Paul Raven

Soap Opera Weekly published character profiles before the show aired. Several characters names were changed by the time the show aired. Sheila Richards became Olivia. Tomas Escobar became Ricardo Torres Susan Cummings became Meg Randy Mitchum became Casey Rae Yamato became Rae Chang Kayla Richards became Caitlyn There was also another character named Billy Pelder aged 19 described as 'voted most likely to' in high school.

He used the pen name JJ Matthews to reference his children Jennifer, Julie and Matthew.

The staircase with the round window, position of the front door and the french doors with curtains seem identical to the Horton house. Wonder how that came about? incidentally, I have read that the Horton house was originally used for a Screen Gems pilot. I wonder what it was?

re Howard McGillan Add Number 96 - Mark Keaton

Lammers directed ATWT for 40 years died July 16 1996. He was 74. Survived by his partner Dr Leo Altschul, and a brother.

More pre premiere coverage Except for a nasty cold, Aaron Spelling couldn't be in much better spirits. He's spent most of the day in his office crammed full of wardrobe racks and cast members from Sunset Beach, the first daytime drama that Spelling Entertainment has ever done and the first daytime drama to be introduced on network TV in eight years (1989's Generations was the last-and it didn't). "We brought in 12 racks of clothes," says Spelling. "I think fashion is as important to a serial as anything else." Fashion sets the tone. It defines the palette. The length of a skirt, the style of jeans, can tell the viewer volumes about a character before the first word of dialogue is spoken. Spelling already loves the Sunset Beach cast-their names have been added to his annual Christmas party list-and on this day he is doling out advice to them on everything from buying a new car to renting apartments to how to handle fame, should it be lucky enough to come. He has issued his no -hair -changes dictum-Sunset cast members had better be happy with the style and color they start the show with, because Spelling isn't about to let them confuse a new audience with a makeover any time soon. It is a long-standing rule for a Spelling show, and his staff knows that he's deadly serious about it even if some of the awestruck actors don't-yet. On Jan. 6, Sunset Beach will hit the air. "The series is a critical component of NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer's plan to make the network's daytime schedule as potent as its prime time. NBC is in third place in daytime, though the net is up 20 percent this season and is closing in on second -place ABC. Ohlmeyer has his sights set on first, which CBS now owns. "With Sunset, we have something new and hot and exciting," Ohlmeyer says. "[In] the '80s, NBC daytime basically disintegrated. We are in the process of rebuilding, but we have to deliver the goods. That's how we've built prime time, with distinctive programming. "There hasn't been a successful soap launched in 10 years. It's very difficult to do, but with Aaron's touch and looking at the cast we have, we think it's worth the effort. Some of our affiliates are very receptive [to the show]...some, we're in the process of kidnapping their children." On Stage 11 at NBC Studios in Burbank, carpenters and set designers are working late into the night to complete the sets that will form the primary backdrop for the show. The small community of Seal Beach, roughly a 90 -minute drive south of Los Angeles, has been scouted nearly grain by grain of sand. It will be the exterior home for Sunset, and unlike most daytime soaps, the location will be a frequent player. Last week, readings and the first of three weeks of shooting exteriors began. The Santa Anas--California's devil winds-stirred up the sand, making it sting on the skin. The water, which is never warm at Seal Beach, was even colder than usual. But no one was complaining. The 22 actors who will give shape and form to Sunset Beach are a beautiful bunch indeed, a canvas of racial diversity plucked from the talent pool in New York, Los Angeles and other cities including Philadelphia, the hometown of Spelling Entertainment president Jonathan Levin, who went back for that casting session. They are also young faces, part of the strategy to make Sunset a daytime soap for younger viewers, to do for daytime drama what Ricki Lake did for talk, at least in terms of attracting a new audience. Spelling is considered a master at casting, instinctively knowing which faces will work together as a couple, which actors will have that all-important element of chemistry. Now the virtually unknown Sunsetters are all in front of him, many meeting for the first time, and the air is electric. "One of my favorite sports is finding new people and combining them with other people, and I had used so many people from daytime on our soaps," says Spelling, whose legacy includes such prime -time legends as Love Boat and Dynasty. The company is currently on prime time with an unprecedented four dramas: Melrose Place; Beverly Hills, 90210; Savannah; and Seventh Heaven. Sunset has been 18 months in the making, and Spelling is like a proud papa, surrounded by actors whose future he has just secured. The series, which is co -owned by Spelling and NBC, has a one-year commitment from the network. That's 51 weeks of shows, 255 hour-long episodes guaranteed. "I wouldn't tell Candy, my wife, for a week after the show was sold, but my daughter Tori is a daytime addict, and she kept saying, 'Do it,"' says Spelling. With four shows already on the air, he has little time. Launching a daytime soap would siphon off even more of it. "I don't think it hit me for a while. On Melrose, we wrap on the 22nd of November and don't come back until January 5th. The actors and writers get a chance to rest. This is never-ending. But it's been a strange, great experience." Worldvision, which sells Spelling's shows internationally, already has 10 countries signed on for Sunset without one scene shot, based on a four -minute video that outlined the premise of the show and included Spelling talking about it. The foreign sales are important, as is NBC's share in the financing. Mounting a daytime drama from scratch is a massive undertaking. "It requires the logistics of mounting a military campaign," says Levin. "There's huge construction, there's an enormous amount of lighting, tremendous wardrobe problems. It's not like prime time, Daytime is an endless stream of programming that, once begun, can't be stopped." Ohlmeyer puts the production investment alone at about $50 million. "Then there's the cost of launch, advertising and promotion- it's a major commitment, says Tomlin."With daytime, you're not really going to know anything concretely for 18 months. I feel we're very much on track in terms of laying out target dates, scripts in by here, cast in place by here, task force working on clearances... to this point we're right on schedule. NBC was initially looking at four ideas, Spelling's idea "Melrose Place at the beach. When they began to look seriously for a title Spelling ran a title contest in-house. The winner would get $200. There were dozens of suggestions, but the most serious contender, Never Say Goodbye, came from an unlikely source: Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, who suggested it during a dinner with Spelling. "I loved the name- it says romance, which this show all about," says Spelling, whose company is part of Viacom. But in testing, viewers were drawn to the "beach" motif more than anything else, Spelling says. Executive producer Gary Tomlin (Santa Barbara)and Robert Guza Jr. are the people on the front line of the creative side of Sunset Beach. The initial groundwork on the series was done by Chuck Pratt, who was an executive producer on Melrose Place, and Guza, whose work everyone knew from Spelling's Models Inc. Together they wrote a nearly 400 -page bible outlining Sunset's premise, characters and storyline. Spelling remembers the bible for Melrose Place being closer to 40 pages. Unlike most daytime dramas, which tend to build their storylines around families and family rivalries, Sunset is about young singles and couples who have drawn to the town, and the relationships that emerge as the action unfolds. The producers also created an underlying mythology about the town as a place where one can find true love. "We loved the idea of creating a town and making the town a character," says Guza, who is co creator and head writer. "[With] Sunset Beach, you get to create this world and these characters, and then you get to screw up their lives." Sunset Beach is being written at a faster pace than traditional daytime dramas. It's a delicate balancing act to move action through each episode without losing the audience. "We would love it if people watched five days a week, but they don't," says Tomlin. Three days is more typical. "We have to make certain they're able to pick up where the story left off and that it hasn't moved so rapidly that they can't figure it out." The show is also being designed to allow room for cameos by big -name prime-time stars. Spelling wants to give viewers as compelling a reason as possible to watch Sunset. "On top of needing to have a terrific show, you are fighting against viewer habits that are long, long ingrained," says Levin. "It is very difficult to change the loyalty of the daytime viewer, and we're talking about shows that have been on for 30 years. That's one of the reasons we're targeting young viewers-they're the most available and the most flexible in their viewing habits." Then there is the station lineup. Affiliates exert their independence far more in daytime than prime time. NBC says that Sunset is cleared on 85 percent of its affiliates; the net expects to reach 90 percent by the premiere. With the cast now in place and the first rolls of tapes being produced the network knows that stations that are wavering at least will at least have something concrete to see. "Will we get sufficient coverage-that's a constant battle," says Levin. "Will the local affiliates elect to air the show in desirable timeslots that will afford us the best opportunity to be sampled? These are things we are lobbying for but ultiamately we don't control." Spelling and NBC executives hope that Sunset Beach will be scheduled to follow Days of Our Lives, which has made a dramatic turnaround. "Over the last 18 months with that show, it's been unbelievable, going from being in the middle to the top," Ohlmeyer says. "If we can get that kind of performance from Another World-and we think we're finally on the right track there-we could have a solid three-hour block."

From what I've read of the Coles they were strictly short term to highlight this issue . The couple were played by Maureen Mooney who went on too a contract role on GL and soap hopper Bruce Gray.

GL always had the Bauers as the main family and other families seemed to come and go over the years. ATWT had the Lowell/Stewarts so Betsy, Dani ,Emily kept that family and continuity going. GL wrote off Meta in the 70's and she never had any children to carry on her lineage. And Bill was killed off, resurrected and killed off gain. Then Mike, Hope and Hilary were also written out in the 80's. Ed was recast, so when Charita passed there was only nu Ed and Rick to carry on the family. Had Charita lived and Mart Huswit stayed, there would have been more continuity. GL had the Norris family in the 70's. Barbara Berger continued acting into the 90's and could have stayed at GL. Her grandaughter Emily could have come on, Andy return with a child Ken return etc so the possibilities were there but writers were more interested in new characters. It took ATWT a lot longer to drop long running characters eg John, Ellen etc and it got to the point where Bob, Nancy etc were so entrenched. I guess it was just a different set of circumstances eg ATWT could have dropped Kim in the 80's or Lisa later on but they had children on the show so more involvement.

Interesting read. Seems like he had a lot of unresolved issues and not a lot of self esteem or respect. Must be hard for people around those types to watch thenm self destruct Have any ATWT actors ever talked about him. Did he have any contact with the actors? Seems odd that P&G and CBS would hand over the show to him when they are usually reluctant to go with unknowns. Goutman must have been a fan.

Brad on Y&R being revealed as a doctor while saving his father in law's life was something similar to when Bill Bell was at ATWT and Neil Wade was revealed to be a doctor when he performed a tracheotomy on Grandpa Hughes - his soon to be grandfather in law.

Can I ask what set that Mickey scene took place on?

Re Carolyn Conwell Just discovered another Y&R role for her.. A year after her first role as the hooker with Jill she returned for a 3 month stint as an abusive mother that was involved with the legal aid office where Greg Foster (James Houghton)worked. Incidentally her first Y&R role was a 3 day stint.

As this drags on , showing random episodes is probably not the way to retain/attract viewers. surely they could edit together themed scenes over a week with some talkovers by actors eg Nick Sharon - their story from the beginning Victor/Nikki, Paul/Christine etc Maybe get Janice Lynde and Jaime Lyn Bauer to present Lorie/Leslie story I think viewers would be more invested. Heavily promote as a daytime event,which it would be as some of this stuff has never been scene since first showing.

This shot from early in Irene's run gives an indication of Liz's character at that time - she looks quite intimidating

Sat Match 9th NBC Malibu Shores 2 hr premiere @8 5.8/10 87th CBS Dr Quinn @8 9.3/17 43rd Touched by an Angel @ 9 12.1/21 14th ABC Disney Champions On Ice @8 7.4/13 68th Saturday Movie Quick Change 9-11 7.2/13 75th

Re Bob Hastings add Whispering Streets 1955

re Scarlet Hill Pearl's surname was Tolliver Other characters Lou Cassini crooked mayor Allan Taylor, running for mayor against Lou - has an incurable disease Margery was a middle aged widow working in a bookstore who falls foe a visiting actor. The first season of Scarlett Hiil was anthology like with each week devoted to a separate story that played out over 5 episodes. The show was renamed Room To Let for the second Canadian season and became a standard soap. Introduced were Kate the boarding house proprietor, Ginny her daughter and Harry. Kate's awkward brother. Walter Pembleton was also a boarder. One episode of Season One was 'The Luck of Amos Curry' Amos fights boredom and loneliness as he tries to settle into Buena Vista Retirement Home. Joe Austin plays his confidante Mac. The December 31 1965 US syndication episode summary. Daytime serial about the residents of a hotel in Scarlett Hill, New York. In this episode, Kate and Pearl discuss their fears that Ruth is only marrying Mr. Quill for his money. Sheila becomes extremely rude to Pearl when Pearl tries to show her pictures of the five-year-old she is about to adopt. Sheila reveals a bit of her tragic life to Stan. Ruth openly admits to Kate that she is only getting married for the money, knowing there is nothing Kate can do to stop her, and Ruth discovers the recording device Pearl planted in the hopes of catching the avaricious woman's plans on tape. I am thinking that perhaps only the second season was syndicated under the name Scarlett Hill?

Some more BP pics Dana Andrews and Tim Brown

On Y&R the Lorie/Phillip connection was dropped. I wonder if Lorie was at all involved when Phillip died or it was even referenced by her?

Some classic pics I hadn't seen before

Gigi in the bottom for the stand up show? The flight to hell skit was funny and her Color Purple runway was fine. After the edit being Team Gigi back when she won Snatch Game, it seemed to turn against her. I thought her commercial was fine but everybody slammed it. I like Jaida but she presents beautiful glamour runway week after week. She does it well but there's no camp or quirk to her looks. Her standup was awful.

For Lemay to criticize Dwyer and run her off the show when Hugh Marlowe was nothing special as Jim says something...maybe Lemay was impressed by Marlowe's CV

Re Granville Van Dusen Add General Hospital 1973 2 day role Truck driver husband who awaited birth of first child.

CBS tried to boost Emerald Point by running two episodes in the week beginning Feb 26 1984, one in it's usual Mon @10 timeslot and a special showing Fri@10 following Dallas and pre-empting Falcon Crest. The result - the Mon ep ranked 67th out of 71 shows with a 9.2/14 and the Fri show with the Dallas boost was 48th with a 13.8/24. However, Dallas ranked 3rd with a 25.7/41 so EP lost almost half its lead-in. The following week Dallas was 1st with a 26.8/42, Falcon Crest 10th - 21.7/36 and Emerald Point 64th - 11.1/19.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post these. Much appreciated. All of 75 ? Yes please!