Search For Tomorrow Discussion Thread

[Sapounopera]

Thank you so much, I am obsessed with 70s soaps. 

Anthony Herrera, I had no idea he was on Search.

[Vee]

Oh wow, thanks for this. I've always wanted to see more of this heyday.

[Chris 2]

Lizas I’m aware of: Kathleen Beller; Meg Bennett, Hope Busby; Sherry Mathis; Louann Gideon. Kathy Beller played Liza as a young teen so I’m guessing there was another Liza before her who played her as a child.

Did Liza ever use the last name “Collins”? That was her stepfather’s name. I thought she just used Walton like her brother did.

[Sapounopera]

I liked the Karen actress a lot. Is she the same actress who played Estelle on AMC? Kathleen Dezina, Matthew Crowles's wife? 

Who is the girl next to Janet?

The 1975 cast in the second photo. 

Edited July 20, 2024 by Sapounopera

[FrenchFan]

Yes, it’s her who played Karen.

Anthony Herrera was only here brielfly as Mike, Steve’s brother. He joined Y&R in November of that year.

[Sapounopera]

Thank you for the synopsis, it helps me understand things better. And it makes me run to your synopsis thread and read the stories of that era.  

[FrenchFan]

I think the girl next to Janet you are talking about is Amy, the groom’s sister.

1975 is a confusing time for SFT with Tony’s death and this convulted mob story, Same with the Collins brothers and Karen.

[Mona Kane Croft]

I believe Denise Nickerson (Amy Jennings on Dark Shadows) played Liza before Kathleen Beller.   

[DRW50]

@FrenchFan Thank you for the recap. I did not see Jennifer in this episode. I wonder if there was any explanation in story for her absence (maybe she was at the reception). Those crime elements seemed to be a frequent element of Search in the '70s but the Scott material sounds so grim. I wonder how it played out onscreen. Having the guest character who was befriended by various characters only to be murdered after she leaves town is also very grim (and more like something from a later soap).

@Sapounopera I thought I read about Anthony being on the show but didn't know he had a wife and kids. I wonder how much story Mike ever had. 

The material with Wade and Karen almost overshadowed the wedding itself. Good acting from the woman who played Karen - melodrama without overdoing it. Seeing above that she played Estelle on AMC clicks as I remember being impressed by her work on there (the little I've seen of it). 

I loved those '70s wedding vows for Steve and Liza. They both looked so lovely, but Meg Bennett in particular was ethereal. 

Surreal seeing Suzie here and then knowing she'd be so aged up in only about 5 years. And seeing Eunice too - I had forgotten she was still alive at this point. 

IMDB lists Pamela des Barres (best known for some very detailed books on her groupie years and various music tragedies) as being in this episode. I didn't really notice her but here's what she says about her time on the show:

(I didn't even remember John Heard was on the show - so much talent passed through the show around this point without making much of a mark, like Kevin Kline)

PAMELA DES BARRES: SEARCHING FOR TOMORROW (pleasekillme.com)

When Michael finally extricated himself from his former life in the UK, we were about to create a love nest in Hollywood when I got a large role in the long-running New York soap, Search for Tomorrow.  I was delighted and distressed all at once. Five hundred bucks a week sounded like a lot of dough, and I’d finally be on the boob tube, treading the boards, lighting up the screen — but what would Michael do? His music career was in LA, and he wound up sleeping on his manager’s couch, who also happened to be a huge drug dealer. Ohhh nooooooo.

I found a perfect Villagey apartment at Bleecker and 7^th above a fragrant French bakery and started learning the subway system along with pages and pages of lines. The character I played, Amy Kaslo, started out as a carefree hippie chick, but as the weeks went by, the writers turned her into a straight pre-med student in love with her best friend’s fiancé. My first day on the set I had to strain spaghetti through a tennis racket. Cute, eh? Impossible too.

Of course I became chummy with my costars, the goddess Morgan Fairchild, handsome Michael Nouri, and charming John Heard, who played my nerdy boyfriend, Grover. We had a blast hanging out — camaraderie a go go — but I started looking forward to my days off, staying in my loftbed, cooing and wooing with my betrothed on the phone.

I wish I could say that I was damn good as Amy Kaslo and brought the studio down every day, but I was so concerned about my man 3,000 miles away on a drug dealer’s divan, and my character had become such a pathetic snotty, boring [!@#$%^&*], that the job became a daily drudge. I couldn’t seem to learn my ever-changing lines, and my eyes veered to the TelePrompter way too often. Still it was a horrid surprise when I was called into the producer’s office and canned, six months after I’d arrived to take my bite out of the Big Apple. He said my “heart wasn’t in it,” and he was correctamundo.

As I emerged from the office, downcast and stunned, my three costar pals were standing by the door and embraced me teary-eyed. Then they took me to the Russian Tea Room to get drunk, and confessed they’d been auditioning actresses to take my place for the last few weeks. I was embarrassed and mortified, and down deep relieved.

Edited July 20, 2024 by DRW50

[SoapDope]

Thank You for finding that 1975 episode. I enjoyed every minute of it including the commercials. Meg Bennet was such a beautiful woman. When I was a kid I remember her on Y&R as Julia Newman. This is how she looked with the long Cher hair when she and Victor first appeared on the show.  She would kind of hide behind it when Victor was being verbally abusive. 

I spotted Renee Jarrett in the Soft & Dri ad and Sheila Larken in the Crisco ad.

I hope more SFT from this era surfaces.

[FrenchFan]

@DRW50 Morgan Fairchild is in the episode but she has no line. You can see her as a bridesmaid walking down the asile before Liza and I spotted hier in the wedding assistance one or twice.

[DRW50]

Thanks. There were so many people I missed her.

[jam6242]

Thanks @DRW50!

[VelekaCarruthers]

THANKS! Who was the head writer at this time?

[NothinButAttitude]

OK. I have so many questions and comments. 

1. What is the backstory between Wade/Karen? Can I add that Millee Taggert looks beautiful and regal as Janet? This is the second clip I've seen of her as Janet--the other being her last episode as Janet. 

2. Why was John so upset when he saw Kathy? I didn't even recognize Ann Williams in the clip. Also, it is hilarious that John Cunningham & Ann Williams would go on to be the Slaters on Loving. I wish more from the first year of Loving would pop up as reading a synopsis of it makes that show seem good too. 

3. Was this around the time that John/Jennifer were having an affair? 

4. Dave Wilkins is Wendy's dad, right? 

5. I assume this is shortly after Tony's death, right? 

6. Was this during the age when STF was on the upswing in the ratings? Wasn't the show doing good about 74 to 77? 

I hope more clips from this era emerge. This was a good, subtle, classic episode.