Paul Raven

Just finished watching. I think this later in 73 than indicated. The Soderbergs are writing. I think the started after the writers strike. Irna gets the 'created' by tag. Wonder how much longer that lasted. Grant was Konrad Matthei who had played Penny's last husband (and Sandy's ex) Roy and it always surprised me that they brought that actor back. Most viewers would have been around 6 years earlier and recognized him. Anyway he was son replaced by James Douglas. Annie was still being referred to as Carol Ann and had been drastically SORASED in true ATWT tradition. With Dan and Paul both gone I guess they needed something for David and Ellen to do plus needing new young people. The inference was that Ellen was afraid her daughter would fall into the clutches of an unsuitable man, as she did. I don't think anything came of the Jay/Ellen connection. Patricia Bruder was dropped later on. Santos Ortega had lost a lot of weight due to illness.

That excerpt stated that upon leaving Edge, Slesar went to work on Somerset, a blatant mistake. Henry worked on SOM and EON concurrently. That sort of falsehood permeates a lot of texts about soaps and allows for these sort of errors to be accepted as facts.

And Secret Storm 1972 and several 70's OLTL. Let's see what February will bring.

Delano and Jim Yorke played Mark briefly before Gordon took over. I read years ago in SOD from that time,that they were just placeholders until Gordon could assume the role, but that might be the whole story. Does anyone have more info??

Let me just say if I had to work with someone who presents as MB does in that episode I would be gritting my teeth so hard there would be blood. Such a contrast with the polite, articulate young man he is 'interviewing'.

Matt/Vance came back around 79 but nothing came of it. OLTL went through quite a few cast changes in 77/78 with Joe Stuart replacing Doris Quinlan as EP and the expansion to an hour. Nancy Pinkerton, Doris Belack, Kathy Glass, Jordan Charney, Kathryn Breech,George Reinholt all left or were fired. Jeff Pomerantz had been on Secret Storm and search for tomorrow before landing at OLTL.

Dec 79 Schreveport Journal Former Shreveporter Moves From Academe to the Soaps By DAVID CONNELLY When John William Corrington and his wife Joyce began their careers in academe they never thought they would end up as writers for a daytime drama. Now they dream up the daily trials and tribulations of the characters in “Search for Tomorrow” which airs every weekday at 11:30 am on KSLA Channel 12 (CBS). Mr Corrington, a 1951 graduate of Byrd High School and a 1956 graduate of Centenary College taught English on the college level for many years and became chairman of the English Department at Loyola University in New Orleans. He later became an attorney and practiced law in the Crescent City. Mrs Corrington, his wife of 20 years, worked as a chemical engineer for many years and also served as a professor of chemistry at Xavier University in New Orleans. She later collaborated with her husband on their many screenplays in addition to now co-writing the scripts of “Search for Tomorrow” . The Corringtons who now live In New Orleans have included characters from that city and Shreveport in the drama and report that they have have met with much success “The producers of the show were very receptive to these characters because they had never had anything like them” Mr Corrington said “It adds another unique dimension to our drama” Though the network daytime dramas are taped In New York City Mrs Corrington noted that many of the writers live In other parts of the country. “They like to keep the shows reflective of middle America and most daytime dramas are set in smaller cities often in the Midwest” she said. Writing for a daytime drama is lucrative but it’s also extremely demanding “It consumes your life” Mrs Corrington said, “If you weren’t married to the person you’re writing with you’d never see your husband”. “It’s like working for a newspaper”, Mr Corrington added. “You have a new deadline every day and you have to come up with another script. You rarely get a day off”. There are three levels to writing for a daytime drama according to Mrs Corrington. First they have to decide on a long-term plot — what’s going to happen In the next two or three months. Then they have to develop the synopsis for a week and further break that down into separate acts. Finally there’s the actual writing of dialogue. For the most part Mrs Corrington handles the long-term projections and her husband writes the dialogue though they work together on all aspects of the drama. “We have discussed many scripts over dinner" Mrs Corrington said. The actual time involved in writing an individual script varies “If you have a script you’re really excited about it comes fast” Mr Corrington said. “Sometimes you really have to struggle with it. Usually it takes about 6-10 hours to write one half-hour show and that doesn’t include conferences and planning" The husband-and-wife team regularly talks with the producers and directors o( the show on the phone. As writers the Corringtons appreciate the emphasis on the script in soap operas. “Daytime drama is literate” Mrs Corrington said “Because you can’t go out and do all the visuals you have to rely on words". While working on feature films the Corringtons found that the movie industry put a low premium on words. “In Hollywood a writer has little impact" Mrs Corrington said. "The director is the motivating force - You give him a script which he uses as a blueprint and often you recognize only a small part of your work in the final product”. Writing for daytime has a different kind of frustration ‘The greatest frustration is that it’s so ephemeral there are no repeats”, she added. “You can see movies over and over again and good novels hang around for a long time I’d like to produce something that hangs around for a while”. Any daytime drama has to attract a female audience, but Mrs Corrington is quick to point out that “Search for Tomorrow” has a male following too. “According to the Nielsen ratings men make up about 20 percent of our audience. “The main consideration is that we always try to involve women in the stories”, she added. “We don’t have many male-male conflicts independent of women”. Much criticism has been levied against daytime dramas for their treatment of women and for what some see as their negative effect on the female viewer. Soap operas according to some critics encourage women to ignore their own problems while fantasizing about the more exciting lives of the female characters on the screen. Caught up in their daytime fantasies they don’t take active steps to change their lives. The Corringtons reject this view “If you're sitting in front of a TV set you’re watching dreams being created. Psychologists say we can’t live without dreams”, Mrs Corrington said. “You get to know your soap opera friends better than most of your real friends” she added. "When was the last time you stood by listening to a couple argue or when was the last time you shared an extremely personal problem with a friend? I think we’re a little remote in our daily lives”. In the future Mr Corrington who has written novels, poems and short stories would like to devote more time to essays. “There’s a point when I think I’ll want to leave these more concrete investigations and concentrate on pure theory” he said. But Mrs Corrington quickly added that they haven’t tired of their work on “Search for Tomorrow ” “We’ve been doing it now for over a year and it’s still a kick”.

@Reverend Ruthledge Belated thanks for TGL update. Interesting that Irna was prepared to make sweeping changes in the radio format but then kept the Bauers for years. I think her approach to TV soaps differed from radio. Maybe she felt TV viewers were more attached to the characters.

CBS had trouble initially finding a compatible 8.30 sitcom to AITF. Funny Face with Sandy Duncan finished #8 but lost a lot of the lead in. Her show was revamped and moved to Sun the following season. Bridget Loves Bernie was next and again did well #5 but was dropped due to controversy over the theme (odd considering that AITF thrived on controversy) For 73 they went with MASH which proved to be a winner and established itself as ahit and critical success. But CBS moved it and replaced it with Paul Sand which again, lost too much of the AITF lead in and had mixed reviews. So mid season CBS went with The Jeffersons. That was one of the few spinoffs that aired following the original show. As of Feb. 3, Norman Lear's The Jeffersons (CBS, Saturday, 8:30 -9 p.m.) looked like the only certifiable hit among the networks' batch of second season shows. It got a 28.5 rating and 45 share on Feb. 1, making it the fifth highest rated show of the week. CBS's Tony Orlando and Dawn (Wednesday, 8 -9 p.m.), after a number of sub survival ratings weeks, chalked up a 21.6 rating and 32 share on Jan. 29, on top of a solid 33 share on Jan. 22. Norman Lear's controversial The Hot l Baltimore (ABC, Friday, 9 -9:30 p.m.) also had its second good week in a row with a 19.4 rating and 31 share on Jan. 31. The only successful second season transplant so far is ABC's The Six Million Dollar Man, which hit a 20.6 rating and 31 share in its new Sunday time period (7:30 -8:30 p.m.) on Feb 2. NBC's new private eye series Archer with Brian Keith, out of Paramount (Thursday, 8 -9 p.m.), got off to an unpromising start on Jan. 30, with a 17.6 rating and 27 share. Two other new second season shows - The Mac Davis Show (NBC) and Baretta (ABC)- continued marginal in the ratings. The second -season shows (either new or shifted from other time periods) that, based on the Nielsens, look like sure losers are: Karen, Barney Miller, Kolchak and The Odd Couple.

Does Billy getting a new set mean that some other set has been dropped? I don't watch regularly, so am asking. Have we seen these sets lately? Chancellor Lily's penthouse Any other sets that haven't been seen? Re Billy- is that a room of a house or apartment?

@chrisml thanks for posting. Interesting insight into BTS happenings.

NBC had an hour slot to fill so a 1 hr soap seemed inevitable. Half hour shows were out of fashion at that point. CBS and ABC persisted because they had that slot to fill. And a I hr show was cheaper to produce than 2 half hours. And in daytime ,profit was a major motivator. NBC squandered TD and SFT, both legacy shows that had years left in them but were systematically destroyed.

Exactly the same issue at Y&R where Victor/Newmans and Jack have to be front and center.

Sitcoms 8 of the Top 10. CBS had 6 of them. Good Times indeed! And they had Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart etc also doing well. NBC foolishly did not try to build on the Fri night sitcom success. Rockford Files and Police woman did well off the back of Sanford/Chico but perhaps they should have moved Chico to 9pm and introduced 2 new sitcoms at 8.30/9.30 and move Rockford to another night. Both ABC and CBS got to #1 on the sitcom success but NBC missed their chance.

@hendersonite Thanks for reminding us of Kylie. I suspect Henry Slesar's stint at SFT was always intended as short term. The Corringtons had been hired by P&G to study their soaps and write some treatments.They might have not been the only ones so it was quite possible that Slesar was there until decisions were made about which writers would go where. Once the Corringtons arrived,Chance,Donna and Kylie were dropped.

OK That promo looked better , obviously reflecting what we will see onscreen.

I wonder if it's going to be short scenes a la GH or they'll take time to play things out? Hoping for a mix and they go for longer scenes when called for. So many things to watch for. Characterization, acting, pacing, plotting,direction, sets, lighting, costumes. We are going to have A LOT to discuss.

Shootdown was an NBC Monday movie and ranked #27 16.0/25 In the film, Nan Moore (Lansbury) loses her son in the Korean Air Lines Flight 007 disaster. She wishes to discover the truth about her son's death. Competition was ABC Football #21 16.8/30 CBS Murphy Brown # 32 15.5/22 designing women #30 15.8/23 Almost Grown #44 12.9/21 So this was a more dramatic role than her CBS offerings.

Another nail in the coffin for NBC daytime. Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. House Party was flop. I guess the idea of counterprogramming had some appeal but soaps had never worked in the morning, as witnessed with Texas earlier in the decade. Maybe Days leading off might have worked bit I guess they were loathe to move their top rating soap. Broadcasting Dec 11 1989. WNBC -TV New York shuffles network daytime schedule With NBC's OK, owned station moves to consolidate soaps and game shows, strengthen lead -in to 'Donahue,' accommodate 'House Party' NBC has endorsed an unprecedented reshuffling of its daytime schedule by its owned- and -operated station, WNBC TV New York. The move is designed to boost the station's daytime performance, where WNBC TV and WCBS TV are in a close battle for second. But WABC TV is the dominant leader, with almost double the household rating in daytime of both of its affiliate competitors. The reshuffling will bring the four network soaps on the station into a new block that starts in mid-morning, while three game shows will move from the morning to a new afternoon block. In part, the new daytime schedule, which takes effect Jan. 22, is being made to ac- commodate the new NBC Group W program, House Party. But just as important, the station hopes the new schedule will beef up the lead in ratings of Donahue, seen as a solid performer at 4 p.m. that often does three times the rating of its current lead in, Santa Barbara. WNBC TV is canceling its 9 a.m. -10 a.m. magazine block, consisting of King World's Inside Edition and USA Today, effective with the start of the new schedule. USA Today had been canceled anyway by its distributor, GTG. Bill Moll, vice president and general manager, WNBC TV, said the station would move Inside Edition into the graveyard hours, but, as a result, King World had the right to seek a better clearance for the show on a competing station in the market. Last week, a King World spokeswoman said talks had begun with other stations in the market. As to WNBC TV's decision to, in effect, cancel the show, she said, "It's just not indicative of intellectual programing. The station will program 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. with Golden Girls and 227, which the network currently schedules from 11 a.m. to noon. House Party will follow at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m., WNBC TV will launch a mid morning soap block, starting with Santa Barbara. The show moves up from 3 p.m., where it has been a close third to CBS's Guiding Light, but far behind WABC TV's General Hospital, which provides a lead in to The Oprah Winfrey Show that helps it keep far ahead of both Donahue and WCBS TV's Geraldo from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Moll said that Santa Barbara, in its new time period, may fare better, being the only soap in the time period, against The Price is Right on WCBS TV and The Home Show on WABC TV. Following Santa Barbara, in order, from noon to 2:30 p.m., will be Generations, Days of our Lives and Another World. The newly created game show block will follow, with the syndicated Third Degree and NBC's Scrabble and Concentration. It is widely rumored that Warner Bros. will not bring back Third Degree next season. Last week, Moll confirmed WNBC -TV's acquisition of ITC's Tic, Tac, Dough, and said the station was looking at other game show product, which could be placed in the new afternoon block. Donahue will continue at 4 p.m., leading into the station's evening news block. Nightly News will continue to air at 7 p.m. Family Feud airs at 7:30 p.m., and is delivering competitive demographic numbers, said Judy Girard, the station's director of programing and broadcast operations. Traditionally, network owned and operated stations have carried their network feeds with little deviation. A notable exception is KCNC -TV Denver, which became an O &O when General Electric acquired NBC. That station has for some time juggled the network's daytime lineup, and is number one in the market in daytime. Nationally, NBC is ranked third in daytime. According to Moll, NBC TV President Pier Mapes "enthusiastically endorsed" the reshuffling on NBC. All the NBC owned stations are making adjustments to their daytime schedules to make room for House Party in January. It is understood that some of the owned stations, including KNBC TV Los Angeles, are also considering changes that would move soaps to morning. At deadline, a KNBC TV official said no decision had been reached on how to proceed.

Or perhaps it was TOO personal but not confidential enough. Or TOO confidential, but not personal enough. Got to consider all possibilities...

Putting Sharon and Nick back together is not the worst idea in the world, especially in light of the stories they've been given in the past few years. A lot of them could have been played with the couple together. Sharon's breast cancer (w/o the useless Rey marriage) Adam's return, Faith's bullying, Mariah surrogacy,various Victor dramas, Cameron's return etc

Dec 89 Angela Lansbury has agreed to return as star of CBS's Murder, She Wrote for a seventh season. As part of the agreement, Corymore Productions Inc., which produces the show, has been given an order by CBS to develop an additional series for the 1990-91 season. Previously, Corymore agreed to produce several made for TV movies, and has been given a 13- episode commitment to develop a half -hour series with Lansbury when Murder, She Wrote has finished its run on the network. The renewal of Murder, She Wrote for another season is especially important for CBS in that it is one of only two top -ten ranked shows that CBS has on its schedule

Personal and Confidential, was a magazine style show which was described as "Cosmopolitan, Vogue and People [magazines] and Entertainment Tonight all rolled up into one." NBC gave it a one week tryout in August 83 in the 3pm slot. And it was never heard of again.

Josh seems averse to writing long term couples. You know the soap template of 2 characters fighting to be together with some interlopers to deal with, getting together for a while and then some obstacle to break them up etc. At least 2 years of story.

The Y&R characters visiting the country club would be disoriented to be in such a large setting surrounded by so many people...