Paul Raven

Irving Vendig wrote from 52-56 I think, leaving to headwrite Edge of Night. Charles Gussman replaced him as headwriter Henry Slesar was headwriter for about 6 months in b/w Robert J Shaw and the Corringtons.

Outlaws was another one of those shows that started out strong but quickly faltered and was cancelled. The opening pilot/TV movie aired Sunday following MSW and ranked #3. It's first Saturday showing was a time slot winning #15 The Saturday movie was #28. Facts of Life, the NBC competition to beat at 8pm was #24 CBS was looking competitive on a night that had been historically weak for them Next week it dropped to #35 Facts of Life was #31 The movie was #44. Less impressive. The following week Outlaws #59 and the movie #64. Facts of Life #25. By that point I'm sure the cancellation was inevitable. Possibly a case of a pilot with strong writing and $$$ spent but the resulting series just not as good.

Julian Funt/David Lesan were headwriters. They took over from the Hursleys. Julian Funt had written for radio soaps. David Lesan later worked with Irna on ATWT. Interesting to see the introduction of Bill and Kitty Allen. They were presented as having returned to Henderson after 5 years and good friends of Jo and the Bergmans, although we'd never seen them before. They had children but nothing seems to happen with them. Puzzled as to why they were brought on at all. Stu was very close to Jo and the two would have scenes together. That was a unique take, especially for the time where you would expect Marge and Jo to be close and Stu, as a male, not to be too involved in 'women's business'

More for February 1966 Search for Tomorrow

I guess Erica faced the same trajectory as all long running soap characters- either they become supporting with no agency or point of view (That was never going to happen with Ms Kane) or TBTB try to keep the character static and repeat the tropes that made them popular in the first place, so there is little character growth. Re the Tylers. It was possible that Linc and Kelly could have left in 1980 pregnant so a younger Tyler could turn up as a teen in the 90's. They tried that with Kelsey, Tara's daughter, but that character was never long term.

Chris McKenna wasn't on the show when Alice was, so I wonder how they connected.

@Mona Kane Croft Yes, I think after Emily left Bob just became a talk to for Jo and others. There was always a bit of hospital drama and doctors in the cast eg Gary so Bob would be seen in that capacity. He seemed to be on contract throughout the 70's b/c it was announced in 79 I think that he went recurring. He continued to be seen occasionally. Not sure when he was last seen. Would have been nice if he was there in the final weeks.

@Vee thanks for the tag. I was hoping these episodes would be posted. I recall one from this era many years ago. Juliant Funt/David Lesan were headwriters. They introduced Sam/Len/Andrea. We also see Ken Kercheval take over from Burr De Benning as Nick. And Susan Seaforth in a Mr Clean commercial!

The pointless SORASING of Noah really damaged the character. There was no need to make him a teen about a decade after his father had been drastically SORASED also. Nick and Sharon were still viable young leads and this unnecessarily aged them. Same when Hayley Erin was cast as teen Abby and had nothing to do. And then it continued with child after child being aged for no great reason. Had they held off characters like Lily, Victoria, Lauren etc could be given parental stories at a more appropriate time. If it must happen,I think about 12-15 years is the timeframe for a child to be SORASED, especially if there is gradual aging along the way. And it should be consistent across the board.

I guess P&G were referring to the term 'soap opera' which came to be after they began sponsoring the shows.

OK thanks for clarifying.

re Jo and her sister Eunice. Probably too far back for anyone to know for sure, but was Eunice a creation of the Hursley's and never mentioned before? The show had been going 7 or 8 years by the time Eunice showed up. Had a sister been mentioned in that time or was it a case of Jo suddenly talking about her, and then her turning up? Giving Jo a sibling was a smart move as it opened up more story for her, but it might have seemed odd at the time for our heroine to have had a sister we never knew about. Perhaps it was discussed that she and Jo were so different and hardly kept in touch or some such explanation.

Noticed there are no children, teens or young adults in the cast ,right? An intentional choice,obviously. Do you think that's a good thing or should those age groups be represented in some way?

JT seeems to have aged a lot these past few years. Wonder if we will ever see Noah, Allie, Reed,Fen,Scott,Charlie, Mattie again? Will Faith ever be a main character? When will Christian reappear? Between unnecessary SORASING and plain out ignoring children, Y&R has really messed up the next generations. Of course, their priority is keeping the same characters onscreen for decades so there's not much room for the young'uns.

Really? It doesn't come across onscreen. Wish Josh would drop the greasy longer hair. He looks so much better when he is well groomed. If Beyond the Gates takes off, I wonder how this will affect Y&R? From what we have seen ,BTG's production values outshine Y&R by a country mile.

First daytime soap to debut this century! First soap with a predominately Black cast. First soap to have a BTS preview week. Hopefully many more 'firsts' to come.

The Soderbergs time as headwriters in the early 70's seems fairly well received. They introduced the Norris family. They were switched over to ATWT in late 73 and GL seemed to suffer after that until the Dobsons arrived.

Dukes and Dallas were initially a strong back to back duo and in fact it was Dukes instant hit status Fri @9 that propelled Dallas into the Top 10. Yes they had similar audience appeal but Dukes faded long before Dallas so a lot of that Dukes audience went elsewhere. Hence the need for a stronger lead in. I guess The Mississippi would have skewed older and CBS were constantly trying to grab younger viewers. Dukes probably was one of CBS' most 'youthful' shows even if overall ratings were no longer so great.

Night by night Mon 7.30 Monkees #40 Gilligans Island #39 8.00 Mt Terrific # 27 8.30 Lucy #4 Rat Patrol # 21 9.00 Andy Griffith #2 9.30 Family Affair #12 Peyton Place #35 10.00 Nothing in Top 40 Jean Arthur on CBS a big flop. ABC offers Big Valley, NBC Run For Your Life Tues 7.30 Daktari #9 8.30 Red Skelton #3 Invaders #31 9.30 Petticoat Junction #19 10.00 The Fugitive #37 Wed 7.30 The Virginian 90 min #15 8.30 Beverly hillbillies # 13 9.00 Green Acres #10 Bob Hope Chrysler Theater #29 9.30 Gomer Pyle # 20 10.00 Nothing in Top 40 Danny Kaye CBS I Spy NBC Stage 67 ABC Thurs 7.30 Daniel Boone #25 8.30 My Three Sons # 36 9.00 Bewitched #8 CBS Movie #33 9.30 Dragnet # 16 10.00 CBS Movie #33 Fri 7.30 Tarzan #11 8.30 Hogans Heroes #22 9.00 CBS Movie #30 Sat 7.30 Jackie Gleason #5 8.30 Lawrence Welk #18 Get Smart #32 CBS Playhouse #38 9.00 NBC Movie #14 10.00 Gunsmoke #26 Sun 7.00 Lassie #24 7.30 Disney #34 8.00 Ed Sullivan # 7 The FBI #28 9.00 Bonanza #6 Smothers Brothers #17 ABC Movie #23

That Victor scene could have been from anytime in the last 20 years or so. Victor going after Jack and Jabot. Is this the best Josh can do?

Considering what Brenda was up against (resistance from Eric and having to replace Eileen)she did a fine job as Ashley. If only she had been able to bring out that snarky side of Ashley. Same with Peter. He tried to channel a Terry Lester vibe at first but like Brenda it wasn't organic and got lost as their natural acting style came through and Bill Bell adjusted his writing.

Here's the relevant excerpt from the article Jack Abbott (1984, 1989) What was the attraction? “He was older and very devil-may-care. He didn’t make any demands on her.” What worked about their relationship? “It was purely physical. They weren’t in love and were just having sex without any strings attached. She was dating Paul at the same time, so I’m sure Lauren found that very exciting.” What didn’t work? “Terry Lester [ex-Jack] didn’t like me and he didn’t like working with me.” What is most memorable about them? “I remember them sharing a single bed in Lauren’s dorm room and I was literally hanging on to the sheets.” Why did they split? “She ran off and married Paul.”

The Mississippi had already established itself as a Friday show in tandem with Dallas in it's tryout so a move to 8pm Friday would have made more sense than sending it to 8pm Tuesday where The A Team was hot and CBS had repeatedly failed there. Dukes could have been moved to Sat @8 up against TJ Hooker and Diff'rent Strokes and Cutter to Houston to Tues @8.

I feel like BTG is tarnished being associated with Y&R/B&B the way they are now.

Feeling sorry for Brenda E coming into that situation and having your leading man be less than welcoming. On the subject of clashes, just reading a 2015 SOD article where actors talk about their character's romances. On the subject of Jack/Lauren, Tracey Bregman states that Terry Lester didn't like her and therefore the Jack/Lauren relationship. Wonder if that had any bearing on that relationship never going beyond 'playmates'?