Search For Tomorrow Discussion Thread

[Paul Raven]

The exact dates for the various Patti's are sometimes contradictory. The dates for other actresses in the role also overlap.

Don't know why they had such troubles with that role.

[antmunoz]

I’m aware, but 3 weeks suggests that Kellogg was out sick or perhaps performing in theatre out of town. Most sources have her in the role until 1964. Perhaps she was hard to replace?

[danfling]

My thought is that the show wanted an actress whose popularity would match that of Lynn Loring, the original.  Leigh Lassen seemed to come closest, and she stayed in the role the longest of the replacements.

 

But, there has to be more to it than that.   Maybe there was a different reason for each of the replacements.

[antmunoz]

Soap ingenues in the 60’s seemed to last a year. It would be difficult to research each actress, but I’m theorizing that Pat Harty, Gretchen Walter, Melissa Murphy, etc., left to pursue work elsewhere.  I’d like to know why Abigail Kellogg left after three years, but probably for the same reason (and she’d been on TGL prior). I always assume that NYC actors enjoyed their theatre work as well. 
 

Perhaps Leigh had no outside interests and was simply willing to go the distance  She was even let go and rehired once, so I’m guessing she enjoyed the show, or at least the relative job security. 

[cassadine1991]

Who were the actresses who played Patti??

[antmunoz]

Paul Raven is the expert on this, and this is written by him. 
 

 

Melissa Murphy replaced Patricia Harty in Dec 65. She was the daughter of actor Don Porter,who played Gidget's dad in the 60's Tv series.She had begun in Feb 65.

 

So the timeline for Patti looks like this

 

Lynn Loring 1951 - 61

 

Nancy Pinkerton 1961(probably a recast that didn't work.Lynn would have been a hard act to follow)

 

Abigail Kellogg 1961 - 64 (Had been playing Robin on GL,Did CBS/P&G bring her over because they felt she could be a success in the role and Patti was more important than Robin? Nancy Malone took over as Robin.She had been Babby on The Brighter day)

 

Patricia Harty Feb 64 - Dec 65 (I'm guessing she got the pilot for Occasional Wife and was allowed to leave)

 

Gretchen Walther 65 (Variety says that Murphy took over from Harty,so I'm guessing Walther was only intended as a fill in)

 

Melissa Murphy Dec 65 - 66

 

Trish van Devere April - May 67

 

Melinda Plank May 67 - 69

 

Leigh Lassen 69 - 75 (She was written off in 74 i believe and then brought back)

 

Tina Sloan 76

 

Jacquie Shultz 85 - 86

 

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for reposting that list.

We know have to make room for Lee Kurty, who in her interview says 3 weeks in 63 as well as Jean Beecham and Brooke Bundy.

They may have been temp replacements

[antmunoz]

I personally played Patti for 2 weeks in 1973.  Len wouldn’t touch me. 

[amybrickwallace]

I wonder if at any point they ever tried to get Lynn Loring back - before she moved to LA and became a movie executive, that is.

[danfling]

I have been trying for many years to find this out:   what happened to Leigh Lassen and Terry Hale?.   I do know that they divorced.

[Forever8]

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[SoapDope]

I wonder how Janice Lynde would have been in the role of Patti when she left Y&R ? 

 

Lynn Loring                                                                                                                   Janice Lynde

                                    

 

 

 

[GLATWT88]

Does anyone know if there were plans to expand SFT to an hour? Sister soaps, ATWT and GL, were expanded to an hour in 1975 and 1977 respectively. SFT ranked in the Top 5 for the 1974/75 - 1976/77 seasons, the seasons before and during the expansion of both ATWT and GL. In fact, SFT outperformed GL in 1974/75 and 1975/76 and pretty much on par with GL the following season. Did SFT remaining a half hour soap as most soaps on the lineup expanded end up hurting it? It seems like half hour soaps usually ended up being mistreated by networks as they just weren't sure where to place it on the schedule. 

[Paul Raven]

There was talk of Search and ATWT each expanding to 45 mins with SFT running 12.30 till 1.15  and ATWT 1.15 till 2.00 but it was decided to do with ATWT expanding to 1 hr 1.30 till 2.30.

I guess they decided it was too risky moving ATWT from its traditional timeslot and CBS affiliates may have been resistant to giving up the 1pm timeslot.

There was talk again of SFT expanding in 78 when the Corringtons were introducing a lot of new characters but it never went ahead. Once Y&R expanded there was no room for Search to go to 60 min.

[GLATWT88]

Thank you. I assume it was decided to expand Y&R as it was performing better. Then with the decline of SFT in the 80s, it was never seen as viable to expand the soap again. I wonder how much P&G was involved in these decisions. I also wonder if the decline of Another World had any influence on the matter.