Peyton Place

[te.]

 

Looking at it more closely, it wasn't. The movie was shot in Dallas and the original Peyton Place set was at 20th Century Fox studios. In the movie it's clearly not a set, so I assume they just found a square that looked similar. Here's a contemporary shot of the OG set:

 

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[Mona Kane Croft]

 

By "movie", I assume you mean Next Generation.  And it was shot in Dallas?  Wow, I had no idea.  It really looked like a back-lot.  

 

 

 

[Paul Raven]

FOR TELEVISION PERFORMERS 'Peyton Place' a Swinging Door 

15 July 1968

By VERNON SCOTT HOLLYWOOD (UPI)-“Peyton Place” is a veritable swinging door of television as performers drop in for a while and then move on to other activities. A current member of the cast is Diana Hyland who has been a perennial guest star in television since the old live video days in New York when she starred in “Philco-Goodyear Playhouse,” “Robert Montgomery Presents” and “Studio One.” In “Peyton Place” Diana plays Susan Winter, the alcoholic wife of the town clergyman. Off screen Diana doesn’t have more than a social drink or two. She is blonde, attractive and single, although she has a steady beau, an executive at Screen Gems, whom she dates almost every night.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Diana lives in a European-style apartment house in the hills above Hollywood. She decorated the two-bedroom apartment with a variety of antiques, some of which she brought West with her from New York. Her greatest self-indulgence is imported shoes. She has never attempted to count the number of—or kinds of—footwear that fill her closets. Because the “Peyton Place” series has so many sub-plots going on simultaneously, Diana finds the work schedule comparatively easy. Often she will find herself with only two or three days work a week.

Working in a soap opera is nothing new to the actress. She spent 15 months starring in the daytime serial “Young Doctor Malone” in New York in 1961 and 1962. Diana is content with being an actress, as opposed to being a “star”: “There’s more to life than Hollywood or being a star. I think this series is beautifully photographed and acted.” When Diana isn’t out on a date with her boyfriend or toiling away in the ABC-TV series, she can be found taking flying lessons or studying French.

Diana came to Hollywood in 1962 to co-star in a television special, “The Voice of Charlie,” for which she won an Emmy nomination. Now she has become a dedicated Californian. “I love outdoor sports,” she explains, “and this is the part of the country for getting out in the fresh air.” Diana plays tennis, water skis and sails with friends to Catalina on weekends. Her circle of friends includes other performers as w'ell as professional men and their wives in the film colony. Diana signed a one-year contract with the producers of television’s only nighttime soap opera, with an option for a second year. The blonde lovely isn’t sure whether she will spend two years on the series. If not, she won’t worry. She still remains in great demand as a guest on other dramatic shows.

[Paul Raven]

April 1966

Too Slow for a Fast Town? Spring has come to Peyton Place. Rodney has been exonerated and Betty Anderson is getting married. The familiar folks in the small New England town are entering a new phase of their television life which, many an eyebrow raising problem with which they can wrestle. So TV WEEK visited Paul Monash ^"^ to learn firsthand what condition Peyton Place was in. He's the program's Executive Producer, the man who has shepherded-but not chaperoned-the affairs of Peyton Place since their conception in the minds of 20th Century Fox executives two years ago.

The most frequent complaint we've heard about Peyton Place this season was that the series moved too slowly, so we asked Monash how he felt about the pace. "This is a hard thing for us to judge," he said. 'Maybe in plotting three episodes a week we lost sight of this. But on the other hand the characters and situations were so rich we wanted to explore hem. True, in the past few months we have had a single focus--Rodney's trial."

 Since many readers have commented unfavorably on those three-as opposed to two-episodes,we raised the question with him. "People who like Peyton Place want the three episodes, we think. But everything considered, 'II be just as happy to go back to two a week. This fall, of course, it'll be in color and that should help the series."

Last spring TV WEEK speculated that, by running through the summer, Peyton Place would hop to the top of the ratings by attracting a new audience that had only re-runs as an alternative. We were right. But we also predicted that the program would hold that new audience and glide merrily along with the top-rated programs for the fall and winter. Here we were wrong. "The hardest part of this program is to get a new audience involved in the series. Last summer we tried, but we did something that didn't work, namely adding the Schusters. We learned that you don't bring new people into Peyton Place. Somehow they don't fit. We now know that the characters have to live in Peyton Place or at least return after an absence," Monash explained. "And in the fall we were hurt by very clever counter-programing. We'd go up and down according to the movies opposite us two nights a week. It's hard to leave a movie for a half hour."

Although Peyton Place didn't stay in the top ten as we had predicted, it did ride high among the top forty most of the season. So, having weathered the critical second season in robust health, it's safe to guess that Peyton Place will be with us for many seasons to come. "But with the new phase that's starting, three new characters are coming in," Monash continued. "Two have been in Peyton Place all along (Stephen Oliver and Lana Wood), and one is returning after a 17-year absence (Susan Oliver). "We'll introduce some new elements that will really involve the viewers and there won't be a single focus as before. All the principals will be more or less equally involved in this new phase."

 A writing corps of seven people does the scripts. Mass conferences are held frequently to discuss the main story lines, the characters and the scenes that can be played. A Story Board of three people then outlines the scenes and two or three writers do the script for each episode. Such writing by committee is not essentially different from most television programs, except that the committee is larger. We were going to tell you about some of the more intimate things that'll be happening in Peyton Place in the coming weeks, but unfortunately we've run out of space. We're sure sorry about that. But we can say this. If you're a Peyton Place fan, "Don't touch that dial!" Spring has come to Peyton Place and everything is warming up.

 

[All My Shadows]

Currently up to episode #60 in watching the series (I torrented the first 30 over a decade ago, and I've rewatched those while continuing on via the Shout! Factory DVDs), and it is just so GREAT to be knee-deep in well-plotted, slow-moving soap. It took sixty damn episodes to get to the climax of George shooting Elliott, but you look back and realize that each and every one of those sixty episodes served a purpose toward getting us to where we are now. The suspense that began with the intro of delicious instigator Paul Hanley just built and built until now, and everything is tense and emotional - perfect soap.

[Paul Raven]

I stopped watching as the show went to color after the death of Ann Howard and Alison leaving.

The character of Rachel had just been introduced. I'll have to get back into it.

[Joseph]

well some say Rachel was the actress' finest performance on soaps at least

 

[danfling]

I really disliked Leigh Taylor Young when she was on Peyton Place.   Was her character Rachel, or was Rachel played by Joyce Jillson?

[DRW50]

 

[Paul Raven]

Peyton Place By BARBARA RUSH July 1968

EDITOR'S NOTE—Life in ABC's Peyton Place may be a long series of tribulations, not to mention murder trials, that would break the strongest mind. But for one performer paid to suffer professionally, ABC's evening serial i« a dream job. Barbara Rush, who recently joined the cast, tells about it.

Peyton Place comes as close to being an actor's paradise as can be found in television. There are a few drawbacks—a lack of travel for location filming and the fact that you won't achieve the fantastic fame that a hit motion picture can bring—but there are other compensations. Few shows on television, aside from anthology dramas, have strong acting scenes. By that I mean most teleplays are all plot and there is not enough face-to-face dialogue between the characters.

Peyton Place is thought of as being an intricately plotted show, and in many ways it is, but the characters talk to each other more than is possible on the action- adventure programs. With a continuing drama too, there is greater opportunity for actors and actresses to help develop tine character of the part they are playing. It is not like a play where you interpret just what the author has written. You find that you are putting something of yourself into the role. There is a lot more of me in the Marsha Russell part than I ever thought there would be. One of the reasons for this is that the actors confer with the writers of the show on the parts they are playing. As a consequence, I em playing Marsha more strongly than the writers originally intended. If I disagree with the writers on some point, we discuss it. I don't always win my point, but if I don't, at least I know why a scene is written the way it is for me to play.

The hours I work have been heaven for me, but I don't know whether they would suit all actresses. I work three days a week, and sometimes only two because there is a large cast. This gives me time to be with my family and to take care of other things I want to do. I have turned down two offers to do pictures during the summer hiatus the company will take because I don't want to work any harder. The repertory theater character of the show is invaluable for the young actors and Peyton Place has helped develop a lot of good young talent such as Mia Farrow and Leigh Taylor- Young. There is time for the fine directors on the show to correct mistakes and to give them some help, which is not always true on daytime television serials. Actors also have an instant showcase for their talents in the living rooms of many of the top producers and directors in Hollywood who watch the show, looking for new faces and ability.

[Paul Raven]

Variety Nov 64 reported that the show would shut down production for a week.

40 episodes had been filmed at that point. Reasons cited were a chance for cast and crew to have a break and for adjustments to be made now that the show had aired and public feedback was showing which characters had ignited interest.

Producer William self said scripts would be fine tuned to accentuate characters that viewers had taken an interest in.

[All My Shadows]

I'm once again fully immersed in the world of Peyton Place, and it just keeps getting better and better. Nearing the end of the "Part Three" DVD set, and so much has happened in this span of episodes (66-98) - all of it SO good! The leap forward came at the perfect time, and I appreciate that it was in no way a "reset" of anything. The characters are still processing the drama from the first couple dozen episodes, and new stories are starting because of it.

Rita and Ada, Claire, the Schusters, STEVEN CORD(!) - all of them have been integrated into the show perfectly. I definitely did not expect to want to see the Schusters so much, but the dynamics between the three of them are so interesting. Doris, especially, has so many layers as the past-her-prime go-getter still trying to seize social opportunities while having a hard time adjusting to the role she's *supposed* to play at this stage of her life, which she resents because maybe she'd have an easier time at it if the fates had given her an "easier" child to raise. I figure they're only temporary characters, but I'm looking forward to seeing how their story ends.

Steven Cord has commanded my attention since his first episode. The sex appeal is off the charts, and he's definitely one of those characters who has a weird sexual chemistry with almost every other character he shares scenes with. So far, we've only seen him visit Hannah once, but I can't wait to see more of how that unfolds.

The time jump did wonders for Allison in my eyes. She finally feels like a real character with some spots of grey thanks to her inability to just jump into accepting Elliot's role in her life, and her involvement as a supporting character with the Schusters shows that not everything has to revolve around her.

I could go on and on. I'm just so happy that the momentum was not dropped after the shift from the early storylines into this current phase. They did everything right!

[Paul Raven]

Glad you're enjoying it-really a special show.

In one of the interviews that I think is posted in the thread Paul Monash(?) said they learnt from the Shusters that new characters should be apart of the community eg the Chernaks, Ann Howard etc -either living there (but unseen) or returning. It just gave those characters more connectedness to the show.

BTW the whole series is on YouTube.

I still haven't got back into it.

[All My Shadows]

Thanks. I double-checked to make sure it's still available on YouTube, so now I feel less sad about possibly running out of episodes. I'm thankful they at least released the first 164 episodes on DVD, but I'll gladly settle for the VHS recordings after those are done.

I really think they did a great job putting the Schusters into the action. It worked out well with them moving into the Harringtons' house and David taking over at the mill, but I can see why they stuck to keeping new characters close to the core going forward.

Another observation that I can't help but mention since it keeps happening - they really were subtle but totally intentional with the numerous bro talks between Rod and Norman when one of them is getting out of the shower and the other is on his way to it. Not that I mind one bit.

[Paul Raven]

The final cast below but first 

1966