Paul Raven

Agree. Maybe put Victoria ahead of Michael? Even her conception was part of the story!

Gloria Loring had a similar deal to stay with Days. A deal for two TvVmovies it was said. Turned out she got a couple of supporting roles. Maybe her publicist was hyping it but you got the impression it would be lead or major co star.

Tune in Tomorrow 27 Nov 1978, No sooner was Kathy Glass removed from one soap pot than she found herself bubbling over in. another soap dish. Kathy first came to the attention of afternoon serial watchers on the short-lived 'The Best of Everything,folIowed two years later by a stint on "Return to Peyton Place." But neither of her roles on those shows matched the fan-appealing impact of Jenny Wolek Siegel Vernon, the virginal lass who was about to take her vows as a nun when Kathy originated the role on "One Life to Live" half a dozen years ago. Last month, after ''irreconcilable differences" with the "OLTL" producer during contract renewal negotiations, Kathy was replaced as Jenny. Within days, though, the New Haven-born actress was negotiating with Chuck Weiss, producer of "The Doctors." This week Kathy Glass takes over the role of nurse M.J Carroll on the NBC serial. M.J was originally played by Lauren White, who left the show this past summer. Carla Dragoni inherited the role, but not for long. "As soon as we heard Kathy was free," remembers Weiss, "we wanted her for the role. It's tailored for her, and the fact that Kathy has an immense fan following will hopefully improve our show's ratings.' Glass reports that she prefers the half-hour format of "The Doctors" to the long working-day routine in her previous hour-show job. It leaves her more time to devote to husband Ted Harris, their nearly year-old adopted daughter, and a renovated Manhattan brownstone. Stay tuned to see whether Kathy's career move will take her fans from "One Life" to "The Doctors."

Dec 2 1937 The script of NBC's Today's Children called for a scene in a day nursery. Being a stickler for realism. Author Irna Phillips had microphones set up in a real nursery in Chicago. She's shown talking over the situation with her stars for a day. Children from 1 to 6 years old were stars for a day during a recent broadcast of the NBC serial, Today's Children. The script called for a visit to a day nursery by Irna (Kay Crane) Phillips, who is also author of the show. So, in the interest of realism, NBC microphones were placed in various spots in the North Avenue Day Nursery here so that authentic recitations and songs could be picked up during the broadcast. The broadcast was in line with Miss Phillips' policy of keeping the popular NBC serial realistic and true to life by occasionally taking the show from its regular NBC Chicago studios. Not long ago, when the 'script called for two of the show's principals to go sailing, a Today's Children broadcast was shortwaved from a sail boat in Lake Michigan. Today's Children is heard Mondays through Fridays at 10.45 a. m. over the WEAF Network.

From what I recall, Gerald Gordon wanted to get into primetime. He got a pilot 'Force Five' that wasn't picked up in 1975. I think ABC lured him to GH with the promise of TV movies and pilots. This was the same sort of deal that George Reinholt got when he joined OLTL. But the deal was in the networks favor and they were under no obligation to follow through. He did get aTV movie 'Ants' but that was it. Have no idea how and why he returned to GH in the 80's. That was very odd. As for TD expanding, the only thing I can think of is that Colgate Palmolive didn't want to cough up the $$ for the hour format and that there was no studio space available in NY. TD operated out of a tiny studio in Rockefeller Center.

Proctor & Gamble who produced Somerset had a policy that their soaps would not compete with each other. As CBS was running Edge of Night at 3.30 another P&G production that meant Somerset could not be placed there. That policy stayed in place until soaps began expanding to an hour and it was impossible for them not to compete. EON went up against Somerset at 4pm when EON switched to ABC. I always thought NBC should have cancelled Somerset and placed EON at 4 following the high rated AW.

Guiding Light Pauline- secretary to Dr Gwen Harding ... Patrice King Brown (co host Pittsburgh Today)Oct 11,12,14 1983 The Doctors Stella Turner...Monica May...64-65...beautician, visits Brock uneducated widow with a longing for refinement

Variety has him joining Sept 68 .

Ok Thanks. So One of the Boys finished #18. A good start but viewers quickly switched off. The opposition was Kings Crossing - that was already failing and Walt Disney that may have been a repeat that week, so NBC got a sampling. In a few weeks ABC debuted TJ Hooker, which took over as timeslot winner. It debuted #11 21.9/39 up against One of the Boys 10.2/18 and first half hour of Chicago Story 9.0/16 while CBS went with Disney 'The Moonspinners' Pt 1 11.9/21

I'm working on a 50 years/50 characters list but I thought some discussion to see if we could come up with the Top 10 based on not only longevity but the impact they made on the show/amount of story they had etc So coming up with a shortlist is pretty easy but working on a ranking is a little tougher. Here's a suggested list to start from, not in order .Please add or delete and suggest a position in the Top 10 and who would include in the next 10. Victor Nikki Jack Katherine Ashley Jill Drucilla Phyllis Lorie Christine Victoria Adam Paul Nick Sharon

Seeing Harper Valley at #28 is a surprise. I was trying to work out where it was airing. I think by Jan 82 it was placed 8.30 Saturday but seems unlikely it would be rating that well there and not sure what the lead in would have been that week. Can any of our sleuths help me out?

Yes Travis preceded Luke, and Luke when he first came on didn't have the perm. The only character I believe that was required to have the perm was Sandy on Another World and that was post Luke.

Yes, according to Variety they both debuted Feb 2.

Love Is A Many Splendored Thing Mark Elliott...Sam Wade...1968 ...David Birney...1968-70 ...Michael Hawkins...1970-71 ...Vince Cannon Nov 15 1971- Jan 26 72 ...Tom Fuccello.. Feb 2 1972-73

Week of July 24-28 83 NBCs most competitive week since April 78 ABC/CBS tied with 6.7 NBC 5.5 It's best rating best since June 81 Top 2 NBC shows Wheel of Fortune 7.2/30 Days of Our Lives 6.4/20 General Hospital #1 that week - 9.8/32

Most soaps had more in common than not but the unique identity came from the original concept and characters. On AMC Pheobe was always causing problems, Kate could be relied on for sound advice, Erica was up to mischief. If there was hospital drama, you knew Joe would be involved. But slowly those characters were de-emphasized and there were lots of new faces who may have had little relationship to the them. Of course, those actors got older but the next generation were not nurtured, either because they turned 50 and were jettisoned or were not entrenched in the show. So every show was just about a group of people, some of whom were only around a few yeears. By the mid 80's,shows like SFT and GL had only 2 or 3 characters who were around 5 years earlier. That's no way to build the long term connection the hshows need. And the TPTB seemed determined to want to reinvent the shows by not only hiring new young actors but creating new characters when viable characters with connections were ignored. eg John Wesley Shipp could have been Billy Fletcher -already connected to the Bauers, not Kelly Nelson.

I guess what I am referring to was the result of the mainstream media paying more attention to soaps. In the 70's Doug and Julie were hugely popular characters . Susan and Bill were beloved by fans but outside that bubble no-one knew them. They didn't leave Days for 'greener' pastures. Soaps were an ensemble and the core of actors stayed with the show. Once Luke and Laura hit mags started paying more attention. Every show wanted a hot young couple that got frontburner stories. They got hyped by the network and invariably decided to leave. eg Genie Francis, Tony Geary, Emma Samms,Peter Reckell, Kristan Alfonso,Kim Delaney,Meg Ryan etc Very few actors stayed beyond their initial contracts. Also the big soaps being in LA meant that moving to primetime was easier. NY actors were less ready to leave and relocate. Many of them worked in the thriving NY theater scene. And the writing pushed supercouples that would be together against all odds, which made it harder to write. The usual soap trope of a breakup was resisted by fans. As were recasts. So the consistency of cast and theme were broken down which damaged the shows.

That was done purely to push Steve Burton. What would have been acceptable would have been Paul having a child from those days as we saw onscreen that he had sex with (Rebecca?) Nikki having a child was rubbish. Did they say she blocked it out? And the tying Mariah into the cult was even worse. Who wrote that garbage? And then once Burton left the whole thing was forgotten.

In the late 60's CBS were making more money from daytime than their #1 primetime schedule. As for the lack of diversity in soaps, I think this was pretty much due to the inherently conservative nature of the networks-they liked the tried and true. This was just as evident in primetime. Quite often, anything outside the box that worked was regarded as the exception to the rule. In daytime the innovations eg soaps in the morning, teen orientated (Never Too Young) gothic (Dark Shadows) never really took off. CBS /Irna pushed the envelope with interracial romance on Love Is A Many Splendore Thing but it was soon dropped. Only Agnes Nixon really had success with more daring plots but she was smart to incorporate plenty of traditional soap stories also. So Gloria Monty incorporating sci/fi adventure really was an innovation that worked and other shows followed. But it was another nail in the coffin along with the 60 min format and the 'star system'.

Y&R Jeffrey Bardwell is Chelsea's father. Again, a needless reveal. Hate when these previously unrelated characters from other parts of the country are revealed to be related and in the same town at the same time. B&B Massimo is Ridge's dad. Apart from the shock value it messed up things in the future,. Is it even mentioned now?

GH was already back in the Top 5 when Luke came along. Will People pay any attention to the stories/characters of 1971 when GH first went to #1 ? Probably not and no surprises there. When People came along in the 70's it was the first mag that specialized in the superficial coverage now common. It's interesting to read magazines from the 60's and see how long and detailed the stories were. EDIT Just saw the Top 10 moments. OK so nothing memorable enough happened before 1980 to make Top 10.

Watching and having no idea what was to unfold-no spoilers, BTS info. Not being able to watch everyday (pre VCRs) I recall an episode of Y&R where Jill and Kay were arguing and Jill held a letter opener behind her back.Of course the scene didn't finish that day and we were left wondering would Jill stab Kay etc. Then the next day it didn't happen but the tension and anticipation was palpable. I wonder what it is like for today's soap watchers who watch cold w/o any outside knowledge-is it the same feeling for them as it was back in the day?

Agree. and the summaries give a strong indication of what is happening. Not just vague statements like 'Jessie makes an important decision' or 'Lee discusses Iris with Meg'

The Mckinnons were pushed initially, but like so many others there was no consistency or follow through. First Vince was recast 3 times, then he and Mary were dropped. Ben disappeared from view, MJ was recast and dropped. Kathleen was written out, Cheryl was created out of nowhere and disappeared. They first appeared in 84 and by 88 when Vince and Mary left all their children had been written out and from then on only cousin Jake was in town apart from the BFTD story for Kathleen. They had years of potential but the writers preferred to create other families and characters.

Watching those first 3 opening credits it's interesting to see some inconsistencies For example in the opening for the first full season Barbara Bel Geddes is the only cast member not to get 3 shots in her credit. Unlike the others her central shot is flanked by scenery shots.Wonder why? Next season she gets the complimentary side shots. Some cast members had the same shots for the full Season 1 as they did for the initial tryout while others got new shots. And so on... always wonder why and how these choices are made.