Irna Phillips as a Storyteller & Mentor

[EricMontreal22]

THe next major primetime soap type show I can think of was the expensive flop THe Survivors from 1969, based on the Harold RObbins novel.

[dc11786]

While "The Long Hot Summer" wasn't serialized I have seen it listed as primetime soap (which has a rather broad definition). I think because the show didn't really focus on the Varner family per se and it wasn't focused on the romantic complications and family issues of people living in a small Southern town it was rather hard to define into a genre. Due to this, I've seen it listed as a primetime soap despite its lack of a continuing storyline. Often, the show would introduce a romantic interest for one of the main characters that would last just that week or introduce a friend or family member who was suffering from a doomed love affair.

I don't think "The Survivors" was a novel, but rather billed as a 'novel written for television'. I know there was supposedly a lengthy story bible written, but I don't think it was every published. The behind the scene drama of "The Survivors" would make a wonderful soap. Lana Turner was DIVA on that show if the rumors are true. She and Robbins must have had an interesting relationship considering he had penned a roman a clef based on her daughter's involvement in the murder of her mobster boyfriend.

[EricMontreal22]

That makes sense about it being hard to classify. It does sound like an immediate mistake to me to have that kinda story and not have it at least slightly serialized--like that imdb said it might actually have made more sense for the character to move from town to town with that kinda format.

You're right that The Survivors was written for screen--I didn't realize this! Really interesting--HArold RObbins was a good choice for that kinda thing although prime time tv at the time prob couldn't take advantage of his books more shocking and controversial elements. (I actually see him as largely the male version of Jacqueline Suzanne but I'm sure some of his fans might find that unfair--and I'm prob giving him too much credit for the hilariously campy/awful movie of one of his books, Pia Zadora in The Lonely Lady which he prob had little actually to do with). Lana Turner herself had profited with career choices that took advantage of her daughter's murder of her lover, but it does sound like the TV series was frought with problems. The description in Schemering's Soap Encyclopedia is interesting.

Re 50s soapy movies being adapted into soaps (besides the 80s Flamingo Road)--I was thinking Best of Everythign was adapted into one but realized it was James Lipton (surely one of the luckiest soap writers in the history of the genre's) flop DAYTIME soap.

[JAS0N47]

Regarding Irna Phillips' involvement with "Days of Our Lives", here's a brief write-up from one of her court cases:

"On November 1, 1961, Irna Phillips, Theodore Corday and Allan Chase entered into a so-called ownership agreement. On September 15, 1964, Corday alone entered into a so-called agency agreement with Screen Gems. The first agreement recited that each of the parties owned a one-third interest in a dramatic serial composition which they wished to have presented and disseminated to various media for public presentation. Each party was to be entitled to one third of fees received in connection with this property resulting from any type of exploitation. In event of an outright sale, each party was to be entitled to one third of the net price but there would be no sale or other exploitation without unanimous written consent. Each party agreed not to sell or assign his or her interest without giving the others a right of first refusal to purchase such interest upon the terms proffered. This provision was not to impair the right of any party to transfer his or her interest to a corporation which such party controlled. Phillips agreed to serve as story editor of the project with Corday to serve as executive producer and Chase to be editor of the script. The agreement also contained provisions which would reduce the interest of any party in event of his or her failure to perform under certain circumstances with such diminution to accrue to the benefit of the remaining parties. The so-called agency agreement of September 15, 1964 was prepared upon the letterhead of Screen Gems showing an address in Hollywood, California. This letter was signed by Screen Gems, addressed to Theodore Corday and accepted by him in writing. In this letter agreement, Corday warranted that he, Phillips and Chase were the co-owners of the dramatic, literary property in question and that Corday had full written authority from co-owners to enter into the agreement. The letter granted Screen Gems sole and exclusive right to offer the property for sale and license in any manner in any medium. Screen Gems was to receive a stated percentage of proceeds from licensing for daytime television use. For television licensing, Corday was to receive $750 per week for each week of the first year of such broadcasts, which was to be paid on behalf of all co-owners, with an increase to $1000 per week for each week after the first year. The agreement also contained provisions for compensation to Phillips and Corday for certain sums specified as having been advanced by them. Screen Gems' rights to distribute and license were to continue for one year, but in the event that it caused a 'pilot' program to be produced, its right to distribute was to be extended for an additional year after completion of production of said pilot. And, if Screen Gems licensed the television program to a national network, it should retain its rights 'in and to the property in perpetuity.' Plaintiff's complaint alleged that Phillips had been informed that offers had been made for purchase of the television serial. By her attorney she had requested advice of existence of said offers and defendant Screen Gems had refused. The complaint alleged that Screen Gems considers itself to be the owner of the production to the exclusion of the agreement which identified Phillips as a co-owner. It alleged that Phillips was informed that Screen Gems may have received remuneration in excess of the percentage provided in the agency agreement and, if such were the case, plaintiff as one co-owner would be entitled to the excess thus received. The complaint prayed for declaratory relief and an accounting for plaintiff's portion as one of the co-owners. After the court had rule that Corday and Chase were necessary parties, Phillips filed an amended complaint. The administrator of the estate of Corday and Chase were added as parties. The amended complaint alleged that numerous meetings, conferences and creative and contractual activities took place in Chicago, Illinois, where Phillips lived, in connection with the development of the serial program and that the program was being broadcast to television viewers within Illinois."

[Sylph]

Oh. My. God. Car Crash That Shook the Nation ended up on Mad Men.

[YRBB]

Wow that is just AMAZING! Soaps represented as a working, clever, tough woman's medium--what a shocker! This makes me want to start watching MAD MEN even more!

And, Bibel? God, she rocks!

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah it was GREAT--my only caveat is didn't Proctor and Gamble have their own department that read scripts, etc (which was Joan's job--it was surprisingly heartbreaking when she had the job taken away from her and had to train a man to do it instead--no one realizing how much she was getting into it).

[EricMontreal22]

Y'know one strange thing about Irna. She always seemed to have a fave soap of hers--and when that happened her other shows lost most of her loyalty.

I was just thinking about this on my bus ride home (Yes I'm a weird, dull person). Online there are so many people who bellyache about how Agnes Nixon "abandoned" One Life to Live, some were even mad she was on the anniversary show saying she had no right to be, bla bla. This despite her leading it for its first five years, and then when she had to sell it to ABC because of budget issues, she spent an intensive 6 months with Gordon Russell, picked by her, to trtain him to keep the show in good hands--AND she was a regular helper to Michael Malone when he started on the show--he's said he could call her for advice or help at any time, and did.

Yet here's Irna. When she handed over the writing of Guiding Light in 1958 to Agnes, so she could focus solo on her favorite As the World Turns (she had already left The Brighter Day which was floundering creatively and ratings wise), her parting "gift" was to send *the* most popular character, Kathy, in an almost grotesquely comic "death", in a wheelchair, pushed out by kids, and run over by a car. And then she essntially handed the show over, to her friend no less. (many said Irna was upset that GL was still number one with ATWT right under it--somethign that quickly changed).

When Agnes Nixon left GL at the start of '67 so she could focus on Another World and creating One Life to Live, GL suffered a revolving door of writers fora long time--briefly Irna offered to come back and left ATWT for a few months or so. What did Irna do to what was once her most beloved radio soap, the one she said she'd never part from? She took Kathy's daughter, Robin, again perhaps the most popular character, and had her killed off in a car accident...

I'm just saying'...

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Something seemed off about Irna during her final stints at GL and ATWT. I hear both stints were utterly horrible. Maybe her style was outdated by the late 60's and 70's. and people just didn't care to see her brand of storytelling anymore.

I know GL went through a number of HW's between Agnes and The Dobson's. The Dobson's, like Agnes who trained under Philips, had a very contemporary style of their writing which seemed to click with audiences at the time.

[EricMontreal22]

I believe many things were playign a part--Irna was out of touch more and more with the times (ironic as she left her last major soap creation, Love is a Many Splendoured Thing because CBS turned down her interacial storyline and the nun romance story), but at least with her brief return to GL I think she still had it in for the show onn a subconscious level or *something*. lol Eityher way it didn't seem like she intended to go back to it longterm. Which she DID with ATWT--I think she was upset she ever left the show. As awful as many of her story ideas were (and her ever increased desire to "punish" characters with death) some fo her story ideas people really liked. I thinks he created Kim at that time a character modeled on herself, which LaGuardia in his soap books thinks was the most fascinating female character of the 70s--fiercely independant--he claimed once she left her character was much softened.

GL had some stability breifly in the early 70s when the Sodenbergs (sp?) HW but yeah it was the Dobsons who turned the show around sharply--they managed to contemporize what was being seen as a VERY old fashioned and out of touch soap. It then started to get more popular than warhorse ATWT and that's why around 1980 they put Marland at GL and hired the Dobsons to similarly update ATWT--something that it seems they did equally well.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I hear Mary Ellis Bunim (Real Word co-creator) has a great deal to do with contemporizing Search For Tomorrow and ATWT. Though she joined The Dobson's at ATWT (and later on at Santa Barbara), she had a reputation for pushing for youth centered stories, which annoyed Mary Stuart at Search and made Helen Wagner and Don MacLaughlin quit ATWT, because they didn't agree with her youth-centered approach. They would later come back under Robert Calhoun and Douglas Marland.

Though, the Dobson's did successfully repair a lot of the damage that ATWT went through in prior years and the show was stable under their HW reign. They created some of the show's most popular couples and villains

[EricMontreal22]

The Dobsons only mad eit a bit mor eyouth based it's true--but Marland really pushed the youth mantra on all shows (when he joined GL he complained that everyone seemed to be "over 22" in the GL 50th Anni book and then he asked a bunch of high school girls what would attract them to a soap--the common theme he heard was the story of a college age guy falling in love with a high school girl which is how the Nola story came about. It's interesting how P&G basically used the same strategies and writers at GL and ATWT

[Paul Raven]

Mary Ellis Bunim did not become exec producer at ATWT till late 81.

Helen Wagner left in early 80 around the time the Dobsons took over.Fred Bartholomew was still in charge at the time.Bunim was still at Search.

When the Dobsons arrived they introduced Lyla,Margo and Cricket Montgomery and tied in John as Margo's dad and Bob as Lyla's new romance.

Steve and Nick Andropoulous,who they paired with Kim and Carol.

Brad and Eric Hollister. Brad was involved with Annie and Dee and James Stenbeck for Barbara.

Don married Mary and left town. Ian(Peter Simon)who was involved with Dee was killed off,as were Jay Stallings and Melinda Gray.

The Dobsons didn't really do 'teen'storylines.By this time Dee and Annie were in their 20's.

[SteveFrame]

The Dobsons really made the show Dee and Annie centered for a little while. But at the same time David and John got a lot more airtime as did Kim and Tom.

But Dee, Annie and Betsy I guess because the 3 central heroines of the show - which is the best way to pass the torch - pass it to characters that are familiar. Sadly all 3 were gone in a few years.

I think the biggest thing that hurt Dee and Annie was not getting an actress to stick with the role. Mary Lynn Blanks was the best Annie they had and I am not sure if she quit or they just decided they didn't know what to do with Jeff and Annie - but I loved both Robert Lipton and Mary Lyn Blanks. I hated to see them go.

Dee would have been a fantastic character and still could but they had recast her quite a bit in the few years. I loved the last actress Vicky Dawson on Another World but she was not right for Dee.

[sungrey]

But Marland knew how to write for both young and old at the same time. He was introducing Holden to the Lily/Dusty mix and integrating all of the young Snyder clan, while giving Kim and Bob the big Doug Cummings story. He knew how to write both youth-based stories and older characters. Same at GL... he gave the Bauers a lot to do during the Kelly/Morgan story.