Search For Tomorrow Discussion Thread

[Khan]

Again, I could be wrong about this, but from what I recall, Larkin Malloy left GL in '87, only to pop up shortly thereafter on AMC, as Travis Montgomery.  I remember missing him very much on GL (because my eight-year-old self LOVED watching Kyle and Reva) but being very excited to see him again (and with Susan Lucci).  Just as I recall how cool it was to Susan Pratt show up on AMC as Barbara, after watching her play Claire Ramsey on GL.  AMC and GL were and are my two, all-time favorite soaps to watch, lol.

[Mona Kane Croft]

Yes, I believe Patti and Jo had a short conversation about Sarah's death in one of Patti's early scenes.  Probably the same scene in which Patti tells Jo she and Lyn have divorced.  And after that, neither Lyn nor Sarah were mentioned again (as I recall).   

Patti's return could have been a great thing for the show -- finally giving Jo a family to surround her.  But of course, Patti needed to bring at least a couple of kids along with her to Henderson. And perhaps, even bring along Lyn.   Had Patti returned with Lyn and some children, the marital troubles and divorce could have played out on-screen, giving Patti some drama appropriate to her age (Patti was originally of similar age to Janet Bergman Walton and Emily Rogers).   And instead of trying to shoe-horn Patti in as the "new" Liza, Patti should have been the new Janet, with one of Patti's daughters becoming the new young romantic lead (ala the "new" Liza).  I'm not suggesting Liza should have left the show, but perhaps it was time for Liza to be played a bit older, as she had been SFT's young female romantic lead for nearly a decade.  

In the mid-1980s, there was still so much promise for Patti and what she and her progeny could have added to Jo's life.  But sadly, most of that was squandered by de-aging Patti, almost forgetting she already had children, and putting her in romantic competition with Liza and Sunny.   Big mistakes, in my opinion.   

[DRW50]

Thanks for the extra details. 

Your ideas of what should have happened with Patti make sense. Maybe even have conflict with Jo if Patti's kids are closer to Jo than they are to Patti.

I do wonder if they should have just written Liz out when Sherry left, based on what they did with her.

[Sapounopera]

I am very interested in the show's connection to Ryan's Hope.

Michael Corbett, Louise Shaffer and Peter Haskell all moved to Henderson.

An Irish family showed up.

Was it all Ellen Barrett and Paul Avila-Mayer?

Was RH even considered that successful?

[dc11786]

Corbett was hired by Freddie Bartholomew around July, 1982 when the show went to NBC and the directive seemed to go younger. Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt created him. Warren was similar to how Michael Pavel ended up on the show. I think Corbett returned under Ellen Barrett. 

Haskell was hired under Joanna Lee. Gary Tomlin created the character. David Cherrill had created Michael Kennedy and Steve Kendall in June, 1983. Tomlin made the two characters brothers in one of his first episodes in late May and brought on Lloyd in June. 

Barrett did hire Louise Shaffer. She may have introduced Bigelowe's Bar, the Irish pub that the characters hung out in from late 1983 until early 1986 (I assume it was destroyed in the flood). If she introduced Bigelowe's, she also probably hired Malachy McCourt (Kevin, RH) as Big Bigelowe, the properitor. Barrett hired Jenny Dweir (Ryan) to play Wendy's neighbor who played a significant role in the end of the Warren caper. 

Paul Avila Mayer and Ellen Barrett's tenures don't overlap, if I recall. Erwin Nicholson takes over in early March, 1985, when Jeanne Glynn is still credited. Then Paul Avila Mayer and Stephanie Braxton are credited in mid- or late March, 1985. 

Paul Avila Mayer and Stephanie Braxton brought on Quinn McCleary as the roguish brother and tightened (in my opinion) the family dynamics of the McCleary clan. I enjoyed a lot of what Avila Mayer and Braxton did, but also disliked elements as well. 

[SoapDope]

There were so many Patti's it's hard to keep up with all the actresses who played her after Lynn Loring vacated the part. 

I saw Pamela Toll brought up in the Soap Hoppers thread. She could have been a choice for Patti. Here's a ad she did for Duz in 1972 after she had left Somerset.

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[Sapounopera]

Thank you so much for your detailed answer. I think SEARCH was one of the most difficult soaps to fix. There was only Jo and Stu, everyone else came and went. Every new writer/[producer showed up with completely different ideas and their own characters, so SEARCH hadn't an identity of its own. When the Kendalls and the McClearys showed up, where where Jo and Stu supposed to fit? It was after all a half-hour show. 

[anthonymolchan]

Sarah was a foster child or adopted child.  I wonder if Chris (Len’s son by Grace, adopted by Patti) and Tracey (Patti’s bio daughter) would’ve been older or younger than Sarah. 
 

I always have to believe that Jo saw her daughter and grandchildren offscreen even if it was never mentioned in scripts. Patti was off for almost a decade, and Jo wasn’t an absentee (grand)mother. 
 

Patti’s age is particularly ridiculous when I recall that her children are contemporaries or even older than their cousin Suzi. 

[dc11786]

In regards to Jo, I think it's important to remember even though they were divorced by 1982, Jo and Martin were played as endgame until Martin left the first time in 1984. Quite frankly, they would even hint at it through as late as 1985 when Estelle Kendall arrived. In that context, Jo had some more weight in regards to the Kendall family. It is often stated that Kendalls essentially replaced the Tourneurs/Sentells. While this is partially true, Tomlin introduced the Kendalls as a rival to the Tourneur/Sentell clan. Lloyd and Martin's sordid history stemming from a business deal years earlier in which Lloyd's father committed suicide due to faulty parts that the General had managed to scrape through by. Additionally, Steve's paternity added further fuel to the fire. I imagine that Stu would have been further tied to the T.R. storyline has Barbara Moreno had stayed. As a social worker, I imagine Barbara would have been recruited to help witht the young woman. 

Personally, I would have played Jo and Lloyd, at first as a revenge scheme on Lloyd's part, before eventually really developing feelings for her with Jo reminded of the late Sam Reynolds in some of Lloyd's personality. 

After Barbara and Stu went kaput, I felt like there was a brief attempt to pair Jo Henderson's Kate and Stu when Kate was first brought on. I think Stu as stepfather to the McCleary boys might have given him more to cluck over. 

Sarah I think was suppose to be younger. She mentioned her sister Tracey was in college and Chris was in the military in one episode. 

Casting much younger actors in their late twenties/early thirties to adult children wasn't uncommon in the 1980s. Not a great practice by any stretch of the imagination, but not unique to Patti. 

[Paul Raven]

To give Stu and Jo more presence simply focus on Patti who should have been older, age up Chris and Tracey to teens.

Bring back Bruce, Jo's  ward.

Gary, Liza Danny Walton Stu's grandkids.

Or as I mentioned before the mysterious man who turns out to be Jo's son Duncan,switched at birth.

[DRW50]

These are already around in various forms, probably, but they seem to be fresh uploads from this person rather than just reuploads, so I thought I'd post them.

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A clip from an episode I don't think is up.

 

Edited September 8, 2024 by DRW50

[Khan]

For God's sake, if Stephanie couldn't have fled the studio the moment she heard a noise, why couldn't she at least have tried to find something to defend herself with, instead of cowering and clutching that locket like it was going to save her?  And I still can't believe that all those women were terrorized and murdered for some lousy real estate!  

Poor Suzi.  First, she loses her bio dad; then, she loses her mom; then, she loses the man she REGARDED as her father; then, she gets mixed up with Warren Carter; then, she loses her step-mom; then, she, herself, is terrorized by the same man who killed Stephanie (and maybe Wendy); then, she finally dies as the victim of some grudge match between families and leaves her son, Jonah, whose own parents are now both dead, to be raised by a step-dad who, if SFT had lasted beyond '86, probably would've been killed off, too.

I [!@#$%^&*] hate this show, lol.

Edited September 9, 2024 by Khan

[DRW50]

That's so funny. Yet somehow very '80s.

Something about these '80s serial killer stories on soaps just leave me uneasy, as they often go out of their way to make the women weak, and we need to watch them cowering and suffering. I don't believe Maree Cheatham's Stephanie would have been so weak. I know seeing her look at a photo of a young Wendy was meant to be touching, which I guess it was in some way, but it also felt like completely reducing Stephanie to helplessness. 

SFT really did suffer with the recasts on their young heroines, although I can't remember if the last Suzi was well-received.

Cagney is the most I've liked Matt Ashford in any of his soap roles.

Edited September 9, 2024 by DRW50

[Kev]

I Agree With What Everyone Has Said About Search For Tomorrow. When Ellen Barrett Left Ryan's Hope And Went To Search For Tomorrow She Really Changed Things. 1983 Saw A Revolving Door Of 3 Executive Producers. 

Fred Bartholomew - Around The Time Liza Shot Rusty Sentell. 

Joanna Lee - Around The Time The August 1983 Live Episode 

Ellen Barrett - End Of 1983. The Moreno Family Left Henderson. Enter The McCleary Family. 

Was Joanna Lee Fired Because Of The Live Episode & So Called Missing Tapes ? 

 

Search For Tomorrow Became Somewhat Of Ryan's Hope Starting In Late '83, Early 1984.

Bigelowe's Irish Bar, The Introduction Of The McCleary Family: Hogan, Kate, Adair & Cagney (Later Quinn). 

Search For Tomorrow Was Hanging On Sort Of While Ryan's Hope Started To See A Huge Hot Mess.... 

...... Claire Labine & Paul Avila Mayer Were Let Go & There Entire Team. 

Enter Joseph Hardy & The New Writers Pat Falken Smith & James E. Reilly. 

Blew Up Ryan's Bar Should Have Not Happened.

But The Cast Cuts That Started In '83 to '84 ish. Malachy McCourt, Kelli Maroney, Louise Shaffer, Roscoe Born, Ilene Kristen, Earl Hindman, Felicity Lafortune, Karen Morris Gowdy & John Gabriel Really Hurt Ryan's Hope.

But Also ABC'S Bloated Schedule 

6 Soap Opera Shows !!!!!!

And The Time Change To Give Newcomer Loving A Chance. 

The Edge Of Night Would Be Gone And Ryan's Hope Would Be Moved To A Different Time Slot Which Was The Nail In The Coffin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

SOAP OPERA DIGEST 11-19-1985
Collector's Edition, 10th Anniversary Issue,
Once on SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, Larry Haines, as Stu & Millee Taggert, as Janet, had a problem. He had forgotten his lines & so he was stalling until his memory of them returned. So, he asked her how her job was. Startled, she replied, "Daddy, I don't have a job." Somehow, unknown how, they found their way back to the actual script.