Paul Raven

I think Danfling means Andie MacNeill played by Stacey Glick. She was one of the revolving door of characters that came and went in the 80's.Each new producer/writer brought in new people.It was pretty much only Jo/Stu/Liza and Sunny that provided any continuity. If only one of them had focused on the core maybe things would have been different. You had Stu's family Daughter Janet (maybe recurring-recast if Millee Taggart didn't want to stay) Janet's children Liza,Gary and Danny Jo,her daughter Patti,Patti's kids Chris and Tracy could have been SORASED,Suzi her niece. Ted Adamson and his daughters Sunny and Laine. Various members of the Tourneur/Sentell clan. That's agood core for a half hour show with various other characters interacting with these.

A Chicago Tribune article from April 65 mentions Kevin McCarthy in the cast. I wonder if he pulled out or it was just a mistake?

We Love Soaps has reported the death of James Westmoreland who played Teddy Holmes #1 in 1972.He was 80. Due to illness he had to vacate the role of Teddy and John Gabriel took over.

Billboard review TELEVISION - Reviewed Friday (7), 12 -12:15 pan. EDT. Sustaining via CBS -TV. Producer, Montgomery Ford. Director, Jud Gage. Script, Manya Starr. Cast: Patricia Kirkland. John Craven, Doris Rich and Richard Knox. A best- seller and later a film, The Egg and I makes its transition to TV with the Grade A label predominant. The daytime strip is gentle, humourous and heartwarming without descending to the soggy mawkish, sentimental vacuities exhibited by some of the detergent dramas televized. The episode caught delineated the depression of heroine Betty MacDonald because of the immense task of creating order in the chaotic farmhouse the city - bred couple recently acquired. The . inexperienced bride, however. quickly revived in spirits after an injection of homespun philosophy from visiting Ma Kettle. She had been thru it all and knew the answers. Although the pacing of the show was slow and the situation was not productive of any heavy, hammy drama, fragrant with attar of ersatz, scripter Manya Starr can take bows for her craftsmanship. She had many positive things to-say and said them well and entertainingly. The strip has been cast superlatively in all its roles. Patricia Kirkland is a likeable and confused Betty, John Craven, a convincing and patient Jim. One of the chief delights was the acting of Doris Rich. This legit veteran blends into her part like foliage into a countryside. Perceptive video casting directors should find many more parts for a trouper of her range. The program undeniably rates attention from sponsors. It should get and hold an audience. *Although Egg and I was popular,I don't believe it attracted enough sponsors to be viable.

FEB 52 Love of Life was the #8 daytime show with an 8.1 rating Search for Tomorrow was #10 with a 7.7 rating

Nov 56 Edge of Night had almost doubled its ratings after 5 months on air from a 2.8 to a 5.8. As The World Turns went from a 3.4 in May to a 4.9 in Sept 56.

Now that this show has it's own thread I'll transfer some posts from the primetime soaps thread Ouch! TV Guide June 26th 1965 Cleveland Amory’s review of Our Private World is not kind. He notes that the twice-weekly prime time CBS serial has even less depth than As the World Turns, the daytime serial it was spun-off from. “In fact, if it weren’t for repeating everything twice, we don’t think they’d be on twice a week.” He explains the basic plot of the series and its main characters before ending with the following: Altogether it is the first show we’ve seen in a long time where literally nothingis good–the idea, the producing, the writing or the directing. As for the acting, it has to be seen to be believed–and, believe us, it shouldn’t be. The girls are bad and the boys are worse. One thing this show dose, though. It makes Peyton Place look great. In fact, the only thing we cannot fault is the title, Our Private World. The mistake was in making it public.

Thanks so much for those articles that gave more detail. I always wondered about the taping schedule. A day to rehearse and a day to tape was a luxury compared to ATWT. I thought the sets looked a little bigger and better dressed on OPW. It was originally titled 'The Woman Lisa' so the original intent was very much to focus on Fulton. I wonder what caused the shift in emphasis.Has Fyulton ever spoken about OPW? It was obviously CBS' response to PP, but they weren't prepared to commit to a similar production. Maybe the feeling was that as PP was heavily influenced by daytime, they could get away with that look and feel. Bit I guess most viewers were turned off, associating it with the live dramas of the 50s,which were then seen as old fashioned and stagey. PP continued with the half hour format till its' demise. I wonder why they never considered moving to a 1 hour 10pm show. It wasn't until Executive Suite in the 70's that a true serial was given another shot. (Not sure about ABC's Lana Turner flop The Survivors? I t had continuing threads but was more self contained?)

Martha Madison was on 2 eps of One Mississsippi as a trashy mom. Aaron Lustig ex Dr Tim Y&R and Dr Wright DOOL on Transparent

From Jan Sheperd (Betty) in the book 'Western Women' The lull in Jan's guest shots from 1961 till 1965 was due to her involvement in two soap operas The Clear Horizon' and 'The Verdict is Yours'. 'When you do a soap opera it's like live.They actually tape, but they don't want you to stop. No matter what happens, just keep going. It costs too much to cut the tape and all that stuff. When you do those sort of shows, you're so nervous, trying to remember all those lines, because we had a lot of them. Richard Coogan was on Clear Horizon. He was always pretty serious about doing scenes. One day, we were rehearsing and I had to make an entrance into his office. I took two of those big light bulbs they have on the stage, like the palm of your hand width, I put two of those under my sweater and walked in. the people in the control room saw me do it, so they were ready for it, but Richard wasn't. I had this real tight sweater with these two big lights either side of me. He could have killed me! But, we needed a little levity at that time.

Watching those end credits and seeing that Henry and HB were recurring but Francesca and Suzanne were contract. In that freeze frame MK (Eleni) looks like Lisa Peluso.

'The Clear Horizon' Set To Return Timely Daytime Serial Brought Back To TV By Public DemandMeriden JournalApril 28, 1962Last week we ran a feature on how a nighttime series, THE LAW AND MR. JONES, was brought back to TV by public demand. This week we would like to give equal space to a daytime series which was brought back to TV by public demand.The name of the series is THE CLEAR HORIZON, which deals with a young Air Force Officer and his wife who live at Cape Canaveral.The series is written and produced by a former Navy Officer, Manya Starr.The series died from the network last March after a nine month run and there was an avalanche of complaints from viewers who had just become acquainted with the characters and life at the Cape.Despite the complaints, Manya had little hope that the series would be renewed. "But I sure did fight for it," she recalls. "I urged the public to write the sponsors and the network and they did. They were besieged with mail. But the death sentence was carried out just the same."Renewal of the series looked hopeless so she put it out of her mind, and Manya and her businessman husband and their two young songs left for a vacation at a remote spot in the Barbados Islands. The place they chose was really isolated. There was no electricity and no telephone service. The only connection with civilization was a schooner which ran in an erratic schedule to another larger island."You can imagine our reaction," Manya laughs, "when, a few days after our arrival, a Barbadian walked up to me on the beach and handed me a note from CBS! The message, which had been phoned to an island nearby, written out and delivered by boat and bicycle, said that THE CLEAR HORIZON was being returned to TV. That was the shortest vacation our family ever had."Back in New York at her typewriter, she picked up the storyline where it had ended the previous March. The cast which had been featured was rounded up again, included Edward Kemmer and Phyllis Avery who portray the young Air Force officer and his wife, and supporting players Rusty Lane, Eve McVeagh and James Edwards."Our show," says Manya, "is clear proof that daytime drama needn't be soggy, maudlin or irrelevant to contemporary life. It has all the immediacy of today's headlines and brings into sharp focus the great achievements being made in our race to conquer space. But even more important-and this is the aspect which the military forces like-viewers can absorb the information painlessly because the continuing storyline provides the human interest which makes it entertaining."Although THE CLEAR HORIZON is filmed on the West Coast, Manya writes the scripts in New York."It sounds like an awkward setup," admits Manya," but actually it runs very smoothly. Let's face it, actors don't like writers hanging over their necks just as writers don't like it either."Ed Kemmer pointed out that, while he enjoyed his role when the series first originated, he finds it even more fascinating now."Naturally, the fact that Commander Allan Shepard and Colonel John Glenn have made successful flights does add a new excitement to this role," says Kemmer. "In a way, I enjoy the same thrill as an actor might enjoy if he were portraying any of our country's great men.""But what really adds a touch of reality," injects Manya Starr, "are actual film clips from Cape Canaveral which we integrate into the series. The Army and Air Force have taken such an interest in the program that, through a mutual agreement, they have permitted us to use certain footage from Canaveral."Manya always had a flair for writing and upon her discharge from the service, she prevailed on a fellow officer to introduce her to the Hummerts, a well-known production company, who were turning out more daytime shows for radio than any other group. They were impressed with her and she got the assignment of doing the scripts for the CLAUDIA series, remaining on that job for 18 months.Turning her attention to television in the early days of the industry, she ran up a long list of imposing credits including 19 months of writing THE EGG AND I on CBS. Other work included THE DOCTOR'S WIFE, FIRST LOVE, SUSPENSE, TALES OF TOMORROW and FOUR STAR PLAYHOUSE."But I always had one goal in mind," she recalls, "and that was to create my own series. I wanted it to be something as up-to-date as tomorrow's headlines." Thus - THE CLEAR HORIZON.Asked if there are any problems in scripting a show as technical as this one, Manya says, "Yes, indeed. I have two small sons who usually decide to play 'spaceman' just when I sit down at the typewriter. I guess they feel they're providing the proper atmosphere for my work!"

Some more info on 'The Seeking Heart' James Yarborough was the director, not a cast member Writer was Welbourne Kelley Dr John Adams was a medico-criminologist Lorna Adams ,his wife The Chris Plummer character was a police lieutenant (Is this Christopher Plummer of Sound of Music fame? He was doing New York TV at that time) Robert Webber was a 'playboy' boyfriend. In the opening plot,the Judith Braun character is afraid of her step parents,which is causing her to drink too much.She decides to contact John Adams,even though her stepfather and Adams do no get along.

French Fans summaries has Marland arriving in September with Stewart and Marcy leaving after their wedding,which I assume was his doing.

Secret Storm 1966 Sally Marshall had a friend called Sherry

A year before she landed the role of Connor, Alison Rice Taylor tested for Frannie Hughes on ATWT On Guiding Light, Michael J Stark tested for Andy Norris and then got called for Joe Bradley.

I think Alan lasted till around 70/71. Can't understand why he was never brought back.

Some more Love of Life characters that I don't think are listed Speed Kendall 1955 a crime figure Van is dating to gather evidence Jill Crown was also known as Jill Barstow Fred Slade - Van's editor at Barrowville Times Dr Marshall 1967 Laurie's psychiatrist Dixon and Jane Ridgeway(his wife) Dixon was a teacher at Bruce's school who was blackmailing John Dennis over Alan Sterling's paternity.

Some more Love of Life characters that I don't think are listed Speed Kendall 1955 a crime figure Van is dating to gather evidence Jill Crown was also known as Jill Barstow Fred Slade - Van's editor at Barrowville Times Dr Marshall 1967 Laurie's psychiatrist Dixon and Jane Ridgeway(his wife) Dixon was a teacher at Bruce's school who was blackmailing John Dennis over Alan Sterling's paternity.

That story is all about Alan Sterling's real paternity, John Dennis is Alan's real father and Dickson Ridgeway is blackmailing him with a letter stolen from Bruce. Alan was 14 at the time. I don't know how this was resolved or whether Alan ever found out Bruce was not his father.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago lists in it's archive a DOOL audition tape for the role of Laura Horton, http://museumtv.pastperfectonline.com/archive/8FF3D1FB-0D0A-49A8-9A40-415337603700 4 actresses are listed Marla Adams Judith McConnell Marian McCargo Connie Caulfield I guess this was either when Susan Flannery left or Susan Oliver was replaced. Does Jason 47 or anyone know more about this?

Maybe that little snippet of Harry Bellaver explains why Ernie was killed off.Perhaps he was having trouble remembering his lines? Everyone was satisfied with VW as Rachel so at no point was there any talk of Strasser returning. However, there has been mention of BM returning to AW in 84, but she didn't relish the trip to Brooklyn each day and turned down the offer.

Melinda Fee (ex Charlotte Bauer) claims she is a Targeted Individual. I had no idea what that was. Came across her name reading about Randy Quaid. Apparently it's some conspiracy theory involving mind control and who knows what else. She thinks 'directed energy waves' are targeting her and causing pain. Actress Melinda Fee explores the possibility of an under-reported idea that some producers and other handlers in Hollywood have long been suspected of acquiring large insurance policies on their famous clients right before their deaths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0f2ldPhR4U

Kendall March replaced Francesca James as Marcy on OLTL when Ms James came down with hepatitis.

Broadcasting magazine Nov 86 `Search' ends; TV's senior soap to go after 35 years Ratings had fallen; P &G and NBC mutually agreed to drop show after efforts failed to regain audience: 'Sale of the Century' moved to 10 a.m.. two new game shows added, giving NBC more than both ABC and CBS. Television's longest running daytime soap opera will not survive the year. NBC said last week it was canceling Procter & Gamble's Search for Tomorrow, which had its 35th anniversary on the air in September. The network announced that the show will have its last broadcast on Friday, Dec. 26. The following Monday (Dec. 29), it will be replaced by a new game show, WordPlay, from Fiedler /Berlin Productions in association with Scotti Brothers /Syd Vinnedge Television. NBC also announced last week it would fill the hole left by the also departing Family Ties by moving Sale of the Century from 10:30 a.m. up a half hour to 10 a.m. where Ties has been leading off the network's daytime schedule. That move takes effect Jan. 5. Ties goes into syndication next year and therefore the reruns that have been airing in the morning must leave the network's daytime schedule in January. Filling the gap at 10:30 a.m., where Sale has been running, will be Blockbusters (from Mark Goodson Productions), which is being revived after an earlier run on NBC. That program also makes its debut Jan. 5. Brian Frons, vice president, daytime programs, NBC Entertainment, said the network and P &G had come to the "mutual" conclusion that Search's value as a vehicle to sell ad time had run its course. The program had been trending downward in the ratings for some time, prompting the network to bring in a new executive producer last December -David Lawrence. At that point, the show had been delivering about 8% of the viewing audience, not considered very healthy for the time period. The revamping carried out by Lawrence resulted in a temporary improvement, with the program working its way back up to a 12 share through the second quarter. But the show was still off its share mark from a year ago and Frons said at the time that Search's situation was "dicey." The show took another dive, dropping to a nine share in the third quarter and fourth quarter, making the program's third -place postion untenable. "It reached a point," said Frons, "where [P &G] could get advertising at much lower C -P -M's on other shows." He also said that P &G, which owns Search, was producing the program at a deficit, so its backing of the show became a losing proposition. "And we were losing money running the show," Frons said of NBC, because as the rating and share for the program dropped, so did the price of a 30- second spot. The station clearance level for the program was hovering at the 73%- level. Its lead -in at noon, Super Password, also has a clearance level of about 73%, but has been averaging five share points higher than Search, Frons said. A P &G spokeswoman confirmed that the decision to cancel the 35- year-old program was made mutually by the network and P &G. She declined to say how much it was costing P &G to produce the program, but acknowledged that in recent months the company had spent a lot of extra money shooting on location, hiring new cast members and writers and launching promotional and publicity campaigns aimed at both view- ers and stations. "There were a number of extraordinary efforts made to regain the audience," the spokeswoman said. The company produces three other soaps, including Another World on NBC and As the World Turns and the Guiding Light on CBS. The spokeswoman said P &G did not have any other development plans for soap operas in the works at this time. With the axing of Search and the addition of two game shows. NBC's daytime schedule will contain more game shows than ABC and CBS combined. Frons said last week that that's OK with him. The way he sees it, the NBC schedule will be "better balanced" with three hours each of game shows and soaps. As for introducing new soaps, Frons said he was taking a "wait and see attitude" on that, but acknowledged that he would be very reluctant to come out with a new half - hour soap because they don't seem to perform nearly as well as hour -long soaps. Sale of the Century, which NBC is moving to IO a.m., had been winning its time period at 10:30 a.m. through the third quarter. But the new syndicated talk show starring Oprah Winfrey, which launched in September, has given Sale some tough competition and dominates from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in many markets. A network researcher said last week that Oprah is currently winning the 10 -11 a.m. time period in 12 of 13 metered markets. In New York, for example, fourth quarter to date, the show was first with a 5.6/27. Nationally, Sale at 10:30 a.m. has averaged a 3.8/17 so far in the fourth quarter, off a share point and six - tenths of a rating point since Oprah came on the air. CBS's Card Sharks at 10:30 a.m. has averaged a 3.3/15 in the same period. Still, Sale has been beating its network competition, and Frons hopes that it will get NBC's daytime schedule off to a fast start. The network could use the boost. It has been mired in third place in the daytime race (households and demographics) for some time although it has become more competitive in the past year. In recent months, it has lost some of the momentum it seemed to gain through the second quarter, when it was less than a rating point out of first place. Four weeks into the fourth quarter, CBS is first in daytime with a 5.9/23, followed by ABC with a 5.4/20 and then NBC with a 4.6/18. A year ago, ABC led the pack (6/22) with CBS closing in fast (5.7/22) while NBC was a poorer third with a 4.4/17. NBC's new entry at 10:30 a.m., Blockbusters, ran on the NBC schedule from October 1980 to April 1982. Frons said it was canceled originally not because of its performance, but because the network had no place to put it when it decided to try the soap, Texas (subsequently canceled), in the morning. That game show "was averaging a 17 or 18 share with a horrible lead -in," the old Regis Philbin Show, said Frons. Block - busters is a question- and -answer game show which the network hopes will prove compatible with Wheel of Fortune, which airs at 11 a.m. In hindsight, said Frons, Blockbusters "probably should have never been taken off." Wordplay, which debuts Dec. 29 at 12:30 p.m., is described as a "comedy game show based on the childhood dictionary game." It features two contestants and a panel of three celebrities who give a series of humorous definitions for a word. only one of which is right. Frons said: "If the show only holds its Super Password lead -in. we'll have a 50% improvement in share.... If we hold a 14 or 15 share, we'll be delighted." Frons described the changes annouced last week in NBC daytime schedule as "major." He said he'll give the current lineup at least six months to take hold before making further adjustments. "Then we'll see what happens."