Paul Raven

BUFFALO COURIER-EXPRESS, Sunday, June 18. 1971 Buffalonian Doing Well As Soaper’ Producer By JACK ALLEN ERWIN “NICK” Nicholson, a native of Buffalo and longtime producer of shows derogatorily referred to as “soap operas.” can build a good case for the oft-despised daytime television dramas. The Buffalo State College graduate is a former public-school teacher here. He left to find fame and fortune in New Ycrk City, some 18 years ago, and has achieved some degree of both in TV. Scorned as they are, the daytime “soaps” form the bread and butter of the CBS schedule, fulfill the daydreams of a multitude of American women, and most important, provide jobs and training for a host of promising young actors in a city shorn by Hollywood of most of its TV production. IN THE SO-CALLED “golden days” of live TV drama, New York City was a hotbed of pretty good production, better than most of the slick videotaped output of the California studios of today. And a fellow like Nicholson has had a good part of the action in his 17 years in New York television. With CBS-TV, he held various production jobs—as production assistant, stage manager. associate director and director — with the “Lamp Unto My Feet” religious series, “Ford Star Jubilee” specials and the original live presentation of “Cinderella,” with Julie Andrews.Miss Andrews, incidentally, is shooting a new series for next fall's prime-time hours, and a former Buffalonian named Nick Vanoff is running the show. NICK WAS A floorman at WKBW-TV studies not too many years ago, along with his brother Boris. Nick moved on to Hollywood, became a hit producer with the old “Hollywood Palace" Saturday nights on ABCTV. His show bailed out Jerry Lewis after his flop on the network, and its success as a classic variety show recovered a lot of ABC money spent on refurbishing the old Palace Theater in Los Angeles. But this story belongs to the other Nick from Buffalo—Nicholson. He has been associated with many of the CBS daytime dramas, and joined “The Edge of Night” some six years ago. This soaper,seen at 3:30 p.m. locally on Channels 4 and 6 weekdays, is in its 17th year on CBS-TV. Nick is its producer, and the series Is shot “live” in a converted theater in Gotham. HE IS NOT at all apologetic about it, as we found out during a visit with Nick and his people recently. “We feel very strongly about the live aspect of our show,” he said. “Just think, we do 260 halfhour live shows a year. How many Hollywood prime-time shows, with their big budgets and supposedly hot-shot performers, could stand the gaff of such a production schedule? Heads nodding in agreement belonged to Ann Flood and Teri Keane, two of the longtime and highly capable “soap” actresses, and Henry Slesar, currently head writer of the show. “THE EDGE OF NIGHT” airs out of a studio on Sixth Ave. where “Omnibus” and “Armstrong Circle Theater” were shot. Miss Flood, who has been on “Edge” since 1962. said the crew is really on edge each day. When you shoot live on a tight time schedule there are no retakes and no videotape to be easily trimmed. “This series has never paled for me.” said the gracious lady of the daytime dramas. “I find it a daily challenge as a working actor. The rigid time schedule and the discipline make for good performers, in a training school tougher than any Hollywood can offer its newcomers. For an actor, it is a great environment.” ANN PLAYS Nancy Karr, the pivotal character, in the suspense melodrama about criminal attorney Mike Karr and Adam Drake in the fictional Midwest city of Monticello. Actually. the opening bit shows the skyline of Cincinnati, Ohio. Donald May. who plays Adam Drake, said, “Live TV can be dangerous, but for that reason it is exciting. Sometimes we choke on a drink, or walk out of a living-room set right into a clothes closet. But viewers know it is live, and these obvious fluffs only add to the scene.” Slesar, the writer who pumps these episodes out on a hot typewriter, said, “Our time slot makes us the caboose of the daytime shows, but we’re ’way ahead on track time. Our story is planned a year in advance, like a big, complex mystery novel. INDIVIDUAL scripts are written about three weeks ahead. There must be a strong continuity and a character memory, for daytime drama is a continuing life. “For our viewers, it is a vicarious life of great importance to them, and they take the problems of ail the characters very seriously.*’ “They sure do,” chimed in Nick. “My mother, who still lives on Kenmore Ave. in Buffalo, is my greatest critic. She and some other relatives have a regular fan club for ’Edge of Night,’ and they let me know by phone when something goes wrong.” PROCTOR & GAMBLE owns “The Edge of Night.” as well as “Search for Tomorrow” and “Guiding Light.” The product and the housewife viewer earned the daytime dramas the “soap opera” label. How good are the actors? “We work,” said May. “We rehearse the night before an episode. Once I had a 22-minute charge to a jury, and it was a toughie. But I have few memory problems, and memorize the scripts from day to day.” Nick said, “We get from 300 to 500 letters a week. When two characters on the show celebrated a wedding anniversary-, we received 32,000 letters of congratulation for them. Five daily magazines are now devoted to daytime TV, and they boast one-half million subscribers each.” “We also have fan clubs, one prominent one in Jackson, Miss. A woman by the name of Frances Noonenhocker— that’s a real name, not a soap character*— has a newsletter about us. “ONE TIME WE had a spy story which didn't appeal to the audience, and it was taken off in two weeks. Our time slot is a pretty good one. Why do you think President Nixon often takes the 3:30 p.m. spot for a nationwide address?” Do the sudsy- shows have to be exceptionally clean, in comparison to theater movies? “We do have censorship problems,” admitted Nick, “but perhaps not as rough as those of the prime-time people. We once lifted a line from ‘Othello,” but the P&G men said the word ‘whore’ might be all right for Shakespeare but too strong for the show. We had a battle on that line, but the soaps are becoming more frank, along with all the media. There is really no subject that is taboo today, as long as it is handled with some taste and discretion.”

How many interviews have we read where the actor praises the writer to high heaven even when the story stinks?

Wes Kenney dropped several characters when he arrived. Does someone have a tally? I know Bryan and Claudia went for starters.

Patriot -February 23. 1977, The 35-plus sets used on Another World are undoubtably among the most varied and stunning of any daytime serial. From the Cory. Carrington, and Matthews homes — to frame Enterprises and the Randolph law offices — to Tall Boys and El Diable, AW does a superb job in designing sets that suggest a realistic background for Bay City's lofty surroundings. Otis Riggs, AW s Art Director, is the man responsible for creating this delicate illusion of reality. In order to achieve a look that viewers could accept as real. Riggs has had to combine his background in architecture and interior design with studies in stage management. When the creators of Another World decide to expand or to introduce a new set. the shows producers call & special meeting with their Art Director. How and when the set will be used, who will be visiting it, and what it should look like are all discussed in considerable detail. Riggs next consults his for possible ideas, paying careful attention not only to the function of the room in the plot, but also to the personalities and characteristics of the people who will be seen there, Riggs finds himself devoting a great deal of time to researching each of the rooms he creates. Several sketches of a basic floor plan are devised by the Art Director before any of the actual set construction begins. These rough floor plans are xeroxed and copies are given to the serial's directors for an analysis of the new. room's "geography" — to make certain that cameras can be moved around easily. The revised floor plans are next routed to the show's carpenters who draw elevations and estimate the cost of building materials, paper, and paper hanging. A cost estimate is sent to the show's Cast Manager and to the producer, Paul Rauch. Finally a floor plan is approved and the green light is given to begin building the set. While the carpenters build and shape the framework of the new set, Otis Riggs and his co-worker. Bob Greenberg, are deciding how it will be "dressed." Once these plans are complete, Otis will take his floor plans to the Kenmore Furniture Company in New York, a firm that specializes in providing furnishings to television and movie studios. Riggs will either rent or purchase the furnishings he needs, for quick delivery to the show's Brooklyn studio. The many sets used on changed almost every day. Once a set has been designed, erected and dressed, it soon must be taken apart. Every set has its own special "hamper" and "dolly," where its components are safely labeled and stored.

Josh Griffith has to go. He claims he's writing these deep psychological stories about guilt and redemption but they're just trash.

Excerpt from a 1980 article about soap stars Ron Arrants (Travis Tourneur Santell on Search for Tomorrow) describes his character “as a romantic with dimensions, a combination of Rhett Butler, Howard Hughes and Citizen Kane the younger. He inherited an international business conglomerate, he is classical straight arrow. He flies his own jet and speaks several languages. On Lovers and Friends, I was just a millionaire. Now I’m a BILLIONAIRE.” Arrants’ character fell in love with Liza when her husband died and the couple went through just about every conceivable tragedy until their TV marriage last December. “WE HAVE HAD 10 major obstacles to our relationship,” he has figured out. A major star of daytime, Arrants still rides the subway from his Brqpklyn Heights home to CBS in New York but it gets more difficult daily to study his lines during the 20-minute ride. Autograph seekers are the interruptions. A native Californian, he has transplanted comfortably for a good economic reason: “I work 305 days a year, and have for 10 years. Elven though there’s nothing here for actors except daytime and the stage, it’s good experience, and I’m grateful for the work. It’s a good life, and I feel a responsibility to stay in daytime, after barely getting by for so long. But I have the economic freedom to take the risk again if I ever want to. “Actors who think of themselves as artists, who have an impulse to stretch and grow, find an excitement and challenge they can only experience in soaps. There is no beginning, middle or end in daytime. You never have that sense of completion you get in the theater. “TO THE EXTENT that an actor can feel secure, I am. I even get two paid vacation every year.That came as a big surprise,” he laughs

Excerpt from a 1979 article about soap stars Colleen Zenk (Barbara in As the World Turns). “I went through the mill getting on this show. For the first three years I was in New York, I had 14 tests for 14 different soaps. I wanted daytime so bad, because it’s a three-act play every day. There’s nothing like it for an actor. It’s the best challenge. In the theater, you can get stale in the most wonderful part. I don’t have a wonderful part every day on our show, but I can DO things.” A Chicagoan, Colleen started dancing at 3, modeling at 9, doing commercials at 11, and was the Dr. Pepper girl and the 7-Up girl. She’s done a total of 100 commercials. “I LOVE WHAT I’m doing now. I’m part of people’s everyday lives, and when I go home to visit, I’m mobbed in shops. People like Barbara, and so they like me. I don’t want to be a star, you see. My private life is too important to me. I won’t sacrifice it, and I don’t want the notoriety that goes with being Farrah or Cheryl Tiegs. I want to have a family, all those wonderful Midwest things.”

I'm glad Derek's death is being mentioned and pondered over. Unlike other soaps that pile up the deaths and nobody bothers after a couple of days. It was morning of a new day but it seemed like the Country Club had nightime lighting. Those Andre/Chelsea scenes were fine but a whole episode on them at OG's recapping various stories? I'm going to keep putting it out there-we need to see the characters working/at work-maybe we might see Shanice nursing, Vanessa dealing with her real estate business or Nicole with a patient.

Jane did step back from acting in the 60's and 70's. I remember a quote where she said all she was offered was lesbian axe murderers. She did a pilot arounf 1970 'Amanda Farrow' a sort of female Marcus Welby that was shown on Medical Center but it didn't get picked up. In 79 she played a backwoods medicine woman in a Lindsay Wagner 3 hr TV movie "The Incredible Journey of Dr Meg Laurel" that was a ratings success and brought her critical acclaim. I'm sure that got her considered for Falcon Crest and got her interested in acting again. I could definitely see Barbara Stanwyck as Angela. Any other actresses you could think of from 'Old Hollywood'?

Those 1970's wealthy characters were somewhat relatable. Philip Chancellor ran a factory, they had a grand house and some servants but that was it. Lance Prentiss was another level above-he had a private jet! So settling into a lakehose in Wisconsin was a stretch, but at least he and Lorie did jet off to various locations. I wish it had have been specified what Chancellor and Prentiss did. When Victor was introduced, again he was wealthy, with a ranch and some business interests but not at billionaire level. Soaps shoot themselves in the foot by making characters fabulously wealthy and internationally known, yet tend to be selective about how public their lives are. Some things are all over the media, while others that would draw attention seem to be ignored.

A Review of 1978 from Jon Micheal Reed. Seemed to forget All My Children... BUFFALO COURIER EXPRESS. Saturday. January 6, 1979 NEW YORK — As the New Year begins, let's take a look at a few of the notable soap opera achievements of the past year. The ‘'Miracle” soap story of 1978 was the “rebirth'' of ABC's 15-year-old aerial, “General Hospital.” A year ago this show was approaching cancellation. A new producer, Gloria Monty, and a new headwriter, Douglas Marland, infused a new visual glamor and vigorous storylines for the ailing warhorse. Today, “GH” often ranks number one in the daytime Nielsen ratings. Despite the healthy symptoms, the prognosis isn’t entirely positive. The cast includes a number of weak, awkward performers, especially Mary O’Brien as Heather Webber. AND WHILE cast newcomers receive a large share of storyline activity, the “old pros" who’ve been on the show for umpteen years are generally relegated to subsidiary inactivity. There also has been a marked and somewhat annoying storytelling tendency to focus on one storyline at a time and for an agonizing length to boot. That flaw, however, seems to be shifting in favor of more balanced, multistoried activity in the las couple of months. Another notable soap “recovery” occurred on “Edge of Night.” In 1977, a glut of newcomers replaced the long-running characters. The emphasis was on romantic pap that didn’t jell with the show’s basic crimemystery format. IN THE PAST six months, the younger cast members have improved noticeably, and headwriter Henry Slesar gratefully returned to his incomparable storytelling mixture of romance laced with intrigue and set amidst melodramatic action. Slesar also incorporated topical subjects to his plots, such as the Children of the Earth cult and April’s psychic phenomena experiences. For some reason, “Days of Our Lives” sank in the ratings at a time when the writing, at least to this viewer, seemed to sparkle with intelligence and well-rounded motivation. “The Doctors,” too. hit the ratings pits, even though the writing of Linda Grover challenged the usual soap opera tendency of black and white stereotypes. But, again, there seemed to be too much and too prolonged concentration on one story at a time. THE CASTS of “Guiding Light'' and “As the World Turns" proved in 1978 that they are among the most underrated in daytime television. When story material is weakly motivated as on *GL” or in a state of flux as on “ATWT and the performers still manage to make the stones interesting and “bookable,” the vitality of the actors can’t be ignored. "ATWT" generally failed in its attempt to join the more contemporary serials in both physical appearance and plots. It was however a noble effort that shouldn’t be completely shunted aside. “RYAN’S Hope,”which sports the snappiest, wittiest dialogue on the tube, suffered from a severe case of massive ast turnovers and replacements. It was difficult to empathize with characters whose faces changed quarterly. “Another World" experienced a similar problem with periodic cast dismissals and newcomers who ended their run just as they were beginning to trot. The emphasis on the Perrini family, however, was, io this viewer, a refreshing addition to the show, as was the spotlight on the superb talents of Dorothy Lyman (Gwen Frame), Brian Murray (Dan Shearer), Jay Morran (Vince Frame), among others, and let's not overlook the sometimes neglected Beverly Penberthy (Pat Randolph) FOR THOSE critics who complain that soap operas don’t move at a rapid pace, “One Life to Live,” proved that soaps can progress unlethargically and excitingly. No small thanks to be given to headwriters Gordon Russell and Sam Hall for giving the sublime Al Freeman and Ellen Holly (Ed and Carla Hall) strong story material after years of virtual do-nothingness. “Search For Tomorrow” and “Love of Life” underwent sweeping changes in story and character focus. “Search” is recently settling into a comfortable and attractive niche, but it’s too early to tell whether “Love of Life” can be saved by its new producer, Cathy Abbi, and new headwriter, Jean Holloway.

COURIER EXPRESS BUFFALO NY WEEK OF JULY 20 -JULY 26 1980 Although executive producer John Conboy of The Young and Restless says all the actors on that show are stars, three of current interest are Victoria Mallory (Leslie since Janice Lynde left the show in 1977), Tom Ligon (Lucas) and Jerry Lacy (Jonas). Victoria’s character, a concert pianist, enables her to use her own musical talents. Currently, she’s run away from home, husband, and baby because of amnesia, due to typical soaptime pressures. “The character, now called Priscilla, because no body in this new town knows who she is, has gone through a change of personality change. There was a scene recently when I had to go to a hospital, and I sat up screaming, ‘SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THE BABY.’ I got in my car to go home, and couldn’t understand why I was so tired. But I love it, because it’s like live theater, when they call ‘5-4-3-2-1, roll tape’ that’s it! This is the part of TV that is best. There are periods when the character is in great stress, and it’s exhausting. It takes far more than people think. “STILL, LAST summer John McCook (Lance) and I played in ‘Brigadoon’ in St. Louis and we packed the house every night. It was incredible. Yes, I am constantly called Leslie, but I can’t let it bother me, because I know who I am.” As Lucas, Tom Ligon is even more pragmatic about his place in daytime TV. “The pay is nice, and I’m shocked at the amount of furor from fans. I didn’t believe people cared: I have to spend a day a month handling the mail. I’m still in a state of shock that people watch. I think the character is an enigma. I think I’m a good person, with no nonsense, no bull, but with jealousies and guilts from the past. I like him, because he’s not slick, and I’m not either. “I let my work speak for itself. At the studio, what counts is your attitude. If you’re a pain and not brilliant, you’ll leave. I’ve got six months more to go on my contract, and I’m uncertain if I want to stay. I do like the show, because I don’t see another actor like me on other shows.” Ligon is so honest, he actually pays a manager to work with him in his personal life as well as business. “It’s difficult for an actor to get neutral feedback. I pay him to be a no-man and a yes-man, to reflect truth back to me.”

That set is awful. An apartment supposedly at that level with no foyer/entrance, a tiny table and chairs in the corner. As for the urn up against the wall....

I don't think that set will go, it just won't be used much at all. Maybe put up and used for a few weeks if necessary. The days of sets being used regularly are gone. When was the last time we saw Nate's penthouse? Lily's penthouse? Most characters are homeless.

Also you have the issue of today's 60 yr old soap characters looking 20 years younger due to enhancements. So the generational aspect is even harder to portray as those actresses don't look like grandma.