Paul Raven

'Hospltal'intrlgue behlnd-the-scenes by Gary Deeb. COURIER-EXPRESS WEEK OF OCT. 18 to OCT. 24 1981 Patricia Falken Smith is mad as hell, and she intends to take it out on her former bosses - the producer of "General Hospital" and the ABC daytime program executives who preside over that enormously popular soap opera. As reported here recently, Falken Smith was the head writer for "General Hospital" for 2 1/2 years through last month. But in the wake of a series of disagreements with "GH" producer Gloria Monty, Falken Smith and her entire writing staff have departed that program and now are toiling on the storyline for the rival NBC soap .'"Days of Our Lives." Monty's office said Falken Smith was fired; Falken Smith, however, insists that she got tired of working for Monty and simply quit on her own. In fact, Falken Smith is so upset by what she believes is a deliberate attempt by Monty and ABC daytime vice president Jacqueline Smith to embarrass her that she's making noises about suing them unless they both publicly declare that her leaving "General Hospital" was a genuine resignation rather than a firing. "I won't be maligned by these two crummy broads," Falken smith told this column fired. I made this ----- show No. 1, but they've done nothing but scheme to keep me and my staff from getting the credit we deserve. We took those corny, awful plots that Gloria and Jackie dreamed up and we turned the show around. 'But now, because their stupid science-fiction storyline was such a drag all summer, they're trying to blame it on me. Well, that . .. (bad) writing all summer wasn't mine. It was created by the scab writers who worked last spring during the writers' strike, which I honored. I'm a very strong union person. I refuse to scab during a strike. And that's what got me in trouble with those two insecure broads. When I came back to the show on July 15 after the strike, they dumped all over me and made life miserable for me. ''So I quit - and then they put out the word that I got fired. All I know is I'm now the head writer on 'Days of Our Lives'; my entire staff of writers came over here with me; and I look forward to and watching 'General Hospital sink into oblivion." And folks, that's the sort of anger, skullduggery and personal intrigue that frequently makes life behind the scenes on a soap opera infinitely more electrifying than what winds up on the screen itself.

I didn't find that apartment that awful. Looked pretty spacious actually. Seemed to be a bit of ad libbing b/w Leslie and Laura. Gloria allowed that.

Is that LA restaurant actually outdoors? Through the slats on the back wall I saw a person walking in the distance. Maybe it's on the studio roof? I'm impressed with the hospital set -there's a corridor, waiting room and Noah's room. Some new sets and faces makes the show slightly more watchable. But as soon as we return to Cane/Phyllis...

The synopses at the time only mentions Jason's death: Alan found Amy admiring his house, then consoled her after learning her father had died Luke comforted Laura about her stepfather's death. Amy arrived right when Marland departed and Pat Falken Smith took over. I'm guessing Marland planned her arrival but PFS may have changed the story for the character.

Agree with that. Nitpicker here-but regarding the Hamilton decor-it'd further evidence that Hayley is an amateur and they should play it as such. Like she previously got involved with a rich guy and lucked out, so wanted to keep the lifestyle and went after Bill when the situation presented itself. If she had smarts the place would have decorated way less gaudy. Bill has been around the Duprees and would know from good taste. Maybe it should have been a little less awful and Bill could have reacted to it- showing he wasn't a fan but letting Hayley do her thing, cos he's in luvvv. As for Tomas, just write him out and bring in someone new for Kat and whoever. Sometimes you just have to recognize what's not working and move on.

😅

Bill does favor a singlet. No bare chested scenes for Timon.

If they had tried to make it look a little more authentic it would help. And that door that opens outwards bothers me. Is Isaiah going to visit his bro and sis in law in their bedroom? He made a good first impression and worked fine with Eva. Liked the brief appearance of Rosamund-those under 5 roles help to create a world outside the regulars. Still wish we saw Rowena.

Phyllis on her laptop at CL hacking into Cane's AI program and talking to herself...🥺

Would that have been 1980? Nancy was gone by 81. In July 1980 James was still the dashing suitor-his true nature yet to be revealed, so he would have been welcomed as Barbara's guest.

He just f'ing debuted. My God

I think this was Robert Calhoun's vision as EP. Bringing the Hughes back into focus.

Is Izaiah destined to be another character w/o a home?

Yes the set situation should have been better planned from the start. Like giving Jacob/Naomi a bedroom only. No workplaces for Naomi, Martin, Vanessa etc A bedroom set only has to be a couple of walls and a bed/side tables etc. We've seen those sets many times so I don't know why BTG isn't doing that.

Perfect place for it. There was recasting of Mary and particularly Ellis in the first few years. The rest of the cast was pretty stable.

The list of movies piloted or pick up as series is endless. Only a few ever took off. Sunset Boulevard was once considered. God knows how that could work as a series. Perhaps they were only going to use the title to attract viewers? Maybe it was going to deal with different residents of that address? Another one was Seven Year Itch. Again, difficult to grasp how it would work as a series.

The whole Christine/Danny wedding story is kind of random. Neither have had any presence on the show in years. As witnessed by the collection of 'friends' at the celebration. It's nice nostalgia but pretty much filler. Where is the wedding venue? GCAC?

Morgan was more suited to FC, FR and even Dallas than the more down to earth KL. And visually Morgan was probably too close to Donna Mills and would have played the same type of character. And when Jenna returned to Dallas, the character was much more sympathetic and relatable than anything Morgan ever played on the primetime soaps.

I was just going post that. What a bizarre idea. Such a contrived premise. As for Curtis and Lemmon, maybe that was unused footage from the movie?

Lee Grant, in her autobiography, talks about playing Rose Peabody on SFT. This was in the early 50's when she had, like many others, been blacklisted-unable to work in TV or movies due to supposed Communist sympathies. I remember getting a call from CBS asking if I was available to work on Danger, one of their shows, at the time. “No, no,” I protested, “you don’t mean me, check your records.” The nice network girl called back, flustered. “I’m sorry, you’re right, cancel that offer.” Then, through some wonderful oversight, I fell into a job on a soap opera. Ira Cirker was the producer-director. Soaps were big business, many of them with huge casts. I think it was Search for Tomorrow. I do know Mary Stuart, the leading lady who played Joanne Gardner, had been on every day since the show began. At the time my character was her friend Rose, who had a big grudge against Joanne for some reason. The last shot viewers had of me, I was holding a salt shaker containing poison over a soup pot in the kitchen. Would I or wouldn’t I poison the soup and kill Joanne and her loved ones? I felt really lucky. I was working live every morning, the show went straight into the television-watchers’ homes, the cast was like family, and I hoped that maybe the show was below the radar. I was going to work every day and nobody said anything. And my job was so fun. It was such a guilty pleasure to be below the visibility line on daytime television. Then Ira called me in. The network, CBS, had been threatened by Laurence Johnson, a grocer from Syracuse, New York. He’d read Red Channels and found me. Johnson owned a few supermarkets in Syracuse. A few markets, that’s all—not in New York City, not in Los An¬ geles. He threatened the advertising agency who represented Crest toothpaste, one of the sponsors of Search for Tomorrow. He would track down actors working on TV and threaten the sponsors—in this case. Crest—with a display in his markets in front of their merchan¬ dise: DO YOU WANT TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH WITH A PRODUCT FROM A COMPANY THAT EMPLOYS COMMUNISTS? It was very effective. Johnson also had a strong connection to a group of veterans in Syracuse, who he threatened would start a mail campaign. It put me out of the soap opera business and effectively stopped any paycheck I could count on, or Arnie could count on. Arnie had angina, and he needed help paying the bills. Losing the soap opera was a real loss for him and for me. *Subsequently both Nita Talbot and Constance Ford played Rose.

@Reverend Ruthledge Thank so much for this. I have read about the early years of TGL but this is at another level with a lot of new details that flesh out the story. The amazing thing is , that with a few tweaks, the story could be airing now. A rebooted Guiding Light recreating these plots, set in a multi cultural inner urban area would a great contrast to BTG. Go on CBS, do it! The Right to Happiness spin off which moved Rose Kransky to the new show debuted Oct 39. The Doris Cameron character was introduced to prepare viewers for the spin off. Many pages back we wondered how the Kranskys seem to move from Five Points and your summary explains Mrs Kransky selling her store and moving to Garden Heights. I'm going to have to re read this and maybe make a cast list. Hope you have more!!

Dallas was a 2 hr premiere defeating Miami Vice #23 and Crime Story #43 on NBC. ABC was out of contention with Sidekicks #51 Sledge Hammer #59 and Starman #62 Sledge Hammer was also given the 8.30 Tues slot b/w WTB and Moonlighting hence the high rating.

I agree, especially when Nicole can see what Leslie is like. It would be good storytelling to see a couple try and work through something rather than head straight to the divorce court. Not that I see much appealing about Ted 2.0. He is a good enough actor (probably better than MJ) but the writing and acting choices have made the character less compelling. But having both sisters divorce in the first year is too much.

Of course. Why does that wench need a win? Phyllis is one character that needs to go and she can take her son with her.

Yes please.