Rituals

[1974mdp]

Does anyone have any insight on what the actual ratings for the show were?  I'd be very curious!

I remember in my market they aired the show right after Santa Barbara which had recently premiered. Later, the show was moved to a morning timeslot.

[dc11786]

I like stuff that tends to be a bit obscure so it makes it easier to obtain since there is no real value for some of the lesser known soap opera stuff. Thank you though. My winter hobby to beat seasonal depression from the cold New England winter will be to catalog more of my material. I have some script stuff I've gotten that I've never really dug into in other soaps. 

Cabot Butler's father's profession was mentioned in the bible as a butler. I think it was meant to be a slight because it was either suggested (or I assumed) that Cabot saw himself as more Rhett Butler. In the cast lists, a Louise Robertson appears in February, 1985, around the time they seem to be dealing with Carter's paternity so I am assuming that's his mother, but I'll wait until I dig into the episode listings more before saying that definitively. 

In the material I received, was an unedited script for episode 34 (I think) in which Jeff Robertson has reported to the police that Eddie Gallagher was the man who attacked him in Boston at the start of the show. As Jeff delivers the exposition to Christina, Jeff states that Christina will be shocked because it was her uncle, Eddie, who attacked him. Mike later mentions that Christina must feel odd given her stepson's claim. So I guess the bible relationships were maintained, which makes sense as Lisa is never called Sara's sister in the material I've seen though I always assumed since both Lisa and Sara were listed as Christina's sister that was the case. 

Other tidbits I forgot to mention: Dakota's name was originally Dresden Lane. Dresden was only 17 and Cherry had originally named her baby Lou Ann before giving her a new moniker (Dresden) when Dresden started to model. The only other character who was mentioned in the bible as being significant, who didn't become that significant, was Carlos, Diandra's lover from San Raphael. Carlos was a revolutionary type who had been groomed by guerillas to help destroy the dictatorship led by Diandra's father. Whitney (Taylor) and Susan (Christina) were friends from college and Susan became close to a wheelchair bound Katherine (Katherine had been paralyzed during the car accident after disclosing knowledge of Rose and Bradford's child). Susan was also in love with Bradford (Patrick). 

Regarding ratings, I know that show did well in some markets, but many times the show was being moved around towards the end so I don't think the ratings were that great. AT one point, Metromedia stated "Rituals" was the number 1 soap opera in Boston. 

I'm very curious to see what, if anything, else is mentioned about Brady not being a Chapin. That was a pretty profound revelation to me. I could see how that would impact the show as Noel was after the money and Brady's parentage would eventually be contested. Also, there was no hint that Brady was Rose and Bradford's child, just a boy that Bradford adopted and passed off as his and Katherine's to appease her father. 

Carson Scott Field is mentioned as Whitney (Taylor's) first husband and is from a family with a pretty successful department store. Matt Parrish is also listed as Whitney's ex-husband in the relationship listings at the top of his bio, but in the narrative he is said to be her former lover. Like Susan, Matt (Logan Williams) is brought into the Chapin fold through Whitney (Taylor). Whitney and Matt met in New York, had a brief affair, and then Whitney married Carson. Matt learned of the marriage and basically engages in a sexually aggressive (but supposedly mutual) encounter which led to Julia's conception. 

Marissa Mallory ends up being around for a few months with Janice Heiden in the role. The unedited episode is either Marissa's first or second episode (from late October, 1984) and Marissa's last episode is in late February, 1985. Marissa was involved in the early stages of the Chalon project, which I believe was a fabric that would be used to develop astronaut suits. It was a big government contract that became more prominent in the show's last months. Marrisa was briefly married to Carter, but I don't think he divorced Christina so it wasn't valid. I just think Marissa is dropped without a resolution, but I'll be curious to see if she pops up in a cast list that I missed. Goldstone most likely replaced Marissa with Lisa Thompson, which gave Christina more to do. 

Claire Yarlett seems to be dropped rather suddenly as Dakota. She is listed on cast lists for about a week or so after the first thirteen week cycle, before there is no one listed, and than Mary Beth Evans is listed. I'm thinking Evans may have appeared earlier. I wish the material for Dakota's story was still available. It would help to pinpoint some stuff. 

Also, I want to mention I was watching the February, 1985, episode the other day which I remember being super unimpressive in my first watch. In this more recent watch, it didn't bother me as much, but I've watched a lot of Palumbo's "General Hospital" lately so I was used to him stylistically. I'm much more interested in seeing the second half of the series post-Palumbo. 

[j swift]

I mentioned this during my reading of the SOD summary because it is so soapy.

Carter goes to Mexico with Marissa.  He gets a quickie divorce from Christina and marries Marissa.

Only to return and find out that he's the Chapin heir.

Christina finds out about the wedding because Marissa orders a fur coat with her new initials monogrammed inside.  This was also bad luck because Carter changed his last name to Chapin, so she would've had to change it any way.

So, Christina blackmails Carter over the fact that he was present when Eddie murdered the shady construction guy earlier in the series who was also involved in drugs and stolen horses.  And she makes him rip the divorce document in half, which somehow invalidates their divorce, and keeps Marissa from getting any of the Chapin money.

Marissa then uses her knowledge of chemistry to unsuccessfully gas Carter to death in the mansion before leaving town.

Of course, none of it makes sense, because Patrick specifically excluded Carter from his will, and you can't make a divorce go away just by ripping up the paper, but I guess they had no time for details in a half hour drama.

Edited September 23, 2023 by j swift

[j swift]

That's amusing because Carson Pirie Scott & Marshall Fields were both big department stores in the Midwest.

And Dresden Lane is a fancy street in Middleberg Va similar to the fictional setting of the show.

 

[Chris 2]

All I know is that they were disappointing. Our ABC affiliate would never carry Edge of Night at 4:00 pm, but they were owned by Metromedia, which forced them to put “Rituals” on at 4:00. And it really hurt their late afternoon ratings. The NY Metromedia station showed it in primetime.

I just remember how cheezy it seemed. The title was terrible, the concept was not compelling, and even the intro seemed old hat. It just came across as a soap that wasn’t good enough to get on one of the major networks.

[dc11786]

I'm pretty sure the clip you've provided is from episode #106. It aired Monday, February, 4, 1985. 

It does appear it is Clay, not Jeff, who is breaking into the Willows. Here is the cast and set list. 

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Furthermore, the episode description for the date in question:

Monday, February 4, 1985 (Episode #106): Lacey and Mike argue. Eddie receives an offer of freedom from Clay. Nancy decides to steal Mike from Lacey. 

[NadineC]

Thanks.:-) I modified the information on the YouTube video.

[DRW50]

Three chunks of Rituals clips were uploaded onto Youtube. Not in English, but it's so hard to find material for this show I thought you would still be interested. The third also has a credits list if that helps with any gaps anyone has.

@Paul Raven @dc11786 @slick jones @j swift @NadineC @robbwolff @Chris 2 @soapfan770 @Vee @vetsoapfan @Medfencer @1974mdp

 

Edited March 15 by DRW50

[vetsoapfan]

Thanks, @DRW50.

[dc11786]

Briefly scanning these videos... I'll do a deeper dive later. The first one appears to start with episode #65 because Patrick Chapin dies at the end of the episode. It appears that in the opening scene at Gallaghers that Alexia Robinson may be appearing as Claudia, one of the students at Haddon Hall who is friendly with Julia. The next episode I think might #66 but its a partial because you have Christina and Taylor arguing with Christina still in her nightgown. 

The second video looks like it continues into December 1984 complete with Horton family ornaments... err Gallagher family ornaments.

The third video definitely jumps because you have crazy Nancy, the student in love with Mike who tires to kill Lacey. This was circa episode 130. The funeral for Eddie Gallagher should also be shortly after that. Margot Field (Sondra Currie) pops up and I don't think they brought her in until late April for the kidnapping story. There also might be a brief clip of Christina with Francine York as Taylor from august. Then it ends with the climax of the penultimate episode with Sarah Gallagher confessing to Michelle Davenport she is her mother and Patrick CHapin is her father. 

It was nice seeing Stacey Anderson and Steve Burkow in the credits. 

The end of the show looks like it improved immensely over the beginning. 

[DRW50]

Thanks for the extra details on the clips. I've read much more about the show than I've ever seen so this helps whenever I do go through them.

[NadineC]

Thank you very much @DRW50 

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 Subtitles are available for the 2nd video.

[DRW50]

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't notice.