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I believe the scripts for SFT in the New York Public Library are 1979-1980. Or maybe 1978-1979. I remember thinking they would be scripts from the Corringtons.

I'm sure that's what was said onscreen, but I don't think that makes sense either. I don't think Dominique and Mac even had sex until after Leopold had been murdered. There is a big plot point in January, 1992, where Dominique sees a therapist to help get past her sexual trauma that she endured while being married to Leopold before she and Mac could sleep together. Then, when they do have sex, they literally set the house on fire because the blanket is too close to the fireplace. Maybe they had slept together prior, and Monty/Grover just played up Leopold/Dominique's toxic marriage.

I've listened to a few more episodes of "Radio Playhouse." Most noteable revelations: In "Face of Love," there was a rather shocking revelation; Kate's late husband Tom Wakefield had been left impotent from his drug addiction. The reveal acts as a sorta ABC Afterschool Special as Kate drops this tidbit to her 19-year-old niece, Nancy. In addition, I think it sets up Kate as a virgin even though she was married, which might be a way of explaining Kate's relationship with Tony Cushing. Kate doesn't seem ready to commit to Tony and cannot seem to fully connect with David. In "To Have and To Hold," I had missed completely that Richard and Suzanne Holland had departed the series, most likely to commit to "General Hospital." The Hollands used script writers so I just assumed Dornheim was handling the scripts, but the Hollands haven't been credited for a bit. I jumped ahead and in February, Mary Dornheim is still the only writer listed and Michael Storm has replaced Bill Redfield as Marsh. I cannot imagine Bert and Dr. Larry Wolek as a couple, but I am excited to see it play out. In another surprise casting, something I had suspected (due to her distinct voice) was true: Morgan Fairchild is appearing as Ann, Caroline's daughter by her first daughter. This pre-dates her appearance as the lead on "Face of Love." I'll be curious to see if Ann sticks around with Fairchild in the part because Ann has been introduced as a possible spoiler to the Kurt / Lynn romance. It is also clarified that River Run, the family home, belongs to Caroline and Ann as Caroline's late husband was a succesfful businessman. This is an interesting development that has slowly unfolded over the course of the last few episodes, though I suspect it might be a rewrite by Dornheim. Either way, I don't hate it. It's a shame these didn't continue for a few years. I would love to have as many episodes as CBS Radio Mystery Theatre has from this same period of time.

I caught a couple episodes last week. I watched a little of May, 2000, episodes. There were two major plots in the episode: (a) Lucy showing up at the park during Julie's supervised visitation with Christina leading to the social worker taking Christina away from both women and (b) Serena ending up in Claire Wright's room. I don't hate the custody story as much as others, but the comment that this isn't the material that suits Lynn Herring best. I think it is still rather intriguing. Herring and Lisa Ann Hadley are fun as rivals. Lucy being willing to keep Christina safe from Julie that she is on the brink of destroying everything. In her desperate attempt to keep tabs on Christina, she has forgotten to pick up Serena from school leading to the other story. Serena wanders into Claire Wright's (Linda Purl) room. Serena is aware that Scotty is doing the legal work so that Claire can die at home. This is a rather poignant moment as it was clearly playing on the Dominique story, but this is going with a very different angle. Serena's point of view on the issue (she seems deeply aware of everything) asks Claire if she is scared and if she is in a lot of pain. Purl does well in this role and she has nice chemistry with Carly Shroeder. Something like this moment would be easy to skip, but it makes the story very heartwarming. In addition, I watched two October, 2000, episodes following the other ones I had been watching. The fall out of Joe's HIV test is very interesting. It is coming to light who was behind it and it's a desperately ugly move by a character who 100% would stoop that low. Alex Melendez isn't terrible, but he doesn't really excite me as Joe. To a lesser degree, he seems more age appropriate for Joe compared to David Gail who came off as too old for me. Melendez cast as the son of the Irish Scanlon clan is definitely a choice. The mystery of Livvie's paternity is unraveling very nicely with each episode giving a bit more of the story. Each piece seems to be building to a very obvious conclusion, but I think it's such a fun journey. It is also interesting that it seems to be driving Kevin and Eve apart and Kevin and Lucy together. This is just really nice. Herring and Lindstrum have great chemistry in this story and Lucy's point of view (re: Christina) makes this material meaningful. I really like Jamal and Allison. Amanda Barrington is desperate to keep them apart even threatening to have Allison committed to an asylum. I am curious how far Harris and Bloom were going to go with this. Allison shows some signs of PTSD after the Cedric situation and I think this would have eventually lead to Allison / Kevin. Jamal pushing away "Spunky" to keep her safe from her controlling grandmother is sad. It kills me to know what they will do to Allison and Jamal down the line. I would be curious what a modern reaction to all this would have been. A lot of 2000 is a variation on some of the best of Riche from 1992-1996.

I am not always the best at identifying actors, but I believe the woman involved in the car accident is actress Destiny Love, who is playing Laura, a character we haven't been told much about yet, unless I've missed something. Overall, the promo is great. I think highlighting Dani and her story is multi-leveled. Dani does seem to be a catalyst who generates plot and is played by the cast member with most recent CBS daytime experience. Tamara Tunie and Clifton Davis are bigger names in entertainment, but Mosely played a fairly significant role. Though, I am probably unaware of how long Maya has been offscreen. And that is Dani hooking up with Andre, correct? That was a pleasant surprise.

The 1972 episode I believe was the one uncovered a few years ago by a soap collector. I believe there is also a copy of this episode at a library or museum.

I had trouble finding it in TV Listings for the United States as well. I did find it in Australian listings in 1996. Also, someone usually would write something up about the TV movies when they aired and there was nothing. Also, that is Peter White uncredited as Winston Van Degan, Lawrence's brother and Drexel's father.

"Thanks again for the synopsis as I know I enjoyed the that era too, at least from May 2009- at least February 2011 or so when the show gave us Faux Rafe/Arnold (funny he’s back now), the whole Taylor/Fay debacle, and Chloe the hooker with the inexplicable Vivian’s beloved but never mentioned son Quinn. Although Sonny’s introduction was definitely a highlight at the time. I recall I was indifferent to Dario mainly because it seemed fruitless at the time especially on the heels of losing Ariana just as she finally became interesting as well as losing the original Gabi. MarDar was a fatal blow to me because once EJ and Sami slept together again later on in 2011 I was so repulsed I tuned it out, regardless of Will’s reaction. " @soapfan770 I figured I'd respond here to your comments from the Francisco San Martin thread. I got back into Days in fall 2008, but what sealed the deal for me were two moments: Nick's arrest after drinking and driving (Berris delivered a phenomenal performance of Nick at the end of his rope) and Arianne Zucker's performance as Nicole after losing EJ's baby at the clinic. I felt real emotion from the show for the first time in what felt like a decade. February 2011 was defintely a marker. The return of Taylor should have worked, but Natalia Livingston was very wrong for the part and Tamara Braun came in too late to salvage it. I would have preferred what seemed to be coming in fall of 2010 (E.J. and Arianna). I hated losing Fay who had delivered one of my favorite monologues in December 2009 when she told Nicole it was her (Fay's) fault that Nicole was always involved with dangerous men because of Fay's involvement with Paul Mendez. Definitely a Richard Culliton script. I didn't hate Chloe the hooker as I felt they had positioned that well enough for it to work. She was coming off post-partum. Phillip had fled Salem and there was a custody battle for Parker. She feel into it when Quinn offered her the money and decided to stay with it. Somewhere in 2010, Nathan had questioned whether or not Chloe had a sex addiction based on her behavior. I thought her saving Kinsey, who had glamorized prostitution and was broke after her family lost all their money (the actress had just appeared in the Facebook movie so I think they threw her a bone). I thought having Kate be involved in was a wicked choice that felt on brand for the era, but bordering on crossing a line. I thought having Kate and Carly in the orbit of Vivian's newly discovered son was too delicious to pass up. I HATED Quinn for a hot minute, but I was able to justify him in my head that Vivian having her son kept from her is what drove her to be so possessive of Lawrence and Nikki. It was nice seeing Nikki in 2011, but Cody Longo too has passed way too young. Nothing onscreen justified Quinn though, but I was more disturbed when he was brought back under MarDar to do very little. Sonny's arrival was special. I loved all the work they had put into Adrienne and Stephanie's relationship the previous year and was afraid that Adrienne was going to fall off now that Shelley Hennig was gone. Seeing Adrienne and Justin back together (remarried off screen) and welcoming their out son was a treat. I wish that little family unit had been highlighted more in the MarDar period, but Sonny was sidelined quickly. I also enjoyed Sonny and Chloe's friendship though I never completely could figure out what the angle was for it as that sort of pairing usually led to something plot wise, but it was too late in the game to ever see it materialize. I liked Camilla Banus immediately as Gabi and felt that she was a step in the right direction. She seemed more mature where as Gabriela Rodriguez, bright and energetic, always came off as a bit naive. The Gabi / Arianna dynamic was fascinating and I love that Tomsell ended up naming Gabi's daughter after her and then allowing Gabi to suffer the same fate as her sister by ending up in jail for a crime based on a domestic partner. I thought the construct of Dario was brilliant given that you had cop older brother Rafe and the now dead sister Arianna who had been the criminal sibling (reluctantly) while now Dario was proudly a con artist. Pairing him with Melanie seemed to work, but there wasn't that big story that they would have needed to keep them front and center. I would have worked Dario into Vivian and Quinn's orbit and played the tension of Carly's daughter involving herself with people so closely tied to Carly's sworn enemy. Didn't Quinn buy the Salem drug operation from EJ in the summer fo 2011? I felt like that was going to go somewhere, but so much groundwork was laid that never got followthrough because of the turnover. The initial reset list left me put off by MarDar because I didn't miss the story restraints of the super couple era. The dropping of the big couples had opened up storytelling in a way that was much more rich and interesting than what was being put out in late 2011. Also, these were essentially newly returned characters forced on the frontburner which was a mistake because now all the stories were in the beginning stage which is boring. The moment I knew this was no longer my Days was when Jack told Adrienne why he was out of town offscreen denying us Adrienne's reaction to propel the idea of "the secret." The 2008-2011 era was all about the reaction and those Days were gone.

Jason is dropped from contract in November, 1990. I feel like when they killed him off they actually dumped him from the show and then renewed his contract so that it was up in November and it wasn't renewed because the show was cancelled. I could be wrong. I feel like it becomes clear as time went on that Sussman was planning on doing Jessica / Trevor before Jorn Winter comes and shakes things up. I felt the Jessica / Laura relationship was suppose to parallel the Ruth / Doreen relationship to the point that Doreen even got Jessica's original story (In the bible, Corey McCallum was going to try to seduce Jessica into bed in a storyline based on "The Graduate.") I cannot remember if I read the part of the bible detailing Monique and Jason's story, but I know what played on air had Jason / Sam and I thought that had potential to give Laura / Jessica some added layers dealing with that turn of events. Once Jordan Hale is introduced, it seems like the story changes. Then there is Jessica and Rob's quickie wedding and the story just blows up. Linda Gibboney takes over in September or October 1989. I feel like she might be the first Winter hire as she had worked for him as Sybil on AMC. Gibboney gives Jessica a much needed comic flair and elevates Kelly Rutherford in her performance as they become rivals. I imagine Pat Crowley's Rebecca was going to be in the thick of the business negotiations involving the acquisition of Marshall Ice Cream, but the business stuff wasn't really suited for NBC so it got scrapped. I don't think there was much to go with Lloyd Bradfield and Rebecca because Lloyd didn't really generate conflict though it was great seeing Crossroads' Ronald Allen on an American soap. Also, once the Peter Whitmore return was delayed, Rebecca's key story dried up. The late 1989 arrivals are game changers with Jordan Hale and Kyle Masters setting up a solid triangle for Sam and Maya Reubens giving Adam a viable love interest. The Mullens provided a much needed element of bigotry that lead to one of the show's bigger moments where the racists set off a bomb in the basement of the Marshall mansion during their housewarming gathering. By the time we get to Daniel Reubens and his quest for justice the show really has gotten somewhere strong.

I saw it this morning and made the choice not to mention it either. Mental health conversations don't happen often enough. I was quite upset to read that because I remember the very joyful presence on screen, forgetting how often behind the facade can be so much more going on. I work with middle schoolers and the mental health crisis in this country has exploded since COVID. I hope some will find a way to channel their energy into working on generating conversation on the importance of mental health services.

Jason ends up with Monique by the fall and they plan to wed. On their wedding day in November, 1989, Jason is "murdered." Everyone is told Jason has died, but we learn a month and half later it was his best man, Paul Jarre (Jon Lindstrum), who was murdered. This introduces Kyle Masters, Sam's love interest. Anyway, Jason goes stir crazy and pops up back in Chicago and reveals himself to Monique and his Aunt Mary, who is revealed to be the one out to kill him for her late brother's inheritance. Aunt Mary, in turn, prepares the couple a poisoned English trifle that nearly kills them so that she can get Jason's money. Jason and Monique marry in early 1990 at the hospital and are pretty backburnered in the material I have seen. Monique deals with the breakup of her parents wedding, and then the two open an art gallery which is the site of an art caper in the summer of 1990. By late 1990, Anthony Addabo is off contract and they flirt with the idea of Monique and Butch Hartman's Sean Masters. Most of the story for the Whitmores in the Bible was more than likely axed by the network. J.D. and Jessica's relationship was more transactional and J.D.'s true love interest, Lisa Morgan, was going to be revealed to be a transgender female. Laura's story was focused on her competition with Ruth Marshall to win over a former white classmate who was now a plastic surgeon. Laura was going to win because the classmate had a crush on Laura when they were younger. During one of Laura's trysts, her mother-in-law Frances, who was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimers, was going to get into a car accident threatening to reveal Laura's extramarital liasion. In addition, Sam was going to go into business and allign herself at the ad agency with Trevor's younger rival, Rob Raelko, while Adam Marshall was going to become a male model. The Marshalls material tends to stay very strong because domestic conflict was something the series could afford to do well with the well casted Marshall clan. If you didn't catch the MLK Day episode from 1990, it is a strong moment for Vivian and Ruth.

I watched to episodes from late in Harris/Bloom's run (September 29, October 2). The episodes were well constructed. The September 29th episode in particularly smoothly moved between multiple stories by keeping the characters in two main locations (the nurses' station and the Scanlons' bar). I thought it was an effective way to move between stories without cutting to different locations. It created a sense of movement while also sorta building longer scenes. I forgot how good Alison and Jamal were. Erin Hershey was very energetic early on as Alison and Kiko Ellsworth is just smooth. It's a shame he never landed another leading role (I don't think his GH part was more than supporting). Anne Jeffreys as the heavy is a delighful use of the character. The show is also tackling the HIV storyline with Joe testing to see if he contracted the disease from his one-night stand with Nurse Jill. I was surprised to see that Jill was still around and given such a point of view. It was really nice to see the layers even to such minor supporting players in the story. Alex Mendoza is passable as Joe, and probably more age appropriate than David Gale as the younger brother. He still just doesn't feel right, though he seems fine enough opposite Ion Overman as Gabriella. The Livvie story is just really well constructed. Harris had been present for the original Grace story on GH I believe, which helps. I think Kevin's intense interest in Livvie causing tension in his marriage to Eve was the perfect way to segue marital discord while also setting up Lucy to swoop in with her own daughter missing. Ian is actually a lot of fun as the renegade doctor who thinks outside the box to help his patients. He is a necessary firework that I imagine Rachel couldn't stand, but I could see why Eve is drawn to this version of him. They are searching for the missing patient, which I think ended up intersecting with Alison and Jamal's story. Harris not being offered another position is disappointing. She would have done well on the P&G shows if she was given the freedom.

"Fifth Avenue" was in development for a while. In January, 1992, Dunne was talking about developing "999 Fifth Avenue," and, by March, 1992, his script was undergoing a second draft after submitting it to the network. My guess is that it was in contention to be the replacement for "Knot's Landing," but then KL was renewed. At one point, Dunne had planned a character who was going to be an entertainer, a Carly Simon-type who would have inherited her apartment. I suspect the character morphed into Valerie Damore. The next year, when "Knot's" did close up shop, there was "Second Chances." The greenlight for the pilot came in early 1994 after "Second Chances" had flopped. Regarding "919 Fifth Avenue," it's not bad, but not great. The plot to the pilot is decent but the characterization is pretty paper thin for a good number of characters. The cast is decent, but wasted wiht a banal script. I wouldn't have gone forward with Brian Krause, personally, and possibly considered someone more dynamic than Tracey Needham. Noelle Beck has more life here than she did on "CPW," but I wonder how her part would have played in the long run. If it had gone to series, the "downstairs" element needed to be developed more. The dialogue was generic. I was also able to guess who the rapist/killer was fairly easily. Given Dunne's penchant for celebrity miscarriages of justice, I would have let the killer get off and have the pompous people at the fancy residence deal with the complications of that individual returning. In comparison to "Central Park West," the show that made it on air was more stylish and the characters were, for the most part, better drawn. The script was livelier. I think the plot wasn't as strong in places, and the casting of a bunch of young up and comers was going to be less polished than the cast of "919 Fifth Avenue." Something Darren Star has talked about in regards to CPW is that it was the first show in a while to develop a glamorous view of New York City after years of gritty depictions. I am curious waht 919 would have done to develop that world view. Almost the entire episode takes place in that building barring a few scenes.

Jorn Winter arrives around September, 1989, and things improve by mid-November when Jason has been "murdered." It remains relatively strong until at least April, 1990, where my episodes go into a gap. I don't find the summer of 1990 very strong, but there are moments that are worthwhile. I'm nearly positive the show was developed as an hour long show. Rebecca's romance with Lloyd Bradfield would have been interrupted by the return of Peter Whitmore and his new wife, Francesca. With only 30 minutes, stories needed to go and the Lloyd romance played out briefly and then was dumped. I think the voiceover narration may have continued into July, but they became less and less frequent. Sorry I thought I posted this earlier. Will reply to the other responses in a bit.

I didn't have a problem with 2011 until MarDar arrived, but I also wasn't as aware of how dark the tone had gotten by the dying days of Higley/Whitsell because I was so in the midst of it. Despite the darkness (Carly the pill popping doctor and Chloe the post partum mom turned prostitute) there was such lighter fare involving people like Maggie, Justin and Adrienne, and others that it didn't feel as bleak as it was. There was definitely a massive shift in cast and story in the first to second quarter of 2011, which hadn't been the case for the past 2 years. After the big names were dumped in early 2009, the show's cast was relatively stable with a few people coming in and leaving. By 2011, there was a mass exodus (Shelley Henning and Jay Kenneth Johnson quit and Mark Hapka was let go) and there were new people introduced. I thought the transition was smoother than expected by playing the Brady / Melanie / Dario triangle, which wouldn't have worked forver, but made story sense given Arianna's recent death, Melanie and Brady's connection to Arianna, and resolving the thread of the hit and run driver by tying it back to her ex Troy. I don't know how I would feel revisiting that period today, but I enjoyed it immensely at the time.

@BetterForgotten I may have misremembered the Riche / Elliott tension. I know there was the abortion comment, but I just reread Wendy Riche's interview with "We Love Soaps" and I am wondering if Tracy's abortion stance was made in 1992 when Tracy was pregnant with Dillon and Riche was defacto headwriter. I also find some of the backstage drama odd. Kin Shriner goes to the press in 1993 about how he and Riche had a public blowup on set and he stormed off. Yet, later, Riche launches and entire show around him. I don't understand. I hadn't read that the plan was for Tracy to return in 1996 to "General Hospital" permanently. Thanks for sharing. The score is amazing.

Louise Sorel's Donatella Stewart's stay may have also played a part in the Lucy / Rachel battle for a seat on the hospital board, but maybe that was later. The scene @Franko shared is a bit of a trip. More lesbian undertones to Lucy's relationship with women. I am assuming Sorel's character is a combo Donatella Versace / Martha Stewart. The short run patient arcs in 2000 are pretty strong from what I've heard. Linda Purl is the next one, I believe, with her right to die story that was suppose to echo some of the Dominique story with Scott acting as Claire Wright's attorney. It was very interesting seeing Sal Viscusco later in the episode as the tabloid reporter that Alan catches snooping around. 2000 is a pretty decent year despite the insane turnover in the writers seat. I wish Harris and Bloom had been given another year or two to continue telling their version of "Port Charles."

I wonder if its a case of what set was up. There is a brief period (spring 1990?) when they were testing Katherine and Colton while Colton was setting up the gym. It was said that the gym and Delafields were either next door to each other or around the corner. I found Katherine out of place in her relationship with Robert and his crew. I thought she was a theatrical actress in her delivery and would have potentially been better suited in the Quartermaine crew, but mostly better suited out of Port Charles. Thanks! I'm glad Cindi commented on Audrey's makeup post surgery. Audrey looked awful. The damage that was inflicted on her by Ryan is truly unsettling. I don't like Bill and Holly's story much, but I like them as individuals. I thought Bill worked better in 1992 with loving Julia, but Julia being unable to get past Bill's role in her father's death. That's a very nice clip I hadn't seen before. I am really enjoying the early 1990s. I think there is so much potential in late Monty 2.0 and throughout the Riche's run from the minute she arrives through the 1995 episodes I have seen. I am not surprised it continues into 1997. Tracy's exit is remarkable especially given the tension between Elliot and Riche leading up to her departure and the misogynist slant of the writing in this period. It is such a layered performance in all of those interactions with so many little moments to cherish ("I care about you." "Are you ok?" "Goodbye, my girl.") The music though just elevates it to a new level. I assume this is Marty Davich? It's just remarkable. The final shot of Jane Elliot in the Q mansion looking back at Lila just gets me. Watching Tracy's return is hard after watching her 1993 exit. It's not like Tracy was leaving on good terms in 1993; she has run over Jenny and has been kicked out of the house by Edward. She has conceded to let Paul off the hook on the trumped charges and agreed to joint custody. Tracy isn't leaving town a winner, but she isn't treated like a loser. Her departure is treated as a true loss and Tracy's self-destruction has gone so far that Edward has deemed it necessary to rid himself of her. It's a devastating blow to the family and I am glad it's treated as such. The 2003 scene has that same hostility that could be present in 1993, but it lacks the sentiment and emotion. Tracy was still someone's mother, sister, daughter in 1993. In 2003, those relationships have been stripped of any meaning and devalued to the point that Tracy is nothing more than a parasite. It's a very disappointing writing choice. Also, reverting back to hostility between Tracy and A.J. when A.J.'s final moment in 1993 shows genuine concern and this is what finally breaks Tracy is such a disappointment. A Tracy / AJ partnership would have shaken up the Quartermaine family. The idea of Tracy taking Monica's son under her wing would have just added a new layer to the hostility between Monica and Tracy. It's just a shame to see how far the show falls in a decade.

This is hard to read. As some know, I have been making my way through early 1990s "General Hospital" and am up to mid 1993. Riche is a gift to so many of the GH legends, particularly the women like Leslie Charleson. Monica is a fully developed character who is a brilliant surgeon, a mother who never feels she is doing enough, a wife who loves her husband but doesn't always like him, and a friend to her colleagues like Bobbie Jones. And Leslie plays each layer of the character with a quiet strength that makes you feel each individual slight from Alan and her boys AJ and Jason. Her rapport with Stuart Damon is remarkable as well as her ability to go toe to toe with Jane Elliot's Tracy. In the pre-Labine Riche era, Tracy and Monica are still at odds, but come together at times to support one another. In the GH thread, there is talk of Tracy's 1993 goobye, but one scene that isn't included in the video is from an episode or two earlier where Tracy and Monica have their last scene together and Monica is very optimistic and encouraging Tracy to not count herself out. It's a really tender moment for a prickly relationship. In Charleson's honor, I watched all the clips of the David Langton trial from about May 30, 1992-June 15, 1992. Charleson is great, per usual. I didn't realize that they hadn't dropped the bomb that David was Dawn's father to the boys by this point and the courtroom revelation shocks Jason to his core cause a deep rift in his relationship with Monica. It's a heartbreaking ripple of this trial. Additionally, another courtroom bombshell from Monica's diary reveals that David made Monica feel a way no other man, including Alan, ever had. This leads to a bitter confrontation in the manse between Alan and Monica where Alan's pride gets the best of him and Monica remains humble, but never the victim. I am sorry Charleson never got to appear under Mulcahey this last year. I hope her farewell episode is as memorable as Bobbie's.

I am very sorry to read this. I thought San Martin's original iteration of Dario worked for the time and for what the show was in that moment. I liked Dario / Melanie even if I liked Melanie / Nathan more. Pairing the former con woman with the current con man had potential that never was monopolized due to timing (Dario was introduced very late into Higley / Whitsell / Tomlin and quickly booted). San Martin was green, but I remember him being charming and leaving an impression earlier when he appeared as a hospital patient who infect Nathan and Melanie with some fictional virus that required them to quranatine together while the hovered near death. I know Banus is a bit controversial, but I am glad she shared this. There is something special to me about those soap friendships that are maintained beyond the space of their time on the soap (in this case it was particularly short). Too many soap people have passed in recent years.

@Lust4Life76 The father daughter incest storyline was between Lewis Electronics attorney Emmett Claybourne (mentioned by Bryan and Miranda as being missing in the episode having dipped Eden at the end of episode 50) and his daughter nursing student Cynthia Claybourne. Cynthia was played by Britt Hefler (Robert Newman's wife) prior to her appearance as Cynthia's successor Lily Slater in the late 1980s. The story culminates in the final episodes as a mystery. Logan Claybourne arrives in Eden probably toward the middle of the run or slightly later. He is determined to reunite with his sister Cynthia and to discover why and his mother Blanche (or maybe it was Shirley?) were banished from Eden years earlier. Logan confronts Emmett, who was unaware of Logan's return. Logan informs Emmett he knows his mother didn't have an affair with Ham Fisher like he claimed and wanted to know the real reason behind the exodus. In episode 49 or 50, Emmett drags Cynthia in her nursing uniform off camera where we hear her screaming. The next scene, Cynthia is in her bathrobe after showering. Emmett has already been accused at this point of being the Campus Strangler, who has been raping and murdering women. In addition, he nearly raped Gail Lee, a government agent working on the urban renewal project with Josh Collier and the Lewises. In the final episode, Logan gets into a confrontation with an intruder in the library of the Claybourne estate and a gun goes off with the fate of Logan and the identity of the intruder (presumably Emmett, possibly recast) up in the air. The production of the show is a bit odd. The episode order was 33 hour long episodes but they were aired in 2 parts each for a grand total of 66. The pacing is daytime. At 66 episodes, that's basically a 13-week cycle. Jaffe Enterprises produced the show which was mostly underwritten by Showtime, but other media outlets also purchased including Prism and Oak Media I believe. Jaffe was interviewed a few times during production about how it was going and he was making it on the cheap. All the scripts were written in 1982 between Marland's departure from "Guiding Light" and maybe shortly before. The final nine scripts (18 half hour episodes) were all filmed in the month of December, 1982. The only thing filmed in 1983 was a one scene resolution tagged on to the final episode where Francie learns her father is the serial killer who has been offing and raping the college co-eds. Jaffe spoke alot about filming two versions of the episodes with the intention of selling the show into syndication. I'd be curious if they ended up at the NATSC show or whatever the big syndication trade show is in February, 1983. Actually, I wonder if that's why they wanted it all done in 1982 so that they could try selling the original 13 weeks into syndication. Flannery was involved, per her own interviews. I believe she stated that Showtime wanted more but that Jaffe was too overworked by the grind and didn't want to continue. Not sure if that's accurate. Also, in my more recent readings, Jaffe implied that the early audience feedback to the show was that there wasn't an intense desire for the sexual content that people assumed there would be. More speculation than fact, there were issues trying to secure and keep talent with the nudity clauses. Anne Lockhart was set to be a lead, but refused to strip so she was killed off. Lara Parker also felt uncomfortable. The real champ seems to be Maggie Sullivan who beds down with Jack (J.P.) Wagner and Rachel Todd, both many years younger than her, while maintaining that Elvira beehive in this episode. By the time renewal would have come up, summer of 1983, Marland was definitely deep into "Loving." I imagine he could have done both since Nixon seemed to micromanage Marland to bits and pieces. Also, Marland's pacing is all daytime. Shelley Novak has been in the hospital since late April/early May. It's now late July. If the show was daily, it would be six weeks. With Showtime schedule, it was 3 months Watching it all again, I do think some of the relationship is deeper than I thought on the first viewing. There is complexity to the Francie / Biff material that is lost do to acting choices and to a lack of time with a 30 minute show. Francie's desire for marriage and respectability, Biff's desire to be with Francie and his fear that she is too crude like Shelley, and the resentment each feels towards one another regarding their views on sexuality. Dana Halstad (Francie) looks like Lauren Marie Taylor from some angles and I couldn't help but think about how Taylor might be playing this opposite someone like Christopher Marcantel, or even Scott Doebler. Also, I thought there was a bit more depth to Shelley and Hank with Shelley's past haunting her and Hank constantly swooping in when she needed him (I think someone tried to rape Shelley earlier in the story). Shelley, the seductress, fearing that no one can love her now that her looks are no longer her asset and Hank, the good ole boy who has had to adapt to the modern world of Eden and abandon the farm for work at the factory. Greg and Laurel seem to be the simplest relationship, but once Betty reveals her little secret, they were going to make Franice and Biff look like Ward and June Cleaver. There were some other light touches that I really enjoyed like Biff spiraling out of control because of the Campus Strangler investigation and his decision to shoot Honey with the watergun. Miranda commenting that Laurel's presence made Biff and Greg stick around for the family affair alluding to her knowledge that Laurel and Greg might be hooking up (Biff had told her earlier he thinks Greg has a girl on the side post-Pam). I'm still not sure what Jane Eliot is doing in her performances. I imagine she is trying to play Madge torn about her plot in Eden because she seems to be growing fond of Bryan again, but her plan may have been just to expose Miranda and leave town. Either way, bravo to Eliot for playing some sorta subtext to any of this material.

In terms of "Romance Theater," there were a series put out on VHS in the 1970s that I bought probably 12 or so years ago. They really aren't good. I know one of the books said "Image of Passion" was the best and I don't think it's terrible. "Bayou Romance" with Annie Potts and Paul Rossini was one of the better ones, but still nothing I'd rush off to see again. If they had managed a syndication deal, I think it would have been a daily show. The pacing at two episodes a week doesn't work. This would be the tail end of the first 13 weeks so I think there was potential with "Rituals," but it probably would have only made a year like "Rituals." Regarding the nudity, I think people filmed the pilot knowing it was a possibility but not really wanting to go there. I know Anne Lockhart said she didn't want to continue with the show so that's why her character Susan Walsh was the first one murdered. I am not sure if that is logical. I wonder if Lockhart was originally slated for one of the more prominent female roles (Francie, Shelley, Laurel), but because she refused to do the nudity she was given the role of the first victim Susan. The serial killer story seems so important to the show's origin story about the urban renewal project being threatened by these murders which could prevent people from moving to a revived Eden. Parker has said she purposely torpoed the romances with characters in order to escape sex scenes. Given Betty Franklin's significance to the story, I think they would have been better off recasting. Frank Richardson was the serial killer in the end faking his paralysis, which kept his daughter tethered to him. I missed her offhand comment aboutdumping him in a home, but that's a wicked little comment from Mulcahey that I can appreciate. The shot of the lovers at night that closes it out is great. I hope that some of the bigger sequences show up for this show one day (I.e. the poolside seduction, the final two episodes with the very gothic undertones and Frank rising out of the wheelchair to reveal to Francie he was the killer). The end of the opening sequence is used in promo material that has popped up. I always assumed it was Eden at dusk, but now I realize it was Eden at dawn, which makes the most obvious sense. From what I can tell, Eden is located in the southwest, maybe the only soap to be set in that part of the country. The ending shot of the opening with its bizarrely animated garden of Eden seduction is very romantic. The end credits really evoke the idea of a cable soap.

@DRW50 Regarding Horan, he played a stripper turned male model for a week on "Romance Theater" from this same time period as "New Day in Eden." Here he is as Jake Jordan doing test shots for a swimwear company: "Image of Passion" was released as a complication several years after "Romance Theater" folded along with several other stories from the series. This is only missing about 10 minutes or so from the original which was probably a lot of credits and narration by Louis Jordan. Back to "New Day in Eden," it was very neat seeing Francie's dream of her and Biff together in contrast to Biff's dream of him and Francie several episodes earlier. Even down to the staging of having Francie's dream being more chaste than Biff's. That also may have been down to Patrick Mulcahey, who's disinterest is apparent in the scripts. Also, I suspect that the Biff / Francie confrontation reads better on the page. It was definitely Mulcahey's style to have the younger characters swear more which I thought made sense. On my last reading of the scripts, the sexual content really seemed to be reduced to things that could be easily cut out and tended to be in the first part of a script. As an even number, that's why this episode might have been pretty thin in provocative content. I think Jaffe was really hoping to syndicate this, but I am not sure if they were aiming for late night or daytime because I know tamer versions of scenes were also filmed.

Yeah, I don't know what I would make of this episode if I hadn't read the other episodes. I believe this episode is also new to me as it is from the one script I don't have of the last nine so its a treat. Seeing Jane Eliot was a treat. Awesome to see that she got a Special Guest Star credit. Even Eliot seems bored, but I'm not sure Jim McMullan is the most dynamic screen partner. The faint Southern accent she gives the character is jarring for me having watched so much of Tracy's final episodes on "General Hospital" in 1993 in recent weeks. It makes sense though for a character born and raised in Atlanta living in Paris the past few years. By all accounts, Lara Parker was miserable on "New Day in Eden." I think what you see now is probably pretty consistent. The character was tested with Jim McMullan and Michael Laurence, but she always tanked the pairings so she wouldn't be nude. They end up having her raped twice; once in a flashback by Joe Franklin, her husband who is lurking outside the Parker cottage at the start of the episode, and later by her daughter's writing professor. Styling Maggie Sullivan's Miranda in the big hair doesn't work. The character of Miranda is suppose to be sleek, cunning; she's a master manipulator. This look doens't work. The exposition heavy conversation with Miranda and Beau in the office with Betty listening was definitely a highlight, which isn't saying much. Jef Severson's Ememtt is mentioned and in the credits, but the character is long gone. Unless he popped up in episode 59, he last time he appears is episode 50 when he flees Eden as his son Logan closes in on the secret that kept Logan and his mother Blanche out of Eden. The Sowolsky brothers definitely seem to be two of the stronger young leads. James Horan is the standout in the role of Shelley's redemption, country boy Hank Sowolsky. Shelley is a typical Marland anti-heroine who was scheming at the beginning with Biff Lewis (hence the comments from Lockhart about providing an alibi for Susan Walsh's murder in the pilot) before being burned in the factory explosion about midway through (episodes 35-36). I thought they might use the fire to recast but Wendy Barrie does seem to be elevated by Horan's performance. The setup here with the Sowolskys and the Lewis boys is more interesting than I remembered. In addition, I know the Sowolskys owned, or had owned, farm land where Davey caught Greg Lewis deflowering Laurel Franklin. The farm land more than likely was tied up in the land deal that was going on involving Emmett & Miranad and the urban renewal project being overseen by Steve Carlson's Josh Collier from AURIC. So that would have pitted the Sowolskys against the Lewises. In addition, Davey witnessing the little tryst between Laurel and Greg means that the secret regarding Laurel's paternity would have become messier. Scott Doebler dying so young was upsetting to see. I didn't realize he had also been the dead Buck Jarrett in "Ordinary People." Shame he didn't do more soap opera work. The Laurel / Greg scenario ends up being reused by Marland with Lily and Holden with Holden coming from Sowolsky like family. I have to wonder how Marland would have handled the Laurel and Greg situation in the second set of episodes. I imagine he would have undone Greg's paternity. I would have revealed that Greg was Miranda's son by another man (lets say Beau Ravenel just to maintain the very unlikely event you could convince Eliot to stay on as Madge). Having Miranda's son involved with Betty's daughter would propel conflict and having Miranda more attached to her nephew Biff over her son Greg would have also propelled drama. Poindexter is great for a very gentle part. I appreciated him when he was playing the replacement for Father Matt on "Days" after Ralph Waite's death. Ava and the Sowloskys aren't in Nixon's bible, but I wouldn't be surprised if those early ideas didn't pop up early on in Marland's outlines due to "Eden.

I was shocked when it appeared. I can see why it was lost to time. A lot of the younger actors were definitely still learning their craft. Also, it was the typical soap grind of filming an episode (parts 1 and 2) a day. It's really great seeing that cast list. @slick jones there are a lot of answered questions including on-air confirmation that it was Madge Whitehead: Logan Claybourne played by Stephen L. Shubert Dr. Mark Hammond played by Michael Laurence Joe Parker played by Nick Eldredge Frank Richardson played by Paul Kent Hud Richardson played by Robert Lisaius Hank Sowolsky played by James Horan Davey Sowolsky played by Scot Doebler