Harding Lemay's soap Lovers and Friends

[Paul Raven]

A SOD synopsis from around March 77

Unsuspecting the turmoil they have caused back in Chicago, Megan and Desmond have their time alone. Each is a little bewildered by it, and they return home, in many respects stronger - yet still innocent. Megan, especially, expected more romance.

When Edith learns that Megan is not with her friend in Winnetka, she assumes that Rhett somehow lured Megan to his studio for illicit goings on. Receiving her comeuppance in that corner, she then jumps to the conclusion that Jason is the guilty party. Once again she is embarrassed by her impetuosity, but she then decides that Megan has been kidnapped. Soothed by a solicitous Ellie, Edith is soon relieved of her worries when Megan returns, neither talkative nor apologetic about her escapade.

Austin Finds Himself In the Middle

Austin, who needs stability, a strong unemotional guidance, is in a turmoil over the two women in his life. Laurie, aided and abetted by Edith, declares open war with Amy. She has decided to fight for Austin and to remove him from the unwholesome influence of this parvenu cousin of the Saxtons. Jason feels quite left out in the cold.

Amy, after a few misgivings and a half-hearted decision to return to Chicago, decides to stay in Point Clair after Austin specifically asks her to. He needs her strength, and hopefully, a little of her will power can rub off on him. Encouraged by Josie and Connie, she also declares her intention of fighting for Austin.

Ellie, extremely upset when she learns she is pregnant, goes to Edith for advice. She and George are not ready for a child; they lack the social status she feels they need.

Unbeknownst to her, Edith has just had a talk with Josie, about Amy's unbecoming pursuit of Austin. Josie's firm belief that the young should live their own lives and make their own mistakes in order to learn from them has shaken Edith to the core. Seeing Josie's strength and happiness with her husband and family makes Edith see how many of the good things of life she has missed. She tells Ellie that social status is, in the end, not that important after all.

The unspoken, unacknowledged, even unrecognized, attraction between Megan and Rhett is growing stronger.

A Closer Look at Laurie

Fearing a growing attraction between Austin and Amy, Laurie decides to take steps. In fact, she shows her true colors, and they are not at all attractive.

To prevent Austin from keeping a dinner date with Amy at Rhett's studio, Laurie tells him that she loves him and always has. His love for her still smoldering, he is both happy and relieved and tries calling Amy to say that he will be lat. Unfortunately, the line is busy. Later, with Austin out of the room, when Amy calls to see if Austin is coming, Laurie pretends to be the maid and says that Austin and Laurie have gone out for the evening. Amy is crushed. The next day, Austin is perplexed when Amy won�t see him or talk to him.

Although discouraged, Amy is going to fight for Austin - if only she can figure out the right way.

Jason is also taken aback by Laurie's change of tack. Being an old fooler himself, he knows she is up to something, but what can it be? For all his faults, for all his misdirected (sometimes) ambition, he cares. In fact, he loves Laurie and intends to win her.

There is no love lost between Jason and Austin. Austin calls his rival one of the world's users. Jason is quick to retort that Austin did not hesitate to use Amy on his way to straighten himself out. He also warns Austin that Laurie is a user too, that she wouldn't give Austin the time of day until Amy accomplished what she was incapable of.

Good News for Ellie

At Jason's suggestion, Richard hires George to settle a labor dispute for one of the firm's important accounts. Ellie is thrilled at the prospects this holds for George. She will be flabbergasted to learn of Barbara's suggestion that George be retained by the firm. Barbara makes the offer, and George will think about it.

From her attitude, it seems that Barbara is finding George very appealing. Does Richard have a rival in the offing?

The confusing mix-up of emotions and jealousies and insecurities between Desmond, Megan, Rhett, and Connie continues to grow and to complicate all their lives.

At the Cushings, Jason manages to be kissing Laurie just as Austin comes down the stairs. Although she hotly denies it, Laurie rather enjoyed that kiss, but it leads to an argument with Austin, who races to Amy for comfort. He admits that whenever he can't seem to handle a situation, Amy is the one he runs to. She doesn�t mind.

The two engaged couples continue to be confused and upset by Desmond's on-again off-again objections to Megan's working with Rhett; to Megan's increasing stubbornness about being dictated to; to Connie's fear of Megan; to the growing awareness Rhett and Megan have of each other.

Laurie At Work

None of them is aware, as yet, of Laurie's subtle manipulations of their worries for her own ends- whatever they are. Does she want Austin, or Jason, or Desmond? Or is she just making sure that no one can be happy?

Megan feels that Edith wants her to marry Desmond because she didn't marry Desmond's father; that Richard wants the marriage because it seems the safe thing to do. Only Richard seems to see that Megan is increasingly attracted to Rhett, and it worries him.

Barbara Cautions Megan

At a loss in her confusion, Megan goes to Barbara for advice. Barbara advises long, deep thinking, for this is the rest of Megan's life that is at stake, and the attraction of the bright, exciting people can wear thin and cause great hurt. Her ex-husband was one such, and she never really got over the hurt. She also explains that her involvement with Megan's father began as a working relationship. Megan only knows that she and Desmond are not right for each other, that she cannot settle for the arid desert that she perceives her parents marriage to be.

Jason is hurt by his father�s blindness to what Rhett is doing to Megan. Jason accuses Lester of being conned by his favorite son, Rhett.

When Austin overhears Laurie maligning Amy to Edith, he accuses her of unending intrigue, but he still has no idea just how far-reaching Laurie's dirty work is.

Laurie has maneuvered everyone in the Cushing household into believing that Amy is somehow masterminding a plot, not only to ensnare Austin, but to go after Desmond as well, to break up his engagement to Megan.

Megan Makes Up Her Mind

What Laurie does not know is that Megan is about to break the engagement for reasons of her own.

When she goes to the studio to talk things over with Rhett, his refreshing candor, his gentleness make her realize not only that she no longer loves Desmond, but that she does love Rhett. After they kiss, he, too, comes to see that they are heading into complicated waters, and must steer a slow, careful course for their own good, as well as for those who care about them.

Richard, when Megan confides in him, tries to dissuade her. He then confronts Lester Saxton, telling him to keep Rhett away from Megan. He also enlists Jason's help.

Austin�s Eyes Are Opened

Austin realizes just how far Laurie has gone when he compares notes with Megan about Laurie's insinuations and accusations against Amy. Disgusted by what he learns, he tells Laurie so and immediately goes to Amy.

She is, ultimately, very happy when he tells her he is through with Laurie. He apologizes for being so blind and tells her she is the one he cares for, and he wants the world to know it.

Barbara and George, thrown together because of work, are finding a kind of rapport with each other. She can see how hurt he is by Ellie's obvious unhappiness in her pregnancy. Barbara can see what Ellie cannot; how important the child, as yet unborn, is to George. He sees in Barbara a kind, understanding friend.

Richard finds Barbara's new aloofness toward him very disturbing.

[Sylph]

Does anyone know was Harding Lemay ever HW for The Doctors?

[Paul Raven]

Harding Lemay is listed in various sources as a headwriter for The Doctors around 80/81.

There were a constant stream of writing changes on that show at that time and no definitive list of the writers and their tenure.

There is nothing in the plots of that time that give an indication of Lemay's influence.

He also wrote for Search for Tomorrow in the early 80's.

I wonder why he went to two of the lower rated shows?

Did he only want to work on 30 min shows after being burned out by the demands on AW?

I wonder if he was approached by other shows or was his style considered out of date with all the changes happening to soaps at that time?

[Sedrick]

Mr. Lemay served briefly as HW on THE DOCTORS shortly before its cancellation, with his son Stephen serving as his co-headwriter. This was after Lemay's brief tenure as HW at SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, which ended with the writers' strike and his repeated clashes with EP Mary-Ellis Bunim. NBC, which by that time had taken over producing THE DOCTORS from original producer Colgate-Palmolive, apparently did not like Lemay's character-orientated plotting and fired him. Following that, Lemay was a consultant at ATWT in1985 before his return to ANOTHER WORLD in 1988. Afterwards, he consulted for ABC, most notably for THE CITY (which he didn't like) and under Jill Farren Phelps at ONE LIFE.

[Sylph]

Thank you, Paul Raven and Sedrick!

Sedrick, do you know what happened to his son and whether he's still writing?

[LoyaltoAMC]

Lemay's writing for AW probably ranks as the highest-quality writing ever seen on a soap. Labine & Mayer's first stint on RH would rank second IMO.

[Sylph]

I think so, too.

Were you a viewer, Loyal?

[LoyaltoAMC]

Yeah, Sylph, I was. My mom was a HUGE fan. I was barely a teenager at the time, but I'd watch during the summer and vacations and keep up with the magazine synopses. I found the show very entertaining, but I don't think I appreciated how good a show it really was. But looking back on that now and having viewed a bunch of Lemay-era clips on youtube, I was struck by how incredible the writing was. Not just the storyline writing, but the beautiful dialogue. It was all very fresh, character-driven, and free of melodrama. It was drama, not melodrama! The superb theatre actors that Rauch hired made the superlative writing that much better. Not to knock Bell, Labine, or Nixon, the latter two whom I especially appreciate, but their writing, although highly entertaining and enlightening at times, could also be shlocky and trite. (I think Mayer was the real creative genius behind RH, because Labine's subsequent stints on that show and stints on other shows, including her must-vaunted writing for GH, never quite measured up in quality to the Labine/Mayer years). I think Lemay and his writers did their best to steer clear of that type of cliched writing.

[EricMontreal22]

Although I wonder if Lemay burned out creatively too--the era we know he was helping JFP at One Life is hardly a classic era for the show...

[Sylph]

He said they never listened to what he had to say.

[LoyaltoAMC]

I remember Lemay saying in an interview that JFP was the smartest producer he ever worked with. He said that she was very intuitive when it came to story. He said Rauch was kind of the same way, but that Phelps really knew how to make smart snap-decisions.

[Sylph]

Yes, he said that, too. But also noted that a consultant's job is a great one - they pay you basically for doing nothing, just mingling with the writers, occasionally suggesting a thing or two and they never accept your ideas.

Loyal, do you remember Iris tapping the apartment of her ex husband?

[EricMontreal22]

Well no one was headwriting back then--it was all JFP. I dunno, Lemay hasn't had the best run his last few eras and I don't think it was *all* cuz people didn't listen (maybe this is a pet peeve cuz he thought the whole conceit of City was not worthy of soap opera when I thought it worked well)

[dc11786]

There are episodes out there. When I went to the Museum of Television and Radio in NYC, I saw the premier of "For Richer, For Poorer" which focused on the Bill and Megan's wedding rehearsal. Ira Ferguson was telling his daughter Connie to give up on Bill as she hinted that she had a secret of her own as she rubbed her stomach. Lester Saxton applied for a job only to have his alcholism thrown back in his face and he ended up giving up his sobriety.

I also saw the sixth episode of "Lovers & Friends". This episode was an engagement party for Desmond Hamiton and Megan Cushing. The Saxton mother came over to borrow some kitchenware since they hadn't finished unpacking. There were a lot of lengthy conversation, the highlight being a drunken Austin and his sister Megan (played by husband and wife Rod Arrants and Patricia Estrin) discussing their childhood and how their parents had ruined their lives. "Lovers & Friends" was decent, but definitely slow, character driven material.

Actually, in its last few months, the summaries were up for "Lovers & Friends" at Matt's Soap Opera History site.

Austin and Amy Cushing arrived in Bay City in November 1977 and then Rachel appeared in the premier episode of "For Richer, For Poorer".

A majority of the cast was dropped, Patricia Englund, Rod Arrants, Christine Jones, David Abbott, Stephen Joyce, Flora Plumb, and Richard Backus were the only ones to return. In the final episode of "Lovers & Friends", Richard Cushing collapsed from an apparent heart attack and when the show returned, he was dead. New couple Amy Gifford and recovering alcoholic Austin Cushing jumped into marriage as did Desmond Hamilton, on the rebound from Megan, and Laurie Brewster, who was flirting with Austin, Desmond, and Jason when "Lovers & Friends" came to end. The blooming romance between married George Kimball and divorcee Barbara Manners after Ellie miscarried was dropped.

I've heard this too, but I believe it's a soap urban legend. It's too bad Ann Marcus and her EP (Cathi Abbi?) weren't given more time to salvage "Love of Life" because they cooked up some good soap in the show' last couple of months based on the SOD synopses I've read.

It amazes me how shows like "Bright Promise" and "Return to Peyton Place" couldn't build an audience based on what I've read about them.

WoST showed episodes from late 1981 and I think the Lemay's work started sometime in either November or December 1981.

Paul Avila Mayer's work with Stephanie Braxton on "Search for Tomorrow" impressed me. The show wasn't as dark as it had been under it's previous writers and I really liked the build up of the triangle between Quinn McCleary, Wendy Wyatt, and Sarah Whitting. I love how Sarah was a folk singer like her grandmother. Mayer & Braxton definitely gave the McCleary family a stronger sense of unity, but I thought their teen storylines involving Ryder, Danny, and T.R. were awful.

Labine & Mayer balanced each other well. Some people think Labine's return to the show in 1986 represented some of her better work on the series when she returned to her more playful roots with characters like Nancy Don Louis, Zena Brown, and Sherry Rowan.

[David V]

Lemay had a background as an accomplished playwright, and IIRC has continued to work in that field. During its 70s glory days, AW did bring actors from stage over to the show (Douglass Watson was most notable).

GL were another soap with stage connections- Ellen Parker (Maureen) played in a few stage productions, Peter Simon (Ed) has worked as a playwright.

Megan McTavish also worked in stage prior to acting on and writing for soaps.