenovela vibe from these screen caps. I don't know why, but for some reason I expect Catalina Creel to pop up wearing her eye patch...

lol. I've met very few "Rituals" viewers online. No one seems to have many recollections of the show. I think Lydia Hirsch said in her column the show did much better when it was moved to daytime. The obscure 1980s soaps interest me. “Rituals,” “A New Day in Eden,” “The Catlins,” and “Another Life” are some of the few off-network attempts to capitalize on the success of soaps. I’ve been thrilled with all these synopses because everything I have has only come in bits and pieces. Dennis Patrick played Patrick Chapin. I think his character was killed off the week of December 3-7, 1984. I don’t have the synopsis for this week, but the following week’s synopsis states “Taylor attacks Christina after the funeral” and “the contents of Patrick’s final letter are revealed.” Patty Dupont was a “Haddie,” a student at Haddon Hall. I’m not sure, but I think there were a lot of young female students who appeared in recurring roles when the series started. A lot of those early episodes seem to focus on the drama at the college. The actress who played Patty appeared on “Joanie Loves Chachi.” When they began phasing the school out, Patty stuck around and married Bernhardt Krauss, Julia’s former fiancée. I think this may have been why she stuck around longer. Patty and Bernhardt seem like peripheral characters after their marriage. From what I gather, they hung around as friends of Julia’s. I don’t believe either were contract characters, but they are listed in most reference books, probably due to their duration. Kevin and Dr. Coleman are the same character. I didn’t realize this until you posted these synopses. Grant Goodeve played the role as did another actor. Kevin Coleman was Noel’s court appointed shrink after she admitted to killing Eddie Gallagher. There seems to be some sort of ethical issue involving Kevin/Noel because of Kevin’s profession. I think there was a writing change during the Kevin/Noel story because Goodeve was a probably a pretty big name actor to dump rather quickly. Shriner claims they paired him with Mary Beth Evans as a sort of last hurrah, but I think they were hoping they could keep him around by moving him out of Philece Sampler’s orbit. I’m not saying there were problems between Sampler and Shriner, but rather that Shriner wasn’t happy with the storyline. As you said above, the whole tumor/baby plot is absolutely ludicrous. They should have played the Dakota/Jeff/Brady triangle and later brought Noel back in once her romances with Scott and Kevin Coleman ended. I was thinking it was interesting that Philece Sampler was hired to play a college student, but ended up playing a professor. Lacey seems like a sap and weepy heroine, while Pris Lawson was going to be an uber-bitch. I think the role reversal was disappointing. Christine Jones was sort of in a similar position, except her character became the show’s lead bitch.

The Nancy story was one of Mike and Lacey's few non-baby storylines. Nancy was a student in Mike's class who became obsessed with him. Clearly, she was a deranged young woman who took it to far. I believe she also made an attempt on her own life. At one point, Lacey was a physical education teacher, but I think later she took on a higher position at the college. She clearly cared about the students. I don't think Nancy was around long. Maybe December through early March, the time of this synopsis. It's interesting to see that as soon as the Nancy story ends Mike and Lacey are back to dealing with their baby problems. It's interesting that Koty has an illness at this point in the story, March 1985. I'm not clear if this is the brain tumor she was diagnosed with in May 1985 or a separate disorder. Koty seemed to be a perennial victim, so I wouldn't be surprised if this illness was separate from her later one. Cherry seemed to come and go from Los Angeles as she pleased. I know at one point Dakota joined her there at the tail end of Dakota's movie storyline. I wonder at what point the show abandoned Dakota's acting ambition? Her modelling for the Chapins seems like it was a step backwards. Then again, Dakota seems like a character molded after Charlene Keel's original pilot, a young ingenue with acting ambitions attending the prestigious girls' school. I don't see why Dakota couldn't have been torn by a career in Los Angeles and a life with Brady in Wingfield. It's interesting that Lucky came to town and was immediately attracted to Julia. I'm beginning to wonder if the plan was to do a Clay/Julia/Lucky triangle with Lucky and Clay representing different sides of the law. With Clay's connections to the Robertsons, I'm sure there could have been some additional connections on the canvas. Clay did return in the summer of 1985, but those synopses you posted don't seem to list much about Clay after he returns. This seems to be the arrival of C.J. and start of the second chapter of "Rituals." Over the past few days, I been thinking more and more about "Dynasty" in daytime comment. I think Ken Corday's point may have been about creating characters the audience would invest in and spending time on character development rather than constant plotting. From what I've seen of "Dynasty," the show was very plot heavy whereas daytime needs downtime to develop characters and relationships. I still think this could have been done in the world of corporate moguls and the extremely wealthy, but it would need to pace itself. There doesn't seem to be any Taylor references. I assume she was written off before C.J. arrived. What a shame! This Tom/Diandra conflict regarding C.J. seems interesting and I wish it played out longer. There seems to be an implication of some attraction between C.J. and Diandra and Diandra seems a bit ambitious. This situation definitely seems more suited for what is to come in terms of C.J. and Carter. Patty was a college student who married a wealthy older man, Bernhardt. Bernhardt previously had been involved with Julia when she was a bit of schemer. When Julia and Bernhardt split, Julia began to see shady Clay Travis, who worried Bernhardt. I didn't realize Christina and Clay had been sleeping together. Christina certainly got around once the show backburnered Taylor. Christina slept with Carter, Patrick, Clay, and C.J. Lady got around in a short amount of time. The San Rafael plot sounds like typical 1980s action/adventure soap. I didn't realize Enrique was Diandra's uncle, I figured he was her father. It seems like Mike and Diandra slept together by this point. I think it was too soon for a new soap to delve into this type of story. Diandra and the terrorists just seems so bizarre, but it's interesting to read this as Gina Gallego's organ donation in prison plot climaxed on "Days of our Lives." Lacey's pregnancy was always in jeopardy, but I thought she had lost the baby during her kidnapping story. I'm not surprised they held off until sweeps. The life or death element was probably teased a bit since Dianda and Mike had slept together. Viewers may even thought Lacey was genuinely in peril since if she died, Mike could always make a play for Diandra. Jo Ann Pflug left and Tina Louise arrived in this synopsis. This was the plot that Pflug refused to play on moral grounds, which is less shocking seeing it in complete context. Bernhardt had a thing for young girls (Julia/Gloria/Patty). Taylor wasn't scheming to break up a happy couple, but scheming to reveal the truth about her daughter's unfaithful lover. On the otherhand, I got the impression Julia wasn't so much in love with Bernhardt as she was the money and freedom his lifestyle provided her. More and more, I'm convinced Gene Palumbo planned on revealing Logan Williams was Julia's father. C.J. Fields had to have a reason he abandoned his daughter for all those years. I'm wondering if he suspected he wasn't her father which ended his and Taylor's marriage. Please be aware this is conjecture, but I think it would have been quite fascinating to see it all play out had Logan and Taylor stuck around for the Carter/C.J. feud. I like the idea of Patrick and Christina, but I think Patrick dies in the next synopsis. In early December, the family gathers for Patrick's funeral. I wish someone could clarify the Christina/Jeff connection. Did Noel really sleep with her cousin? The Los Angeles story does end up happening. I believe it also involves the movie Dakota was involved with, but I may be wrong. I think Mary Beth Evans arrives around this time as well. It's interesting how Julia seems in a separate social circle than Noel/Jeff/Brady/Dakota. So Chalon is some sort of substance and Carter and Marissa were lovers. This is all very interesting. I sort of see how the show slowly moved away from the college and focused more on the industrial aspect. I think the Chapins owned a mill so I wonder if Chalon is suppose to be a fabric? Thank you again for these!

To be quite honest, I didn't pay much attention to the late 1981 synopses when I was reading them. The 1981 Writer's Strike was such a bad time for the show with really bad stories. I didn't pay much attention again until the December 1982 synopses when Lemay took over. I don't know how it played out onscreen, but I think the intention of the M.J. / Matt story was well intentioned. I don't think the writers intended for Matt and M.J. to be the show's new cornerstone couple. M.J. and Matt were paired in August 1981 when the show was still written by scabs. When the writers returned, I think they continued M.J. and Matt because they new Mike was returning. Mike and M.J. had been a couple right before Mike left in February 1980. The conflict between Mike and Matt played out when Mike returned. I suspect Mike and M.J. would have moved back into each other's orbit with Katy being the spoiler. Matt seemed like a rather hard man. He was confident and unbending, which made him a good doctor, but not always the easiest man to get along with. I've seen people complain about Matt and Maggie's split, but I found it reasonable. Matt was rather cruel at times. When Maggie thought she was pregnant in the late 1970s, he made it clear he wasn't happy with the idea of raising another child. I thought this was rather crass considering Maggie seemed delighted with the idea of raising another baby. Maggie's miscarriage was used to keep Maggie and Matt apart. Matt wasn't even aware Maggie was pregnant at the time of the miscarriage. A baby would probably have united them. If the show had more time, a Matt and Maggie child would have been important to the show's canvas. With a show in its dying days, explaining where the baby was might have been a hassle and Greta and Mike both had children who would have been older than their aunt or uncle.

Maggie miscarried in either late November/early December. She became very sick, and lost the baby when she was suffering from some life threatening ailment. It started during the writers' strike. It was dropped when the writers returned. Lemay's material starting airing the last week of December. The Christmas 1981 episode is credited to someone else, but New Years Eve was penned by Lemay. The first March 1982 SOD is from Lemay's first week I believe. I didn't think SOD was that far back, but I'm prety sure this was the final weeks of 1981, first weeks of 1982.

The 1985 ones are great. I think “Rituals” continued for one more synopsis after the one you posted. Taylor returned around three weeks before the show was cancelled. I don’t like how the synopsis doesn’t really clarify what brings Taylor back to town. Maria Trieste is Renee Jones’ character. I’ve seen her listed in a bunch of TV Guide summaries, but I thought she popped up earlier than August. It’s nice getting a sense of the timeline of those final months. I think the show was definitely developing into something worth watching with all the wheeling and dealing. Minor characters like Michelle and Scott really add something to the canvas and tie the younger established characters (Jeff/Noel) to the bigger story. I like how Tom’s contamination brought C.J. and Sarah together rather than tearing them apart since it happened at C.J.’s factory. The Lacey/Mike situation is bizarre. Kin Shriner was on his way out and they introduce a new storyline. I agree with your comments regarding Dakota, the lady with the baby and the tumor. Give me a break. YouTube has some clips of Shriner and Evans promoting their story on the Merv Griffin show. Was this really the best the show had to offer? I like the Larry/Lacey situation better because Larry was a more established part of Lacey and Mike’s backstory. Lacey loved Larry’s daughter, Katie, and I could see how they could be drawn together. I think it makes Lacey look bad that she was sleeping with Larry while married to Mike, but Mike had already bedded Diandra so what does that say about him. The Gallagher family didn’t work outside of Sarah and Noel. The Mike/Diandra situation is so interesting to me since I don’t know the details. Tom and Mike were close and the two couples were pretty intertwined in the early episodes. I’m shocked they mixed things up so early. I don’t think the producers knew what to do with Mike. The San Rafael storyline was very 1980s. Exotic locales and adventure stories. I’m not sure what Tom and Diandra did once the kidnapping was over. Marissa poisoned the executive suite with Taylor and Brady waiting for Carter. I don’t know the conclusion.

I think these synopses are from October/November. By November sweeps, Tom has already been kidnapped. The San Rafael storyline started in the opening episode. Tom returned from the service with Diandra on his arm. Diandra was running away from the war-torn San Rafael where her lover, Carlos, had been killed. Carlos was a terrorist, who was revealed not to be as dead as Diandra thought. In Wingfield, Diandra was hiding under the pseudonym Diandra Perez and ended up working as a maid for Patrick Chapin. Diandra and Tom seemed pretty much set to be a major super couple. Tom had an old girlfriend Susie Pelligrino, who had committed suicide, before he went into the service. Susie’s brother Larry Pelligrino was still in town and was looking for vengeance. There was some mystery regarding Susie’s death. I think Eddie Gallagher may have done something to Susie. Anyway, I think Tom and Diandra got lost in the shuffle because they weren’t connected to the school or to Chapin Industries. In Christina’s final monologue, Tom died of radiation poisoning and Diandra took her daughter back to San Rafael. Lacey’s pregnancy was the initial conflict in Lacey and Mike’s relationship. It prompted their engagement, which Lacey’s parents didn’t approve of. As if that wasn’t enough, Lacey was told she should have an abortion for medical reasons. At Haddon Hall’s Homecoming, Lacey was kidnapped by a masked rider, which was a Haddon Hall ritual. A young man from the local boys college, Oakhurst, would kidnap a scantily clad young lady and bring him to be their homecoming queen. Mike thought it was a joke that they grabbed Lacey this year. It turns out though Lacey was actually kidnapped. I don’t know all the circumstances. Lacey would later miscarry the baby. I think the kidnapper was connected to Becky’s Bomber as this was the name of the raider in the kidnapping tradition. The Homecoming ritual was based off of Rebecca Haddon, a Chapin relation who had been kidnapped 100 years ago by her stableboy lover. Marissa Mallory was the character Patti Reagan Davis played for two episodes before she quit. Janice Heiden continued in the role. Patrick had a secret, which Marissa was privy to. Carter would seduce her in order to get the secret. I’m not sure what the secret is, but it may have been Carter’s paternity. Marissa was around for several months as she would later poison her co-workers at Chapin Industries. She was a schemer, who probably would have thrived during the corporate C.J./Carter period. Sammy Loakes was a criminal figure who was involved with Carter Robertson in the beginning. Sammy owned a construction company and owned a piece of land he was hoping to sell to Haddon Hall for a tidy sum. Carter was going to make the land deal go through until Taylor announced at Orientation that Logan Williams was the new president of Haddon Hall. Taylor was trying to keep Logan in town because she wanted to reunite. This change dampened Carter and Sammy’s plans. As a result, Sammy was determined to hurt Carter and plotted with Eddie Gallagher to make Carter pay. I believe Carter owed Eddie money and the land deal would have made them even. Sammy paid Eddie to kidnap Jeff Robertson, Carter’s son who was away at Yale. Eddie kidnapped Jeff and planned on extorting money from Carter. I’m not sure how it ended, but Sammy was killed as this mentions. As a side note, Jeff just notices that Eddie is his kidnapper, but Eddie is Christina’s brother-in-law. How did Jeff not recognize his uncle's voice?I’m becoming more convinced Christina isn’t Jeff’s mother. This would make sense since, if Christina was Jeff's mom, Jeff would have been tied to both major families.

The show ran for a year, but the initial pick-up was six months. Around Christmas 1984, the show was picked up for an additional six months. One of the articles I read talked about how the news was announced at the cast's holiday party. Before the show was cancelled, it sounded like it was going on a production break. The press made it sound like the final September 1985 episode was like a season one cliffhanger, which is why Sara was shot in one of the final scenes. The indication was the shooting would be resolved when the show picked up production. Since it was cancelled, they filmed a final conclusion with Christine Jones giving a speech from a convent. The plot I was referring to was in the book. Maybe I shouldn't have referenced the actors who played the roles in the pilot. I don't know much about the plot of pilot other than what was posted in that article. Another poster once typed up some casting information from a February 1984 SOD about the "Rituals" pilot. Most of what I was referring to happened in the novel, but I found it all bit racy. At one point, one southern college turned down an offer from the production team to film on their campus because they deemed "Rituals" too inappropriate. I dawned on me today that Sondra Currie (C.J.'s ex-wife Margot, Rituals) and Monte Markham (Carter, Rituals) would end up playing related characters on "The Golden Girls." In season two, Currie played Blanche's stepmother Margaret and, in later seasons, Markham played Blanche's brother Clayton. I love these synopses. Thank you so much, Carl. Previously, I assume Tiger was a person but now I'm assuming Tiger is a horse. Given it was the 1980s, I figured Tiger was the name of jockey or rock star based on what I had read about Tiger's involvement in Jeff and Brady's story. When I read Tiger's leg was broken, I felt sympathy for the character, but when Brady smothered him for having a broken leg I was floored. Then, it dawned on me Tiger must not be human. Yikes! The Gallagher family stuff sticks out like a sore thumb, doesn't it? The ambigious date rape situation with Noel/Brady seems bizarre and a bit in poor taste. Diandra seems kind of vile by telling Tom the baby could be Mike's. I'm not certain of those circumstances, but the Mike/Tom/Dakota/Lacey story seems rather complicated. Had the series continued, I wonder how all of this would have been handled. Mike Gallagher probably would have to be recast as the show is gung ho on the Dakota-Mike pairing. I wonder what would have happened to Lacey? Tom ends up suffering from radiation poisoning after the incident at Brownsville so I assume that would cause trouble for Diandra and Tom for some time. I think it might have been best to save Noel and Sara and write off the rest of the Gallaghers. The business angle seems interesting, the Lucky/Julia pairing is fascinating, but the show needed more romance. The older pairings seem very interesting with Christina acting as a spoiler to both Carter/Lisa and C.J./Sara. Taylor returned in the final weeks so I wonder what plans the writers had in mind for her. I know C.J.'s brother Aaron pops up. Maybe, Taylor was going to hook up with her former brother-in-law. I will comment tomorrow on the rest of the summaries. Thank you again, Carl. These have been a real treat.

Prisc, Philece Sampler's character in the pilot, ended up having an abortion after she departed the story. I think she also became a stripper after leaving Woodbriar. One of the girls, I think Dabney ended up marrying a good guy law student/lawyer and had a baby. I had completely forgotten about Dabney entirely. I feel like she was a dull character. I couldn't remember London's name, but I remember her mother arrived at the school in a limo after a night of drunken debauchery. Sandy, Barbara Crampton's character in the pilot, ended up sleeping with Judd McBroom as well and she was one of the good girls. I remember I found that rather shocking. In the beginning, Noel was the sort of Erica Kane/Rachel Lucas to Dakota's Tara Martin/Alice Matthews. Brady was a drug addict who squandered his life at Yale and returned for his mother's funeral in shame. This triangle could have played out for a while especially since it wasn't reliant on Haddon Hall. Noel had aspirations throughout the show's run. She always wanted more than her humble roots would provide. Initially, this was shown as a bad thing and she was a schemer manipulating Brady in order to prevent him from being with his true love Dakota. When Noel offed Eddie, Noel was more of a victim. There was some sort of romance with her court order psychiatrist, Dr. Coleman, but Sara seemed to deem this inappropriate. By the end, Noel was an aspiring singer. Dakota had aspirations as well, but she was the good girl. She was filming a movie in the beginning which had some soft core elements to it. Cherry was worried the film would ruin Dakota's career. At some point, I think Dakota ended up in Los Angeles around December 1984 or Janaury 1985. I assume this was related to her career. From what I can gather, Mary Beth Evans came in around late November/early December 1984. The initial syndication deal was for six months. After the six months, a lot of stations dropped the show and no one carried it in primetime. I think the murder mystery gimmick was smart on the show's part. If fans were paying attention, they were going to be angry the show was dropped just as they had a chance to win some cash. On the otherhand, if no one was watching anyway... SOD was a biweekly publication at the time, right?