Paul Raven

Matinee Theater was a live 60 minute NBC daytime daily anthology originating from LA from 1955 - 58. Many 'soap hoppers' have an appearance (or more) in their resume. To begin Frances Reid Jane Kelsey 'From the Beginning' 10/31/55 'The Aspern Papers' 11/17/55 'Sins of the Fathers' 12/15/55 'Horns of a Dilemma' 12/28/55 'Valentine's Day' 2/14/56 'Guest Cottage' 6/19/56 Augusta Dabney Make Believe Mother 11/1/55 Kevin McCarthy 'Make Believe Mother' 11/1/55 Val Dufour 'The Courtship of Miles Standish' 11/23/55 'Passing Strangers' 12/6/56 Jeanne Cooper 'Light and Shadow' 1/27/56

Search For Tomorrow Mr Sims...Stuart Germain 1983 Mrs Sims...Grace Keagy 1983

That lack of crossover just adds to the dreariness of seeing the same groups of characters on the same sets doing the same things...

Yes the fight was well staged - no way would they have the time and budget to do that today. Even some floor shots sjowing the ceiling. As for Nathan,I recall he was offscreen for a while (were they recasting?) and then when he returned he was cheating with Keesha. I felt that was a cheap move on Bill Bell's part for the viewer not to see Nathan get involved with another woman and understanding how it evolved into an affair.

John Raby Our Gal Sunday David Harum Rose of My Dreams Lora Lawton Young Dr Malone John Seymour Manhattan Mother Lawrence Locke David Harum 1950 Backstage wife 1952 Robert Dryden Stella Dallas Mr Moon Guiding Light Robert Rollins Perry Mason 'syndicate czar' 1954 When A Girl Marries My True Story 1955 Whispering Streets 1955 Polly Rowles The Brighter Day The Road of Life My True Story Right to Happiness Connie Wakefield 1947 Boris Aplon Li'l Abner 1940 Robert Readick Backstage Wife 1950 Agnes Moorehead By Kathleen Norris 'Mystery House' Helen Rutly Cathleen Cordell Just Plain Bill Sybil Hunter Backstage Wife Front Page Farrell John Boles Front Page Farrell 1948 Young Widder Brown 1048 Whispering Streets 1955

I find Jason's Billy kind of earnest and reserved, and not the freewheeling mess up type character that Billy is supposed to be.

That's why GH grabbed her. Bill Bell pretty much lost interest in Susan once Denise left. They wanted to keep her but Denise wanted less a lighter workload and ABC couldn't agree. The move to AW was ill fated for a number of reasons...

Michael Kane This Is Nora Drake David Brown Jean Gillespie Portia Faces Life This Is Nora Drake My True Story Florence Malone Valiant Lady 1941 Betty and Bob Mrs Drake Eva Marie Saint Hilltop House Big Sister Rosemary Perry Mason Janice Gilbert Wheatena Playhouse 'Wuthering Heights' Light of the World Aunt Jenny William Lee Amanda of Honeymoon Hill Athena Lorde Hearts in Harmony Jean Lewis 1941 David Harum Joan Bradley 1945 Linda's First Love 1947 My True Story 1955 Whispering Streets 1955 Arthur Peterson Ma Perkins 1940 Van Heflin The Goldbergs Central City Mayor Bateman (Is your listing of Myron McCormack a typo? as there is an actor of that name) Mrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Joe

Loved your Days ideas.Hope you back to it sometime. It does get difficult as you go along because you have to decide whether to incorporate stuff that happened eg actors leaving or go totally fantasy. That's why I found doing an episode by episode treatment kept things grounded as you soon realized that juggling too many characters or stories was impossible to handle. OK some more AW stuff. I had Zane open a gym, to provide another meeting place for characters (there was juice/snack bar)and keep him in the story. Ben McKinnon and later a returned Carter Todd worked there. Eventually I faced that issue so many writers do of how to keep a married couple frontburner so Zane was killed off in a mini story about a trainer supplying drugs at the gym. Felicia had to struggle with widowhood. Dr Russ Matthews returned and was attracted to Felicia but she shunned his advances but eventually agreed to date. Russ, having lost wives was understanding and they settled into a tentative romance. Iris returned and wanted to work alongside her Dad at Cory. Mac was sceptical but Iris proved to have talent working at Brava. She wanted to rekindle a romance with Russ. I followed DePriest's lead and returned Mary and Reg but looking back I may not have gone that course. Mary's return rocked the McKinnons and affected Vince's budding romance with Maisie but eventually Vince and Maisie married and became a tentpole couple. Maisie became a mother figure to Sara, a waitress at the restaurant. Sara became attached to Ben's baby Sam and they got involved. However, when the time came for them to make love Sara freaked out and pushed Ben away. At this time Sam's mother Paulina arrived to claim her son. She claimed to have left Sam with Ben because she was in danger from some unsavoury associations. Her past caught up with her and she was almost killed. Ben getting nowhere with Sara once again fell for Paulina and they played happy families for a while. Michael and Donna played out their fiery romance but I had his ex fiance Joel turn up as a spoiler to announce she would marry him. Michael had to let Joel down gently but she understood and they stayed friends. Donna was none too pleased but eventually they drew close. At Jake and Marley's wedding, Reg revealed that Michael slept with Donna' mom .Donna, upset got into a car crash and was comatose for months. Cass and Kathleen dealt with Cecile's return but finally married. Kathleen got the opportunity to work on a movie screenplay and Cass was jealous of her success but eventually agreed to move to LA to pursue her dreams. When they were due to return months later,Cass arrived alone as Kathleen again got a great work offer. Alone and vulnerable, he slept with Joel, who after failed relationships with Michael and Mitch decided to become a single mother. Sure enough she became pregnant with Cass' child. Kathleen did return and befriended Joel whose pregnancy was now evident, She assured Cass he was not the father but Cass was not totally convinced. When the truth was revealed, Kathleen left Bay City and Cass. Joel was revealed to be Sara's sister. Joel had left years before to escape their abusive father and now realized she had left Sara vulnerable to him. Sure enough Sara remembered the abuse-hence her inability to make love to Ben. Sara and Joel went back home to confront their Dad , who was then killed by their mom, who had suffered for years under his control. They agreed to keep the crime quiet and buried the body. Vicky was set to marry Dennis when Jake returned - Marley had gone to France to do an Art course. Vicky and Jake spent a night together but he insisted that he was committed to Marley, so Vicky went ahead withe wedding. Iris of course was none too happy with Vicky as a daughter in law. Vicky found herself pregnant and was sure the baby was Jake's. She confided in Donna and they decided termination was the best option. Before that could happen, Vicky was in an accident and Dennis was informed she was pregnant so Vicky went along with the lie Dennis was the father. More to come...

Not sure about this. Mariah has already become same sex attracted and now Abby? On another note,Anthony Morina has slipt under the radar. Never gives interviews or statements. Leads me to believe that Sony/CBS are basically in control and Josh will write to their dictates. Anthony is there purely to oversee production with little creative input.

Guiding Light Dr Siegel.... Stanley Siegel WCBS morning show host. Appeared on GL as cross promotion 1979.

I woudn't trust those NBC execs for a minute but everyone is playing nice. Amazing to see Bill Hayes there - what a role model for growing older. NBC should be doing something of a salute to him- he worked there in the 1950's. Seeing Albert Alarr there (yikes - that shirt!!) makes me wish someone would question him and others about their vision for the show.They seem dedicated and enthused but some of what gets to air makes you question that. I guess they feel that part of Days DNA is outlandish plots that dumb everything down. Would be nice if they aimed a little higher.

Well. from 4 years of stories, some things that come to mind.Would love to know what you think! Rachel became aware someone was buying up her artwork and discovered it was her father Gerald who was dying and wanted to re-unite. He came to Bay City with a handsome young assistant Ryan that he treated like a son. Rachel had to decide whether to trust her father again and sought advice from Mac and Ada. Father and daughter drew closer. Ironically Gerald was also estranged from Pam and Rachel encouraged her father to reach out to her, which he did. Rachel had to form a relationship with Pam, which proved difficult as Pam was jealous of Rachel's successes. It turned out that Ryan and Pam were lovers and had plotted for Ryan to get close to Gerald to inherit his money (he had become a successful hotelier since his release from jail) Once accepted by the Corys, Pam began to mellow and no longer had the same motives. She fell in love with Mitch Blake. when she confesses to Ryan she slept with Mitch he nobly forgives her. Ryan, knowing Pam was moving away from him doubled down and got her to marry him, leaving Mitch in the lurch. When Gerald collapses, Ryan doesn't intervene but Gerald survives and Ryan worries Gerald will reveal that Ryan left him to die. However, Gerald dies without the truth coming out. Pam suspects Ryan of killing her dad, bit is trapped by her past. She falls pregnant but loses the baby, Ben returns to Bay City and wants to be with Marley. Marley is shaken by Ben's return and wavers b/w Marley and Jake but eventually chooses Jake. Ben and Vicky hook up for a time. When a baby boy is left at the McKinnons , Ben knows it is his from a relationship when he was out of town. Ben and Vicky grow apart as she isn't interested in being a surrogate mother to an infant. Jamie returns and dates both his former girlfriends,MJ and Nicole, two very different women. He does sleep with Nicole, which MJ can't handle so Jamie and Nicole become a couple. However, that relationship is threatened when a Chad, a man from her druggie past arrives with lots of secrets (call girl/porn tape etc) to blackmail her with. Chad gets involved with Vicky after she drops Ben and Nicole is upset but powerless to intervene as Chad threatens to reveal her misdeeds. Chad 's past catches up with him as he tries to clean up his act but can't. Although in a sexual relationship with Vicky he forces himself on her and she realizes she's been raped. She presses charges and Chad's past is revealed. Jamie splits with Nicole over her lies. MJ has a new police partner Matt who is quite hostile to her but they grow close when he is falsely accused during an investigation, Matt reveals he's married with a young son but estranged. MJ has to deal with that but when Joanne, Matt;s wife pleads with her to step aside she does and returns to Jamie, after breaks with Nicole. Jamie and MJ agree to marry but on the wedding day Matt arrives and tells MJ he can't forget her. He tried to make things work with Joanne but he 's going too divorce. MJ tells Jamie she can't go through with the wedding. Hurt and distressed, Jamie leaves town. Quinn becomes involved with Reece, Michael's business partner. However, Reece is a bit of a playboy and cheats on Quinn, he decides she can't deal with this and they split. Dennis returns and get's involved with Quinn, but Quinn realizes she really loves Reece and they marry, leaving Dennis to hook up with Vicky, now over her ordeal with Chad. Felicia and Zane are happily married but that causes her creative juices to dry up and she;s unable to write. Jonathan, a new publicist at Cory turns out to be obsessed and ends up kidnapping her and Felicia has to fight to survive. Eventually she escapes and she and Zane re-unite, omly for Zane to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Felicia stand by her man as they battle the disease. If you're interested I'll post more about Michael and Donna, and others. Also Y and R.

Not writing my own soap, but I have written my own treatment for AW and currently Y&R. For AW I picked up the story in 1986 when Margaret De Priest took over and gave myself the challenge of developing stories from that point on. I used some of her ideas but as time went on I veered off on my own path , bringing on Rachel's sister Pam, Ben McKinnon, Mike Randolph, marrying Vince and Maisie and a lot more! The same with Y&R. I began my plotting at the time Sally Sussman took over. Rather than just writing a story narrative, I actually write daily outlines specifying characters and sets to approximate the challenges real life writers face. I wrote 4 years of daily outlines for AW before I gave up so 86-90. With Y&R I began with Dec 16 and are now up till April 17. I just write when the mood takes me. It's quite challenging at times but enjoyable. Currently Ashley has hooked up with Cole Howard again, Chance is interested in Mariah, Billy is juggling Phyllis and Victoria without either of them knowing and Chelsea is making claims on Johnny.

Agnes Young Editor's Daughter 1938 Front Page Farrell 1946 Katie's Daughter 1947 Her role as Aunt Jenny was a temp replacement for Edith Spencer Love of Life She was also appearing as Mrs Vento in 1965 Gertrude Warner Wheatena Playhouse 'Dark Victory' Judith Traherne 1940 Amanda 1943 Stella Dallas 1948 Just Plain Bill 1950 Young Widder Brown Ellen Brown (temp for Florence Freeman)Aug 1952 Front Page Farrell 1951/ Teresa Blake 1953 This Life Is Ours Eden Channing TV Special 1945 Edgar Stehli Second Husband 1941 Amanda of Honeymoon Hill 1942 By Kathleen Norris 'Josselyn's Wife' Timothy the butler Perry Mason 1944 David Harum Ira Thomas Backstage Wife Horn 1945 Front Page Farrell 1946

Eleanor Audley By Kathleen Norris 'Woman in Love' Coral 1940 Irene Hubbard Wheatena Playhouse ;The Rains Came' Joyce Jordan Dr Anice Tracey Young Widder Brown 1949 Lora Lawton Mme Prunier

Way back to Bill Bell,they should have held up on the marriages. Since his departure, it only got worse. The pointless remarriages are equally damaging. What was gained from Nikki/Jack, Phyllis/Jack and Nick/ Phyllis round 2? They have been holding off on weddings in recent years for a lot of characters because of those short sighted decisions. But they are making the same mistakes with younger viable characters eg Kyle/Summer/Abby. Bringing on Ana, Fen, recast Scott and Reed, maybe Daniel etc would keep older characters onscreen involved in their lives and could 'rest' them somewhat

Cornelius Peeples The Guiding Light Joe Downey Walter Vaughn Stella Dallas Paul Chatwin 1945 Mr DA Verona 1942 Barbara Fuller I have her as Marian Baxter in Midstream not Road of Life

Those numbers speak for themselves. What's annoying is that many of those marriages didn't need to happen eg Sharon/Jack, Ashley/Blade/Cole and currently Sharon/Rey. just to name a few. The stories could have been told w/o a wedding. The ridiculous worshipping and at the same time minimizing the importance of marriage is so damaging to long term characters.

Ken Daigneau Thunder Over Paradise Bill Crawford Pepper Young's Family Kurt Bradley David Harum 1942 Our Gal Sunday 1942 Barbara Fuller Madame Courageous Peggy Brayden Charles Penman Woman in White Richard Williams David Harum 1949

Some innacuracies in the Marland tribute... When Gloria Monty decided that radical changes for General Hospital were needed, the newly minted executive producer made him the soap’s headwriter. Wasn't Marland already the headwriter before Gloria Monty took over? In an almost unmatched feat, with his three years at Guiding Light, he helped to drive the show from almost the bottom of the ratings to the top. I think GL was doing quite well ratings wise when Marland took over-sometimes the no.1 CBS soap.

Sharon and Rey was a marriage that never needed to happen, especially in light of the fact that it was doomed from Day One. This story could be playing out as angst to keep Sharon and Rey from marrying rather than adding yet another marriage to Sharon's resume. Same with Kyle, if he weds Summer again, it will be 3 marriages for each of them. They are in their 20's for crying out loud!!!

Henry M Neeley Pepper Young's Family Home of the Brave Ara Gerald Wheatena Playhouse 'The Rains Came' 1941 Orphans of Divorce 1941 Front Page Farrell 1951 Charles Webster Aunt Jenny Life Can Be Beautiful Dr Markham Second Husband Lorenzo Jones 1950 Cecil Roy Front Page Farrell 1948 Ed Latimer Stella Dallas 1943 David Harum 1950

A Billboard article from 1951 mentions 'The Susan Peters Story' for the show that aired as 'Miss Susan'.