Lovers and Friends/For Richer For Poorer Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

L&F a "big hit"? Wasn't it always rock bottom among the daytime dramas? Either way, I'd call it a pretty big overestimation!!

[DRW50]

April 1977 Daytimers

[amybrickwallace]

Those are great!!! I mentioned it on the SFT thread, but not too long ago I wrote to Rod Arrants and he sent me a lovely autographed photo and a very kind note. Sorry that more of the L&F/FR, FP company didn't become bigger names. It seems that Rod had the most success in soaps, not just playing Travis on SFT but playing Dr. Steven Lassiter on Y&R in the late 80s. Nancy Marchand, of course, went on to primetime success with Lou Grant and The Sopranos, movies like the Sabrina remake, and guest spots on L&O and Coach.

[DRW50]

March 1978 Daytime TV

[danfling]

Ross Petty, who is mentioned above as having auditioned for Dr. Jeff Martin on All My Children, later played Eddie Dorance on the show (briefly).

[DRW50]

Real treat here.

Please register in order to view this content

[slick jones]

Now That really was a treat! Thanks Carl!!!!!

[NothinButAttitude]

OMG. Thanks, Carl for posting this! I hope more episodes of this show pops up eventually. 

[sungrey]

Holy cow! Thanks for this... I swore none of these episodes existed on tape. That was a pure treat to watch.

[DRW50]

I think saynotoursoap said there was one (beyond this), but that was a while back, so I'm not sure. I hope there's more.

[NothinButAttitude]

*sighs* 

I miss saynotoursoap's YT channel. I wish it was still online.

[sungrey]

Yeah, what the hell ever happened there? Did anyone hear why he took it down?

[DRW50]

I'm not totally sure but I think someone said that another YT user ripped off his videos, and when he contacted them, they reported him to YT and his channel was taken down.

[soapfan770]

Going through my old files and found this lovely write-up of a Who's Who on L&F/FRFP. I'm just sorry this show never quite took off: 

 

 Who's Who....

Lovers and Friends/For Richer, For Poorer followed the classic two-family set up for soap opera -- one wealthy, one middle-class.  In this case, the wealthy family were the Cushings; the middle-class were the Saxtons.  Also thrown into the mix were the Brewsters, Hamiltons, and Fergusons who found their lives woven into the lives of the two core families.

---

The Cushing Family

Richard Cushing
The patriarch of the Cushing family and founder and president of Cushing & Sons, a stock brokerage house.  He's the husband of Edith Cushing and the father of Austin Cushing and Megan Cushing.  Richard died during the hiatus between the last episode of L&F and the first episode of FRFP.
played by:  Ron Randall (1977)

Edith Cushing
The matriarch of the Cushing family.  She's the wife of Richard Cushing and the mother of Austin Cushing and Megan Cushing.
played by:  Nancy Marchand (1977); Laurinda Barrett (1977-1978)

Austin Cushing
The son of Richard & Edith Cushing.  He's an artist with no interest in the family business until he decides to return to Cushing & Sons after the death of his father.  He marries girlfriend Amy Gifford during the hiatus between L&F and FRFP.  Also, during that hiatus, Austin became a character on Another World, played by the same actor.
played by:  Rod Arrants (1977-1978)

Megan Cushing
The daughter of Richard & Edith Cushing.  She's a reporter for City Magazine.  She was engaged to marry true-love Rhett/Bill Saxton until his former girlfriend announced her pregnancy by him on their wedding day.
played by:  Patricia Estrin (1977); Darlene Parks (1977-1978)

---

The Saxton Family

Lester Saxton
The patriarch of the Saxton family.  He's the husband of Josie Saxton and the father of Rhett/Bill Saxton, Eleanor (Ellie) Saxton Kimball, Jason Saxton, Bentley Saxton, and Tessa Saxton.  Originally a rising executive at Cushing & Sons, a return to alcoholism cost him his job and the family fell on hard times before he took a law clerk position for the law firm of Hamilton & Kimball.
played by:  John Heffernan (1977); Albert Stratton (1977-1978)

Josie Saxton
The matriarch of the Saxton family.  She's the wife of Lester Saxton and the mother of Rhett/Bill Saxton, Eleanor (Ellie) Saxton Kimball, Jason Saxton, Bentley Saxton, and Tessa Saxton.
played by:  Patricia Englund (1977-1978)

Rhett/Bill Saxton
Originally named "Rhett" during L&F, the character was renamed "Bill" for FRFP.  He's the eldest son of Lester & Josie Saxton and the brother of Eleanor (Ellie) Saxton Kimball, Jason Saxton, Bentley Saxton, and Tessa Saxton.  He's a photographer for City Magazine where he works closely with true-love Megan Cushing.  Unfortunately, his former fiancée Connie Ferguson won't let him go easily.  He's forced to leave Megan on their wedding day and later marry Connie when Connie reveals that she's pregnant with his child.
played by:  Bob Purvey (1977); David Ramsey (1977); Tom Happer (1977-1978)

Eleanor "Ellie" Saxton Kimball
She's the eldest daughter of Lester & Josie Saxton and the sister of Rhett/Bill Saxton, Jason Saxton, Bentley Saxton, and Tessa Saxton.  She's quite status concious and upwardly-mobil, having married attorney George Kimball.  After a miscarriage, she and George struggle to conceive another child, leading to a preoccupation with her newborn nephew.
played by:  Flora Plumb (1977-1978)

George Kimball
He's the husband of Ellie Saxton Kimball and a partner in the Hamilton & Kimball law firm.
played by:  Stephen Joyce (1977-1978)

Jason Saxton
He's the middle son of Lester & Josie Saxton.  He's the brother of Rhett/Bill Saxton, Eleanor (Ellie) Saxton Kimball, Bentley Saxton, and Tessa Saxton.  He's an overly ambitious and unscrupulous executive with Cushing & Sons who embarks on an affair with the married Laurie Brewster Hamilton while also trying to woo Megan Cushing, his brother's former fiancée, in order to better his standing in the company.
played by:  Richard Backus (1977-1978)

Bentley Saxton
He's the youngest son of Lester & Josie Saxton and the brother of Rhett/Bill Saxton, Eleanor (Ellie) Saxton Kimball, Jason Saxton, and Tessa Saxton.  A teen-ager during L&F, he's in college at the start of FRFP, but leaves school to take a job at Lee Ferguson's garage not knowing that Lee and the garage have criminal connections.
played by:  David Abbott (1977-1978)

Tessa Saxton
She's the youngest daughter of Lester & Josie Saxton and the sister of Rhett/Bill Saxton, Eleanor (Ellie) Saxton Kimball, Jason Saxton, and Tessa Saxton.  A teen-ager during L&F, she's in college during FRFP.  She causes much conflict in her family when she becomes involved with Lee Ferguson, a man some 10 years her senior with criminal connections.
played by:  Vicky Dawson (1977); Breon Gorman (1977-1978)

Amy Gifford
She's the neice of Lester & Josie Saxton and a cousin to the Saxton children.  A model, she married Austin Cushing during the hiatus between L&F and FRFP.  She's also the former lover of Lee Ferguson.
played by:  Christine Jones (1977-1978)

---

The Ferguson Family

Ira Ferguson
He's the father of Lee Ferguson and Connie Ferguson
played by:  Roy Poole (1977-1978)

Lee Ferguson
Son of Ira Ferguson and brother of Connie Ferguson.  He runs a garage that's a front for stolen cars.  He falls for the much younger Tessa Saxton and he's also the former lover of her cousin Amy Gifford.
played by:  Robert Burton (1977-1978)

Connie Ferguson
Daughter of Ira Ferguson and sister of Lee Ferguson.  At one time engaged to Rhett/Bill Saxton, she became obsessed with him and conceived his child during an affair, causing a halt to his wedding to Megan Cushing, later marrying him.  Deeply neurotic concerning Bill's love for Megan, there's no trick she won't pull to keep him away from her.
played by:  Susan Foster (1977); Cynthia Bostick (1977-1978)

---

The Brewster/Hamilton Family

Roger Hamilton
He's the father of Desmond Hamilton and long-time friend of the Cushing family.  He takes over the presidency of Cushing & Sons after the death of Richard Cushing, becoming much closer to widowed Edith Cushing in the process.
played by:  Charles Bateman (1977-1978)

Desmond Hamilton
He's the son of Roger Hamilton who marries Laurie Brewster during the hiatus between L&Fand FRFP.  He's an attorney and partner in the Hamilton & Kimball law firm.
played by:  David Knapp (1977-1978)

Laurie Brewster Hamilton
She's the daughter of Viola Brewster and long-time best friend of Megan Cushing.  Head strong and self-centered, she married Desmond Hamilton, but quickly fell out of love with him and in love with the much more exciting and dastardly Jason Saxon, beginning an affair with him behind her husband's back.
played by:  Julia MacKenzie (1977-1978)

Viola Brewster
She's the mother of Laurie Brewster who's hell-bent on keeping her troublesome daughter from completely ruining her life with her extramarital affair.
played by:  Patricia Barry (1977-1978)

[DRW50]

April 1978 Daytimers

 

Please register in order to view this content