I didn't see a thread for this on its own.

This was the soap which was said to have changed daytime drama forever, with the emphasis on "youth." Of course it started out as something which would, sadly, not change daytime, a tale of a mixed-race woman and her interracial relationships. Then moving towards making daytime superstars out of David Birney, Leslie Charleson, and Donna Mills, this show also helped launch the careers of Paul Michael Glaser, Michael Zaslow, Beverlee McKinsey, Andrea Marcovicci, and Bibi Besch, among others.

It's too bad the show didn't go on longer. At least, unlike some other soaps of that era, we have some episodes available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZQ1uxKl6NY

Just now, Donna L. Bridges said:

It's interesting & it adds a dimension but it really is splitting a hair. Bottom line, once they refused to go forward with those 2 storylines, she was outta there

true — but i suspect that if it hadn’t been those two storylines, she would have found another reason to leave.

and, this may be an unpopular opinion, but i gotta say i think cbs made the right call re those storylines. by all accounts, they were unpopular with viewers, and, and yes,  i’m award that a good deal of tha pushback on mia was likely due to anti-asian bias, i also think there may have been conservative catholic viewers who objected to the nun storyline. 

but, as one of the variety articles referenced upthread notes: cbs was on the verge of cancelling the show. so, change the storylines or cancel the show?

1 hour ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

true — but i suspect that if it hadn’t been those two storylines, she would have found another reason to leave.

Oh, yeah, I knew that was your point!! And, you might be completely correct! 

1 hour ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

and, this may be an unpopular opinion, but i gotta say i think cbs made the right call re those storylines. by all accounts, they were unpopular with viewers, and, and yes,  i’m award that a good deal of tha pushback on mia was likely due to anti-asian bias, i also think there may have been conservative catholic viewers who objected to the nun storyline. 

I am sure there would have been Roman Catholic pushback! 

1 hour ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

but, as one of the variety articles referenced upthread notes: cbs was on the verge of cancelling the show. so, change the storylines or cancel the show?

To me it is just like P&G saying they were going to let Pete Lemay do a gay story way back when & then after preparations were made, pulling the greenlight. It's not that they didn't go forward with the controversial issue, it's how they went about it. So to me they never should have gone along in development as if they were going to do this, that they were already squirrelly about. That's just leading the creative types down a garden path which is going to fall right off a cliff! 

And, endgame, always drop the story & try to save the show. 

Ms. Philips had worked for ABC twice in the 1960s:  developing Peyton Place and editing storylines for A Time for Us.

3 hours ago, danfling said:

Ms. Philips had worked for ABC twice in the 1960s:  developing Peyton Place and editing storylines for A Time for Us.

Okay. That's interesting. Thanks. So much for that theory. 

Dan, Look! 

In 1964 ABC put Irna on the payroll as a special consultant for its primetime soap PEYTON PLACE. By taking that job, Phillips was the 1st to receive paychecks from shows running on all 3 networks.

I knew but I forgot I knew! So funny. My memory is like evil twins. One is laser sharp focus & remembers amazing things. The other is like HUH? What do you want? Leave me alone. 

Edited August 13, 20232 yr by Donna L. Bridges
combine 2 posts

Apparently Irna quit the show about a month after it went to air, so unless she expected it to be #1 in its timeslot in the first few weeks, the theory that bad ratings were the motive doesn't ring true. And LIAMST was not losing half of ATWT audience.

i think its more likely that there was pushback about the 2 stories and backtracking from the execs . Irna could see where this was going and quit.

 

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

Apparently Irna quit the show about a month after it went to air, so unless she expected it to be #1 in its timeslot in the first few weeks, the theory that bad ratings were the motive doesn't ring true. And LIAMST was not losing half of ATWT audience.

i think its more likely that there was pushback about the 2 stories and backtracking from the execs . Irna could see where this was going and quit.

according to a variety article you posted upthread, liamst’s share was under 30. in the 60s, atwt was pulling shares as high as 60 — sound’s like half.

curious about where you heard that  irna quit the show a month after its debut. 

Edited August 14, 20232 yr by wonderwoman1951

5 hours ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

according to a variety article you posted upthread, liamst’s share was under 30. in the 60s, atwt was pulling shares as high as 60 — sound’s like half.

Yes in the mid 60's ATWT was getting shares in the 50's but by 67 it had settled down a bit, as competition increased from Let's Make  A Deal

2 weeks ending August 6 1967/ 2 weeks previous/coverage -  a few weeks before LIAMST thing debuted

1. As The World Turns  10.9/39 (11.5/41) 99.3

10. Let's Make A Deal 8.6/31 (7.5/27) 86.7

At 2pm

9. Newlywed Game 8.7/33 (8.7/33) 97.8

17. Days of Our Lives 8.0/30 (7.4/28) 95.6

20. Password 7.9/30 (7.8/30) 98.0

 

Variety October 11th 1967

In its 2nd week Love Is A Many Splendored Thing had a 7.6 to be beaten by DOOL 8.3

So doing roughly what Password had been doing. However I suspect the demographics would have been better. A 7.6 would probably mean around a 27 share so not half of ATWT rating or share.

5 hours ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

curious about where you heard that  irna quit the show a month after its debut.

Variety Feb 7 1968 ' ...Miss Phillips quit the new serial 'Love Is A Many Splendored Thing' back in October, P&G asked her to return to "Guiding Light'.

Ms. Phillips had written Another World when the ratings were poor.   Poor ratings were nothing new to her.   I doubt that these ratings on Love Is a Many Splendored Thing would have phased her or been the sole reason to leave the show.   But interference from others would have.

I had not known until this morning that acter/writer Ed Moore had created the role of Dr. John Hale on this show.

Mr. Moore was a terrific actor in my opinion!   He played a role on Love of Life (which I did not see) and was later on Loving as Steve's father.   I thought that the show (Loving) used him very effectively, but I would have liked it if he had been utilized even more!    He later was cast to play Mary Tyler Moore's husband on a primetime CBS comedy, but he was replaced by a bigger-name star.

Message from Robert "Bobby" Hennessy regarding his LIAMST role:

"I have a fairly good recollection of LIAMST. (Not a lot of other stuff!). That soap was one of the first big jobs that I was in the running for. I recall being screen tested with Donna Mills for the role that ultimately went to Shawn Campbell. He and I competed for many roles in those days and we each won our share. It was a friendly competition. Then I did a background-type of part on the show prior to getting the role of Paul Monroe on WTHI. Then, of course, The Doctors.."

I don't know how the casting of another performer in the Ricky Donnolly role would have made, but there was a STRONG resemblance to me between Donna Mills (Laura) and Shawn Campbell (Ricky).   I bet that had a lot to do with the selected cast.

@danfling   I don't know why I didn't ask Scott before today ... Here is Beverlee in LIAMST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjr5dmFwftg

Berkley Harris who she married is also in this with her. 

 

 

Edited September 12, 20232 yr by Donna L. Bridges
more info

Donna, that actress in the opening scene with Ms. McKensie is Sasha von Schurler.  She was the late wife of Paul Avilla Mayer. 

The role of Ramona the nurse was created for Ms. von Schurler to play, but she did not appear on Ryan's Hope.   I am not sure why she decided not to play the role.

She did appear, later, as Jane (Brooke's birth mother) on All My Children.

16 hours ago, danfling said:

Donna, that actress in the opening scene with Ms. McKensie is Sasha von Schurler.  She was the late wife of Paul Avilla Mayer. 

The role of Ramona the nurse was created for Ms. von Schurler to play, but she did not appear on Ryan's Hope.   I am not sure why she decided not to play the role.

She did appear, later, as Jane (Brooke's birth mother) on All My Children.

Thank you for the information. It is just amazing to see Beverlee so young. 

Rare to come across a review of a soap from the time. And afairly positive one at that.

Oakland Tribune 19 September 1967

How Many Splendors Exactly?

Love is a Many Splendored Thlng had its first episode yesterday, an I wouldn't have missed it for anything. The new daytime serial hopes to wring our hearts and  jerk our tears with the same success as the best selling novel and the successful movie. And you remember what they were like. The soaper picks up the tale 20 years later as- Mia the pretty offspring of the novels chief characters - comes to San Francisco from Hong Kong in search of love and  a career in medicine.

CBS is going to make it warm for her. Already pawing the turf are a handsome young soldier (from Oakland yet), a handsome young architect, a handsome young doctor and a handsome young widower of unspecified profession.

If you have a good memory for heartwarming stories, you'll recall the movie ended with the death of the Eurasian girl, and faded out as William Holden wandered bleakly around a hillside to violin accompaniment.

The serial has altered the story somewhat to account for the appearance of Mia (Nancy Hsueh). It is her father who is deceased; her mother is a doctor in Hong Kong. Yesterday found her aboard ship bound for San Francisco. She met the handsome young soldier, to whom she spilled her life story in 10 seconds flat "I've never met my father," she said, "but I know him. I even know his voice. Do you think I am strange?" He didn't think so, and it looks as though he'll be putting out a lot of bridge tolls in the coming months.

Mia is going to join her father's family, where trouble is already brewing. Uncle Phil Elliot is a kindly soul with a handsome young architect son, Mark. But Aunt Helen, who has lost a child, already thinks of Mia as an intruder. (Soap operas have certain codes and traditions; women who have lost children are always bitter.)

Then there are the neighbors, the Donnelys. There is Tom, the handsome young widower with an eight year-old son. There is his sister Iris, a naughty swinger who says things like "Let's have some action." Iris puffs and smoulders with the Elliott boy, but it's obvious they're not really suited; he wants to make beautiful buildings while she only wants to make whoopee.

Tom's other sister is Laura, a fragile beauty who is presently a novice in a convent. But she is troubled. We listened in on a conversation with the Deity, in which Laura confessed a longing for the outside world. Do you suppose she is really meant for the convent life? Tom's father is good-hearted Dr. Will, who worries about Iris's loose ways. "I'm afraid she's on a collision course," he told Tom. "Well," said Tom, "I'm afraid we'll just have to let her collide, and hope she pulls out of it."

Wait, there's more. Dr. Will's associate is handsome young Dr. Jim Abbott. Since Mia is going to pursue a medical career, she is pretty sure to come in close contact with Dr. Jim. Will Iris hate Mia for stealing Mark's affections? Will Aunt Helen hate Mia for intruding into the family's life? Will Mia have one heck of a miserable time right from the beginning? You bet your sweet tear ducts they will, or there ain't gonna be no story. Mia could save herself a lot of trouble by renting a nice bachelor apartment somewhere. But that would spoil all the fun.