Love Is a Many Splendored Thing

[FrenchFan]

I wonder if Irna Phillips was out of the show way sooner than what we thought. In her script archives, there are only scripts from episodes 1 to 25.

The episodes I got, starting with 31 are labelled with the Averys. If this is true, it would mean Phillips was HW until October 22nd 1967. 

What do you others think?

[Paul Raven]

i wouldn't be surprised if Irna quit that early if she got feedback that CBS didn't want to go ahead or wanted to modify her two plots-Laura the nun and the mixed race romance.

She was definitely gone by Jan 68 as Variety reported that LIAMST had won its timeslot and stated Irna had departed earlier.

Splendored 10.0/32

Newlywed 9.5/30

Days 7.2/?

[FrenchFan]

That seems legit. Laura was out of the convent as early as November 1967 and the religious angle didn't seem to be mentioned at all.

Mia/Jim keeps going but they are barely flirting. Nothing much happens in the episodes I still have the scripts and will share later.

[FrenchFan]

I think the HW list must be something like this then for the show:

Irna Phillips (September 18th 1967 – October 22nd 1967)

Ira & Jane Avery (October 23rd 1967 – May 1968)

Don Ettlinger (May 1968 – 1969)

James Lipton (1969 – March 1970)

Ann Marcus (March 1970 – March 23rd 1973)

 

#56 – Tuesday, December 5th 1967

Mia entered Jim’s office. They talked about Mark being under sedative. Mia also asked Jim if she could miss the class that day because Paul inisted on seeing her. She wanted to tell him goodbye.

Phil visited Tom and they talked about the accident. Tom was very angry at his sister for causing the accident. Phil said he was not surprised something like this happened to Mark – the nights out, the drinking since he was back from Vietnam. He tried to tell Tom that the accident would cause Mark and Iris to think about their lives. Tom said he was going to the motel Terry Andrews was last seen alive on July 27th, 1966. He hoped the owner of the motel would remember something.

At the Forty-Niner motel office, Tom questioned Crump, the owner. He had him go through his register for list for July 1966 to see if he remembered anything. Tom mentioned the July 27th night was a thunder night but Crump couldn’t remember much.

At the Upper Deck, Paul and Mia had finished their lunch. Paul told Mia he would be leaving San Francisco permanently. He was hoping Mia could have made him change his mind about the transfer but he noticed during lunch she was not that interested. Mia felt sorry. She had alway been honest with him when she said she couldn’t fall in love. Paul added he knew there was another man in her mind. Mia asked Paul to make up with his family as he had a fight with them because of her. He agreed and they shared goodbyes.

Mia was at Jim’s. He had found her dazed in the hospital and brought him back to his place for a tea. She told him how Paul gently stepped away and told her goodbye. Jim and Mia played the piano and seemed very close.

#62 – Wednesday, December 13th 1967

Phil and Helen were having breakfast when the phone rang. It was Mark. He assured his father he was fine but he needed to see him as soon as possible for a favor. Helen insisted she could come with Phil.

At the hospital, Helen was staying outside. Mark told Phil that Tom visited him about the Terry Andrews case and Tom had to admit to his father that Terry was pregnant with his child. Phil was shocked. Mark explained it was just an affair before he left for Vietnam. He offered to marry Terry but she refused. Terry was in love in another man and maybe she hoped she could marry him. He swore he didn’t know she was dead until her body was found. Phil said Helen had to be told as Mark could face trouble.

In Iris’ office, Iris and Jock were going through some press releases but Jock didn’t seem interested. He admitted he wanted her to work on the fund-raising project to spend time with her. He insisted Iris come to his house to show his mother the project and meet her.

Back at the Elliots’, Helen was still shocked after Mark told her about Terry. She was thrilled he was definitely through with Iris though but worried about what people would say when the news would come that a woman, pregnant with her son’s child, was murdered.

Jock introduced Iris to his mother. Alex was delighted. Iris didn’t want to stay long and was afraid Jock would offer her too much to drink while she had to go back to work. After Iris left, Alex advised her son to be careful. What if Iris was collecting information for her brother ? Jock liked drinking and talking too much.

#63 – Thursday, December 14th 1967

Jim congratulated Mia on her good work. He thought she might be ready for some clinical work. Phone rang – an old friend of Jim’s from his student days wanted to see him. Mia admitted she had heard some hospital gossip about the time he was living at the Porters’.

In Jim’s office, Gil Snyder briefed Jim about what his life was since their student years. He had married Dru, a woman he met through the Porters. Gil told Jim he came because Lt. Donnelly had wanted to see him about the late John Porter. He said Tom asked him about his time staying at the Porters’ in exchange for some work. Gil wondered why he was questioned about Jim and John Porter died of a heart attack so he didn’t know why there was an investigation.

Jim joined Mia in the cafeteria. She noticed the visit from this « friend » of the past was not so good and Jim admitted his past might not be perfect. Mia said she worried about her aunt Helen who did seem unwell. Jim offered to drive her to the Elliots’. It would clear his head.

Helen was surprised to see Jim and Mia at her place. She assured Mia she was not that bad. After Jim left, Helen questioned Mia about her relationship with Jim. She admitted there might be some feeling but she didn’t know to what extend. Mia told Helen that Paul Bradley had left San Francisco. When Mia questioned Helen about how she felt, Helen told her she would know soon enough.

Gil Snyder visited Alex Porter. He told her Lt. Donnelly questioned him about her late husband and his friendship with Jim Abbott. Alex told Gil her husband had an affair with a young woman who had been found dead. Jock arrived. As Alex was about to mention Jim’s liberal ideas about abortion, Jock stopped her mother. She then offered Gil to stay in town for the night.

#66 – Wednesday, December 20th 1967

Iris arrived at work and her boss, Mr. Armstrong, was not happy that she was late. He decided she was fired and he should have done it sooner when her name was dragged in the newspaper after her car crash. Iris told Mr. Armstrong he would lose the museum contract with Jock Porter but he was ready to take the risk.

At her apartment, Iris got a visit from Jock who knew she had been fired. He thought she should go into business for herself. He said he would pay her bills and she would work for him from her apartment.

At the hospital, Laura was in Mark’s room. He told her she shouldn’t be there as her father got her transferred to another floor. Laura answered she knew her father wanted her away from Mark because of Iris, the accident or the fact he got Terry Andrews pregnant, but she considered him a very good friend. Mark was surprised Tom told Laura and she still wanted to be his friend. He explained Laura he offered Terry marriage two weeks before she disappeared but she answered she had someone else in her life. Mark also said he would probably lose his job as he couldn’t deliver sketches for an important project. Laura offered to be the messenger. Mark was impressed.

At the Porters’, Jock told Alex he had hired Iris because she was a goldmine for information, not only because she was Tom’s sister but she also told him that Mark Elliot had an affair with Terry Andrews. Alex realized Terry’s baby might have been Mark’s and not John’s. Maybe Terry convinced John he was the father of her child and that’s why John would have paid Jim Abbott a $1.000 contribution in exchange of Terry’s abortion. Alex wanted to call the police to put Jim Abbott behind bars but Jock stopped her. He asked her to let him manage things.

#67 – Thursday, December 21st 1967

Iris was at Tom’s early in the morning. She wanted to know what would happen of Mark since he wormed it out of her that he got Terry pregnant. Tom didn’t understand why Iris was still interested in Mark since it was over between them. When Iris snapped about Laura, Tom said she had been transferred to another floor. Neither Will nor Tom wanted her near Mark. Iris told Tom she lost her job and she was working for the Porters. He didn’t like that. Will arrived and overhead about Iris losing her job. She excused herself and left. Will asked Tom not to be too hard on Iris. Ricky arrived for breakfast and Tom promised he would spend some time teaching Ricky chess on Christmas Day.

Will visited Iris and assured he was not there for a lecture. He was worried to notice she had lots of alcohol in her place. He suggested she could see a psychiatrist. Iris was offended. She said her problems came because she lost her job. She lost her job because she of the car crash. She had the car crash because she was losing Mark and she lost Mark because Laura left the convent. Will assured she should stop blaming Laura and he suggested she see Jim Abbott even though he was not a psychiatrist. Iris said he hated her. When Will insisted, Iris agreed she would see him once.

Will then visited Jim in his apartment. He told her he was worried about Iris and particularly since she began seeing Jock Porter. Jim could rely. Will added she was drinking and he would like Jim to see Iris. Jim was unsure but he understood how worried Will was and he finally accepted.

Meanwhile, at her place, Iris was drinking whisky.

[Paul Raven]

In the Feb 68 Variety article, Irna says she quit because she differed with CBS execs about how it should progress. They were anxious for it to become a fast hit and she insisted that was no way to develop a serial.

No mentions of the 'controversial' stories there. it looks like Irna wanted to delve into character and CBS wanted more action.

I can see both sides. CBS made the change to boost ratings in that slot and knew Irna's approach might not deliver for months. They had NBC and ABC breathing down their necks,whereas in the past with ATWT it was a different scenario and the network could afford to wait, which they did for over ayear as ATWT began to climb.

Meanwhile Irna continued to receive a royalty as a creator of the show.

[danfling]

Her opinion that shows needed time to develop (as did As the World Turns) could possibly explain why Another World on NBC was not an immediate hit.  

I had been led to believe that Ms. Phillips used drastic tactics to (unsuccessfully) boost the ratings of Another World.  Maybe her plans for that show's ratings were just what she was envisioning!

I know that, at the end of its first twelve months, some executives wanted to cancel the program.   Robert Short of Procter and Gamble successfully convinced others that the show had great potential.  

Irna Phillips was replaced by the late James Lipton, who brought in a whole new family to Bay City.  

The next writer, Agnes Nixon (who was also writing The Guiding Light) wrote off the new characters and recognized that character Alice Matthews was not being used properly (in the storylines) and gave her a new romance by introducing what may have been the first anti-hero in soap operas (which resulted in a great surge in ratings).h 

She also took two new characters which had been created for Thoe Brighter Day (Rachel and Ada Davis) who were made into Another World characters.

She based Rachel after the already-created Erica Kane from the soap opera that she had created but had not premiered yet.

[Contessa Donatella]

But since Agnes first created the Ada-like character & the Rachel-like character on TBD they were actually created first, not second as we have long thought. She did the troublemaker daughter & put upon mother 4 times - TBD, AW, AMC & LOV. (Some call the troublemaker daughter the raven-haired vixen daughter.)

[SFK]

I'm a little stubborn in my conviction that Sadie and Carla belong on that list. I wish we could have Agnes Nixon's opinion of that.

[Contessa Donatella]

A 5th time?!! How exciting a possibility! As far as Agnes goes, she never talked about this trope of hers, only we soap fans do. Although there is one quote where she addresses Erica & Rachel. So, convince me, what do they have in common with these other mother-daughter pairs?

[danfling]

I am really not sure as to when (during what year) that Erica and Mona were created in the mind of Ms. Nixon and the show was offered to others to take to the airwaves.

Could it have been between the years during which she worked on As the World Turns and the end of The Brighter Day?

In it was in between those two times, then Erica could have been in inspiration for Rachel and both Ada and Rachel were based on Erica and Mona.

[j swift]

It could also be that too much is made of the comparison between Erica/Mona and Rachel/Ada.  We know Agnes Nixon was often influenced by classic movies.  So, it is equally possible that they were inspired by Mildred Pierce (1945) a classic tale of a hardworking mother and her spoiled daughter.

Edited August 12, 2023 by j swift

[Contessa Donatella]

Agnes Nixon's mother/daughter pairs: Some say they were "the troublesome daughter" & the "put upon mother". First written before 1962 THE BRIGHTER DAY's Rachel-like & Ada-like (based on AW's characters). First used Feb-Mar 1967 AW's Rachel & Ada. 2nd used AMC's Erica & Mona. 3rd used LOV's Kate & Ava.

Everything I've seen leads me to believe that she wrote the AMC bible after TBD but before writing for AW, don't you think? 

Then why would Agnes Nixon have said: 

 

Edited August 12, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
spelling error

[danfling]

Of course, Ms. Nixon was writing The Guiding Light prior to becoming the head writer of Another World.   She even continued to write both of those shows for quite a while.

And, didn't she continue writing Another World after the premiere of One Life to Live?

I am almost sure that her story projections for The Guiding Light were used for MANY years after she departed her job on that show.

The return of Leslie's mother on The Guiding Light (shown iln the 1970s) and the return of Nina's mother on All My Children were so similar.    I also think that the adoration of Victoria and Meredith for their mother was similar to these two storylines.

[Contessa Donatella]

I'm sure you're right about overlap! It is really facscinating to me to try to sort out what was in her mind, when!! And as far as I know except for that one comparison between Rachel & Erica that I just quoted, was the only time she ever spoke of it. 

[wonderwoman1951]

a while back, i heard an interesting theory about why irna left the show so early. in the past, this source had played fast and loose with facts about irna’s life, so i always took what he told me with a grain of salt. but, he said his source was the late warren swanson, an attorney who also worked with irna as a writer on ‘world turns, so it’s worth considering.

in 1966, after working with irna for 10 years, bill bell left to take over as headwriter at “days of our lives.” irna took his departure as a personal betrayal, and the two never spoke again. under bell, days’… ratings went up — a lot — so fred silverman decides to counter with a new soap. silverman told me that irna agreed to create “love is a many splendored thing” as a personal favor to him, as well as a chance to create a show that was not under procter&gamble.

but, did she also a chance to take bill bell down a peg? irna’s unfinished memoir, “all my worlds,” ends in late 1963, so we’ll never know. but, that’s what swanson told my less-than-reliable source. and having researched irna’s life for more than 10 years, i find it does have a certain ring of truth.

of course, in the first few months, not only did liamst never come close to beating days…, they were losing almost half the audience of ‘world turns. according to warren swanson, when irna she wasn’t going to beat bell, she lost interest, and when the network demanded she change the two storylines, she saw an opportunity to extricate herself from the show.