Paul Raven

PFS was only at Days 6 months-she wrapped up the Salem Strangler and introduced the Di Meras and Bradys. There was none of the supercouple/spies/supervillians formulas etc That all came later. PFS did Luke and Laura on the run. But she was no fan of the sci fi/adventure stuff eg Ice Princess THE JOURNAL-NEWS, SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 1982 By LYNDA HIRSCH Syndicated columnnist Pat Falken Smith, now head writer of “Days of Our Lives” and former head writer of “General Hospital,” had another go at Gloria Monty, producer of “General Hospital,” on cable network news special “ The Soap Behind the Soaps ” In it, Falken Smith said that she simply did not want to work for Gloria any more and furthermore, ‘‘If the show had been on radio I’m certain Gloria would have done the acting parts as well.” Pat also took Tony Geary to task and said at one point she asked him “to get a Writer’s Guild card because he was doing rewrites of the scripts and then telling people in the media about it.” Pat further says that she went to Tony and asked him to kindly stop rewriting continually and also said she wanted to know where the gracious, grateful young man who came to her two years ago and thanked her for giving him the role of a lifetime had gone. In Tony’s defense, Falken Smith said, “When I asked him to stop doing all this rewriting, he stopped.” Tony makes no secret that he feels that Luke is a very important part of his career and that he does take liberties with the script. However, we believe that’s probably one of the reasons why the character of Luke has been so exciting. On the other hand, most of the “General Hospital” actors stick to the scripts, and when they were being written by Falken Smith, they rang true and were interesting, just as they were when Doug Marland was writing it. As for the new writers on “ General Hospital,” we’ll have to give them a bit more time because their main concerns to date have been getting rid of two major characters — Bobbi and Laura. By the way, when Gloria Monty was asked about Falken Smith on the same cable network news special, Monty said as graciously as she could, “Pat and I are dear friends. She was a great writer, and when her sub-writers left with her, they all wrote notes to me saying they were sorry to be leaving.” Love Gloria's response. Recollections may vary.

Yea, I'm not buying that Troy Donahue was considered. Troy in 1982

Theo's Campaign Office might literally be that box.

Seeing Hayley mix the poison into Bill's drink for the 1000th time is no longer suspenseful. This time it was in her cleavage. She had to hope Bill wasn't after some tee-tee play. BTW the lighting on her breastes was amazing. An interesting twist would be Randy supplying her with fake poison, because he doesn't want to be a party to murder-the Mona influence at play. Oops..I suggested a plot idea. Mea Culpa.

Kathleen Turner on her soap opera days: “My character was so incredibly dumb”"So I just asked the writers to make her a drunk," the legendary actress said of her "The Doctors" roleBy Kathleen Turner - Dustin Morrow Published September 15, 2018 After you finished your college degree, you moved immediately to New York City to work in theater. Kathleen Turner: Yes, it was terrifying but exhilarating to move to New York. I drove there the day I finished classes. I had exactly $100 in cash. Period. I was supposed to stay with a friend that first night but she had reunited with her boyfriend. I got to New York at about 3:00 in the morning and slept in my car on the east side, up in the 80s. It was scary—Manhattan wasn’t the Disney playground that it is now—but it was incredibly exciting and I was fearless. D.M.: And you were able to start working as an actor pretty quickly. K.T.: Almost immediately. I mean, I had day jobs like every other actor, but I started acting professionally very quickly. I was off-Broadway within five months, on the soap opera after nine months, and was on Broadway by eleven months. D.M.: Tell me about the soap opera. K.T.: I was a regular on The Doctors. Which no longer exists, for which we can all be thankful. The Doctors was a soap opera set in a New England hospital that ran on NBC from 1963 to 1982. Kathleen appeared on the series in 1978 and 1979. Among the many other notable alumni of the series are Alec Bald­win, Ellen Burstyn, and Ted Danson. D.M.: No good? K.T.: Whatever. It was fine. It was just a very run-of-the-mill soap opera. My character was so incredibly dumb that at a certain point I just couldn’t figure out how to justify the words that came out of her mouth, so I just asked the writers to make her a drunk. D.M.: Ha! That is crazy. K.T.: So crazy! I’ll tell you the breaking point for me on The Doctors. I remember this like it was yesterday. I was doing a scene where I was giving birth, after a four-month pregnancy of course, and I had researched the process and learned lamaze breathing and everything. After the first take the director, who was a man of course, came up and said, “You’re doing great, I can really feel what you’re going through. But can you just be a little more . . . ummm . . . attractive?” “Attractive.” While giving birth. That was it for me. D.M.: Stick a fork in you. K.T.: Yessir. Done. D.M.: Actors who move back and forth between theater and cinema or theater and television always talk about the differences between stage and screen acting, so I thought that instead I would ask you to tell me about the skills that translate, especially since I know that you started in stage and then moved to TV and then to film. What were you able to carry from one step to the next? K.T.: Moving from TV to film was less of a leap for me than moving from theater to TV. That was a big transition. D.M.: How did you get the part on The Doctors? K.T.: Before I got the regular role on The Doctors, I was getting called in to do day spots on soaps because I have a near-photographic memory. I could learn scripts almost instantly. That made me pretty valuable as a soap actress. D.M.: Theater and television are wildly different forums for an actor. K.T.: Coming from the stage, I had always thought of acting as a process of rehearsal, of trial and error, of carefully fine-tuning something until it’s just right. You don’t have that kind of luxury, that kind of time, working in soap operas. When shooting a soap, you come in around seven or so and go through hair and makeup and wardrobe, and then you shoot until around four or so, and at five you do a light rehearsal, or sometimes just a table read, of what you are going to shoot the next day. That idea of creating a performance every single day was new to me, that idea of making choices that you had to implement on-the-spot. That was the most valuable thing that the soap opera gave me. D.M.: What did you learn from that experience about acting for the camera? K.T.: I don’t think I learned a lot about camera craft because it was a soap. It was essentially these huge, hulking, awkward cameras that wheeled around in a cumbersome manner. They didn’t afford a tremen­dous variety of camera angles. And there were several of them shooting at once, so the angle wasn’t as defined or as specific as it usually is when shooting a film. And there were all these terribly artificial soap opera performance demands. I would get a script that would say, “And we slow fade on a shot of Kathleen’s surprised expression.” And I would have to hold this ridiculously melodramatic expression until they finished this agonizingly long fade that would take them into a commercial. It was so stupid and so unrealistic. D.M.: Well, no one watches soap operas for realism, I guess. K.T.: Isn’t that the truth! But I did learn a very valuable lesson about how to use my personal experiences in my performances when I was doing The Doctors. There was a storyline in which my character’s mother died, and in reading the script I had this incredible rush of feeling, remembering my father’s death. It was a wave of emotion that I hadn’t felt in years, as he had been dead for several years at that point. It was as though the script had torn open a scar that I thought had healed over, it was hard for me. But I went home and I just thought, “Okay, just hold it together, keep it together, don’t indulge anything until the camera rolls tomorrow and then use it all.” So the next day we shot this scene in which my character spoke to her dying mother in this hospital room, and I just let it all go. And I was wracked with grief, sobbing uncontrollably almost, and when we finished the show I thought, “Well, that is one of the truest things I have ever done as an actress.” And then I saw the show and it looked like the worst, hammiest acting in history! The lesson learned was that you don’t really want to be 100% real, on camera or on stage really. The performance of a real emotion is different from the actual experiencing of that emotion. D.M.: For one thing, one is controlled and the other isn’t. K.T.: That’s true, and you don’t ever want to be out of control when you are acting. Acting isn’t meant to be dangerous. We were auditioning young men for the role of the addict in the Broadway production of High, and one young man got so physical with me onstage that there was a genuine sense of the loss of control, and I felt for a moment that I was in real danger. He was way too rough with me. You won’t get a part if you can’t control your performance. That said, I think that I have come closer to using real experiences on stage than in film because I have a lot more space to do it in. But that scene on The Doctors was awful, bad acting. However true it felt to me didn’t matter, it wasn’t about the truth. D.M.: So it’s more about verisimilitude, an appearance of truth, than finding an actual truth. K.T.: It’s about the truth of the scene, not the truth of the actor’s per­sonal experiences. D.M.: The compressed period of time that you were talking about, with the fast production schedule of The Doctors, where you have basically a day to make big performance choices—if you are coming out of a theater background where you have a luxurious rehearsal period, then that’s tough to deal with. Do you just say to yourself, “It’s scary but I’m going to commit to this choice I made five minutes ago and hope for the best”? K.T.: Basically. You have to. Having that experience on The Doctors helped me when I did move on to feature filmmaking, because I learned that on the day, on the moment when the shot was set, you had to be committed to your choices. There’s no do-over if you don’t like what you did on a given shoot day on a film. You can’t just go reshoot something because you were unhappy with your performance, it would be prohibi­tively expensive. There are times when, if I happen to catch a few minutes from one of my films on TV, I see places where I could have made better choices. But that’s okay. What I am sure of is that I made the best choice I could make on that day, at that time, given the circumstances, given where we were shooting, who I was working with, and how everything had led up to that moment on that shoot day. I’m sure I said, “This is the best I can do.” So I am happy with all my film performances, because they represented my best effort on the days I shot them. It does no actor any good to sit around bemoaning mistakes or missed opportunities. Move forward and be proud of what you’ve done.

Local 
couple finds passion in soap operasBy Erin Wiltgen, News of Orange staff writer [email protected] Dec 21, 2013Her first day on the job, Nancy Demorest—then Nancy Curlee—walked into the “Guiding Light” writers’ room and looked around at a sea of unfamiliar faces. A young man across the table invited her to the empty chair beside him. Settling in, the newbie turned to start up a conversation with her future husband.Stephen and Nancy Demorest thrived in the soap opera industry, working up the ladder from scriptwriter to head writer—and loving every minute of it. “I did it from about 1985 to 1994,” Nancy Demorest said. “We were head writers at ‘Guiding Light’ and then consultants for ABC for ‘All My Children’ and ‘General Hospital’ and their shows. Then when we decide to move down here in 1996, I actually had an offer to do ‘General Hospital’ out in California from here, but I was expecting our third child, so that was the point that I kind of got out. But Stephen staid in it for another 10 long years.” The journey While the couple moved up in the soap opera world side by side, they arrived there in completely different ways. Nancy Demorest went to Hollins University in Virginia, known at the time for its phenomenal writing program. A professor there hooked her up with a contact at publishing company Curtis Brown in New York City. “It turned out to be a great first job in the city, mainly because it took the intimidation out of writing,” she said. “I was reading manuscripts, and you come out of college, and you’ve been reading James Joyce and Fitzgerald, and you’re so intimidated. When you get into publishing and you’re reading these unsolicited manuscripts that come in, you go, I can do this.” After a year at Curtis Brown, Nancy Demorest teamed up with a friend to write screenplays. The two sold a pair of romantic comedies for publication, but soon the writer was itching for a steady income. An actress suggested soap operas, putting her in touch with someone at Procter & Gamble, which owned a few programs. And Nancy Demorest never looked back. For Stephen Demorest, he got his start more on the writing side of things, working as a freelancer for rock and roll publications “Rolling Stone Magazine” and “Circus” as well as submitting pieces for the Sunday New York Times. “I sort of learned the business as I went along,” he said. “And what I learned is freelancing is very inefficient in that you write 10 pitches or assignments for every one you get. And then you hand in an assignment for an article, and they pay you on publication, which might be six months later, which is fine when you’re 24 and you’re living alone. “But as you get older, and you see your friends are getting married and starting families and having houses and stuff like that, and you’re writing for the arts and leisure section of the Times, which is great, and then two months later they send you $200.” So the writer decided to take his craft into his own hands, penning a mystery series featuring a female protagonist. When that endeavor didn’t pan out the way he had hoped, a friend suggested he check out soap operas. Stephen Demorest, though skeptical, made a few calls; and—like his wife—he found his niche. Forging a career When Nancy and Stephen Demorest first met at “Guiding Light,” they discovered their paths had intersected before—though not in person. Nancy Demorest had actually worked at Curtis Brown when the publishing company processed her future husband’s novels. A few moments after the first hellos, the two realized those books had actually crossed Nancy Demorest’s desk. “She said, ‘Oh my God, I typed your contract five years ago,’ ” Stephen Demorest said. “I said, ‘You’re a terrible typist.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, that’s me.’ ” The couple began as scriptwriters, the bottom of the writers’ food chain. Their job was to take an outline handed down by senior workers and draft dialogue. Some creative leeway exists at this level as long as they stay within the basic plotline, though any changes or additions have to be cleared with the powers that be. Above scriptwriters come outline writers who break down scene by scene what will happen in each show. Each outline and scriptwriter is assigned an episode by the head writers, who craft the overarching plotline looking out six to 12 months. “The head writers, which is what we eventually ended up doing, did what Stephen was talking about where you essentially do like a Victorian novel,” Nancy Demorest said. “You do this umbrella story, and you might have three or four subplots. There should be some overarching thing taking you through. … As a head writer, you really had to have an absolute vision and absolute idea of who each of those characters was and what was true. But then the outline writers and the scriptwriters could get more creative.” Though still working in New York, the Demorests eventually moved to Connecticut in 1990. After a while, though, Nancy Demorest began pining for her native North Carolina. The couple moved down, and Nancy Demorest decided to leave the industry. Her husband, however, realized he could continue the work. When living in Connecticut, the couple would drive an hour and a half into New York City every Monday morning, go to meetings, spend the night in an apartment they owned in the city and return to the office Tuesday before going home to spend the rest of the week writing. “It wasn’t a lot different coming from Raleigh Durham airport,” Stephen Demorest said. “So for the first five years we were out here, I’d get up at 5:30 or 6 and catch the dawn plane out of RDU. ... [I’d] catch the 6 plane out of LaGuardia Airport, land at RDU at halftime during the [UNC-Chapel Hill] basketball game, and listen to the second half of the basketball game while I drove home from the airport. I’d almost always come through the door with three minutes left in the basketball game, and she wouldn’t speak to me until the game was over because she’d be rooted to the basketball game.” Stephen Demorest stayed writing for soaps out of New York and Los Angeles until 2008, using the Internet and conference calls to get the job done. But while both have now given it up, the Demorests still talk about those days with fondness, outlining the fun, the adventure they had in the writing room. “You also have this writing team,” Stephen Demorest said. “You meet with five or eight or 10 other writers. You’d talk about where the storyline was going, and then you’d divide up the scripts and maybe go off on our own. … It was a great combination of working independently but with a group of comrades at the same time. And you could see it come back on the screen four weeks later.”

NY TimesSoap Opera Buffs Tune In a Tour By Judy Klemesrud.Oct. 21, 1971 Lynne Rogers is probably best known to her fans for her “nice girl” roles on television soap operas. Rita Lloyd, on the other hand, almost always played the meanies.Yesterday, the two fortyish actresses joined forces to inaugurate their new escorted tour service for women, Command Performance, designed to show out‐of‐towners “provocative aspects of life in New York” as well as introduce them to some of their heroes from Sudsville. “More people than you think watch soap operas, and I don't want to denigrate them,” said Miss Lloyd, in explaining why she and her partner had begun the tours. “People just don't want to meet Tuesday Weld any more. They want to meet the soap opera stars.” Recognized Everywhere And how does she know that? “Well, neither Lynne nor I have been on a soap opera for three years,” said Miss Lloyd, who played the wicked spy, Jessica Webster, on “Edge of Night,” “but we are still stopped on the streets by people who recognize us. It's incrediblel” Yesterday's tour group—seven women from the New York area who paid $25 for the day's entertainment—all remembered Lynne and Rita, and could even recall some of the plots from the soaps they had acted in. “I remember Marie [Miss Rogers] when she was on The Guiding Light,’ “ said Mrs. Alda Nielsen, of Huntington, L. I., wife of a marine engineer. “She was so sweet. She still looks the same as when she was married to Dick.” The first stop on the tour was a 10 A.M. visit to the Eighth Avenue studio of Andy Thomas‐Anselmo, a singing coach. Mr. Thomas‐Anselmo had some of his students on hand to sing for the women, and then led the tourist group in vocal warm‐up exercises in which everybody sang a scale to the words, “Let us wander by the bay.” An Impromptu Solo “If we make beautiful music,” Mr. Thomas‐Anselmo said, “then we won't have to use guns.” The women applauded. When he asked if any of the women had ever sung, Mrs. Florence Perchuk of Manhattan, a designer of kitchens, raised her hand. “I'm a coloratura with rusty pipes,” she said, as Mr. Thomas‐Anselmo tried to coax her to come to the front of the room and perform. Finally she gave in, and sang a very passable version of “Summertime.” For lunch, the women dined on canneloni at the Barbetta Restaurant on West 46th Street, where they also viewed a lashion show of raincoats by Naman Rainwear. The fashions were interesting enough, but the real star of the luncheon was Nat Polen, a distinguished‐looking actor who plays, Dr. James Craig on “One Life to Live.” He drew admir ing glances when he dropped by at the request of Miss Rogers and Miss Lloyd, both of whom had worked with him on various daytime serials. Only Mrs. Nielsen seemed unimpressed. After Mr. Polen had left, she commented: “When he died on ‘As the World Turns,’ I guess I lost some of my interest in him. It's hard to remain loyal to someone when they go off to another program.” The day's last stop was the C.B.S. television studios on West 57th Street, where six popular soap operas originate. There, the women saw a rehearsal for “Secret Storm,” toured the wardrobe and makeup ‘rooms, and, much to their delight, ran into Walter Cronkite in a hallway. Special Programs Available Miss Rogers and Miss Lloyd said there would be a Command Performance tour once a month, and that future groups would view an acupuncture demonstration, visit a belly dancer, attend, a wine‐tasting party, have their horoscopes cast by an astrologer and, of course, meet more soap opera stars. Special programs are also available for groups of 15 or more, and persons wanting to join a tour can call RH 4‐6768. “This is such a nice lovely social thing for women who get lonely,” said Mrs. Gladys Krayer of Manhattan, a toy demonstrator, who, like the other women, seemed to be thrilled with the day's activities. “I might even bring my husband along on the next one.”

AMC William Cane auditioned for Palmer Cortlandt but instead got the role of Hughes -chauffeur/butler.

Apparently the DB Bentley character was loosely based on Lin Bolen, NBC's then head of daytime. She wanted that type of character on an NBC soap. A feminist who considered herself equal to the men around her. Mary Frann played her.

RON: I remember when I pitched her being becoming the chief of staff, our executive producer Frank Valentini and the network did a double take like, “You can’t be serious.” They said, “That’s impossible. How can she become the chief of staff?” I was like, “That’s why we should do it.” Of course, soon as I get it in my head, I see that moment when she comes in like, “I’m the new chief of staff.” And then I have to sell it. I’m so glad that Frank and the network went along with me, because I think yes, it’s a big, bold risky move, although I think that it really did pay off.

BUFFALO COURIEREXPRESS, Saturday, February 14, 1981 A Sure Bet: Lance Will Plerce Hearts by Jon Michael Reed The Young & The Restless is face is more than just a melody and that the newest cast addition will ring the chimes of female viewers heartstrings. Actually, it's a fairly safe bet, since the ploy has been used since Day One of "Y & R." The "new" Lance Prentiss on the soap is Dennis Cole. Cole's face may be familiar to nighttime TV audiences. He co-starred on ''Barbary Coast" years ago and on the equally shortlived serial "Bracken's World." He also has guested on such series as "Love Boat" and "Charlie's Angels," which brings us to his most memorable role. PURVEYORS OF the sccandal rags followed every detail of Cole's marriage to Jaclyn Smith, one of the original "Angels." The marriage was an on-again, off-again unmerry-go-round that hit the divorce court skids Daytime TV viewers will be able to follow Cole's portrayal of Lance who's had a much more colorful marital-hassle whirl with the Brooks sisters of "Y & R Lorie and Leslie. The original Lance, John McCook, left the show last Summer to pursue his singing career. "Y& R" had hoped that McCook might return, but when that possibility faded, they auditioned hundreds of Hollywood actors, including Troy Donahue, who was reportedly a strong contender. But Cole won out and you can tune in tomorrow to catch his act. On the same show, Jaime Lyn Bauer (Lorie) has been making her annual "I'm leaving" noises. However, she's already had so many leaves of absence for ailments and birthing babies, and studio sources inform us Jaime will be around through spring. But when she fulfills her time-lapsed obligations, it's anyone's guess whether Jaime will exit or stay put. Cle didn't fire as Lance, and that was probably another reason Bill Bell gave up on that storyline and characters.

It's boring to tune into the first three scenes and know that they will pretty much be it throughout the show. Yes the Sally/Audra 'meeting' was lame. What company are they running now? Matt and Phyllis together leaves little scenery left to chew. Roger's comedic choices as an amnesiac leave me cold. The sofa has always been apart of the GCAC I think (although maybe a different one originally) I don't mind it, but the floral cushions they added are a no from me. And the display cabinet needs a restyle with more variety/color. Now it's just plain glass. The other thing with that set is there is no reception or elevator. Are guests supposed to lug their bags up the stairs?

Ted being at odds with Carlton would have provided more drama and been believable. Not on board with the 'men don't act like that' comments. Some do, some don't. It can be interesting for a character to go against a traditional stereotype-as happens IRL. What happened to Peaches? And June's sister, the kids Auntie? And when was the last time we saw Laura?

Amanda did a TV movie Betrayal with Sam Groom based on a Doris Miles Disney book. She was good in that.

Hope Lange in 1984. Too young for Miss Ellie?

Yes, maybe in time Donna could have been embraced by the audience. But there was little commonality b/w the two actresses and the characters. It was just too big a mountain to climb. especially when there was that possibility of Barbara returning. So Susan had plans for a Ray/Donna spin off. Maybe they become born again and fight to maintain Christian values on a weekly basis. Donna Of 'Dallas' Dons A New Hairdo By Ian Banner HOLLYWOOD - Faithful, trusty Donna Krebbs of "Dallas" has been presented on screen as a classic no-frills beauty since she debuted on the hit CBS series in 1979. And that's why producer Leonard Katzman had a conniption when Susan Howard reported for work with a glamorous new hairdo. But like her character. Miss Howard can dig her heels in deep when she knows she's right. So it looks like the new look on Ray Krebb's wife is permanent. "I'd had the old hairdo for so many years that even I was scared to mess with it," says Miss Howard, "but I told the producer what I told myself, people change, and this was a change I needed for Susan's sake, not for Donna's. "The funny thing is I have had people complimenting me on my glamorous, elegant new wardrobe, but I am still wearing the same clothes I always have. The costumes are outside my control, but my hair's my own." So look for more changes from both Susan and Donna: Miss Howard's one regret about her role on "Dallas" is that it doesn't make as heavy a demand on her talents as her previous series, "Petrocelli." She says she wouldn't be sorry if her involvement with the Friday night series is over when her contract ends after the 1984- 1985 season. But that doesn't mean she wants to see the last of Donna. Miss Howard has written the opening episode and an entire season's summary of proposed plot developments for a spinoff series that would take Ray and Donna away from outhfork and out on their own. "I'd like to be involved with a show that doesn't have such a large cast," says Miss Howard. "But I love the character I'm playing and the production company is terrific, so a spinoff for me and Steve Kanaly would be the ideal solution. It's too soon to be "They know both Steve and I would like to go on to something new, but next year is still a long way off," she says. "Steve and I have a close working relationship and we have discussed the whole thing every step of the way." In the meantime, she is happy to concentrate on Donna and avoid the temptation to grab guest shots on other TV shows just for the sake of doing something different "I didn't take just anything when I was starving," says Miss Howard, "so I'm certainly not going to do it now. There are only two current shows I like — 'Boone' and 'The Mississippi' — and I'd do them for nothing. But so far, nobody's asked."

TV/Radio & Cable Week, Sunday, June 24, 1984 New frontier for Miss Kitty Some may say “enough already,” but not Amanda Blake “I want it all.” Miss Blake of "Gunsmoke” fame said during a recent interview from her home in Austin, Texas. The actress ventured into a new frontier this past week when she left behind petticoats and cowboys and made her debut in the world of daytime television as psychiatrist Dr. Juliana Stanhower in the ABC soap opera, “Edge of Night.” At the time of the interview the actress had yet to see the script but sounded excited to be part of the cast, even for a short time. “It’s going to be great fun ” Familiarity with an on-going program can often be helpful to an actor/actress first coming onto a set. According to Miss Blake she does catch the soap when she can. “I’ve seen the show. It's been on forever. Now that I’m in Austin I'm going to be able to watch it more. In Phoenix (Arizona) where I used to live it was on at 9 a m and I was long gone.” The former Buffalo native said the role was practically handed to her “I was at a party in Brownsville, Texas, and the executive producer (Erwin Nicholson), who was also there and is good friend of mine, asked me if I had ever thought about doing a soap,” Miss Blake recalled. “I said, ‘No.’ And he asked me if I’d like to do one to which I said ‘Sure, why not’’ It happened that simply.” Fitting the actress into the story line took some time. “I’m only going to do four episodes. They had to wait for me to get to New York and to make my guest-role sound logical in the story line.” The writers got to work and created a problem for Dr Beth Correll (Sanoy Faison). In the script “psychiatrist” Blake will counsel Dr Correll on her inability to deal with her romantic feelings for Dr Miles Cavanaugh (Joel Crothers). Miss Blake’s appearances are spread out through Friday, June 29. Miss Blake, other than an appearances on ABC’s hit shows “Hart to Hart” and “The Love Boat," has really kept a low profile in the acting world, although she says she never left acting. Following her 20-year stint on “Gunsmoke” as Miss Kitty Russell, the actress became very involved with numerous groups and organizations. “My wildlife groups for protection and preservation are very, very important to me. I spend a great deal of time in Africa. I’m very concerned about the environment and conservation.” explained Miss Blake “When I’m concerned about something I really try to do something about it.” The actress is also on the Board of the Humane Society of the United States, and she has been an active volunteer for the American Cancer Society. Since successfully having a malignant tumor removed from her mouth Miss Blake has traveled thousands of miles for this organization and has held the position of National Chairman of Crusade for two years. This past April she was presented the American Cancer Society’s Courage Award from President Reagan In April, Miss Blake also became a new bride when she married Mark Spaeth, a real estate developer and an Austin City councilman. Of her step back in front of the cameras Miss Blake says her husband encourages it. “Mark's very excited and super supportive He wants me to go for it all.

Well the show is called Soapy so the focus should be primarily on the actor's soap careers, I guess. RE Donna, GH should have been addressed with the acknowledgement that it wasn't a favorite of hers. That can be framed in a positive light. Did SS or LIAMST rate a mention? With limited time and research, it's hard to come up with a format that is going to please anyone.

I believe so. He was sort of a cleric to the Hollywood set in those days.

I really had no idea Tessa was involved. She's not on much and when she is, she's not at Society. I find the design of that restaurant too busy- a lot of different surfaces,patterns, details, colors-seems too much for the space.

@DramatistDreamer Hats off to you-a great scenario. Run down one of the BTG writers on a motorcycle and take their job!

Lana Finds 'Capitol' Is A Nice Place To Be Lana Wood has been involved in some form of show business nearly all her life. But it was during a hiatus from acting that she received the offer to portray Fran Burke on "Capitol.” “ I was between jobs, giving m yself a little vacation when I got the call that ‘Capitol’ was interested in me,” says Miss Wood, who has done more than her share of tough, sexy woman roles. “At first I didn’t know how I felt about doing a soap, but I went in for the reading and realized that Fran was the kind of character that I ’d wanted to play for quite some time. “The role has helped me as an actress,” she says. “Fran’s a full character as opposed to a one- or two-dimensional character. I ’m enjoying that aspect of the role enormously. F ran’s the type of role that the fans of ‘Capitol’ can identify with since she’s a single working mother who’s coping with her life and raising her daughter at the same time. I’m excited with every new script, but I do wish that Fran had a love interest. “ I ’d like to stay on *Capitol’ for the next 10 years, but someday I'll go back to producing,” says Miss Wood, who was an associate producer o f Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer CBS movie “Murfer Me, M urder You .” “ I ’ve never concerned myself with stardom. What I want is to be respected as an actress.” Miss Wood, who has appeared in several feature film s including the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever,” adds, “The role of Fran has been something new for me. It’s a challenge and I ’ve grown because of it. Well that didn't work out. I wonder if that soured Lana on soaps. I could see her her on the West Coast shows.

TV/Rodio & Cable Week, Sunday, September 2, 1984 Donna takes on tough assignment by Steve Reich Is Bobby Ewing alive after taking bullets obviously meant for brother J.R.? If, in fact, he did survive how badly is he injured? Who was the coward who pulled the trigger? What was Bobby doing in J.R.’s office in the first place? These questions are haunting ‘Dallas” as it enters its seventh season Friday, Sept. 28 on CBS at 9 p.m. Besides Bobby’s fate, the public waits to see how Donna Reed fares as the new Miss Ellie. Miss Reed is taking over as TV’s most beloved matriarch, a role Barbara Bel Geddes made into an American institution. Miss Bel Geddes quit the blockbuster series for health reasons last spring. At the moment, it's uncertain if viewers will accept Miss Reed in this very distinctive part. “We had no other choice but to preserve the character. It was the only viable option. Miss Ellie’s such an integral part of the chemistry at Southfork that it was inconceivable getting rid of her,” producer Philip Capice insisted as Miss Reed sat by his side during an interview with TV Week in Phoenix. “Somebody dropped Donna's name in the hopper and it seemed to be such a natural choice.” Capice points out that replacements of longstanding actors in key roles have occurred before. "Daytime soaps do it continually. Dick Sargent replaced Dick York on ‘Bewitched ’ I agree that this is more of a gamble since Miss Ellie is so unique a character. We hope that the audience will suspend its disbelief.” The producer says that Miss Reed, a series superstar of the '50s and '60s, conveys an aura similar to Miss Bel Geddes. “We needed somebody who was the same age and had the same qualities. Donna has that same simple elegance and quiet authority,” Miss Reed said she has secretly longed to play this classic heroine and super-mom for years. “There are very few characters as strong, steadfast or emotionally resourceful as Ellie. She is the glue that holds the embattled Ewing family together. She's a woman of the land, a farm girl who has kept the ranch going for generations. For years, I felt very close to her. I grew up on a farm, too.” Miss Reed is a native of Denison, Iowa. The 63-year-old actress, who has four children of her own. hesitated about offering her own opinion on the devilish machinations of J.R Ewing. “He has his darling moments. Could America do without J.R. saying 'my mama’ or ‘I love my mama?' Just for that reason alone there was no way Miss Ellie could be written out. I plan to be a good mother. Miss Ellie is not judgmental about her sons and most importantly she never withholds her love.” Naturally, Miss Reed is a little worried about being compared unfavorably to Miss Bel Geddes. "She gave a remarkable performance because she was so consistent. I’m running a lot of the old shows just to get a better feel of those complicated relationships.” Miss Reed stresses that she won't mimic the distinctive Bel Geddes mannerisms. “I’m not going into the role with any preconceived notions. I hope that my characterization will flow naturally out of the relationships.” Rather than presenting Miss Reed right off the bat, she will surface in episode seven. Despite the shooting of son Bobby, Miss Ellie and Clayton Farlow, played by Howard Keel, will continue honeymooning in Greece. After “The Donna Reed Show” vanished in 1966, so did the actress. Except for the 1979 miniseries “The Right Place to Be” and the 1983 telefilm “Deadly Lessons,” Miss Reed remained on hiatus. “TV retired me in the '60s. There was a rebellion against the kind of wholesome, gentle family show I did. Occasionally, I got offers but always to play passive women. It was as if I was being punished for the part I played.” Miss Reed, an Oscar winner for “From Here to Eternity,” also recalls receiving a warning from studio executives distrustful of TV stars. “They told me that I was strictly TV and that I would never get another movie role. They were true to their word.”

@dc11786 Thanks for sharing, fascinating look BTS. So many factors as to why SuBe didn't work. But the names Chuck Pratt, Josh Griffith and Bob Guza loom large as 3 reasons.

THE JOURNAL-NEWS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1987 Van Patten, most of original cast return for ‘Eight Is Enough’ reunion By Jerry Buck LOS ANGELES — In the six years that they’ve been absent from television screens, the "Eight Is Enough" family has grown to 18, and they’re getting back together for the TV movie “Eight Is Enough: Reunion ’ The family gathers to celebrate the 50th birthday of dad Tom Bradford, played by Dick Van Patten, and help him through a business crisis. All of the original cast except for Betty Buckley returned for the two-hour movie, which NBC will air Sunday. Buckley was in France making the movie Frantic’’ with director Roman Polanski. Mary Frann, who stars in CBS’ “Newhart,” plays Tom’s wife, Abby. There are eight children, six spouses and two grandchildren. Van Patten said the idea for the reunion came about when he ran into director Harry Harris in New York. Harris had directed about a third of the episodes when the series ran on ABC from 1977 to 1981. “We were talking on the sidewalk and people kept coming up to me and saying how much they missed ‘Eight Is Enough,’” Van Patten said. “Harry couldn't believe the show was still so popular. He asked me if I would do a reunion show. I said of course I would. It took him about two years to put it together. ABC turned it down, but NBC said yes. It took a while to get all the actors together.” The exteriors for the movie were filmed a the original “Eight Is Enough" house in North Hollywood. The series was based on the book “Eight Is Enough" by columnist Thomas Braden, who wrote it about his family. Diana Hyland was cast as the wife, Joan, but she died of cancer in the middle of filming the fourth episode. “It was such a terrible tragedy,” Van Patten said. “I’d worked with her for four years on two different soap operas. She was so happy to get the show. Pat (his wife) and I were with her when she died in John Travolta’s arms. Pat and I had been to Mass at St. Paul’s and stopped by her house John answered the door. She was in a coma. We called the church and got the Rev. Bob Curtis to give her last rites. She died about two hours later.” Van Patten thought that would be the end of the show, but the producers brought in Betty Buckley and after a brief TV courtship they were married. He recalled that he originally tested for the role with Mariette Hartley as the wife. Hyland began filming the first episode with a different actor, but after three days then-ABC Entertainment President Fred Silverman put Van Patten into the role instead. Van Patten was under contract to ABC, since he had played the doctor in a pilot for “The Love Boat.” Van Patten said he’s looking for a new series and considered doing one for Fox Broadcasting Co., a sort of “Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” about his own family. The Van Pattens have three sons — Nels, Jimmy and Vincent, who are all actors and tennis players. Later this month, Van Patten and his wife, a former June Taylor dancer who makes a cameo apperance in “Eight Is Enough: Reunion," will be guests at the White House. Van Patten was last seen in feature films in “Spaceballs.” He will be guest starring this season in an episode of “Rags to Riches” and on Jay Leno’s Thanksgiving special, and he recently finished playing “Gary the Glue Man," who walks on ceilings and walls in the feature children’s film, “Pippi Longstocking".