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Thanks for clarifying. I think I might have confused things. There was a typewriter involved as Liza, post-cave sex, brought a typewriter to Hogan as a gift. I'm thinking I might be confusing Liza/Hogan with Kentucky/Liza. I think the opening episodes on AOL had Kentucky in Liza in the woods after a plane crash or maybe they were just stranded in the woods. The cave scenes were good. I believe some are on youtube labelled 5/13/85 or something around there. Regarding Stephanie and Estelle, there is a scene between the two of them on youtube. Stephanie stops by Estelle's hotel suite around Christmas time to invite her to the Women to Watch fashion show. I believe this is where Stephanie was murdered. Anyway, there is a nice exchange between Estelle and Stephanie regarding Martin Tourneur. I had forgotten both women had been involved with him. What were others feelings regarding Aniston's Martin? When I read about his relationship with Jo in soap books, I didn't understand how the pairing could possibly work. When I saw the episodes on AOL, Martin and Jo were sharing scenes during Martin's brief return in 1984. I thought Aniston and Stuart shared strong chemistry and could see why it would work. Martin might have been a screw up, but he had a heart and cared for the ones he loved. I could see how a doomed romance between them must have been engaging to see play out. When were Kathy Phillips and Tom Bergman involved? I remember reading weekly summaries from the NBC period and they were a couple, but based on the summaries it sounded like it was a C-story. Kathy was later involved in Sunny's rape trial. In 1973, Mary K. Wells would have been playing Hannah Cord on "Return to Peyton Place." I think its a misprint.

By my estimate, Jennifer Leak had been on the show for some time. I think her arrival pre-dated the arrival of Anne Jeffreys' Sylvia as she was described as a daughter was mentioned in some the press regarding Jeffreys' arrival. The papers interviewed her in June 1971 about hot pants. Apparently, Ms. Leak loved wearing them and had tried to wear them on the show. Jerry Layton, the producer, told her it was a no go. Cast list state Leak was only on the show in 1971, but I wouldn't be surprised if she arrived in late 1970 and stayed through the conclusion. She isn't listed in the cast list from the January 1971 Daytime TV FrenchFan posted, but this doesn't mean she wasn't there. Given the storyline, I don't know how Leak wasn't with show from at least early 1970 until the show's conclusion. One interesting nugget I uncovered was Paul Lukather was off the show for four and half months in 1971. Bill Ferguson disappeared from the canvas in December 1970/Janaury 1971 and returned May 18th, 1971. What I do find interesting is that by the time of this article, which appears to be written in August, Bill Ferguson was written off again. Paul Lukather stated in an interview he had a three year contract with the show didn't plan on renewing it. I wonder if they killed Bill off offscreen as heroines of the early 1970s like Martha weren't allowed to divorce. The only one I can think of Althea on "The Doctors." I have Schemering's book and he doesn't go into much detail. He explains the focus was on the college and then more typical family drama involving the Jones and Pierce families. Mary Ann Copeland's Soap Opera History delves into the story a bit more. She talks about Sandy Jones Pierce sleeping with her professor, Bill Ferguson, marrying a man, divorcing a man, birthing an illegitimate child, developing a mysterious illness, standing trial for murder, and later marrying Stu Pierce. From another source, I know Sandy suffered a hysterectomy so I suspect that was linked to the illness. I would love to know the name of her child, it's father, and who she supposedly married before she married Stu Pierce. Wesley Hyatt's Encyclopedia of Daytime Television implies that Sandy only wed Stu and that she cheated on him. Hyatt usually has interesting information, but his book is scarce on "Bright Promise" information. Also, it is never been clarified how Howard Jones and Isabel Jones were related to Sandy. One would assume they were her brother and mother, but I've never seen definitive proof. Hopefully, something will turn up some day. Thanks again for these Carl. Additional information: Mark Miller's daughter Penelope is actress Penelope Ann Miller and the husband Jennifer Leak alludes to is actor Tim Matheson.

Paul Raven, I didn’t watch the show, but I’ve pieced together information here and there. The article Carl posted clarified some things for me. In Soap Opera History, the author discussed Martha Ferguson killing Sylvia Bancroft, her ward David Lockhart’s mother. The papers I’ve read talk about Sylvia having a dark secret and this article Carl posted mentions Charles’ own secret connections and trying to connect with his son. I draw a lot of conclusions and hope they are right. Sometimes I’m incorrect so feel free to correct me. So I make conjectures about how the storylines played out. I don’t know for sure there was tension between Sylvia Bancroft and Martha Ferguson, but I feel safe in coming to that conclusion because Martha is accused of murdering Sylvia before the series ends. The fact Charles Diedrich was romantically interested in Martha leads me to believe that David would have been involved since he is Martha’s ward and obviously Charles’ biological child. I imagine once Sylvia’s murder was resolved that the Tracey/Charles/Martha triangle would play out. It would seem the logical extension of the current storyline. Maybe Charles would have been dumped or revealed to be the true killer. My main point was I could see how Shaw was developing the canvas. I could see where, ideally, Shaw could take the characters and storylines in an engaging manner. I don’t know anything for sure. I thought maybe the blonde was Regina Gleason, but she looks older than Gleason. I’m think Sydna Scott, but I’m not sure if she would still have been around in 1971. Cast list for these old serials are terribly inaccurate. Jerry Layton was the executive producer. He produced “The Doctors” before working on the Canadian serial “Strange Paradise.” He was replaced by “Dark Shadows” producer Robert Costello on that serial. At BP, Layton replaced Richard Dunn. SP and BP premiered around the same time so Layton may have been behind the move away from the college. Frank and Doris Hursley created the show and were the first head writers followed by Rick Edelstein. The show’s final writer was Robert J. Shaw. Regarding the show’s cancellation, I suppose it was similar to the cancellation of “Capitol.” NBC was hoping to get cash in on name recognition. I know “Bright Promise” didn’t have brilliant numbers, but it didn’t fare badly considering the competition. On another soap board, I was told “Bright Promise” had aired overseas. The person who told me this said one of the actors was receiving residuals from the broadcasts in either the late 1970s or early 1970s. As Brent brought up in another thread, soaps from the 1970s were broadcast in foreign markets. They had to be transferred there somehow. I think there is a lot of lost material out there; it just needs to be found. UCLA has an episode or two of “Bright Promise” in their archive if I’m not mistaken. In regards to Dana Andrews, it’s possible his drinking had something to do with his departure, but I haven’t read anything to suggest that. Eric James, the actor who played Tom’s son, stated he and Andrews were disappointed in the scripts; they felt promises had been broken. In interviews, Andrews talked up the show saying he was really satisfied with the early scripts as he had a daughter who was away at school. Even later, when interviews were looking down on him for slumming it, he talked about how the show dealt with real issues compared to the extreme situations perpetuated on nighttime dramas. Of course, Andrews was the face of the show and really couldn’t say anything bad. I assume Andrews asked to be let out of his contract after the first year or didn’t renew. Paul, I find Sylvia Bancroft’s casting a bit bizarre. Today, I was thinking Anne Jeffrey’s carries herself as a society matron. I could see her playing this rich bitch based on her role on “Port Charles.” I’ve never seen Regina Gleason act, but I associate her with Kitty Horton, who always came off as low class in my mind. I’m not saying Gleason couldn’t play a spoiled diva; it’s just not the role I envision her playing. I find it odd that the role was recast only to be killed off within six months. Maybe the show needed Anne more than twice a week as the David storyline progressed and she felt committed to her family? It might have been limiting to only feature Sylvia twice a week, which would also explain why Sylvia was ultimately killed off. If they couldn’t use her, they ultimately chose to write her off. Carl, is the Miller interview and the comments from Jennifer Leak from the same issue as the first article? If so, I find it odd Leak isn’t mentioned other than in passing that Sylvia Bancroft’s daughter is looking to connect with David. However, Lesley Woods and Richard Eastham don’t get a bio. I was sort of hoping they would reveal more details about Sandy Pierce. I have so many questions regarding her character.

Thank you, Carl, for this article. It was a fascinating read. I knew David Lockhart’s parentage was a central plot in the show’s final months, but this really fills in some of the blanks. It really seems like the show was in a good place, creatively. David Lockhart had been taken in by the show’s lead heroine, Martha Ferguson, who was being romanced by Charles Diedrich, David’s biological father. I assume there was animosity between Martha and Sylvia Bancroft, David’s biological mother and Charles former paramour. Adding in David’s desire to see his parents dead, I understand more clearly the circumstances that led to Martha going on trial for Sylvia’s murder in the show’s final days. In response to your question Carl, I’ve seen it listed that 605 episodes of Bright Promise were produced. However, this would mean the show was preempted on fifty occasions. I think the number is probably closer to 650. Episode 500 would probably have aired in August/September 1971, which means it probably was filmed in July/August 1971. Another photo from the 500th episode party has been published taken from a different angle. It features the cast arranged in the same manner, but it only shows the four actors on the left. The picture identifies them as Gail Kobe, Susan Brown, Mark Miller, and John Considine. I think the label is inaccurate. The actress on the far left doesn’t look like Gail Kobe, who I believe is the woman to the right of John Considine. I think the people featured in the photo are: unknown, Susan Brown, Mark Miller, John Considine, Gail Kobe, Richard Eastham (?), unknown blonde, Pamela Murphy, Tony Geary, and Peter Ratray (with his hand on Pamela Murphy). Anyone else want to venture any guesses? I’ve read newspaper articles from 1971 reporting Regina Gleason had signed on for the role of Sylvia Bancroft. I suspect it made big news because she was replacing Anne Jeffreys, who was interviewed about joining “Bright Promise” quite a bit because she was a former movie star slumming it on soap. The papers were interviewing Anne Jeffreys in March 1971 about the role so I assume she premiered around that time. When introduced, Sylvia was described as a “wealthy widow with a dark and secret past.” Original “Bright Promise” celebrity Dana Andrews departed the series in 1970 probably some time in the fall after being with the series for a year. Anyway, my point is I think this news is probably covering events that happened in August/September 1971. After reading this article, I’ve been wondering what could have been if “Return to Peyton Place” had never come about. The ratings for “Bright Promise” weren’t that bad; it beat timeslot competition “One Life to Live” on ABC. The only real threat to BP was “The Edge of Night,” which would have been moved to 2:30 in September 1972 at Proctor & Gamble’s request. Could BP have picked up some of the lost “Edge” viewers in the switch? And if they had, would OLTL have managed healthy enough numbers to survive into the 1980s? The other thing I considered was Lin Bolin’s appointment to head of NBC daytime drama in August 1972. Would Bolin, who was big in the women’s movement, allowed Gloria Monty (a director and producer at BP) to takeover the reigns of the series? Or possibly allowed Gail Kobe to develop her talent as producer in the 1970s and taken over a bigger role at BP in the 1980s? Also, had Monty managed to gain control at BP could she have managed to cause BP to be the supersoap GH managed to be in the 1980s? And if Monty had managed to stay with NBC daytime, what would have happened to ABC daytime? Without Monty, GH would likely have been cancelled. And if BP had managed to outperform OLTL, it’s possible to think OLTL would have been cancelled as well. The ABC lineup of today would be very different. On the otherhand, Lin Bolen does come in and cancels BP’s replacement, Return to Peyton Place, in favor of her own focus group creation, “How to Survive a Marriage.” More than likely, BP would have ended up cancelled in January 1974; only prolonging its execution a mere twenty-one months. In order to prevent this, the show’s ratings would have needed to be towards the top of the ratings If Bolen came in and promoted someone along the lines of Gloria Monty, who managed to swipe away Pat Falken Smith from “Days of Our Lives,” I think its possible BP could have been a success. It’s cast was fairly good. For the most part, Tony Geary is a well loved performer. Jennifer Leak, who played David’s half-sister Elaine, turned in a memorable performance as a villainess on “Another World” could have usurped her mother’s role as resident rich bitch. Susan Brown went on to play other strong older romantic leads on “Return to Peyton Place” and “General Hospital.” Dabney Coleman probably would have fit in well as the ‘Bruce Sterling’ of BP once Martha and Tracey finally tied the knot. Pamela Murphy’s Sandy was described as being in the mold of Erica Kane and Lisa Miller Hughes so I cannot imagine how she could not have sparkled in the role. John Considine is a strong performer who was playing a roguish doctor. The storyline seemed sound for “Bright Promise” had it not concluded its plots in March 1972. The triangle between Charles Diedrich, Martha Ferguson, and Dr. Tracey Graham could have played out for some time. Martha was fond of Charles’ son David and would have worked to repair the damaged relationship between father-and-son. In the meantime, Martha would have grown close to Charles and, once David came to like Charles, David would encourage the pairing between Charles and Martha. Or maybe he would be torn if Dr. Tracey Graham was the psychiatrist who helped David to come to terms with the role of his parents’ in his life. Another plotline from around the time of the show’s cancellation involved Dr. Brian Graham and Ann Boyd Jones’ secret love affair, which produced a child. Ann was married to Howard Jones, Mark Miller’s character. Mark Miller took some time off from the soap in the summer/fall of 1971 to film a movie. I assume in his and Howard's absence, Ann and Brian began a tryst and the child was a result. I’m not sure if Ann had the child before the serial ended, but I seem to recall it being referenced in an article I’m no longer able to locate. I wonder how this story went over with the audience. Colleen Gray’s Ann was meant to be a non-traditional matriarch ala Lucille March from the Hursleys’ other soap “General Hospital.” As the dean of women, Ann was concerned about the well being of her students the way the typical soap matriarch fussed over her children. Gray was typically billed with Dana Andrews in the articles related to the premier of “Bright Promise.” I suspect Gail Kobe might have been able to play Ann successfully as a more gray character. Didn’t she play a rather complicated character on PP? Her storyline certainly suggested this. “Return to Peyton Place” did a similar plotline with Connie Carson, Eliot Carson, and Dr. Michael Rossi. I don’t think that was well received by the audience as a whole. Connie was suppose to be a noble upstanding citizen and faithful wife. The BP story might have worked because Martha Ferguson was the show’s tent pole noble character by that point and Ann Boyd Jones might not have been viewed as the traditional female romantic lead by the housewives who struggled to identify with the single working woman who married late in life. Pamela Murphy played Sandy Pierce, a character who didn’t appear in the show’s final episodes. Murphy had been pregnant when the show’s cancellation was announced. The pregnancy was given quite some press because Sandy’s character had undergone a hysterectomy, which was a major plotline either right before or during the time Murphy had learned she was pregnant. Typically, the show would write in the pregnancy, but since Sandy had spent a great amount of time bemoaning her inability to have more children, this was going to be possible. Anyway, the child was due in April, but was born early. Murphy named the baby Oliver, and he later appeared on “Guiding Light” nearly thirty years later playing Romeo Jones. Because Oliver was early, Stu and Sandy reconciled via telephone. If the show hadn’t been cancelled, I assume Sandy would have swooped back into town in late May/early June just as Martha’s trial was reaching its natural conclusion during sweeps month. No longer busy with the trial, Stuart could focus on his and Sandy’s marital issues. Of course, Sandy and Stuart wouldn’t be able to make it work for one reason or another and more than likely Sandy would be left to pursue one of the other two men in Martha’s life, Tracey Graham or Charles Diedrich. Both men were well off and could provide her with the financial stability she was looking for. Also, her romancing either man would have infuriated poor Martha to no end, especially if it was causing her brother Stuart heartache. I think the ingredients were there for some potent drama. If the show had been given a bit more time, and a solid producer/head writer combination, BP might have been able to build up a loyal audience.

Everything I know about "Loving" comes from old synopses. WoST showed an episode from around this time featuring Matt's trial for raping a young woman. I don't know if this was the way to go. The Fords and the young woman Matt was accused of raping were all new characters. Ceara and Jeremy were visiting from Pine Valley at the time and were involved. This was most likely because of Ceara's own history of sexual abuse. There was a lot of turnover behind the scenes at the time. Fran Sears was replaced by Haidee Granger as EP and between January 1991 and December 1992 Tom King/Millee Taggert, Mary Ryan Munisteri, Addie Walsh, Haidee Granger (interim), and Millee Taggert/Robert Guza wrote the show. Five writing teams in a two year period. Yikes! The main problem "Loving" had was finding a stable group of characters. If the show kept Carly and Paul on and mixed them up with Alex and Ava that could have worked. Personally, I would have preferred to see Sheri Watley, Ava's white trash sister, come back to town with the child Ava had passed of as Jack Forbes' kid. Sheri didn't have to stay, but her son Johnny should have been a thorn in Ava's side by being a manipulator in the model of his Auntie Ava. I didn't realize Rocky was a medical student until this article. As a doctor, Rocky could have filled the Angie Hubbard role on "Loving" or been taken under Angie's wing. Rocky could have enhanced a number of stories that followed her departure. Rocky's half-brother Buck arrived in town followed by their con man father. Rocky's relationship with her father would have been nice to see play. Trucker could have used someone to lean on in a non-romantic sense during Trisha's death. Rocky easily could have been involved in the Dinahlee/Trucker/Curtis triangle given her connections to all the characters involved. Rio was a bit of a shady guy at times, from what I understand. If he and Rocky split around the time Curtis returned to town, Rio could have become involved with Tess since they never seemed to know what to do with her. Tess' ties to Curtis would have caused some drama. Also, the Tommy Domeq issue would eventually have to be resolved and Rio and Rocky should have had a role in that. Matt seems like a decent guy, played by a decent actor, and maybe he should have stayed around to try to make Hannah more interesting or for a romance with sorority princess Staige Prince. Overall, I don't think anyone was clamoring for him to return. I believe the actor chose to leave to attend college.

Sherry Mathis started the Hogan/Liza stuff. They were involved in the plane crash and the casual sex which meant more to Hogan than it did to Liza. Joe Lambie was playing Lloyd at the time. Robert Reed played the role briefly in 1986 when the Estelle/Lloyd/Liza storyline was going on. Sarah Whiting was Patti's daughter and Jo's granddaughter. Braxton and Mayer introduced her in the summer of 1985 as the show's new young ingenue opposite Wendy's more calculating vixen. By this point, Jo's niece Suzi had settled into marriage with Cagney and was no longer really the younger female romantic lead who would fight with a woman over a man. Quinn was quite an operator who seemed to be a round peg in the very square McCleary family. Quinn seem to genuinely care for both Wendy and Sarah in very different ways. Sarah was a nurse or nurse's assistant who had a passion for music like her grandmother. Sarah was very simple. She lacked confidence and was scared of certain scenarios. Around Quinn, she began to open up and feel a bit stronger. Tomlin came on and Sarah was quite a diva. She upped her ante and fought Wendy tooth and nail for Quinn even though they had introduced Evie Stone for Quinn as well. Sarah was offed by the serial killer who killed Stephanie. Patti came on a couple months later to mourn her daughter. She was only on for the show's final year.

Within a year of this article, Rio, Rocky, Carly, Flynn, Paul, Matt, Bethel, the Reverend, and Jack would be written out while Clay would have been recasted twice. Any wonder "Loving" couldn't find an audience?

I assume Charles and Diana Lamont had more to do in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Charles was the father of Bill Prentiss, the show’s younger male lead. I’m sure there was conflict between Charles and Bill as I believe Charles had abandoned Bill’s mother. The Lamonts were the Sterlings’ neighbors, which also put them in that comfortable position. My understanding is Charles developed sexual dysfunction under Labine & Mayer, which led to Diana Lamont’s cougar affair with Jamie Rollins. Jamie was reeling from the loss of his daughter and the breakdown of his ex-wife Sally. Jamie and Diana were to have a child, but Diana miscarried the baby due to the machinations of Ben Harper. In turn, Charles turn to virgin school teacher Felicia Fleming who was being terrorized by a rapist. This all played secondary to the epic Ben Harper bigamy plot. I think the real problem for Charles Lamont was when Charles’ story was shifted from secondary to a frontburner potboiler. The affair between Felicia and Eduardo wasn’t going to carry the show. As a heroine, Felicia couldn’t have another man’s baby and be someone the audience could root for. And how can one root for Charles when he was a paralyzed cuckold who hadn’t been accepting of her sexual frigidity? I don’t think they could accept that, but the writers tried. When they realized they couldn’t make it work, Felicia was punished for her indiscretion by death. A bit harsh, but soaps were (still are?) morality plays. I don’t think “Love of Life” was the kind of soap where this plot could have played out front burner and worked. If “Love of Life” had continued past 1980, it would have been nice had Charles stuck around. His grandson Johnny Prentiss was ripe for younger lead male status in the early 1980s with his childhood buddy Hank Latimer prime to be his friend/rival as Dennis & Jamie were on “Another World” and Phillip & Rick were on “Guiding Light.” Charles should have stayed around long enough to be Johnny’s talk-to until the show recasted Tess Kraukeur Prentiss with a soap veteran who could have taken up Meg Hart’s role as Rosehill’s neglectful mother role. I may be wrong, but I just don’t think Charles was leading man material from what I can gather. I think writing off Jamie Rollins might have been a mistake. Jamie worked as a foil to Ben. He was sort of the fourth leg the show needed to keep around. A recast wouldn’t have killed the character. Jamie was a lawyer, a moral tent pole for a show built on the nature of good and evil. He was the Vanessa to Ben’s Meg. I think Tom Crawford wasn’t suppose to fill this role as he was an upright young man who was involved in the Ben/Betsy/Arlene drama as Betsy’s brother and Arlene’s potential suitor, but even Tom lingered until Marcus came in and made him a bit more morally ambivalent. Plus, Jamie had history to mine. Imagine the damage Ben Harper could have done by bringing Jamie’s ex-wife Sally into town unaware she was still not with it. They could even had Sally kidnap baby Suzanne thinking she was her own dead daughter. However, when Ben Harper returned to town, Gabrielle Upton decided she wanted to redeem Ben and make him more a romantic lead. Diana and Jamie were both casualties of Upton, I believe. Both left town in December 1976 around the time Upton arrived. Upton inherited a rather stale canvas, which she desperately tried to breathe life to in the year and half or so she was there. I think she was finding her bearings toward the end, but it had been a long road. If Upton had been given another six months, I think the show might have worked.

Hogan McCleary was introduced in November 1983. They were some sort of car accident between him and Sunny. At first, Sunny hated him and, surprise, it turned out he was her new co-worker. Anyway, I think there was some playful flirting back and forth. I saw the Christmas 1984 episode on WoST and Sunny and Hogan were certainly on friendly terms. Sunny had a secret admirer around this time and thought it was Hogan. Later, it was revealed to be Jack Benton, the co-worker who was would rape her. The rape was a major stumbling block/hurdle for their relationship. Then Hogan and Sunny seemed close while working on stories only for Hogan to leave in September 1984. Hogan returned in April 1985 for Cagney and Suzy's wedding. Hogan didn't want to renew his relationship with Sunny, instead, he ended up in a plane crash with Liza and they became lovers in May 1985. The Hogan/Liza/Sunny/Lloyd stuff played on the AOL Channel and I liked what I saw, but I saw bits and pieces. Online fans despise it, and after watching some episodes on YouTube, I can see why. Liza comes off as a spoiled bitch, Hogan an arrogrant prick, Sunny as clingy and desperate, and Lloyd a foolish nitwit. The concept of the story is neat. At times, I think the story worked well. Liza knew her love for Hogan was forbidden and she didn't want to hurt her friend, Sunny. There was a scene where Liza was hiding in Hogan's kitchen while Sunny stopped by for a surprise visit. Liza was desperate to leave, but couldn't and she was fearful Sunny would get the wrong idea. If the story could have been written more in character, maybe it would have been better received by the audience. Interestingly enough, Forsythe ended up in a similar situation on "Another World" when John and Felicia had an affair. Braxton and Avila Mayer penned the Hogan/Sunny/Liza stuff. I liked most of their stuff with Quinn/Wendy/Sarah. I don't like how Tomlin took innocent Sarah and turned her into a cold manipulator. Mathis died several years after "Search for Tomorrow" ended. Maybe she was already ill. The papers claim she was joining Jerry Lanning, her husband, out on the west coast. Interesting side note, Louan Gideon was engaged to John O'Hurley in 1985. He proposed the same day she had received the role of Liza.

It's a misprint. Peter Love played Mark on "Ryan's Hope." He was involved with Ryan Fenelli, which is probably why she is giving the quote.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mildred was the Aldrich nanny. I believe she was a comical character.

There are clips of Lori March on youtube. Lori March played a character involved in the DOMI plot. I believe her name was Barbara. Jayne Heller played Phyllis Carpenter.

I believe Martha was a nurse at the hospital, but my understanding is she was simply a talk to character. Sara spent 1978 torn between Mike Powers and Colin Wakefield, a former lover. Colin ended up sleeping with her sister, Nola, and was believed to be baby Jessica's father for quite some time. Sara succumbed to illness in 1979 leaving Mike Powers a widower, again.

From what I can tell, the problem "The Doctors" had in the late 1970s and early 1980s was the failure to cultivate new characters' longterm potential or squashing the potential at the end of a storyline. Some of the show's more interesting characters in this period (Billy, Natalie, Luke, and Nola), often only had meagre ties to the medical component of the canvas. While they certainly commanded the story, and often they interacted with the show's core (the Powers, Althea, and Steve and Carolee), these characters sometimes were disjointed from other parts of the canvas. Also there were some bad storylines. While Billy's 1981 return was fascinating, there was a co-current plot involving siblings Catherine and Kevin Shaw, who's family had been swindled in business by the Aldriches. Catherine was fascinated with Jason Aldrich and posed as baby Jessica's nanny in order to get closer to Jason and to ruin Mona Aldrich. The story wasn't very good and resulted in the death of Jason Aldrich. Also, Steve and Carolee tended to find themselves involved in some asinine plots over the last few years. I believe twice they took in a young ward who ended up causing strife in their relationship, and one of those young women ended up bringing on Far Wind and his cult. On the otherhand, I can see what you mean, Carl. Barring the Writer's Strike, most of the time there was at least potential with the characters and plots on the canvas. What really hurt the show was the show's instability in the writer's department. 1981 is a perfect example of this. In the fall of 1980, Jason managed to win custody of Jessica, his and Nola's daughter, away from Nola. Nola romanced Jason in order to have Jessica back in her life. Mona was furious and plotted to soil Nola in Jason's eyes. Initially, Mona tried to get a tape recorded confession from Nola, but Catherine, the nanny who was secretly plotting to ruin the Aldrich clan, informed Nola of Mona's machinations. Shortly after, Nola and Jason's home burned down and Nola suspected Mona was behind the fire. Nola used this to keep Mona off her back. In the episode you saw, I believe Mona is setting Nola up. Catherine would later blackmail Nola for money over some matter and demand Nola pay before her wedding day to Jason, at which point Nola would have access to a fortune. Mona was trying to prove Nola dipped into Jessica's trust fund in order to pay off Catherine in her extortion plot, but failed to do so. I'm sorry I'm sketchy on details, but the information I have s incomplete at times.

On "Guiding Light," the Santos family expanded after Michelle and Drew off Mick Santos. Danny came to town to avenge his brother followed by his mother, Carmen, his Abuela, his cousin, Ray, and his sister, Pilar.

What was happening in said episode? 1981 is a mixed bag year. It starts off with the return of people like Jerry Dancy and Althea, Jason and Nola's second wedding, some strong marital discord between Matt and Maggie with Althea as a third party, and the tail end of Billy's plot to get Theodora's cash. Then you have summer 1981 with Jason's death, Nola's rape/kidnapping, Steve investigates sex, the mysterious Mr. Sebastian, Althea's mystery patient, and a whole bunch of dull writer's strike plotting. The fall doesn't seem to change much. There is more emphasis on relationship drama and the complications born out of that. You have M.J./Matt, Maggie's pregnancy, Mike's return to town, and the arrival of Katey and Theo, who become involved with Mike and Greta. And the year ends with the last week or two penned by Harding Lemay.

Billy and Nola were involved at least once in the summer of 1982. Billy believed Nola was carrying his child before she left town with the baby's real father, Tor. I believe A.C. Weary, Zimmer's husband, played the role of Tor. I know World of Soap Themes posted a couple of episodes from 1981 and there was definitely some flirtation between the two in 1981, but I'm not aware of anything coming of it. Once Jason died in June 1981, Nola inherited the newspaper where Billy was a columnist. I think there romantic tension arose from those interactions. Going back to the synopsis Paul posted, at least one thing I see missing from the synopsis (which I think is fall 1980, I'm thinking October) is Darcy's reasoning behind cuddling up to Brad. Her intentions were not as pure as the synopsis may suggest as Darcy was having money troubles at the time and Brad was the local trust fund brat. There really is some shades of Ben Harper/Arlene Lovett in the Billy's return story with the son of a longtime character returning to seduce a young ingenue in order to inherit a fortune while his more vivacious lover is plotting on the side. I think the fall out seems interesting, but I'd imagine today's soap audience crying foul that Matt and Maggie and Steve and Carolee weren't at the center of the storyline. Ashley Bennett was originally a deeply troubled character. In her past, Ashley believed she had been behind the wheel of the car that killed her fahter. In the summer of 1980, Ashley went back to the scene of the crime and learned she wasn't the one who had caused the accident. I believe being free of this guilt opened Ashley to a new world of possibilities. When her husband John Bennett first came to town, he had a flirtation with the very married Carolee and I think they may have tested him with Greta, who was working for him. Jack and Ashley had once been involved before appearing on the show and Jack wanted to rekindle this, but Ashley became pregnant by John and stood by her husband. The baby had developmental issues and I believe, Terri, suggested that she should abort the baby. There was a bit of a back and forth on the issue, but Ashley lost the baby. Later, in shades of John and Marlena, John Bennett was paralyzed in a car accident and left town with Ashley to recuperate from his paralysis.

There are four episodes from 1960 available for viewing online at the Museum of Broadcast Communications. One episode is from February and the other three are from August. I was actually surprised by the relationship between Myra and Susan as well as the characters themselves. Most soap books talk about how Susan, following the death of her mother, had taken on the role of family caregiver and wasn't pleased when Jane Edwards romanced her father. After this incident, the book would simply refer to Susan's marriage to Alan, the birth of her son Petey, and litle else. I didn't realize that Susan continued to be threatened by the presence of women in her father's life. Brent's recollections even set me back further when he said that Susan had issues with Valerie Ames, Peter's third and final wife. I didn't realize how threatened Susan was by these women. Everyone goes on about Lemay creating Iris with this Oedipus complex, but it seems Susan was in a bit of a similar situation, or am I reading into this too much? The one episode in February is one of the ones available on youtube. Susan is whining about her husband's career while blaming Myra for all her problems. Peter says Amy deserves a good school to go to. A blonde Amy appears in the episode, someone other than Jada Rowland. Anyway, I particularly like the August episodes. Pauline has fled Woodbridge after it has been revealed her husband/fiancee Bryan Fuller has been fleecing Tyrell's for thousands of dollars and placing the blame on Peter. Apparently, Susan had befriended Bryan and had thought he was this wonderful guy. When the truth came out, Peter laid into his daughter about her behavior towards Myra, who had suspicions about Bryan. Peter told Susan she always alligned herself with the wrong side. It was a wonderful moment. The family went to the Tyrell cabin, I believe at Spruce Lake. Amy had gone into town with Myra's father giving Myra and Grace a chance to chat about the family's latest situation. Myra talked about how Amy adored Ezra and that he found the girl amusing. It seemed like Ames/Lake family had blended quite well. I thought June Graham was fine as Myra. She seemed rather quiet, but very much a person of character. Roy Windsor stated in an interview he felt the Myra Lake story didn't work. I wonder if he meant the entire storyline? I thought Myra seemed like a woman with strong morals and a was a caring stepmother towards Amy. In 1962, I think a very married Myra was pursued by a man other than Peter. I think this may have been the story Windsor had trouble with since it seemed like Myra was fighting temptation. This doesn't seem to fall in line with the women who would follow Myra after she departed. I've appreciated Jon and Brent's reflections on "The Secret Storm." As another poster said, I can reread these posts all day.

Being used to soaps from the last two decades, it has been astonishing to have so many notions regarding past soap characters ripped apart. Matt Powers wasn't some warm patriarch of the series, he tended to be an stubborn and set in his ways. I believe he clashed with Dr. Jack Garner on occassions during 1980 over hospital protocol and the treatment of patients. Jack was one of Greta's beaus, who Matt was always critical of. He wasn't a fan of Billy Aldrich when he returned to town either, but, to be fair, he had quite a right to be given Billy abandoned Greta to raise Leanne on her own. That most have been interesting to see play out given the friendship between those two families. I have to wonder if Matt was always this strong personality who would clash with others over professional and personal matters. I've read that Mike blamed Matt's behavior for his mother's suicide years before. I use to think this was simply Mike perception of the matter, but maybe Matt always read on the cold side. I have to wonder if this wasn't another reason Matt and Maggie didn't make it down the aisle in the early stages of their courtship. Regarding Barney, it's entirely possible the reference I found to him in the May synopses was a mistake. The columnists often mistook characters or misprinted names. I do know Natalie did become involved with Billy, which pitted him against Luke for her affection. Given Lemay's nature, I could also see where this could have been revisited later as Barney's request would once again have put him at odds with his son Luke. Speaking of the tornado, what did you think of the new characters who were introduced around this time: Dr. John Bennett and his wife Ashley, Jack Garner, Darcy Collins, Brad Huntington, Alan Ross, Viveca Strand, Calvin Barnes, and Dr. Terri Foster. It seems like the show was trying to integrate the cast with more African American cast members with paramedic Calvin, gynecolist Terri, Terri's mother Lillian (who I believe was Mona's maid), and the pregnant prostitute who Terri took in. Overall, it seems like the characters weren't integrated into the overall canvas very well. Now I remember the Jack Garner/Matt Powers issue. There was another intern alongside Darcy/Alan/Brad who wasn't able to cut it and dropped out of the program and left the show in June 1980. Jack was furious with the way Matt had pushed the young man out of the program, while Matt felt there needed to be a standard for doctors. The conflict was rather interesting as it fueled the Matt/Jack conflict which spilt over into Jack and Greta's relationship.

I think the couple reconciled in early 1978. Matt and Maggie tended to be on different sides of arguments, but they didn't really separate again until spring 1981 and weren't reunited until the show's final weeks. In the meantime, I'm not sure how much story they got. I know Maggie was kidnapped at one point, Maggie had a pregnancy scare, but for the most part it seems like they were reacting to their children's problems.

Althea returned in January/February 1981. There was a conference of some sort at Hope Memorial and Althea was set to be the guest speaker. She was in town for the conference, and a few weeks later, her son-in-law, Jerry Dancy, arrived for his sister Nola's wedding to Jason Aldrich. I think there were some issues between Jerry and Althea. Jerry was very aggressive in his approach to medicine, and I think Althea didn't want him working in the hospital. Matt and Maggie were on the outs again. Matt was becoming very close to Althea right before the strike, but once the strike hit everything went to the pot. In the final year Althea had romances with both Jeff Manning, a much younger surgeon, and Jean Marc Gautier, a doctor who seemed to be experimenting with the fountain of youth serums.

Here's an article that covers some of Margaret DePries's tenure:

Several years ago, Hilary Bailey Smith told SOD that the plague that hit Madison was used to renegotiate contracts on "The Doctors" since several actors were up for renewal at this time. Didn't Steve come down with the plague as well? Maybe they were playing hardball with David O'Brien and cast John Rixey Moore in order to show O'Brien they would move on without him. The plague storyline certainly didn't take any lives of important characters, other than Mona. Barbara Lang played Marilyn Langley, Paul's wife. James' major story point seemed to be to disinherit Billy of his claim on the Aldrich fortune. The Writer's Strike was AWFUL for "The Doctors." Wasn't it revealled that Kevin had been sexually abused by Cahterine at the climax of that storyline? I know Kevin staged a wedding ceremony for himself and Nola and then raped her. Around the same time an impotent Matt and Maggie broke up only for Maggie to learn she was pregnant. Did Matt and Maggie even have sex or was this truly a miracle child? Jerry Dancy was revealled as a drug dealer working for an Asian drug cartel. And then there was the mystery patient who knew Althea? It all reads as very bizarre and nearly changing from week to week. Glenn Corbett was also killed off during this time. I wonder if that was the original plan or if it was something the scab writers cooked up. The episode where he is killed is available at the Paley Center. I believe Barney is featured in it working at the Medicine Man alongside Calvin Barnes. I think Barney appears past March 1982. In one of the weekly columns from this time, Barney asked Natalie to break up Billy and Nola. This was right before Nola ended up pregnant and left the series. Initially, Donald Crabtree played Burton Canfield on "Texas" I don't think Weber ended up in the role until the summertime. There is an article in one of the papers about the show's second anniversary and Weber is referred to as being a new addition.

I've heard that Van was supposedly unable to have children. I'm not sure if this is fact or simple fan conjecture that seems to be accepted as part of the canon. Either way, I do think Van was pregnant during the 1950s when Paul Raven's daughter Carol arrived, but I believe she lost the child. Or maybe this storyline never happened. I think Van and Bruce didn't have any children because of the age of Bruce's own children. Because Barbara was a young woman, I believe this placed Van in age where it wasn't proper on a soap for a woman to be having a child since Van would soon be a grandmother to Barbara's future children. I'm not clear on the Van/Ben relationship in the 1970s. I think Van cared for Ben the way she did most of her surrogate children. Van seemed to be involved in the Betsy/Eliot/Ben stories so I suspect she still cared for him in a maternal manner. I believe Malick's Ms. Jones appeared in December 1978/Janaury 1979. She was a nurse who was looking after Carrie. Carrie had suffered a heart attack in October so I assume she was helping her recover from that. Wes Osbourne, Mia's younger brother, was intended to be paired with Kelly Wilson, Liane's sister. Both Kelly and Cheryl Kingsley (played by Judy Landers) were introduced in Janaury 1980. John Aniston's Eduardo Aleata married Sherry Rooney's Dory Patton and both departed in November 1978 when Abbi/Holloway took over. Irene Yah-Ling Sun played Kim Soo Ling, a nurse who had been involved with Tony Alfonso. Kim and Tony had a son, Tran, who Kim had given up for adoption. Kim and Tony tracked there son down and learned he was living with the Changs. Tony and Kim let Tran stay with the Changs since Mrs. Chang was dying. Kim departed Rosehill in the show's final week, but, for a time, it looked like she might stay. Andrew Marriott did find her work at Rosehill Hospital so maybe at one time they thought about keeping her around longer. It's interesting to hear that it would be revealed Bruce wasn't Amy's father. Several articles regarding "Love of Life" talked about how Van and Bruce never learned Amy was Bruce's daughter, if she was his daughter. The cancellation notice is in the papers for January 1980, but I thought that the press was simply late on publishing this information. Two weeks is really a short amount of time and I'm not surprised that nothing was revealled. It is neat to hear that Alan and Barbara were coming back to Rosehill. Marcus had such a full canvas at the time I wonder who she was planning to let go.

Most of the characters written out were such peripheral characters who were given major storylines. Dory Patton came on as the lawyer during the custody battle over Felicia's baby and then was suddenly vying for the affections of both Eddie and Tom. Eddie struggled to maintain story time since his arrival. Dory's legal assistant Wendy Hayes romanced Dr. Joe Cusack, who worked at the hospital but often had little to do. Mary Jane Owens came on as a nanny for baby Charles and later was linked romantically to Michael Blake, who I think Meg paid to break up Rick and Cal. Lynn floundered in various romantic pairings. Most of the characters didn't work because they had no substantial ties to the canvas. Personally, I would have kept Lynn Henderson and Andy Marriott. Lynn was practically a daughter to Van and it would have been interesting to see her involved in the Amy Russell storyline and her reaction to Steve Harbach. Lynn's strained relationship with her parents and her battles with alcohol were enough demons that the show could have revisited down the line. Upton created Andy in the Ben Harper mold, a rich playboy who often got himself into trouble. It would also have been interesting to see Andy's reaction to his father's relationship with Lianne Wilson. There were a number of younger females on the show in the last year who Andy could have slept his way through. Later on, I probably would have brought back Cal and her stepson, Hank, since Hank was Bruce's grandson. I probably would have either killed Rick off or left him in Montreal.