Love of Life Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

[DRW50]

July 1956 TV Radio Mirror.

[DRW50]

[Paul Raven]

I don't recall seeing Bonnie Bartlett as Van before.

Carol was never brought back into the story.Maybe when Bruce and Van got together,her desire to re-unite with Carol could have been a good story for them.

Did this mag regularly do stories like this? Hope so,and that you have more !

[DRW50]

I have a photo of Bonnie as Vanessa in a Daytime TV Library on this show - I will post when I find it again. I did a double take when I saw her here, as I thought it was Peggy McCay. I guess this wasn't too long after she took over as Van and they were easing her in. In the other photo she looked more like herself.

I didn't ever know what happened to Carol, and didn't know much about her at all. At first I thought she was Paul's daughter (who also disappeared, didn't she).

TV Radio Mirror had at least a few of these stories a year, up to about 1960. I don't have any others for LOL at the moment but do have some for a few of the other soaps, if you're interested.

[Paul Raven]

Yes please!!

[FrenchFan]

Thanks Carl

[DRW50]

Thank you for all your hard work. A lot of the early 70's stuff we know on LOL is from your recaps. If you ever have any more that's even better.

You probably already know this but there are some GH scenes from 1977/1978 that were put up on Youtube recently, and they go along with your recaps from that time - it was so strange seeing a bit of the Laura/Lana story, after reading about it in your recaps. I'm trying to remember when you posted those, as I wanted to go through them again to brush up on a few of the stories.

[Paul Raven]

Summary of SOD synopsis Jan 79

Sara and Professor McCauley draw closer but he refuses to talk about his upcoming operation.

Ray is upset to find Tony at the hospital questioning the staff about Bambi's condition. As Ray is footing Bambi's hospital bills,he feels he should be the one the staff report to. Ray realizes Tony is in love with Bambi.

Dr Jessup and Graham implore Ray to find Bambi's next of kin so they can go ahead with a much needed operation.Ray phones Des Moines high school principal for details on Miss Barbara Brewster.

Ray is told Bambi is the daughter of Rev Brewster,who still lives in town. As Ray was told by Rev Brewster he has no daughter,Ray decides to head to Des Moines to seek out the truth.

Arlene is fearful of Piedro's threats to her family.When Ray tells her he is leaving for Des Moines,she is terrified that Piedro may strike. Ray tries to calm her and suggests she and April stay with his mother while he is away.

Mama Gaspero is delighted to have Arlene and April Joy stay with her.

In an attempt to help Betsy,Tom meets with Ben to find out how things lay between Betsy and Ben. Ben doesn't take kindly to what he sees as Tom's interference.

Bambi's condition worsens.

Meg asks Bruce for a job at the campus and is shocked by his anger at what he sees as her taking advantage of his position. Meg tries to explain that she needs something to channel her energies into but Bruce feels it's just another flight of fancy from Meg.

Sara then takes Meg to task by acting on a casual comment by the Professor that Bruce will need staff. Meg retorts that once again,she is the bad girl who dared to upset the perfect husband of the perfect daughter.Meg storms off,leaving Sara to ponder how it always seems that she ends up siding against Meg.

Betsy opens up to the Professor about her history with Ben and he agrees that perhaps her moving back to England could be a good thing at this time.

The Rosehill Arrow sends a reporter to the restaurant to dig up juicy info on Bambi but Tony refuses to have Bambi's reputation sullied in any way.

Ray arrives in Des Moines to meet up with Rev Brewster,who denies any knowledge of a so called daughter.

Tom isn't pleased that Betsy is considering leaving town. He feels he should talk to Ben and get him to stop Betsy from running away .

Mama Gaspero hopes Arlene may be a good influence on her flighty daughter Gina.

Despite being impressed with Mia's sincerity in urging her to sort things out with Ben,Betsy is still determined to return to England.

Although with Betsy out of the picture,Mia knows she would have a clear path to Ben,she also realizes he doesn't really love her, She tells Ben that it's over between them.At first incredulous,Ben decides that this is for the best and it will give him a chance to take stock.

Bambi's condition stabilizes. Dr Graham hopes his'sleeping beauty' will soon awaken.

Reporter Muldoon finds it very interesting that Bambi was beaten up in her boss's office for no apparent reason.

The hospital staff are annoyed by the reporter's attempts to beat up a scandal about Bambi and worried that drawing attention to her will mean her assailant may try to finish her off.

Meg is delighted Mia is out of Ben's life. Now he can move home and she can devote herself to his welfare,

Ray visits the newspaper editor to try and find out more about Rev Brewster and Bambi.

[DRW50]

Who was Gina Gaspero? I've never heard of her.

I guess this Bambi story is the one that inspired the soap magazine interview title with Ann McCarthy, the title I always thought was a bit tasteless - Ann McCarthy - Can She Take a Beating?

[Paul Raven]

Gina (Amy Niles) was Ray's little sister who was involved in a summer teen storyline with Christy (Leah Ayres) and Wes (Woody Brown),Mia's brother. She took some pot at a party and slept with Wes and thought she might be pregnant.Ray played overbearing big brother throughout.

[saynotoursoap]

Good heavens I had forgotten about Gina and Wes Osborn. I believe Christy had a pool party, and Gina ate an Alice B. Toklas brownie. She got stoned and gave in to Wes' seduction, losing her virginity to him. She later missed her period and informed him that he had made her pregnant. Before they got horizontal, Wes hastily promised her that if their night together left her preggers, he would do the honorable thing. But confronted with Gina's late menstrual cycle, Wes flipped out and left Rosehill.

Gina went to church and prayed about it. Her "friend" Christy gave Gina an awful herbal tea to induce an abortion. Gina drank it and collapsed with a horrific seizure. She was rushed to the hospital, but it turned out that she had not actually been pregnant! Can you imagine this on a soap today? I do not recall what finally happened to Gina. Woody Brown left the series to do a movie then returned a few months later. By that time Arlene had flown off with Hal Carson, and their plane crashed into a snowy mountain. Ray was convinced Arlene and Hal slept together after the accident. And remember Gina and Ray's brother Guido? I loved those goofy names near the end of the run. Guido Gaspero. There was also Tony Alphonso who loved Bambi Brewster, and all those nutcases in Des Moines, followers of Bambi's Elmer Gantry daddy who had murdered her mommy Barbara and buried her in the backyard. God, poor Ann Marcus had her work cut out for her in that last year.

Edited June 8, 2011 by saynotoursoap

[DRW50]

That story with Gina and the attempt at an induced abortion sounds pretty shocking. I have to wonder why LOL kept going back to stories which their audience had previously rejected (hadn't they lost ratings in the late 60's/early 70's when they tried to do relevant or shocking types of stories).

What did you think of Woody Brown?

Were there any younger actors in the last few years of the show you felt had a lot of potential?

[Paul Raven]

[DRW50]

saynotoursoap has put up a 1960 episode which gives us our first glimpse (if we weren't watching the show back when it first aired) of Rick and Barbara.

I wonder how long this theme lasted. I don't like it that much. I keep expecting to see Doctor Who grinning at me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXhKHSAUiCw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrGISjyL8n0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL