Paul Raven

So long as he doesn't go to Kenny's cosmetic surgeon.

Curse of Dracula was one instalment of the series Cliffhangers .The segments were pieced together for the movie which only aired in syndication I think. Michael Nouri had another attempt at primetime with Gangster Chronicles and then Bay City Blues-all flops.

There were quite a few recasts and dismissals in the first few years. Which do you think were warranted? Were any of the recasts improvements? Making so many changes at the start immediately gives the impression that there is a sense of failure and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Cold!

According to the AWHP Sheffer was not involved with Texas. When he arrived at ATWT much was made that he had never worked in soaps before.

Could that be referring to the production side of things where Days attempted to tape it as they had the 30 min format and that lead to all sorts of problems? Wes Kenney came in and changed things to make it easier on staff and actors. I know when AMC did that special week the hours were long and unsustainable long term.

Thankfully Devon and Abby have been made recurring and seem happy to appear when needed. One can only imagine the stories they'd be subjected to if they were contract. Same with Mariah/Tessa I'd definitely dump Phyllis but La Stafford seems untouchable. The only option is to clean up the character somehow. Remember when she got (unbelievably)community service and there was hope that might be shown and lead to some redemption? Maybe Matt gets his memory back and Phyllis is the one to expose him. Noah is viable-get him away from Granny Siena. Faith, Allie and Reed are waiting in the wings. I'd accept a return from Cjharlie or Mattie. Chance's death can easily be reversed(he was working undercover on something) but I want Connor Floyd back. What is there for Billy/Sally? Marriage and a baby? Yawn. same with Cane/Lily. Where are the obstacles? BTW Lauren was very good as Jill.

But what else is there for them to do? Make Sharon crazy again? Or another new romance(with who?) Put them together-married or not, bring back their kids and maybe have Sharon search for that half sibling that is out there somewhere. should give them enough airtime w/o kidnappings or drug addictions.

Was there anything about AMC at that time that might have made it more palatable to male viewers? I guess the timeslot helped. And I could certainly see a casual soap viewer finding AMC more accessible than say Y&R of that time.

Charlene isn't looking too happy in that shot.

Yes Dina needed a few years of being the grand lady in town- savvy business woman, no nonsense dispenser of advice etc Marla could have definitely pulled that off. Then you move into the Alzheimers-made all the more poignant by what we've seen before. Can we forgive Sally for wasting Scott Grainger? Terrible casting and dull story/romances. Another of Josh's WTF moments. Bringing back Fen for one episode as gay and with a partner. Adam has been completely blanded out-maybe he needs to go darker if he's going to stay on. I like the idea of Nick and Sharon re-uniting and refurbishing CL as a new beginning.

The Not so Young in the Restaurants. If the mandate from above is to keep 85 yr old Victor as the alpha male lead and the other vets front burner, while not doing anything about the set situation, there's little chance for meaningful improvement.

They didn't even go to the trouble of taking the cast there to tape the opening sequence. Ted could have done some sort of pratfall from a trolley car while Nancy looked on bemused. And the closing shot is the whole family having a picnic with the Golden Gate as a backdrop (with Lydia wearing a skimpy halter top)

Irving Vendig created EON, Three Steps to Heaven, Hidden Faces and wrote SFT. Definitely underappreciated . Buffalo Evening NEWS—TV TOPICS June 29, I963 How They Write Edge oi Night Two Authors Do 3-Day Sequences Irving Vendig is one of the most successful men in TV, but he lives in Sarasota, Fla., and rarely bothers to come to New York, as he did recently. Vendig and his associate, James Gentile, write the popular, long running CBS soap opera Edge of Night. Vendig has been turning out well polished daytime misery for 25 years, and he is considered the best in his field. Playwright Marc Connelly calls Edge of Night one of the best written shows on TV, and fan mail has come in from the likes of Tallulah Bankhead and Shirley Booth. Many a top exec, bedded down with some minor ailment, has become so enthralled with the troubles of Edge of Night that he has lengthened his illness hoping to see the end of a plot. But Vendig's show is one that never ends. I ASKED Irving whether he responds to audience criticism of the show. "I get quite a bit of mail," he replied, "and Jim and I go through all of it. We do not change the situation to please the fans, but years of experience have taught me how to interpret the letters. "If we get a batch of threatening mail telling us that if we don't do something the listeners are going to turn us off and never watch again . . . then we know we're on the ball. "In fact, such letters are a tipoff for us to slow the pace of the series. Conversely, complimentary letters mean we have to speed it up." Vendig, who used to write Judy & Jane and Perry Mason on radio, always used an apprentice to assist him in the grind. Thirteen'years ago, he was shopping around for an assistant when James Gentile was suggested to him by a mutual friend, a University of Florida professor. Jim was working in a Florida radio station and Irving refused to see him, but requested a copy of anything he had written. Gentile set him an article on artificial insemination and Vendig saw something in the style and quality, and offered the young man an apprenticeship at $50 a week. "During the .first year I had him writing dialogue, but I don't think I used a sentence a week," continued Vendig. "Then, as he progressed, I gave him more and more responsibility—and money—and now he is a full partner. "At the time, I was doing Search for Tomorrow, a 15-minute show, and that's where Jim really started." VENDIG AND Gentile are now interchangeable writers. They do not have to collaborate on individual scripts. "We each write three day sequences," explained Vendig. Then we edit each other. We work anywhere from 45 to 60 hours a week, so please don't picture us loafing on our lawns in Florida.' The series is generally plotted as much as four years in advance, but there's always room for changes. "Naturally, this means writing ahead, but all our vacations and side trips require that; New York always has three or four weeks of complete d scripts," said the 59-yearold native of Holly Springs, Miss. VENDIG IS a bug on plot structure and that probably accounts for his reputation as the best in the field. He runs one main plot and one sub plot and develops them in such a way that when a main crisis is resolved the minor one is ready to bloom. "Characterization is also vital,'* he said, "because our audiences must believe that these people exist. We do not want stereotypes, but living, breathing people with real problems. living's daughter, a former actress who appeared on one of his shows, is married to a doctor and Irving admits that her childhood problems often cropped up in the show. Gentile has a wife and three youngsters who are also used as models. IN ADDITION to Edge of Night, Vendig is working on a play. He is writing it alone, but he said that when it's finished partner Jim will come in for the rewrites. "Performers on my show are more famous than the biggest nighttime stars," he said. "Wherever they go they are greeted not by stage name but by character name. One of my actresses summed it up beautifully when she said that she's a celebrity in every restaurant but Sardi's."

Hey Eric, thanks for spilling some tea. This BTS stuff is gold. It must happen at every soap and we get fed the 'creative differences' line. Please keep those tales coming.