Another early Peggy McCay color episode.

Journey Into Darkness--Skip Homeier, Peggy McCay, 1957 color TV

And since I never noticed before - happy 70 pages (now 71), Rosehill fans. A real feat.

Edited March 31Mar 31 by DRW50

Thanks to @JAS0N47 an interview with Gene Peterson. I appreciate what he says about the 85-year-old devoted fan. Back then fans probably had to be sharper than ever.

I know little to nothing about this character.

@slick jones You and IMDB have Gene listed as airing in 1958. This is from Duluth News Tribune 2/8/59. I'm not sure if that would mean he was still on the show in 1959 or not but thought you'd want to know.

Edited April 6Apr 6 by DRW50

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks to @JAS0N47 an interview with Gene Peterson. I appreciate what he says about the 85-year-old devoted fan. Back then fans probably had to be sharper than ever.

I know little to nothing about this character.

@slick jones You and IMDB have Gene listed as airing in 1958. This is from Duluth News Tribune 2/8/59. I'm not sure if that would mean he was still on the show in 1959 or not but thought you'd want to know.

I believe Gene was on the show 58-59.

Van and husband Paul moved to New York. Paul was presumed dead in a plane crash, This was when the show expanded to 30 min. Widow Van got a job at an ad agency that sponsored Starship, a variety show, Noel Penn was the exec producer.

1 minute ago, Paul Raven said:

I believe Gene was on the show 58-59.

Van and husband Paul moved to New York. Paul was presumed dead in a plane crash, This was when the show expanded to 30 min. Widow Van got a job at an ad agency that sponsored Starship, a variety show, Noel Penn was the exec producer.

Thanks. I wonder if they had any more plans for him. I wish some of that time would pop up.

Found this 1975 video of Richard Higgs narrating/demonstrating cars for Ford/Lincoln/Mercury. The promo is in several segments featuring the different models in the lineup. I was surprised to learn Higgs would commit suicide in 1977. I saw him as Dan on The Doctors reruns several years ago on youtube. He was a very tall man.

On 4/7/2026 at 2:40 AM, Paul Raven said:

I believe Gene was on the show 58-59.

Van and husband Paul moved to New York. Paul was presumed dead in a plane crash, This was when the show expanded to 30 min. Widow Van got a job at an ad agency that sponsored Starship, a variety show, Noel Penn was the exec producer.

When Van and Paul moved to New York, did the entire show change locations and move to New York? Or were there still scenes in Barrowsville (I think that was the name of LOL's first location)?? And when Van left New York, did she move directly to Rosehill, or did she return to Barrowsville for a while?

On 4/30/2026 at 7:37 AM, Tisy-Lish said:

When Van and Paul moved to New York, did the entire show change locations and move to New York? Or were there still scenes in Barrowsville (I think that was the name of LOL's first location)?? And when Van left New York, did she move directly to Rosehill, or did she return to Barrowsville for a while?

I think the move to NY coincided with the show going to 30 mins. Was this when Jean McBride left? So Van moving to NY was like a new show. Only her parents were back in Barrowsville and they might have been dropped at this time. I'd really have to check dates and storylines to be sure.

It's Off With the Old Cal, On With the New Watertown Daily Times, Thus. , Oct. 28, 1976

NEW YORK - Weddings are usually the most anticipated events in soap opera land. There is usually much fanfare, weeks of preparation, and the press is usually invited to photograph the on-screen event. Such was not the case with "Love of Life" when Cal Aleata married Rick Latimer last week. The show had quietly arranged for nuptials to mark the final appearance of Deborah Courtney in the role of Cal. Miss Courtney has been playing the part for several years. Obviously the emotion on the set the day of the wedding was too much for outsiders to witness.

It's unusual for such a long-running actress to get canned, especially on her wedding day. When the bride returns from her honeymoon November first, Roxanne Gregory will be playing the newlywed. And this viewer, at least, is hopeful that Miss Gregory will add a bit of spark" to a storyline that has been, to say the least, lopsided. Middle-aged Rick has been the romantic target of both early-twenties Cal and her venomous mother Meg. But mama seemed to have the upper hand since it was always painfully questionable why Rick would ever favor namby-pamby Cal to volatile and vivacious Meg.

Miss Gregory, a Vassar graduate, played one of Heather's girlfriends, Buffy, on "Somerset" last spring, and did a recent one-shot as Jim Bouton's lady friend in nighttime's "Ball Four." She's appeared in stock and regional theater productions including many musicals such as "Fiddler on the Roof." "Sweet Charity." and "Promises. Promises." She'll have to do more than promise to make Cal a more interesting character. Stay tuned to see if she succeeds.

11 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

  On 4/29/2026 at 5:37 PM, Tisy-Lish said:

When Van and Paul moved to New York, did the entire show change locations and move to New York? Or were there still scenes in Barrowsville (I think that was the name of LOL's first location)?? And when Van left New York, did she move directly to Rosehill, or did she return to Barrowsville for a while?

I think the move to NY coincided with the show going to 30 mins. Was this when Jean McBride left? So Van moving to NY was like a new show. Only her parents were back in Barrowsville and they might have been dropped at this time. I'd really have to check dates and storylines to be sure.

If you are correct, then Love of Life actually had three different locations, not just two as is reported in many soap opera history books. I had always assumed that when Van moved to New York, it was similar to when Erica Kane moved to New York on All My Children in the early 1980s -- there were lots of scenes of Erica's activities in NYC, while the rest of the show carried on in Pine Valley. But if all of the action on LOL transferred to NYC when Van moved there, and the show was 100 percent taking place in New York, that would make New York an official full-time location for the show. There may be no way to verify this, unless someone is still alive who was a fan and happens to remember. I doubt scripts are archived and available for review.

"This is Ken Roberts, inviting you to join us each weekday for LOVE OF MOVING."

Whenever articles are written about gay storylines on Soaps - most people have forgotten that Love of Life was one of the first soaps to have a gay storyline

It was when Ben was in prison and the victim of an attempted male rape

5 hours ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

Whenever articles are written about gay storylines on Soaps - most people have forgotten that Love of Life was one of the first soaps to have a gay storyline

It was when Ben was in prison and the victim of an attempted male rape

I've seen it mentioned a few times, but I think most don't consider prison rape to be a gay storyline.

On 4/29/2026 at 5:37 PM, Tisy-Lish said:

When Van and Paul moved to New York, did the entire show change locations and move to New York? Or were there still scenes in Barrowsville (I think that was the name of LOL's first location)?? And when Van left New York, did she move directly to Rosehill, or did she return to Barrowsville for a while?

I believe both Van and Meg ended up in New York briefly in the late 1950s. For some reason, I thought it was slightly longer. I know the parents stopped appearing in the mid 1950s, or at least according to the soap books.

I'm very curious on how Bruce entered the story. I imagine that he married Van and brought her home to Rosehill, but that has always been my assumption. I am unsure if the marriage took place in Rosehill, New York, or even Barrowsville.

On 5/21/2026 at 7:51 PM, Paul Raven said:

I think the move to NY coincided with the show going to 30 mins. Was this when Jean McBride left? So Van moving to NY was like a new show. Only her parents were back in Barrowsville and they might have been dropped at this time. I'd really have to check dates and storylines to be sure.

It's Off With the Old Cal, On With the New Watertown Daily Times, Thus. , Oct. 28, 1976

NEW YORK - Weddings are usually the most anticipated events in soap opera land. There is usually much fanfare, weeks of preparation, and the press is usually invited to photograph the on-screen event. Such was not the case with "Love of Life" when Cal Aleata married Rick Latimer last week. The show had quietly arranged for nuptials to mark the final appearance of Deborah Courtney in the role of Cal. Miss Courtney has been playing the part for several years. Obviously the emotion on the set the day of the wedding was too much for outsiders to witness.

I believe Jean McBride, Bonnie Bartlett, and writer John Hess all leave within a year of the show expanding to a half hour. The shift to Rosehill would be within the year of the transition as Bruce is introduced in January, 1959 and the wedding of Bruce and Van is in April, 1959, when Audrey Peters assumes the role.

13 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

If you are correct, then Love of Life actually had three different locations, not just two as is reported in many soap opera history books. I had always assumed that when Van moved to New York, it was similar to when Erica Kane moved to New York on All My Children in the early 1980s -- there were lots of scenes of Erica's activities in NYC, while the rest of the show carried on in Pine Valley. But if all of the action on LOL transferred to NYC when Van moved there, and the show was 100 percent taking place in New York, that would make New York an official full-time location for the show. There may be no way to verify this, unless someone is still alive who was a fan and happens to remember. I doubt scripts are archived and available for review.

Original headwriter John Hess' script collections is stored at Darmouth. The scripts run through July, 1958. So some of that would be covered.

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I've seen it mentioned a few times, but I think most don't consider prison rape to be a gay storyline.

I don't think the modern soap community considers this as gay content, but I do think that this content in film is often considered in films of the time as having a queer interest. I think there are probably a lot of lost "gay adjacent" storylines that have fallen by the wayside. Brad Vernon was actually assaulted in prison around the same time (I can't remember if it was before or after). Also, wasn't Bill Horton "attacked" in prison in a way that suggested he may have been sexually assaulted or was that a completely aborted story? Then, there was the "Sympathy and Tea" storyline on "How to Survive a Marriage" with Brad Davis' Alex Kronos who was attracted to Rosemary Prinz even though his father suggested he was too weak or something along those lines.

11 hours ago, dc11786 said:

Brad Vernon was actually assaulted in prison around the same time (I can't remember if it was before or after).

The prison segments were actually filmed on location at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack NJ, with real-life Inmates as Background extras

THE DAILY NEWS, Tarrytown, N.Y., Mon., December 1, 1975

Versatility is foremost for Canadian Actress BY CARMEL CAMISE MARCHIONNI

Tudi Wiggins, whose career has altered between the stage, television and radio—with a few films tossed in—says she never intended to become an actress.

A theater critic once called her a Deborah Kerr/ Margaret Leighton/Maggie Smith lady fitted into one designer styled suit. On stage or sipping a cup of hot coffee at the home of Dr. Rocco F. Troiano, Yonkers pediatrician, discussing the role of the volunteer worker with handicapped children, Canadian born actress Tudi Wiggins exudes an air of refined elegance. Call it class. She is regal in manner and speech and one suspects she can play royalty with little or no effort. Yet versatility is the name of the game on stage and before the television cameras.

IN ONE season at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, she played an elderly matron, sophisticated Mediterranean villa dweller, witch , humble Buffalo housewife, a German maid and a kindly psychiatrist. She has enacted roles in all age categories, from 19 to 90, and is currently appearing in the CBS-TV daytime soap opera, "Love of Life."

The role of "Meg" played by Miss Wiggins was originally held by Jean McBride. The character was written out of the script 18 years ago and returned to the show in December 1973. "Meg is very jet-set," says Miss Wiggins. "She causes all the trouble on the show, but rather than being an evil person, she is just self-centered. She tries to make things go her own way." Meg is the sister of the lead, "Van," played by Audrey Peters. "The people on the show are all marvelous," says Miss Wiggins. "They are all very human, down-to-earth. There is no time for temperament. "Everyone is there with the same pressures and tension and so you don't find some of the temperament that you might have on stage."

TEMPERAMENT in the theater is publicized for publicity's sake, she feels "I think it is kind of fun for people to think actors are temperamental." Miss Wiggins lauds the talents of Larry Auerbach, who has directed "Love of Life" for the past 24 years. "I have been acting for 27 years and have found him to be among the finest I have ever met." Miss Wiggins, whose career has alternated between the stage, television and radio-with a few films tossed in-says she never intended to become an actress. It all began back in Canada when she was 12 years old and her brother, an aspiring artist, dragged her to the theater because he wanted to learn about set design. While he was there, the Ottawa Saturday Players cast him in a play and since they needed a young girl for another role he suggested they use his kid sister. "The manager kept after my mother until she finally consented," Miss Wiggins recalls. "And so I joined the company."

She spent five years in the Ottawa Children's Theater before joining the Canadian Repertory Theater and then struck out on the North American tour of "Oh, What a Lovely War." Then, like so many Canadian performers who see brighter horizons in the south, she headed for New York. In 1968, she auditioned for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and was given the role of a nun in the production. She was understudy for the lead played by Zoe Caldwell and went on stage for Miss Caldwell at the Helen Hayes Theater six times. Miss Wiggins also appeared in the Broadway show, "There's One in Every Marriage."

WHILE appearing in "There's One..." with Peter Donat and Roberta Maxwell, she was performing in the soaper, "The Guiding Light," on television. When "Guiding Light" was unceremoniously doused, she went to Chicago and the Goodman Theater where she played in Anna in Old Times," was the lead in a review. "Scenes from American Life," and enacted the role of Jennet' in "The Lady's Not For Burning". Miss Wiggins returned often to Canada for radio and television roles. She also appeared with Don Knotts in The Mind With a Dirty Man' and went on tour with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in The Secretary Bird ' Two years ago. little more than an hour after the curtain rang down on stage at Arlington Park in Chicago. Miss Wiggins was on a flight to New York to start "Love of Life."

In Manhattan, she lives in a terrace apartment complete "with trees, rose bushes and cherry vine tomatoes." She also nurtures herbs which she uses for gourmet cooking- Right now I'm on a Japanese kick." I love to cook for people... I won't cook for myself, but love nothing better than having a couple of people up for dinner. At home with Miss Wiggins are a female miniature poodle named "Cookie' and a peach-faced parakeet she calls "Hallelujah Passover. " Two Easters ago. Miss Wiggins explains she heard a rush of wings and a parakeet flew into her apartment. "Since he arrived on Easter Sunday, his name is Hallelujah. I was singing at the Riverside Church at the time, and since he flew over all those apartments to get to my terrace, his last name is Passover. Two months ago. Hallelujah Passover was acting peculiarly. And in a few days. Hallelujah Passover laid live eggs. "He is a she " says Miss Wiggins "So the only man in the household has turned out to be a girl It is a shock to the whole household, you can be sure'