dc11786

This should be from about September 1987. Not really a good period for Loving.

Rivera was the serial killer. He killed Stephanie and Sarah in 1985 and may, or may not, have killed Wendy Wilkins. Wendy disappeared around the time of the serial killer and it was left unclear what happened to her. Realistically, Wendy was alive and well, but it was left up in the air. I believe the show planned a rivalry between Estelle and Jo, so Stephanie would have been considered expendable. Estelle and Jo had shared a common past love interest, Jo's ex-husband Martin Tourneur had fathered Estelle's son Steve Kendall. Steve came back around this time and Martin was even mentioned. I believe Jo learned he had disappeared. Anyway, somewhere it all fell apart. Maybe Martin Tourneur was the original mystery backer behind the Liberty House deal? I think it was a bigger mistake to kill off Sarah Whiting. Michelle Joyce wasn't that bad of an actress and the Quinn-Sarah-Wendy triangle featured a talented group of young players. I think the show could have kept them at the forefront and it might have been a winner over time. I think the problem "Search" had was throwing away, or unable to keep, its strong younger set including Susan Scanell, Craig Augustine, Jay Avocone, and Cynthia Gibbs.

The clips are from 1985 and 1986. The clip you've posted is probably the Monday episode directly following the full English episode in which Ava announces her marriage to Curtis.

Just to clarify, Genie Francis only appeared on "Loving" from October until December 1991. When Jeremy arrived in Cornith in October 1992, he was alone. Ceara had agreed to move with him and was set to arrive in Decemeber. When Ceara arrived at the airport, a drug dealer was being apprehended and Ceara was shot and killed during a shoot out. I believe a body double was used.

Lotty was originally introduced as Lorna Forbes' cellmate when she was accused of killing Zona Beecham. Lotty was romanced by Curtis, but I think she was already married to Eban Japes. It may have been a common law marriage, but Eban seemed to make a big deal about it. Eban was killed at TRisha and Steve's wedding. Ned worked Steve at the garage keeping them all connected. Lotty and Curtis did marry after Curtis and Ava'a marriage went kaput and I think they left town shortly after. They must have done it by contract because I think Curtis left first followed by Lotty and then Ned joined them. I may be remembering this bit incorrectly. Stephens was replaced by Christopher Cass who played the part for year, or maybe two. I believe Cass' big story was his infidelity with Dinahlee or Stacey believing Jack had banged their nanny, Dinahlee. I don't think the intention was to kill off Jack. In February 1991, Cabot Alden kicked the bucket and left the fortune to Jack unless Clay was able to produce an heir (apparently Curtis was non-existant). Anyway, CLay had impregnanted San Rafael refugee/Amourelle model Abril Domeq who was going to give her baby to Trisha and Trucker after their own child, Christopher, had died. Trisha and Trucker even named Abril's baby, a boy, Thomas after Trucker (Trucker was simply a nickname). Tommy was suppose to inherit the fortune upon becoming legal, but until that point Jack was given the fortune. In June 1992, Clay Alden learned AE janitor Tim Sullivan was his biological father just as he was passing away. Apparently, Isabelle had slept with Tim while Cabot was off fighting a war and little Clay was the result. Clay was devastated and determined to ruin the family. In June/July, Jack and Stacey remarried and Jack managed to disappear during their honeymoon cruise. Around the same time, Clay disappeared. When he returned, he managed to drug Stacey, the new AE heir, into marriage and proceeded to have her locked away after driving her insane. Initally, it seemed Clay might have known about Jack's whereabouts, but it was never really stated firmly. The last time it was really handled was during the Cradle Foundation storyline which brought Cabot Alden back from the dead. Cooper believed Jack was actually alive and went as far as telling Stacey he was alive. This was July or August 1994 when the show was being preempted left and right for OJ Simpson. Simpson did really hurt "Loving" who was in the middle of a creative renaissance. I don't know why Stephens left. I've read some early reviews which state he could be wooden at times. Since he was recast I assume he left of his own accord. Sadly, he passed away a few years ago. I know most love the Cornith serial killer plot, but I don't think it was a good idea. In the end, the Alden family was to important to those few fans who were left. Many were not impressed with the final year as a whole. Stacey/Jack and Shana/Jim were the shows first 'big' couples and neither of them got together until 1984. Stacey/Jack did care for one another, but Jack was dealing with the revelation Dane Hammond was his father. Jack sought comfort from Ava, who Dane admired. Ava got pregnant just as Stacey became engaged to Jack's boarding school chum Tony Perelli. On Tony and Stacey's wedding day, Stacey said, "I take thee, Jack...." YIKES! Anyway, Jack didn't want to marry Ava, and then she lost the baby. Her sister Sheri was preggers as well and Dane offered to give Ava the money to buy Sheri's baby. Sheri had another daughter, Patty, who needed hip surgery so her desire for money was centered in a love for her child. Anyway, Jack and Ava married, but their marriage was a shame. Almost immediately, Jack and Stacey got back togehter infuriating Ava. Ava and Jack divorced and Ava got custody of little Johnny. At some point, Tony and Stacey reunited and went to live in California. Jack eventually joined them with baby Johnny. Later, Johnny was given back to his real parents and Jack suffered a brain tumor while Stacey was pregnant with their son. This took them til about the end of 1986. From 1987 to 1988, you have the return of Lily Slater, freshly escaped from the nuthouse. Lily comes back to town to seduce Jack away from his wife while Rick Alden decides he wants Stacey for himself. Lily and Jack had an affair and Lily went nuts again, while Jack wanted to back off after Steve died saving Stacey and J.J.'s life. Stacey learned the truth and turned to Rick for comfort. During the Writer's Strike, Lily was involved with a battered woman and her abusive husband at a homeless shelter. I'm not really clear on the details. Anyway, Tom King and Millee Taggert arrived and wrote Lily off. Jack became involved with a character name Jolie, but I'm not clear on how this all came about. Rick Alden was the son Gwyn gave up for adoption. He came to town after Clay turned out to be alive, but turned out to be a 'fraud' when the blood test showed he couldn't be Clay and Gwyn's son. Of course, this was because Clay was really Alex Masters. I'm not sure what Rick during the Ron Tummi run, but the recast was involved with Stacey. She wrote a book about her romance with the Alden cousins, had a baby by Rick, was drugged into marriage by Rick, and was later accused of Rick's murder. Rick was a baddie who got involved in one scheme too many and ended up dead because of it.

Just so its clear, my information comes from weekly columns written by people like Lynda Hirsch and Selig Seligman (spelling?). The only video I've seen was online. I also read second hand accounts from 1992-1995 on RATS. No one was around much in the 1980s. They would be on contract for about one storyline and then they would be written off. Post-Marland, there doesn't seem to be much focus on characterization. Teri Polo was on for at least six months. She was brought on as the spoiler to the April/Ned relationship. Teri Polo's Kristen was a classmate of theirs who was in love with Ned and learned April was prostituting. Ned learned the truth and abandoned April for Kristen. Ned ended up joining his sister Lotty and her husband Curtis in Germany. I think Ned was on for at least a year while Teri Polo was on about six months to a year. I found Casey's introduction scenes odd. The dialogue was a bit hookey in my opinion. I just didn't buy into the scenario and some of the commune stuff seemed a bit much. Also, Casey's real name was Revel or something. Gifford was ultimately replaced with Jeremy Hunter as the central AU figure. I don't think it made much a difference. I think Giff's death was a defining moment for Casey and allowed him to deal with abandonment issues that helped shape him. Mary Ryan Munisteri wrote around late 1991 til early 1992. She replaced Taggert and King and was followed by Addie Walsh. I think she was the one who reestablished the Alden family after they had been written off early in 1991. Unfortunately, I think her vision clashed with Fran Sears. Sears wanted to establish the college as the central focus and had Addie Walsh spend time researching modern univeristy life including the Greek system and spending a lot of time casting generation X. Yet, someone in the upper echleons most have not liked it cause Sears was replaced with Granger either before or in the early stages of the material hitting the air. Granger's wikipedia page talks about her stint on "Loving." I suspect Granger may have written it herself. The AMC rejects weren't incorporated very well into the "Loving" cavas. Angie was brought on as Shana's obstetrician and then was paired with newcomer Charles Harrison, the partner of the recently returned Alex Masters. I haven't seen Wright much on "General Hospital," but I never could accept Nicole Forrester as Cassie. As defacto headwriter, her summer was rough. The college story petered out without much plot. There was a ghost story plot and the revelation that a preteen Cooper had seduced his nanny. Jack Forbes 'died' during his honeymoon after finally reuniting with his love Stacey. There was the blink and you miss it reunion between Gwyn and Clay before Gwyn slept with lawyer Armando Rosario. Ava found work at Burnell's only to become involved in a drug ring and have her secret boss turn out to be Leo Burnell, an old high school classmate. Originally, Curtis Alden seemed the likely secret admirer. The mysterious boss of Burnell's seemed to care for Ava. Ava had been married to Curtis and Burnell's was an Alden Enterprises company in the 1980s. Granger did manage to hire Amelia Heinle and I believe one of her final moves was to hire Dennis Partalo as temp Clay Alden. Casting wise her run was pretty successful. Hiring Millee Taggert and Robert Guza should have been a good move given Taggert's history with the show ( she had written "Loving" with Tom King from September 1988 until sometime in 1991). Taggert and Guza won a Writer's Guild award for their work, but their storytelling was weak. The Curtis/Tess/Buck storyline was bad. Trucker's dad faking an illness was bad. The Ava/Jeremy pairing wasn't very exciting. What I did like was the quad focusing on Ally's pregnancy and Shana's insemination leading to her love for Leo. OT: Munisteri's stint on "Ryan's Hope" wasn't as bad as people make it out to be. It wasn't Labine & Mayer, but it was hardly "Kirkland's Hope." THe only person really involved with the show to call it that was Ron Hale, who was backburnered during Munisteri's run. Most of the other major players had major story from Jack to Siobhan to Pat to Seneca to Delia. The final months of Munisteri's tenure were definitely Kirkland overload, but Munisteri was probably out by then.

Cassie's money woes was a stretch. Richard was the prince of an island nation. Were her assets all tied up in the Beacon? Casey and Steffi were together around late 1993. I believe Coop and Ally were engaged at the time because of Tyler. Heinle played Steffi as this hot mess of a character and it worked. I think there is this haunted quality to Heinle's performances that worked for Steffi, but hasn't worked for her other roles. I loved Mia after she had been dumped by Edmund and Jake returned engaged to Carolyn. Gifford was introduced by Mary Ryan-Munisteri as a love interest for Gwyn Alden. He worked at the university as an art professor and was a part of the early stages of the Alden U revamp in 1992, even though he was introduced in late 1991. Giff eventually became involved with Trisha Alden when Trucker slept with nanny Dinahlee. A few months later, Addie Walsh was the headwriter and she introduced Casey, Giff's son by Alise Casey. Giff and Casey were reunited at Alise's grave and Giff talked about his time in a commune. Then Walsh fought with new producer Haidee Granger. Granger was defacto headwriter and had Giff go insane. Giff kidnapped Christopher from Trisha when she was shopping at Burnell's and gave the baby up for adoption. When it all came out, Giff kidnapped Trisha and held her in the belfry at Alden U. He ended up falling from the belfry and died. Giff did appear after his death when Casey was doing drugs and was haunted by his father. "Loving" struggled introducing characters because it had no focus. For a while, the show focused on youth storylines featuring future stars Teri Polo and Luke Perry. The only new characters that worked were Alex, Clay, and Egypt. Other characters came and went with ease and were forgotten. This continued into the early 1990s. Characters like Rocky, Rio, Todd, Norma, Armando, Kent, and Abril came and went without being remembered. f

Ugh. I hated Danny and Cassie together almost as much as I hated Danny and Marina together. I know most people absolutely loved Millee Taggert, but she and Lucky Gold wrote some pretty degrading stuff for the women on "Guiding Light." Cassie stripping for Danny as payment for the loan was by no means the start of romance. I guess the intention was to play on Cassie's past by showing how far she was willing to go for her family, but Stewart just brought nothing to the scene. Danny worked better as a town pariah after the warehouse bombing, which was the last sweeps storyline "Guiding Light" did that I enjoyed. I love what I've read about the quad between Ally/Casey/Steffi/Cooper. I was shocked by how much chemistry Stewart had with Amelia Heinle as well. I cannot say enough how strong that younger set became. It's too bad Weatherly and Stewart left when they did. I know I'm in the minority, but I think Laura Wright is a talented actress. I thought she and Stephanie Gatschet had wonderful mother-daughter chemistry. Also, Tognoni worked really well with Wright and Dinah never really worked for me after Wright (and ver Dorn) left. There are a lot of Casey/Ally clips up on youtube covering most of their love story. I think the last set of clips are from their wedding.

I don't know anything about this, but I do know they played lovers in the 1980s on the deliciously wicked short lived primetime soap "Paper Dolls."

FrenchFan, reading either one of those responses would be a delight. I knew you pursuing your hunt of the old daytime newsletters, I just hadn't realized there was more to the newsletter than the recaps. Personally, I've been reading the syndicated columns that were printed in local papers starting in the late 1970s. I know you've been paying for some, but there are some papers that have their archives online for free. Jon Michael Reed's columns are my favorite. Some of his wording bothers me at times, but there I get his passion for the show if it is really working at that moment. Lydia Hirsch's soap recaps are there too, but I prefer Reed's style. I was surprised to see Reed and Hirsch covered the syndicated soaps (Canadian "High Hopes" and the Norman Lear serials), but most of the local papers usually edited them out for space. I have't read enough of Mary Anne Cooper's synopses or Steven Shenkle (spelling) to really get a grasp on their style, but I was surprised by the number of soap columnist that were out there.

Wow. Thank you for this. I don't think I ever heard Kate was planning to become a lawyer. Curious since I been reading a lot of different syndicated columns, what is the source? An old Daytime TV? One of the things I really like about this is there is such a sense of the show's pacing. You can read a summary in a soap book that says, "Adrienne and Liz plot to use Liz's baby to land John and Michael respectively," but seeing it play out in all its grandness is wonderful. Scripts or actual episodes would be wonderful. "Where the Heart Is" is one of the few shows were the more I learn about it, the more I enjoy it. So many times short lived soaps were cancelled because they were plain awful. There are actually a few reviews of the final months online from various papers. It's one of the few shows that seemed to really grab writers attention because of its pacing. I do wonder how long Mayer and Labine would have been able to keep upping the ante. I believe Labine said they wrote the final 18 months, but I don't remember if that's the exact number or if that's even true. Maybe they would have been able to considering they kept "Love of Life" going for some time as well. BTW, I would die to see the confrontation between Loretta and Liz in the classroom. I love the one upmanship going on in that scene.

Paul Avila Mayer wrote with Stephanie Braxton. I really liked their work. It was much more balanced than the previous headwriters, Carolyn Franz and Jeanne Glynn. Glyn and Franz work tended to be very heavy and dark. There was the murder mystery story where Suzi shot Justine. Brett blackmailing Justine about her hooker past. Cagney being blamed for the payroll robbery. Warren escaping prison to terrorize Suzi. The climax of the Cord Tourneur storyline with his mental demons. Even young romance between Adair and Kevin Conroy's Chase was marred by Alec's presumed death. It was all really depressing Mayer and Braxton took the show in a lighter direction, but I do think they would have pissed off modern internet fans. The McClearys, who were weak, had a stronger family bond and the dialogue between the characters was crisper and filled with fond recollections of growing up together. Some of their stuff didn't work (the circus people yikes!) New characters came and dominated the show. Sarah Whiting was the Nathan Horton of her day, completely new to the canvas with only some semblance to past events. I liked Sarah and there was a wonderful scene with Quinn, who really wanted to make something of himself. There was a third wheel there in longtime Wendy Wilkins. I liked it and really wish the storyline played out longer. Similarly, I loved the passion between Mathis and Forsythe and the drama that would ensue as Lloyd and Sunny found out. I thought this was all really good. Tomlin wrote off Sarah and reintroduced Patti. His 1982-1984 stint was pretty well regarded by fans so I don't know what was wrong in the second stint, and there did to be something off. I still liked some of what I saw: the Women to Watch campaign, San Marcos, and Estelle Kendall. For me, the McClearys suffered as a whole because they didn't seem like a real family most of the time. Hogan, Cagney, Adair, and Quinn were interesting on their own, but not as a unit. They were the Ryans-lite, who themselves underplayed crucial dynamics.

Great list. The only error I see is Harding Lemay being there until September 1981. Don Chastain wrote the Writer's Strike episodes which would have been during the summer of 1981. Summer of 1981 was probably uncredited. Michael, Gary Tomlin was there for well over a year. Also, the Corringtons' "Search for Tomorrow" is considered by many to be the show's last hurrah. They introduced Travis Sentell and paired him with Liza, which became one of daytime more memorable romances. They weaved in the Sentell/Tourneur clan and the Adamsons in with the existing characters. Martin romanced Jo and later Stephanie. Ted Adamson attempted to steal Collins Corporation (I think) and then ran against Jo for town council. Laine Adamson was Gary Walton's shoulder to cry on when Gary couldn't save Steve Kaslo. The Corringtons' were able to balance the domestic and the action oriented stuff. Paul, what was better about the final few months of "Search for Tomorrow?" I've heard people say this before, but from the weekly synopses I've read, it seems very action oriented and focused mainly on the McCleary/Henderson mystery.

I think it was Steinmetz, but I'm not sure if he is ever credited for his 1993 or 1994 appearances online or in books.

In early 1995, the Aldens learned Trisha was really alive. This was actually Gwyn Alden's motivation for slaughtering the Alden family in the show's final storyline. I don't remember why, but Trucker decided to exhume Trisha's body in January 1995. In February 1995, Trucker had tracked Trisha down to Rome and learned of her existance. Trisha, now calling herself Crystal Hartman, wrote a letter to the Aldens claiming she had no memory of them and didn't want to disrupt her life in Rome. Later, when Trisha's family and friends were being murdered, Jeff Hartman was contacted. He revealed that Trisha/Crystal had suffered a miscarriage and had lost her sanity. In the final weeks of "Loving," Trisha returned to Corinth and was being sheltered by Gwyn, but Trisha managed to escape again. Trisha's close friend and psuedo family member Shana almost ran into her Rome in June 1994. Shana and Leo married in Rome and relocated there, departing "Loving." Shana ran into Jeff Hartman there who was worried about Shana discovering he was living in Rome with Trisha.

I believe "Loving" got a bad rap because it was widely inconsistent for such a duration of its run. Characters came and went, while others changed dramatically. Also, the first five years was dominated by uninspiring couples, mainly Jack and Stacey, Trisha and Steve, and Shana and Jim. While these couples took center stage, none of them seemed to gain the following that a soap like "Loving" needed. I think Alex and Ava were the show's first big couple. This worked because of Alex's ties to the Aldens family. Later, Trisha and Trucker gained a similar following. Yet, even the story you mention highlights the major problems with "Loving." The return of Cabot Alden really wasn't possible. Cabot died on screen of a heart attack. His granddaughter, well not his biological granddaughter, Trisha watched as he flatlined. Jack Forbes would have made more sense given the scenario and really shaken things up. Anyway, the big reveal during the storyline threatened to shake the show to its core: the Solowsky partriarch had created the product which the Aldens used to create their fortune. A guilt ridden Cabot turned over AE to Kate and Ava. This would have really affected everyone on the canvas. Yet, the storyline was swept under the rug in the end. Steffi was a wonderful character because she was allowed to play a character who was a complete mess. Heinle made that work, but I don't think she gives off the confidence needed for a character like Victoria Newman. I don't think Heinle's material on "All My Children" was all that great, and this as a person who enjoyed Mia and Edmund's romance. Anyway, Heinle seems casted as a traditional ingenue, which doesn't work. I've never heard of a cough syrup storyline. Only one I've heard of is Dru on Y&R being delusional from cough syrup and sleeping with Malcolm. "Loving" never went to the Old West, but they did do a past lives story ala "One Life to Live's" Buchanan City storyline. Trisha began having dreams of a wealthy family in the 1800s. The family servant (Robert Tyler) was accused of stealing something from the home. James Horan played the man who had set him up. Reading old RATS board messages, the plot involved a stolen puzzle box which contained the deed to some land. Thaddeus was the actual culprit, but Mr. Robinson was blamed. Tessa was determined to prove Robinson's innonence and got help from a maid (played by Marisol Massey) and the black sheep of the family, played by whichever actor was playing Jack at the time. This all happened in the spring of 1990.

It's entirely possible that Nixon was under pressure, yet supposedly she still had enough clout to get the timeslot shifted. The year-to-year ratings early on showed "Loving" gaining momentum despite the constant turnover. Maybe ABC wanted bigger gains, but I'm not sure the cast instability was anything more than a poor foundation. I feel like Marland got more sway in 1984, and there were some rough waters because he was now inheriting a show with mainly Nixon themes and archtypes. As a result, I think Marland floundered, just as Nixon did when she inherited the show back again. Again, it all seems to go back to the collaborative thing. When I think of the stories of Paul Avila Mayer and Claire Labine having shouting matches about character, I just cannot see that with Nixon and Marland. Labine & Mayer basically started as a writing team whereas Nixon and Marlands were proteges who made names for themselves. I may be harsh on Nixon's 1985 stint, and I suspect the stories probably played out better on a day to day basis, but I will still maintain the show lost something when Marland was gone. I think the direction was stronger when he left. He made throwaway pairings (Tony and Rita Mae come to mind) work. Nixon deemphasized the corporate aspect even though the show really had built a pretty stable foundation around that during Marland's final months. To be fair though, Nixon isn't really a corporate stories type writer, which is probably why we got stuff like Rebeka Beecham using a deranged Zona to come between Linc and Lorna instead of using the emotional fallout of the Linc's betrayal from participating in the hostile takeover of Alden Enterprises. It's probably. Also, I feel like Nixon writes character in terms of black and white, and when someone does something bad they have to be punished for it. I think Marland's characters were a little more human at times with shades of gray. For example, Marland's Lorna was selfish, as she truly wanted to be loved, and as a result didn't really destructive things to maintain emotional happiness. Nixon's Lorna was more a peril of pauline type dealing with psychos like her ex Jonathan Maitland, Linc's wife Zona, and possibly Jane Kincaid if Nixon was still headwriter during that story. I'd consider characters like Nick Davis, Amy Tyler, and even Erica Kane rather colorful for daytime. I'd say "Loving" was more early "One Life to Live" with the Vochek family similar to the Woleks, the Lily plotline, and even the Merrill/Roger having a bit of darker Viki/Joe edge to them. Dolly Jones appeared from 1985 until 1986. Bad, bad stories ensued. Dolly was a former prostitute who found an amnesiac Keith Lane after his identical OLDER brother Jonathan Maitlaine returned from the dead. Dolly fell in love with "Bill"/Keith and when the truth about his identity came out they set up house together. Soon Dolly found work as Gwyn's assistant and she was tormented by wealthy playboy Hunt Belden, who knew her when she was a prostitute. Hunt claimed to know where her illegitimate daughter was, the one sired by her pimp Carl. Dolly was desperate and slept with Hunt while she was involved with Keith. To torture Dolly, Hunt claimed her daughter had been sold to child pornographers and was now starring in their films. Dolly and Keith married while Hunt strung her along. Eventually, there was a shoot out and Carl and Hunt were killed. Dolly learned her daughter hadn't been given to child pornographers and met with Jennifer, the adoptive mother, about seeing Dee, Dolly's daughter. Jennifer agreed and Dolyl saw Dee only for Dolly and Keith to leave town in July 1986.

Nixon wrote from November 1993 until the summer of 1994. I think Nixon was fairly hands on. She co-wrote the first two years with Marland and then succeeded him solely as headwriter. Anyone know how long? I don't think her vision for "Loving" worked to be honest. The stories were terribly weak. The fact that soap books overlook Cyd Quilling's run as Dolly Jones is fairly notable considering the character dominated the 1985-1986 season. Having a former prostitute learn the child she gave up for adoption was the star of kiddie porn certainly wasn't going to bring in the viewers. Similarly, the complex, corporate storyline involving the takeover of Alden Enterprises floundered under Nixon instead focusing on her favorite storyline: Jonathan returning from the dead to taunt all those invovled with him. After Marland left, the work became less intricate and story threads stopped spinning. Ava was certainly a social climber under Nixon, but she definitely had Marland's mark on her. Ava worked on a construction site for goodness sakes. Could you imagine Erica doing that? I suspect Nixon consulted in the 1992 college revamp. Considering Nixon rewrote the abuse storyline later on as well as the inclusion of Dr. Ron Turner, who appeared on "Loving" in 1983 in Lily's storyline, makes me believe Nixon may have suggested the Coop storyline. Plus, Hannah was the typical Nixonian heroine. Also, Ava was suddenly working for Burnell's, a company that the Aldens owned in the 1980s, and a mysterious boss was watching over Ava. I think it was clear Curtis was set to return to woo Ava. Instead, we got Leo Burnell, Ava's high school love who founded Burnell's. To be honest, the biggest problem for "Loving" post-college revamp was no writer, producer, story, or character stayed long enough to give the show vision. Nixon was working on giving the show a vision, and I think she was grooming Walsh and McCarthy to take over. Unfortunately, I think they made MAJOR mistakes. Nixing the brilliant Cradle Foundation storyline, recasting Dinah Lee when she should have been killed off, offing Elise Neal's Janie Sinclair (the African American Erica Kane), not utilizing the veterans, and focusing on the Gilbert/Jeremy saga. The only McCarthy/Walsh story I liked was Who Ran Down Clay Alden? I just thought Hannah was too vanilla. Gayheart didn't have the zest required for an actress to play a heroine of her breed. Hannah lacked the personality needed to bring the character to life. I felt like Heinle's Stephanie was always trying to overcome personal demons. Her Stephanie lacked self confidence, but she wanted to be a better person. She was more gray than Hannah, which worked for egotistical Cooper. The Gilbert storyline and the Jonathan Maitland storyline were similar. In both stories, Gwyn Alden slept with a man who she believed was her lover. Gwyn had to be the dumbest woman in the world. She slept with Gilbert thinking he was Jeremy, Jonathan thinking he was Keith, and Alex thinking he was Clay. Both stories had one brother taking over their brother's life. Each tortured the show's heroine of the moment (Gilbert/Ava and Jonathan/Lorna). Nixon only wrote a little of the Gilbert story. I suspect Marland probably approved of the second round of Jonathan Maitland as he too had a gothic flair at times. I believe Ralph Ellis introduced Egypt, but Nixon may have had a hand in it. This is purely speculation, but I suspect the show's opening months was Wakefield's original vision for the show. The show was more Lemay than either Nixon or Marland. The show was more character vignettes rather than the complex plotting of Marland or the colorful characters of Nixon. This would explain why the Merrill Vochek/Roger Forbes love affair was quickly dropped. The political nature of the story was very different from the writing of Nixon and Marland. Also, it would explain why the Lily Slater storyline was quickly dropped without much drama behind the scenes. I think Marland was given more free reign with the revisions. Once the Lily and Roger/Merrill storylines were dropped, the main storyline was the Edy Lester/Jonathan Maitland mystery which took up most of 1984. This mystery was typical Marland, complex murder mystery, but I think the problem was it went nowhere. There was no fallout from this story. While I suspect Shana and Jim were suppose to be the main couple, Jack and Stacey emerged as the leads because they had been there since the beginning. To be honest, I don't think Marland and Nixon was a match named in heaven. They were two very different people stylistically and both had a lot of clout. I suspect this is why Wakefield and Nixon also parted ways. Collaboration isn't easy and I suspect they simply didn't agree on very much, but both respected what they gave the genre. When Marland left, Nixon took the stories in a completely different direction. Maybe Marland asked for the creator credit to be removed because he didn't feel it was fair to take credit for something he wasn't that involved in. Unfortunately, we will probably never really know the truth because both are (were) too decent to discuss why things didn't work out. The fact that neither have said much about it speaks volumes though.

Unfortunately, most of what I know is from the reading and the things posted online over the years. I've read the soap column by Jon Michael Reed, which was very engaging. Lynda Hirsch's is good, too, but you could tell what stories Reed was engaging in. Unfortunately, he passed away in the mid-1980s. His replacement (who's name I'm blanking on at the moment, Selig? something) was pretty good, but Reed's synopses were wonderful. Earlier, I had read most of the postings from RATS about "Loving" from 1992 through the end. It's funny to read the longterm fans reactions to the plots as they went on. Most tolerated a lot of poor stories with hope until Brown and Essensten came on, and maybe the tailend of Walsh & McCarthy material. The plans for "The City" certainly alienated long time fans, but then again wasn't that the point? Hannah was Rebecca Gayheart's character. Hannah just didn't seem to work. It was hard to justify Hannah and Cooper as end game when Ally had been with the show long and had the makings of a typical Rescott woman, well intention but often making horrible choices. Stephanie worked because she was willing to play at Ally's level, but there was a vulernability there. It's funny, there are clips up on youtube of Paul Anthony Stewart's work from the beginning until he married Ally (during Nixon's last stand). Stewart and Heinle worked well off one another, as did Heinle and Weatherly, Weatherly and Wright, and Wright and Stewart. After seeing the clips, I can understand why some of the shoddy storytelling worked. The chemistry among the cast worked. Randolph Mantooth worked well with Peluso, but had wonderful parental chemistry with Dabney and Rowland in the scenes I've caught. Also, there was some wonderful sexual tension in the scenes with Tudor Newman and Partalo. If Partalo hadn't gotten the role on such shaky grounds, I wonder if the audience would have accepted him as Roger? Clay was a bit similar. Marland left at the end of his two year contract. He simply said it was time to move on and I don't think he had the job at "As the World Turns" yet when he announced his plans to leave. Personally, he was probably frustrated. The show was constantly turning over cast and story directions were taking such drastic turns. Couples were built up only for actors to be recast or fired. By the time Marland had left, the show was really in its third incarnation, and probably it's strongest and most Marland-esque. Marland left the show in such good shape, it's a shame to see all the stories change so quickly. In the final months, the show came to a head with a takeover plotline. Dane Hammond, a disgruntled former employee and biological father of Alden scion Jack Forbes, plotted along with Linc Beecham to take over Alden Enterprises. The story was set to affect most of the characters on the canvas. Lovers Shana Sloane and Mike Donovan were on different sides of a labor dispute which would likely send Shana back into Jim's arms. Lorna was pursuing a modelling career and gave her shares of stock in order for Dane's clout. Dane and Ann had married causing a rift in the family, while Clay was presumed dead after a boating accident. Gwyneth alligned herself with Dane in order to get power at Amourelle, the cosmetics company, which would cause trouble for Keith Lane, a chemist who was once Gwyneth's lover. Keith was falling for Colby Cantrell, Curtis' latest squeeze who worked for Burnell's. Colby's recently divorced aunt Rita Mae ended up with much younger man Tony Perilli when he ended his engagement to Stacey. Stacey pined while Jack had married Ava because she was pregnant. When Ava later lost the baby, Dane gave her the money to buy her sister Sheri's baby (who gave up the baby for money so her daughter Patty could get a hip operation). Jim Vochek was involved in the young romance of Trisha Alden and Steve Sowlowsky. Harry had tormented his love Shana, but Jim took an interest in Steve. Also, Lorna romanced Linc, who was alligned with Dane. It was all about loyalty, plotting, and scheming. Tight storytelling with interesting characters, even if most of them were new.

Faison was like July 1993. Jeremy moved to Corinth in November 1992 and worked with romanced Stacey until about May when Hannah pulled the sexual harassment stunt. Around the same time, Shana was pregnant with Leo's baby and Ava was faking a pregnancy because she wanted to keep Leo. Jeremy called her out on her sh&*^& and they became a couple. In July 1993, Jeremy and Ava went to Florida and Universal Studios. They had something Faison wanted or something like that. Jeremy and Ava didn't work storywise, but supposedly Peluso and LeClerc supposedly had chemistry which is why the show did the Gilbert stuff (man Agnes Nixon can pen some awful stuff sometimes). Anyway, Ava was targeted by an arsonist in September 1993 which brought her ex-husband Alex back to town and Jeremy and Ava were kaput by Christmas. He saw Gwyn next, which was a well done relationship. Addie Walsh and Fran Sears were behind the college revamp plans, but they really didn't get to execute much. The revamp began around April/May 1992 after several months of research had been done and a huge casting call had been done. None of it really worked out though. Fran Sears was gone within six weeks of the material beginning to air and Walsh may have been around for two months of it. Haidee Granger supposedly acted as defacto headwriter for the first few months of her run as executive producer. The summer was very uneven. Stories and characters came and went without rhyme or reason. Taggert and Guza stablized the show, but I wouldn't say there stories were all that great. The Curtis/Tess/Buck triangle seems like a vortex of sh&^*. Does anyone even remember Trucker's loser father coming to town pretending he was dying? Guza and Taggert won an award (the Writer's Guild) but I really don't think it was for the overall show. They lucked out inheriting a decent younger set, Cooper, Ally, and Casey, and ditching the loser, Hannah, for a winner, Stephanie. Nixon's return material was good considering the mess she inherited from Taggert. There were certainly some clunkers (Dante in general and Gilbert), but most of the material was pretty good. Too bad her solo run post-Marland wasn't as strong.

This is Margaret DePriest's work, correct? She really seemed to coast off Labine & Mayer's work. She seems like someone who does a good enough job at keeping the ball rolling, but not necessarily generating the spark.

I've spent years looking for information on "The Catlins" with little to no success. There have been bits and pieces I've heard about, but nothing to really give a sense of the series. The big thing that few entries really pick up on is the fact it was supported by Proctor and Gamble. Considered a conservative producer by most of the online audience, involving itself in a cable venture in the 1980s seems rather pioneering. I suspect P&G was hoping to recapture the audience who followed "Texas". When "Texas" was cancelled, NBC received the most letters it ever had over the cancellation of a program. P&G was probably hoping another Souther serial would grab the same audience. Initially, the show was a local venture with Atlanta based actors playing most of the roles and the storylines being rather old fashioned. By the fall of 1983, P&G must have intervened as there were a number of soap actors brought in to play major roles. Charles Hill arrived in the fall to play Woody Thorpe while Julie Ridley (who was initially working on the production team) replaced an Atlanta actress as lawyer Maggie Catlin. Early storylines seem romantic in nature. Robert Goode was engaged to marry Jennifer Catlin, the heroine of the show, only to be murdered at the end of the first week. Jennifer was accused of the crime and stood trial for his murder. Someone mentioned once that Memphis Morgan, a waitress at a dive, had been involved with Robert and was also a suspect, but I don't believe she was the killer. Anyway, while Jennifer stood trial, her brothers Matt and Beau fought for the affections of newsreporter Lauren Woodward. While I never seen any resolution listed for this storyline, I know Beau became involved in a storyline with Jacki McCormack and Woody Thorpe so I suspect Lauren and Matt ended up together. Plus, neither character was listed in the July 17 1984 cast list for the episode on YouTube. The Catlin/Quinn feud was downplayed as the series went on. The initial love story between Eleanor and Jonathan did result in a wedding and a pregnancy, but later on Eleanor was killed as a result of a fight between Jonathan and her brother. Jonathan stood trial, but was found innocent. Medger Quinn didn't let up and later entered a custody war over little Quinn Catlin when Jonahtan began seeing Fayrene Bishop, a single mom who had been abused by a man in her life. The Christmas episode on youtube shows Medger calling a truce with the Catlins by dropping the suit. Also, most of the members of the two families were written off by the fall of 1984. Eleanor was dead, Seth and Beau were in Argentina, Maggie in Washington, D.C., and Matt was long gone. I'm not even sure how long Cullen was going to stick around as his father seemed to have a mission for him in November 1984 which I suspected may have set him abroad. Also, the show definitely became more youth focused as time went on. McIntyre was excited to write for older characters, but I read once that Pamela Burrell and Michael Forrest were a decade younger than the actors they replaced. I liked T.J. and Annabelle's story from the few episodes I've caught. Annabelle easily could have been waifish in comparison to thunderous matriarch Catherine (played by prominent Atlanta theatre actress M.N. Santacroce), but Burrell held her own and gave Annabelle a quiet confidence that I admired in her standoffs with her mother-in-law and her husband. At some point, it was revealed T.J. had slept with Valerie Kostapolis (or something along those lines) and later, when T.J. was spending time with Mrs. Crowe, Annabelle feared he was cheating again. They fought through Thanksgiving and Christmas. I thought the duo had enough to carry the storyline. Towards the end, the show introduced another family: the Mahoneys. Jack was running for Congress and had ended a hostage situation which had involved several of the show's major characters (I suspect it was a sweeps storyline as everyone was talking about it at Thanksgiving). Stacy Manning, Cullen's reporter girlfriend, was moving into the Mahoney house and staying with them. Jack's daughter was Vanessa Crane, played by Lisby Larson. Vanessa was psychopath who had tried to kill her husband Peter Crane (Victor Bevine) with a knife. Peter was the doctor who was treating a blinded Jennifer Catlin when she got her sight back. Anyway, Vanessa arrived home freshly escaped from the mental hospital just in time for Peter and Jennifer (now played by Terri Vanderboesch, who died within the last few weeks) to become cozy. I suspect Vanessa was the main antagonist in this love story. Also, there seemed to be the suggestion that Jack was in fact Stacy Manning's father. There is one scene on youtube of the two alone in Vanessa's room looking at Stacy's locket and Stacy making some ominious comments once Jack has exited. In the show's final months, I suspect the main storylines featured Vanessa trying to ruin Peter and Jennifer's blooming romance, T.J.'s attempts to salvage Catlin Enterprises (a shipping company) with Dirk's help, Dirk and Babe's growing attraction, Stacy's secret, T.J. and Annabelle's separation, Fayrene and Jonathan's romance, and any other plots the writers cooked up before the show went off the air.

Matt's published his fan fiction for a few weeks in the spring of 2007. I remember Leann Hunley had just been rehired at "Days of our Lives" when it ended because Matt announced he was planning to recast Betsy when the show returned. I'm almost positive it's still in the blogs section as are SOD synopses for mid October 1979 through February 1980. The last year of "Love of Life" was bizarre. When the year started, Jean Holloway was writing the series. Holloway had written for the popular radio soap "When A Girl Marries", among others. Her early television work had been criticized for not utilizing the medium, which I believe referred to the lack of action in the story. When Holloway wrote "Love of Life', the big storyline was the Bambi Brewster mystery. Bambi Brewster had been introduced several years earlier as a waitress at former criminal Ray Slater's club who Ray and his wife Arlene looked after. Bambi's parentage was in question and when she went searching for the truth everyone's lives were in danger. She was attacked several times, Ray was kidnapped, and the search for her true parents invovled a religious zealot determined to keep the truth secret, several women claiming to be or know the REAL Barbara Brewster, and a woman donning a blonde wig and alternating between the names Ruth and Eloise. The storyline was something out of "Stella Dallas". The Bambi Brewster was really the only storyline allowed to play out. I suspect it was an umbrella storyline gone wrong, but damn the storyline was bad from the synopses I've read. The only other stories playing out on a regular basis seemed to be Ben Harper and Betsy Lang's chaperoned romance by geratric lawyer Timothy McCauley and Meg's sex games with Scott Carmichael, a businessman who had no intention of marrying Meg, a woman looking to settle down. I believe during this mess Cathi Abbi must have been hired as the executive producer. Things certainly changed in quick order. While the Brewster storyline reached its high, Dr. Lianne Wilson was introduced. Lianne became involved with Tom Crawford, Betsy's brother, and provided some career conflict at Rosehill Hospital when Dr. Tucker disapproved of the fraternization. Similarly, Andrew and Mia's reconcilliation, which seemed like a side story, was dropped in favor of Andrew focusing on workplace drama. While this storyline was being built up, Vanessa Sterling, the aging heroine of the serial, returned from Switzerland after tending to her former ward, Lynn Henderson, who had been involved in a ski accident (Lynn had been on the show several years earlier). Vanessa went to work to for a college professor before being offered a position teaching commercial art at the college. Bruce was upset at this, but he too had found work at the college teaching law. Neither Vanessa nor Bruce had any background in their fields, however I believe at one time Bruce had been a school master for a private school. Most recently, I beleive Vanessa had been a newspaper reporter. To keep this story interesting, Paul Craggs was brought on as Steve Harbach, an ex-con who had served time with Ben Harper when he was imprisoned for bigamy. Steve moved into the apartment over the Sterlings garage and used Ben to get his Uncle Bruce to help him get into the law program. It was a fairly good use of the show's history, especially since the ramifications of Ben's bigamy still remained a vital part of the canvas. Steve soon became interested in Vanessa Sterling, and during the duration of the storyline, he began to have sexual fantasies about her. The tenson between Steve and Vanessa played out for the remainder of the show's run. While it was clear it was a one-sided attraction, it sounds like a neat story. It certainly caused conflict for Bruce and Van. As "Love of Life" continued its movement towards a more youthful canvas, Wes Osbourne arrived in town to stay with his sister Mia Marriott for the summer. Wes found work as a life guard and became interested in sweet and innocent Gina Gaspero, Ray Slater's underage sister who was staying with her brother and sister-in-law while her parents vacationed in Italy. Virginal Gina was conflicted about giving it up to Wes and watched Christy Bringham try to steal Wes away. During a party, Gina ate some pot brownies and had a bad trip. Later, she and Wes slept together and a pregnancy scare followed. Gina confessed to Ray, who was determined to press charges against Wes for statuatory rape. When Gina learned she wasn't pregnant, the charges were dropped, Gina went home to her parents, and Wes returned to school. Wes' departure was probably actor dictated. Woody Brown appeared in the pilot movie for nighttime soap "Flamingo Road" in January 1980. I suspect he was filming the movie during his four to six week absense from the soap. Wes departed in September and returned in November after quitting Harvard to settle in Rosehill. Wes found work as a disk jockey at Ray Slater's club, he was hestitant at first because of the Gina scenario, and gained love interests in the form of Kelly Wilson, Liane's sister who arrived in Janaury to attend Rosehill University, and Cheryl Kingsley, another co-ed introduced as the show was only weeks from leaving the air. The other major younger characters introduced were Amy Russell and Joel. Both college students, Joel and Amy were partners in crime, but they had different reasons. Joel was romantically interested in Amy, while Amy was determined to ruin her biological father- Bruce Sterling! Bruce had abandoned her mother Loretta King when they were in law school together. Amy became close to Steve in order to infiltrate the family even going to the wedding of Vanessa's mother Sarah to professor Timothy McCauley on Christmas or New Year's Eve. Amy's mother Loretta sent Bruce a letter around the same time threatening him. Probably the biggest, and most talked about storyline in the show's final year, was the continuing love story of Ben Harper and Betsy Crawford. In June, Betsy's politically ambitious husband Elliott Lang raped her. Betsy's rape resulted in a pregnancy and Betsy opted to have an abortion, but couldn't go through with it. Elliott believed the baby to be Ben's intially, but was delighted to learn it was in fact his. Elliott used the pregnancy as a ploy in his campaign to be elected to the district attorney's position. Betsy refused to let Elliott use her. Elliott plotted with Mia Marriott to keep the two apart. Mia's big scheme resulted in a rather dramatic November sweeps. While Ben and Betsy went away on a romantic weekend at a lakeside cabin, Mia called and went into details about her relationship with Ben to Betsy pretending she beleived she was talking to Ben. Mia's insinuation deeply upset Betsy and she rushed to the lake to clear her thoughts. Ben followed her and they discussed their problems as they were rowing the boat. When a snake appeared, Ben raised the oar to kill it, but, in the process, the boat flipped. Betsy was injured and rushed to the hospital where she lost the baby she was carrying. Elliott was furious, and, believing Ben had done this on purpose, vowed vengeance by mercilessly prosecuting Ben in his newly elected D.A. position. The trial was nasty and things didn't look good for Ben. A fisherman had pictures of Ben swinging the oar and Meg's bribery of witness Mia Marriott made Mia look like a liar when she revealed the truth. Betsy, conveniently, suffered a bout of amnesia. In the final episodes, Betsy recovered her memory and testified at the trial just before the verdict was to be served. As the final episode came to a close, Betsy collapsed on the stand. Another major trial was on the verge of happening as the show went off the air. The roadblock to Liane and Tom's budding romance came when a recently rejected Meg Hart, who lost Scott Carmichael when he left town, took an interest in Tom. She funded his cardiac project and wanted to take him as a lover. Tom gave her what she wanted after Meg had managed to keep separating the two. Meanwhile, Liane fought off the attention of Dr. Andrew Marriott. In the fall, once Tom had finally succumbed to Meg's demands, Liane ended things with Tom. Tom was upset and later fought with Meg resulting in her taking a tumble down a flight of stairs. Liane went against the orders of her superiors and performed the necessary surgery to save Meg's life, only for Meg to end up paralyzed. Meg, to get even with her romantic foe, pressed charges against Liane and was mounting a law suit against Lianne and the hospital for malpractice. Liane ended up being suspended and she went to stay with her friend Maggie. Meg did offer Tom an ultimatum. If he agreed to marry her, Meg would drop the suit. Liane was reinstated to the hospital, but was unaware of how much in debt to Meg Tom was. As the show concluded, it appeared Meg and Tom would marry and Liane would end up find solace, for the meantime, with Andrew Marriott. Arlene and Ray had little to do after the Brewster mystery. They played heavies in the Gina and Wes romance and only when Hal Carson returned to Rosehill in November did there story begin to heat up. Ray, who had played father to Arlene's baby April, wanted a child of his own and convinced Arlene to try to have another child. Initially, Arlene wasn't interested, but eventually she conceded. Hoping to keep it a suprise, Arlene stopped taking her birth control and actively plotted to conceive a child. Unfortunately, Hal returned to town at the same time. Hal and Arlene were involved in a November sweeps plane crash that left them stranded in the mountains. Hal admitted he loved Arlene while she was in a fevered state. When Arlene returned home, Ray's jealousies were ignited. When Arlene revealed she was pregnant, Ray beleived the father to be Hal. Bambi Brewster had been involved in a triangle with Dr. Paul Graham and Tony Alfonso. Tony and Bambi became endgame and Tony's former lover Kim Soo Ling arrived in town hoping to locate the child she gave up for adoption. She revealed Tony was the father and Tony vowed ot help her.He even left Bambi at the alter in September during Kim's suicide attempt. Eventually, the child, Tran, was located and the with one of the adopted parents dying, Tony and Kim agreed to leave the child alone during this time. In the last episodes, Kim left town so Bambi and Tony would be happy. I think this was a majority of what happened in the last year of the series.

Funny, neither Sears nor Walsh lasted long enough to see this fully happen. Sears was out by May, replaced by Haidee Granger, and Walsh left shortly after in conflict with Granger, who took over as defacto headwriter until hiring Taggert and Guza in the fall. The summer was a mess as a result. I do have to wonder though what Sears and Walsh would have done. I suspect the show would have been a bit more rooted in its history with the younger set and the return of Curtis Alden.

An Italian viewer has uploaded Susan Walters edits from the Zona Beecham storyline. The clips appear to start in December 1985 with a confrontation between Linc and Lorna after Rebeka reveals Linc is still married to Zona. The clips end in March 1986 as Lorna departs Keith and Dolly's wedding reception to be imprisoned for Zona's murder. Of course, they're in Italian. Still, it's an interesting glimpse into the show. Here's a link to the first of the clips. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKAZaHRGNhA