Search For Tomorrow Discussion Thread

[te.]

In these times, this episode feels even more poignant!

[vetsoapfan]

LOL!

[kalbir]

I pointed this out in the 1980s ratings thread, but I'm interested in the thoughts of those who watched the tail end (June 1981 to March 1982) of Search for Tomorrow CBS run.

From what I understand of the Search for Tomorrow/CBS/P&G situation, P&G was not happy that CBS moved Search for Tomorrow from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm even though the ratings I believe remained stable after the time slot change. CBS had enough of P&G complaining so they cancelled Search for Tomorrow in March 1982 but P&G found a new home for Search for Tomorrow on NBC at 12:30 pm. That move was an epic failure as Search for Tomorrow lost half its audience with the move to NBC since it was head-to-head w/ the first half of Y&R.

Considering Capitol showed no growth, is it possible that CBS may have regretted cancelling Search for Tomorrow? IMO Capitol was a placeholder/time filler until Bill Bell had a second show ready. I also think CBS wanted to replace Search for Tomorrow in 1982 with a second Bill Bell show but with Y&R still being in their post-expansion slump during the first half of 1982, Bill Bell had to fix Y&R before he could even think about getting a second show ready. Even if CBS kept Search for Tomorrow I think it would have ended once Bill Bell had a second show ready.

[Khan]

I agree.  I think CBSD - and more specifically, Brian Frons - felt SFT was past its' prime, with an aging, if steadfast, audience.

[dc11786]

Creatively, 1980-1981 was very tough for "Search for Tomorrow" with seven different writers/writing teams helming the show. By the time the show was cancelled by CBS, the show wasn't in a great place creatively. Add in the shifting daytime landscape with the summer of Luke and Laura, I don't think the show had much of a shot on CBS.

In the period you specifically asked about, Don Chastain was writing the show during the strike. He inherited a show that was in transition as Harding Lemay had only been writing for several weeks before the strike took place. There was some nice movement during that time (the end of the custody trial where Roger Lee was returned to his biological mother Cissie) and some movement that wasn't as strong (there was a mini-stalker arc with Peter Burnell as Richard Kent which had been a sticking point between Lemay and Mary Bunim Ellis). The introduction of Cynthia Gibbs as Suzi and the permanent return for Brian Emerson in a boxing story worked well later in the summer. Foolishly switching Wendy's love interests from scheming law student Spence Langley to a limited henchman in the jade necklace story Zach Anders was not a smart move.  The jade necklace story wasn't great and led to the unnecessary murder of Mignon Sentell, Travis' controlling and mentally unbalanced mother who had been brought back in Lemay's projections with the suggestion that she was going to shift her need to control Travis to her need to control her new grandson, Roger Lee. 

Chastain started to write out some of the characters from Gabrielle Upton's time (September 1980-March, 1981) that were extraneous (Garth Taper, the artist married to Kathy, was offed in a car accident). I don't think the brand new additions were not that great (Sylvie Descartes, Dane Taylor, and Zach Anders were limited at best). The stories he was setting up were not that great involving Tourneur Instruments exploring space exploration. He is credited for adding more humor to the show and the action in the boxing story seems decent, but overall, his period just got worst as time went on. 

I didn't look much at the start of 1982, but I would imagine that there was a flux because the show was waiting to transition to NBC with the younger slant that NBC would have wanted. Similarly, even if CBS hadn't cancelled it, I imagine the show would have had younger focus. 

[kalbir]

I did not know about the writer turnover near the end of Search for Tomorrow CBS run. I agree that demographics must have played a part too in the end of Search for Tomorrow CBS run. Capitol served another purpose of being younger and more glamorous.

Edited July 20, 2024 by kalbir

[robbwolff]

I have a hard buying that Capitol was a placeholder until Bell had a second soap ready. What would be the point of going to the expense and trouble of launching a new soap only to scrap it when Bell had a new soap ready to premiere? What we do know from media reports at that time is CBS was considering at least four new soaps in the early 80s. Two were replacements for Search for Tomorrow: Capitol and Beverly Hills. I believe Judith Krantz was the creator of Beverly Hills. I clearly remember my local newspaper mentioning Beverly Hills in a December 1981 article announcing the cancellation of Search and the debut of Capitol. I was disappointed by the decision as Beverly Hills seemed more intriguing to me.

Then in 1983-1984, there were many media stories about two new Paul Rauch soaps in development at CBS: I believe that The Barons/The Billionaires and Starcrossed/Grosse Pointe were the proposed titles. Soap Opera Digest reported that those soaps were being planned for a September 1983 launch at one point. And I believe they were slated to air in the late morning. A February 1984 article I read online stated that novelist Fred Mustard Stewart and Barbara Bauer were the head writers for those proposed soaps.

CBS was clearly interested in developing new soaps in the early 1980s that had nothing to do with Bell. And I believe that I read that The Bold and the Beautiful wasn't a shoo-in to replace Capitol as CBS was also considering Claire Labine's Celebration, set on a horse farm in Kentucky, as a replacement.

 

[Khan]

Claire Labine herself said that Michael Brockman had told her at the outset that the network probably would go with B&B.

[te.]

I also just think the daytime department had a lot more money to throw around at the time - it meant they could develop multiple shows and then decide to go with what they felt was the strongest option. It also meant they could put some of them on hold in case something started failing catastrophically, plus it allowed them to keep creative talent at the network.

Compare it to how networks used to do prime time pilot season with a ridiculous amount of shows that ended up not being ordered.

I agree and I kind of assume that's why P&G were more miffed rather than at the time slot move. I think they saw the writing on the wall that it was going to end when Bell had his second show ready. Otherwise they would've it once SFT didn't suffer a huge setback in ratings.

[Joseph]

Please register in order to view this content

A 1975 Episode featuring the late Great Meg Bennett as Liza!!!! ON HER WEDDING DAY NO LESS! I'm In Heaven so I thought I should share it!

Edited July 20, 2024 by Joseph
Correction

[DRW50]

Thanks! That's very kind. I saw that the uploader mentioned this already being on Youtube, but I'd never seen it.

@vetsoapfan @FrenchFan @Paul Raven @slick jones @te. @Khan @Vee @robbwolff @kalbir @soapfan770 @jam6242 @dc11786 @anthonymolchan @Matt @Sapounopera @VelekaCarruthers @Mona Kane Croft @SoapDope @NothinButAttitude @danfling  in case it was new to any of you as well.

Edited July 20, 2024 by DRW50

[FrenchFan]

I had never seen it either !!! Thanks !

[FrenchFan]

To help a bit, here is a recap of what happened in August 1975

Jennifer Pace Phillips, who had had corrective plastic surgery on her face, agreed to be Liza Collins’ matron of honor only after learning her estranged husband Scott Phillips had left town. Steve Kaslo’s brother would be the best man, and he, his wife Sarah, and they children, Marianne and Mattew, arrived the day before the wedding. Steve admitted he was afraid he wouldn’t live up to Liza’s expectations of success and Liza was afraid that Steve would feel pushed. They were married in a beautiful garden ceremony, reciting their own vows. Liza passed up a honeymoon in New York of Paris, paid for by her parents, to go backpacking alone with Steve, who insisted his dizzy spell was due to the champagne. 

Neither Dave Wilkins nor Wendy, his daughter were enthusiastic about the new apartment that Clay Collins had rented for Stephanie and Wendy. Stephanie told Dave, a construction foreman for the Collins Corp., there was not a chance she would come back to him because she planned to marry Clay, although Clay didn’t know it yet.

Janet Collins was concerned because her husband, Wade, with a full medical practice, was the major stockholder in the Collins Corp., and had to spend many hours at the sanitarium visiting his former fiancee, Karen, who became schizophrenic after taking experimental drugs. When Janet told Clay that Wade was more uptight as Karen was getting well, Clay suggested that Wade didn’t want Karen to get well because he was responsible for Karen taking the drugs. Wade admitted that this theory of Clay’s was what had caused the hard feelings between them for years. One night, Karen appeared on the tennis court at the Collinses’ and Janet discovered that Karen still lived in the past, at a time when she was engaged to Wade. A couple of days later, when he knew Wade was working, Clay had Karen call Janet to say she would be back to visit and be sure to tell Wade she loved him. Wade was almost late for Liza’s wedding because he was convincing Karen that he was very busy and she had to go on hunger strikes because he hadn’t been to seen her. When Wade told Karen they weren’t engagement, she became so hysterical that Dr. Newman, Karen’s staff doctor, suggested that Wade not visit Karen. Wade threatened to take Karen out of the sanitarium saying they were partial to Clay since he built the new wing, but apologized when he realized he was overwrought. 

Kathy Phillips told D.A. Sam Hunter that she promised Robin Kennemer that she could go home and he said it was all right because he knew all about the nickel and dime operation Robin was involved with. Sam then told McCready that Robin was leaving and Joey Kimble, McCready’s man, was on the same bus Robin was taking home to Chicago. Scott Phillips was also on this bus to get away from those he felt he only hurt. At a diner in Maysport, Scott stepped in to help Robin when Joey manhandled her, but since Joey had a knife in her back she insisted everythiw was okay. Scott went to Chicago, rented a sleazy room, got a job as an accountant, but lost it because of his drinking and ended up washing dishes.

When Bruce Carson, John Wyatt, Kathy and Jo Vincente, who had befriended Robin, learned she had been found dead of a drug overdose in a Maysport motel, they were sure it was unintentional as she was so happy about going home. Kathy asked Sam to investigate this. McCready instructed him to investigate but not to find anything. Hunter assigned a 30 year veteran detective, who was retiring in one month, convincing Sgt. Burns before he left that he wouldn’t find anything. Much to Sam’s dismay, Burns came back with evidence things were being covered up in Maysport, so Sam took him off the case. McCready told Hunter he’d better consider Kathy Phillips and his job before he moved on this again. John Wyatt accused Sam of a cover-up and Kathy defended Sam againt John until she learned the police reports on Robin’s friends were missing. Kathy went to Maysport herself where she got a description of a man who went off with Robin. Robin’s friend, Angie,’s description of Joey Kimble, strong arm for the syndicate, fit the man described to Kathy in Maysport. Kathy listened on the extension when McCready called Sam and he caught her. She admitted that McCready confirmed her suspicions and insisted Sam go to the Grand Jury after resigning. Convincing Kathy to give him a few days to pull the syndicate down, Sam told McCready about Kathy and asked him to take care of it, as he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Scott Phillips, arrested for intoxication, ended up in the same jail cell as Joey who beat Scott into unconsciousness after Scott mentioned having seen him somewhere.

 

Gary Walton, Janet’s son, accepted Dr. Rogers’ offer to finish his internship in Henderson, but upon returning to Chicago General found Scott as a patient. Gary was going to help Scott through his liquor withdrawal when Scott promised to try.

[Joseph]

Question:

HOW MANY LIZAS AND PATTIS WERE THERE??? 

I estimated 6 Lizas but no idea about Patti!

[NothinButAttitude]

Thank you @DRW50 for the tag! 

@Joseph thank you for sharing this with us! 

I am eager to watch this later on when I wake up from my nap.