Paul Raven

Variety reports that in Sept 71 Bethel Leslie and Jerry Day leave as headwriters to write film scripts.

In January 66 John Boruff joined Agnes Nixon as headwriter.He had been playing Henry Benedict on GL.This was when Agnes took over AW,so she must have stayed on at GL for a while also. Theodore and Mathilde Ferro became headwriters in May 67.

March 66 Robert Soderberg named as headwriter

CBS ruled the roost.It must have been unsettling for them just a few years later to see that dominance threatened. In June 67,AW knocked To Tell The Truth from its longtime position as #1 in the 3pm timeslot.By 68 it had been cancelled and replaced by Secret Storm.

Charles Grant (Preacher EON,Grant B& played Connor in 92/93

Judith McConnell was cast on Bright Promise but the show was cancelled.

just catching up on these great articles. Marion Brash looks very brash indeed. Variety reported that Judith McConnell had signed on for Bright Promise in Jan 72.Obviously the show was canned before she made it to air,unless she appeared briefly in the final weeks.

December 65 Daytime's Top 20 1. As The World Turns CBS 1.30 - 2.00 13.8 (NBC Let's Make a Deal,ABC Ben Casey) 2. Password CBS 2.00 - 2.30 12.1 (NBC Days of Our Lives,ABC The Nurses) 3. House Party CBS 2.30 - 3.00 11.8 (NBC The Doctors,ABC A Time For Us) 4. The Guiding Light CBS 12.45 - 1.00 11.9 (NBC Let's Play Post Office ,ABC Father Knows Best) 5. Search For Tomorrow CBS 12.30 -12.45 10.8 (as above) 6. To Tell The Truth CBS 3.00 - 3.25 10.3 (NBC Another World, ABC General Hospital) 7. Secret Storm CBS 4.00 - 4.30 10.3 (NBC Match Game, ABC Never Too Young) 8. Edge Of Night CBS 3.30 - 4.00 8.7 (NBC You Don't Say, ABC The Young Marrieds) 9. Love of Life CBS 12.00 - 12.25 9.2 (NBC Jeopardy, ABC Donna Reed Show) 10. News CBS 3.25 - 3.30 9.1 (see #6) 11. Dick Van Dyke CBS 11.30 - 12.00 9.1 (NBC Paradise Bay, ABC Missing Links) 12. Andy of Mayberry CBS 11.00 - 11.30 8.2 (NBC Morning Star, ABC Get The Message) 13. Match Game NBC 4.00 - 4.30 7.4 (CBS Secret Storm,ABC Never Too Young) 14. Yiu Don't Say NBC 3.30 - 4.00 6.9 (CBS Edge of Night, ABC The Young Marrieds) 15. General Hospital ABC 3.00 -3.30 6.9 (NBC Another World CBS To Tell The Truth) 16. News CBS 12.25 - 12.30 6.8 (see #9) 17, Another world NBC 3.00 - 3.30 6.5 (ABC General Hospital,CBS To Tell The Truth) 18. The Doctors NBC 2.30 -3.00 6.3 (ABC A Time For Us, CBS House Party) 19. Where The Action Is ABC 4.30 - 5.00 6.3 (NBC Local, CBS Local) 20. Concentration NBC 5.8 10.30 - 11.00 (ABC The Price Is Right.CBS I Love Lucy)

Variety reports that in June 69 ,Robert J Shaw departs as headwriter to be replaced by Robert and Eileen Pollack.It noted that the Pollacks had been away from soaps for 10 years,having last worked on Brighter day. By February 1970,the Pollacks were out and Richard and Esther Shapiro were announced as new headwriters. This contradicts the list of headwriters published in Soap World and other soap books.

Kathryn is looking a little Janis Ian in that pic. I read elsewhere what religion she followed,but can't remember offhand.

In 65,there was a possibility of Edge going primetime.Variety reported that CBS and P&G were thinking along these lines after the success of Peyton Place.The report stated they had decided to put a hold on those plans to see how Peyton fared over the long run. Imagine if Edge had been given that chance...

In 1978 Barbara Stuart filled in for an ailing Rachel Ames for 6 weeks on General Hospital.

James DePaiva tried out for Jamie on AW that went to Laurence Lau and was interested in the Ben Warren role on GL.Was in talks with Rauch,but elected to stay at OLTL.

Shaffer took over in 67.Emily never married Len.She married Nick,but I have never read much about them or why they divorced. Jo mentioned Arthur and this must have been not long after his death. The other thing i noticed was that the supporting characters-,Emily,Nick,Andrea and even Len had it pretty easy script wise-they didn't have a lot of lines.

Great stuff!! Thank you Saynotoursoap.So this was mid 66. I liked Melissa as Patty.I wonder why she left/was replaced? Same with Virginia Gilmore.Books have off in 67,then Lesley Woods before Joan Copeland.Was Andrea written out between actresses?Was Woods just temp until Copeland? Interesting to see that in the 15 min,the show moved quite quickly.from daytime at the hospital,to evening at Jo's.Also,the fact that they moved straight to Patti/Andrea with no time elapsing. There seemed to be less filler.Later on ,we would have had Andrea open the door to Patit,preliminary chit chat and much more before Andrea's offer. Also,Burr DeBenning was playing Nick,whereas some references have Ken Kercheval in the role from 65.

I've done some research via newpaper archives.Geraldine was announced in Dec 71 as Jennifer and Gillian in March 72,so it looks like Geraldine was let go after her first 13 week cycle.

Alda makes it seem like Days was his first soap,with all that talk about regrets he didn't do it sooner.But he was on Love of Life in the mid 60's. When Pat Falken Smith returned Stuart Whyland,previously the big power broker in Salem, was revealed to be fronting for the DiMeras and was ushered out of town. I thought that was clever. Incidentally,Martha Smith,who played Sandy Horton for a brief time in the early 80's has popped up on Selling LA on HGTV.She is now working in real estate.

In that 80's era of big,big hair Colleen really stood out with that chic cut.It really became her signature look. Regarding Barbara's mother Jennifer,little mention is ever made of Geraldine Court,who originated the role.How long was she on? Did anyone (saynotoursoap?)see her in the role? I see Gillian Spencer took over in 72.Was this because Irna returned and didn't like Geraldine in the role?

How long did SF keep GL on the air?

Patty is 12 years younger than Hays-did that show onscreen? Also I assume she was brunette for the role,as most of what I have seen her in,she was blonde. A very suspicious delivery man was found near the bookstore and when Lisa described the man to Jay, he realized he was his stepfather, Gil Stallings. Nobody believed that Gil is the one who tried to kill Lisa twice. One night, Gil locked Lisa in a closet and told Jay he married his mother for the money but the money was left to Jay. He would kill Lisa and made it look as though Jay killed her and then killed himself. Grant learned form Salt Lake City police Gil inherited Jay’s legacy and realized Jay and Lisa were in danger. He surprised Gil who had shot Jay. Jay was hospitalized and Gil was killed escaping.

Andrea refused to let go of Sam to the point that she would rather kill him than let Jo have him.She had already turned Len against him.Sam was dependant on a drug(for medicinal porposes) that if combined with liquor could kill him so Andrea mixrd it into a drink.Andrea mistakenly took the drink and almost died.Sam was put on trial for attempted murder. On the witness stand,Andrea admitted an affair with another man,whom she was seeing the night Len's twin brother died in a fire. This all happened around 1968.Jo was involved as it affected her relationship with Sam and the fact that her son in law was Sam's son.

After Sam disappeared,presumed dead,Jo got involved with Tony,who had his own complications-Marcy,the wife faking paralysis to hold onto him.They divorced finally and Jo and Tony were due to be married when Sam returned -his personality affected by his ordeal in Africa..Jo broke up with Sam and planned to marry Sam,but her earlier blindness returned,this time a psychosomatic illness caused by her conflict over the two men. On the wedding day,Jo could not go through with it and a deranged Sam took her to a cabin.Everyone assumed they had been married and were on their honeymoon.Two hippies arrived (one played by Susan Satrandon) and shot Sam.Jo escaped.She was found unconscious and her sight returned.Tony and Jo wed.

AW's ratings woes began before the 90 min expansion.The move to 90 min was a misguided ploy to boost sagging ratings.Against a resurgent GH under Monty/Marland and the expanded GL,AW began to drop in 78. The P&G clash of shows began when EON moved to ABC and was up against Somerset. Bev was asked to return to AW in 84 but decided against it for several reasons,one being the daily trip to Brooklyn was too draining for her.

A 1973 Variety article states that Mary Grover was part of the original Y&R cast.Does anyone know anything of this? Was she replaced by another actress?