Paul Raven

The first true primetime soap was Peyton Place airing on ABC from 64-69. It was 1/2 hr in length and ran 2 and 3 times a week. The cast included Dorothy Malone,Mia Farrow,Ryan O'Neal,EdNelson(Cap)David Canary(AMC)Ruth Warrick(AMC)Barbara Rush(AMC)James Douglas(ATWT,AW,DRS) A few cast members played in the daytime follow up Return to Peyton Place.NBC 72-74 CBS had a short lived competitor Our Private World which spun off the ATWT character of Lisa into her own series.It ran from May-Sep 65and also included Geraldine Fitzgerald and Nicholas Coster(veteran of many soaps) Unlike the 80's, when all the networks scheduled their own soaps,there didn't seem to be any imitators in the 60's. One pilot that was produced was Della.It starred Joan Crawford and Diane Baker .The projected series was to be called Royal Bay.

Some more for the list.Seems CBS was more interested in the genre than ABC or NBC,probably due to the success of Dallas,Knots and Falcon Crest. Angel Falls CBS Sept 93 Thursdays @10 After her father passes away, Rae Dawn Snow decides to pack up and move back to Angel Falls, her home town in the woods of Montana. Coming back to her roots, she rekindles an old romance with Eli Harrison, while her 16-year-old son strikes up a relationship with Eli's daughter. Starring James Brolin,Peggy Lipton,Kim Catrall,Jean Simmons,Brian Kerwin(KL&Y/R)Grace Zabriskie (SB) Don't know much about this one.Scheduled just before the fall season premieres in the Knots Landing timeslot.Played out its 6 episodes. Emerald Point NAS CBS 83-84 Mondays@10 The interlocking worlds of the military and big business. Starring Dennis Weaver,Maud Adams,JillSt John, Susan Dey,Charles Frank(AMC)Richard Dean Anderson(GH)Robert Loggia(SFT) The ratings were OK for this one andCBS gave it a full season but they obviously didn't have enough faith in the show to try for a2nd season. Cagney & Lacey took the timeslot in the following season and was a big hit.

The thread about Lynne Marie Latham and her involvement in many nightime soaps reminded me of how popular the genre was back in the day.I'm hoping you might join me in reminiscing about some of those shows. Although more often than not they were short lived,many were well executed and given the chance could've caught on.Soaps need time for audiences to get involved in character and story but the networks didn't show a lot of patience. Many soap names appeared in these shows. Two shows I enjoyed: Berrengers-1985 NBC Sat@10 About a NY department store,it starred Sam Wanamaker,Yvette Mimieux and Ben Murphy. Also included in the cast - Jonelle Allen(Generations) Andrea Marcovicci(LIAMST) Alan Feinstein (EON) Jeff Conaway (B& Jack Scalia (AMC) Saturday at that time was not doing well for NBC and the thinking was this was not the spot for a soap as many people were out and could not commit to a weekly serial. The Yellow Rose NBC Sat @10 Set on a modern day Texas ranch,it starred Cybill Sheppard,Sam Eliot,Chuck Conors David Soul and Edward Albert(PC).Jane Russell also made some appearances. Beaten in the ratings by Fantasy Island. What other shows do you recall?