Return To Peyton Place Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

FrenchFan. Yes, I also owe them thanks. Thank you for reminding me.

I'm glad you read the articles and that they don't get repetitive. I appreciate that.

[DRW50]

This is from the October 1972 Daytime TV (Sterling Inc). This is all probably common knowledge but was the first I'd seen of it. If anyone has any comments or more info I'd love to hear.

[DRW50]

I think some of this has already been posted in another thread, by another poster, but I'm too tired to look properly...

I was really surprised, when looking through a Daytime TV Stars on the end of RtPP, at how brutally honest Lynn Loring was about her experience. She basically said that it was one of the worst sets she'd ever been on, because they took so long to film and weren't professional, especially compared to Search. She said she had handed in her notice to quit before the cancellation was announced. She said she was offended by a scene of a married man being "naked" in bed with his mistress. She also admitted that the only reason she was hired was because of a desperate ratings-grabbing attempt, and that she thought it was stupid of the show to fire her predecessor (Julie Parrish), as she thought Parrish was wonderful.

She also said she was disturbed by how people would come up to her and threaten her on the street, so perhaps she just wasn't used to playing a bad character.

[Paul Raven]

Interesting that Lynn would compare the two shows in that she was only on SFT till the age of 16,so her experiences would be very different. I don't think her Patti had any 'adult' stories.Surprised that she said things were unprofessional-how would this be allowed to happen when they had to tape a show everyday?

Edited July 3, 2011 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Here's a more direct quote.

"It was probably the most unprofessional show I had ever worked on. The day before it was canceled, I had given in my notice that I was leaving. They kept us working till all hours of the night, re-doing scenes, re-taping. Now when I was playing Patti Tate on Search for Tomorrow I was used to things being done right the first time. But what was worse was that the show was too immoral for a daytime audience. After one scene in which a married man was shown naked in bed with a woman who wasn't his wife, I went to the producer and I said that this is horrible."

[Paul Raven]

[DRW50]

Larry Casey seemed to get a lot of publicity for the show. I wonder if his departure made any difference in ratings.

The fan magazines of that era seem a little confused at times whether to treat this like another daytime soap or like the inheritor to Peyton Place. For instance, Guy Stockwell got his own section in one issue, not just an article in the daytime section.

[Paul Raven]

Interesting also,that back in those days, all the shows seemed to score covers,not just the top few shows.

[Paul Raven]

[DRW50]

Wonderful photos.

Is the first one the Ada Jacks character? I think she was fired in the show's last months. I wonder why.

[Chris B]

They fired Ada? That's sick. She was one of my favorites in the original. Seeing all these pictures is great, but it's so depressing reading about this show. I want to see it so bad and in glorious color (since I know it's sitting in a vault somewhere). I know it must've been good if it ruffled so many feathers.

[ZoeTate]

I remember Ada leaving because Rita took over the bar, but I thought Evelyn Scott made guest appearences near the end. I believe she was involved in chartiable pursuits and that she wanted to leave.

RTPP was a great show - I was a huge fan and it replaced Dark Shadows for me as an addictive tv series because the time of day it came on the air. I would rush home from school to watch it instead of DS. To think the nightime writers of PP couldn't come up with story for Dorothy Malone and the Connie on the daytime version was in a love triangle with Elliot and Mike Rossi, had an abortion and all of Allison's problems. I think Malone would have objected to a triangle playing out on PP because of her religious beliefs and fears the audience would not buy Connie having a fling with family friend Mike.

[Chris B]

I think Malone would've taken any story given to her. Even something as simple as the love triangle with Michael/Connie/Elliot was nixed since Elliot was Allison's father and Allison couldn't be a "bastard." When it comes to story for Connie, she actually became a lead character again when Allison was written off. They gave her lots of great stuff until her unfortunate exit.

[DRW50]

ZoeTate, how would you compare Kathy Glass and Pamela Shoop?

[jam6242]

I preferred Kathy Glass as Alison because she had a vulnerability similar to Mia Farrow's portrayal in the night time version. I don't remember getting that sense of vulnerability from Pamela Shoop.