Paul Raven

I never knew Clifton Davis had drug issues. The Dallas Morning News Week of February 8, 1987 Davis makes a comeback from drugs by Gary Deeb Show business in the 1980's is crammed full of people who used to be dope addicts and now are pitifully desperate to gain publicity by telling anybody who'll listen about their conversion to clean health. There even are a number of entertainers who deliberately exaggerate the extent of their past drug woes in order to grab more space in the papers and magazines. But every so often, you encounter a Hollywood personality who has gone straight — and who has a genuinely inspirational story to tell. That’s the situation with Clifton Davis, the co-star of the NBC comedy series Amen (Saturdays, p.m., Channel 5) . His tale is worth telling. “Very few people knew how bad off | was,’’ Davis told me. ‘‘But a lot of people in this business would say, ‘Clifton Davis? It’s all gone to his nose, brother.’ And they were right. By the time I almost overdosed on Christmas of 1980, I had blown all of my money on cocaine. I mean, I'm talkin’ a lot of money.” Davis, now 41, became a coke freak just as his comedy series That’s My Mama was getting canceled by ABC. He spent the next four years shelling out prodigious amounts of cash for the drug, and his reputation in the industry became both stale and rotten. “The success I enjoyed on That’s My Mama was so stimulating, so exciting that I lost track of reality,’’ he said. “I totally forgot about what was important in life. I started grabbing hold of tangibles instead of intangibles. I was getting high all the time. I just thank God that He gave me another chance. “With the tremendous support of my mother and the rest of my family,I turned it around — after nearly dying.I dropped out of Hollywood and out of show business for about 5% years. I went back to college, did a bachelor of arts degree in theology, then went on to graduate school and did a master of divinity degree. “When that was completed, I got the call to become the assistant pastor at this church in Loma Linda, Calif, about 60 miles from Hollywood. And at that same time, I believe God decided that He had more work for me; NBC hired me to play a minister on Amen. I'm just blown away by the coincidence of it. I think there was a divine executive producer involved.” DAVIS BEGAN his assistant pastor's duties at the church almost simultaneously with his comeback on Amen. Nevertheless, few people in his congregation hold his showbiz existence against him. “Some of the people at the church looked at me funny at first, until they realized that I was sincere about my commitment to Christ and to the church,” he said. “And I backed up my commitment by waiving my salary as a minister; that’s about $21,000 a year. “Another interesting thing about my church is that it’s predominantly white. I’m the first black minister that they've had on staff in their history. Some people thought I might find that difficult. But this is one of the most cosmopolitan and loving congregations I've ever seen — black or white. They accept me and they know I’m sincere about my devotion to God.” A Tony Award-winner for his singing and acting talents in the early 1970s, Davis also is a best-selling songwriter. He wrote Here Comes the Sunshine for Diana Ross and the Supremes and the superhit Never Can Say Goodbye for Michael Jackson. “Yeah, I was tryin’ to break up with a young lady and | couldn’t figure out how to tell her,”’ Davis said. “So I wrote Never Can Say Goodbye and that enabled me to say goodbye to her. That song has been recorded by more than 100 different artists, but the version by Michael and the Jacksons is definitive. He was just 13 years old at the time — such a talented young boy. It was so great to work with him.” On Amen, Davis goes toe-to-toe with Sherman Hemsley, who portrays another of his trademark irascible characters. The two characters mix like oil and water, but Davis enjoys the contrast. “Sherman is so talented and such a professional,”’ he said. “I wasn’t that crazy about The Jeffersons — sorry, Sherman — but I always knew he was an outstanding actor. Now, however, having worked with him on Amen, I realize that his talent goes even deeper than | thought.” Millions of viewers this season are seeing Davis for the first time since That’s My Mama left the air in the mid-’70s, and most of them comment on either how skinny he used to be or how beefed-up he now appears to be. “Well, when I quit drugs, I also quit smoking,”’ he explained, “and food tastes so good now. Seriously, I’ve promised myself that I'll lose some weight for the next season of Amen. But if you knew how much I invested in really good restaurants to put this weight on, you'd understand why I’m gonna keep it for awhile longer.” ©News America Syndicate, 1987

TV Guide July 5-11 1988 Poster Boy, _ Take Two The last time we checked in with CBS’s The Young and the Restless, Jack Abbott (played by Terry Lester, right) was on trial for the attempted murder of his father’s ex-wife Jill Whether he did it or not, there’s no doubt that the Emmy-nominated Lester remains one of daytime’s leading pinups. About a year ago, we reported that Lester was the subject of a waterproof, laminated poster that fans could hang in their showers. The poster in question—which showed the actor clad in nothing more than the briefest black bikini briefs—was such a hit that a second edition has been released. This time, the briefs are red—but not as brief. According to insiders, some retailers found the first poster a little too revealing

TV Guide July 5-11 1988 Tell 'Em Neil Sent You For the last 12 years on NBC’s Days of Our Lives, Joe Gallison has played Dr. Neil Curtis, a former compulsive gambler and heavy drinker who is, nevertheless, a nice guy to have for a friend. Neil has helped many a fellow character get on with his or her life. Off-camera, Gallison just finished working in a play in California. His latest venture, however, is one Dr. Curtis would probably approve of. Along with his wife, Melisa, Gallison has opened a bar in Studio City, Cal., a place where actors can go to unwind and complain about their directors. The name of the place, appropriately enough, is re$iduals.

TV Guide April 20 1985 With summer right around the comer, One Life to Live is heating up a summer like young-love storyline involving the fair Giulietta from Venice. Italian actress Fabiana Udenio. who plays Giulietta, so impressed the show's executives during their stint in Venice that they have now brought her to New York for a major role on the soap. Says series head writer Sam Hall, “Giulietta will show herself to be older than her years in a romantic storytine with Bo Buchanan,”played by Robert S. Woods.

TV Guide July 20 1985 One of the most insidious new wrinkles on the American drug scene— the development of the so-called "designer drugs'"—is being incorporated into the storyline of Another World these days. Already, good guy Larry Ewing (played by Rick Porter) has gone undercover at Bay City's newest hot spot, the Plains Motel nightclub, to ferret out the dealers of these dangerous substances. The latest wrinkle in the plot involves Nancy McGowan, who— in her grief and loneliness—is becoming increasingly dependent on a designer drug known, ironically, as Ecstasy.

TV Guide July 20 1985 Fringe Benefits Stage-and-screen veteran Angela Lansbury (above) admits that series TV "doesn't measure up to the movies or the stage. With a new cast every eight days, there's no time to develop relationships," she laments. So why is Lansbury so keen to return for a second season of CBS's Murder, She Wrote? "Half of it has to do with reaching that vast audience. | haven't made a movie in the U.S. since 1970. This chance to play to the great U.S. public is a chance you don't pass up." And the other half? "There's also a lot of money involved," she says. "Let's not kid ourselves!"

TV Guide July 20 1985. An aricle about actors' input into scripts and stories. ... And on Falcon Crest, actors are reminded: of company роlicy by a paragraph that has appeared at the front of each script for about a year: "The producers acknowledge the need for creative input," it reads. "However, no changes, additions or deletions will be permitted unless authorized by the writing staff." Explains Sarah Douglas, who plays the show's saucy Pamela Lynch, "It's all beautifully worded, of course, but what it means is, 'Don't mess with the dialogue'." Douglas has taken the message to heart. Normally not one to mince words, she thought better of causing a stir when her character behaved in a way she considered inconsistent. "Pamela would never have stayed with Richard Channing throughout the season," she grouses. "She would have left him as soon as he started messing around with the Italian woman. I was always bringing it up, but everything was so preset, I'm afraid I gave up the ghost. "I mean, you have to feel pretty strongly to hold things up—to go to the writer, who gets all the producers to come marching down to the set. . . . It's a big deal,Douglas says, "and despite my reputation for being a naughty girl, ! don't really like to cause that much trouble."

From TV Guide July 20 1985. An article about actor's input into scripts and stories, ... Not so Donna Mills, who's been known to go to the mat for her sexy, conniving Abby Ewing character on Knots Landing. "I will fight very hard for what I believe in for Abby," Mills says. As an example, she names a scene in which Galveston (Howard Duff), in typical chauvinistic style, advised Abby to keep her nose out of business matters and to stay home in the kitchen where she belongs. "The way it was originally written, they had Abby sort of meekly taking it all," Mills recalls. "I read that, and Isaid, 'Wait a minute. Abby wouldn't do that'." So Mills called the producers and stated her case. "Ireally believe that the women out there who like and admire Abby or her guts would be offended by that scene. So I went in, and they totally changed it." Mills says that the Knots producers are almost always receptive to her suggestions—but that doesn't mean clashes don't still occur. Just last season, it was proposed that Abby be the one who steals Val Ewing's babies, but Mills would have none of it. "I fought іt," she says, "because as bad as Abby can be, | didn't think she could be that bad. That's an unforgivable act." In the end, a compromise was reached: Abby had no compunctions about concealing information about the kidnapers until it became advantageous for her to reveal it.

Joanna Johnson as Karen on B&B. Viewers loved JJ as Caroline. So the reasoning behind making her a totally different character and not playing a Ridge/Karen romance made the whole thing pointless. They should have either 1. Sent Caroline out of town, either dying or not, leaving the door open for a return or 2. Killed her off and stand by that decision. The return was a fizzle, so really no point.

Ah... Chancellor Park. Now when I go to a park you usually see dog owners, mom's with babies or pre schoolers,people exercising, maybe some older folk reading on a bench or just relaxing... But I GC it's where business people randomly meet up during the work day in the same cramped spot. On Friday Nikki is at the ranch and then somehow ends up at the park. Just ridiculous.

To bring back Julie without Doug and have some throwaway talk about this iconic couple divorcing was madness.

Yes, yet another example of deciding to kill off a character then trying to backtrack by resorting to the lookalike plot. See - Hilary on Y&R. Despite some wobbly writing Hilary was the only new character in years that took off. So they kill her off and then bring back Mishael as Amanda, which didn't work.

What were some publicized/ anticipated returns of an actor to soaps or resurrection of a character that didn't pan out? For example After a controversial departure from Another World almost a decade earlier, Jacquie Courtney returned to the role she originated, Alice Matthews. Viewers anticipated seeing their beloved heroine, now more mature and experienced involved with new characters and romance. It was even more significant as the show was struggling and the original Matthews family had been sidelined. But it all came to nothing. Jacquie/Alice was given little to do and quietly departed a year later. On Y&R Lauren's son Scott finally returned in 2017 as a major character. But audiences were pretty much not interested in Daniel Hall's portrayal and Scott was also shipped out after a year or so. What are some you remember?

I was fortunate enough to see the Kay/Jill battles following Phillip's death on Y&R and Pat Falken Smith's return to Day in 81-the Salem Strangler and introduction of the DiMeras.

I think the problem with Noah goes way back to when the character was fist SORASED was it 07 or 08? Nick and Sharon were still young frontburner characters now the parents of a teen and competing for story. Also doubly compounded by Nick being drastically SORASED earlier. There were too many generations represented. Noah should have been kept younger for several more years. And then Noah never really got a major story and went through recasts till we Adamson as Noah, who looked way too old. It was a mess for years.

There is literally nothing for Sharon to do.

Not in any way to excuse Josh, but the lack of budget for sets and cast is a big factor along with an insistence that the vets must be featured (even though most are played out, especially as lead characters) But his choice to focus on poorly written business stories and dull romances as well as stuff happening off-screen is unacceptable.

I get your point. But she was having sex with her young chauffeur when she arrived. I think the intent was there originally but the writing changed probably due to LD's persona. There was a Jackie Collin's influence also. And Jane Elliot was wanted for that role I think. Felicia would have been quite different with Jane in the role.

No doubt Allie and Noah will have parted ways. Josh brought back Noah with Gibson and then did dropped him, so there's that in the mix. The upside is Club Glam might reopen!!

Dina had all the elements in place but didn't hang around long enough to become a real force in GC-sleeping with various men, getting involved in business deals etc. Bill Bell seemed to lose interest. Not sure why as Marla/Dina had the potential to become a long term player in GC. What was the story for Dina's first exit?

Thanks @YRfan23 No Abby this month. Camryn must be recurring and Bryton either recurring or 1 a week guarantee.

Looks like most contract players are on 3 a week guarantee.

Resurrecting this topic. In the 80's pretty much as a result of Dynasty(Alexis) we saw the focus on wealthy more mature business women who could be quite demanding in business and the bedroom. Felicia AW, Lucinda ATWT, Alex GL, Gwyneth LOV, Rae RH-although she was already there before Alexis took off. Established characters on other shows were remoulded into that archetype eg Dorian OLTL, Stephanie SFT. AMC had Erica who didn't really fit that slot but I think they were reluctant to introduce any sort of character that might outshine her. Days, GH, didn't really go there. Later in the 80's Jill took that spot on Y&R. Any other examples?

I liked Gina but was disappointed she was cast as Phyllis. When Summer left in 2016 ,I think that was a good time to rest the character. Phyllis' marriage to Jack was over (again) the Billy romance was yuck and the ship had sailed with Nick. A good time for Phyllis to leave town-no children on the canvas and no viable romances. But Y&R insists on keeping everyone around.

OK Thanks for that -must have missed that ep.