Paul Raven

C'mon be fair, Traci is going to write a book based on Dina's life in Paris. This will be an umbrella story that will change lives forever!

Very interesting article.thanks for sharing. Re Y&R. It seems that hiring Susan Dansby and adding a few black actors on recurring seems to be the extent of making changes. Not making any statement in response to the Briana Thomas allegations speaks volumes. It seems the whole thing will just go away.Thomas has no power or support.

With the show due to debut July 7 1975, as of June 12 the roles of Johnny and Pat Ryan and Seneca yet to be cast . Variety reported 9 roles had been cast at that point. Mary,Delia, Maeve, Roger, Faith, Bob, Frank, Ed and Ramona. Didn't Bernard Barrow audition for Seneca?

May 75 CBS 7.4/32 NBC 6.9/30 ABC 5.3/21 June 75 CBS 7.5/31 NBC 7.5/31 ABC 6.3/24 First two of July 75 NBC 7.7/31 ABC 7.4/28 CBS 6.9/28 ABC's move to second was the result of a new lineup. Ryan's Hope debuted @1 moving AMC to 12.30 and Rhyme or Reason and You Don't Say debuted. Although RH's 27 share was down from AMC 34 share in that time period the previous 2 weeks,AMC scored a 38 share at 12.30 up from a 24 share for the cancelled Split Second. At 2.30 Rhyme or Reason had a 30 share compared to a 26 share for it's predecessor Showdown. At 4pm You Don't Say scored a 19 share whereas previous occupant Money Maze had a 15 share. The 3 way tussle during the 70's was exciting to see.

Eileen Letchworth (Margo Flax) had her facelift Wed Aug 7 1974 and was back onscreen the following Tuesday,as Margo had her bandages removed on camera. In reality they were removed the day before. Eileen had asked for time off for the procedure and Agnes Nixon decided to write it in for the story and asked Eileen to delay having it done until it fitted better into the plot. Eileen had already had the bags under her eyes removed 7 years previously. Margo had her facelift trying to keep a younger man but Eileen was happily married at the time. She was 52 in 1974.

The show relied for months on Kyle/Summer/Tara et al and there's not much else happening. Mariah's disappearance was poorly structured and paced. Apparently she works at Jabot, as does Jack but he is never at the office. Abby runs Society but she's never there, which is OK because there no customers. Phyllis runs Gross Peanut, which consists of her standing in the lobby chewing the set. The show is still relying on'business' stories and job status that is just filler. Adam hires Chloe, even though she has tried to kill him. Chloe hires Sally for some poorly defined fashion platform. Gloria turns up after months for a one day story about taking over JVC (what is that anyway?) Chance.com is a news outlet that nobody works at, and whose only story is Locke/Newman merger. They're supposedly equal partners but Billy leads everything with Lily tut tutting in response. Devon has a business but he wanders around town being a sounding board.Oh and he loves Amanda. Nate and Elena work at the hospital but they're never there.But they chat a lot. Imani was interested in Nate a few weeks ago, but nothing came of it. Moses doesn't want to be a doctor and he likes Faith.She likes him too. Nikki warns Adam. Nikki warns Sally. someone should warn Nikki she's about to burst out of her blouse. And everyone is super,super rich and successful.We know because they tell us. And on it goes...

For the 4 weeks ending August 2 1974 ABC had returned to top of daytime ratings. ABC 8.4 CBS 7.9 NBC 6.4 All My Children lead as the top rated serial 9.5/34

According to Robert LaGuardia In 1960 Patti left for Arizona where she lived with Irene Barron, her grandmother. Whilst there she had a destructive affair with an older married man. Patti was involved in a car crash in 1961 that left her in a wheelchair. When Jo's life was threatened, Patti leapt out of the wheelchair and saved her mom. Not sure how much of Patti in Arizona was seen onscreen.Perhaps Lynn Loring had some time away from the show. In a photo of Patti in the wheelchair,Lynn is still in the role. All of this seems to confirm that the episode recently posted is not 1960. Most likely 58.

Aha! that must be the case. thanks for the correction.

It's an interesting phenom. I collect 50/60's suspense paperbacks. Once upon a few dollars in second hand bookshops, but limited titles available. Then along came the internet and for a few dollars more a fantastic choice. Next thing you know,something that was selling for six dollars was priced at sixty. Either supply dried up(doesn't seem so) or people got greedy...

It's odd that news about Jeopardy is all over the place but no one is reporting about Y&R. I know daytime never gets the same coverage but it still seems odd that this hasn't been picked up by other outlets.

In 1974, Lee Phillip Bell presented 2 documentaries on the CBS Chicago station WBBM 'The Rape of Paulette' and 'Why Are You So Afraid of Breast Cancer?'. Those two topics were a big part of Y&R around that time.

Thanks for tat headwriter info.I will compare it to what I have and make adjustments if need be. If you have anything on other soaps 50's thru 70's I'd love to for you to post.

Mid 74 CBS had been on a concerted push to improve their daytime numbers as they had been running neck and neck with ABC and NBC. They had dropped sitcoms in the mornings,3 soaps and introduced gameshow blocks in morning and afternoon slots. In addition there were 'long and painstaking negotiations and confabs with P&G execs about sprucing up basic storylines.' There were concerns that the early block of soaps (LOL, Y&R and SFT) were losing the momentum from the successful a.m. gameshow block The results April 22 - June 2 CBS 7.1 NBC 6.6 ABC 6.5 Search went from 12th (7.4) to 7th (8.3) Y&R 17th(7.2/29) closer to NBC's Jackpot (7.4/30) Love of Life up to a 28 share.

Thanks for that. I am working on a headwriter list for various soaps and this specific info is invaluable!

If we had to have Doug and Julie become parents to a teen, it could have worked had the writers looked at their characters and history and used that. Julie,a troubled teen herself could have advised Hope not to get too intense with Bo, remembering her obsession with David Martin and where that lead. Doug may have had a different viewpoint, maybe being too permissive as he didn't want to face no longer being the free and easy playboy. Instead they just became roadblocks to young love with no real agency or point of view.

Bill had been working with Irna for years on ATWT,AW and Our Private world. He was approached by Ted Corday to take over Days. I don't believe he ever wrote for both shows concurrently. If he did, it would only be to see out a contract. Ted had also worked with Irna for years and I'm not sure if their parting was amicable? So understandably Irna was upset that Bill was leaving a working relationship that was satisfying to her. However, holding a grudge seems petty and short sighted. Irna had several co writers over the years. Might be fun to start a list...

Larry Keith Another World Doctor in operation scene I day role 1967

Thanks for the Larry Keith interview. A great read. His concerns about the 1 hour format are interesting. At this point it was still live to tape? Once they went to editing it became easier I think. I remember Wes Kenney talking about coming back to Days as they were struggling with the transition and he saw they were still doing the show like it was 30 min, which was madness in his opinion. He set about making changes to make it easier for everyone.

Wouldn't that be 1970?

Just noticed that the Ellmans went straight from Search for Tomorrow to General Hospital. I wonder what was behind that? Were they dropped from SFT and if so,why? In turn, how did they come to be at GH? Those backstage changes always fascinate me. Search changed writers often during the 70's. The ratings were high so it is surprising they were always chopping and changing.

I don't pretend to have any knowledge of what goes into getting a soap taped under the budget and time restraints Morina and other producers are under. But I'd sure like to sit down with them and watch an episode or two and have them explain and justify some of the stuff we see onscreen...

Guiding Light Mae Pearson wife of Clint Pearson (AKA Spence Jeffers) Jani Brenn 1976

Stay tuned... Bobbi got another chance foe primetime success with the comedy Turnabout starring Sharon Gless but it was shortlived. Scheduled against Dukes of Hazzard and part of Fred Silverman's chaotic scheduling era. She did a few episodes of Days in 1993.

James Pritchett's 1000th episode aired May 19 1969.