Paul Raven

I would love to watch PP on DVD,but the time commitment is too much for me at the moment.

Truth be told,I remember some of it first time around!

There was an episode on YouTube some time back.Betty was in New York going for a job and back in PP,I remember the Harringtons gathered in their living room.Someone was leaving townAallison was in this ep also and Dr Rossi had just arrived,I hope I'm not mixing things up.

Eric,could you tell me which ep it was?

I do remember how soapy it was,longish scenes with lots of'meaningful'conversations.I mean that in a good way, as the dialogue was not straightforward and there was an undercurrent of things bubbling beneath the surface.

Visually,I recall the Harrington scene was also daytime like-it was directed in a 3 camera live/tape mode.

The Ferros were the writers.They wrote General Hospital in the first few months.I think the Dobsons had to finish at Search For Tomorrow(a contractual thing?)and the Ferros were 'caretakers' of the show for that time.maybe some other posters know more.

Eric,are you familiar with the proposed spinoff 'The Girl from Peyton Place'?It was to debut in Summer of 65 as a once a week entry,before going to twice a week in the fall.It dealt with Betty in NY and would air Mon and Fri 9.30-10.00.Days after the announcement,plans were changed claiming there wasn't enough time to put together the whole show.Barbara Parkins was dismayed.

Who were the first Love of Life actors to move to another soap?

i would say Margo McKenna(Betsy)who went to EON as Emily and Chandler Hill Harben who was the first Max on Texas.

And Velekka Grey who turned up on ATWT as the first Lyla.

Any more you can think of?

Here's what was happening in Oakdale april 76.

Valerie Conway is the sort of woman who knows what she wants and usually gets it. She's not used to being ignored and denied her wishes. Dan Stewart, her doctor at Memorial, doesn't care about her childish demands and treats her as he would any other patient. Does Valerie hate this treatment? Yes. Does she hate Dan? No, in fact, quite the contrary is true, she seems to be very much attracted to this young doctor. Dan, so far, is ignoring her signals.

In the "It's a small world department," Valerie's past seems to include two residents of Oakdale, and strange as it may seem both of them are part of Dan's world.

The first is Susan's new amore, Kevin Thompson. The second is Kim Dixon (her hatred of Kim runs so deep that she tells the nurses not to let Kim in her room). Valerie is about as talkative as the CIA when questioned by Dan and Susan about what these people mean to her.

For the last few weeks Natalie's been going through the motions of being an efficient wife and worker. She's been too preoccupied and on-edge to devote her full attention to both of these activities; all she can think of is: "Does Lisa know?" It's a terrible way to live one's life and Natalie half wishes it were over. Well, it seems someone has granted her wish. Bob calls and says he wants to see her; it's most urgent.

From the moment she enters Bob's office, she knows he has found out the truth about her. Bob confirms her suspicions but says he hasn't told Tom yet. He feels her husband should hear the news from her. With great conviction Bob says: "Honesty is very important to a marriage; everybody makes mistakes. Tom will understand."

Natalie is not quite so sure, she begs Bob to let things be. Bob says he can't do that, Tom may hear the "truth" from a stranger and that would be worse. Before leaving Bob's office, Natalie assures her father-in-law that she'll tell Tom.

Before taking this step, Natalie feels the dire need for advice and counsel. She takes account of all her friends in Oakdale and realizes there's only one person who would understand and that person is Jay Stallings.

Jay's not too happy about Natalie involving him in her life (he's afraid people might get the wrong idea, if they were seen together) but he can't let her down. He advises Natalie to tell her husband the truth.

Some women are born independents but Joyce Colman isn't one of them. She always needs a man to cling to and advise her. She still holds a faint hope that Grant might come back; but with each visit from her ex-husband this hope becomes fainter and fainter. To fill this man-gap in her life, Joyce is now reaching out towards Bob. His compassionate soul and platitude-filled dialogues seem to give Joyce the strength and encouragement she so sorely needs.

Scott was a character that definitely should have returned,rather than having Craig monopolising the show.

Prisoner was big on Aussie TV at the time.Carol Burns as Frankie was a sensation but she didn't get caught up in the hype and left when her contract was up.The network spliced all her scenes together and screened as a TV movie called 'The Frankie Doyle Story".

They also did a 60 min variety special with different cast members in production numbers.

Lisa Hartman did a soapy mini series 'Roses are for the Rich' which aired May 87 on CBS..Like so many of these the cast is interesting-Bruce Dern,betty Buckley,Sharon Wyatt,Kate Mulgrew,Howard Duff and Joe Penny.

Bringing this thread back to life.

Hollywood Wives-The New Generation

starring Farrah Fawcett,Melissa Gilbert,Robin Givens and Jack Scalia.I don't think this one faired to well in the ratings.The days of the big rating mini series seemed to be over.

Joe Stuart interview from 87

How do sweeps affect storylines?

JS I can't speak for other shows,but you really have to plan your thinking and direct it to the overall continuous strength of the show.Sometimes you do peak a story,or have scenes which are worked out during a sweeps period,but we wouldn't take a story and truncate it just because it was sweeps week.

What about long-term planning?Do you consider sweeps then?

JS Well we have projections for up to about a year ahead,maybe more like nine months. These are very sketchy,and they indicate where certain characters will end up,along with a rough idea of the incidents that will happen to take them there.But of course,everything can change.This business is organic.We all know when sweeps are around and if we forget,the network will remind us,so we do work with an awareness of them.

Why would you change a projected storyline?

JS Well.sometimes a story just doesn't work out.It can be a lack of chemistry between the performers that no one knows about or perceives until it gets on the screen.It can be the audience's perception of the story.Or something might just turn out to be wrong for Loving.Then we have to drive forward with a story that we feel is starting to work.

Who decides something isn't working?

JS Usually producers can see it first because they are in on the taping of the show,and the writers and the network hasn't yet seen all the shows the producers have seen.

Would you then do a rewrite?

JS Yes,but rewrites almost never happen in the studio,unless we run short.The rewrites we are talking about would occur in the long term projections and the outlines.

What changes might occur in the story?

JS Sometimes the material can be played a number of different ways,and we might decide that an actor works better in one way than another.So,we may go against our original plan and emphasize a different aspect of the material.

Who OKs the long term stories?

JS The network has an overview because they attend a writers meeting every Wednesday.At that meeting,the writers,the producer and the network go over the outlines which are the basis of the scriptswhich will air roughly five weeks from the day of the meeting.we read them,and we critique them,and we approve them.Sometimes we decide to change things.So the network knows where the show is going,and it is very much a mutual thing.

Does the network pressure you about ratings?

JS Everyone wants better ratings,but it is like we are all in this together.and speaking for myself,i don't need anyone else pressuring me.i pressure myself enough.what anyone else could do,it mowhere near the pressure i put on myself.in looking at Loving,Loving is better than its ratings.Of course,once you say that,you still have to say that the ratings are what they are.

What do you think the problem is?

JS One of the problems we've had since the beginning of the show is the time period.The decision was made,against our wishes,to put it on initially at 11.30 when it had been shown that soaps were not doing well against game shows.also,we had no lead in.The lead in strategy is to put a new show on in between established shows where an audience already exists.Now we have a lead in(Ryan's Hope) but we are up against Y&R.It's labor in the vineyards.i suppose this sounds like a cop-out,but those are the facts,and they do affect us.

Do you feel optimistic about Loving?

JS yes,I do.you can't let low ratings or rumors infuence your work.People who work in this business have to have endurance.That's in addition to talent,sensitivity and an understanding of what the audience wants to look at.Without it,you can't function.Besides,Loving is in the wonderful position of being renewed on a yearly basis.So,you're going to have Loving on until next June,and probably,in my mind,a lot longer than that.

Joe Stuart had been producer on The Doctors and OLTL when both were doing well in the ratings.It must have been difficult for him trying to get the numbers up.Who replaced him at Loving?Was it long after this interview?

I wonder why he never did anymore soaps after this?Maybe the frustration of Loving was enough for him.

From SOD July 1990

Who Killed Rick Alden?

Loving plots a chilling murder mystery with 7 hot suspects.

After seven years on the air,ABC's low rated serial Loving is hoping 4 words-Who killed Rick Alden?-will finally be the key to ratings success.So far,the show has tried all kinds of story gimmicks-from spoiled priests to spy-fi-without making a dent in the ratings. However,the shows new top gun,Exec Producer Jackie Babbin,thinks a good old fashioned corpse might just be what's needed to get the ailing soap on its feet.

On July 9,resident sleazeball Rick Alden(Brian Fitzpatrick)bit the dust,leaving a juicy trail of suspects in his wake. His ex-lover Stacey will now stand trial for murder,and even her own relatives will seriously doubt her innocence. After all,Rick had recently kidnapped Stacey's daughter Heather and was doing everything possible to make stacey's life a misery.(Heather had been conceived during Stacey's brief affair with Rick.

However Babbin assures us there are major surprises in store. "Keep in mind,there are several other characters with equally strong motives",she told us,adding the trial will last about three weeks. The real murderer-who may or may not be Stacey-won't be revealed until the end of the month.

Aside from Stacey,six other suspects also had compelling reasons to put Rick on their personal hit list:

Jack Forbes(Perry Stephens) As Stacey's husband,Jack definitely wanted Rick out of the way forever. Rick's presence was a constant reminder that Stacey had once been unfaithful.

Dane Hammond(Anthony Herrera) Jack's natural father is willing to do anything to help his son. An unscrupulous businessman,he's sabotaged more than one opponent in the past.Was murder on his agenda this time?

Robert (Will Osborne) Dane's all-too-efficient sidekick has only one mission in life-to follow his bosses orders.

Paul Slavinsky (Joseph Breen) a man with serious mob connections,he was Rick's loan shark.

Stevie(Yohanna Yonas) Paul's statuesque assistant could turn out to be a cold blooded killer.

Norma (Ilene Kristen) As Denny's pal,she was involved up to her eyeball's in the kidnapping scheme.Did she kill Rick to avenge Danny's murder-or to get the payoff money herself?(More importantly,Ilene Kristen doesn't have a long term contract with the show,and that makes her an extremely prime suspect.Ditto,for Osborne and Yonas)

While other producers opt for the three l's in storytelling-love,lies and lust-Babbin's forte is murder.In real life she's something of an Agatha Christie,having penned three paperback whodunits in her own right(Bloody Soap,Bloody Special and Bloody Network).What does she find so fascinating about guns and gore?"I think people love a good puzzle whether it's a crossword or murder puzzle...besides I lov eto kill people and this is the only way to do it".

Babbin,who was producer of AMC in the early 1980's,admits that ABC had to work hard to lur her back to the sopa worls now. She's agreed to stay for one year only,and knows she has a tough challenge ahead of her.Does she have a secret gameplan for turning Loving into a hit?"Telling a good story",she says,"My yardstick is if I'm bored,then the audience is too".

So,who did murder Rick???

The only constant in Loving was change.So even from the start there wasn't much stability in stories and character,so I guess that's where the 'generic'tag came from.

Even viewers who hooked on from the start would have not recognized the show after a few years.There was no real feeling to encourage loyalty in viewers.

As regards the Matthews,that family was not really nurtured and positioned correctly to carry on into the 80's.

Firstly,Mary was killed off(rightly or wrongly)leaving Jim a widower.He never remarried,so the opportunity for stepchildren/grandchildren (from his new wife)never materialised.

Russ was married 4 times,yet never had children(Josie didn't come along to the late 80's.)Tracy could have had a child before her death,leaving Russ to raise the child alone(this child could have been sorased in the late 80's and filled the role of Josie.

Alternatively,the 'Josie' character could have arrived in the early 80's from a relationship Russ had earlier(a one night stand)This would have bolstered the Matthews at a time when they needed to be.

Alice was unable to conceive and her adopted daughter Sally,was given a lot of story in the early 80's.however the decision to cast Taylor Miller was,I think a mistake as it was more stunt casting than a desire to write for the character.Anyway,Sally was killed off and that was that.Her son Kevin was never brought back.

Alice was recast too many times after JC left and Linda Borgeson was terrible,When they got Jacquie back,she was backburner.Alice should have been the new matriach and perhaps married and had stepchildren.

Pat hung on through the Lemay years but was foolishly written out,never to return.Again Pat could have remarried and had stepchildren.Mike and Marianne were aged too quickly and written out,never to return,despite the fact they had a lot of story potential.

Liz was given an adoptive grandaughter Julia ,who was killed off after a few years,while her other'grandchild'Ricky,never came to Bay City.

Another way of continuing the family would have been to bring in a child of Janet Matthews(another character who was completely ignored)

Like so many other shows,the core families were left to wither.

Funnily enough,Sandy Dennis did have a role on Guiding Light(Alice Holden)in 1956 but was dropped after a few weeks in the role.

Murder: Necessitated(from Time magazine August 1962)

When Jeff Baker turned up on TV six years ago, he was a puny, pampered high-school kid. But burning love soon made a man of him, standing trial for murder sobered him, marriage gave him strength, annulment brought him misery, alcoholism aged him, and—all the while —pericarditis, the dread killer disease, haunted him. Thanks to such experiences, Jeff aged 15 years in just six, growing up to become groovy, talented Jeff Baker, 33, pianist, composer, company president, and the worshiped mate of Penny, his no nonsense wife. Small wonder that Jeff became the most important figure in As the World Turns, the biggest show on daytime television.

But while Jeff manfully suffered catastrophe on camera, Mark Rydell, the actor who plays him, winced at success backstage. Held to the show by salary and sentiment ($50.000 and 5,000 fan letters a year). Rydell pined for Hollywood, where offers to direct television taunted him. Worse, he bolted from the program for two weeks at a time to take on summer-stock roles, forcing the show's agonized writers to send Jeff out of town on a business trip or—"I got it!"—out to Hollywood for a recording date. To the show's producers, Mark Rydell had become a problem that needed to be solved.

So had Jeff. After weathering so much misfortune, he and Penny had become distressingly stable.

Last week the producers found a solution to both problems. Into the script they had the show's writers insert a scene in which Jeff's life is unceremoniously snuffed out—and with it Rydell's career in As the World Turns. This week Jeff is scheduled to die in an automobile accident, thrown from the wreckage of his car out onto the rainy highway. Said the show's producer, smiling over Jeff's lifeless form: "A loved one passes—it's good for the story."

Marie Marshall was the actress who portrayed Denise Darcy,the killer of Tad Channing.

From SOW July 96

The ABC affiliate in Dallas has moved the The City to a late night timeslot.As of June 10th,The City airs at 12.35 am,on a same day delay.

ABC suggested the change,says WFAA Program Director David Walther.

"Some days it actually performs better than it did in the earlier time period.It's not doing any worse.We've either maintained audience or gained some".

Before the switch,WFAA aired only a half hour of the now defunct Mike & Maty show,from 10.00-10.30 am,then The City from 10.30-11.00am.However,Walther adds,'the network asked us to consider carrying the full hour of Caryl & Marilyn,and to accommodate that,their next suggestion was that we consider moving The City to what we call 'late fringe' area replacing a rebroadcast of the 10pm newscast."

Dallas is the nation's 8th largest TV market.

Kansas City KMBC has also moved The City to 2.05 am to make way for the full hour of Caryl & Marilyn.The City's ratings have benefited from the change.When it aired at 11.30 am it averaged a 1.4/5-at 2.05 am it averages 2.6/30.

KMBC is No 30 in market size.

Some comments made by Don Hastings in a SOD interview,

"One of the problems we have on our show is with the writing of events and incidents.We jump from one thing to another,like dot to dot-and sometimes the dots aren't connected.We have a wonderful acting company who can do stories about real people.There's lots of mayhem and murder and bed to bed,but our strong suit is family.We've lacked that for a long time and hopefully we'll get back to that.

If we do,we might be number one someday.But if we try to copy other shows,we're doomed.Talking about the lack of seeing family together on our show,General Hospital had a 4th of July picnic and we didn't,and we're supposed to be the family show."

Those comments were made in 1981!

That was The Manions of America which starred Kate Mulgrew and Pierce Brosnan.

To the best of my recollection it aired just before Fall Premiere week,up against repeats and some premieres and did OK in the ratings.

Has the Loving premiere movie aired as a rerun in the states?

I know it has overseas as a standa alone title through the distribution company Fremantle.

Re the incest story.I read that ABC was premiering the TV movie Something About Amelia starring Ted Danson,which was being touted as a breakthrough in dealing with this topic.

ABC daytime got the word to drop the story as primetime wanted the movie to be hailed as a landmark and not some low rated daytime soap.

Ann had played Eunice for 10 years,in which time she had been through 2 marriages and a lot of story,so I could understand the decision to get rid of the character as the show was only 30 mins and casts were kept quite small in those days.

Budget wise it was probably a good move also,as it allowed for newer,younger and cheaper characters to be introduced.

However,long term I question the wisdom of writing off the character as she was Jo's only sibling.Patti was dropped not long after and it made it harder to keep Jo in the story.

It might have been interesting had Jo and Eunice been involved in a triangle.Maybe she divorced John and he turned to Jo.Or one of Jo's later romances turned into a triangle with Eunice.

As for the serial killer story,I think Sarah,Jo's never before mentioned grandaughter was a victim also.Louise Shaffer had not been well received as Stephanie,and like Eunice before her had been around for a decade and an older vet character was probably seen as expendable.

Serial killer stories were done to death in the 80's.Who was the Henderson killer?

From The Soap Opera Book

(The scenes of Jennifer shooting eunice are on YouTube,courtesy of Ann William's children.)

Eunice and John Wyatt's marriage was going through some bad times as a result of Eunice's sexual problems. John turned to Jennifer Pace, a beautiful younger woman, for comfort. He and Jennifer had an affair, which Eunice eventually discovered. John was determined to save his marriage and broke off his relationship with Jennifer. But Jennifer, an extremely insecure and clinging young woman, wouldn't let go. She was constantly visiting John's office, begging him to come back. Eunice usually walked in when they were together and no amount of explaining could convince her that the affair had ended. Finally, Jennifer called John, told him that someone had tried to rape her in her apartment and begged him to come over and protect her. John consequently spent the night on her couch. Eunice found out about it and didn't believe his version of the story. John moved out. Eunice soon realized that she was wrong and was going to try for a reconciliation—until she found out that John had moved in with Jennifer.

Eunice filed for divorce, even though she still loved John. John, meanwhile, found out that Jennifer had lied, and that no one had attacked her on that fateful night. Again he packed his bags. He and Eunice patched up their marriage and were back to being like newlyweds. Jennifer attempted suicide; she survived, but as a result went slightly crazy. She kept hearing John talking to her, telling her he loved her, and that he wanted her to kill Eunice so they could marry. All in Jennifer's head, of course. Still Jennifer stole a gun and shot and killed Eunice! Viewer sympathy lies with Eunice, in the grave.

Trouble was that writers following the Corringtons relied on Travis and Liza at the expense of everything else.

They were constantly put in jeopardy in plot driven stories,relying on action and locations for interest.The worst was the incomprehensible Operation Sunburst story.

There was talk of the show going to an hour around 78/79 when the Sentells and Tourneurs were introduced but CBS wanted Y&R to expand also and there simply wasn't room on the schedule.

Jennifer Gatti played Angela Moreno,daughter of Barbara Moreno(Olympia Dukakis)

I think they were brought on in the Joanna Lee era.Lee wanted the show to be more reality based and to get away from the action/adventure stuff.

Unfortunately,the producers/writers never stayed around long enough to fully implement their vision.There were way too many story and cast changes.

The show should have focused on Jo,Patti and her two kids Chris and Tracey,along with Stu,his son Tom and grandkids Liza,Garry and Danny.

But all the writers in the 80's wanted to ignore the history for no good reason.

Jack Parrish,who played Brad Garrick in 1980, passed away in October at age 56.

In the freeze shown above,the guy on the left is Seth Snyder.

I think Marland's thing of large families like the Reardons and Snyders doesn't always come off because they are never on at the same time and some members inevitably get lost in the shuffle.

Seth and Ellie have never had airtime or story since their original runs.