Thanks for the Catlins episode post. I hope to see more surface. 

@DRW50 I have never seen this episode. The only 1983 episode I have seen pop up is from a month or so before in July, 1983, right after Bo and Lauren’s wedding. 
 

I haven't watched it all yet, but this is the first time I’ve seen Brett Rice as Seth Quinn, Larry Jordan as Beau Catlin, and Kent Whipple as Roger Brown.

Thanks @EricMontreal22

I appreciate this episode in the most unusual way. I'm always interested in "The Catlins," but this was quite bad. I do think there were a few bright moments with Julie Ridley (who I think may have elevated her scene partner, Kent Whipple), but overall I felt I finally understood why it received the grief it did in the press in 1983. 

In comparison to CBN's "Another Life," this is quite amateurish. Even with the addition of Steve Lehrman (Henry Sleasar's script writer from EON) the show is still struggling to gain some footing. I see what Lehrman was attempting in the scenes with Lauren / Matt and Lauren / Beau as this was most likely the central story now the Powell Jackson is in jail (I'm assuming he was Robert Goode's killer or was involved in some plot that resulted in his death). There is an attempt to give layers to both the brothers by making Beau more impulsive and impetuous and Matt more logical and slightly pompous. Poor Christina Reguli, a beautiful woman, is stuck constantly getting verbally attacked (in the last episode, as Lauren, she learns she's pregnant as Matt's ex-wife Crissy arrived to wish her well on marriage to Beau). The script isn't subtle and the performances are broader than I would prefer. I thought the moments where Matt admitted he still cared for Lauren had potential and the general outline of the fight, a wedding celebration, was admirable, but the show needs a lot of work. 

There are no writer credits but the creative consultant is the defacto headwriter. Lehrman was hired after Sam Smiley was dismissed. Smiley wasn't credited in the July, 1983, episode. I believe creator/producer C.T. McIntrye was a pseudo interim headwriter. According to the creidts, Lehrman is joined by Joe Ranier as Dirk Stack, an executive at Catlin Enterprises, and Charles Hill (ex-TEXAS) as Woody Thorpe. Neither actor appear in this episode, but both are involved with Maggie Catlin Brown (Julie Ridley Williams). It would seem Roger Brown, Maggie's lawyer husband, seems to be on his way out the door. 

The Roger / Maggie material was probably the most reflective. Kent Whipple was very dry in his deliver, which was a pleasant change from a lot of the other performers. I thought Maggie and Roger reminscing about their law school days and the failure of their marriage was decent, but the dialogue definitely could have used some work. It was also nice to hear that Roger mention he was involved with Faith, who was played by Marion Guyot, who was the wife of Dan Albright (Matt). 

The Medger / Seth scenes set in what I assume was a very real production office of "The Catlins" standing in for the Southern Coastal Bank, I think that was the name of the Quinn's financial instituation, wasn't as effective as they thought it would be. Danny Nelson works better as comic relief in later episodes, and does well in some of the more emotional stuff involving his granddaughter in the Christmas, 1984, episodes I've seen. This is very hard to watch. It's curious to see that it is Seth Quinn who starts the hunt to ruin the Catlin family financially. His brother Cullen's drug operation is what eventually does him in. I thought it was smart to have Seth go after Powell Jackson, the unhinged psychiatrist seen holding Jennifer Catlin hostage in the late July, 1983, promos online. Using Powell to reveal new family secrets was an interesting choice. I feel like Lehrman directed the showed into a better place, it was just gonna take time.   

Two interesting things about this episode.  Future AW and ATWT executive producer John Valente was the executive in charge of production for The Catlins.  Also, when did The Catlins officially become a P&G Production?  The copyright of this episode says Empire Media TV Production.  Was this a name P&G was using for cable TV?  The episode was sponsored by two P&G products- Coast soap and Crest toothpaste.
 

@watson71 The P&G logo appears at the end of the episodes starting in late March or early April, 1984. I believe P&G assumes production responsibilities around the first year's anniversary. In the meantime, P&G was the primary (and possibly only) advertister. The financial logistics for the show got a bit of press because not only was P&G and Ted Turner's WTBS involved, but there were also private investors. It seems like there was quite a bit of financial mismanagement with some suggesting that it was intentional on the part of the producer, but I am not sure if anything went to court.

@slick jones I found an article stating that the full name of Charles Hill's character was Elwood T. "Woody" Thorpe.

In watching episodes of Another Life, I have gotten very nostalgic about The Catlins, which was always the soap that had so little presence on line given how long it ran and that it aired during the VCR era. The little we see doesn't seem anywhere near as strong as Another Life, but we also don't really have anywhere near close to a stretch of consecutive episodes to see how the day to day build was. in looking through this thread, I was reminded of how disappointed I was in that August, 1983, episode which was probably under a month into Steve Lehrman's run as headwriter. I do wish more of that period was available when Sam Smiley and Lehrman each were in charge of the show. Smiley said he had kept material, but I don't know what his family did with it when he passed. Unfortunately, I think a lot of it was saved on his computer which I imagine wasn't saved.

The closest we have to a continuous run is about 6 or so episodes from late November - December, 1984. By that point, the show is mostly LA and NY with a few Atlanta stalwarts mixed in. It's a decent show, but I know the numbers were not great. In December, 1983, it was reported the ratings were around 240,000 households.

I don't hold out hope we will get much more than a few episodes here and there, but I need to get better at saving what does come up. I could kick myself for letting the Tony Wright episodes come and go without saving them. Also, I have spent the last day trying to find a post saynotoursoap/jon made about the show, before realizing he made it on danfling's old soap opera board. I remember he referrred to the show as a "Southern fried soap opera" and complimented elements of it while acknowledging its faults.

I did stumble on some new information (or maybe its stuff I forgot), but there were two sets of pilot episodes. The first pilot was filmed in early 1981 and shown to P&G in April, 1981. The next set of pilot episodes were filmed in June, 1982. I believe the June episodes were actually used, but I am not sure.

Sam Smiley came on in the fall of 1982 as the consultant during the development phase and then was in charge of story. Sam Smiley wrote (at least) 48 scripts which would put him into June, 1983. Sam's script writing team included Claudia Johnson, Craig Brown, and his wife Anne Smiley.

Producer Chris McIntrye stated in an article that he wrote the story for Steve Lehrman (at least initially) and that Lehrman developed the outlines. I wonder if that's why Lehrman didn't stay. I know in later shows (in 1985) McIntrye gives himself onscreen credit for the shipping storyline so I don't think this process continued until the end. Though, Smiley also commented in an article how television is a director and producer genre from his experience with The Catlins.

For Marilyn Martin's son, if he ever pops in again, his mom might appreciate this. I suspect it's from the opening episodes even though it was attached to a December, 1983, article

Also, a shot of David Frizzell (as himself) who appeared as himself and sang at the local honky-tonk bar, The Lucky Seven.

And since I mentioned Sam Smiley and his computer

I really wish some more episodes of this series would surface. Would P&G have this in their archive or would the series belong to Ted Turner ?

Thanks so much for the images and details @dc11786 @SoapDope78

@rm86732 was the poster who asked about videos of his mother.