Am I wrong, or didn't we read somewhere that it was Susan Sullivan, and not necessarily Harding Lemay, who first saw the chemistry between VW and DW and suggested to Paul Rauch that they should try pairing up Mac and Rachel? I mention this, because when I heard/read that it was also Sullivan who had suggested to producers at FALCON CREST that they should pair her character, Maggie Gioberti, with David Selby's Richard Channing, I remembered the story about her hand in Mac and Rachel's eventual union and thought, "That lady's got a real knack for story," lol.

49 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

I ALWAYS LOOK for actors who have solid theatrical training and background, not necessarily TV experience.” says Rauch. A few of the stellar stars in his soap opera firmament include Broadway theater giants Anne Meacham, Douglas Watson. Irene Dailey -Louise, Mac and Liz on “Another World”), Nancy Marchand. Stephen Joyce, John Heffernan and Margaret Barker (Edith, George, Lester and Sophia on "Lovers and Friends”). “All actors are basically selfish.” states Rauch, who is a former actor. “But performers who were nurtured on serials, who haven't done anything else, are generally more spoiled than others. The kind of fan adulation that soap actors receive tends to inflate the egos of undisciplined performers. They resist the idea of an ensemble effort and they usually only enjoy playing the climaxes of a story. An actor trained in theater, on the other hand, only knows how to hit peaks, but how to ride valleys. They usually have impeccable vocal skills and they're able to retain dialogue' a skill that's vitally important in serial work where a miniplay is rehearsed and taped every day. Those who survive Rauch's meticulous scrutiny invariably .find themselves repertory members of Rauch's and his head writer Harding Lemay's family. Nancy Marchand recently advanced from a subsidiary character (Therese Lamonte) on “Another World” to be the matriarchal lead (Edith Cushing) on “Lovers and Friends.”

This is the type of snobbishness which came back to bite his run. It's also impossible to do on a soap, which you can see by the surviving 1979 episodes, which, yes, have some strong actors, but also have some very dodgy work.