Yes, the transition was poorly done. It truly felt like we were joining the show mid-way through the first season. There were so many important events that happened PRIOR to the first episode (Mike Marshall's suicide, the whole Sheik Zhedi thing, Alex seeing Iris at the opera, etc...)

 

I actually found myself quite drawn to the structure of the show. I loved how the families were crafted and intertwined. The Dekkers and their friendship with the Marshalls, the assorted Bellman/Walkers, Nita and Billy Joe...

 

The show was a lot more cerebral and character driven initially, I felt. Almost TOO much. Some of those long Shakespearean speeches between Alex and Iris got to be a bit much, but I always enjoyed the psychological drama between Justin and Reena or Justin and Paige or Max and Reena.

 

There were a few storyline stinkers right from the start. Courtney and Kevin were a snoozefest, bordering on creepy. Courtney was a Marshall in name only, since it took nearly 2 months for her to interact or even mention any of the other Marshalls. I liked Sam Walker, but she was far too modern and smart for Justin, so she sort of fizzled out. Alex stumbled through most of his lines, so I was glad when he was taken off canvas (temporarily at first, and later permanently.)

 

I really like Ryan and Ginny, although I find Ryan to be a bit of a bully most of the time. He tends to shout her down whenever she tries to speak her mind, but you can also tell he truly loves her. I thought Barbara Rucker played a great "earth mother" character. Josephine Nichols' Kate Marshall was a true steel magnolia. She reminded me so much of my own southern granny... that sense of everlasting love, mixed with a healthy dose of condemnation and judgement, lol.

 

Nita Wright was one of my favorite characters, but I hate that she's taking Billy Joe back. I get that they wanted to keep the character around, but I never felt like he truly changed, just that he got away with a lot more than he should have.

 

All in all, Texas was a true daytime gem.

 

I think Paul Rauch wanted to launch another Frame family.  He saw how well He allowed Harding Lemay to do that on AW and at this point AW's ratings were crumbling.  The idea of another farm family with lots of siblings seemed like a good idea with siblings being from good and bad like barret and dawn to the mean Paige and Justin and Courtney somewhere in the middle kind of like a Vince or Emma Frame.  I thought Texas started of cool but flopped after a while and I finally turned to GH even though I was still watching AW.  But this point AW was pretty bad too but I had to stay watching since I had invested so many years into it.  

I knew that Luther was a jingle singer, but I didn't realize that he had gigs as lucrative as this one.

Yes, the transition was poorly done. It truly felt like we were joining the show mid-way through the first season. There were so many important events that happened PRIOR to the first episode (Mike Marshall's suicide, the whole Sheik Zhedi thing, Alex seeing Iris at the opera, etc...)

 

I actually found myself quite drawn to the structure of the show. I loved how the families were crafted and intertwined. The Dekkers and their friendship with the Marshalls, the assorted Bellman/Walkers, Nita and Billy Joe...

 

The show was a lot more cerebral and character driven initially, I felt. Almost TOO much. Some of those long Shakespearean speeches between Alex and Iris got to be a bit much, but I always enjoyed the psychological drama between Justin and Reena or Justin and Paige or Max and Reena.

 

There were a few storyline stinkers right from the start. Courtney and Kevin were a snoozefest, bordering on creepy. Courtney was a Marshall in name only, since it took nearly 2 months for her to interact or even mention any of the other Marshalls. I liked Sam Walker, but she was far too modern and smart for Justin, so she sort of fizzled out. Alex stumbled through most of his lines, so I was glad when he was taken off canvas (temporarily at first, and later permanently.)

 

I really like Ryan and Ginny, although I find Ryan to be a bit of a bully most of the time. He tends to shout her down whenever she tries to speak her mind, but you can also tell he truly loves her. I thought Barbara Rucker played a great "earth mother" character. Josephine Nichols' Kate Marshall was a true steel magnolia. She reminded me so much of my own southern granny... that sense of everlasting love, mixed with a healthy dose of condemnation and judgement, lol.

 

Nita Wright was one of my favorite characters, but I hate that she's taking Billy Joe back. I get that they wanted to keep the character around, but I never felt like he truly changed, just that he got away with a lot more than he should have.

 

All in all, Texas was a true daytime gem.

 

I think Paul Rauch wanted to launch another Frame family.  He saw how well He allowed Harding Lemay to do that on AW and at this point AW's ratings were crumbling.  The idea of another farm family with lots of siblings seemed like a good idea with siblings being from good and bad like barret and dawn to the mean Paige and Justin and Courtney somewhere in the middle kind of like a Vince or Emma Frame.  I thought Texas started of cool but flopped after a while and I finally turned to GH even though I was still watching AW.  But this point AW was pretty bad too but I had to stay watching since I had invested so many years into it.  

I have always thought that Aaron.  The Marshalls in Texas were the Frames in Bay City/Chadwell.  Very similar large family with lots of siblings and some bad and some good.  Was it ever mentioned who was the youngest and oldest Marshall.  I would say either Paige or Barrett were the oldest.  

 

Texas would be a great show to get a streaming run on Yahoo Screen, the way they've done other classic shows recently. It had a short enough run that the entire series could be uploaded sequentially on the website. If only P&G would get off their hoarding haunches.

Here is Randy Hamilton circa 1979 hosting the Nickelodeon show America Goes Bananaz. The guest is some guy named Tod Foster. He appeared in some commercials around this time and had a minor hit called Dancin which he performs during the second act. The first song sounds something like The Partridge Family and the second song Dancin sounds like a Bee Gees knock off with some Rod Stewart thrown in. I googled him and he now sells Audi cars in Florida. 

 

 

Do you guys think this show was better with or without Beverlee?

40 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

Do you guys think this show was better with or without Beverlee?

 

From what I've seen...they're almost different shows.  I think had the show been given more time..it would have found its footing and identity outside AW...like Somerset did for a time.

Beverlee McKinsey was an asset to ANY show she worked on, but (based on what I've seen online) I agree with Soaplovers: given more time, TEXAS might have become a much stronger show.  Pam Long's stuff was/is great to watch.

I didn't see Texas in it's original run, but watched the episodes on youtube. I really like the show. Carla Borelli as Rena is my favorite character. I crack up how she calls everyone honey. Borelli had quite a prime time career before coming to daytime. I saw her not too long ago on a 1969 episode of Adam-12 as a girl interested in Martin Milner. She was wearing a short wig that looked out of place on her. I'm use to seeing her with long hair.  The episode also featured David Cassidy prior to PF. 

 

Caryn Richmond and Dana Kimmel went on to do other things. Caryn did the 80's The New Gidget. Dana did a lot of guest appearances and had the lead in Friday The 13th Part 3. Randy Hamilton hosted Kids Are People Too. 

 

 

4 hours ago, Khan said:

Pam Long's stuff was/is great to watch.

 

What did you think of Pam Long as an actress? Do you think she could have made it on another show if she hadn't pursued writing?

11 hours ago, amybrickwallace said:

 

What did you think of Pam Long as an actress? Do you think she could have made it on another show if she hadn't pursued writing?

 

 

Based on the clips I watched...she seemed very likable.  Not hot, but an attractive presence..full of energy.

 

I often thought her vision of where she wold have taken Texas was answered in my 1st stint at Guiding Light..especially in terms of the Lewis Family...and how she wrote the Reardons.

9 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Based on the clips I watched...she seemed very likable.  Not hot, but an attractive presence..full of energy.

 

Had she stayed in the acting genre, I think she could have eked out a very interesting career as a character actress. She had verve, quirkiness and a twinkle in her eye.

47 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

 

Had she stayed in the acting genre, I think she could have eked out a very interesting career as a character actress. She had verve, quirkiness and a twinkle in her eye.

I think she was an excellent actress. I loved her portrayal of Ashley who seemed like she was going to be a bad girl at first but then became a major heroine who had an entire family built around her. She had great chemistry with both Jerry Lanning and David Forsyth.