Love of Life Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

This is fantastic stuff!! Thank you Carl. I have to get my hands on this book. This behind the scenes stuff is gold! So there were plans to bring back Meg in 63,which for whatever reasons didn't happen till 10 years later. I'll have to read up to see if this Alan/beatnik girl thing came to pass.

With everybody contributing stuff, this is becoming the definitive place for Soap history.

[DRW50]

I'm glad you brought that up about Meg, as I thought she hadn't returned from 1958 to the early 70s. At first I thought that some of the soap histories just didn't remember one of her last appearances but I guess for some reason the idea was scrapped.

I wonder about the beatnik thing too, especially when he mentions that Alan has sex. Would that be something they'd be able to get past the censors in 1962/3.

[DRW50]

From the 11/21/95 SOD. K-III Magazine Co

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[All My Shadows]

Wow, Carl, thanks for posting that!

That picture of Tudi, Ron, and Audrey makes me wonder what LOL would have been like had it lived 20-25 more years. A Meg/Bruce/Van triangle would have been essential somewhere along the way, if Bruce would ever entertain the thought of leaving Van. Hard to believe RT and TW are now gone. Oh, and Audrey's story about the phone call She's always come off as being pretty cool. I wish she could have gotten on ATWT and worked with Hubbard and Fulton.

The part on Birgitta is interesting. I remember reading something years ago about how she definitely stuck her nose up to soaps, even when she was a major player on LOL. It seems like she matured a good deal between then and when this article was done. I'm still wondering why she was credited as Gitanna Tolksdorf at the end of the show's run.

Edited October 2, 2010 by All My Shadows

[DRW50]

Thanks for reading it. I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested. This is one of the first soap articles I have such clear memories of -- especially the part where Ron talks about Yvonne de Carlo.

Yeah, I think LOL could have run a while longer with better care, and if CBS had cared more. The actors certainly seemed game. It is just wrong that Audrey Peters and Tudi Wiggins were not more prominent on soaps after LOL ended. I would have loved seeing Tudi on ATWT as some relation of Chris Hughes's freewheeling sister Edith. I can see her clashing with the staid Hughes family as Edith had gone many years before. And Rauch was so wrong to kill off Sarah Shayne. I think she would have been a major backbone for Reva's future stories, moreso than Hawk, who was never really a father to Reva.

Tudi sometimes reminds me of Lily Tomlin.

I'm going to type up the 1962 script in a bit.

[DRW50]

Daily breakdown of episode #2919, November 29, 1962.

Cast: Phil, Rick, Julie, Mrs. Holden, Clyde (5)

Sets: Porter kitchen, Rick's office, Phil's room

ACT ONE

Phil comes home from Winfield to his room and his mother comes up with letter for him. From the return address she knows it's from his old Army buddy, Glenn Sanders - the one man who really befriended Phil when he had all the trouble. Phil happily opens the letter. Glenn has traced him through his aunt and uncle, wants to come to Rosehill, wants to know if there is any kind of night spot where he might get a job playing the piano (his profession). Mrs. Holden all for discouraging Glenn's visit. He knows what no one besides Mrs. H and Phil knows. Glenn Sanders knows the reason Phil was put in the mental hospital, the crime he was accused of. It should be forgotten. Mrs. H is against anyone who knows that coming to Rosehill, but Phil, his nerves in a bad way, reminds his mother that he was innocent, that he is not going to live like a guilty criminal, and if Glenn needs help, he, Phil, certainly after all Glenn did for him, is going to give it to him. He's going out and talk to Rick Latimer.

ACT TWO

Rick is marking arrangements to drive down to New York the next day for Tammy's opening when Julie comes in, hears of the plans, and insists that he take her. Rick doesn't want to. HE doesn't like the increasing demands Julie makes on him. They have nasty argument in which Rick makes it clear that he owes Julie nothing, that their relationship is at her wish, not his, and that anytime she wants to end it, she can.

PROLOGUE

Later Julie is at the bar getting loaded and complaining of the miseries of love to Clyde when Phil comes in search of Rick. Julie eyes him with a jaundiced eye. Any friend of Rick's is no friend of hers.

ACT THREE Rick comes out, sees Phil, who talks to him about possibility of a job for his friend, Glenn. Rick says he's been thinking of putting in a piano in the bar and if man is as good as Phil says he is he'll hire him. Scene is played against bitter comments from Julie. When Kay is mentioned and her departure from scene, Julie rises to her defense. What made Kay like she was? Men. That's the trouble with women. Men. Men and women's pathetic need for love.

EPILOGUE

Mrs. Holden is waiting for Phil when he gets home, pleading with him to write Glenn that there is no chance of a job for him here. She feels very strongly his coming will mean trouble - terrible trouble if the truth about Philip ever got out. Phil in rage tells his mother he's going to write Glenn to come to Rosehill tonight.

Here's a scene from the script -- the episode aired live on November 28, even though the script said 29. David Rounds is Philip, Jessica Walter is Julie, Barry Grael is Clyde the bartender.

PROLOGUE, From Episode #2919

Fade in: Havana Club bar - an hour later

[CLYDE is behind bar. JULIE, quite high, is at one end of bar, There are other customers but CLYDE is paying attention to JULIE]

JULIE: Another drink, Clyde. In fact, why don't you make a double and save yourself a little work.

CLYDE: You're really trying to tie one on tonight, aren't you? That must have been quite an argument you two had.

JULIE: Ah, love! That's what makes the world go round, isn't it, Clyde? And if you can't get love - liquor makes it go round too. (Pause.) You know, Clyde...I think I've finally figured it out.

CLYDE: What?

JULIE: The answer to the riddle...you know what I think? I think Rick is still carrying a torch for that ice-cold little nothing...

CLYDE: If that's true they wouldn't have got divorced.

JULIE: But maybe that divorce was just legal, divorces have to be made in heaven too, you know, Clyde, just as much as marriages do.

(As CLYDE is considering this, PHIL HOLDEN enters.)

PHIL (to CLYDE): Excuse me - can you tell me where I can find Rick Latimer?

CLYDE: Is he expecting you?

PHIL: No.

CLYDE: Then maybe you better call him and make an appointment. Is it business or personal?

PHIL: Well, business, I guess. But I am a friend of his.

JULIE (interested): You a friend of Rick's? I never saw you before. I'm his partner - business partner.

PHIL: Oh - you're Julie Murano.

JULIE: Something tells me you've heard of me. That awful Julie Murano - who has such a bad reputation...Well, what did you want?

PHIL (unwilling to talk to her): I'd better come back another time.

JULIE: Oh, go ahead and tell me what you wanted - I'll give Rick a message from you.

PHIL: Just say Phil Holden was here. (Starts away.)

JULIE: Phil Holden...where do I know that name from? Oh, yes...I know...you're the one who lives at Link Porter's House - right?

PHIL: Yes.

JULIE: You work out at Winfield Academy as a something or other.

PHIL: Librarian.

JULIE: And you...let's see now...what else do I know. Oh, of course - you're madly in love with Barbara Sterling. Clyde and I were just discussing her, weren't we, Clyde?

PHIL (uncomfortable): Well, would you tell Rick I was here...

JULIE: Clyde - bring this gentleman a drink on the house. A Pink Lady. (To Phil.) That'll remind you of Barbara, won't it? She and I went to school together, did you know that? True. I know her very well...very well indeed.

PHIL (to Clyde) Never mind the drink. I'm just leaving.

JULIE: Don't go. Any friend of Barbara's is...Well, any friend of Barbara's is someone I'm ready to sympathize with. And besides, there was some reason I wanted to meet you...something else I heard about you, but I've forgotten what it was. Something you've done is very unusual...what in the world was it?

PHIL: I was in a mental hospital? Is that what you mean?

JULIE (sobered): I'm sorry...I'm very sorry. Look - you want to see Rick - well, I'll take you up to his office. You won't need any appointment if you come with me.

(Fade out.)

[DRW50]

From the April 1, 1980 Digest. S. O. D. Publishing Inc.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

From the November 27, 1979 Digest, interview with Cathy Abbi. S. O. D. Publishing Inc.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[Khan]

Is it just me, or does Cathy Abbi come across in that interview as someone who simply couldn't fathom why her show continued to be in the doldrums, despite trying everything she could think of to boost it?

Thanks, Carl!

[DRW50]

I do get that feeling, and also that she might not have had any idea the show would be such hard work, or that the ratings would be so difficult to build back up. No wonder she wanted out of soaps after that.

Thanks for commenting. I'd posted so many articles from around this time (79-80) I thought people might have felt it was repetitive or depressing. I'm glad you read it.

[Khan]

Bear in mind, too, that networks and sponsors tended to be more trusting of their EP's and HW's back then. So, if a show such as LOVE OF LIFE failed to make a comeback, it wasn't because TPTB didn't try everything they could to keep it on the air. Shows like LOL failed b/c their audience just wasn't there anymore.

[DRW50]

I do think that a lot of the soaps from the 50s just sort of died slow deaths, but LOL is the one which always confuses me because they had a big comeback for several years only to fade out again for their last few years. So was it that the show had moved beyond its core audience or did they just make some bad decisions? If someone like Pat Falken Smith had been with the show after the Labine and Mayer had left would they have been in a better position? Or what if they'd moved to another timeslot?

[Khan]

According to the book "Worlds Without End," LOL's biggest problem was always trying to keep the older, longtime fans happy while simultaneously attracting younger and perhaps more sophisticated viewers. If a particular storyline was more risque than what the older fans were accustomed to, then they tuned out. But, if the story adhered to the hoary, simplistic themes of "good vs. evil," then the younger fans would tune out. (Vanessa's divorce is a perfect example, IMO. At that time, tons of women across the country who were the same age as she were getting divorced after being happily married for years; yet, the idea of "their Van," who virtually walked on water, doing such a thing just seemed so common and crass to the housewives who needed her to remain ever-virtuous and pure.) No matter what they tried to get attention, an overwhelmingly large faction of the audience was bound to be disappointed. Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer's time with the show, however, tended to be more successful than others', because they knew how to straddle that line between those who desired a more contemporary show and those who loved and clung to the original "Van::Good::Meg::Bad" formula.

Their success turned out to be a double-edged sword, however. Without it, there's no way they would have had the opportunity to create RYAN'S HOPE. Yet, leaving to do RH meant LOL's fate was pretty much sealed.

Edited October 29, 2010 by Khan

[DRW50]

Do you think there are any other writers out there who could have done what they did?

It's interesting though to read a bit about some of the stories the show had in their earlier, simpler years. Some of them surprised me, like the one about the mentally ill man who was accused of raping women, and the fight to clear his name.

[Khan]

Well, the Soderbergs do come to mind. ;-)

Aside from Robert Soderberg & Edith Sommer, though...? Maybe Ralph Ellis & Eugenie Hunt, or Chuck & Patti DiZenzo. Those three teams always seemed to be best at simple, character-driven storytelling that would have drawn an audience.