Search For Tomorrow Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I'm never going to see these episodes most likely so your work makes me feel like I have. You are a great writer. 

[Paul Raven]

August 21 1981

Don Chastain, who plays Dr. Max Taper in CBSs’ “Search for Tomorrow, has been named head writer for the soap opera. The daytime drama celebrates its 30th anniversary on Sept. 3. Chastain will continue to portray Dr. Taper occasionally in the future.

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

Yes, great overview of late 82, dc. That was the time I started watching it, after it switched to NBC. It's a shame that Rusty didn't become a long-range "villain." It's also a bit sad to realize that both Travis and Martin would be gone by October '84. The successive changes in producers and head writers just decimated this family. And losing Sherry Mathis in the summer of '85 was the final nail in the coffin.

[watson71]

Here is a rare 1982 SFT opening and closing when the show transferred to NBC with announcer Alison Steele...

 

 

 

[soapfan770]

 

 

Thanks for sharing, it's always nice to hear whenever her voice pops up. Steele had actually taken over as announcer in late '81 when the show was still on CBS, but I have no idea how late into 1982 she was announcing to. One source I have lists her as announcer through 1984(except for Don Pardo doing the infamous live ep) until when Hal Simms of EON fame took over, but I don't think that's accurate. 

 

There use to be the 1-15-82 closing credits up on Youtube somewhere where Steele gave her own ATWT-style Friday spiel at the end of the credits, but I don't know if that video is still up somewhere. 

Edited August 9, 2018 by soapfan770

[Paul Raven]

Those graphics and music were far too generic for my taste.

 

Yes, SFT needed to keep the clouds theme but it was really only a minor update of the original titles.

 

I see Tom Bergman listed as"Tripp" What was that about?

[dc11786]

 

Thanks for posting this. I'd be curious to know when the strike material started and to know at what point Chastain took over before the official announcement. My guess is that will remain a mystery. It's interesting to read some of the syndicated columnists from the time. They share their opinion that Chastain injected humor into the series and the boxing storyline involving Brian Emerson seems well received. I have to chuckle that the same columnists also suggested that the reason Chastain was dumped was because his projections for the show were so out there that they had to fire him. Considering how insane the Sunburst story seems, written by his successors, I cannot imagine how crazy Chastain's planned storylines must have been. 

 

In rereading this thread, I saw Paul you posted about John Burnett being announced as the headwriter in late November 1981 with the intention of his work starting mid-December. Pure speculation, but I think John Burnett might have been scrapped because the show was moving to NBC. In early December, the deal between NBC and P&G was announced. I wonder if they wanted to go with a more known writer than Burnett. Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt are said to take over in December 1981 and they are still there in the early December 1982 episodes I watched today. 

 

Jarrod, I'm curious about what you, and others think, about Rusty. I don't know how I feel about him. It's clear that Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt are trying to craft him as a long term threat to Liza and Travis' happiness as well as making him a major antagonist in the lives of many Hendersonites. The problem I have is it just seem to work, which is odd because Warren Carter works beautifully in this sort of role as sh*t stirrer who also seems to have some of his own emotional angst. I would have to say my biggest gripe with Rusty is the lack of attention that the writers pay to the relationship between Rusty and Travis. There are very few scenes with Travis and Rusty connecting or trying to connect. The Rusty and Liza dynamic fascinates me now that we've gotten to a point where Liza has Rusty's number, she knows she can't change Travis' mind about his father, and she just takes some pleasure in knowing that she and Travis will be stronger if she doesn't give Rusty the power to break her.

 

And Rusty continues to try to break her. In the last few episodes I've watched, the latest stage of Rusty's plan is playing out. He has Ringo trail her in his car to convince her that someone is after her. To make the situation more real for Liza, Rusty misplaces documents that Travis needs for a Sunburst experiment at TI requiring Liza to drive the papers to him. The whole situation is engrossing, but then we finally learn Rusty's motivation from a conversation with Aja. Finally, Rusty admits that he wants Liza away from Travis because of a stipulation in the General's will that Rusty will be the guardian for the stocks that have been set aside for Travis' first born. Of course, there's a deadline for the birth of said child that, if it isn't met, the stocks revert to Travis and Martin. So Rusty wants money and power. Simple and compelling motivation except it is predicated on the idea that this was written when the General believed Rusty was dead. Did the General really not remove a codicil for nearly twenty years before he died? That's a stretch especially given how much attention has been given to things like the dynamic between the General / Martin / Rusty. It would make more sense for Rusty to buy the stocks that Martin has with Rusty trying to make the argument that he is family. Maybe that's where this was heading, who knows. 

 

Those are the credits for the first episode on NBC. The closing announcer refers to the March 30th episode of "Flamingo Road." 

 

By the end of the year, a good number of those actors are out.

 

 

Steele is still doing the voiceovers in December 1982. 

 

 

I  agree that thematically, it really works. I really like the computer generated "Search for Tomorrow" sequence, but I admit it probably is too representative of the era. I'm not a big fan of the live action shot of the bird flying over the water, but I love the concept of the show going from day to night by the episode's end.

 

I have no clue why Tom is listed as 'Trip.' He's back to be listed as Tom when he leaves town in October 1982. Tom relocates to Washington, D.C., with hopes of reuniting with Kathy, who he apparently was seeing. Litrofsky appeared in only one episode I have and it's for his goodbye scenes with Stu and Jenny on the Riverboat.  

[Paul Raven]

In light of recent Rusty/Liza discussion

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

Jarrod, I'm curious about what you, and others think, about Rusty. I don't know how I feel about him. It's clear that Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt are trying to craft him as a long term threat to Liza and Travis' happiness as well as making him a major antagonist in the lives of many Hendersonites. The problem I have is it just seem to work, which is odd because Warren Carter works beautifully in this sort of role as sh*t stirrer who also seems to have some of his own emotional angst. I would have to say my biggest gripe with Rusty is the lack of attention that the writers pay to the relationship between Rusty and Travis. There are very few scenes with Travis and Rusty connecting or trying to connect. The Rusty and Liza dynamic fascinates me now that we've gotten to a point where Liza has Rusty's number, she knows she can't change Travis' mind about his father, and she just takes some pleasure in knowing that she and Travis will be stronger if she doesn't give Rusty the power to break her.

 

And Rusty continues to try to break her. In the last few episodes I've watched, the latest stage of Rusty's plan is playing out. He has Ringo trail her in his car to convince her that someone is after her. To make the situation more real for Liza, Rusty misplaces documents that Travis needs for a Sunburst experiment at TI requiring Liza to drive the papers to him. The whole situation is engrossing, but then we finally learn Rusty's motivation from a conversation with Aja. Finally, Rusty admits that he wants Liza away from Travis because of a stipulation in the General's will that Rusty will be the guardian for the stocks that have been set aside for Travis' first born. Of course, there's a deadline for the birth of said child that, if it isn't met, the stocks revert to Travis and Martin. So Rusty wants money and power. Simple and compelling motivation except it is predicated on the idea that this was written when the General believed Rusty was dead. Did the General really not remove a codicil for nearly twenty years before he died? That's a stretch especially given how much attention has been given to things like the dynamic between the General / Martin / Rusty. It would make more sense for Rusty to buy the stocks that Martin has with Rusty trying to make the argument that he is family. Maybe that's where this was heading, who knows. 

 

My interpretation of Rusty, maybe I'm wrong, is that he was designed to be a heavy in a way that Martin couldn't be. Previous writers had made Martin more of a rascal instead of a villain. So Rusty was another member of the family from that same older generation who did more heinous things than Martin (and as a result had a shorter shelf life).

 

Maybe the writers had planned for Rusty to rape Liza, that might have explained all this build up and extensive scenes between them. I agree there needed to be more Rusty-Travis interaction. But if Rusty had done something truly vile or offensive to Liza, then surely Travis would have had a bigger stake in it and would have had more scenes with Rusty during the aftermath/fallout.

 

Warren Carter worked as a character because he was a younger generation example of a guy trying to climb the rungs of society and make a name for himself. Rusty was already established in his many (nefarious) business enterprises. But Warren was basically just starting out, just starting his life of crime. I think Warren's death was premature. He should have survived Suzy's shooting him and gone back to prison. There was more they could have done if he'd gotten out later on a technicality and stirred up more trouble for Suzy, Cagney, Wendy, Jo and the others.

[mikelyons]

Forgive me if this has already been posted...

 

FRESH AIR with Terry Gross interviews Mary Stuart

September 21, 1980

Full Episode 

Link to listen: http://39ea54ff11b298f9bcaa-1b99eba380497722926169d6da8b098e.r2.cf5.rackcdn.com/1980/FA19800921.mp3

Link for info on the show: http://www.worldcat.org/title/fresh-air-with-terry-gross-september-21-1980-interview-with-mary-stuart/oclc/969458580

[DRW50]

I can't remember if anyone had put this one up in full or not but if not someone did today. The last episode.

 

 

[Paul Raven]

Looking at the cast in the final ep....people like Joanna Going,Matthew Ashford,David Forsyth etc  just makes me wish they had been cast as legacy characters like Danny, Bruce, Gary etc

Much easier to keep Jo and Stu in the mix and please newer and long time viewers.

 

[vetsoapfan]

I miss Jo and Stu.

 

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[DRW50]

 

It must have felt so special to have them as 'friends' for 35 years, as many fans did. They both feel so real and easy to invest in in a way that some long-running characters don't. I guess that is mostly down to Larry and Mary. 

 

Watching this I couldn't help wondering how bittersweet it must have been for some of the fans of most of the characters who were getting their happy endings. You had Liza meeting with a Travis double, yet Louann Gideon (RIP) was never the Liza who knew Travis. You had Hogan and her Liza wishing each other well, even though they were never the Liza and Hogan who were that popular. You had Hogan and Sunny briefly interacting as their fans now saw Hogan marrying one last recast Patti and Sunny paired off with a man who, as someone said here pages ago, kind of comes off like her gay best friend. 

 

Still, for the cast they had, it is nice enough.

It must have been surreal for NBC soap viewers to see Patrick Tovatt go in about six months from fisherman Zane to a patriarch with a cod Irish accent. Between Linda Dano, Maeve Maguire, Liz Hubbard, Kathleen Widdoes, Marie Masters, etc. Patrick sure had some leading ladies though. 

[vetsoapfan]

 

While SFT was never my best-loved-of-all-time soap opera, I had known Jo and Stu for decades, and saying goodbye to them for the final time was heartbreaking, regardless of how much the show had been decimated over the years. It was barely recognizable at the end, with all these newbies and recasts running around, hogging up screen-time, but the core was always Jo and Stu, and as long as they were utilized in any capacity, I would keep going back to Henderson.

 

I wish the great anniversary show were available on youtube, the one in which Jo prepared one of Marge's recipes and she and Stu spoke about their history together, complete with tons of flashbacks. That was a better tribute to the series than the actual finale. The recast, desorased Patti was a terrible mistake. I would have been more satisfied with SFT's last episode if it had just featured Jo and Stu curled up on a couch discussing the triumphs and tragedies of their lives. The debut ep from 1951 exists, and showing clips from that would have brought everything around, full circle.

 

The finales of all the P&G soaps disappointed me so much. *I* could have done so better better by our old friends, and I'll bet many other devoted viewers could have too.

Edited August 17, 2018 by vetsoapfan