Paul Raven

Let's hope he gives a good honest interview soon. Now that a precedent has been set,who is available to take over Y&R?

@dc11786 another great analysis. The Dobsons had a template in place when the show started but quickly began tossing characters and actors which immediately gave the show a transient feel that it never shook. Obviously plans change once things play out onscreen but I think they were too hasty to drop families (Perkins/Andrades) and focus on the rich folks. A contrast with lower socio- economic people would have been more interesting. As you said the light hearted teen stories were a bust. Maybe those characters could have been back burnered for a bit and some recast if necessary. Maybe they were too hasty to ditch them - many a performer has improved over time. Brain Frons was NBC daytime chief at the time and commissioned SB I think and we know how he operates-very 'hands on'. Perhaps the Dobsons were out of their depth having complete control and too ready to give into NBC's demands. Who knows? A pity that in time some of those characters were not brought back rather than the constant onslaught of new short lived characters. But that's a far too common story on all shows. The Perkins were dead and buried but the Andrades could have been rebuilt around Rosa and Santana. Weren't the a couple of other siblings mentioned in the bible and early episodes?

As The World Turns Donald "Don" Hughes, Esquire Conard Fowkes May 1978-81; April 1985 (Bob and Kim's wedding) 1986; 1993; 1995 Penny Hughes Baker Wade McGuire Cunningham Rosemary Prinz April 1956- July 68; April 1985(Bob and Kim's wedding); 1986-87; 1988; 1993; 1998; 2000 Joe Kravitz Abe Vigoda May 85 Rick Putnam Tony Cummings Feb 1985 photographer who tried to rape Marcy Ariel Aldrin Dixon Donovan Judith Blazer 1982- June 84 James' sister Tucker Foster ... Eddie Earl Hatch 1982- June 85 worked with Steve, his best friend Kirk McCall Christian J. LeBlanc 1983- July 85 Marcy Thompson Cushing Marisa Tomei 1984- September 85 [had a crush on Bob; dated Kirk; married Stewart] Lord Stewart Markham Cushing Ross Kettle ? 85 - September 1985 [Paul Stewart's long-lost son; married Marcy] Elizabeth Talbot Stewart Stewart Judith McGilligan 1972- Feb 73 \Norman Garrison Michael Minor ? 75 - Dec 10 1975 married Sandy Wilson (#3) Jerry Butler Bernie McInerney Jan - March 76 attorney, Teddy Ellison trial Margaret ___ Porter Kathleen Noone May - June 76 Luke's cuckolded wife Dr. Susan Burke Stewart Baxter McDermott Decker Marie Masters 1968- March 79; 1986-2010

Like so many other recasts, Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott could have been a bust but Bill Bell slowly morphed Jack into a different character that suited the new actor. In another scenario Jack would have changed overnight with PB doing his thing which would not have gone down well or the writing would be for TL's Jack and PB would have floundered. Bill Bell managed to walk that fine line and blend the character and new actor.

I would imagine AW holds the record for the most cast changes over 5 or so years.

All of the focus on Pete and Diana including that location shoot and by the next year they were gone and forgotten.

Oops. Thanks for the correction. The primetime aspect really took hold in the 90's.

Primetime episodes and anniversary celebrations. Both Capitol and Loving debuted with primetime episodes. Apart from a one off Return to Peyton Place episode in 1973, soaps had never made it to primetime before. I wonder why ABC didn't show Luke and Laura's wedding in primetime? Maybe a BTS special dealing with Elizabeth Taylor's appearance , Luke and Laura's romance , the wedding ceremony etc. ABC were always at the forefront of promoting their soaps and this would have been a no brainer. During the 80's we had ATWT 30 th, SFT's 35th, GL's primetime 40th, AW 25th. That was the first time anniversaries were recognized on air .

Some further context July 4-8 83 CBS 7.0 6.3 1 yr ago ABC 6.5 down from 7.7 1 yr ago NBC 5.0 up from 3.9 1 yr ago TPIR 9.4/36 NBC Dream House 20 share - first time NBC beat ABC at 11.30 in almost 7 yrs, showing how Loving had damaged the schedule. Family Feud at midday had also declined due to a weaker lead-in. A pity NBC daytime couldn't have built on that renewed success.

An initial wishlist for the role of Zack Powers played by Ricardo Montalban. Quite an eclectic mix here. Keith Baxter Edward Fox Keith Michel Daniel Massey Terence Stamp James Fox Anthony Higgins Anthony Andrews Timothy Dalton Omar Sharif Franco Nero Yul Brynner Louis Jordan Jean le Clerc Patrick Bachau Chris Cazenove Len Cariou Richard Jordan Frank Langella Robert loggia Monte markham Aharon Ipale Richard Harris Chris Plummer Seems they wanted English/European as a priority and then moved down to the likes of Monte Markham! Strange to see Jean LeClerc in the midst of all these much bigger names. I transcribed this from what looks like an offical document and I wonder how serious they were about some of these names. Maybe just an initial brainstorm. I'm sure some of these actors were never truly considered but who knows?

ABC lost ground 11-12 once Love Boat reruns were out of the schedule. It seemed the perfect show for that slot, familiar light and easy and it filled up the whole hour. Benson/Loving didn't have the same appeal. I wonder if Fantasy Island was ever considered for daytime showing? I guess as it was more dramatic it was felt it wasn't suitable for mornings. That gave NBC some leverage with Wheel of Fortune/Dream House which I think got some of their best ratings in years in that slot.

OLTL Bo/Patrick London

Cashbox September 1962 Philips To Issue Soap-Opera "Hit" CHICAGO—Former TV soap operastar Mark Rydell will cut his already famous song “Penny” as a single for Philips Records in the next few weeks. The singer-actor has starred in CBS-TV’s “As The World Turns”program—a show with 22 million daily viewers—for the past six years. A ballad singer with a beat, Rydell named his song for his TV wife. Penny, and the song became the theme song for the show. Thousands of letters have reportedly poured into the show asking for a record of the song ever since it was introduced. Rydell, who played the character of Jeff Baker on “As The World Turns,” recently left the show to devote himself to directing in Hollywod and to recording. The new single will be cut under the direction of Quincy Jones.

Cashbox May 85 MATHIS TACKLES TV — Johnny Mathis will appear as himself on the popular daytime drama Ryan’s Hope, where he will perform the show’s theme song and the title track from his latest LP "Right From The Heart,” composed by Earl Rose and Kathy Wakefield. Mathis was introduced to the song by Wakefield, who was working with him on the new album. Mathis was reportedly so taken with the song that he changed the name of the LP. In the soap opera story line, Mathis is in New York recording an album (he was, of course, actually there for shows at Radio City Music Hall, co-headlining with Dionne Warwick), when he is approached with the tune, supposedly written by one of the show’s main characters. Mathis is taken with the song and decides to record it — just like in real life.

Cashbox May 64 TV Soap Opera Star Signs With 20th C -F NEW YORK-Rosemary Prinz, who portrays "Penny" on the popular CBS -TV daily serial "As The World Turns," has signed a recording contract with 20th Century -Fox Records. Her first album is "TV's Penny," which will be released in June. Helen Noga, her manager, negotiated the contract with Norman Weiser, vice president of the label.

Texas Elwood Dunn and Down Yonder -Country & Western band

Both Days and Y&R furnish homes with generic looking pieces that you see on the shelves at chain stores.

The iconic Newman Ranch set. This was after the redecoration by Cassandra, replacing the original green walls. On occasion the room was extended forwards and we saw a dining table. The replacement set was so bland and eventually dropped for the room we see now. Word was the set was dropped because it was too old but it was only a couple of years older than the Abbott set which is still in use after 40plus years.

The most ridiculous of all soap storylines-that anyone has a an identical double or that you could have surgery to look exactly like someone else. Anyway, I think it first got a workout on Edge of Night in the early 60's when the baddies had John Lambert impersonate Phil Capice. Ray McDonnell had a dual role. Bill Bell would be turning in his grave when Y&R went that route several times. Jerry Douglas portrayed Alistair who was a double for John Abbott. And Victor had a South American criminal Marco, take the place of Jack Abbott. Not only was it ridiculous but unbelievable and insulting that Victor would be allowed to get away with that.

Newsday (Nassau Edition) Mar 31 1961 Writer of TV Soap Operas Gives Synopsis of His Life By Len Chaimowitz Glen Cove —Television dramatist Leonard Stadd has found after six months of doing it that life can be beautiful writing soap operas. Stadd,35, has been busy at it eight hours daily since he wrote his first script for "From These Roots” an NBC daytime serial (3:30 FM) "I’m more than suite satisfied with writing soap operas” Stadd said yesterday "because I’ve always considered TV a great training ground for a dramatist And writing soap operas gives me a chance to change any dramatic situations that just don’t develop the way they should It’s totally unlike one-shot TV dramas (which he also has done) that don’t give you any opportunity to re-work plot situations” He said that in those dramas such as an "Ellery Queen” episode that he wrote he didn't have a second chance to alter a plot once it was on the air. Before he latched on to his present full-time assignment Stadd was a free-lance TV writer living in Manhattan with his wife Arlene an actress and son Robbie now 5. But last summer he discovered after three years in TV that he had to head for Hollywood and its multitudinous TV series if he wanted to really catch on as a TV writer. "But then this job developed after I called Eugene Burr (an NBC vice president) to tell him I was heading for Hollywood. He said ‘Oh no not you too’ — then he had me write two pilot scripts for new daytime serials. Next thing I found myself writing ‘From these Roots’ when its two writers left”.Stadd said His first script went on the air Sept 26 and today’s marks his 110th. Before he started writing the scripts the show was threatened with extinction.Since then its ratings have improved, Stadd said. Once Stadd learned he would be working fulltime on "From These Roots” he began to look for a house where he could get the work done on time. He found it in Glen Cove and doesn’t commute to Manhattan unless he has a story conference or as happened earlier this week his typewriter breaks down and needs repair. "Usually” Stadd said "if I can finish a script by 5:30 PM I hustle it over to the post office and send it special delivery to the studio Or if my wife is going into town the next day I'll ask her to drop it off at the studio or my agent's or at any one of a number of pre-arranged ‘drops' — drugstores, foodstores and the like Then I’ll call the producer and let him know where he can find the script”

Paradise Bay Luisa Uvalde...Sherry Moreland Dec 65- ?? Paco Uvalde... David Bragen Dec 65-?? Kent Hamilton... John Hudson Dec 65 - Feb 66 June 66 Lucy's long ago former beau Milton Braddock... Ellen's father; Walter's associate Robert Patten Oct 65 -?? Harriet __ Braddock Viola Harris Oct 65- ?? Jeff Morgan... Keith Andes Sept 65 - April 66 manager of radio station KVPP Fred Morgan... Steve Mines Sept 65 - Jan 66 dated Jeannette Caroline Hamilton....Barbara (Bibi) Boles ?? - Feb 66 (arson)

John Forsythe Radio Stella Dallas Romance of Helen Trent Philip Bosco The Doctors and The Nurses Ralph Marley Lincoln Kilpatrick The Doctors and The Nurses Fleming Fran Sharon The Doctors and The Nurses Rachel Mead Polly Rowles The Doctors and The Nurses Marge Grossberg

Jeffrey Dreisbach ONE LIFE TO LIVE Dudley Standish Unknown Year

I have never seen any mention of Irna Phillips being involved with Kitty Foyle.

@slick jones oops! It was Melora Conway. I was looking her up and got Melora Hardin stuck in my head.