I am currently in the 130s and loving every minute. I watch like 4 episodes at a time most days. I’ll have more thoughts when I can use SON on my laptop again, but I do have to say I had no idea David Canary was on the show. I’m sitting here thinking, “Man, they did a great job casting all these hot men,” then I look up and see it’s Adam “Candy” Chandler.

I watch in fits and starts. Watched those eps years ago.

Currently watching the end of Leigh Taylor Young's Rachel. There seems to be a shift in the writing for the character. I thought she would be around longer as the Carson's surrogate daughter.

But Rodney has moved back toward Betty, Rachel is going and Gena Rowlands and Dan Duryea are coming, both of whom I'm really looking forward to seeing.

Leigh Taylor Young initially had a seven year contract, but got pregnant and they released her. So there was likely a long-term plan for the character that got quickly dumped in order to write her out before she started showing.

Guess it would have been too difficult to hide the pregnancy onscreen?

And Rachel falling pregnant would probably not been allowed in those days. It woudn't have fitted the character either.

Dorothy Malone was already not getting enough screen time so with Rachel leaving she might be on even less. Elliot got most of the airtime in the Rachel/Carson storyline.

2 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Guess it would have been too difficult to hide the pregnancy onscreen?

A lot of it probably had to do with who the father of the baby was, Ryan O'Neal. I'd assume that the producers might've been willing to work around it, but from what I gather they wanted an extended maternity leave I guess and not to be working as much as a soap would require.

I remember reading a blurb where Leigh Taylor Young said that when she gave birth to their son Patrick she knew she would end up raising him alone. Ryan got visitation whenever he wanted. Patrick turned out well adjusted. Tatum, Griffin, and Redmond not so much.

I vaguely recall a movie they made together, Ryan O'Neal and Leigh Taylor Young, it aired often late night in the early 1970s. THE BIG BOUNCE.

Not very good. The highlight was O'Neal showing his bare bum in a skinny dipping scene.

After leaving "Peyton Place" Leigh Taylor Young was in the 1968 comedy I Love You Alice B. Toklas with Peter Sellers. Here is the brownie making scene.

Edited April 22Apr 22 by SoapDope78

In the 170s, not long after Norman and Rita’s wedding, and I am so in love with the pure romance of their newlywed scenes. They have that smooth 60s love story that somehow manages to be super gentle yet super intense all at the same time.

The ill fated 1985 reboot. From what I recall, it captured none of the essence of the original. And didn't use the original setting!

'Peyton Place' reunion By VERNON SCOTT

HOLLYWOOD (UPI) - For millions of Americans in the 1960s "Peyton Place," TV's first prime time soap opera, was a vicarious way of life. In its own time and place, the hour-long drama based on Grace Metalious* novel of sex and intrigue in a small New England town, was bigger than "Dallas" and "Dynasty" together. First telecast in September 1964 and concluded in June of 1969, "Peyton Place" ran as often as three times a week, enmeshing its cast of more than 100 (overall) in scores of plots and subplots. The ABC series spawned two movie stars, Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow.

During the course of its TV life "Peyton Place" also featured Mariette Hartley, Wilfred HydeWhite, Leslie Nielsen, Lee Grant, Susan Oliver, Leigh Taylor-Young, Gena Rowlands, Dan Duryea, Barbara Rush and the late Diana Hyland. But O'Neal, Farrow, Dorothy Malone, Christopher Connelly, Ed Nelson, Pat Morrow, Barbara Parkins and Tim O'Connor were most closely associated with the Harrington and Mackenzie clans who were the backbone of the early episodes.

This May NBC-TV will telecast a two-hour movie, "Peyton Place: The Next Generation," with many of the stars of the original cast. Executive producer Mike Filerman was a student at the University of Illinois during the show's heyday, but when he was handed the assignment by 20th Century Fox Television, he was delighted. He remembered watching the series off and on when he should have been studying. "I think we're going to capture a big audience that fondly remembers the series and the excitement it created at the time," Filerman said. "Because the cast was so large, we couldn't begin to bring back everybody. "We didn't even try to contact Farrow and O'Neal. We knew they wouldn't be interested in view of where their careers are now." Casting director Marc Schwartz agreed. "Even if Mia and Ryan were interested, they would have cost too much."

Schwartz said rounding up most of the cast wasn't as difficult as anticipated. Malone, who played Constance Mackenzie, is now a society figure in Texas who works in movies and TV now and then. She was overjoyed at the prospect of rejoining her old friends and stepping back into her past. Schwartz had talked last year to Parkins, who played the muchmarried Betty Anderson, about a role in another project. Parkins, who works regularly in London and Hollywood was quick to agree to the reunion show. Ed Nelson, the suave Dr. Michael Rossi, was co-starring in the daytime soap "Capitol" and told Schwartz he would be thrilled to return to "Peyton Place." Nelson's son is an actor and will appear as Dr. Rossi's son, a young M.D. Connelly, who played the younger Harrington brother, Norman, is one of the town's busiest actors, working in TV movies and episodic TV. He, too, loved the idea of playing Norman one more time. O'Connor and Ruth Warrick, who played Elliott Carson and Hannah Cord respectively, were easy to find. Both are regularly seen on TV

The three most difficult cast members to run down were Morrow, who portrayed Rita Jacks from the wrong side of the tracks; Evelyn Scott, who played Rita's mother, Ada, and James Douglas, who played Steven Cord. "We found Pat last summer," Schwartz said. "She had quit acting to become a successful lawyer and was doing some work for the Olympics. She didn't hesitate a moment to try her hand at acting again after all these years. "Evelyn had limited herself to only a few acting parts a year, but she was happy about coming back. Douglas was in New York working occasionally in soaps. He's not as active as he once was. But he said OK, too."

"Peyton Place: The Next Generation" will deal with the return to the town of Allison Mackenzie's (Farrow) illegitimate daughter, Megan, and subsequent revelations that unravel TV soap mysteries two decades old. Schwartz is jubilant that he has found the perfect young actress — he isn't free to announce her name as yet — to play Allison's offspring. "She is an absolutely uncanny look a like for Mia,'' he said. Filerman said flashbacks, using footage from the original shows, will be used if he is able to obtain permission from the actors. Schwartz speculates Farrow will agree and O'Neal won't. It is doubtful if "Peyton Place" will be revived as a series next season, even if the Nielsen numbers come up roses. "But it's nice to think it could happen," Filerman said. "Peyton Place was a fascinating little town populated by interesting people."

Too bad the 1985 film didn't result in a reboot. It was better than the 1977 TV movie "Murder In Peyton Place". The absence of Barbara Parkins and James Douglas was felt.

Was Murder an attempt at a reboot or was it just a one off movie of the week?

@Paul Raven I always thought that the 1985 reunion was generally well-liked and received with fans of the series. It’s “Murder” that flopped hard.

24 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

@Paul Raven I always thought that the 1985 reunion was generally well-liked and received with fans of the series. It’s “Murder” that flopped hard.

I don't know if the 1985 reunion is that well-liked, just that it would've worked better as a series. But there's still a lot of rewriting and retconning going on to fit whatever ideas the new producers have. I mean, I wouldn't have minded if it had gone to series and it's certainly better than the Murder disaster, but I wouldn't say it's great or even that good.

On the plus side, they killed Allison again. The poor girl just can't catch a break.