OLTL Tribute Thread

[Soaplovers]

@vetsoapfan  What did you think of the Melinda's?  I've seen youtube clips of Sharon Gabet.. and she was a great actress.. but I hear she was nothing at all like how the two previous actresses played Melinda.

[Gemini1689]

I know this has probably been posted before but here is Frank Converse (Harry O' Neill) in one of his earlier guest star spots on 'Police Story', credit to the original uploader.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8DzxxOcn_c

Edited June 9, 2018 by Gemini1689

[vetsoapfan]

 

Patricia Pearcy, who originated the role, made me think of Melinda as a character in quiet desperation; a vulnerable woman trying to hold on against an austere, controlling, aggressive elder sister.

 

Jane Badler would be great as Diana on V, but her Melinda was petulant and shallow. Badler tended to play Melinda as if she were always in a bad mood. The character came across as campy because Badler did not have the acting chops to add depth and sensitivity to the role.

 

Sharon Gabet, oy vey. God only knows what TPTB were going for there. The character bore no resemblance to past incarnations, was poorly-written and ill-defined. A mess. Gabet did not stand a chance. How could she play a part that wasn't written with any coherence?

Edited June 9, 2018 by vetsoapfan

[YRfan23]

Sorry if this was explained already but when exactly did OLTL start saving their episodes again? I keep reading in 1978 when the show expanded  to an hour but what about the 1976 episode from “daytime to remember” I know some B&W kinescopes are out there and some rare color episodes saved by the network, so was the 76 one of the network saved ones?

Edited June 10, 2018 by YRfan23

[vetsoapfan]

 

I believe ABC started continuously saving their soaps in 1978, but some random eps from earlier years (like the 1976 DTR one) had escaped erasure. 

[Soaplovers]

I think AMC started saving their episodes in 1976, Agnes insisted on that in exchange for her agreement to expand that show to an hour.

[Khan]

God bless Agnes Nixon.  Maybe she saw the value in those episodes where others didn't.

[amybrickwallace]

 

Absolutely. She was a smart cookie.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Wikipedia can be wildly unreliable, but this article is interesting.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_television_broadcast#United_States

 

And speaking of lost soap episodes, this is cool too.

 

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Edited June 10, 2018 by vetsoapfan

[YRfan23]

Thanks! it would be amazing to see an accurate list of what pre 1978 material is still out there! I know on YT you can find some full or partial audios of 1977-78 OLTL.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I personally enjoy listening old-time radio dramas, so I don't mind the soap episodes that exist in audio-only versions. I figure, audio-only is better than nothing!

 

I've got many old soaps from the 1960s and '70s on audio. I just wish I had the ability to transfer them to another format and save them. I'm afraid to listen to them because I don't want my ancient tapes to disintegrate (some already have).

[YRfan23]

I certainly wouldn't have any objections if most of the "lost" episodes did surface as audio only....at least it would be something, and other people out there have had to been recording, if they don't have master tapes.

Wish there was a way to transfer your tapes! would love to see/hear what you have!

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Edited June 11, 2018 by YRfan23

[vetsoapfan]

 

It does not help that I am technology-illiterate. Really, really, really. I only figured out six months ago, after being a computer user for 25 years, how to save material to my download folder and transfer it to a flashdrive. I still can't burn a CD or DVD, or upload anything to my computer from other sources.. Not only am I helpless, I am resigned to the fact that I am hopeless, LOL.

[j swift]

I'm just curious because it seems like an ingenious solution to a pre-vcr/pre-dvr era, how did you audiotape the soaps in the 60's and 70's?

Edited June 11, 2018 by j swift

[vetsoapfan]

 

Back then, there were automatic timers you could buy; little devices used to turn your house lights on when you were out of town, to discourage would-be burglars. You just plugged your lights into the device and they would be on between, say, 8:00 PM and midnight every night.

 

I bought a couple of those timers for my bedroom and plugged both an audio tape recorder and a small, portable TV into them. The television and recorder would both come on at the designated time, and tape the desired shows. I was thrilled when 120-minute tapes became available, because that meant a full hour on each side, and I could get two 30-minute episodes on one cassette.  

 

Pathetically (LOL), I set up another system like that in the living room, with another timer, another audio tape recorder, and my principle TV. This allowed me to record two MORE, 30-minute shows.

 

At the end of the day, I would have four shows to listen to while I made and ate supper, did the housework, had a bath, etc. It was wonderful! The only limitations to my system was that I had to record programs which were back-to-back to each other and on the same network, because obviously I could not use the timers to change channels.

 

A next-door neighbor of mine, also a soap fiend, thought my idea of taping the soaps like this was INGENIOUS. She ran out and bought a timer of her own. We coordinated between ourselves who would record which programs. For example, I would tape CBS soaps on one cassette and NBC titles on my second cassette, and she would record shows from ABC at her house. We could then share our material with each other, and therefore have access to even MORE daily episodes. We usually exchanged tapes on the weekend and listened to them then. We earmarked certain cassettes with important episodes on them, to preserve and not erase.

 

I realize that my going to all this trouble just to keep up with my favorite soaps sounds nuts, but...back then, soaps were actually GOOD, and worth the effort. I don't even bother video recording today's dreck.