Paul Raven

Sarah Fussell Guiding Light 1964

Day after day of Phyllis running around like a chicken with its head cut off whining about what 'Terra' did to her 'dodder' is starting to wear thin. Especially when everyone else is listening to her ravings. The Mariah disappearance story is playing out so weird. Is it going to take a severed ear sent through the mail for folks to start worrying? There really needs to be an advisory warning when a Billy/Lily lovin' episode is to be screened. His scrawny bod on display while they praise each other... The sexism in the writing also annoys. Lily was all like - have you been watching action movies with the sound up full blast? No replies Billy-romcoms so I can set the scene for some pointers on seduction.

And my final word on the subject Donald Buka My True Story Jonathan Willard 2/17/54 Guess he was one of those NY working actors that CBS knew could come in for a few days/weeks and get the job done. Maybe he had made a few connections over the years with BTS personnel...

By the same token, actors interest can be self serving- as long as they are front burner, they are happy. I've seen many an actor praise a story that has been universally panned, only because they got a lot of airtime and were doing something different. A lot of actors don't have much interest or awareness of the show as a whole.

Check the Soap Hoppers thread in the Cancelled soaps section for info on KT and many more. KT started on a radio soap back in the 40's!

Not finished with him yet! Edge of Night 1964

Donald Buka As The World Turns 1964

But Sandra was an unknown at that point. We're talking about well known/successful performers giving a TV series a whirl.

Have a set with neutral colored walls - a door on each side. If it used as say Lauren's office a bookcase is placed in front one of the doors and the other used as the entrance. Decorate accordingly... Then when it becomes say Nate's hospital office, a new bookcase/display cabinet covers the door used as the entrance to Lauren's office, exposing the opposite door as a different entrance. New furniture and placement, paintings/decor and voila - a separate set! Is this not possible?

Jody was on for a Summer teen story so there is not much to say.

Such sad news re Jess. Y&R is obviously under severe budget restrictions. I think a lot of it is due to COVID and the costs of establishing the protocols - deep cleaning of sets, daily procedures etc. However, there has probably been a another budget cut due to lower ratings/less advertising revenue. That being said,I think there could be more strategy in how that translates onto what is ends up onscreen. It's been discussed before, but the depiction of mega wealth that can not be represented. There should have been a shift in writing to scale back on those sort of stories and characters. Or at the very least less explicit on air references. Having characters constantly meet up at CL/Society (sometimes more than once on the same day) for business meetings, dinners and these places be empty. There was a scene a week or so ago when Lauren met Sally to talk business at Crimson Lights.Not only was it stupid that the meeting took place there but the camera showed the place as empty. At the very least some tighter shots. Yet a few weeks earlier Angelina was on the phone and a small office set was depicted.It was only a wall and obviously tiny but couldn't something similar be set up for a two person scene for Lauren/Sally? What I'm saying is that a bit of creativity - a generic office set that could be redressed? could go a long way in improving the look of the show.

GH I wonder what the thinking was re return of Lee Baldwin? He was written out the year before and as an older character it was odd that the decision was made to bring him back. A good one nonetheless. Y&R Nurse Cynthia was being set up as a temptation for Snapper but nothing came of it. Imagine if Bill Bell had been inspired to make Cynthia a Sheila type of character!

In the mid 60's both Maureen O'Hara and Janet Leigh had sitcom pilots that weren't picked up.

2 weeks ending April 19 1970 CBS 8.1/35 NBC 6.9/31 ABC 5.1/20 10am NBC It Takes Two 32 share CBS Lucy 29 10.30 NBC Concentration 40 share CBS Beverly Hillbillies 31 11.00 NBC Sale of the Century 38 share CBS Andy Griffith 32 11.30 Hollywood Squares 39 share CBS Love of Life 33 12pm NBC Jeopardy 40 share CBS Where The Heart Is 29 12.30 CBS Search for Tomorrow 43 share NBC Who,What, Where 28 1.30 -3.00 CBS wins each time period - As The World Turns, Love Ia A Many Splendored Thing, Guiding Light 3.00 Another World 33 share CBS Secret Storm 29 3.30 CBS Edge of Night 37 share NBC Bright Promise 20 4.00 CBS Gomer Pyle 33 share NBC Somerset 20

Phyllis' relentless vendetta towards Sally is overkill. Yes, it is in character but for it to be an A story? Wish we could get a new writer/producer. Anthony Morina is obviously just there to get the show on air - he doesn't seem to care about sets, lighting,costuming staging ,plotting, character motivations etc. Adding Susan Dansby has made no difference - me thinks it was just a PC move.

I read somewhere that Goutman actually fought to keep Fulton and some of the other vets on the show, even though what we saw onscreen contradicted that. I think it was just a casual comment in an article somewhere.Maybe someone else remembers?

Rosemary Murphy As The World Turns Cora (Franny Brennan's sister) 1966

I'm behind and just watching the ep where Ash and Victoria arrive at his NY penthouse. YIKES! They need to clear half of the stuff on that set. I think they were going with the 'eclectic priceless art collectors' look but even if all that stuff was genuine it does not photograph well. Sally/Jack does not work ,especially the writers ignoring the age difference. Peter Bergman always has Jack looking at his phone when he enters CL/Society (which he does with monotonous regularity)

Thanks for that. Esther should be living at the Chancellor Estate and be onscreen.Kevin/Chloe are not needed.

So true. Many instances where there could have been some natural conflict is passed over. Abby could have been annoyed that Chance took off with good reason, but no she sat around praising him for his heroics. Nick could have been ticked off by Phyllis' reaction but he was passive about the whole thing. Are Kevin and Chloe still supposed to be living at the Chancellor Estate? WTH are they? Kevin should have thrashed things out with Chloe over working with Adam (as ridiculous as that is) but he's offscreen.

You're right Somerset was cancelled to make way for Lovers and Friends but NBC decided to place L&F at 12.30 to lead off it's soap lineup. I wonder if L&F would have done any better at 4pm? NBC had no luck expanding their lineup beyond Days,TD and AW. They tried Hidden Faces, Bright Promise, Somerset,Return to Peyton Place, How To Survive a Marriage, Lovers and Friends, For Richer,For Poorer,Texas ,Search for Tomorrow and then Santa Barbara,Sunset Beach and Passions. About 30 years of trying...

Thanks for posting. Roy Thinnes made a big impact on GH. He was cast on Long Hot Summer for ABC primetime and then The Invaders. I think he left to do LHS and then came back? Not sure of the timeline.

I don't believe that Lovers and Friends was ever shifted to 4pm From an article at the time NBC also said it would begin running Chico and the Man next Monday (May 9, 12:30 -1 p.m.), replacing new soap opera, Lovers and Friends (with 3.0 rating and 12 share in first 64 episodes), which "will go on a summer hiatus," according to NBC. The Gong Show was scheduled at 4 pm all through 77, having been moved from 12.30 when L&F premiered.

Around 1965 Love Of Life almost moved to NBC. P&G wanted to place All My Children at noon and create a 1 hour soap block-AMC/SFT/TGL but American Homew Products, sponsor for LOL, dug in their heels as they did not want LOL to shift to the less desirable 11.30 am slot. NBC offered AHP the noon slot but CBS gave in and LOL stayed on the network in that timeslot.

Re Lilia Skala Variety has her into SS in June 65 so either the above dates are incorrect or this was a different role?