Paul Raven

The list of movies piloted or pick up as series is endless. Only a few ever took off. Sunset Boulevard was once considered. God knows how that could work as a series. Perhaps they were only going to use the title to attract viewers? Maybe it was going to deal with different residents of that address? Another one was Seven Year Itch. Again, difficult to grasp how it would work as a series.

The whole Christine/Danny wedding story is kind of random. Neither have had any presence on the show in years. As witnessed by the collection of 'friends' at the celebration. It's nice nostalgia but pretty much filler. Where is the wedding venue? GCAC?

Morgan was more suited to FC, FR and even Dallas than the more down to earth KL. And visually Morgan was probably too close to Donna Mills and would have played the same type of character. And when Jenna returned to Dallas, the character was much more sympathetic and relatable than anything Morgan ever played on the primetime soaps.

I was just going post that. What a bizarre idea. Such a contrived premise. As for Curtis and Lemmon, maybe that was unused footage from the movie?

Lee Grant, in her autobiography, talks about playing Rose Peabody on SFT. This was in the early 50's when she had, like many others, been blacklisted-unable to work in TV or movies due to supposed Communist sympathies. I remember getting a call from CBS asking if I was available to work on Danger, one of their shows, at the time. “No, no,” I protested, “you don’t mean me, check your records.” The nice network girl called back, flustered. “I’m sorry, you’re right, cancel that offer.” Then, through some wonderful oversight, I fell into a job on a soap opera. Ira Cirker was the producer-director. Soaps were big business, many of them with huge casts. I think it was Search for Tomorrow. I do know Mary Stuart, the leading lady who played Joanne Gardner, had been on every day since the show began. At the time my character was her friend Rose, who had a big grudge against Joanne for some reason. The last shot viewers had of me, I was holding a salt shaker containing poison over a soup pot in the kitchen. Would I or wouldn’t I poison the soup and kill Joanne and her loved ones? I felt really lucky. I was working live every morning, the show went straight into the television-watchers’ homes, the cast was like family, and I hoped that maybe the show was below the radar. I was going to work every day and nobody said anything. And my job was so fun. It was such a guilty pleasure to be below the visibility line on daytime television. Then Ira called me in. The network, CBS, had been threatened by Laurence Johnson, a grocer from Syracuse, New York. He’d read Red Channels and found me. Johnson owned a few supermarkets in Syracuse. A few markets, that’s all—not in New York City, not in Los An¬ geles. He threatened the advertising agency who represented Crest toothpaste, one of the sponsors of Search for Tomorrow. He would track down actors working on TV and threaten the sponsors—in this case. Crest—with a display in his markets in front of their merchan¬ dise: DO YOU WANT TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH WITH A PRODUCT FROM A COMPANY THAT EMPLOYS COMMUNISTS? It was very effective. Johnson also had a strong connection to a group of veterans in Syracuse, who he threatened would start a mail campaign. It put me out of the soap opera business and effectively stopped any paycheck I could count on, or Arnie could count on. Arnie had angina, and he needed help paying the bills. Losing the soap opera was a real loss for him and for me. *Subsequently both Nita Talbot and Constance Ford played Rose.

@Reverend Ruthledge Thank so much for this. I have read about the early years of TGL but this is at another level with a lot of new details that flesh out the story. The amazing thing is , that with a few tweaks, the story could be airing now. A rebooted Guiding Light recreating these plots, set in a multi cultural inner urban area would a great contrast to BTG. Go on CBS, do it! The Right to Happiness spin off which moved Rose Kransky to the new show debuted Oct 39. The Doris Cameron character was introduced to prepare viewers for the spin off. Many pages back we wondered how the Kranskys seem to move from Five Points and your summary explains Mrs Kransky selling her store and moving to Garden Heights. I'm going to have to re read this and maybe make a cast list. Hope you have more!!

Dallas was a 2 hr premiere defeating Miami Vice #23 and Crime Story #43 on NBC. ABC was out of contention with Sidekicks #51 Sledge Hammer #59 and Starman #62 Sledge Hammer was also given the 8.30 Tues slot b/w WTB and Moonlighting hence the high rating.

I agree, especially when Nicole can see what Leslie is like. It would be good storytelling to see a couple try and work through something rather than head straight to the divorce court. Not that I see much appealing about Ted 2.0. He is a good enough actor (probably better than MJ) but the writing and acting choices have made the character less compelling. But having both sisters divorce in the first year is too much.

Of course. Why does that wench need a win? Phyllis is one character that needs to go and she can take her son with her.

Yes please.

On the Soap Hoppers thread Fry is listed as Bud, the bar guy. Forget IMDB or other sources, Soap Hoppers is the definitive thread for checking actors soap roles. I not sure that a lot of posters go there.

Phyllis sunk to new levels of delusion today with her childish rants. If the idea was that were to feel some empathy for her as she gazed forlornly at the happy partygoers, it was a failure. As for the GCAC being booked out-why? Danny had Michael, Devon, Jack as guests with Nate crashing. Christine had Lauren, Diane, Traci with Victoria joining them. Hardly a reason to book out the entire venue. Maybe just reserve a table or two.

Superstition 1982 James Houghton Y&R/KL/Colbys Sweet 16 1982 Sharon Farrell Y&R/Rituals Dana Kimmell TX Blood Rage 1983 Jayne Bentzen EON The Initiation 1983 Hunter Tylo B&B Nightmare Vacation aka Sleepaway Camp 1984 Katherine Kamhi AMC The Deadly Intruder 1984 Chris Holder Y&R/AW/EON Fatal Games 1984 Michael O'Leary GL The Scaremaker AKA Girls Nite Out 1984 Julie Montgomery OLTL

BITD the likes of Phoebe Tyler and Kay Chancellor were popular with younger viewers because they liked to see older character called out for their foolish behaviour and hyprocrisy. Conversely they liked Kate Martin and Alice Horton, the ideal grandmothers. And they certainly related to the younger characters who were either counselled or manipulated by the older generation.

After everything that went down at Y&R I think producers are hesitant to cast her on a soap. All eyes would be on the show for the wrong reasons. Would she start to be vocal about storylines, relationships etc? They probably wouldn't think it was worth the risk.

Those kids are ready for college right? Why does Smitty need to be home darning socks? It's not an argument this couple should be having. I wish they had been written as child free and navigating other issues rather than being presented as Ward and June Cleaver.

Noah, Reed, Faith, Moses, Charlie, Mattie, Fen, Ana, Allie just some of the young and possibly restless characters of the next generation.

When Jackie (Scott) Marler and her father Emmett Scott were introduced the Dobsons were questioned as to whether they were related to Peggy, now going by her married name of Thorpe. They professed no knowledge that Peggy was a Scott, daughter of Ben and Maggie. Or maybe it was pointed out and they didn't care, probably reasoning that it was a common enough surname. Still wish that Billy Fletcher had been the Kelly Nelson character. Peggy was known to the audience, although her role had been diminished. She could have been there for Billy's intro 'handing' him over to Ed and Bert and hopefully Fran Myers would have agreed to return from time to time. That continuity is something special to soaps.

Hope they play this to the full potential. Missed opportunities, changes of plan , maybe someone taking Bill's medicine by mistake, Hayley almost getting caught or blackmailed by someone. Dani and Bill need to stay apart but always with that chance of reconciliation. They're more interesting apart than than together. Ted is just annoying now. Kat looks so much better dressed and styled as a woman and not a dressup doll.

Refreshing to see different characters and sets. I'm surprised Josh didn't decide to kill off Noah to provide more drama. It worked for Heather, Chance, Cole and Damian, right?

The Pam Chandler character was an unwed mother in the mid 70's which was a social issue type story. But more a reflection of the times than an out and out message story. GL never did a teen pregnancy story eg Hope didn't get knocked up by some sleazy boyfriend. I guess Bill and the Ed's alcoholism showed how it could be generational. But otherwise they seemed to stick with affairs, murders and villains causing problems.

Luckily Knots survived that move to 9pm. The thing was they had already tried Knots at 9pm in 81/82. It did OK at 9pm following Magnum but was losing a lot of the lead in. Magnum was hitting the Top 10 and Knots was in the 20's and 30's. So why they would try again a few seasons later? Well we know the cupboard was pretty bare at that time. CBS Friday also suffered by the lack of a stronger 8pm show that might have helped Dallas. They let Dukes of Hazzard play there too long. Once a show drops it's time to move it, or drop it. Dukes had weak competition and still faltered. CBS should have tried something there while they had the chance. Dukes fell from #6 in 81/82 to #30 in 82/83 and CBS did nothing. Detective in the House which took over would have little appeal to the Dukes audience.

Guess the wink was there for a reason. The twist is good but turning Hayley into a total scheming villianess is limiting in some ways. We will all now be waiting for her comeuppance whereas if she were a little more grey then there would be more mileage. Hayley needed more colors, for sure, but too make her so calculating? Especially as Leslie is running in the same lane. There still hasn't been an explanation as to why Bill, who seems a pretty savvy dude, was taken in by Hayley, after so many affairs. How was this different? Had Dani had enough, or was it the fact that Hayley was known to the Duprees the final straw? Did Bill commit to Hayley to save face? Coz he could have just as easily dumped her when the affair came to light, to show Dani she meant nothing to him. I also think Hayley should have got some sympathy from the Duprees as a victim of Big Bad Bill. She could have used that to her advantage.

1984