Paul Raven

Actress Marianna Hill played 'a Spanish girl' on For Better or Worse.It was her first professional TV acting gig. http://hillplace.blogspot.com.au/2016/12/medium-cool-marianna-hill-interview.html

Fantastic effort Slick and Jam, much appreciated. Fascinating to see names pop up, either associated with soaps or now revealed as having worked in daytime. Imagine if we had access to other soap cast lists that had that kind of detail. All in all, I think we are doing a great job in recording all of this in one place.

Why hasn't Marie Horton returned to Salem?? Come on Ron,bring back the only original Horton family member to the show!

Just read that Larry Bryggman won the role of Mike Bauer on GL in 1963 but was drafted into the Army and had to forgo the role.

I think Larry's issues would have been more about the changes at the show in that John was no longer being written as a central dynamic character. I'm sure the money was an issue as he would have been commanding quite a hefty salary at one time and as we know ,everyone was being handed less lucrative deals throughout the 90's and beyond. If anything,Larry would have had more time for outside projects in the later years. Did he do much theater at that time?

For whatever reason, Bill Bell pulled the plug on Kay/Felipe. Felipe could have easily returned to GC and the'from two different worlds' story could have played out. I may be messing up timelines, but after Kay and Felipe parted ways wasn't this when JC was offscreen for a few months without explanation and then Kay returned and hooked up with Cash. Was Jeanne in rehab at that time, so Bell had to write out Felipe? Or am I way off base?

Joyce played Janet in 1956 and 57

I recall Afternoon TV had a story about it Search was the least changed in that the font and visuals were similar. AW just needed to modernize the concentric circle visual.The silhouettes and new title font weren't necessary.

OK Wasn't sure who that was. How long was she on and why was she dropped?

The Dobsons re-invented Tom as this hip anti-establishment type ,which was completely different to what he had been previously (see Tom Tammi as Tom in the 79 eps online) So they pretty much obliterated any references to his past and Carol was a casualty of that. They obviously had a mandate from P&G to modernize the show and viewer's perceptions and decided that dropping the Hughes family as they had been was the way forward. Chris and Nancy were sidelined and when contracts came up,Helen Wagner walked and Don accepted recurring. Don was written out when his contract was up and Bob was given the awful Miranda romance.Lisa was also marginalised. Jay was another old hat character the Dobsons dropped.I think the Dennis Cooney was dropped and Carol just referenced Jay for months until he was killed off.

March 1966 CBS had all of the Top 10 and had its best ratings 1.30 - 3.00 pm. The closest competitor was NBC's You Dont Say with an 11.0 rating. 1.30 ATWT 16.0 2.00 Password 16.6 2.30 House Party 16.6

July 1983 CBS won first place in daytime ratings for third consecutive week ending July 17, although not by as great margin as week ending July 10. CBS researchers say CBS captured 7.0 rating to ABC 6.7 and NBC 5.4, to give it six of top 10 shows of week. NBC said that was highest rating since January, 1981, and claimed two shows in top 10.

Thanks for posting. There's always been doubts about the 'lost tape' excuse, but it did get them some publicity. Maybe they should have done a live week to tie in with an anniversary instead.It would have been cool if they could get Lynn Loring to appear as Patti.That would have generated a lot of publicity. Joanna Lee had some good ideas but didn't last long enough to see them through.I wonder why?

Life Can Be Beautiful Life Can Be Beautiful had a plot that couldn't fail. Carol Conrad was young, afraid, and alone; a product of the big -town slums and not yet out of her teens. Seeking shelter, she found it with one of the grand old philosophers of daytime radio. For on that day-September 5, 1938-Carol found Papa David Solomon, owner of the Slightly Read Bookshop, and began her new life as his ward. With the new life came a new name. Carol became the fiery, impetuous "Chichi," girl of the streets. Seeking a hiding place from Gyp Mendoza, the neighborhood bully, she was taken in by kindly old Papa David, who let her sleep on a pallet in the back room of his store. The pallet became a bed; the back room became Chichi's room, and for the next fifteen years she and Papa David shared their lives, troubles, and adventures. That was the beginning of Life Can Be Beautiful, "an inspiring message of faith drawn from life, written by Carl Bixby and Don Becker and brought to you by Spic And Span." As she grew up, Chichi became a daughter to the old man. Her life, and the men in it, became the great concern of Papa David:s last years. That was why Papa David must have been particularly gratified when Chichi decided to marry Stephen Hamilton. Stephen was like a son to Papa David. A hopeless cripple, he too had been taken in by the kindly old book dealer. Papa David had given Stephen a job in the Slightly Read Bookstore when no one else would hire him. Chichi was impressed by Stephen's intellect, amazed that she could be loved by a man so much greater than she. A long -running romance was triggered; Stephen was partly cured of his paralysis through an amazing operation, then lost his legs in a later accident. Some listeners began clamoring for marriage. Bixby and Becker yielded to the outcry. Chichi and Stephen were married. Almost immediately, the writers realized their mistake. Stephen was like a millstone around her neck. So after involving him with another woman and getting him entangled in a jewel heist, they killed him off with a heart attack. Stephen, one of the great sympathy characters of daytime radio, turned blackheart at the end. Even Chichi's baby died, the result of pneumonia caught when Stephen foolishly took him out unprotected in the rain. Chichi, free again, became one of the most eligible singles of the matinee airwaves. The one consistent man in her life, her "chum from the streets" Toby Nelson, loved her passionately but without hope. Toby was just her pal (she was always "Cheech" to him), a shoulder to cry on when things got too tough. He was around for most of the run, disappearing to Korea a couple of years before the serial was dropped in 1954 . Life Can Be Beautiful was one of the best -loved of radio's soaps. To the actors who worked on it, the show became known by its first letters, LCBB, which translated over the years into the pet name "Elsie Beebe." Ralph Locke went all the way as Papa David, and died soon after the show left the air. Alice Reinheart played Chichi for the first eight years, and then the part was taken by Teri Keane, who finished it. Toby was Carl Eastman. Stephen Hamilton was first played by John Holbrook, later by Earl Larrimore. Becker and Bixby shared the writing duties, each taking over for several weeks at a time and working out their plots by telephone. They began each show with some piece of heavy philosophy: for example, "John Ruskin wrote this: 'Whenever money is the principal object of life, it is both got ill and spent ill, and does harm both in getting and spending. When getting and spending happiness is our aim, life can be beautiful.' " And "Longfellow expressed the opinion that the Sabbath is the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week . . . By the way, how long has it been since you've been to church, where you'll find new assurances that life can be beautiful. . . ?" Despite the tearstained plots, Becker and Bixby thought of their serial as a beam of hope in a dark world. It proved-they told Time in 1953-that, "however dark the world, this too will pass."

ATWT and EON were the last live shows. They went to tape in 1975.

A summary of Right to Happiness from the book 'Tune in Yesterday'.If anyone would like to request a radio soap.I'll post the extract from the book. The Right to Happiness, one of Irna Phillips' four major daytime serials, first heard on NBC Blue October 16, 1939, evolved from The Guiding Light when Miss Phillips transplanted Rose Kransky from Light into the new format. But The Right to Happiness soon became the story of Carolyn Allen, a magazine editor's daughter whose search for a "God-given right to happiness" led her through four husbands, a prison sentence, and hours of anguish at the hands of her rebellious RIN-TIN-TIN 513 son Skip. Early in the run, Carolyn Allen became the wife of Bill Walker, a self-centered man who proved himself "capable of anything." She killed him with a pistol in an accident that police called murder, and endured four months of legal maneuvering and trial. Later, Carolyn Allen Walker married Dwight Kramer, a union foredoomed by the fickle nature of both. Son Skip, born while she was incarcerated in the state penitentiary, would become her greatest source of joy and pain, but that was still far in the future. Carolyn Allen Walker Kramer was to marry again, this time Governor Miles Nelson, who brought political intrigue into the plot. That marriage too gradually trickled downhill. Finally Carolyn Allen Walker Kramer Nelson settled down with Lee MacDonald, a handsome, brilliant lawyer. With that marriage, her time was up. The serial expired November 25, 1960, before Carolyn could tire of Lee and move on to other marital pastures. It faded out with the two of them securely wrapped in each other's arms and Carolyn explaining her philosophy that "we are all born with the right to happiness." For twenty-one years this show came packaged to the theme, "Song of the Soul." Miss Phillips sold The Right to Happiness to an agency in 1942; it was moved from Chicago to New York, and John M. Young was selected to write it after a writing contest had been conducted by the agency to find Miss Phillips' successor. Eloise Kummer was the original Carolyn in Chicago; Claudia Morgan took over in New York and finished the role. Gary Merrill and John Larkin played Miles Nelson. Dick Wells and David Gothard were among those who played Dwight Kramer. Reese Taylor was the ill-tempered, ill-fated Bill Walker. Ruth Bailey played Rose Kransky, as she had on The Guiding Light. Procter & Gamble was the longtime sponsor. For the bulk of its run, The Right to Happiness was an NBC show; it moved to CBS in its final days.

Barbara Treutelaar (ex Didi O'Neill Buchanan OLTL) now a production accountant on HGTVs 'Flip or Flop Atlanta'.

Andre Khabazzi (ex Alec Moretti Y&R) pops up on Days this week as Dr Shah.

Aleshia Brevard,one of the first Americans to undergo sex re-assignment in the US has died aged 79. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Aleshia-Brevard-SF-drag-star-and-transgender-11344975.php Her obit lists one of her acting roles as OLTL.Does anyone know more?

Jessica was such a Mary Sue that the story lost impact. Earnest,noble John,brave simpering Jess and plucky sweet Cricket all in one family was pretty hard to take..

We Love Soaps has just posted a summary of the July 17th ep of HIH 1946: On syndicated radio soap opera Hearts in Harmony, Steve Parker and his fiancee Penny took a drive through the countryside around Rossville just a few days before their wedding. Meanwhile, Jed told Johnny the FBI may be investigating Parker Industries. Hearts in Harmony premiered in 1941, and was sponsored by the Kroger grocery store chain.

I recall that Deborah Adair played Jill at this point as having been damaged by the disastrous relationships with Stuart,Derek,Jack and John and seeing Andy as steady,responsible man who could give her stability. Of course when John Abbott returned and showed interest,Andy then seemed a little safe and dull. Did the revamping of the show occur when Wes Kenney arrived? I wonder what relationship he had with Bill in terms of input on story and character? Bill wrote out April,Barbara and the Stevens as well as Leslie and the Laurences, Jonas,Lucas, Karen etc By 83 the show was really firing again.

Billboard review July 1957 Living on borrowed time from extension to extension, "Valiant Lady" is making valiant attempts to wind up and then extend its story line with each reprieve. Author Robert J. Shaw is currently heavily dependent on significant looks from the actors to imply suspense and conflict. The excellent cast continues to feature Flora Campbell in the title role, with Robert Webber and Joy Hodges especially good as a mismatched couple shadowing her life. Herb Kenwith's direction is inventive and lends a different air from the average soap opera, a theater quality in the movement and gestures. This pleasant approach is echoed in the sets and costumes of the Leonard Blair production.

Kings Row 26 Feb 1951 - 29 Feb 1952 CBS/NBC. The NBC run began 22 Oct 1951 Kings Row had been a book,a movie with Ronald Reagan and later a primetime series. Billboard review Kings Row RADIO -Reviewed Friday (2), 3:15 -3:30 p.m., EST. Sponsored by Colgate -Palmolive -Peet Company, Monday thru Friday, thru William Esty via Columbia Broadcasting System. Producer, Arlene Lunny. Writer, Welbourn Kelley. Director, Edward Downs. Music, Bert Buhr - man, organ. Announcer, John Mac - Dougalt. Narrator, Lee Vines. Cast: Francia DeSales, Doris Dalton, Charlotte Manson, Charlotte Holland and Jim Boles. Scrtpter Welbourn Kelley has effectively utilized the characters from Henry Bellamann's best selling novel for soap opera. That the sentimental and neurotic Kings Row characters always had potentialities for the necessary endless trouble is undeniable. And Kelley has included all the proved soap opera elements. Francis DeSales, as Parris Mitchell, psychiatrist, gave his lines a consistently calm reading on the segment caught Doris Dalton skillfully provided the hysterics in the role of the sick in the head gal out for Mitchell's scalp. A clue to her trouble was her husband, an unmitigated scoundrel, who may be insidiously trying to drive her to the nut house. Life Ebbing The stanza caught involved a tense interview ' between Miss Dalton and DeSales. Whether the .latter would live to appear on the next installment seemed to be in doubt at the program's end. A legion of other complex characters were referred to in the dialog, indicating more than ample material to extend the serial as long as necessary. The commercial for Fab employed testimonials in a woman's voice to back up the announcer's claims. The Luster Cream Shampoo jingle was used at the end. Kings Row is soap opera at its most typical. Gene Plotnik.