Paul Raven

Pryor was in the original cast of The Nurses Sept 65, so his ATWT role had to be before that. It might have been a short term but significant role but not enough to get mentioned in synopses Like the character of Ken, who was involved with Lisa but never mentioned in any reference.

CBS launched The Mississippi following Dallas after Falcon Crest finished its run and in that timeslot it did well. So the following season CBS moved it into one of their perennial dead zones Tues @8 where it limped along opposite The A Team, which was the hot new show. Maybe the idea is that it would be good counterprogramming and be a solid #2 in the timeslot. But it seemed a waste of a promising show. Maybe Fri@8 leading into Dallas? Dukes of Hazzard was on its last legs and Mississippi may have freshened up the night. Either cancel Dukes of Hazzard or move it to Sat @8.

Would the decision to go fully serial have anything to do with Irna Phillips working in a consultants role at ABC around that time?

This throws a new light on the subject. I'm inclined to think now that Ottinger played the role. It seems unlikely that they would recast for a few appearances with a known actor like Pryor. Soaps were a day job for many NY theater actors. Which leaves the question.Who did Pryor play? Was he on ATWT at all,or was it another case of misinformation becoming fact over the years?

They both appeared on Edge of Night in separate stints. NY Daily News Oct 9 1960 Teri Keane Larkin John Larkin Life Can Be Miserable By MIKE MANSON MARRIED life was a busman's holiday for actor John Larkin and his actress wife, Teri Keane. True to the ways of the soap operas they used to star in, their troubles and heart twinges went on and on. But the last chapter was finally in sight the other day when Teri demanded a divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court and John refused to contest it. She Wins Separation Teri and John were married in 1950 when he was the hero of a daytime serial, "The Right to Happiness," and she was the heroine in another called "Life Can Be Beautiful." The real life plot got thicker and thicker. John"walked out on me" after four years, Teri said. He had been living in adultery with a woman named Audrey, it was testified by TV actor Terry O'Sullivan, a friend of Teri's. In Supreme Court last year, Teri won a separation and $125-a-week alimony. During that trial, Larkin made an appearance and testified he had obtained a Mexican divorce in 1956 and had married Audrey in Connecticut. Justice Samuel H. Hofstadter, who granted Teri the separation, said Larkin's Mexican divorce was worthless. Larkin chose not to defend the divorce "for personal reasons," according to his law firm, Ramson, Bogaty, Trainor and MacDonald. Larkin also agreed to an out-of-court alimony settlement with Teri, who will get $135-a-week permanent alimony. .Teri, who now stars in "The Second Mrs. Burton," and John, now hero of "Edge of Night," stayed tuned to the court, though. As is customary in such cases. Referee .Felix C.Benvenga reserved decision.But to all intents and purposes, this was the end.

I get that TIIC didn't find Scott sexay enough, but not to bring Andy back played by a 'hunk' seemed a dumb move, when he was the son of Kim and John. God only knows what stories he would have been given, so maybe the character dodged a bullet.

AS THE WORLD TURNS Amanda Holmes Deborah Solomon Steinberg May 21 1965-68; 1969-70 used the name Jennifer Roberts at first. went to work at Wade's bookstore. Discovered she was daughter of Bill Holmes and Sara Fuller; accidentally caused Sara's death, went on trial but was acquitted dated Don Hughes and Burt Lord Harrison Blake Matthew Crane July 85 Society boy who escorted Lily to Lisa's costume party Gil Stallings Edward Grover Feb- March 1974 married and killed Jay's mother for her money, but was foiled when it was left to Jay. Stalked Lisa to make it appear Jay was responsible,planned to frame Jay for Lisa's murder and kill Jay to make it look like a suicide. Grant uncovered the truth and surprised Gil who shot Jay.killed by police while escaping.

Nicholas Pryor seems the best fit for the role. He was killed of AW in Nov 64 so would be available to play Ken at that time. Sometime in early 65 Ken told Lisa that because she wouldn't commit to him(she still hoped to snag Bob) he was marrying someone else. So it was a short term role. Maybe that's why he agreed to do it. Irna may have liked him on AW and this was some recompense for killing him off?

They also teased Greg and Peggy for a minute,I think.

Tracey Bregman interview from SOD 50th Anniversay edition. She cut her soap teeth as DAYS’s Donna, but Tracey E. Bregman turned her next daytime role into a 40-year career. You were already familiar with the soap genre. How much did you know about Y&R? “[Then-Producer] Wes Kenney gave me my break on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, and when he went over to YOUNG AND RESTLESS, that was the reason I started watching. I remember that the lighting and camera shots were so different from what we were doing on DAYS, and Y&R was a half hour at the time. Wes had been there around a year when he drove up in my driveway and said, ‘Hey, you wanna do a soap again?’ ” Was your answer immediately “Yes” or “Let me think about it”? “I told him my nighttime series, THE FAMILY TREE, had just been canceled and I said I could probably do [Y&R] through the summer because prior to that, [Executive Producer] Gloria Monty had asked me to come on GENERAL HOSPITAL and I decided not to do that because I had just gotten this other series. So, Wes caught me at the perfect time and I was happy to be able to go back to daytime for what I thought was going to be a short period of time. I loved my time on DAYS. It was hard because I was in school at the same time, but I loved the show and the people.” Since Wes offered this to you, does that mean you skipped the audition process?“No because they thought, ‘Why don’t we bring her into play Patty?’, Paul’s sister, but in the audition, we all looked at each other andI was like, ‘I’m so not this character.’ That’s when [Co-Creator/then-Head Writer] Bill Bell created the role of Lauren.” You were first written as Traci’s nice friend but as legend goes, Bill saw you give some kind of look to BethMaitland (Traci) on camera. “What would have happened if he was getting a cup of coffee or taking a phone call and missed that one look? It must’ve been some odd look because I loved Beth, she was my first friend, so I can’t imagine what that look could’ve been, but whatever it was, it came in handy [chuckles]. I’m sure it wasn’t a mean look, there just must’ve been something behind it that he saw.” You had your mentors on DAYS, but was there anybody who took you under their wing at Y&R?“On DAYS, I looked up to Jed Allan [ex-Don] and Deidre Hall [Marlena; ex-Barbara,Y&R] and they were incredible supporters of mine and wonderful friends. When I first got to Y&R, Beth showed me the ropes. She is the one who held my hand through those first weeks and months. Wes Kenney and I used to have long conversations and he was very instrumental as well.” Your short-term role turned into something more and Lauren was soon singing in concerts with Danny. What was that like? “It was wild, but those were the days when we worked such long hours. The concerts were very professional-looking and we all, the crew included, worked very long days on them.” As your popularity was growing, what was your fan mail like?“Well, in the beginning I got a lot of death threats, and bad ones. I remember one night I was meeting Beth for dinner and someone tried to run me off the freeway. They were really coming after me so I was afraid to lead that person to where Beth was and endanger her. It was crazy and scary.” When did you see a turn in public opinion?“I think when Lauren stopped saying nasty things to Traci, and the audience saw where Lauren came from because of an absentee mother and then she was put in the victim mode. They went from hating Lauren to loving to hate her. Then came some fun years, with Paul and then Brad. The audience started to root for Lauren, and then she became more of a heroine.” What were your interactions with Bill Bell like? “He was very paternal with me. When I bought my first condo, he would talk to me about how we were going to pay that off early and wrote the Sheila story. When I got pregnant, he said, ‘I want you to bring your baby to work because you’ll know your baby is safe and your mind will be on your work.’ Thirty-one years ago, I don’t think there were a lot of employers that said that, so it was an incredible experience to be able to bring both my sons to work for the first two years of their lives.” Well, Sheila made Lauren’s life a living hell. Do you have a favorite Lauren/Sheila scene?“I think their iconic fight in the lab. It was the first one. Because Lauren doesn’t wear tennis shoes, I was in high heels, so wherever I was, I slid around, while Kimberlin [Brown, Sheila] was in flats and was stronger. That catfight went down in history for us.” And then Lauren and Michael fell for each other. “Finally! Christian [J. LeBlanc, Michael] and I wanted our characters to be together, so we kept playing this intimacy up whenever we were in scenes. I loved and still love their chemistry. And Christian is a very dear friend.” What does it mean to you to celebrate Y&R turning 50? “I just think it’s extraordinary. The actors of today will never know what it’s like to have the kind of longevity that we’ve all experienced. I have seen daytime grow and change and morph into what it is today,so I know it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, and I’m so grateful.”

October 83 Paramount Television's City of Angels is designed for early or late fringe, according to Steve Goldman, vice president and Eastern regional sales manager for Paramount, and is based on the off -camera life and relationships of the star of a late -night talk show host. Eugenie Hunt and Ralph Ellis, the husband/wife team who have worked on such network serials as Search for Tomorrow, As the World Turns and The Doctors, would write the new series, which, according to Goldman, will not be a "firm go" until Paramount has lined up commitments from advertisers for 52 -week runs and from stations. The budget for City of Angels would be close to that for Rituals, at about $250,000 per week.

This woman presents as messy. Love how she posts about the 'abuse' and then asks for respect and privacy...

That was a horrible rewrite that made no sense. The only way it would have worked had Dylan been Paul's son from the commune. He had sex with Sumiko, the cult leader and Rebecca played by his real life wife. So it would have been quite believable that Rebecca had his child. Of course that meant no story for Nikki but they could have come up with something. Nikki could have easily had a half sister - heaps of story possibilities there. And now Nikki doesn't even mention Dylan.

Seems like every new soap 30 or 60 min had too many characters and stories at the start and inevitably, within the first few months those B stories/characters are axed. So keep the cast small at the start and focus on 2 or so stories. maybe have the other characters around but strictly as supporting. Then as the show settles in after a month-6 weeks,expand the canvas with additional characters and stories. It might mean more work at the start for the main actors but would pay off in terms of viewer interest.

@soapfan770 re Lou Grant cancellation. I'm sure Ed Asner's politics was a factor but there were other factors at play. CBS 9-11 Monday-MASH, House Calls,Lou Grant traditionally was strong in the second half of the season when Monday football finished and ABC programmed series that usually flopped. That season they went with movies that did very well and CBS didn't dominate. MASH was finishing and CBS attempts to refresh the night with Flo and Private Benjamin hadn't worked. House Calls was regarded as a success due to following MASH and another season of Lou Grant would have fallen further. So a revamped Cagney and Lacey was placed there behind the new Bob Newhart series to freshen the night before MASH departed You're right about CBS trying to program those movie nights. For 81/82 the moved Nurse to 9pm Wed after it performed well as a short flight show Thurs @10. To expect it to perform up against Facts of Life and Fall Guy was a big ask and it was off the air after a few weeks. Nest season they tried Alice 9pm Wed and that flopped also so for 83/84 they threw in the towel and programmed movies Tues, Wed and Sat admitting that trying to launch new series in those timeslots at the start of the season was doomed. They waited to see how the opposition was performing and then placed Airwolf/Mike Hammer Sat 9-11 with some success.

@kalbir Did some further digging re Simon /Cagney Simon was #70 for the season Cagney was #65 Cagney aired 3 of its 6 episodes Thurs@9 and CBS took it off and replaced it with a Simon& Simon repeats -as you stated all 13 of it's original order had played Tues @8. It hit #12 one week, so on the strength of that CBS decided to commit for the 82/83 season. Wonder who had the idea to place a repeat of a failed series in that slot? They were both from Universal so maybe there was a suggestion from them that the shows would work together? Who knows? But it sure was a canny move. Meanwhile a new episode of Cagney was placed in the Sun @10 slot and rated well so CBS ordered a new series for 82/83 in the Mon @10 slot. So two examples of failed series that were given renewals on the strength of good showing in a new timeslot. Meanwhile other shows weren't given that chance and much higher rated series were cancelled.

Mom Reed was killed in a car accident in Dec 78.

Thinking about Nick Reed (Quin Redeker) Casey and Nikki's sleazy dad. Nikki offed him (as she was wont to do) and that was the end of Nick. I was imagining that instead of Nick dying and the door closing on that character, he had have skipped town holding the threat that Nikki tried to kill him. Remember, in those days women were less likely to be believed about such things as sexual abuse and Nikki would have been painted as a bad girl,(even believing it herself) Or he could be sent to jail with the possibility of a return years later. Nick could have provided story later on. I'm thinking of the Edward stalker story which really came out of nowhere- Casey and Nikki had some random psycho neighbor. Instead Nick could have been behind the harassment, using Edward, who he might have met in jail if that story path had been followed, or befriended when he returned to town and was checking out his daughters. Or later Nick could have hooked up with Eve Howard and they plotted against Victor and Nikki. Or after Nick had been missing for years and pretty much forgotten, Jill comes across 'Rex Sterling' (again Quinn Redeker)and grooms him to woo Katherine. Imagine Nikki's shock when she meets Rex and sees her father. Rex denies he's Nick and Victor investigates and discovers Rex is Nick's twin brother (this is before Y&R started to use that trope)Rex never knew he was a twin. So then Nikki has to deal with Rex being her uncle and marrying Katherine.Also Nikki finds out Danny and Gina are her cousins and builds a relationship with them. Then Nick resurfaces and in a twist on the Marge/Kay story, kidnaps Rex and takes his place, finally being exposed , killed and leaving Rex and Katherine to re-unite.

TV history is littered with shows that stayed on too long , for various reasons. So few shows went out at the right time - Mash, Mary Tyler Moore, Cheers but most others saw the writing on the wall but refused to call it quits. Guess that's just how network TV worked back then. One fading show that was revived was Simon & Simon, another in a long line of Tues 8pm CBS series that failed to make any impression against Happy Days/Laverne & Shirley. After a lackluster run, CBS took it off and replaced it with another flop,QED. It was a foregone conclusion that it would be cancelled. Meanwhile on Thursday nights, Magnum and Knots Landing had been moved forward an hour and though Magnum was regularly Top 10/20, Knots was losing a lot of that momentum, so CBS moved it back to 10pm and placed newcomer Cagney & Lacey in that slot, which didn't do any better. So with three new episodes left in the can, CBS placed Simon and Simon at 9pm and within weeks the show was in the Top 20 and CBS had found the right show to follow Magnum.

From what I can find it seems Michael Nouri left in August 78, the same month Sherry joined. That was a bit awkward having a new Liza briefly with Steve to play his death scenes. Or maybe that was the idea- to have Sherry's Liza be seen with Steve, even briefly- to establish that connection with the audience.

SECRET STORM Peter Ames...Peter Hobbs... Feb 1 54- Jan 19 62.. Cec Linder... Jan 22 62-64... Anne Porchek Wicker Diana Muldaur Dec 64 -65. R.B. Keefer...Troy Donahue...Feb - ? 70. __ Reilley.. .Joe Ponazecki March 72-74.

Steve wrote You Van Love again but it was probably used in the Hope Busby era as Steve was dying and then when Sherry came on to play Liza the widow. Funny that the Steve/Liza story centered on Steve wanting to devote himself to music and Liza was modelling but when Sherry took over they used her musical talents to turn Liza into a singer. Wonder if they ever dealt with the fact she showed no inclination for music when Meg played the role and never revealed she was a great singer? There is a glimpse of Hope Busby in the Xmas 77 clip where Jo is singing and the camera pans over the cast.

And in the jungles of Vietnam, young GI Jack Abbott falls for the sweet Luan. Meanwhile Mamie worries about her selfish sister Lilimae who confides in a visit that she is pregnant with a second child she doesn't want.

A Fine Romance CBS Aired July 20 1983 Based on the UK sitcom that starred Judi dench. Cast Julie Kavner (Rhoda,The Simpsons) Leo Burmester, Kristen Meadows (OLTL,SB) and Kevin Conroy (SFT, Dyn) An awkward romance b/w 2 'misfits'

Re Fading shows getting a new lease. The Jeffersons. CBS moved it so many times Season #1 following All in The Family it ranked 4th . For 75/76 it moved up to lead of the Sat night lineup, It dropped to 21st. 76/77 It began the season Sat @8 but mid season CBS shuffled things around and it was moved to 8.30 Wed following Good Times and then to Monday @8. It ranked 24th. 77/78 it was back to Sat night, now at 9pm. In Summer reruns it was shifted to Mon @8. It fell out of the Top 30. 78/79. Another timeslot Wed @8, then moved to Wed 9.30 then back to Wed @8 e3fore a late season move to Sun @9.30. Again the ratings fell with all those time shifts. It barely scraped the Top 50. 79/80 That final move to 9.30 Sun was the new lease on life and The Jeffersons shot to #8. 80/81 It retained its timeslot and was #6 81/82 Best season ever ranking # 3 82/83 Moved up 70 9pm Sunday and was #12 83/84 Finished #19 84/85 Finally ran out of steam and mid season was dropped from Sun @9 to finish the season and it's run Tues @8.