A New Day in Eden - Douglas Marland's cable soap

[EricMontreal22]

Out of all the soaps I've never been able to see even one episode of, besides the fascinating sounding M DePriest's soap opera Where the Heart Is and Lemay's Lovers and Friends--I've always been fascinated by Douglas Marland's Showtime cable soap, A New Day in Eden that ran from 1982-1983. I always hear about it from soap books, or actor bios (Marland's fave Jane Eliot, as well as Jack Wagner were on it), but for a soap opera created in the VCR era there seems to be VERY VERY little media out there--nothing online anyway and I've never seen anything in private soap collections.

I've always read it was a good soap (certainlybetter than the later Playboy channel soap Eden) with classic elements and some more "racy" stuff cuz of cable (I think there was at least a flirtation with homosexuality, as well casual nudity). But by 1983 Marland was at Loving... Anyone remember the show? have any pics or videos online from it?

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[EricMontreal22]

Wikipedia had some info in their Doug Marland site:

During the 1982-1983 season, he co-wrote, with James Rosin, a show that he had created, A New Day In Eden for the cable channel Showtime. The show was hailed as TV's first "nude" soap opera, in which many cast members would perform their love scenes without clothes. The show thrived on the taboo, showcasing bodies and a perverse combination of sex and violence, including a deflowering in a barn, a sexual assault in a shower, and one story in which a woman seduced the rival for another man's affections in a lesbian storyline. Despite its controversy and the fact the cast included daytime legends Jane Elliot (fresh from her run as Tracy on GH & Carrie on GL), Lara Parker (famous as the witch Angelique on the cult series Dark Shadows), and was produced and sometimes directed by daytime veteran actress Susan Flannery, A New Day In Eden only lasted 13 episodes, and, in its cliffhanger, left the question of who the town's serial rapist was up in the air.

[DavidEvanSmith]

It sounds good. I'm guessing it wasn't a daily serial, since it would have lasted two and a half weeks, LOL. Wish I could get my hands on the episodes because I'm a DIE-HARD Jane Elliot fanatic. Though not sure I'd want to see her nude.

Did you see it when it aired, and you don't remember the details, or have you only heard about it and long to see it?

But this is kind of what I think Beyond the Horizon could be if it ever became anything. Envelope-pushing, boundary-crossing soap that wasn't gratuitous, just REAL. Either something on the Logo cable network, the pay-for-gay channel HereTV, or a Showtime or HBO foray into daytime drama. I doubt SoapNet would be interested in an original soap of Beyond the Horizon's nature.

Definitely want Jane Elliot to end up on Beyond the Horizon eventually as well!

[EricMontreal22]

Hahah well I was born in 1980. So no I didn't see it when it aired But it's long interested me--it sounds like writing wise anyway it was one of the few early attempts to do an "adult" soap that actually worked and had talent behind it. Yeah I assume it was weekly but the odd thing is the books with info on it I've found don't even tell you that... (Schemering's Encyclopedia has the longest entry--I coul;d type it out if you want).

No SoapNet had to edit MVP from tis original Canadian airing I heard because of the nudity, which strikes me as odd as it was on network tv here and on cable in the US but oh well.. I could see your soap going to something like Here! (where it would at least trump acting and writign wise their current shows like Dante's Cove and Lair )

[DavidEvanSmith]

Tell me about it! Aren't Cove and Lair just a mess?! It undermines the culture more than advancing it. I just feel gross watching it, because the people involved are legitimately TRYING to sell their performances, but they really can't be taken seriously.

I feel like BTH would be taken more seriously on Logo, though. The nudity isn't a make-or-break for BTH, but would be a nice perk (and some curses beyond the now-acceptable "bitch") if in some crazy world it ever made it to cable.

And I would like to read about Eden, if it's not too much trouble!

[LoyaltoAMC]

I remember the show pretty well. It was twinned with another adult soap, actually more of an anthology, called "Lovers and Other Strangers," which co-starred Cali Timmens, later of Ryans and AW. Anyway, it had a classic soap structure, with the wealthy Lewis family, headed by widower Bryan and his two hot sons, the good one Greg and the mischievous one Biff, and the working class Richardsons. Biff was dating sweet, virginal, girl next door Francie Richardson while sleeping with the slutty, very busty Pam, played by who I believe was a former Playgirl centerfold model. With lots of nudity, it was considered very risque at the time. I remember the show boasting, and vaguely remember a publicity campaign associated with it, a lesbian encounter in a swimming pool between Pam and Bryan Lewis' scheming bisexual sister in law (Miranda?). I still remember the scene, and it was really scorching. Miranda who was also sleeping with Emmett Clayborne, who was part of some corporate story. Jane Elliot was brought in near the end as Isabel Kitteridge, probably to help salvage the show, which wasn't do well in the ratings. Actually, one of my most vivid memories was of James Horan, post-AW, pre-GH/AMC. I was a 16 year old with raging hormones, coming of age and dealing with same-sex feelings, and I remember a constantly shirtless Horan stirring my hormones into a volcanic rage LOL. It had the signature Marland style of overlapping storylines, but I didn't find it particularly well written. It was mindless and fun and provocative with a lot of male and female eye candy who surprisingly could act. The quasi-soap I mentioned above, Lovers and Other Strangers, was about a bunch of married swingers, if I remember correctly. I do remember that it was a total bore.

[EricMontreal22]

I thought \it was paired with another soap but could only find mention of Lovers and Other Strangers the movie--now I see a tiny IMDB entry for it. For a second I thought it was paired with the Canadian soap with nudity Loving Friends and Perfect Couples which aired in the US (imdb has one user comment sayign he remembered a menage a trois storyline)

"LOVING FRIENDS AND PERFECT COUPLES (TV Series)

(1983) * Ross Petty, Mimi Kuzyk, Lisa Howard, Keir Dullea, others..... Short-lived soap opera was pretty indistinguishable from its U.S. counterparts (including pretending it was set in the states) except for two points: one, it threw in some actual nudity and, two, it was pretty awful. Soaps aren't the most respected of TV genres, but this was bad even for its type. And the exposed flesh seemed kind of pointless since the series never managed to be particularly steamy or erotic. Half hour episodes, originally on First Choice, then rerun, uncut, on Global. - partial female and male nudity.- "

Anyway I'd still like to see something of Eden--thanks so much for sharing yoru memories. Dave I'll type out what I can find.

(My friend dated the "lead actor" from Dante's Cove when he was still in the closet, he live din my hometown of Victoria. Charlie David. I think he's one of the worse actors I've ever seen--I don't get how you can be so bad... I'd liek Cove better if it was a legit guilty pleasure--and it's all the more embarassing now that I know, despite where it's filmed it's largely a Canadian production. lol oh well)

[All My Shadows]

I think you mean "Loving Friends and Perfect Couples," which, according to IMDb, was also written by James Rosin.

[EricMontreal22]

Maybe it was the one I mentioned then that originated in Canada (and had well known Canadian tv actors like Ross Petty as well as one time movie star--2001--Keir Dullea) But there was a show that same year called Lovers and Other Strangers. It's stange James Rosin seemed to be much more of an actor than writer.

*edit* ok Schemering mentions Lovers and Othe Perfect COupls in his description. I'll type it out--interestingly he seems to think New Day in Eden was relatively successful. He also claims it ran far more than 13 episodes unless they were VERY long...

from the 1987 edition of Schemering's Encyclopedia:

New Day in Eden

1982-1983 Showtime

Cable television brought explicit language and nudity to the soap opera, but most efforts have proved transitory and have actually been long mini-series rather than open-ended stories. Showtime has been the leader in the cable soap explosion, launching Romance, a puerile anthology serial that dramatized stories (Such as a man who hires a woman to seduce his semnary-bound son) over five episodes; Pat Falken Smith's Lone Star Bar and Grill, a drama about a group o fblue-collar Texas workers and aspiring country and western performers [i'm curious about this too]; Dallas creator David Jacobs' Loving Friends and Perfect Couples [ok here's the show listed once more...], a romantic comedy about sexual tensions in modern relationships. Even the Playboy channel got in the act with Elizabeth Levin's Sunday Child, about a young woman's sexual awakening, and Love Ya, Florence Nightingale, a continuing comedy-drama about the problems of a sex therapist, starring porno queen Marilyn Chambers. (The latter consisted of weekly peeks at Chambers' breasts as she peeled off her gray sweatshirt when greeting patients.)

By far the most successful and popular effort, creatively and with audiences, was A New Day in Eden, a Showtime creation that also aired on the Oak Media and Prism systems. Written by Douglas Marland, who had become soap opera's most sought after writer after his award winning stints with Guiding Light and General Hospital, the show dramatized the business and romantic problems of the people of Eden, a Midwestern city in the process of renovation and a sweeping urban renewal program. At the center of the action was Bryan Lewis, the president of a huge electronic company, who was threatened by Josh Collier, a troubleshooter sent to measure Eden's progress in urban renewal.

The power struggles and business machinations served as a backdrop for racier activities: an older woman-younger man romance, a deflowering in a barn, father-daughter incest, lesbianism and a rash of rapes, murders and mayhem at the local college campus. The producer of the thirty-three hour serial was Gary Hoffan and the executive producer was Michael Jaffe. Much of the cast were almni of General Hospital, the show into which Marland had breathed new life in the late 70s. Afterwards Marland, with Agnes Nixon, moved on to the new, also college based daytime drama, Loving.

Bryan Lewis - Jim McMullan

Josh Collier - Steve Carlson

Miranda Stevens - Maggie Sullivan

Biff Lewis - Grant Wilson

Greg Lewis - Larry Poindexter

Clint Masterson - Jack P Wagner

Madge Sinclair - Jane Elliot

Laurel Franklin - Ann Wilkinson

Betty Franklin - Lara Parker

[DavidEvanSmith]

Any word on whether Jane Elliot played the dyke?

[EricMontreal22]

No although I admit a part of me hopes she was. I wish we could find out if it was weekly or daily, and if it actually ran 33 episodes? 33 weeks is a decent run--not 13

[dc11786]

When I asked about this show on another board, I was told it was 33 episodes based on an article the person had about "A New Day in Eden" from People's magazine. The show premiered in December 1982 and when the article had been published in February 1983, 10 episodes had aired so far. Doug Marland said the show was going to end with a cliffhanger where the identity of the serial rapist would be left up in the air.

I had also been informed Maggie Sullivan's Miranda Stevens seduced her rival as LoyaltytoAMC states.

[MarkH]

Eric, Eric, we've GOTTA teach you to use that OCR feature on your scanner. It will save hours of typing

Are they really meant to be legitimate soaps? I've seen a few pics and clips, and they seemed to me like a Showtime style soft core porn.

Where are these shows anyway? On the here! network? I don't get that...I think I can pay-per-view it or something.

Logo is, to me, an embarrasment. It is filled with the cheapest, most boring reality shows for the most part. When they show movies, they've edited them to hell (even though they are on cable!)...I mean, it is much tamer than anything on HBO or even AMC for heaven's sake. I find nothing that sustains my interest on there.

That Noah's Arc seemed kind of embarrassing to me. Do they produce any original dramas at this point?

I really thing the future of GLBT soap storytelling is integration...more like Brothers and Sisters...than segregation. In that sense, David, I note that you are striving for the integration route with BTH...which is the right one, IMO.

[Southofnowhere]

Don't want to start anything , but i really don't like that word!

[DavidEvanSmith]

Thank you! I think it's the most reflective of reality out of any other kind of GLBT programming. Noah's Arc is populated with caricatures. I did enjoy Queer as Folk, but for the most part they existed in a gay bubble. I haven't seen Brothers and Sisters, but sounds like I need to check it out. And I think any soap fails at attempts at gay-centric stories because they don't make the investment in more than one or two gay characters, and don't let the gay story intersect much with any of the other stories (if at all), which is limiting.

I really appreciate your comment. My hope is that my project would still be considered original and groundbreaking even for the "progressive" networks like Logo and Here! TV.

Sorry, totally didn't mean to offend. I meant nothing by it. My apologies.