Search For Tomorrow Discussion Thread

[Matt Powers]

Anyone know why the Brian/Suzi pairing was dropped in favor of Suzi/Warren and Suzi/Cagney? Were the subsequent Suzi/Brian recasts (Gent to Jay and Cynthia to Teri Eoff) a part of the change in focus?

[dc11786]

I think Brian/Suzi fell apart due to the structural changes made to the younger set over the course of late 1982-1983 when the show shifted from Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt to David Cherrill to Gary Tomlin while the producers went from Fred Bartholemule to Joanna Lee. The change to NBC brought about a slew of younger characters.

Prior to NBC, Brian and Suzi's conflicts had been more internal. Suzi wanted to be a dancer and I believe Brian had done something to jeopardize her dream. As a result, he became involved in boxing which had the potential, I think, to cause him issues as well like if he took another punch it might damage him. Some of this may be off.

Once the NBC episodes rolled around Warren and Kristin Carter were introduced to split up Brian and Suzi. Wendy was given Keith McNeil as a love interest. The Warren-Suzi-Brian-Kristen quad was structured as the A story so that when one angle was highlighted (Warren's gun running threatening his relationship with Suzi) the next would build slowly in the background (Kristen would be hunting down Brian because she "had to tell him something"). Once Brian and Suzi learned the truth about Warren (he was involved in the gun running operation) they returned home together to learn that what Kristen had to tell Brian was that she was pregnant. In the B-plot for the younger crew, Stephanie disapproved of Keith and Wendy's relationship, but there was not a lot of juice being extracted from that story. There was a sort of looming threat to Keith and Wendy's happiness in that Keith's snotty younger sister, Andie, was clearly the child that Jenny Deacon (another NBC addition) was searching for, but that was a slow burn. 

In December 1982, a couple things happen that change the course of the younger set. Ellis and Hunt are ousted after a year of working on the show and David Cherrill is promoted to the headwriter position. Cherrill is the one that goes hard on developing a more NBC soap storytelling aesthetic. The pace became much quicker, the dialogue started to feature more wit, and the story managed to balance the older and younger cast as long as the story was firmly grounded in youth. In the course of three months, Brian marries a "pregnant" Kristen (in December), Keith weds Wendy because of the custody situation with his sister (in January), and Warren and Suzi tie the knot in February. Marrying off all three was detrimental to the story. It put all the characters in the same boat so things had to be blown apart. 

Cherrill also made some critical choices with the character of Brian (who was also recast in December when Pietrogallo leaves and Jay Avacone comes in). Avacone is a solid actor, but he enters playing the wedding and little time is given to the audience to really feel the connection between Suzi and Brian with the new actor in the role. In December, Brian also decides to enter the police academy which allows the rivalry between Warren and Brian to go from romantic to professional; Brian is now law enforcement and knows the connection between Warren and Rusty Sentell's gun running operation. This shift creates some natural tension for Brian and Suzi as now Brian and Warren will be at odds professionally and Suzi wants to support her husband (who she believes has changed). Kristin's secret, that she miscarried before her wedding to Brian, is also a story element that has to be revealed before Brian and Suzi can reunite. I feel Cherrill still intended for Brian and Suzi as endgame. 

In the B-story, Keith's attempts to gain custody have led to Stephanie stepping in to foster Andie in what becomes a comical plot that borrows from the story of "Little Orphan Annie" with Stephanie as Mommy Warbucks to little orphan Andie and her pet mutt. Cherrill adds a social issue to the plot by making Andie a diabetic and having her inability to keep her sugar levels steady an issue when Andie runs off. This story gives Keith and Wendy story to play, but very much in a supporting role. Joanna Lee has arrived just as the Little Orphan Andie plot is picking up some steam. 

The final cuts to Brian and Suzi seem to come in May, 1983, when Gary Tomlin arrives and the show decides that maybe Wendy Wilkins heroine isn't as effective as Wendy Wilkins maneater. The decision to have Wendy pursue Warren Carter, her step-sister/best friend's husband, essentially switches the story structure that was in place. Keith has been dumped, both by Wendy and by the show, while Wendy shifts the Suzi-Warren-Brian story into a Wendy-Warren-Suzi story with Kristen and Brian assuming the B-story roles formerly held by Wendy and Keith. Furthmore, Kristen is given a job as a photographer which gives her agency in the story outside her marriage, while still maintaining domestic troubles with her husband Brian pursuing Warren. There is more drama to mine in Brian's pursuit of Warren while he is married to Kristen rather than him being involved with Suzi. With that said, I don't think the show had completely abandoned the idea at that time. 

In late summer, Cynthia Gibbs makes her plans to exit to appear on "Fame" which means that the story needs to spotlight Wendy and Warren emerge as the main couple because of the change in actors. Gibb's replacement, Elizabeth Swankhammer, was incredibly green and, as a result, Suzi becomes a supporting character in the story. There is a bit of setup with Suzi and Steve Kendall, which may suggest that they decided they were either committing to Brian and Kristen or had simply abandoned Brian and Suzi. Either way, Steve Kendall filling the Cagney McCleary role in Suzi's pregnancy story would have been intriguing given that Steve himself had just discovered the truth about his own paternity. 

By the time Teri Eoff arrives in January, 1984, I think the show has lost so much of who Suzi is that she is more a complication in Wendy and Warren's happiness until Michael Corbett jumps ship at the end of his two year contract. Suzi's pregnancy and Warren's pursuit of her inheritance are complications in his relationship with Wendy. Warren's love for money was always going to be greater than anything else other than possibly having a child of his own, which Suzi was going to give him when Wendy couldn't. Eoff is competent, but Suzi no longer has any dreams of being a social worker and the baby defines her and takes away potential agency in other parts of the canvas. This problem plagues Eoff as Suzi even in her relationship with Cagney. 

Somewhere in the midst, Brian and Kristen get lost. As Lee leaves and Ellen Barrett comes in, Brian's pursuit of Vargas always has the potential to connect Vargas to Warren and the criminal element that Brian is always trying to rid Henderson of. Brian's work keeps him in thick of things with Jo Tourneur, Suzi's niece and a city councilwoman with similar goals as Brian. Brian and Suzi reuniting could still have happened, but Kristen the schemer was now more Kristen the girl trying to escape her past. However, once Warren departs, Kristen and Brian's place on the canvas is neutralized as the show moves into a new round of younger characters with Adair, Alec, Justine, and Chase entering the scene. 

By mid-1984, Suzi has had the baby, she and Cagney and Jonah have become the perfect defacto family, and a series of interlopers are introduced in order to keep the couple front and center  (Justine, Brett Hamilton, III, and Warren). Incidentally, Cagney becomes a cop like his spiritual predecessor Brian, but lacks the sort of big bad that Brian had in Warren to keep Cagney as a character with a significant role across the canvas. Maybe if ambitious Quinn had become involved with the wrong people it could have created a strong ongoing conflict, but that is not the route the show pursued. 

[danfling]

The above post was fascinating to read.   I really loved Search for Tomorrow when the co-headwriter was C. David Colson/David Cherrill.   Gary Tomlin's work was good also, but I preferred Mr. Colson/Cherrill.   

 

 Two characters, though, that were not mentioned were Rhonda Sue Huckaby and Ringo Altman.   I was rooting for those two, but the writers or producers decided to drop them.    Ringo was sympathetic up until his final or next-to-final scene.   

 

I also greatly enjoyed Andie and Stephanie together.

[Matt Powers]

Thanks for the insight dc11786. It seems as usual a revolving door of EP and HW did no favors for the show. I watched some of the Ellis/Hunt era and it wasn’t too bad. A little slow at times, but enjoyable. Rusty Sr was a good villain type, causing trouble between Travis and Liza. Kristin/Brian/Suzi/Warren was an entertaining quad. I think things began to change in my mind for Brian/Suzi when Jay took over for Gene. Jay ‘s Brian had a tougher edge anti hero to him, whereas Gene was more romantic sensitive leading man type, which melded well with Cynthia GIbb’s ingenue Suzi. Was it the producers who wanted the Brian switch or was it Gene’s decision to leave?

The Jenny Deacon/Rusty story is a dud. Does this actually go anywhere?  Wendy is wasted in her story with Keith and I can see why subsequent writers turned her character into a villianess/spoiler.

Now I am familiar with David Cherrill’s work on the Doctors. He was handed quite a mess from his predecessor and did the best he could “righting” the ship. How was his SEARCH era viewed? 

[dc11786]

@danfling I didn't mention Ringo and Rhonda Sue because they were supporting characters. There story was a C-story at best and I think it was only told because Joanna Lee wanted to have a full canvas if she was allowed to expand the show to an hour. Lee knew that for "Search for Tomorrow" to survive, it had to expand. I don't think NBC would have even considered it, but I felt like Lee's expansion of the canvas was all in a prep to the show with her intent of convincing the network to see her way. 

As supporting charcters, I didn't mind Rhonda Sue and Ringo. Rhonda Sue aggravated Stephanie in a way that was slightly different than that she had with her maid Rose Beardsley. I'm not sure when Rose stopped appearing, but I think it may have been under Tomlin. Anyway, Rhonda Sue was the first of Stephanie's secretaries, a stock character on the show. She was succeeded by Alexandra Neil's Gwen Hoffman, who was nearly raped by Jack Benton. Later, I think I have even heard Gwen mentioned even after Neil stopped appearing before Stephanie hired Justine to be her secretary. Justine was succeeded by Quinn McCleary. I'm not sure if anyone replaced Quinn, but I suspect not. Stephanie's role was pretty minor in the final year before the triangle with Bela and Wendy. 

Ringo was not initially a sympathetic character. He was a hood who's purpose was to keep Warren's hands clean while still wreaking havoc. Ringo nearly murdered Jenny Deacon in October, 1982, because she had been involved with a man that had been in their drug operation in Los Angeles. I believe the accident that had caused Jenny's amnesia was the same one that killed the boyfriend. Ringo's position on the canvas, at least initially, was to provide Warren with a partner in crime. Often, these type of relationships have a romantic/sexual undercurrent. To me, this was no different. If you told me that Ringo had a small shrine to Warren somewhere, it wouldn't surprise me. 

I think Ringo's death was intended to be more purposeful than it was. I think it would have been eventually revealed that it was Ringo who's body had been buried after the ship explosion and not Travis'. Or were any bodies recovered?

Ringo's death also left a void in the canvas when Warren Carter returns in October, 1984. Again, he needs a henchman and this time it is Brett Hamilton, III. Warren had somehow procurred a pornographic video that Brett had made. I never could piece together whether this video was created for commercial purposes or something that Brett had made to remember his conquests. Either way, I felt Warren controlling Brett by lording a video of Brett having sex again had a homoerotic edge to it. 

@Matt Powers Regarding David Cherrill, he was headwriter from mid-December, 1982, until late May, 1983. To me, it's not the most memorable time, but, like Bill Levinson's work on "General Hospital" in the early 1990s, it sets in motion a lot of material that Gary Tomlin runs with and makes quite memorable. Cherrill's "Search for Tomorrow" feels like a NBC soap rather than a CBS soap trying to emulate an NBC/ABC serial. Cherrill brings back Tom Bergman and Dr. Bob Rogers. Dr. Bob is the one who confirms Liza's pregnancy and continues to treat Liza throughout her pregnancy. Cherrill also introduces Tom Wright's Colt, blind pianist Michael Kennedy (who is only later revealed in Tomlin's first episode to be Michael Kendall), Rhonda Sue Huckaby, and Steve Kendall.

A lot of Cherrill's time is spent maneuvering pieces. He cuts Rusty Sentell, who had become too convoluted in his connections to the canvas by the end of Hunt and Ellis' run. Instead, he shifted the spotlight away from the criminal element and focused moreso on Warren Carter's ambition, which often would put him in questionable situations anyway. Warren as the central antagonist carried the show for much of the next year and could have longer if they had recast Warren rather than accepted that Corbett wouldn't commit longterm and killed the character off. The murder mystery is short (maybe two months) and ends with Dane Taylor deducing that Aja Doyan was the culprit, but I think there was another bullet that was shot at Rusty, but it didn't kill him. This also played into Brian's new role as a rookie on the Henderson PD. Cherrill also introduced Lt. Marion Bowman, who appeared for several years in a supporting role. Initially, Bowman was a crooked cop, but that element was dropped fairly early and never revisited. 

I don't have much interest in seeing where Cherrill would have gone because what followed with Tomlin was so strong. The only story I felt that I would have liked to have seen where Cherrill would have taken was the Jenny / Michael romance. Jenny Deacon was the Bambi Brewster of "Search for Tomorrow" and had she not been played by Linda Gibboney, who managed to give the character some sense of a presence, it would have fallen apart. The idea of Jenny, who had gotten by with her looks, being romanced by a man who couldn't see her was appealing. It was certainly more appealing then Rusty and Jenny. 

What the intent of Rusty and Jenny was never completely clear to me. I think there was a decision made that someone needed to humanize Rusty, who was basically an over the top villain with ties to gun running and spy networks. He was trying to destroy his son's marriage in order to secure a grandchild so that he could get access to the Tourneur fortune. It was all very asinine. Rusty's attempt to help Jenny find her child seemed like a way to keep him from becoming one-note. I don't think it worked. 

Similarly, I don't think Gene Pietrogallo chose to leave, rather, NBC most likely decided it was time to cut their losses. Watching the Malaguay story with Brian dying in the jungle was unbearable and not for the right reasons. Given that this was the second sweeps on NBC, I think they decided to make some more course corrections. I don't think Pietrogallo strengths lied in heavy dramatic work, which Jay Avocone managed to do with more easy. Pietrogallo's strength was more in the area of a romantic lead. 

[Sapounopera]

I could be reading posts like that all day long. Thank you so much!

[Paul Raven]

Agree. That era of Search was so hard to make sense of with coming and goings , recasts and changed characters and plots.

DC makes it much easier to sort out.

[Matt Powers]

Thanks again @dc11786 for your analysis. I did not get to see SFT first run ( I only have a memory of Stu and Jo on the last episode, believe I was on school vacation then). It is interesting your take on Joanna Lee’s wanting to expand SFT. Don’t where they could’ve fit it in —wasn’t P&G’s non compete clause in effect in 1982? From where I am viewing in the early Cherrill era, the stories and characters just aren’t strong enough to carry interest for a hour each day.

[Paul Raven]

Once Edge of Night went up against Somerset in 1975, it seems that was over.

Guiding Light was against Another World as was Texas later on .Lovers and Friends went up against Search and so on.

[Matt Powers]

Did the character of Dane Taylor ever have a significant story? From the eps I’ve seen, he serves as a shoulder to cry on for Liza and his romance with Sunny doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Matt Powers

[Paul Raven]

Taking a deep dive into 70's Search there seems to be an over reliance on killing off major characters often through violent deaths

72 Dan Walton 72 - cancer

72 Sam Reynolds - shot

73 Laurie leshinsky car accident

74 Doug Martin

75 Tony Vincente -heart attack

75 Clay Collins - shot

76 Eunice Wyatt -shot

77 Wade Collins - shot

78 Steve Kaslo - blood disease

79 John Wyatt - shot

Obviously death and murders are soap staples, but it seems a bit much and a quick fix to provide some shocks and sadness. Surely some of these characters could have just left town?

[antmunoz]

Right?  It’s a wonder that Patti and Len and Bruce and Gary survived. 

[Paul Raven]

Came across an CBS pilot 'King of the Road' that aired May 10th 1979. It starred Roger Miller,singer famous for the song of that title as a semi retired singer who co-owns an Alabama motel.

That co-owner is played by Larry Haines. Had the pilot been picked up we would have been seeing a lot less of Stu Bergman as primetime would have had first dibs on his services. I wonder what Larry's Search contract terms were? Maybe he had a clause that if he landed a series he could leave at short notice.

Seems Larry was actively pursuing primetime at this point, as he landed the short lived CBS sitcom 'Phyl and Micky' in 79.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Paul Raven

[danfling]

Mr. Haines also appeared on the CBS primetime comedy Phyl and Mickey two years later.

 

It was a summer-run show about two Olympic athletes who fell in love with one another.

 

Actor Rick Lohman, who had played Stuart Bergman's grandson on Search for Tomorrow, played the male athlete.

[TVFAN1144]

Were Kathy and Scott Phillips connected to Jo or the Bergmans?   How were they introduced to the show?  I started watching in the mid 70s when Jennifer Pace was involved with Scott

 

I