Paul Raven

Elizabeth Savage played Lynx(!)on GH after her Loving stint.Then pretty much disappeared from view.

I am unclear as to the fate of Nola and her baby.I will dig out SODs from that time and let you know. By the way We Love Soaps is reporting that The Doctors will air on The Hallmark channel this year! No further news at this stage.

From SOD January 20 1981 Billy's mysterious calls to California are explained when Natalie Bell arrives in Madison. She had to be with him,but he's afraid thar her presence will ruin their plans. Natalie tells him not to worry. Billy and Natalie met when they both worked for Miss Van Allen,a wealthy woman in California. Miss Van Allen unwittingly planted the idea in Billy's brain for a scheme to gain a fortune. It seems Miss Van Allen inherited her brother's money.She also wanted custody of Van Allen's daughter ,who is none other than Greta Powers!(Greta's natural father was Maggie's first husband Kurt Van Allen.) Miss Van Allen lost the custody battle to Kurt's widow Maggie! Now that she is facing death,she wants Greta,her niece ,and only surviving relative,to be her sole heir. Billy and Natalie soon concocted a plan to get that money for themselves.He will marry Greta and...and what?What did Natalie mean when she said that Greta would not "be around much longer". Natalie tells Billy he must work very quickly,because Miss Van Allen's health is much worse..to speed things up,Natalie suggests that he try to "romance" Greta instead of hot passion."Appeal to her mind ,not just her body". Billy's new approach may just be successful.After convincing Greta to have lunch with him at The Medicine Man,he gets down to work.He smoothly apologizes for making love to her.It was because he was so relieved about Lee Ann that he got carried away.But it was all his fault and he feels terrible that she feels so guilty.Billy soon convinces Greta that he is kind,considerate ,and very loving.

Yes I have received your email. Thank you so much. New Years is a busy time and I am saving up those summaries for when I can relax and enjoy. Happy New Year to you and all soap history fans!

The Doctors was cancelled 26 years ago Dec 31st 1982. Jane Badler was the second actress to play Natalie.Laurie Klatscher originated the role in 1980.Badler took over in 81. Incidentally,Jane Badler now lives in Melbourne Australia where she occasionally acts on stage and tv.She also is a singer and plays various clubs.She is still looking good! Natalie was mostly involved with Luke Dancy and later with Paul Reed.In the last episode,she discovered that Paul was a murderer. Over the next few days.I'll try and find more details of Natalie's storyline.

Dec 28th 1984 Edge of Night is cancelled!

michael.thanks for reviving the thread.I think there is plenty left to discuss about The Doctors. Buddy,Althea's son by Dave Davis,died from meningitis.I don't think Dave's fate was ever dealt with after he left town. Althea was head of the outpatient clinic at Hope Memorial.She was engaged to Matt Powers before he married Maggie. Matt and Maggie married in 68 as did Nick and Althea.I would guess that Buddy died around 66 or 67. Penny went to live with her father in California. Christopher Norris and Jami Fields played Penny until this time.When she was brought back around 73/74 Julia Duffy took over.Penny married Jerry Dancy and they were written out in 77. Elizabeth Hubbard left around 78 and when she returned Penny's death was written in.I think it was a plane crash.Jerry returned to the show. I think it was one of the many mistakes of the show to kill off Penny.it left althea with less to do.Penny could have been a viable character in her twenties,definitely a viable character.

I am pretty certain the Capitol premiere was on tape. The show did well in the ratings ,as the Dallas lead in had huge ratings at the time.I remember Capitol had a 32 share,which while good,was well below what Falcon Crest did in that timeslot.

From SOD Jan 95 CRISIS IN CORINTH Loving - which is daytime's perpetually lowest rated soap seems to weather a major upheaval once a year - is in the midst of further serious changes. First up - head writers Laurie McCarthy and Addie Walsh have been fired. "We opted not to pick them up",an ABC rep comments,referring to their contracts. Rumor has it that former GL writers nancy Curlee,Stephen Demorest and Patrick Mulcahy,And former AW head writer Donna Swajeski,are potential replacements. An ABC rep declined comment. Additionally,Loving will lose young heartthrob Robert Tyler(Trucker)in Jan,and numerous set sources report that the show's two other younger leading men are thinking of leaving when their cxontracts are up next year."We never discuss contracts",a spokesperson for the shows says. Good news:Catherine Hickland(Tess) will remain onscreen,even though she will star in the Broadway musical Les Miserables beginning Jan 17. Throughout the upheaval,Supervising Producer Jean Dadario Burke is helming the show while Exec Producer Jo Ann Emmerich recuperates from a seroius illness."We're rudderless",laments a Loving actor. The truth is that Loving's talented cast and crew have been the soap's saving grace this year.Reportedly,the actors often rewrite their own lines and work behind the scenes to ensure that their performances are the best they can be.Loving staffers frequently work until 9 or 10 at night,which is very unusual for a half hour show.Yet,despite their committment,Loving remains the lowest rating soap. The logicalquestion is Will Loving be cancelled? "ABC is committed to Loving",an ABC rep maintains. Stay tuned.

New Kids On The Block LOVING’s Boys And Girls Of Summer Are Pumping The Show Full Of Young Blood By Jennifer Woodhouse You've read in these pages about LOVING's nationwide search to find new young talent. The hunt is over — now's your chance to judge the results. These fresh faces will be on LOVING's front burner all summer in stories that take the show, according to Executive Producer Fran Sears, "back to basics. We're going back to Alden University, which was so much a part of the show's beginnings." Not that the kids are flying solo, without benefit of family ties. According to Head Writer Addie Walsh, "We're connecting them strongly to their families; we're not just isolating them." Cooper is an Alden, Casey is Gift's son and Hannah is Dinah Lee's little sister. The writers are using these relationships, as well as the fraternity/sorority setting, as springboards for the new characters. The summer storylines revolve around Cooper Alden, their "wild card," according to Walsh. A traumatic incident lurks in rebellious Cooper's background. "We're building a classic quadrangle around him," reveals Walsh. Watch for action between Cooper, Hannah, Ally and Staige, with Kent acting as spoiler. Ally Rescott, an outsider to Corinth society, will learn the hard way that social climbing rarely pays. She is the first to attract Cooper. But Cooper is drawn to the sweet, innocent Hannah Mayberry, to whom he will open up like never before. "Hannah is the person who perceives the troubled soul in Cooper," says Walsh. "And that will be a major plot point." Meanwhile, Kent and Staige, AU's "face man" and "star girl" (terms the writers discovered when interviewing students about the Greek system), are out to cause nothing but trouble for Cooper. Nasty, nouveauriche Kent loathes the young Alden, and superficial Staige, Kent's girlfriend, wants Cooper — but only because he's an Alden. "Kent feels very threatened by Cooper coming onto his turf, which will result in physical and emotional injury for the young men," says Walsh. Casey Bowman, Giff Bowman's son, will act as a sobering force on the scene. "He finds himself in the position of a child raising a parent, which has matured him faster in some ways, but he lost some of his childhood. He is the wiser one of our kids. He's going to have a very strong effect on Ally, and there will be a chemistry between him and Ally that both of them will deny. They're like oil and water, but the oil and water might do a little mixing," Walsh hints.

From SOD Nov 89 LOVING Every Minute of It :Head writers Millee Taggart and Tom King Have a Most Unusual Relationship. Taggart and King have been Loving's head writers since the end of the 88 writers' strike. The remarkable aspect of their professional relationship is that they work in separate locations. Millee lives in Westchester County,NY,while Tom lives in Manhattan. "Tom and I have been a team since the early 80's. We're not married and we each have separate lives", Millee explains. "We're on the phone all the time and meet every Monday at the studio to lay out what we're going to do for the week". The achieved result is not homogenized. Rather, it's two distinct points of view being presented, which suits them in a lot of ways. Taggart asserts, "We find that if we talk everything to death, we won't get the maximum creativity out of what we're trying to do. To me, it's the most natural way of working." King maintains, "it wouldn't add anything to work together. If you're writing, you're still working alone." Not that they haven't tried the togetherness approach. As head writers for ATWT and RH, Taggart and King spent several years working out of the same office. In california, they also wrote two mid-season replacements sitcoms, The Thorns and Nothing in Common. Though the shows were shortlived, they gave the team the opportunity to write comedy, which they both really enjoy. King insists, "We both like to inject comedy wherever we can. I think Ava on Loving is a hoot." Taggart adds, "I like writing daytime a lot.It's rather exciting because it's very immediate. It doesn't get over polished because there isn't enough time." Often,the two writers will spend a weekend with Loving's exec producer Joseph Hardy, to discuss potential story lines. Then they'll go home,write, and, later exchange results. Taggart notes, "Tom has total freedom to change whatever I've written. We allow each other to be as creative as possible in the framework of a collaboration." Taggart and King have found a way for two very different people to do the best they can.

Re Flamingo Road,the movie. I wonder why,out of all the suitable 40's/50's movies,this was chosen as the basis for a primetime soap? The cast Lane Bellamy Joan Crawford Titus Semple Sydney Greenstreet Fielding Carlisle Zachary Scott Annabelle Weldon Virginia Huston Lute Mae Sanders Gladys George Dan Reynolds David Brian The Dan Reynolds character was Sam Curtis,Lane's surname was changed to Ballou! and Annabelle became Constance. The plot Lane is a carnival dancer who gets stranded in a small town ruled bt Sheriff Titus.Field is attracted to her and gets her a waitress job.Titus,who has ambitions for Field,considers Lane inappropriate and gets her fired.She confronts him and he frames her on a prostitution rap. He then pushes field into a marriage to Annabelle. After a few months,Lane returns and gets a job in Lute-Mae's roadhouse.She meets Dan and they begin dating.Dan is locked in a power struggle with Titus. Lane loves Field still,but marries Dan.Together they climb to the top and Lane realises she does love her husband. Field ,after being fired by Titus, kills himself at Lane's house and scandal ensues. Lane confronts Titus and accidentally kills him.The film ends with Lane awaiting a courts ruling and Dan indicating he will wait for her. Like some other Crawford movies of the time,she was too old for the part.

Yes,Lin Bolen made a lot of changes to the gameshow schedule and format after she arrived in 73. From the net: When Lin Bolen took over as NBC’s head of daytime programming in 1973, she wanted to change the look of the network’s games, most of which had an elderly feel. After dropping the long-running Concentration and The Who, What or Where Game, Bolen’s biggest shocker was moving Jeopardy! from 12 noon (where it had been for over eight years) to 10:30 a.m. to make room for Jackpot! Her explanation was that its ratings were slipping (slightly), while producer Rudin claimed she needed the slot for her own project and that Jeopardy! challenged its viewers too much to air at that early hour. That aside, it did manage to compete with CBS’s The $10,000 Pyramid and Now You See It, until Bolen moved it again – to 1:30 p.m., against As The World Turns and Let’s Make a Deal, both very highly rated. That did it – Jeopardy’s ratings slid into the basement. The show, which had a year to go on its contract, was canceled by NBC in a deal with Merv Griffin, with Griffin placing a new game on NBC’s daytime schedule in its place. (That game, of course, was Wheel of Fortune, so Merv made out pretty good on the deal.) The last NBC episode of Jeopardy! aired January 3, 1975, with an emotional farewell from Fleming and tons of clips. In giving Jackpot! the noon slot, Jeopardy! was shoved to 10:30 a.m. in the process. Jackpot! has been reviled for this reason, but the decision was Lin Bolen’s, head of NBC daytime, who considered 12 noon a primo spot. (History has determined otherwise: affiliates generally bump a network program at 12 noon in favor of local news.) Up against CBS’s The Young and The Restless and ABC’s Password, Jackpot! actually held its own – it didn’t dominate the time period like Jeopardy! had, but it at least was competitive with Y&R, and usually beat Password. As for HTSAM,I think the problems began with that clunky title.I guess they were going with a 70's self help vibe but the working title From This Moment sounded better to me.(I have also seen it as From This Day Forth)I think the show was already dead and buried when it was moved to 1.30 as NBC announced the plan to expand had DOOL in Feb 75.They had already aired a 60 min DOOL in Nov 74.Was it tied into a special event? eg a wedding? I have also read that The Doctors and Marriage aired 1 hr eps as trials.Does anyone know if this is true and when they aired? After cancellation Armand Assante(Johnny)and Lauren White(Martha) went to The Doctors,Cathy Greene(Lori)went to AW,Elissa Leeds went AMC and Veleka Gray to Somerset. NBC aired a primetime show called WEB,losely based on Network with Pamela Bellwood(Claudia, Dynasty) as a female network chief.It was one of the first shows cancelled in the 78 TV season and was produced by ...Lin Bolen!

The show was one of CBS attempts to get the young folks watching. At the time,it had one of the highest awareness ratings,due to CBS ' massive publicity drive.Ironically,most people said they wouldn't be watching - which explains the lackluster ratings. The competition was Grace Under Fire/Naked Truth on ABC and Dateline on NBC.Grace was in the Top 20 and Naked and Dateline Top 30. Nine episodes aired before the show was yanked during November sweeps.It came back as CPW the following summer.CBS had obviously lost interest.

Although Henry Slesar was primarily a mystery writer,he was also able to play up the emotional'soapy'aspect of the plots. I remember reading that Gloria Monty simply took the Edge formula of ongoing mystery/action stories and ran with it,creating much publicity,while Edge died in the ratings and was cancelled - never really acknowledged for originating it and doing it better.

The other actor playing Kyle was Gene Lindsey,although I'm not sure who played the role first. I have a feeling it was Wayne Tippit.I recall an interview with him,where he said that he was called back to resume playing Kyle but wasn't interested/available. As regards Tom Carroll,I have seen James Rebhorn listed as playing Tom.Was this before Jonathon Frakes or a temp replacement? Lauren White originated the role of MJ and played her for 3 years till 78.Carla Dragoni was her replacement,but she was quickly dropped when Kathy Glass became available.When Glass left,they recast again with Amy Ingersoll.I don't know why they bothered as the show was making a lot of changes and didn't seem interested in continuity.MJ ,by this stage ,was expendable. Lauren White had been on How to Survive a Marriage,but after The Doctors disappeared from view.

Kyle was played by Wayne Tippit,who had previously played one of the Jerry Ames on Secret Storm and who would join Search for Tomorrow in 78 as Ted Adamson. As for Eleanor's departure,French Fan's upcoming summaries will hopefully clear that up. Do we know who played Evan,Doreen's father? Still not clear on Stacy Well's as Jason's stepdaughter.Who was her mother?

It's interesting you praise Margo McKenna because at the time,a respected soap journalist(was it John Kelly Genovese?)slammed her as the worst actress on the show! She previously played Betsy on Love of Life and was one of the first performers to move to another show when LOL was cancelled. I think she later had a small role on ATWT.

Thank you Deli for that information. I just discovered that Darren Match was played by Arthur Brooks.I wonder if he was intended to be a major character,but got lost in the writer changes. There is You Tube clip that shows credits from December 81 - it lists Aaron Scott and Ann Marie Barlow as writers. They must have been temporary before Lemay began

Generations had it tough. By the end,the show had really come together(isn't that true of many cancelled shows?)The timeslot was one factor-up against 2 top shows.Also,I don't think it ever had the affiliate support as NBC was never a player at 12.30 and it never had strong network coverage. I wonder,also,if there was a change of management at NBC,with the new regime not as enamored of this low rating soap(does anyone know for sure?) The opening episode set up some back story,but I wonder whether having Pat Crowley front and center was a wise move.She is an attractive and talented actress,but it gave the impression it was an 'older folks' show-Rebecca,Vivian,Henry,Jessica,Hugh etc were all in their 40's and 50's.The only younger characters shown were Adam and Sam.Maybe the show needed to be a little more young feeling out the gate. That opening soap sequence was a bit of a turn off-it went on too long and was so amateurish that a casual viewer might have lost interest. The voiceovers explaining things- maybe slowed things down.Perhaps just dive into things and leave the explanations till later. Debbi Morgan and James Reynolds joined later.I'm sure the show would have benefitted from having them as part of the original cast.

For the record (and hopefully further discussion) Love of Life's headwriters John Hess Harry Junkin Don Ettlinger John Pickard and Frank Provo Loring Mandel Robert Soderberg Robert J Shaw Roy Winsor Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock Ray Goldstone Paul Roberts and Don Wallace Esther and Richard Shapiro Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer 73-75 Margaret DePriest 75 Paul and Margaret Schneider Gabrielle Upton Jean Holloway 79-80 Ann Marcus 80

For the record- The Doctors headwriters (with approximate timelines) Orin Tovrov (creator) 63 Ian Martin James Lipton Rita Lakin (I have read this stint began in 66) Rick Edelstein Ira Avery and Stanley H Silverman Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock (early/mid 70's till 75) Robert Cenedella 75 Margaret DePriest 75-76 Douglas Marland 76-77 Ethel and Mel Brez 77-78 Linda Grover 78-79 Elizabeth Levin and David Cherill 79-80 Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt Lawrence and Ronnie Wencker-Connor Harding Lemay Barbara Morgenroyh and Leonard Kantor 82

For the record -WTHI headwriters Lou Scofield and Margaret DePriest (creators) Gabrielle Upton Cornelius Crane Rick Edelstein Pat Falken Smith Robert and Elizabeth Haggard Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer This indicates a lot of behind the scenes changes over the 4 years.It seems Scofield and DePriest didn't last long.I have seen Rick Edelstein listed as a writer for other shows and Cornelius Crane is listed on IMDB as having written for Strange Paradise. I read on another site that the Haggards were in fact another well known writing team, using an assumed name for some reason. Does anyone know why there were so many writer changes on the show?

A description from an old soap book,circa 76 The Doctors is an NBC show in the half hour format.It is,according to the announcer,'dedicated to the brotherhood of healing'. Like General Hospital,The Doctors has gone through many transitions in the past few years. Families that have endured the inevitable purges are the Aldriches and the Powers. Dr Matt Powers is the patriach of the show,head of hospital and family. None of his positions is secure. The Doctors is a traditional soap which bases much of its story on marital conflict,love triangles,blackmail,amnesia etc.It has also treated the topical problem of euthanasia,through the dilemma of a young girl connected to a respirator without any chance of recovery to a normal life.(The legal language here was quite close to that of the recent Quinlan case.) This past year,The Doctors began to move away from its core storyline of Matt and Maggie. There's been more sex,more drugs and many complaining letters. The audience is older,and "more staid and very righteous,"according to one of the programs decision makers. They can accept kissing,but not bed scenes-not even between their favorite characters. The show does other interesting things. On the doctors we have the first doctor in soapland who operates unneccesarily(thogh we've suspected many others). There is also a story developing around male menopause. At present,The Doctors seems to be in one of its transitional periods. The direction of the storyline is unclear. There are rumors that The Doctors may be cancelled,and if so,this will happen in the spring.However the ratings for the show are nowhere as low as the recently cancelled Somerset,and it may well survive.

Just discovered that MJ's sister Betsy was played by Carol Potter (Cindy Walsh 90210/Joan Cummings SuBe) Also,Millette Alexander apparently subbed as Maggie early in the show's run.