Paul Raven

John Conboy's trademark as a producer were lush visuals with detailed sets, specific lighting, fancy gatherings etc but not such a good grip on story. It worked with Bill Bell as writer on Y&R but his stints on Cap, SB and GL showed he needed to be paired with a strong writer.

Knots was moved twice out of the 10pm slot and both times failed as a 9pm show. CBS moved it back to 10pm both times. 1st time was in 81/82 up against Barney Miller on ABC and Diff'rent Strokes on NBC. It looked like good counter programming against an ageing sitcom (Barney) and a kid oriented sitcom (Strokes) and following a hit (Magnum). But the 10 pm show Jessica Novak was up against 20/20 and Hill St Blues and flopped. CBS stuck with it all season but it was back at 10 the next year. Then again in 86/87 with Kay O'Brien as the 10 pm show. CBS were quicker to move it back this time -mid season.

CBS first mistake was not replacing Dukes of Hazzard with a stronger show. I know hindsight is 20/20 but they owned that timeslot with Dukes and even with flop replacements, nothing on ABC/NBC took off so the opportunity was there. They launched The Mississippi with Ralph Waite in the Falcon Crest timeslot and it finished in the Top 10. So maybe instead of moving it to Tuesday at 8 where they hadn't had a hit in years and it flopped, Mississippi should have been moved up to 8pm for the 83/84 season and Dukes used as a Saturday at 8pm lead in. The other issue was holding on to Falcon Crest for too long. It should have been moved to another 10pm slot-say Monday, instead of Emerald Point and something new be launched at 10 to benefit from the Dallas lead in and refresh the night. At some point Dallas could be moved back to 10pm with a strong new show placed at 9pm. All wishful thinking as coming up with hit shows isn't easy. And CBS had many other timeslots to worry about, so left Dallas and Falcon Crest where they were.

It's so sad that CBS #1 soap is treated this way. Few sets and the ones shown are either dated, or tiny and cheaply decorated. No extras or day players, poorly told stories of so called big business, unflattering and cheap looking clothing. Awful music etc Even Bill Bell might struggle under those restrictions.

Secret Storm Pauline Tyrell Harris Fuller Rysdale...Haila Stoddard...54-61 62-70

Wasn't the Kevin/Nikki drunken sex a quick rewrite because Melody got pregnant IRL?

Agree, especially in contrast to Victoria/Heather Tom. Victoria was an entitled daddy's girl, who could be manipulative but at the same time vulnerable. a complicated character who could be unpredictable - a writer's dream. Maybe they wanted a contrast with Nick's character but neither the writing or JM's portrayal ever presented any hidden depths. Bill Bell often had a problem with the 'nice guys' eg Greg,Scott,Cole etc-they always came off as bland.

Maybe Jeremy and Diane are in this together. But he could double cross her and split with the money. So Diane uses that to her advantage and plays the innocent, growing closer to Jack. But then an associate of Jeremy's turns up threatening to expose her forcing Diane to try and come up with blackmail money.

By the time the 80's rolled round you could be pretty sure that a dead or missing spouse was mentioned, they were going to turn up at some point. i'm sure the only reason Althea never showed up is that the network didn't want a new female character over 40.

Tom Brennan Search for Tomorrow

Yes, noted. Who's the Boss and Moonlighting were waiting in the wings and ABC quickly took back dominance. Had those two shows been around a season earlier, NBC may have struggled more.

Y&R Phillip Chancellor On less than 2 years but his character had impact that resonated for decades after.

It's interesting to see how networks can dominate a night, but then have it slip away by not being able to update the schedule. That juggling of the schedule, knowing when to make moves and finding the right shows ... ABC dominated Tuesdays throughout the late 70's and into the 80's. Happy Days/Laverne & Shirley/3's Company/Taxi then Hart to Hart They moved L&S in the 79/80 season but failed to find a hit to replace it. The propsed show 'Hart in San Francisco' never made it to the schedule in fall and Angie was used as a fill in. L&S flopped elsewhere and was brought back to 8.30 At 9.30 Taxi was moved and Too Close for Comfort successfully filled the 9.30 slot In 81/82 all those shows were Top 20 Joanie Loves Chachi was hit at 8.30 in a tryout but was moved to Thurs the following season as was Too Close. Both were cancelled soon after. In 82/83 The A Team came along and Happy/Laverne were crushed down to #25/#28 3's Company #6/9to5 #15/Hart to Hart #17 were hanging on. 83/84 Laverne was gone and ABC tried Just Our Luck as 8pm leadin in with Happy Days moved to 8.30.They flopped up against A Team 3's Company/Oh Madeline/Hart to Hart were now on their last legs as they were ageing and didn't have a strong lead in. NBC took over 9-10 with Riptide . So they all were cancelled By 84/85 Foul Ups/3's a Crowd/Paper/Dolls/Jessie all flopped. ABC failed to refresh along the way, relying on Happy Days and 3's Company for too long. But what should they have done? Maybe nurtured Joanie Loves Chachi and Too Close for Comfort to take over at 8/9 pm? Moved Hart to Hart to establish a new 10 pm show?

Supercouples Steve and Betsy, early Tom and Margo Action/adventure Tom/Margo and Mr Big Dallas/Dynasty-dysfunctional wealthy family-The McColls.

Love of Life (more precise dates) Vanessa Dale Raven Sterling Sterling... Bonnie Bartlett...1955-59 ...Peggy McKay...1951-55 ...Audrey Peters...April 27th 1959-80 Johnny Prentiss...Oren Jay -71 ...Raymond Cass 71-72 ...Trip Randall...Sept 1972-78 Dr. Joe Carelli(Corelli) ...Tony LoBianco Sept 6 1972-73 +Tess ...David Little...temp ...Paul Michael Glaser...1971-72 Bill Prentiss... son of Charles Lamont; loved Tess; diagnosed with and succumbed to a fatal blood disease Gene Bua...1967-Jan 28 72 ..Phil Clark...1970 (temporary) Jason Ferris...Robert Alda...Aug 30 1966-67 Sharon's husband; worked

Search for Tomorrow Andrea Whiting Reynolds...Virginia Gilmore...65-Aug 67...ex wife,Sam, mother of Len and Jamie (dec) Miss Gilmore left to take up a position teaching at Yale School of Drama ...Lesley Woods...Aug 67... ...Nancy Marchand(temp)...71 ...Joan Copeland...Feb 68-72 Bruce Carson...Steve Nisbett..74-75...ward, Jo , +Amy +Jennifer ...Robby Benson...71-73... possibly 72-73 ...Michael Maitland...73 Nov 71 he was 15 at the time ...Gary Tomlin...73-74 ...Joel Higgins...75-78 Tom Bergman...Peter Broderick...68-71 son, Stu...lawyer ...Ray Bellaran...73-77 Dec 71 12 years old ...Richard Kim Milford...71 ...John James...77-78... ...Mitch Litrofsky...81-83.. ...Robert LuPone...83.. Sam Reynolds...Robert Mandan ...65-70 +Jo Father of Len and Jamie (dec) ex husband to Andrea. Missing presumed dead. Returned mentally unstable .Kidnapped Jo and died . ...George Gaynes...Dec 71 ...Roy Shuman...71-72 possibly only 72

Secret Storm Wendy Porter .teenage daughter,Tony ...Rita MacLaughlin...66.. ...Julie Mannix..Nov.66-69 Erik Fulda...George Reinholt...Nov 67-68 affair, Mary Lou Mary Lou Glenway Carver...Joanna Miles...Nov 67-68..ex wife, Frank Amy Ames Rysdale Britton Kincaed. .Beverly Lunsford...58-60 ...June Carter...60 ...Lynne Adams...71-73 ...Jada Rowland 54-74 (54-58; 60 or 61-67;April 68-71; 73-74)

One Life to Live Peter Allen Peter Allen July 1982 performed at Llanview West

That's fine. Take your time!

My first requests for the year Fabio Ronald Sylvers Simon Prebble Shirley Blanc

Variety reports in September 1968, that CBS president Frank Stanton ordered that all CBS be 'integrated' and that black characters depicted would be on an economic par with the white characters. Secret Storm, having a bistro set at the time, added a black singer. Reaction was immediate and there was an 'unbelievable amount of hate mail', according to a staff rep, and ratings dipped. However, after that initial reaction, negative mail fall to a trickle and ratings rebounded.

Radio In Review Soapland Discovers Homicide Commodity By JOHN CROSBY Arizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona09 Feb 1951, Edna Ferber once attributed the success of her novels at least partly to the fact that they dealt in the fundamentals of life birth, marriage, disease, death. Soap opera deals pretty much in the same primary commodities except that the emphasis lies on their frustration or perversion. Soapland is full of women who can't have children, of marriages that have broken up or are breaking and of deaths that are anything but ordinary. Murder, which intruded only occasionally in soap opera years ago, has become overwhelmingly fashionable. That old sleuth, Perry Mason, has Walter Bott on trial for his life for murder. My old friend Larry Noble of "Backstage Wife" just beat a murder rap for backstage killing. It was Claudia Vincent, as you and I knew all along, who was the killer. Claudia's mind snapped under the strain ana she s been put away. But not before she threw acid into the face of Mary Noble, "Backstage Wife,' possibly disfiguring her forever. www SOME INSTINCT tells me she'll recover her beauty. She s done it before after even worse tnbula tions. As a matter of fact, poor Mary has a rather nasty habit of falling victim to the mentally de ranged. Last time I listened in February. 1946, she was recovering njcely, after having been drugged, locked in a room and left to die by someone described as "mentally not well." Backstage and theatrical murders are rather fashionable among current soap opera. Front Page Farrell, the demon reporter, is currently trying to solve a double murder of stage folk. And Portia, the demon ladv lawyer of "Portia Faces Life," also has a twin killing involving nightclub people. The freshest corpse anywhere around is that of Ralph Kirkland who was done in by Rupert Gorham on "The Second Mrs. .Burton." Rupert then proceeded to elope with his victim's mother-in-law, Grace Burton, a nice touch. Ralph is so freshly dead that his wife, Marsha, doesn't know it yet. She thinks her husband is off again with that Elizabeth Miller girl who has again escaped from the hospital. A good many of the murders have been committed by women. The "Backstage Wife" and the 'Young Widder Brown" killings were both done by women and I strongly suspect the Front Page Farrell murders had a woman be hind them, too. That pretty well winds up the homicide in soapland, except that Stella Dallas just escaped a couple of attempted assassinations and there has been a good deal of bloodshed in "Lorenzo Jones" which was once primarily a comedy show. Murder has been popular a long time in the evening hours but this afternoon murder is a rather different dish of tea In the first place there is almost no element of mystery. The listeners almost always know whodunit when murder is committed, not so much to remove the victim from this planet he is better off dead than living in soapland as a means of causing suffering to the quick. Almost always an innocent person is indicted and the trial goes on for weeks or months, keeping the housewife in a wonderful state of sustained anxiety. Some times murders are committed for no other reason than to implicate Nora or Caroline or whoever, the victim having been unfortunate to be around when a corpse was needed. Jealousy is the principal motive but the girls, curiously enough, don't kill the other woman; they are much more likely to kill the man they both love. While good women are nobler than anything in your or my experience in soap opera, the bad women are more venomous than anything you'd care to encounter. In either case, the women are strong, just as men, whether good or bad, are weak at the best rather simpleminded and easily bam boozled by women. Also, while women are committing a good many of these soapland murders, these lapses from feminine grace are offset by the fact that women solve the crimes, too. It was Mary who put the finger on Claudia in Backstage Wife"; Portia is running down the nightclub murders and even Front Page Farrell is getting a lot of help from his wife. The man's job in soapland murder is just to stand around. Or better yet, to fall down gracefully when the bullets strike

I guess it will be a flashback episode so we see Neil, Joanna,Paul,Scott etc Do they have to pay the performer if they are seen in a clip?

Interesting theories but don't forget this is Josh Griffith writing. Similar theories were floating around about Ashland because what was presented was inconsistent, illogical and lacking any twists and turns and we were hoping for something more. But it all lead to nothing with Ashland being killed off and no aftermath to that.

Variety August 14th 1968 reported on the unique deal that Rita Lakin had negotiated with Colgate Palmoive and the Ted Bates Agency going into her second year as headwriter. She now shares the assignment with Rick Edelstein, a former director, while she resides in California and he is based in New York. They work through mail, only coming together with a weekly phone call with EP Allen Potter and have an arrangement that gives them 16 weeks off per year. Miss Lakin noted that most serials have one writer or a team working constantly to produce scripts for 5 episodes a week, 52 weeks a year. She initially worked alone but then created a company and hired staff to help reduce the workload. She then partnered with Edelstein and the two split the more than $100,000 salary which after taxes works out roughly the same as what she was earning solo. The agreement created has them working together for five weeks by mail, during this time they alternate writing the outlines for the week ahead and split up the writing for the current week with one writing MTW and the other Th F and then alternating. Then every 3 months one of them will provide a 3 month projection to the sponsor. After the 5 weeks of joint work, one of them will depart for 8 weeks leaving the other to write solo. They then collaborate again for 5 weeks before the other writer has an 8 week break, Miss Lakin said she was 'floored' when this writing schedule was accepted but noted the sponsor wanted to retain her and this way nobody gets too tired. She gets on well with Edelstein and is a fast writer finishing her 40 page story every morning as well as weekly and quarterly outlines. Lakin is collaborating on a feature film script 'Breakthrough' with Doris Silverman. She worked for 15 months on Peyton Place and is pleased with her current position financially and creatively, She noted that she could earn $6000 on a half hour script in primetime but then spend weeks in story conferences and rewrites, only to have it not how you intended in the first place.