Paul Raven

Some other AW firsts that came to mind First character on a soap to give birth to twins on air -Pat Randolph-Mike/Marianne First show to lose all original characters-when Liz Matthews was written off in 86 there were no characters left from the beginning. First NBC soap to last more than 20 years. First show to have an ongoing black character-Peggy Nolan (Micki Grant) I wonder if a primetime show like The Defenders or The Nurses might have had an abortion story before AW?

I just think he was overwhelmed and too ambitious in thinking he could achieve instant success. He managed to turn Wednesday around with Real People/Diffr'nt Strokes but couldn't find another sitcom to pair with it or a successful 10 o'clock show, having to rely on Hello Larry and Best of SNL. Otherwise it was pretty bleak throughout his run. Things like The Big Show and United States had potential but no real place to put them in the schedule. Maybe Big Show (awful title) should have been an hour and placed at 10 pm. United States was just not suitable for NBC primetime at that point. They needed a more mainstream, adult type comedy a la MASH or Barney Miller.

Lana had a split personality. Obviously the story was intended to be long term but Marland wrapped it up in February. Marland may not have liked the Steven Lars story-I guess he found it too contrived that the baby would end up with the Taylors but he must have realized that there was a lot of potential for ongoing drama and kept it going the rest of his stint. Pat Falken Smith did the same. Am I right in stating that Gloria Monty was no fan of Mary O'Brien's Heather? Robin Mattson got a daytime career out of that role.

@DaytimeFan thanks for posting-a lovely tribute. Glad Doug Davidson was included. Seeing Heather Tom and I can't help wishing she was still Victoria. @Taoboi I'm glad you're into the show and enjoying it. Wish I could feel the same.😟

Those sort of stories have their place on a soap, and they can work if the character motivation and beats of the story are played. And they should be few and far between. Trouble is GL and others constantly used these sort of stories as their mainstays so they lost any sort of impact and there was no fallout in terms of punishment or redemption. People just carried on until the next evil twin, back from the dead or murder spree occurred.

Whatever Happened to the Class of 65 was pre Silverman. When he arrived NBC had committed to mini series, TV movies and specials as their strategy which he disagreed with. But there was a lot of stuff already commissioned that had to air. In addition NBC had ties to Universal and relied on them for most of their programming which left little room for other suppliers and producers were wary of NBC due to that, believing Universal pilots would get first preference. Universal wasn't strong on comedies, which Silverman believed was the formula for winning. He misstepped by announcing he would be going for quality and brought in Lifeline the medical documentary that was ahead of it's time. It bombed and then we saw BJ & The Bear, Kate Loves A Mystery etc which tarnished his rep. It certainly was an interesting time for fans of network scheduling/commissioning eg me.

Sorry,not on NBC in 1979. Silverman was cluttering up the schedule with the likes of Cliffhangers, Sweepstakes, Buck Rogers and Harper Valley-'America really wants to see Barbara Eden again!' The first risk taken was Hill St Blues and that was a game changer.

Sharon Case appearances January- 10 February- 2 March- 1 April -2 May -2 Not looking good...

fantastic idea @FrenchFan Some context and extra info Love of Life 12-12.30 Written by John Pickars and Frank Provo Dr Wennburg was revealed as an ex Nazi! He pushes pills on Barbara as a part of a diabolical plan. Search for Tomorrow 12.30-12.45 Written by David Lesan and Julian Funt I didn't realize that Marge was pregnant in 65-always thought it was a couple of years later. Sam had recently come to Henderson and taken over Tate Industries, leaving Arthur unemployed. Of course he was Len's estranged father and it would take along time for the two to be close. Guiding Light 12,45-1.00 Written by agnes Nixon Johnny Fletcher and his father Paul continued to have a difficult relationship, George and Jane married and had a daughter Amy. As the World Turns 1.30-2.00 Written by Irna Philips Lisa had suddenly left for Chicago and the primetime 'Our Private World' after Bob had rejected her. Mrs Kopecki was mentioned and would never be seen, eventually marrying Pa offscreen a decade later. Neil discovered he might go blind and not wanting to be a burden demanded a divorce from a confused Penny. Secret Storm 4.00-4.30 Written by Jane and Ira Avery Amy would eventually marry Paul, after Kip fell for Janet,Valerie's daughter. Jed Allan was playing Paul at this time.

The schedule prior to the 45 min expansion 12.30 AMC - up against SFT and The Gong Show 1.00 RH - no network competition 1.30 Family Feud - ist half of DOOL and ATWT 2.00 $20,000 Pyramid - 2nd half of DOOL and ATWT 2.30 Break the Bank - up against TD and GL 3.00 GH - up against 1st half of AW and All In the Family reruns 3.30 OLTL - up against 2nd half of AW and Match Game 4.00 EON - up against Somerset and Tattletales July 26 1976 12.30 AMC 1.00 - RH 1.30 - Family Feud 2.00 - $20,000 Pyramid 2.30 - OLTL now up against GL and TD 3.15 - GH now against AW and AITF which were 15 min in. 4.00 - EON It seems the strategy was that OLTL was stronger and could compete with TD and GL and viewers would stay for GH rather than switch over to AW which had already started.

Poor Supertrain- a disaster every step of the way. It seemed Fred Silverman was determined to buy NBC a hit. They spent all the money on the sets and forgot about the scripts. I think the concept was a thriller type story with some comedy filler. There was obviously no money for promotable guest stars-the likes of Steve Lawrence, Larry Linville and Bernie Kopell was the best they could muster. NBC lost millions. Wonder what happened to the set and miniatures?

Based on what? It just seems like some made up fan fic.

Jackie Smith, who would lead ABC daytime to #1 by 1978 arrived March 77. AMC went to an hour in April, but that would have been on the cards before her arrival. By May 77,Doris Quinlan, OLTL's original producer was out after 10 years , replaced by Joe Stuart. In July, the Pollocks were out at GH and the Ellman's took over for a short time before the Hollands became HW's. AMC and RH were untouched. Finally with Monty/Marland in Jan 78 Smith had her teams in place and it paid off.

It looks like Marion wasn't much into the stories.

I'd need to see some examples. I think Centerville on ATWT was where Kim went and was caught in a tornado, losing her memory but this occurred after Irna had departed. As for the other towns I think Bing is bung.

Lynn Loring associates in charge of casting - she should have stuck with acting based on that opening credit list -makes Fred Grandy on Love Boat look A list. That original opening sequence. An endless list of no names and C list actors. And we get it, Harrison Page's character is a fluck up and Charlie Brill is supplying the 'laughs'. The hasty revamp seemed to dump all but 3 of them and the remaining didn't even rate an appearance in the credits. Created by author Donald Westlake- obviously was smart enough to get a credit -more $$$ and then walk away.

Babbin and Arley didn't arrive at their respective shows until the early 80's.

@Khan Check out the Ratings from the 70's thread. Jason is currently posted 1976 data and although ratings fluctuate GH is beaten by EON on occasion and sometimes ranks as ABC's lowest rating soap. I think creatively it was in worse shape than OLTL even though ratings were similar. I've never seen mention of OLTL facing the axe so I guess there were other BTS factors that threatened GH.

ABC did have a soap in development at that time Ann Marcus' The Best Years so maybe that was their back up if GH continued to fail. The fact they were willing to pour money into GH showed they knew it was better to try and revive a known show than launch a new one. I imagine the 13 week aspect is they wanted to see some ratings improvement in that time or cancellation was on the horizon. They would have needed months to get a replacement on air.

Miles and Denise were not a happy couple so I don't think there would have been any romantic scenes.

I did some checking. Sandy Duncan would have only been 19 at the time so I doubt she could play a mother of a 5 yr old. Especially as she always presented younger onscreen. So at this point I would say no. Maybe we will find out otherwise...

ABC hit pay dirt with Love Boat/Fantasy Island-weekly anthologies mixing comedy and light drama with lotsa name guest stars. NBC and CBS tried their own spins with little success. CBS piloted something called 'Rendezvous Hotel' and 'Time Express' with Vincent Price (a Fantasy island rip off) got a short tryout. And then there was Flying High with threw a Charlies Angels theme into the mix. NBC piloted Pleasure Cove and later the mega flop Supertrain. ABC went back to the well with the Debbie Reynolds 'Aloha Paradise' found success with Hotel, but Finder of Lost Loves and Glitter failed and International Airport didn't make it past the pilot.

Y&R Lance Prentiss from John McCook to Dennis Cole. The viewers and eventually Bill Bell did not but Cole's version of Lance and he was dropped. Malcolm Winters - Shemar Moore v Darius McCary-nothing needs to be said Lily Winters -Christel Khalil v Davetta Sherwood

General Hospital In 1977, Irving and Tex Ellman had a 6 week writing stint but accomplished a lot- they wrote in Kin Shriner as Scotty and began Scotty/Laura, introduced Alan Quartermaine, David Hamilton and Nurse Dorrie Fleming. Also killed off Diana's daughter Martha, thus paving the way to Diana adopting Steven Lars. and dropped Terri Webber Arnett (never to return) One misstep was the Lana/Lisa story which Doug Marland wrapped up when he arrived. Then Richard & Suzanne Holland were there for about 10 weeks and killed off Mark Dante's wife Mary Ellen and introduced Lamont and Katie (Mark's next love interest)They otherwise pretty much continued the Ellman's stories. Doug Marland arrived in January and pretty much tweaked what was already happening rather than make major changes immediately.

I need some clarity re Susan Flannery and her 'daughter'.I'm getting the insinuation that the young woman was actually Susan's girlfriend? Later, of course, Susan did adopt a daughter,Blaise.