Paul Raven

Re David Knapp Add Peyton Place 79.

John McCook did return in 1980 for a few weeks I believe but at that point Victor had nothing to so with Prentiss so no interaction.

And like Newnam, Prentiss pretty much ran itself and we had no idea what they actually created.

Denise Alexander was an earlier example. GH grabbed her from Days and she was shoehorned in. There was a minor doctor character coming on and Denise took on that character that had no backstory or forward plan.

Betty Lynn took over from Pat Kirkland Mon March 10 1953 as Ms Kirkland was pregnant.

He had a pilot' Blade in Hong Kong' but CBS obviously didn't have much faith in it as it was slotted against a Dynasty finale. I wonder if this was offered to him as apart of an earlier renewal deal. Seems several performers got a primetime role as part of their contract but (surprise) it seemed to be in the network's favor in that a performer was offered a number of primetime roles and said performer could choose one. or forego the deal.

I wonder what would have happened in ep 3? Obviously Snapper and Chris have their first scene together at Pierre's. Would Sally have witnessed this? Prior to this perhaps Greg had his first scene with Snapper? Chris having a scene with her parents before meeting Snapper? In the weeks that followed how did Brad and Leslie meet? Maybe Stuart invited him to the Brooks home for dinner? Considering Lorie didn't arrive till December how did Brad/Leslie play out in all those months? Also, Jill,Greg and Peggy must have been supporting all that time. We know Jill had a relationship with Brent but its never mentioned in synopses. So what were the 1973 stories?

True Story was a weekly NBC 30 min TV series. My True Story was a daily ABC radio series. Perhaps the existence of both shows with similar titles caused some confusion .

Radio Varieties Magazine Sept 1941 "JOYCE JORDAN" SERIAL ENTERS FOURTH YEAR "Joyce Jordan - Girl Interne" was born on a Fifth Avenue bus! No, not the character, but the idea for the radio serial now about to complete its fourth year on the air. By c h a n c e, one day, "Hi" Brown, the show's producer, and Julian Funt, author, sat down behind a young couple on a New York motorcoach who were arguing the age-old theory that marriage and a career do not mix. They were going at it tooth and nail when the inspiration for "Joyce Jordan - Girl Interne" dawned on the politely eavesdropping gentlemen sitting behind them. Here was a theme for a good daytime serial which had landed in their laps from the blue! The reason behind the tenacious appeal of the story, - few programs have its staying popularity - probably lies in its being a believable, real -life story of hospital life. "Joyce Jordan ", unlike most medical heroines, did not perform any delicate brain surgery her second day out of medical school, - in fact, she has never performed an operation at all on the show. Feeling that scalpel sequences are over -used in daily dramas of this type, "Hi" Brown and Julian Fun' have steered quite clear of experimental medicine and have dealt almost completely with the psychological phases of the field. Instead of dramatizing operating room scenes and leaving their radio audience with hanging" teasers to bring them back the next day, "Hi" and Julian let "Joyce" unravel emotional problems by common -sense, scientific methods. "Joyce" holds her daily audience through a "stream of consciousness appeal, not through perilous threats. When "Hi" was shopping around for a counter theme in the hospital story, he discovered that medicine and newspaper work ran neck and neck in the affections of feminine listeners. Hence, he picked a foreign correspondent to play the romantic lead opposite his girl physician. Right now, in the script, she has combined both marriage and her career and is wed to the newspaperman. "Hi" Brown has cast many big names on his afternoon fifteen - minute program. Rex Ingram, "De Lawd" in "Green Pastures" appears in the script off and on, as does Aileen Pringle, former screen siren. Myron McCormick, who plays "Joyce's" husband, does both stage and film work besides radio. His last movie was the documentary childbirth saga, "The Fight for Life ". Agnes Moorehead, who is radio's number one actress, also lends a hand to the story, along with Theodore Newton, reporter in "The Man Who Came to Dinner", Broadway comedy hit. "Hi's" first "Joyce Jordan" was Rita Johnson, lovely, blonde film star; Helen Claire, of "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" fame, came next; then Elspeth Erik, who left the cast to do Claire Booth's "Margin for Error "; finally Ann Shepherd, present "Joyce Jordan ", a prominent Chicago actress who played in starring roles at the age of sixteen. Ann got her early training behind the footlights under the name of Shaindel Kalish; then went to Hollywood to do film work under the name of Judith Blake. She changed her moniker to Ann Shepherd when she started radio work - and has held onto it ever since. A talented, emotional actress, Ann pinch -hit for Sylvia Sidney in "The Gentle People" on the stage before she got her permanent girl interne job. "Hi" and Julian work hard on the "Joyce Jordan - Girl Interne'' script every day to keep the story moving, and avoid those "dull" sequences which are responsible for the demise of many daytime dramas.

Some secret Storm publicity shots Julie Mannix (Wendy Porter) Judy Lewis (Susan Ames)

Bryna Laub was the woman behind the Daytime Serial newsletter. Before Soap Opera Digest there was nowhere that soap watchers could keep up with their shows (pre VCR) so Ms Laub began her newsletter of summaries that you could subsribe to. Once SOD came along she was put out of business. Does anyone know how long the newsletter continued?

Re KT Stevens Add Big Sister 1938

I was surprised to see Peggy in ep 2. For some reason I thought she was introduced a little later - a few weeks in. So basically for the first year or so Peggy, Jill and Greg were supporting characters. Bill Bell was smart to hold them back before giving them stories . Jill's first scene with Snapper has her complaining of cramps- what an intro! She says she hates being a woman (referring to period pain). Seems a little out there for 1973. Liked the contrast b/w the middle class Brooks and poor Fosters. Snapper,Jill and Liz all worn out from work and study. Jill was in a sloppy dressing gown. Meanwhile Jennifer Brooks is perfectly groomed and preparing a hearty meal for her darling daughters. Surprised they ate in the kitchen. Surely a house that size would have a separate eating area for dinner.(Maybe they only used it for special occasions) When did the Brooks house gain that wild ziggy-zag wallpaper in the stairway area? Not there at first.

The final scene with Deidre Hall was dropped but that was only a few seconds as I recall.

Len Wayland and Susan Brown Mary Alice Moore and David Sanders

Leave It To Beaver - Wally and the Beaver

My sentiments exactly! Re TGL . Seems like the Dobsons brought on Andy Norris and Chad Richards and set them up for story but then dropped the characters.

Episode 2 Cast Snapper Chris Jill Jennifer Leslie Liz Peggy Stuart Sets Brooks living room Brooks kitchen Foster living room. Mentions of Lorie and Bill Foster...

Re Hotel Cosmopolitan Add William Windom beginning Jan 58

Re Brian Matthews SOD Oct 11 1983 mentions a guest role on Kings Crossing

Re Love of Life Variety reports in May 57 that Herb Evers has signed a years contract to portray Jack Andrews. So perhaps he played Jack for a short time and was replaced by Donald Symington? Also actress Diana Barth was appearing at this time.

This Days role is mentioned in SOD when he was on Y&R.

March 1976 `Hartman' ratings are holding up In big markets, it's getting as high as 11, usually against the local late news programs. Norman Lear's soap -opera send -up Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman appears to be hanging on to the strong sampling it chalked up in early January. The comedy series, which is being stripped in syndication by Rhodes Productions, racked up a 10 Nielsen rating and 19 share on WNEW -TV New York for the week ended March 12, putting it third in its time period (Monday- through- Friday, 11 -11:30 p.m.) behind WNBC -TV's local newscast (14 rating and 27 share) and WABC -TV's newscast (12 rating, 25 share). Similarly, on K7-rv(TV) Los Angeles, Hartman harvested an 8 Nielsen rating and 19 share for the week ended March 12, finishing third in the 11 p.m. time period behind KNBC(TV) news (11 rating, 28 share) and KABC -TV news (11 rating, 27 share). In Chicago, Hartman, stripped at 10 p.m., came up with an 11 rating and 17 share on Kaiser's UHF WFLD-TV for the week ended March 12, lodging it in fourth place behind the local news offerings of the three network -owned stations. In some markets, stations are stripping Hartman at 1 p.m. On WBAL -TV Baltimore, for instance, Hartman finished first in that time period with a 10 Nielsen rating and 45 share average for the four weeks ended March 3. On WJAR -TV Providence, R.I., Hartman is tied for first at 1 p.m. with the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless on WPRI -TV, each of them with a 6 rating for the four weeks ended March 3 (although Hartman has a 29 share average compared to Restless's 26 share). In Norfolk, Va., at 1 p.m., Hartman 's 5 rating and 22 share on WAVY -TV (for the four weeks ended March 3) put it in third place behind Ryan's Hope, the ABC soap opera on wvac -Tv (7 rating, 34 share), and the syndicated People, Places and Things on WTAR -TV (7 rating, 30 share). One indication that Hartman may not be doing well when it has to face off against prime -time network competition: on WDcA -TV Washington, where the series managed only a 4 rating and 5 share for the four weeks ended March 3, leaving it well behind all of the shows on the network- connected stations in Washington and behind wrrv(Tv)'s The FBI reruns (which averaged a 6 rating and 10 share).

Re Nathan Purdee Add Rituals pilot and Days of Our Lives

Who's to blame for `Beacon Hill'? Bob Wood doesn't know what went wrong with the season's most ballyhooed new show; the creator blames the producer and vice -versa Robert D. Wood, the president of CBS - TV, is the man who had to make the decision to cancel Beacon Hill, and "I'm sick about it," he says. "With the departure of Beacon Hill, a little bit of me went with it." "I couldn't fault the intention of the series or the production, which was superbly mounted," Mr. Wood goes on. "There was some nit- picking about the writing on the part of some critics, but as far as I'm concerned it was the Tiffany of TV series. And in all my years in the business, I don't remember a series getting as much promotion or as much advance notice in the consumer press. "But the public simply rejected it. Watching the audience decline each week was like watching the rungs of a stepladder going down" Mr. Wood says he doesn't want to play Monday- morning quarterback on the reasons why Beacon Hill didn't attract a mass audience. "Maybe we were too ambitious," he says. But the creator of Beacon Hill, Sidney Carroll, says it could have survived if the producers had only followed his original plan. As Mr. Carroll explains it, he scripted the two -hour pilot and then wrote out plot outlines for the first 13 episodes of Beacon Hill. He got involved in the production of the pilot and says he was quite satisfied with how it turned out. He cites the episode's 23.1 rating and 42 share (on Monday, Aug. 25, 9 -11 p.m., NYT) as one of the indicators that "the general public liked the people in the pilot." But between the completion of the pilot and the start of production on the first episode, according to Mr. Carroll, the producer, Jacqueline Babbin, changed the plot outlines he had written. "When I saw how the first two finished scripts differed from the way I outlined them," he says, "I walked off the series." In Mr. Carroll's eyes, the likeable characters he had created in the pilot were turned into "a lot of stinkers. They became nasty and sad and stupid." Ms. Babbin sees things a little differently. "Sidney's plots were charming little stories that could've filled 20 minutes out of each hour," she says. "But CBS wanted stronger material, stories with more bite, more guts to them." Both Ms. Babbin and Alan Wagner, the CBS vice president closest to the series, disagree with Mr. Carroll about the quality of the two -hour pilot. "With 19 characters to be introduced, it was like a French -farce situation," she says. "The characters ended up being unsympathetic because the viewer wasn't given enough time to understand any of them. And CBS over - promoted and ballyhooed the pilot to the point of stupidity." "It was really an error on our part to open up with an episode populated with with so many characters," adds Mr. Wagner. "Everything became complicated, the public got confused and you couldn't follow the characters without a scorecard" Mr. Wagner points to a second "major error." "The series didn't find its direction early enough," he says. "The first batch of episodes were placed in too small a frame and were on too small a scale to interest an audience in 1975." Ms. Babbin adds that the public didn't know what to make of Beacon Hill's characters because "they were too real - they weren't like the cardboard cut -outs you usually see in TV series, who seem to spend all their time in fast cars."