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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?

Christina Jones actually played Charlotte in the pilot. I had forgotten there was a Jenny in the book. In the pilot, Stephanie Braxton played Jenny, who ran a truck stop restaurant. If the show had gone in syndication, I assume Braxton would have been replaced as she and Paul Avila Mayer headwrote "Search for Tomorrow" when the show would have started production. I find it interesting that Charlene Keel suggests Taylor/Julia/Logan was the same as Charlotte/Pris/Judd. In the books, Pris and Judd become lovers before Charlotte can reveal Judd is Pris' biological father. Of course, by this point, Pris has fallen pregnant by her father and leaves town when she realizes what has happened. In the show, Julia was twenty-one and it had been twenty two years since Logan and Taylor had broken up and Taylor had married C.J. I suspected Logan was actually Julia's daughter, and this seems to validate that idea a bit more. Charlene Keel's piece is particularly shocking to me in terms of its honesty. Keel expresss her disappointment in the final product, and people involved give legitimate reasons why the show wasn't working. I don't think the idea of doing DYNASTY five days a week was a bad idea. The wheeling and dealing between C.J. and Carter could have gone on for a long time as long as they strengthened the characterization and followed through on storylines. I realize Tina Louise and Jo Ann Pflug didn't work out, but the show really should have found someone to play Taylor. Taylor had history with both Carter and C.J. to play with as Carter was only revealed to be her half-brother a short time before her departure from town. Similarly, writer Logan could have been recast and kept along to allow the Julia storyline to play out. Thanks Carl for all of these. The synopses are nice as they certainly flesh out details I had found. C.J. Field had remarried after his divorce from Taylor. His second ex-wife, Margot, arrived in town to announce their son Mark had been kidnapped. Mark had been kidnapped by a hate group, the White Knights/Crusaders. Mike Gallagher went undercover to save Mark from these men. This is all covered in the synopses. I don't know what happened to Mark or Margot once this storyline concluded, but I haven't seen them mentioned in any synopses once the storyline concludes. Later, Aaron Field arrives on the scene, I believe he is C.J.'s brother. In one of August summaries I have, C.J.'s brother clears him of the problems involving one of C.J.'s factories. I'm surprised Jeff and Noel were involved as Christina Robertson and Sara Gallagher were sisters. I wonder if Christina wasn't Jeff's biological mother but rather a stepmother? Jeff Robertson/Chapin must have had trouble sleeping around if he was related to most of the canvas. Making Christina Jeff's stepmother would have opened Jeff's possibilities up. Or Jeff and Noel were the precursors to Jammy... Clay Travis was Julia's boyfriend post-Bernhardt Krauss. In the opening episodes, Julia was sleeping with an older man, Bernhardt, in his villa in Acapulco. Julia was furious when her grandmother's will required her to stay in Wingfield in order to get her money. Bernhardt came to town to be with Julia. Taylor didn't like Bernhardt and Julia's relationship. In order to break Julia and Bernhardt up, Taylor set out to seduce Bernhardt so her daughter would see he was wrong for her. This was the plot point which drove Jo Ann Pflug off the show. Pflug refused to play a character who would seduce her daughter's boyfriend. Tina Louise came in and played out Taylor's scheme and stayed with the show. Bernhardt later married Patty Dupont, one of the co-eds. Julia got involved with a thug, Clay Travis. Christina schemed with Clay to get her hands on the Chapin family jewels. Clay ended up stealing money and/or blackmailing the Robertsons. When Eddie was murdered, it appears Christina set Clay up for murder, but eventually Noel was revealed to be the killer. Clay was probably off the show two monthes. I'm not sure he was around long after his return. There was little mention of him after his return.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard of "Rituals" floating round in tape trading circles. Severa years ago, one youtube poster posted some audio of the final episode including Christina's final speech and the opening and closing theme music. Do you care to share what happened in the final episode? I know sisters Sara and Christina had both shared romantic feelings for C.J. Field. C.J. seemed to have genuine feelings for Sara, while C.J. and Christina's relationship was built on their mutual hatred for Carter. Their rivalry exploded in this episode and Sara ended up shot by a mysterious assailant. In a prologue, Christina confessed to the crime from a nunnery several years in the future. Diandra Gallagher had given birth to her baby girl and the child's life was in danger. Did the baby have a name? Also, do you know who Michelle Davenport's parents were? She was the young lady who was dating Jeff. Sara and/or CJ seemed to know who Michelle's parents were, but I've never seen anyone listed in summaries. The promos are definitely from early in the show's run. I think Mary Beth Evans came in November/December. The first promo featured clips from the opening episodes featured on youtube. The second promo seems a bit later, but stil fall 1984. Keel's version of 'Rituals' was filmed. A pilot was shot featuring a fairly faithful adaption of her novel. I own the novel. The male lead Judd was sleeping his way through the campus for two decades. There were no Chapins. There was a token wealthy family with an aging grandmother, a bitchy mother-daughter duo, and the British illegitimate daughter no one knew about. Philece Sampler and Barbara Crampton played Priscilla and Sandy, who I think were half-sisters in the book. Overall, the book was focused on the young female students involved with the professor. Someone thought it wasn't going to work and scrapped the concept. Kin Shriner was sold on the original concept. I've read he and Philece Sampler were the only two leftovers from the original concept. I've never read who Shriner was suppose to play in the original pilot. I think Shriner was probably sold on it being less 'soapy' in the sense it was set in a school of the arts rather than a traditional soap opera setting. In the story, Logan Williams was only set to stay a year in Wingfield. I suspect George Lazenby had a one-year contract. When Taylor's mother Katherine passed, Logan was declared executive of the will and per the stipulations he had to stay in town a year to make sure the family behaved. Logan and Taylor were the show's it couple in the beginning, but, in the summaries, Taylor slowly faded into the background after Tina Louise came on. Logan and Taylor both left town in February/March right before C.J. arrived on the scene. It's a shame since Logan/Taylor/C.J. would have been a triangle that made sense. The Lacey/Dakota/Mike story they cover in the Yearbook played out from May 1985 to the show's conclusion. Prior to this, Lacey and Mike had looked after a little girl named Katie. Katie's dad Larry had lost his wife and worked on an oil rig. Lacey and Mike tried to adopt the child, and Lacey and the baby's father had a bit of an attraction. Before the tumor, Dakota was paired with Brady Chapin. Brady and Dakota were caught up in the Eddie Gallagher drama. I believe Eddie stalked Dakota or something. I love how the photos or Lacey and Mike are from the same photo shoot. Wesley Ann Pfenning played Christina and Sara's other sister Lisa Thompson. Lisa arrived in May on the run from the authorities. The FBI was looking to obtain information from Lisa, who had been a hooker. Lisa was a schemer like her sister Christina and married Carter Robertson in the show's final episodes. I believe she blackmailed him over something. I believe Diandra and Mike were the parents of Diandra's baby, but I'm not sure when or under what circumstances this child was conceived.

CarlD, I'd love it if you posted anything on "Rituals." There is so little out there. There's something of a trainwreck quality to the whole thing that fascinates me. All the cast changes, story changes, production changes, etc. seem to have create this massive clusterf$%#%. Characters came and went, couples were ripped apart, but yet there seems to be some genuinely interesting elements to the show. The first year of a soap is going to be problematic. "Rituals" struggled with identity because of the syndication element. I don't think they knew whether to gear it more so to a nighttime audience or a daytime audience. Plus, the show's original concept was dropped and what ended up on air was completely different from what had been proposed by Charlene Keel. Does anyone know who the show's headwriters were? I know Charlene Keel proposed the original concept. A pilot was filmed, but later scrapped. Then, Gene Palumbo wrote the show, and probably was behind the revamped concept. He wrote the show for about six months. From there, things get a bit screwy. Laguardia states L. Virgina Browne and John and Joyce Corrington were writers for the series. I assumed this meant they followed Palumbo as headwriter. However, someone posted on another site a SOD news article about Raymond Goldstone replacing Palumbo. Today, I found an article from June 1985 declaring Stacey Anderson and Steve Burkow were taking over as headwriters. The show was cancelled not long after. Anyone have any information they care to add?

I wasn't trying to doubt Lacy's acting versatility, but rather to explain where I'm coming from. I think I saw an episode or two with Lacy playing Tony Peterson, but I watched most of the 1795 flashback and the 1840 flashback where Lacy played religious zealots. In my mind, it's hard to imagine Lacy as the center of a romantic triangle. I'm not saying he couldn't have driven the story. When I imagine how that storyline played out in my head, I struggle because of my perception of Jerry Lacy.

Thank you for your kind comments. I enjoy your knowledge of cancelled, often forgotten, soaps. Your responses are always interesting reads. Was Christopher Reeves' departure inevitable? I'm aware of his later success in the "Superman" franchise, but I've also heard he was a bit green on "Love of Life." Ben Harper was a delicious role when Reeves' played the part. He was a strong male in a genre where women dominated. I read when the role was recast, it was a highly coveted by young males in that age range. Jon-Michael Reed reported Charles Harben Hill (or Hill Harben, I never can remember) and Gary Swanson were up for the role. Obviously, Hill got the role. Did you think Reeves could have been easily recast? Should Ben have gone to prison or do you think a recast should have assumed the role immediately? Jon-Michael Reed alluded in his column to Deborah Courtney's acting ability or should I say lack thereof. The insinuation was Courtney was a bland actress and Roxanne Gregory was brought in to spice up the Rick/Cal/Meg triangle. From what I've gathered, you feel differently. What did you think of Courtney and Gregory? My only experience with Jerry Lacy is his role as Reverend Trask on "Dark Shadows" so I struggle viewing him as a suitable romantic lead. In my mind, Jerry Lacy and romance together in the same sentence leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I cannot imagine the Meg/Cal/Rick triangle being as fascinating as you describe it. I'm not saying this to contradict your statement, but rather explain my thought process. In regards to Gabrielle Upton, I wasn't very forgiving of her run in the past. The stories I had read were fairly bad and the influx of characters was worse. SOD use to post old synopses online around 1997-1998 from the late 1970s. My first experience of "Love of Life" was reading the SOD synopses from the Upton period and I thought they were bad. The prostitution storyline with Arlene was bad, the Michael Blake storyline was bad, and minors characters like Mary Jane Owens, Wendy Hayes, and Doreen Patton were introduced in bit parts and took center stage. It sounded like a very bad period for the show I state so earlier in this thread, but readjusted my opinion because of a comment you made in another thread about considering the behind the scenes politics of the show. So I considered the recasts, particularly Ben and Betsy, and readjusted my opinion. To an extent, it must have been a gift horse to write the return of Ben Harper, but I do question the decision to make Ben good and Betsy as his 'true love.' I do understand that Ben saved Betsy from being prosecuted in the bigamy case, but she was an innocent. Ben just did one right thing in his life. This didn't change everything that had come before that moment. I just don't understand why the show didn't continue to pursue Ben as the bad boy. I would have loved for him to return from prison and for Betsy, and the audience, to wonder if he had truly changed because of his time in prison. Then, slowly, reveal Ben was up to his old tricks again just as Betsy was beginning to fall in love with him again. I thought Upton's decision to pursue Mia/Ben full speed might have been due to the impending departure of Liz Kemp as Betsy. I was more forgiving of the Mia/Ben story when I looked at it in this light. Mia was still there and Betsy was gone. It seems like a logical decision. Yet, you seem to be saying Ben and Mia were being forced down the audience's throat from her arrival. I know Veleka Gray had kind words for Upton, but Mia seemed to be the centerpiece of a lot of stories. When I said I believed Upton made a turnaround in her final months, I was referring to several casting/story decision which seemed like they were steps in the right direction. Particularly, I felt her decisions regarding the Ben/Betsy story made sense given the direction she had taken the story. The return of Betsy seemed to resume the Ben/Betsy storyline, which Upton hadn't properly resolved. The introduction of her rather ambitious lawyer husband, Elliot Lang, seemed delightful. He was the law, but still morally corrupt. It opened up the possibilites of reviving the good/bad theme the show had played with since its inception If Ben was going to be our hero, Elliot seemed like a suitable foe. Upton had made Mia Marriott morally ambigious enough to replace the Arlene role in the storyline even though Arlene should have assumed the role herself. I think the groundwork was laid for some potentially long running stories involving the quartet. Similarly, I felt like the departure of Rick and Cal was a step in the right direction, which you may disagree with. While I think Cal's role as Meg's daughter was important, the Michael Blake storyline was so bad when I got to the summaries where Cal was written out I was relieved. I felt maneuvering Meg into the Marriott realm worked. I believe Meg was romantically interested in Andrew, who was crushing on Van during the awful Bruce is dying of anemia or whatever plot. I thought reviving the rivalry between Van and Meg was interesting even if Andrew wasn't the most dynamic character (Ron Harper is another actor who I feel lacked that dynamic quality. Was he different on "Love of Life"?) There were hints that Meg might become involved with Andy Marriott, Andrew's cad son who was very much in the mold of her own son Ben. The idea of Andy/Meg/Andrew triangle excited me. I loved the idea that Meg would become infuriated with Andrew's affection for her good sister, Vanessa, and give into Andy Marriott's sexual advances. Andy was looking for Meg to bankroll something. I could see her buying trinkets and lavishing her boy toy. I thought Andy had the potential to be the younger bad boy the show needed in the vein of Ben Harper. Plus, as I think you've described, there was a slightly incestuous relationship between Ben and Meg. Meg becoming involved with a young man old enough to be her son and who shared similar qualities could have been fun. Plus, Lynn Henderson, Van's ward, seemed to have an attraction to him, which I felt would have complicated things nicely. Lynn, too, had been attracted to Ben at some point, but that never seemed to go anywhere. I don't understand why Christian Marlowe was written out. Andy seemed to have real potential. Was Marlowe a weak actor? After rereading your post, I realize I misspoke when I said Upton inherited a stale canvas. I was aware Depriest and the Schneiders continued the bigamy plot milking it for what it was worth, and thought of this as a bad thing. I felt they allowed the story to come to a conclusion without having any plans in place for when the story ended so Upton was left to place the Eddie/Felecia/Charles story in the lead because that was all that was available. Your point about continuing long running triangles and quads made me see the errors in my previous statement. Wrongfully, I felt Ben's imprisonment was the end of that story. I interpretted the decision to pair Jamie and Betsy romantically prior to Ben's return as a rather bland continuation of the story that was in place as both characters were rather noble characters who were in a relationship that lacked a true external threat. Certainly, Diana wasn't going to make any calculated moves to ruin their relationship. Thinking things over, I could see how having Ben return to town, still selfish and calculating, could spark significant drama. Ben could have been the external force which would have driven Jamie and Betsy to a breaking point. Ben's return could have been the latest chapter in the Arlene/Ben/Betsy saga with Jamie and Diana playing significant roles.

Regarding Labine & Kristen at "Guiding Light," maybe Labine wanted Kristen in as a Selina recast? There was the whole Patti D'Arbville drama in the press where she claimed Labine wanted her out. Plus, the show still introduced Gus Aitoro, who was obviously Selina's son. In one episode, Buzz even confronted Gus on whether or not he was Selina's son and I'm pretty sure that was well after D'Arbville had left the show. I wonder if Labine wanted Ilene Kristen to play Selina after bouncing D'Arbville.

I've read that too, but this article is from April 1963, and, in the article, Polly Childs talks about originating the role in March 1961. Kate Lodge appeared at least 1961-1963 if not 1964. I would love to see a more accurate cast list for "Secret Storm."

Carl, forgive me. Initially, I stated Laurie had married Hugh Clayborn, but I had typed the wrong character. Hugh and Jill were married Hugh raised Jill's son by Ken Stevens as his own, little Clay. After Jill and Hugh's death, Clay went to live with his father Ken and his new wife, Laurie Hollister. Ken later died himself and Laurie took to raising Clay on her own. I'm not sure how Mark came into the picture. Maybe he counseled Laurie after the untimely death of her husband Ken Stevens? I believe Roy Windsor, and Gloria Monty, left the show in 1968 or 1969 after CBS purchased the series. Around the same time, the show fell out of the top five and never returned. Around 1970 it rebounded a little, but the gains were slowly lost over the last couple years. Brent wished to read an article about actors and actresses from the 1960s on "Secret Storm." This was the only one I was able to dig up so far:

From what I've gathered, Ken and Jill Stevens were friends of Amy Ames. Ken ran the local nightclub. Before Ken, Arthur Rysdale, Pauline's former husband, ran a gambling joint/casino in Woodbridge. I wonder if Ken took over Arthur's place? Anyway, I think at first Ken and Jill were a happily married couple to contrast the trouble marriage between Paul and Amy Britton. Jada Rowland and Nicholas Coster returned to the soap in April 1968 with much press. Newspapers across the country were covering their return in their entertainment section. I assume Amy and Paul were off the screen for some time. I thought saynotoursoap or someone else stated Paul and Amy were written out in 1966. I've seen other actresses listed playing Amy between 1966 and 1968, but I'm not sure those are accurate. When did Peter Ames die? I've seen Lawrence Webber listed in the role until 1968, but in October 1968, I read an article stating Peter had been killed off, along with Robin from "The Guiding Light," because there was no story left for him. I wonder if there was a funeral, and, if so, which of Peter's children were present? Almost immediately, Paul Britton was tempted when he returned to town; I assume by Amy's future enemy Belle Clemons. Coster talked about being involved in a triangle upon his return. His young daughter, Candace Coster, played the role of Lisa Britton when Rowland and Coster returned to the show in April 1968. At least year later, Candace Coster was still playing the role as I've seen it mentioned again in the papers. I suspect when Coster left "Storm," his daughter departed with him. Sorry for the digression, at some point, Laurie Hollister went to work at Ken's club. Laurie was a tortured soul. Her alcoholic mother, Nola Hollister, shot and killed Laurie's father, Wilfred, and I feel like Laurie might have spent time in an institution before arriving on the show. Murphy, who played Nola #2, claimed she shot Wilfred in her first episode and had a fan write her that the fan and her mother would be witnesses at Nola's trial as Nola had shot Wilfred accidentally. Back to Laurie, Windsor had created a show called "The Widening Circle" about a young woman returning to society after being released from a psychiatric facility. I feel like Laurie might have been purloined from Windsor's proposed serial. Laurie and Ken's affair must have been complicated by Jill Stevens' pregnancy. While Laurie was a heroine, I suspect Jill Stevens was as well. I wonder how the audience felt about the Laurie/Ken/Jill situation. Laurie was an interloper, but was pushed as a good girl despite sleeping with another woman's husband. I wonder if the outrage would have been the same had Laurie perished in the plane crash instead of Jill and her new husband, Hugh Clayborne. At some point, Ken and Jill divorced and Jill married Hugh Clayborn, a wealthy older man who agreed to help her raise baby Clay. Hugh had a daughter of his own, Didi, who I think was a bit like Susan Ames in the 1950s. She was a bit spoiled and adored her father a bit too much. Hugh's sister/aunt Birdy was also around for sometime. After Hugh and Jill died, Ken and Laurie raised Clay until Ken's death and then Laurie assumed the role of guardian of the child. If anyone has information to the contrary, please correct me.

From my understanding, Susan was a possessive character. She was devoted to her father and didn't really care for the other women in his life. In the episodes I've seen, Susan viewed her stepmother Myra Lake Ames as an adversary. I assume Susan wasn't pleased that Myra had usurped her role as the female head of the family. Similarly, Brent claims Susan had the same sort of problem with Valerie Hill when she entered Peter's life. Susan was an archtype that no longer exists on soaps, the overbearing daughter who's love and affection was devoted to her father rather than a husband. Barbara Sterling was another one of those young ladies. Alan was a shady character from my understanding. He was a golf pro or something and he had connections to the mob. I'm pretty sure I read he abandoned Susan while she was pregnant with their child only to return later. Susan had named her son Peter after her own father rather than the boy's father. I think this was another layer of Susan's devotion. In the episodes available online, Susan spewed venom about Myra because she believed Myra, a school teacher, had been behind Peter's attempt to bungle a land deal involving the school. The land deal would have made her husband Alan's colleagues a lot of money. Peter defended Myra and said school age Amy (played by a blonde) needed a good education. Susan still blamed Myra. Between February and August, Susan had become chummy with Bryan Fuller, who was working at the department store. Bryan romanced Pauline and planned to marry her. Bryan was a fortune hunter and had all ready stolen funds from Tyrell's, the department store. When the truth was revealed, I think Susan once again tried to blame Myra for ruining everything, but Peter coldly told his daughter she always alligned herself with the wrong people. At the same time, Alan seemed more mellow. He had a job and wasn't all that upset about what was going on with the land deal or Bryan Fuller. Alan had cheated on Susan, it was alluded to, but it was quite clear Susan wasn't an easy woman to live with. Alan was levelheaded and need to keep his wife in check. Susan wasn't about to be controlled and would get nasty with him. Theirs wasn't the ideal marriage.

One of the soap books was shocked this show managed to last as long as it did because NBC was cancelled crazy. NBC did cancel the show in 1959 and planned for the final episode to be in June 1959. I'm pretty sure a game show was set to replace it. Sarah Hardy, who played the show's younger female lead, said the writers planned to leave the story up in the air in case someone changed their mind. At last minute, they did change. Sarah Hardy played Lyddy Benson, Liz Frazer's niece. I don't know if this is documented in soap books, but she was a reporter like her aunt. She also worked at the Strathfield Record, the family newspaper. Lyddy married Lance Patterson, an English professor. At one point in the story, Lyddy's mother, Emily, suffered from a hysterical pregnancy. According to another article, Yardena also appeared on the serial a year earlier.