Search For Tomorrow Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

Those are always the very best episodes of his show!!

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[antmunoz]

Mary told this exact same story in ALL OF ME, her autobiography, and it does come off as tongue-in-cheek there. 
 

Now somebody ask Maree why she was really fired from SFT.  (Although Nelson Aspen told everyone in HIS book.)

 

I think she’s still pissed. 

[Nicholas Blair]

I really enjoyed seeing and hearing Maree and Lisa. I have always liked both, and Maree has always been a special favorite.

[Paul Raven]

What did Nelson have to say?

[FrenchBug82]

I mean, in all fairness, that's a joke *I* would make so I can and could totally see a scenario where it was indeed teasing and dry humor.
I haven't read her book and I only based my assessment on the way she told the story in this particular instance. Maybe she made it sound meaner here for comedic effect.
I wouldn't presume to know. I just repeated

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[amybrickwallace]

I had a feeling Alan wouldn't ask this, though we got a teeny tiny bit of insight when he talked to Louise Shaffer.

[FrenchBug82]

@Paul Raven

Edited October 18, 2021 by FrenchBug82

[j swift]

In the Soaps of Yesteryear thread there was a story contemporary of the times that suggested Maree left because she got married and her new husband did not live in New York.  It is less salacious but equally likely.

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Edited October 18, 2021 by j swift

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

Nelson tells a nice story, but logistically this would have been impossible.   It would take weeks (if not months) to negotiate the hiring of an actress as popular as Louise Shaffer (was at that time) into a role. Plus, other actresses would have been at least considered, if not auditioned -- further slowing the casting process.  Nelson makes it sound as if Shaffer was hired over-night, and was on camera the following day.  

Plus, soap opera actors criticize writers all the time, and they don't tend to be fired for it unless it affects their performance or the atmosphere in the studio (George Reinholt, for example). 

IF Maree was fired, it was probably because of some lame attempt to "youth-ify" the show by recasting Stephanie with an actress considerably younger AND more popular with youthful members of the audience.   This recast most certainly took weeks to complete.   

[FrenchBug82]

I don't believe the story happened like this either.

Is it possible Maree said that and that was the straw that broke the camel's back? Seems flimsy enough, but, sure, maybe. But there is no way you'd fire someone just for a remark like that. If she was fired, either she had already pissed people off a lot many times or there was another agenda, whatever that might be.
And, in any case, even if she was fired like that, it didn't happen overnight as you rightfully say. NB is really telling a tale for the sake of a juicy story here.

Which brings me back to why I don't trust NB. I am sure there are grains of truth in the gossip he tells. But he embellishes and BS so much that it undermines the credibility of the real nuggets.

[j swift]

Maree is a well established actor who worked in TV both before and after SFT.  So, one tends to think that she was aware of the boundaries of good taste and professionalism when it comes to jokes about natural disasters in the makeup room, particularly if sensitive writers, (whose offices are not usually on set), are concerned.

She was moving to Texas, producing two shows, and the soap had been warned by NBC that they would be cancelled if ratings didn't rise, so it makes sense that she walked.  But, what does it say about Nelson and other fans when we can easily research the actual statement released by the actress and people still debate whether or not it is true?

Edited October 18, 2021 by j swift

[victoria foxton]

I'm liking the mystery of Maree's departure. Did she get fired for trash talking the show? Did she leave to start a new life with her new husband? I do wish Alan would've asked Maree about this.

[j swift]

One more piece of the puzzle.  Ann Marcus created both the role of Stephanie in 1974 for Maree on SFT and Charlene when she writing on General Hospital in 1987.  Which would be evidence that the actor had good relationships with writers.

SFT had five different writers in 1984, according to @FrenchFan on the first page of this thread,

Gary Tomlin (September 1982 � April 1984)

Jeanne Glynn & Madeline David (April 1984 � June 1984)

Caroline Franz & Jeanne Glynn (June 1984 � March 1985)

but the rumor probably refers to Gary Tomlin.  Which is also easily debunked given that he directed her on Days and later worked with her when she had a guest stint on Passions.  Thus, it is illogical that she was deride him and wish him dead, given their relationship before and after 1984.

Edited October 18, 2021 by j swift

[Nicholas Blair]

I thought Gary Tomlin's time as an actor on SFT might have overlapped with hers, but imdb says he was only there 1973-1974 and she didn't arrive until 1975.

[Paul Raven]

Also, wasn't Ellen Barrett producer at that time?

She was former EP of Ryan's Hope where Louise had worked.

My guess is that Maree wanted to leave as Search was not the show it once was and she was ready for a change. Ellen was agreeable as she wanted to make changes. Louise may have been cheaper at that point also.

Maree started in 73.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Paul Raven