Paul Raven

Yes there is something about GR's onscreen persona that is grating to me. Same with Michelle Stafford. Nina on GH was just as annoying to me as Phyllis.

But they then have the option of dropping Chance for a while when he is not needed. Recurring works well budget and story wise as long as the actor is happy with more limited appearances. These ongoing characters appear to be recurring. Most, but not all officially acknowledged. Esther Lauren Michael Chance Abby Jill Mariah Tessa

I agree but as I stated Mamie didn't really change with the recast. It wasn't like she suddenly became Auntie Mame instead of Aunt Mamie. She still filled the same role as Marguerite. Maybe it was a BTS thing-money or personality clash?

josh saying he loves Hitchcock and was inspired by 'Strangers on a Train'. Let's hope he doesn't rewatch 'Psycho' or 'The Birds'.

That brief scene demonstrated both the feelings Mamie had for the family and through Ashley the family's love for her. Well played. A couple of things...Why was Marguerite Ray dropped? Veronica Redd didn't really change Mamie in anyway and I could see MR doing fine in scenes with Winters sisters. And how many strokes and heart attacks did John Abbott have?

Courier Express, 3 August 1980 Eplsodic TV Bores Star of "Texas" BEVERLEE MC KINSEY, looking lean but hardly mean as afternoon soap fans know her, sat down in a room filled with television columnists who usually pass on watching the afternoon serials. Miss McKinsey, who this week shifts her act from "Another World" to NBC's new hour soap, 'Texas," sized up her situation immediately and smiled. "What's that?" she asked. "You don't know Iris? Why, that's like not knowing J. R. Ewing!" The veteran of afternoon drama, viewed loyally by far more than housewives in this modern era, took a deep breath and intoned: "'I've been on that show 7and a half years. Let's see now, how do I describe that woman?" I'LL SPARE YOU the trials and tribulations Beverlee spun before us. If you've followed a soap for a time, or even if you know of someone who has, you can imagine what Iris Bancroft has been through. Call it the wringer of life. Only Iris isn't one of those characters to whom things happen. No, she makes them happen to others. She's a villainess. But now here's the deep shocker for all faithful followers of ""Another World": Iris will be a villainess no more. And Beverlee McKinsey isn't sure that turn of events augers well for "Texas." "I don't know if audiences will like that,"" she admitted to the assembled scribes "I've found they like Iris because she's bad. But now she's going to be a romantic heroine and my challenge will be to keep enough of the old character in there " BEVERLEE LEFT no doubt she's genuinely worried about the serial even before the suds appear. 'You must have a villain for it to work,." she stressed "And I don't know who it's going to be on 'Texas .'" Now if you're getting the idea that Beverlee McKinsey is one who speaks her mind, you're getting the right idea. Another example came when someone asked her about the deep moral messages many feel can be found throughout soap operas. "Soaps are moral?" she asked with a grin. "If they are, they only do it to keep you interested - and not for any real moral reason." What does she think about soap operas - 'Another World" for instance? "I DON'T READ the scripts." she replied to incredulous looks. "And I don't watch the show I can't tell you what's happening on 'Another World" right now. I don't watch it and I never did." So there. How's that for honestly? But wait - there's more ''Episodic TV bores me," Miss McKinsey maintains ''So I don't watch it " And so in a few sentences, she has lambasted afternoon soaps and much of prime. time programming as well What's next? Well. there are certain things she won't do on TV. For example, she won't go for '"'stripping'' scenes, which, in case you think evening TV is suggestive; no longer raise eyebrows in the afternoon. So when her producers asked, Beverlee said no-no. "I read this script and said, what is this? Not only do we have to be 18 but naked too? I called up and told them, 'I don't take my clothes off. As Jim Garner said, I don't do horror films. I will appear to be naked - but sitting in bed taking each other's clothes off? That's out." Now stand by for more honesty from Beverlee. "I was going to leave 'Another World' and daytime TV when 'Texas' came along," she revealed. "At the end of November, (producer) Paul Rauch called me into his office and said, 'You're going to be the star.' I replied, 'What am I here?' And he said, 'No, I mean this new story will feature you.' "I HAD PLANNED to tell him in a month that I would retire. But I accepted for a limited time. And I will do this for only 18 months." Beverlee sounds as if she doesn't enjoy acting in soaps, doesn't she? It's true she does dwell on the negative aspects, but beyond all those complaints exists appreciation for her good fortune "I heard the girl who plays Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) on 'Dallas' say to (Johnny) Carson one night that hers is the most exciting role in soaps," Miss McKinsey said. "I thought, honey, you haven't tapped It. Daytime TV offers roles you cannot find else. where Look at me. I'm going from 90 to 60 minutes (dally) and my salary is going upward. "IF THERE IS anything really bad about it," she continued, 'it's the work routine. I don't take my work home with me and why should I? I leave my house at 5 a.m. and finish shooting at 8:30 p.m. It gets very tiring." It also gets painful when an actress going through such a grind falls off a ladder at home and injures her arm. "I was taking a curtain rod down in my bedroom," she relates. "I flew and the wall gave way. I landed about five feet away and lay there for 3% hours until my husband found me. "At first, they said I had a broken collarbone. I don't throw anasthesia off quickly, so I didn't have surgery. I was advised not to unless it's life or death and this wasn't. And without surgery I'll never have full use of my left arm. They should have pinned it. It's still extremely painful." So that unfortunate accident idled Beverlee for a time, but now she's ready for "Texas" starting Monday (Ch. 2, 3 p.m.) following "Another World," which is being trimmed to an hour to make room for the spinoff. How will the transition come? "IRIS MOVES," Miss McKinsey explains. "Her marriage is falling apart, her son is going to Houston and there's nothing to keep her in Bay City. What she encounters when she arrives in Houston is key. I should say who she encounters - someone she knew a long time ago. She actually just goes there for a holiday. But she stays because of this man Soon, we'll have fashbacks to flesh scenes of 25 years ago. "I have to look 18 and I ask them, 'What are you going to shoot it through a blanket?" But they were romantic scenes,so they'll put gauze on the lens and you could play the role and no one would know the difference." So get out the fresh suds,if this daytime answer to Dallas makes it to the 21st century, some actress will say what Beverlee McKinsey says of so many soap plots: "Honestly, you could get into incest on that show without even realizing it'"

I felt that Robert Adamson and Melissa Ordway were both too old for Noah and Abby. Both roles had been SORASED too quickly and should have been age stabilized for a while instead of casting actors who not only looked too old onscreen but were also older IRL. And for Abby, daughter of Ashley and Victor,to have such a bland personality was a misfire.

General Hospital Orderly....Craig Raymo 1980's (actor says he was on GH for 4 years)

I hope they don't write it that some of these characters are well known in the 'real' world. I hate it when soaps have gossip magazines/websites etc reporting on the lives of the characters. It's just a dumb plot device that is dragged out when it suits. Sometimes they're famous and sometimes not. Characters need to be low profile and in their own soap universe.

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 20 June 1986 SOAPY WRITER: Author Janet Dailey keeps ending up working on soap operas even though she isn't a fan. In May she had a four-episode run on "Days of Our Lives," playing an investigative reporter who is trying to get a scoop on Roman Brady's return from the dead. "Dealing with someone else's written material, I had to approach it from the writer's angle," she said of ac-, ting. "I felt like I got the hang of it, though, but, believe me, Hollywood is not threatened by another great actress. I had fun and it turned out well." Now Dailey and her husband, Bill, are looking into starting their own soap opera. She says she watched soaps "years and years ago" before getting serious about writing. "Being a writer and working 12 hours a day you don't have time to be a devoted watcher of daytime soap dperas," she said. Dailey's latest book is "The Great Alone," an action-romance set in Alaska. As an aside I did some research on Janet Dailey. Although she died in 2013, books are still being published in her name and no mention is made that she is deceased. Her website is worded in away that infers she is still alive. Weird...

Bright Promise losing almost half of the AW lead in.

I would give a thumbs down to Bill Bell's return of Carl William's story. Suddenly, it was revealed that Carl had mysteriously disappeared, when there was not an inkling of that onscreen. Sure we hadn't seen him, but it was assumed he was still around. It didn't matter much in the story as Mary was just there as a supporting character. And this wasn't 20 years ago we last saw Carl-more like 6 or so. Then we find out Carl has amnesia and a new life with another woman. Cue much trauma and heartache, until there wasn't. Carl went on with his new life and Mary went back to interfering mama. No mention of Carl again. What would have worked better, had Carl returned to the canvas and it was revealed that he took himself off to a country cabin for short trips. Paul could acknowledge that his Dad needed that break from a mundane life with an increasingly naggy Mary. Then we find out he has met another woman out of town and they live together when he goes on those trips. This could all be revealed and the various viewpoints examined. Far more realistic than the hoary old amnesia angle.

Bill Bell did not kill cassie. I think it was another bone headed Jack Smith story-see Katherine/Jill mother/daughter and the Sheila/Phyllis fiasco.

Courier Express, 29 April 1979 by Jon-Michael Reed NEW YORK - CBS's "Love of Life" has undergone many creative changes since last fall when new producer Cathy Abbi spruced up the visual look of the show with dynamic stunning sets and costumes. But a beautiful environment does got a good soap opera make. The story, under headwriter Jean Holloway, has gone to the dogs. The prime focus centers on a ridiculous story about locating Bambi Brewster's parents. At first, since the girl was in critical condition, the search seemed logical. Now that she has recovered and not expressed the least bit of interest in her boss Ray Slater's locating her family, motivation and reason has flown out the "'Love of Life"" story window. AND, HAS ANYONE out there in videoland been able to make sense out of the horde of various characters bearing the Brewster name that Ray contacted in Des Moines, where half the.town of Rosehill has journeyed to join Ray in the dismal hunt? The story's core characters have been left in limbo, meanwhile, with absolutely nothing progressing on other story fronts. "'Love of Life's" doldrums may be reversed, however,. soon when yet anothér new headwriter Ann Marcus takes over the writing helm. Marcus was in charge of the Days of Our Lives story til last fall. Prior to that she had co-created "Mary Hartmann, Mary Hartmann and even earlier had scripted 'Search for Tomorrow." Her, expertise hopefully will bring "'Love of Life"out of the pits.

Did Viki always live either there or the carriage house?

Perhaps with Y&R they were showing different timelines for different stories but that was never clear or consistent.

This article provides some extra tidbits about final storylines SYRACUSE NEW TIMES, FEBRUARY 17, 1974 All’s Well That Ends Well by Billy Altman I had a truly religious experience about three weeks ago. It had come to my attention that one of the NBC soapers, Return to Peyton Place, was being cancelled, to be replaced by a new “contemporary” daytime series called How to Survive a Marriage. Having watched Return to P.P. on and off for the last year or so (this being largely attributed to the fact that it was on right after Another World, which I watched faithfully for six years now, I decided to watch the entire last week that it was on. I mean, what happens on a soap opera when it’s being offed? Do the characters just continue on their own merry/miserable way? Do the writers leave everything hanging so as to thumb their noses at the slobs who let the program die a quick death? I just had to know. Well, for those of you who never watched the show and judging by the ratings, that should be just about all of you, I'll run through the plots as quickly as possible. Are you all sitting down? Allison McKenzie had been working at her father Eliot Carson’s newspaper, The Clarion. She has been despondent ever since Rodney Harrington, her teenage love got married to Betty Anderson Miss Prim and Proper. Eliot had left for Europe on business, because he and Connie also Allison’s mom, weren't getting it on too well anymore. Connie has been friends with Mr. Nice Guy, Dr. Rossi, for years, and though he gets engaged to one of his nurses, Celina, he and Connie go to a motel one night for an evening of wonderlust and assorted mayhem. Rossi then gets married, but leaves Connie pregnant. Of course, Celina finds out about it and confronts Connie at her bookstore. This results in Connie falling (or was she pushed?) off a ladder winding up in hospital with an aborted pregnancy. Meanwhile, Norman Harrington and wife Rita are running their little restaurant. Rita is pregnant-but surprise! it's Norman's baby. On soapers, babies born of legal parents are so rare as to be somewhat shameful. Monica and Tom help out the restaurant, and Tom has finally confessed that yes, he was once a doctor years ago but when a young girl died in his car after an accident he lost his licence. Negligence and all that. This takes us up to the last week and I must admit that I have never in my life seen such action on a soaper than I did those last five days. Everybody to the kitchen and stand up for this part. It would do you well to look up at a row of strategically placed boxes of AIl Tempa-Cheer and Spic and Span, with a new tube of Gleem ready on the shelf just in case. Monica goes to Boston and finds out that an old couple had moved the body of the young girl in Tom’s car, thereby accidentally causing her death. She gets them to tell the police the whole story and Tom's licence is unrevoked. Tom can now freely ask Monica to marry and they elope. Connie comes home from hospital and Eliot comes back from Europe begging Connie to take him back. Dr Rossi freaks out and begs Connie to run away from him. Connie, strong woman that she is, tells Rossi that that would only make everyone miserable in the long run, and that she would take Eliot back. So Rossi takes Celina to the Virgin Islands on a belated honeymoon, and now only two of the four are unhappy. Let’ s hear it for self sacrifice. Keeping up the pace, Betty finds out that Rodney (Harrington, remember?) wants a divorce so he can marry Allison, and Betty gets so angry that she actually gives him one. Helping this along is the fact that the wealthy Peytons like Betty a lot and will provide for her and her son, who was not really fathered by Rodney anyway but by Stephen Cord, Betty’s first husband whom she divorced to marry Rodney but who she (obviously) continued to fool around with. Stephen, in turn, is the illegitimate son of old man Peyton by his housekeeper, Mrs. Cord, thus making Betty’s baby old man Peyton's illegitimate grandson! Don’t ask how any of that happened, just take my word for it. Se here’s a helpful household hint: The next time a soap opera is being cancelled, start watching it with your friends and get a betting pool on divorces, births, separations and reconciliations. Maybe Parker Brothers could make a game out of it.

The Journal, 8 October 1978 What's Behind The Unveiling? BY DICK KLEINER HOLLYWOOD - The world of soap operas is a strange and uncanny place, full of odd behavior that defies rational explanation. And that's why the devoted audience of CBS' "The Young and the Restless" never batted an eye when Vanessa Prentiss took off her veil. Vanessa Prentiss is one of the fixtures of the soap opera, and one of Vanessa's fixtures has been her veil, giving her an air of mystery. Supposedly, she was once badly scarred in an accident and, ever since she first started on the show, Vanessa has worn her veil. Vanessa is playedby K.T. Stevens, an actress of beauty and charm and talent—and no need for a veil. Things move very.slowly on soap operas, and Vanessa has been going to a plastic surgeon for those scars for a long time. And now the veil is off—and K.T. Stevens isn't quite sure what that means to her future. Soap opera actors often look for clues like that to get an advance hint about whether their characters will continue or be written out. And K.T. is curious now. Does the fact that the veil is gone hold any significance to her future state of employment? Or will it simply be something that is soon forgotten? She wants.to stay. She likes working, and says that being on a soap opera is the-best possible job for an actress who enjoys working. "Soap operas," she says, "give you the feeling that you are always employed, which I like. And even on days when your character is not on the show, you can relax at home, knowing that you are not unemployed, merely off for a day or two." This, as it happens, is K.T.'s fourth soap ""opera. She was on "General Hospital" for about a year—and was finally written out when her lover, a drug addict, went off to a hospital for a cure and she went along. And she was on a flop opera, one of the few of the genre that didn't make it. It was called "Paradise Bay," and she wasn't written out of that one, it just collapsed around her. So you can understand her trepidation about what the unveiling of Vanessa Prentiss might mean- to her job situation. K.T. Stevens isn't the only one in her family working in a soap opera. Her former husband, Hugh Marlowe, has been a mainstay of "Another World" for seven years. And their son, Chris, is now a regular on "Love of Life." She has always wanted to "act. She grew up in Hollywood, where her father, ihe late Sam.Wood, was a distinguished

The Phoenix 15 January 1976 Writers, Producers and Actors in The Slope Soap Box Make ‘Ryan’s Hope’ Bubble BY MARCIA REISS A new soap opera bubbling up across nationwide TV screens is bringing afternoon addicts a view of New York life which includes an undercover peek at brownstone Brooklyn. Monday through Friday at 1 p.m., the daily drama of “ Ryan’s Hope” unfolds, spotlighting the Irish Catholic Ryan family who live in an upper West Side rowhouse above the family-run bar. But their fictional Manhattan neighborhood, called “ Riverside,” carries a strong flavor of Park Slope through the influence of local residents from producers through typists. THE SHOW IS THE BRAINCHILD OF BERKELEY PLACE BROWNSTONER CLAIRE LABINE AND COPRODUCER AND WRITER PAUL AVILA-MAYER. The serial was to be called “ City Hospital” as originally offered to Labine and Mayer. But the writers, both of Irish background, developed it with an ethnic realism unique to soap operas. “ We had to do a lot of convincing,” Labine explained, “ even to get the title accepted, which the network at first considered too ethnic. We thought of calling it “ Harkins Hope,” she joked, referring to the well-known 7th Avenue Harkins Bar. The choice of the family name was inspired by another Slope resident, Mary Munisteri, who is a dialogue writer for the show. Ryan is Munisteri’s maiden name and ‘Mary Ryan’ became the name of the leading lady. One of five Ryan children, Mary takes a job with a West Side closed circuit TV station in the plot, similar to the former real-life role of Slope resident Joan O’Neill, who served as consultant to the writing of that segment of the show. Dialogue writer Allan Leicht, a Brooklyn Heights resident, is another local talent employed in the serial which also includes the acting ability of one-year old Berkeley Place resident Jadrien Steele, who plays “ baby Johnny Ryan.” The writers work out of their homes, but before their scripts reach the Manhattan studio, they make another stop in Brooklyn, to the Garfield Place home of Rosemarie Kazeroid, who “ sometimes types until 3 a.m .” to meet the endless deadlines for daily production. BUT NEIGHBORHOOD INPUT DOESN’T STOP THERE. WELLKNOWN SLOPE RESIDENT JOHN SCANLON, BIG MAC PRESS DIRECTOR, played the part of a bartender in the Ryan bar during an election night episode which made son Frank Ryan a City Councilman. “ John is our political and Irish consultant," Labine noted. The political world of “ Ryan’s Hope” also includes a district leader called ‘Charlie Ferris,’ whose name Labine explained as a “combination of former Central Brooklyn Independent democrat District Leader Charles Monaghan and Assemblyman Joseph Ferris. “ When Joe heard about that,” she said, “ his deadpan response was, ‘Is he a regular or a reformer?” ’ he show is not only a neighborhood creation, but a family affair in the Labine home. Mayer arrives from his Manhattan home at 8:15 a.m. to the writers’ studio set up on the parlor floor. Claire’s husband, Clem Labine, puts out “ The Old House Journal,” a renovators’ guide, on the ground floor, but “ at 1 pm . ” Mrs. Labine reported. “ Mary Munisteri usually comes over and we all go up to my mother’s top floor apartment to watch the show on her color TV.” The three Labine children, St. Ann’s students, are also involved. “ My 14-year old daughter reads the scripts avidly and gets furious at some of the characters.” BUT IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, WRITING A SOAP OPERA IS “ THE HARDEST WORK IN THE WORLD,” LABINE MAINTAINED. Mayer, an Obie award winner for an off Broadway adaptation of “ Six Characters in Search of an Author,” dismissed “ The assumption that anyone can write soap. It’s easy to make fun of, but we’re desperately serious about our work.” His work schedule continues at his home “four to five nights a week and full weekends." Since Labine’s children fill her evening hours, she “ frequently gets up at 4 a.m. ‘‘to continue the story outlines and dialogue for the show’s 18 member cast. "We create two and a half hours of air time a week,” she explained, “ which is the equivalent of 75 feature films a year.” “ It’s a joy for storytellers like ourselves,” Labine said. But that story, or “ Bible,” as it’s called in the trade, which they have outlined through the next one and a half years, can become a “ monster” and has to be restrained by other factors shaping a soap opera script, such as the minimum number of appearances each member of the cast is guaranteed each week. Restricted budgets also make the writers’ job an on-going strategy of careful moves. Rvan’s Hope” is the first production experience for the team, who met while working as dialogue writers for “Where the Heart Is’’ and “ Love of Life.’’ “ W e damned near killed ourselves at first,” Mayer said, “ getting involved in every aspect, from the selection of the perfect, old-fashioned rose linoleum in the Ryan kitchen to making sure that the actresses’ make-up looked natural rather than plastic.” But taking care of production details now means “only one hour instead of three on the phone each night,” he added. HARD WORK HAS PAID OFF IN THE FORM OF GOOD RATINGS. [“ I CAN AFFORD NEW PLUMBING FOR MY BROWNSTONE NOW ,” LABINE ADDED.] While new soap operas usually have a difficult time winning new fans—some of the old favorites have lasted for 25 years and are still going strong— “ Ryan’s Hope," only six months old, has risen steadily to a consistent rating of 24% of the daytime audience. “ Anything over 20 is considered very good Labine explained. “Time” Magazine recently gave the show a rating of “three teardrops” and ranked it fifth out of the 14 network soaps. “ But we’re not in the misery business,” Mayer said, referring to the suffering and melodrama image generally ascribed to the field. “ We deal with big emotions— birth.love, death— but positive state of mind ’’ the writers maintained. 'Our characters are optimists for the most part, involved in a celebration of life.” The “ low-key” musical score also consciously avoids the usual “ heavy violins.” They try to “ work in some comedy wherever possible,” but said that it’s difficult to change the “ deadly solemn attitude of the networks” toward their large money investment in soaps. The success of daytime programs, relatively inexpensive, is essential to the more lavish evening productions. The new soap opera parody, “ Mary Hartman,” was recently turned down by every major network, including ABC which by-passed it for “ Ryan’s H ope." “ Making fun of soaps means biting the hand that feeds you,” Mayer explained. IT'S IMPOSSiBLE NOT TO BE PARANOID IN THIS BUSINESS,” Labine said. “ But we don’t sweat the ratings the way we did at first. Where else can you create your own universe and control all the people in it? It’s our very own sandbox. We’re only afraid that the network will discover how much fun we’re having and take it away.

The above is Guiding Light.

Dr Marcia Barnes Donna Vaughn 1977 (actress says she was on contract for a year.)

@Soapsuds thanks so much for these. The ABC Movie of the Week was hit for ABC-over half of the Top 20 TV movies for the season. And that was up against Hawaii Five O. It would be interesting to see which titles didn't do so well. And 2 rape themed movies in the Top 10. A Case of Rape starred Elizabeth Montgomery and Cry Rape had Andrea Marcovicci as the victim.

Weddings in the 60's were pretty low key affairs. Some even happened offscreen. I guess it was a budget thing as much as anything else. Two biggies were Ellen/David on ATWT and Lenore/Walter on AW where they went all out on special sets etc

I do not believe this to be true. I think the original was published in SOD when Marland was alive.