Paul Raven

Kristoff St John/ Debbi Morgan - Adam/Chantal Gen Neil/Harmony Y&R

So 11-20 candidates are Lorie Nick Sharon Sheila Phyllis Traci Adam Lauren John Abbott Neil Malcolm Nina Brad Carlton Your thoughts?

#63 and #64 missing from that list - Call to Glory and Berrengers The Robert Kennedy mini-series was a flop. ABC won the week and CBS/NBC tied for 2nd. Strangely Codename Foxfire which had good numbers for the pilot on the previous Sunday didn't debut that Fri in its intended timeslot. Instead NBC showed a Bloopers special. So by the following week a lot of momentum was lost.

That 7th place finish for Webster was its highest rating ever. It was a 'very special episode' dealing with child molestation. That pushed V to a season low while Miami Vice was repeating the 2 hr pilot. On Sunday NBC aired 'Codename Foxfire' John McCook's foray into a primetime series. Considering he left Y&R in 1980 he had put in the hard yards before landing a series but the show was a flop on Fri nights so he was ready to go back to soaps by 87. Berrengers aired a special Sun at 10 which had its best ratings to date but nothing special. Otherworld debuted Sat on CBS - another attempt to find if not a hit, at least a competitive show but it failed its mission.

I recall him grousing in an interview that ABC was more willing to pay him off rather than give him access to primetime roles. I guess in some cases the execs who might have agreed to that initially were soon gone and the next had no interest.

The movie 'Any Which Way you Can' which was a repeat. That gave ABCs Street Hawk (with Rex Smith) it's season high. NBC was airing Hunter/Miami Vice. The following week Dallas was back to 1st place. Yellow Rose was another soap that didn't work Saturdays. The general thought was that soaps needed viewers available each week to follow the story and too many people went out Saturdays on a regular basis so their viewership was interrupted. There may be truth in that but all of those shows had an uphill battle in that they were given timeslots that were weak for the network and followed shows that were also failures. Saturdays had been a disaster for CBS since the late 70's while ABC took hold with Love Boat/Fantasy Island. So by the time 10 o'clock rolled round viewers had been avoiding CBS all evening. That was the case for both Dallas and Midland Heights. Similarly by the time Berrengers was inserted at 10pm NBC had been trying various shows to no success. The other issue might be the shows themselves. I never saw Midland Heights but one issue was the show was originally developed for 8pm -hence the teen cast. Then CBS wanted it sexed up for 10 pm and the show never gelled. Kings Crossing was 8pm and utilized some of the same cast but obviously didn't work. Berrengers had a large cast and a lot of stories which made it confusing at first. So a lot of those shows faced issues. Riptide benefited from the A Team lead in and weak competition. Once A Team started to soften and Moonlighting came along Riptide went under.

If others can be photoshopped in then Leslie should definitely be included.

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.