Paul Raven

Upton introduced a slew of new characters which must have had viewers heads spinning. And then Jean Holloway wrote all of them out. No wonder viewers switched off.

And now we return to Love of Life...

Charles, after a long period of refusing to admit he’s paralyzed, has had to accept his new life in a wheelchair, but insists that only Felicia care for him. Despite her growing exhaustion, he refuses to consider hiring a nurse, and Felicia, under the weight of her self imposed guilt forfeits her art work to accede to Charles’s demands and devote herself entirely tohis needs. She tells herself that being a prisoner in this house is her punishment and refuses to allow her mind to drift to Eddie, who had opened her mind to new levels.
Despite Dr. Cusack’s insistence on additional help after Felicia’s first collapse, Charles continues to insist that only she can administer to him. But Felicia collapses again, this time with viral pneumonia, and a nurse is brought in. Felicia’s condition worsens instead of improving, causing Joe to speculate that it’s due to Charles’s subtle encouragement of Felicia’s guilt feelings and her own self-punishment. Eddie visits her, even though they decided not to see each other any more because of the emotional pull between them. In the delirium of a spiking fever Felicia calls out for Eddie. Joe feels she has reached a crisis and wants her in the hospital, but Charles is still clinging to her. When Felicia finally passes the crisis point and recovers, Sara warns her that she called for Eddie and must be more careful in the future.

 The district attorney charges Ben with fraud and conspiracy. Meg puts up his bail. As Arlene, terrified of jail, is taken into custody, Carrie has an attack of chest pain. Ben continues to try to prove to Betsy that he loves her and has grown up, but circumstances continue to make her question his motives, and she rejects his overtures.
Arlene, questioned by the court officer preparing the court report, cynically states that the rich, like the Harpers, always get away with everything and she will take the rap. She accidentally slips and mentions the forged divorce papers, and the officer notes this.Carrie is hospitalized. Joe suspects a dangerous thoracic aneurism, but then, all heart involvements
are dangerous. Arlene wants to stay, but has to go to court for the sentencing. Ben, at his own insistence, makes a statement absolving Arlene of all responsibility, saying her only crime was loving him too much. The judge takes this into consideration and sentences Arlene to six months probation. However, when sentencing Ben, he explains that new evidence has turned up—the forgeries—and Ben is sentenced to one to four years. Ben asks to begin serving his sentence immediately.
As Ben tried to arrange financial aid for Betsy through Jamie, she visits him in jail, saying the offer was “decent” but this is her baby. When he insists the baby was conceived in love, Betsy claims he was only pretending love. When Ben tells her to tell the baby that “there was a father who would have really welcomed him into this world,” Betsy rushes out in tears,
and Ben starts to cry.
Jamie, having waited patiently for Diana to recover from her emotional depressionn,now tells her he can no longer live with her as brother and sister. Diana replies that they have good memories and have taught each other how deep a relationship can be, but now it is time for them to go their separate ways.
Meg, learning that the child of an annulled marriage is legitimate and the father has rights, sets up a trust fund for Betsy’s baby. Betsy doesn’t want her child ruined by money.

Arlene is having trouble holding a job, despite help from her parole officer, and is under the twin pressures of having to repay Ray’s bail loan and the stunning news that Carrie’s necessary surgery will cost over ten thousand dollars. Carrie, discovering this, checks herself out of the hospital. Joe and Dr. Tom Crawford explain to Arlene that the money end of the
surgery can be handled through the free clinic, but Carrie must have the surgery now. But Carrie’s past due hospital bill has been turned over to a collection agency, and Arlene is out of work again, so she goes to Ray for help. He would like to turn her down, as he has discovered that she was informing Rick of Ray’s attempts to muscle in on Skylar Mountain, but when his influential customer, Mr. Ian Russell, tells Ray he wants to meet that girl, Ray lets Arlene know
he has a job for her.

Meg asks Rick if they can start over together, but Rick has had it and is clearing out his desk. Learning that Ray has withdrawn his backing offer to Rick and that Rick has no available cash, Meg calls his bluff. She sets a price on her share so high that Rick can’t touch it, and sets her price for buying him out so low that he would have nothing left. Rick and Cal decide to elope and tell everyone afterward. But Meg gets wind of the plans and confronts them in Rick’s office. She blurts out that Cal is not the only one who loves Rick and that she and Rick were lovers as recently as a month ago. Rick tries to explain to Cal, but she is revolted and takes off in her car. When she runs it off the road, she takes off on foot, and is found, exhausted, by a hunter, who calls the highway patrol. When Rick arrives with Joe,. she refuses to let Rick anywhere near her. Cal refuses to believe Rick’s assurances that he’s really through with Meg, and makes plans to go to San Francisco. Meg, learning from Jamie .that Rick is severing their partnership, informs her lawyer that she wants all monies in both Beaver Ridge and Skylar _
Mountain tied up, and she wants Rick ruined.

Rick follows Cal to California and tells her he has given up everything to prove that Meg means nothing to him. Cal insists that she feels nothing, but relents when Betsy calls, confirming everything Rick has said. She then admits that she loves him but says it won’t
work. But Meg has followed them and confronts them in Cal’s hotel room. She informs Rick she’s bringing a suit against him for breaking up their partnership and this will ruin him. Rick quickly points out that Meg just defeated herself rather than him, because Cal had refused to marry him, thinking her mother loved him. Seeing what Meg’s “love” is, there is no reason for Cal to deny her own love for him.
 

@Ryanc2 Welcome -you've got a lot of catching up to do!

We talk about Derek/Ashley, but how much do we really know about Naomi/Jacob apart from they have a bedroom set to make out in?

Maybe more time needed to be spent in the first months establishing them better-(give them a proper set for a start) as well as the Bill/Ted dynamic and other familial relationships and ditch Hayley/Derek altogether or make them supporting/talk to for Jacob/Naomi. 

And now Guiding Light continues...

Mike, following a new lead, finds a man in Redding,California, who claims to be Clint Pearson, but Mike is sure he is Spence Jeffers, especially when Pearson threatens Mike if he doesn’t stop the investigation. Mike returns with Ann, who identifies Pearson as Jeffers. Pearson has just married a woman who owns a restaurant with him. Realizing that he can’t deny his identity to Ann, Jeffers tells her that Jimmy died in Alaska over a year ago. Ann is devastated, but Mike feels Jeffers is lying about this too. When they can find no record of Jimmy’s death, Ann’s hope is restored. 
Desperate to keep his new wife, Mae, from learning about his shady past, Jeffers comes to Springfield and offers Ann “the truth” about Jimmy in exchange for a quick divorce and no bigamy charges. When Ann assumes that this means’ Jimmy is alive. Jeffers tells her no, but he didn’t report the boy’s death because they were fishing in a remote area and there was no one around for days after the accident.
Mike and Leslie decide to plan for a child of their own. When Mike tells Leslie he’s up for the post of County Commissioner and he wants to take her on an exotic vacation, she delightedly informs him that she’s the happiest and luckiest woman in the world, because she belongs to him!
Later, while Leslie is out, Jeffers arrives at the Bauers’, drunk. Ann arrives, and Spence tries to bribe her to drop the bigamy charge. Mike and Jeffers fight, and Mike is knocked out. Scared and cornered, Jeffers charges out, and as he speeds out of the driveway, Ann hears a terrible scream. Leaving Mike, still unconscious, Ann finds that Leslie has been struck down
by Jeffers’s car, and Jeffers has disappeared. Ann summons an ambulance for Mike and Leslie.
Mike, regaining consciousness, is told about his wife. The Bauer family and friends gather to pray while Leslie is in surgery. When she finally comes out of the anesthesia, Mike is allowed in to see her. She tells him again of her love for him and for her son, Freddy (by Ed Bauer, her first husband). Not more than a few seconds after Mike leaves her side, Leslie’s heart stops beating. Dr. Joe Werner tries frantically for over twenty minutes to revive her, but, as he and Ed knew from the first, nothing could have saved Leslie.
On the day of the funeral—ironically, also the day of their anniversary—Mike receives a package by messenger: a card from Leslie, reading “Happy Anniversary, Darling,’ and the gift, a watch engraved “Love Always, Leslie 6-18-76.” Mike then realizes that he hadn’t even bought a gift for her.
When, as they are to leave for Leslie’s funeral,Barbara tells Holly she doesn’t want to go with Peggy and Roger, Holly angrily attacks her mother for using Leslie’s funeral as another excuse to show her hatred of Roger. As Holly accuses her of selfishness in not accepting the situation, as everyone else has, Barbara begins to see she is ruining her own life and her marriage with her self-pity and blind bitterness. Barbara swallows her pride and apologizes to Roger.
A few days later, Mike reinvolves himself in the search for Jeffers and Jimmy. Mike informs Ann of a possible lead, a place called Hagen’s Lane, and when Ann disappears the following day, Mike suspects she’s gone there herself and follows her. Ann finds Jeffers there, drunk and in possession of a shotgun. When Mike arrives, Jeffers shoots him in the leg and prepares to escape to Canada after dark. During the waiting hours Mike appeals to Jeffers’s conscience. He assures Jeffers he knows that the killing he was involved  in Alaska was an accident, as was Leslie’s death. Seeing Jeffers wavering between fright and remorse, Mike describes what lies ahead for Jeffers: a life of running, more mistakes, more regrets. Mike
promises that Jeffers will get a fair trial if he turns himself in. He tells him he is a good man with rotten luck. Jeffers cannot believe Mike is doing this; after all, he must be bitter about Leslie. Mike doesn’t deny his bitterness, but explains that for his wife’s sake he must help Jeffers pay his debt to society. The man in Alaska was twenty-three years old; Leslie was twentyseven. They are dead, their chance at life gone, but no one can help them now. Jeffers will lose ten years or so of his life in prison, but he must do it. Jeffers weakens. He slumps over a table, crying, “I’m so tired of running.” He then admits that Jimmy is alive and
living with relatives and, already showing his penitence, helps Mike to the car.

Tim makes a last-ditch attempt to win Rita back and, failing, goes out to get drunk. He later shows up again, asking her help in sobering up, as he’s been called back to Cedars for an emergency. Infuriated by Tim’s late arrival, Steve threatens to fire him. Realizing |that it’s her fault, Rita asks Ed to reconsider, not to harm Tim’s career because of her. Ed takes this into
consideration and gives Tim until September to prove he’s worthy of the senior residency.

Pam ‘Chandler, who became infatuated with Tim after he saved her and her daughter Samantha when Pam developed toxemia late in her pregnancy, has come to realize that Tim doesn’t see her that way. She informs Peggy that David, Samantha’s father, has written her and she’s leaving Springfield to live near him. There may be a chance for a marriage after all.

Roger is upset that his new family is living in cramped quarters because he’s obligated to pay Holly back a loan she made to save his skin last year. Roger | calls on Rita and reminds her that she promised him a share of her inheritance from her rich employer inTexas. Rita claims she can’t give him anything now-her mother is ill and medical expenses are mounting.
Mrs. Stapleton is suffering from frequent fainting spells, and Ed is treating her.

Bert plans a joint birthday party for Ed and Christina, hoping to get Ed and Holly together to talk. Just as they do, as he blames himself for neglecting her and she regrets ever becoming involved with Roger, Ed is summoned to Rita’s home. Her mother has passed
out again. Holly now realizes she wants to stop the divorce, but won’t do it without Ed’s approval. She leaves a message with the answering service to have him call. Rita, knowing the divorce is almost final, steps up her involvement with Ed and Freddy, and when the service calls Ed at her house, she “forgets” to tell him. From Bert Ed learns that Holly has been trying to reach him, and he arranges to talk to her the next day at work (she’s now Steven Jackon’s secretary), but Mrs.Stapleton becomes critical and ed is in surgery all morning.When Mike later stops by to inform Holly the divorce has gone through she maintains her composure until he is gone, then breaks down in tears, sobbing, “No! No!”
Ed later learns from Rita that Holly’s call came to her, but, she explains, she forgot in the worry over her mother. When Ed tells Holly of Rita’s “oversight,” she doesn’t tell him why she was trying to reach him.
Rita now volunteers to help Ed study for his neurosurgery medical board. Her assistance is helpful, and he’s grateful. Holly is hurt at seeing how cleverly Rita is insinuating herself into Ed’s life.
Tim, having buckled down and proven himself,wins the senior residency, and takes Rita’s younger sister, Evie, to dinner to celebrate.

More to come...
 

22 minutes ago, ChickenNuggetz92 said:

"Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas, Aristotle Dumas"

There, I summed up today's episode.

Surely you are exaggerating-there must have been several mentions of Abbott Communications.

7 minutes ago, janea4old said:

Today when Anita and Vernon were talking about Bill, they referenced whatever mystery thing he covered up.  This time, with how they worded it, it seemed to be a cover-up about *them*.  So now I wonder if it was something else *in addition* to the Martin secret.

Bill could be privy to a number of Dupree secrets.

As requested by @P.J. the 1976 summary from Daytime Serial Newsletter. This was the Dobsons. I will be posting it in parts, as it quite lengthy.

The Guiding Light premiered forty years ago on radio and now, after successfully having moved to television in the mid-fifties, it continues to chronicle the lives of the Bauer family of Springfield. Bertha (Bert) Bauer, the matriarch and guiding. force behind the family,has proved to be a source of strength and good counsel to all her friends and acquaintances as well as her own sons. 
Michael, her older son, an attorney, recently married Leslie, who was formerly married to his brother,Ed, with whom she has a son, Freddie. Michael’s daughter Hope has always felt close to Leslie, but a recent conflict with Mike over her relationship with an older college professor has strained Hope’s relations with her father.

Ed married Holly Norris last year but has just learned from her that their infant —daughter, Christina, is not his child but Roger Thorpe’s. Roger, who is deeply in love with nurse Peggy Fletcher, hopes the truth about Christina can be concealed, as he fears he could lose Peggy for good.
Holly’s mother, Barbara, has recently married Roger’s father Adam and has no idea of the truth about Christina.
Drs. Sara McIntyre and Joe Werner find their marriage is better than ever since orphaned T.J. became their foster child, and they are relieved that he is not the missing son of Cedars patient Ann Jeffers, who is searching for the child her estranged husband took out of town when she ran off with another man.
Nurse Rita Stapleton, newly arrived in Springfield, aware of Ed’s personal upheaval, is solicitously offering him friendship and a shoulder to lean on.
Dr. Ed Bauer has stunned the Bauer family by separating from his wife, Holly, soon after the recovery of their infant daughter, Christina, from pneumonia. Holly, exhausted by the baby’s illness and her own growing guilt feelings, has confessed to Ed that Christina is Roger Thorpe’s child, not his. Ed, learning that Peggy Fletcher has accepted Roger’s proposal,tells Roger to tell Peggy the truth before he does.
Rita Stapleton, R.N., is taken aback when she meets Peggy’s fiancé, as she knew Roger when he worked in the oil fields in Texas. At the time, Rita was private nurse to wealthy oilman Mr. Granger.
Roger, under pressure from Ed, realizes he can’t marry Peggy without telling her the whole truth. Somehow finding the courage, he tells her everything and begs for her forgiveness. As he feared, Peggy, stunned, breaks their engagement. Despite Ed’s later assurances that his own marriage was shaky before Roger, Peggy can’t forgive him; there’s no trust left.
Holly, who has filed for divorce, goes to Peggy, explaining that she cared for Roger more than he ever cared for her, that she knew Roger loved Peggy from the moment he met her and became a better person for just knowing her. She assures Peggy that there has been nothing between them for a long time now.
Leslie Bauer has returned to college to add personal fulfillment to her life as a housewife and mother. Her husband, attorney Mike Bauer, has undertaken a search for Ann Jeffers’s son Jimmy, whom she abandoned when she ran off with another man years ago. Jimmy’s father, Spence Jeffers, was a quick tempered drunk who cheated on Ann repeatedly. Mike offers Ann a job in his office, to help her meet the costs of the investigation. Spence and Jimmy’s trail seems to end in Alaska.
Mike seems to resent Leslie’s involvement with school, and she is upset by his long hours and absences on the Jeffers case. Ann, realizing Leslie’s feelings, apologizes to her for causing Mike’s absences and tells Leslie how lucky she is to be married to a man like Mike. 

Ed, unable to do neurosurgery after being wounded in the arm last year, decides to go ahead with highrisk nerve-root-resection surgery, despite the fifty-percent chance of total paralysis. In the operating room, Dr. Steve Jackson finds an excessive amount of scar tissue and refuses to continue the surgery, fearing that healthy nerve roots could be severed accidentally. Dr. Jackson closes, over young Dr. Tim Ryan’s objections, and later tells Tim his arrogance is becoming a detriment to his medical career at Cedars Hospital. Ed’s friends and family are upset at his reaction to this disappointment. His assignment as Chief of Staff wasn’t as fulfilling as surgery, and he now realizes that will no longer be part of his life. Rita Stapleton tries to cheer Ed by bringing groceries and consolation, but Ed’s depression isn’t lifting. His mother, Bert. Bauer,fears that Ed, a former alcoholic, may start drinking again. | 

When Roger tells Peggy he’s leaving Springfield —for the sake of everyone he has hurt, Peggy, realizing also the suffering of her son Billy, who had grown to love Roger, tells Roger that even though it hurts to know about Christina, it hurts more to be without him. They agree to try again and plan to marry immediately.

Barbara Thorpe, Holly’s mother, stumbles upon a manuscript written by her son Andy and, putting the pieces together, realizes that the story of a young woman whose child is not her husband’s is about Holly. Holly makes her mother promise not to tell anyone, which puts a tremendous strain upon her, as Barbara is married to Roger’s father, Adam Thorpe. Barbara is unable to tell Adam why she’s suddenly suffering migraine headaches and constant depression. |
Despite Rita’s increasing attempts to reach him, Ed continues to sink further into his depression, until finally she tells him he isn’t half the man she thought —he was. Stunned into taking a good look at what he’s become, Ed admits he’s destroying himself and shows up the next morning at his office ready for work.
Dr. Tim Ryan has become annoyed at the number of dates Rita has broken to be with Ed, and upon learning he’s up for chief resident, he rushes to share the news with her, only to find she’s entertaining Ed for dinner. Tim leaves angrily but later returns to apologize and propose marriage to Rita. She politely turns him down and suggests they no longer see each other, for his sake. Tim bitterly accuses her of using him.
Under pressure from Adam to explain her strange depression, Barbara finally tells Adam the whole story.She informs him that Roger and Peggy are not welcome in her home. Home from his honeymoon, Roger learns from his father that Barbara knows the truth and has told him. Roger can tell his father only that he regrets what happened and he is a changed man
now. He hopes his father can one day forgive him. Adam later tells Barbara she’s put the entire blame on Roger and hasn’t considered Holly’s guilt in the matter, adding, “I can accept the truth, why can’t you?”
Feeling that it’s best for everyone involved, Roger prepares to resign as manager at the Metro Restaurant and take Billy and Peggy out of town. Peggy bolsters his confidence by telling him they’ll stay and fight this out together.
Tim, upset by Rita’s attitude and rejection, is letting his emotions affect his work. When Ed, unaware that Rita is the reason, warns Tim that his recent lack of efficiency may lose him the senior resident appointment, Tim smarts at his rival’s being his superior. Tim takes stock of the situation and resolves to put personal problems aside and concentrate on his career.
More to come...

23 hours ago, janea4old said:

Courtesy of Colby Muhammad's IG

Looks like we're getting the first #BTG location shoot soon#BeyondTheGates pic.twitter.com/wBrFVk7wvo

— Town and Country Web Soap (@bredrew2) May 6, 2025

Great.

I was hoping location shoots would be a regular feature,as we saw in the first two weeks. (filmed right outside the studio I believe)

4 hours ago, VelekaCarruthers said:

Claire Labine & Paul Avila Mayer (April 1973 – April 1975)

Margaret DePriest (April 1975 – December 1975)

Paul & Margaret Schneider (December 1975 – September 1976)

Gabrielle Upton (September 1976 – November 1978)

@Tisy-Lish Seems like the bulk of 76 was the Schneiders who I don't believe ever headwrote another soap. I think the Labine/Mayer structured the show well in the time they were there and succeding headwriters used that to their advantage but then began chipping away with their own characters/story.

@Franko glad you're enjoying delving into unfamiliar territory

And now Part 2....

When a missing person’s report on Ben goes out, the Connecticut state police respond with their unconscious John Doe. When Ben awakens after brain surgery he calls for Betsy, angering Arlene, who gets drunk and goes to tell Meg the truth. Meg’s housekeeper, Carrie Lovett, who is Arlene’s mother (she had no idea of ‘Arlene’s involvement with Ben when she took this job), manages to prevent Arlene from seeing Meg. Ben, still hazy from anesthesia, tells Betsy how sorry he is for the way he’s treated her. Betsy, misunderstanding, assumes he means the gambling.
Diana is still feeling sorry for herself, despite Jamie’s efforts to convince her that they can have a full life with children by adoption. When he informs her that his divorce is almost final and they can plan their wedding, Diana refuses to acknowledge that she has any future at all.

Arlene, drunk and despondent, starts a letter to Ben in which she refers to herself as his “real wife.” Ray finds it and takes it to Jamie, threatening to give it to Betsy unless Jamie gets his client, Meg, off Ray’s back. Jamie has already warned Meg that Slater is no small-time hood; he has big money and power behind him. Arlene, confronted by Jamie, insists she meant “first wife,” but Jamie gives her seven days to produce a divorce decree or he’ll prove her and Ben guilty of attempting to defraud Meg. Ben, learning this, orders her to get a quickie Haiti decree, but she refuses, reminding Ben that he has told her sometimes he feels happy being married to Betsy and expecting a child. Arlene refuses to be dumped.
Ray comes to Ben’s aid with a phony divorce decree. Ben takes it to Jamie for verification while Ray tells Meg that Ben needed false divorce papers from Arlene. Meg confronts her son and agrees to help him out of this mess. She plans to expedite his divorce from Arlene and convince Betsy to renew her marriage vows on their anniversary.
Learning that Rick has known about Arlene and Ben’s marriage since the beginning, Meg withdraws her support from their planned ski resort. Rick realizes his dreams have just gone down the drain but can’t fault Meg’s motive.
Arlene decides she needs money now to get Ben out of town and sets out to blackmail Meg. Ben, realizing that the only thing left to do is to run away with Arlene, leaves a letter for Betsy explaining why he married her but that he later fell in love with her. At the edge of town, however, he realizes he can’t go through with it. He tells Arlene he loves Betsy and wants to be there with her when their child is born, and he gets out of the car and calls a cab. Arlene,
furious, races back to Meg’s house, where she tells Betsy the whole story. Betsy, disbelieving her, rushes to her bedroom, where she finds Ben’s letter confirming everything Arlene just told her.

In shock, Betsy calls her brother, Dr. Tom Crawford, to come right away. Ben arrives and is truthful with Betsy, who no longer wants anything to do with him. Realizing that Meg stands in the way of his being a man, Ben moves out. Betsy is unmoved when Ben and Arlene’s divorce comes through; she won’t expose herself to that kind of hurt again. When Meg cajoles her to live with her until her grandchild is born, Betsy tells Meg that in the eyes of the court this isn’t her grandchild and she’ll never allow her child to be corrupted by Meg’s money, as Ben was.

Meg, full of self-pity gets drunk and manages to get Rick drunk when she tells him Skyler Mountain is out. She then reminds him of how their relationship used to be and renews his passions, now affected by liquor. After they spend the night together, Meg decides to go ahead with the Skyler Mountain project after all. Rick makes it clear, however, that he still loves Cal and his relationship with Meg will be strictly business.

Betsy continues to refuse to see Ben and is determined to be self-supporting. When she inadvertently mentions Ben’s letter to Bruce Sterling, the mayor of Rosehill, he has to turn it over to the district attorney. Meg is furious upon discovering that her own brother in law is the one who found the evidence against Ben.

Dr. Joe Cusack is quite concerned about a teenaged alcoholic patient at the clinic, Lynn Henderson, who is determined not to be helped. She tries a sob story on Vanessa Sterling, but Cal, Van’s niece, overhears and warns Lynn not to put the bite on her friends and relatives. So Lynn, who refuses to heed Joe’s warning that alcohol has so destroyed her stomach lining that she could die from another binge, steals money from Van’s fund-raising folder and takes off.
She later turns up at Van’s to apologize for stealing charity money and explains she was the ugly daughter of a beautiful mother and grew up feeling unloved. Van persuades Joe to let Lynn stay with her instead of returning to the halfway house she hates. Bruce, Van’s husband, sees Lynn as another of Van’s strays and asks Lynn not to take advantage of Van.

Cal. is concerned to learn Rick will again be involve in business with Meg. He assures her it will be okay and that Meg is his last chance to fulfill his dream of making it big. When Meg overhears Cal telling Ben that she and Rick are engaged, Meg tries to tell Cal that Rick’s not the marrying kind and she’s wrong for him. Seeing that Cal is serious and Rick apparently is too, Meg threatens to tell Cal everything, including their most recent intimacy, if Rick doesn’t call it off immediately; she gives him twenty-four hours. Rick, for Cal’s own good, he feels, tells her he’s not the monogamous kind and she’d be better off without him. Cal, knowing she really loves him, refuses to let  go easily. So. he uses Cal’s knowledge of the fact that his son Hank dearly wants his parents to reconcile and tells Cal he and Barbara are planning
to try again, for the boy’s sake.
But Cal later runs into Hank and mentions that he must be glad his mother’s coming home. Hank has no knowledge of this and is confused. Rick, therefore, has to tell the child he used this as an excuse to get out of marrying Cal. But Hank, miserable at having his hopes raised and dashed, spills this to Cal when she tries to cheer him up. He tells her it was all a lie.

Jamie warns Rick that his Skylar Mountain contract with Meg has so many contingencies that if anything happens, he’ll be holding the financial bag. But Rick, wanting this success badly, signs the papers, and Meg releases the money.

3 hours ago, P.J. said:

Guiding Light, please!

OK 1976 GL coming up

15 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

As for what shows I would be interested in: everything but Valiant Lady, Portia/Life, 5 Daughters, Another Life, that's it. 

As none of those shows aired in 1976...

@Franko As requested 1976 story summary. I'll be posting it in parts as it is very lengthy  and probably too much to take in at once. 

Since 1951 the story of the residents of the town ofRosehill, Love of Life, has revolved around the livesof Vanessa (Van) and Margaret (Meg) Dale and their families.

' Van, now married to Bruce Sterling, finds her husband has become mayor due to the death of the former mayor, Jeff Hart, who was her sister Meg’s husband. Meg offered her son Ben half a million dollars as a wedding gift to marry refined and responsible Betsy Crawford and thus abandon his playboy existence.
The offer was so good that Ben married Betsy with alacrity despite the fact that he was already married to Arlene Lovett, a fact very few people knew. Arlene reluctantly agreed to the bigamous marriage on Ben’s assurance that as soon:as he had his hands on the money they would skip town. However, Meg decided Ben needed more time to become responsible for such a large sum of money and has held up the gift.

Attorney Jamie Rollins has discovered discrepancies in Ben’s stories concerning his close friendship with Arlene but has been thwarted in his attempts to expose Ben by Ben and Arlene’s successful blackmail retaliation.They drugged him and took suggestive pictures of him in bed with Arlene, which they now threaten to show to Diana Lamont, Jamie’s lover, who is carrying his child. Knowing that Diana’s health and age make carrying this child dangerous to her, Jamie can do nothing. Ben is horrified to discover Betsy is now pregnant, too.

Felicia Lamont, married to Diana’s ex-husband, Charles, has been unable to consummate her marriage due to extreme emotional frigidity. Charles has been exceedingly patient, but Felicia’s emotional torment has been increased by the constant harassment of hoodlum/rapist Arnie Logan, whose subtle terror campaign is apparent only to Felicia, thus making her appear to be emotionally unstable. Only Eddie Aleata, Meg’s ex-husband, seems aware of the tortures Felicia is undergoing.

Caroline (Cal) Aleata, Meg’s daughter, is becoming romantically involved with Rick Lattimer, formerly married to Bruce’s daughter Barbara, to the dismay of his business partner in the Beaver Ridge Club, who has him earmarked as her latest lover—Cal’s mother, Meg!

Realizing that she is an accomplice, albeit unwillingly,in her- husband Ben’s bigamy, Arlene Lovett (Harper) tells attorney Jamie Rollins that she and Ben were once married but divorced before his return to Rosehill. To: prove good faith, Arlene gives Jamie the negatives of compromising pictures of him with Arlene that Ben set up, hoping they could keep Jamie in line by threatening to send them to his wife-to-be, Diana Lamont, who at forty is pregnant for the first time, and thus vulnerable. Jamie finds Diana collapsed on the floor and rushes her to the hospital, where their son is born prematurely. Learning that Diana found a partially burned picture of him and Arlene in bed, Jamie blames himself. The baby, Adam Jonathan. Rollins, has respiratory problems and cannot be saved. Diana feels she has lost everything, recalling the picture as well as the baby. Di and Jamie start to make plans for the future. Then Dr. Albertson informs them that | more tests are necessary, as a shadow appeared on her final X-rays. Exploratory surgery is scheduled, and Diana is shattered to learn later that a hysterectomy was necessary.

Ben again asks his mother when she’s going  to give the wedding present (Ben married Betsy Crawford because Meg promised a half million dollars, but she postponed the gift until Christmas, and still hasn’t delivered.) Betsy tells Meg she’s destroying Ben’s manhood by dangling the money in front of him.
Learning that Ben is into Ray Slater, a gambler, for six thousand dollars, Meg withdraws her promise of the money. When Ray informs Ben that his loan, with interest, is now up to nine thousand dollars, Ben threatens to go to the police. Ray replies that it’s the money or Ben’s skin, and when Ben tries to slip out of town, he’s badly beaten by collection men and dumped in the snow. Found by two backpackers, Ben is taken to a small hospital with a skull fracture and pneumonia.
Meg is stunned to discover that her partner in Beaver Ridge Club, Rick Latimer, whom she considers her private property, is in love with her daughter,Cal. Learning that Cal and Rick are planning a weekend together, Meg arranges an immediate audit of the Beaver Ridge books, keeping Rick in town. Meg’s plot backfires, however, when the audit reveals that Meg wrote the down payment for her next project, the Priestly Estate venture, on the Beaver Ridge construction account. Meg replaces the money, but Rick warns her to stop trying to run his life or he’ll press misappropriation charges.

Felicia Lamonte has been harassed by a young hoodlum, Arnie Logan, who has served time for assault and rape. At her painting studio she is again accosted by Logan, and she pulls out her gun, scaring him off. Unable to reach her husband, Charles, she calls Edouard Aleata, who has reinterested her in painting, and he arrives with the police. Charles, finding Eddie there with Felicia, fuels his growing suspicion that there’s something other than friendship between them. Because he’s already jealous, Arnie’s new harassment—notes to Charles that Felicia is unfaithful seem believable.
Felicia convinces Charles that a week apart will help their marriage, and in looking over her paintings, she realizes she has grown as a person and feels ready to be a woman. She calls Charles, telling him she no longer wants to be his child virgin bride, but a real wife to him.

Later, hearing someone at the door, Felicia assumes it is Charles, and is grabbed by Arnie when she opens it. He drags her downstairs, but she manages to escape and get back to her studio and her gun. Hearing footsteps outside, she fires blindly. Cautiously,she then goes to the door to find Charles lying there. He is rushed to the hospital, where it is discovered that the bullet is lodged in his spine. He’ll recover, but will be paralyzed. Logan is picked up, and charges are confirmed when other victims come forward with similar stories

STAY TUNED.MORE TO COME...

8 hours ago, Franko said:

I'm requesting Love of Life, please.

No problem-Love of Life it is.

I'm not familiar with the replacement -never seen him onscreen, but just from the photos he gives off a very different vibe than Maurice. Physically quite different so it's going to be interesting as to how that plays onscreen.

1 hour ago, Tisy-Lish said:

I'd prefer they beef-up the have-not group with perhaps a couple of workers from the Country Club and one or two Dupree servants, joining the existing group of have-nots.

The Duprees not having any staff is a bugbear for me. They've included the background staff at the Country Club but no one at the Dupree home. Even just an extra bringing in a tray of food/drinks or responding to a request from Anita would suffice.

It's hard to tell with some actors appearing on average 4 times in a month whether they're recurring or just on a low guarantee contract.

Someone recurring  like Beth Maitland can be used a lot for several months then disappear.

So the monthly tallies aren't enough to go by.

I have very detailed synopses of all 1976 storylines for the soaps from the Daytime Serial Newsletter.

Please let me know if you are interested in a particular show and I will post it in the appropriate thread.

As I stated they are very detailed, so I don't want to clutter up threads if posters are not interested.

Surely we (and Billy Flynn) are not going to be saddled with a character named Aristotle Dumas?

This isn't 1970's Edge of Night.

Josh continues to try and milk Abbott/Newman rivalry.

First it was Billy/Victoria, then Kyle/Summer, then Noah/Allie (that worked out well) and now Kyle/Claire.

Do we have any inkling when Billy Flynn will arrive and who he will play?

I'm sure Cole's illness will mostly play offscreen.

What's in store for Nick and Sharon? Is it time to put them back together? I can't see any other romantic options. Nick has no children on the canvas to play off, as Christian is never seen. Sharon has only Mariah onscreen.

Lonely Women was Irna Phillips  first new serial  since Right to Happiness

Lonely Women:                         NBC:  June 29, 1942 to Dec. 10, 1943.  (76 Weeks)
General Mills                               Totals:  76 Consecutive Weeks -  380 Episodes Broadcast

Irna retooled and renamed the show Today's Children but I don't believe it had any association with the 1930's version.

Today's Children                       NBC: Dec 13, 1943 to June 2, 1950. (338 Weeks) 

IRNA PHILLIPS is one of radio's  most famous writers. Since 1930 her serials have thrilled radio listeners. Just turning 40, she is probably the highest paid woman in the radio industry.

For years she has been turning out more than two million words of serial copy each year-enough to make twenty good sized novels.

At present Miss Phillips is supervising the writing  of four famous dramatic programs. They are "Road of Life " "Guiding Light." "Woman in White " and "Right to Happiness, " To these is now  added the new serial, "Lonely Women. This is the author's introduction.

WITHIN the cycle of the hours there comés to each one of us, consciously or subconsciously, a split second in which we experience a sense utter  aloneness—indefinable, indescribable, yet so poignantly real—that split second of aloneness which can never be shared with anyone.

But because of the complexities of life, this split second of aloneness for hundreds of thousands of men and women has extended itself into hours, days, years. We've all heard at one time or another the expression "I never feel so alone as when I'm in a crowd. " We've laughed at the facetious remark "When I'm with you I'm alune. " "You can't know how I  feel—how can you, you've never been in my shoes?"—" I wish you could have been with me"—"1 wish you could have seen"—"If only you'd been there"—"It's no f u n doing things alone " . . . common, everyday expressions that each one of us uses, hardly knowing that we do, not recognizing at the moment the universal theme that underlies these common, every-day expressions — the theme of loneliness.

Thousands upon thousands of men and women have remained within the bonds of matrimony because they were afraid—are afraid of starting over again, alone. Th e mere physical presence of the other is enough to satisfy at least a small part of the need for some sort of human communion that Is so necessary to make us comfortable . Whether we should blame civilization with Its repetition of wars for the ratio that exists between men and women today is a little difficult to decide. However, we do know that there are more women than men in the world.

Out of curiosity I called upon Webster to define the word "alone, " and this is Webster's definition: "Unaccompanied; solitary; single: unmarried" : and he adds, "Usually of women, with humorous or pathetic implication; as a poor lone woman. " Perhaps because there is no one as concerned with woman's destiny as a woman, it occurred to me that an audience primarily made up of women would be interested today, of all times, when men—husbands, brothers, sweethearts sons—are leaving their home s to defend those homes .. . it occurred to me that these women would be interested in a story of lonely women.

Perhaps, too, I felt the woman who from time to time feels that hers is a humdrum existence of rearing a family, of preparing three meals a day, of waiting for the children, for the husband—t he woman who believes she sees glamour in the lives of thousands of women who are making their way, alone— w h o have careers, who are in constant touch with the outside world . . . perhaps I felt there was a message that could b e given to these wives, these mothers, these home makers. In the story of "LONELY WOMEN. "

AT FIRST glance it might seem that being  alone—feeling a sense of aloneness—implies depression, futility, unhappiness. This is not necessarily true. In fact, the sense, the feeling of aloneness can and often is an inexhaustible source from which come some of the most worth-while contributions to mankind . The scientist, the artist, the musician, the literary men and women throughout the ages have not been, as we so often think, alone. They have found an outlet for their aloneness in putting to work their God-given talents in something that could be shared by others. Neither you nor I nor hundreds of thousands like us have been given a divine talent; but in our daily existence we, too, can use our aloneness as an impetus to contribute something worth while to others. We may not be a Michelangelo, a Tschakowsky. an Einstein, a George Sand, an Eleonora Duse, an Elizabeth Browning; but we can create—we can express—we can give of ourselves . . . we can share with others those things that make up our daily existence. We women are in the majority . Th e effect that we can have on others can be as great if not greater at times than the contributions that have been made by men and women in the arts and sciences. In other words, we need not be alone—except in that split second that comes to each of us—that split second of aloneness which can never be shared with anyone.

11 hours ago, janea4old said:

Kyle and Claire tell Adam that they want to buy his apartment.

Second only to changing jobs is changing apartments.

OTTOMH

Adam and Chelsea moved into Victor and Nikki's old home.

Mariah and Tessa now live in Victoria's old house.

Victoria swapped with Mariah/Tessa who were living in the Tack House.

Chelsea was living in the apartment above CL. Did Kyle and Lola live there?

Lily now lives in Devon's old penthouse. Devon and Abby moved to the Chancellor Estate where Abby was living with Chance.

That's just for starters.

Why don't these wealthy people just buy their own homes?

1 hour ago, GLATWT88 said:

Of course this is just and opinion and nitpicking. I thought what transpired was pretty good. 

i love reading other posters alternate takes and scenarios. Yours would have really upped the tension.

The Amanda pregnancy was a blunder.

Amanda and Sam were AW's best bet for a starcrossed supercouple. Young love destined to be turn apart by outside forces and misunderstandings .

Battling for years to finally get together.

Instead AW had them married and pregnant within a year.

Not sure when SS was officially cancelled maybe Dec 73? but I found these articles from Jan 74

The Secret Storm, half -hour daytime drama on CBS -TV, will continue on air uninterrupted, though network has canceled show after 20 years, replacing it with game show, Tattletales (Mon.-Fri., 4-4:30 p.m.). Storm has its last program on CBS -TV Feb. 8, and beginning Feb. 11, series will be carried on more than 140 stations in varying time slots via barter syndication by American Home Products, New York, through John F. Murray Inc., New York.

Storm' signals changed.

American Home Products Corp., New York, has dropped its plan for barter syndication of The Secret Storm, half -hour daytime drama, ending 20 -year run Feb. 8 on CBS -TV (BROADCASTING, Jan. 21). Spokesman would only say that American Home Products had made decision not to distribute series itself, but added that company, which holds rights to Storm, is now negotiating with several syndicators to place it back on the air.

Well at one point Aaron's contract with ABC guaranteed a new series on the schedule each year.

I guess once his contract was up he was out the door. It would have been a huge financial commitment and as tastes changed and Aaron didn't ,ABC couldn't see the value.

Spelling did have a number of flops along the way. 

He always brought up Family as a counter to the criticism that his output was trashy but that's because Family was the only show among many that wasn't  trashy.

And now that Bill has been brought into this, we should have seen Ted interact with Bill previously, not only about Leslie but what sort of relationship they had as outsiders to the Dupree clan.

And also looking at how they negotiate that relationship when divorce comes into play.

Where to for Dana?

She's pissed off the Duprees (most of the cast), alienated her daughter and will she be welcomed by the Have Nots at the diner?

Maybe she can befriend Ashley and Derek and liven up their story.