How long was Catherine Burns in the role of Cathy? I saw her in that one 1969 episode.

Paul Tulley also appeared in the 1978 Dallas miniseries as the teacher Lucy accuses of assault.

5 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

How long was Catherine Burns in the role of Cathy? I saw her in that one 1969 episode.

Paul Tulley also appeared in the 1978 Dallas miniseries as the teacher Lucy accuses of assault.

IIRC, Catherine was only on the show for a year or so. The role of Cathy Craig kept getting recast. IMHO, Burns and Dorrie Kavanaugh were the best; Jane Alice Brandon was the weakest.

8 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

A lot of men were/are closet watchers of soaps. I saw an interview with Michael Gregory (Rick Webber #1). He said in the late 70's he was training with police officers because he also owns his own security business. He noticed they were all giving him the side eye and staring at him throughout the week. Then at the end of training all these macho men came up to him and admitted they watched him on GH and started asking him about Monica etc...🤣

Kurt Russell also said when he was working at Disney in the early 70's he was also playing baseball professionally. One big burly guy on his team came up to him angry that his favorite soap had been cancelled and asked Kurt who does he need to talk to get that back it on. Kurt told him he didn't know. He said a few weeks went by and one day at a game the guy blurts out " Seriously, who do I need to talk to?

A month or two ago I posted a news report with a basketball player who had a guest spot on OLTL as he was a fan. And there was a report from the same period (around 79-81) about AMC and the male reporter was an AMC fan and so were several men on the crew. I think the ABC soaps at that time were cool enough for men to be more open about watching them.

9 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

I enjoyed the show very much in those years, and watched every day, but I think everyone agreed that Kevin's kidnapping dragged on too long. Champs like Erika Slezak and Lee Patterson carried it through, to be sure, but it made me impatient.

In an interview later, even Gordon Russell acknowledged he stretched the the storyline out too long.

To me, Catherine Burns was the best actress in the role of Cathy, but Dorrie Kavanaugh was very good too. When Jennifer Harmon took over, the character was altered to a degree I found jarring.

And I LOATHED the fact that, many years later, OLTL rehired Harmon to play a completely different role, that of Viki's lawyer. Seeing her and Slezak sharing scenes together, but not as former enemies with a long history, vexed me.

As per ABC's wishes, the show was focusing heavily on Jacquie Courtney, a "big hire" at the time, who had been snatched up after her departure from AW. Everyone who has ever read my posts here at SON know I adore La Courtney, but I kind of had twinges of resentment that Viki's position as the centerpiece of the show was being minimized.

I always appreciate your memories of those days. I didn't know they had brought Harmon back. Reminds me of the even sillier choice to have Sam Groom return to AW at the end as a minister.

Catherine was so good in Last Summer. She is also good in the episode available of her but I wish more was around.

I can see where it would feel like much more Pat focus then, although I'm sure Jacquie made most of the material work.

13 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Sad that a name (Robin Strasser) ended up being the beginning of the end for the Cathy character considering the fact that Strasser isn't all that good of an actress. The amount of scenery chewing that woman does will never fail to amaze it and I think she would have morphed Cathy into some kind of lunatic feminist. Dorrie was able to play a feminist Cathy and make her likable and watchable.

The 1975 episode where Dorrie's Cathy was acting opposite of George's Tony show that they had chemistry and there wasn't any need to replace her as Cathy. In fact, that scene really highlighted the contradictions of the feminist movement, most of which have remained in that movement in the 2020s.. except that back then, feminists still seemed to like men vs nowadays where feminists seem to despise the male species (I think it's insecurity and a feeling of inferority that spurs that hatred)

Didn't Dorrie have issues with George? I wasn't sure if that was one of the reasons she quit (didn't she quit?).

14 hours ago, Maxim said:

Hey everyone, it's been ages since I last checked in... I MISSED YOU and I missed THE SHOW! BTW, I just caught up on two new episodes from where I left off in 1993... Dorian got a final confirmation about her cancer... Marty is getting harassed by the Todd freak... and the blonde pseudo-religious bitch is seducing Cord.

P.S. I haven't been able to watch the show for a while, thanks to the unbearable construction noise in the old building that finally pushed us to hunt for a new place. We should be fully settled in the new apartment in about a week, so my One Life To Live binge can finally resume. You can't imagine how annoying it is to attempt to watch soaps while there is drilling noise 24/7 above you. It's been impossible. I can't watch OLTL with any noise around me, I'm that obsessed about everything being perfect when I love something.

So... yeah... I've really missed this whole topic and all of you. Discussing the show with you guys is honestly one of my favorite things about SON. I hope all of you are fine and healthy and doing well in this summer heat... and watching a looot of Llanview drama.

See you soon in Llanview!

Welcome back! Glad you are doing well. Enjoy OLTL again whenever you have time to write.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

.Didn't Dorrie have issues with George? I wasn't sure if that was one of the reasons she quit (didn't she quit?).

I'm not sure about the issues between Dorrie & George... but she was fired according to some sources in mid 1976. It seemed as though Agnes was determined to get rid of her and when her first attempt at firing her failed (Robin S).. she and Doris Quinlan replaced her with Jennifer Harmon (who had played a feminist divorced mother in How to Survive a Marriage a year or so earlier).

I have a feeling Dorrie probably voiced her opinions behind the scenes since there was an article someone shared in this forum about how she didn't think the show went far enough in terms of writing Cathy as a feminist. And I tend to agree with her since Cathy lived with her dad and step mom, co-parented with Joe/Vicki, and was neurotic. Perhaps Dorrie thought that the show was calling Cathy a feminist without actually writing a feminist (i.e. talking the talk, but not walking the walk).

I know that Cathy #2 had made comment during her story at the Odessey House that the show decided to focus more on a causcian individual and their story at the House instead of one of the other POC that was in the meetings with Cathy. And fun trivia.. but Cathy #2 became a boxer at the end of the 1970s.

4 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

IIRC, Catherine was only on the show for a year or so. The role of Cathy Craig kept getting recast. IMHO, Burns and Dorrie Kavanaugh were the best; Jane Alice Brandon was the weakest.

And this, along with what @Vee pointed out, is probably another reason the character never became as iconic as a soap heroine as she seems like she should have. Oh how I wish we had those Odyssey House episodes even if they might now seem heavy handed.

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

A month or two ago I posted a news report with a basketball player who had a guest spot on OLTL as he was a fan. And there was a report from the same period (around 79-81) about AMC and the male reporter was an AMC fan and so were several men on the crew. I think the ABC soaps at that time were cool enough for men to be more open about watching them.

Yeah, I think sometimes it can be frustrating for some fans to hear people say "And men watch us too!" like that somehow makes soaps legit. But, I also get the feeling that there was less of a stigma and the Nixon soaps on ABC (and GH soon as well) helped with that. Dan Wakefield talks about this a lot in his 1976 All Her Children. In his own words, he says to admit to having any knowledge of soap operas as a guy when he was a kid was like being caught in public masturbating (I swear, that was his analogy.) So he was surprised to see that soaps, and especially AMC (his focus) had such a high viewership on college campuses where, at least he says, they often were watched in common rooms with as many male students as female students, and he interviews a few male students who seem surprised that they should be seen as a :"female thing."

That said, when I became a closet AMC and then soap fan in 1991 as an 11-12 year old, I felt it was something you shouldn't tell other people about. But I'm not sure if that was a gender thing--I had grown up being told that intelligent people didn't watch soaps.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by EricMontreal22

12 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

I enjoyed the show very much in those years, and watched every day, but I think everyone agreed that Kevin's kidnapping dragged on too long. Champs like Erika Slezak and Lee Patterson carried it through, to be sure, but it made me impatient.

In an interview later, even Gordon Russell acknowledged he stretched the the storyline out too long.

Wasn't that right around when OLTL expanded to 45 minutes? I wonder if that played a part...

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Welcome back! Glad you are doing well. Enjoy OLTL again whenever you have time to write.

Welcome back @Maxim !

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I always appreciate your memories of those days. I didn't know they had brought Harmon back. Reminds me of the even sillier choice to have Sam Groom return to AW at the end as a minister.

Or hiring Judith Barcroft in a day-player capacity on AW, to play a pharmacist who served Jamie. To me, her earlier, central role of Lenore Moore on the show reverberated throughout their scene together.

Or Jordan Clarke playing Tim Ryan of TGL, and then being hired only a few years later as Billy Lewis.

Honestly, however, I feel the worst example has always been the casting Chris Kositchek as Roman Brady on DAYS. Josh Taylor will never be Roman in my mind.

There are lots of examples of soaps doing this. Either TPTB are clueless, think viewers are accepting of the practice, or just don't give a darn.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I can see where it would feel like much more Pat focus then, although I'm sure Jacquie made most of the material work.

Of her tenures on AW, OLTL and LOV, the only time I felt Jacquie could not make a story work was when OLTL foisted the ill-conceived and implausible Maggie the Twin dreck on her. The fake wig. The big, ugly glasses that kept sliding down her nose. The clipped, unnatural accent. What a mess. It would be a herculean task for anyone to play that role well, particularly in such an awful story.

Even Courtney could not pull it off.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Didn't Dorrie have issues with George? I wasn't sure if that was one of the reasons she quit (didn't she quit?).

I don't remember, off-hand, DK mentioning any conflicts with GR, although I do remember she and JC were close, and Jacquie lamenting when Dorrie left the part.

16 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

And this, along with what @Vee pointed out, is probably another reason the character never became as iconic as a soap heroine as she seems like she should have. Oh how I wish we had those Odyssey House episodes even if they might now seem heavy handed.

I never warmed up to the actress who played Cathy at the time, probably because the contrast between Catherine Burns and Amy Levitt was SO jarring, but the Odyssey House material was gripping, if disturbing. I'm surprised the show/network did not keep those eps, if for no other reason than because of their historical significance.

14 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

I never warmed up to the actress who played Cathy at the time, probably because the contrast between Catherine Burns and Amy Levitt was SO jarring, but the Odyssey House material was gripping, if disturbing. I'm surprised the show/network did not keep those eps, if for no other reason than because of their historical significance.

They seem like episodes that would have been saved--surely they knew their importance. They also happened, I found out, right when ABC stopped making kinescopes of key episodes of the shows they were planning to swipe the videos of, so maybe it was bad timing...

@vetsoapfan your memories of these shows is one of the (many) reasons I love this forum. Thank you, as always, for sharing them.

33 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Wasn't that right around when OLTL expanded to 45 minutes? I wonder if that played a part...

OLTL expanded from 30 to 45 minutes in the summer of 1976 (along with GH).

Kevin was kidnapped in 1977, so the writers should have had some time to acclimate to the new length by then. But to be fair, many shows saw the quality of their writing dip after expansion in length. DAYS shone as an hour under Pat Falken Smith, for example, but Harding Lemay's AW became repetitious and sluggish in its 60-minute format. I stuck with Bay City until the dismissal of Jacquie Courtney, George Reinholt and Virginia Dwyer, and then gave it up.

8 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

OLTL expanded from 30 to 45 minutes in the summer of 1976 (along with GH).

Kevin was kidnapped in 1977, so the writers should have had some time to acclimate to the new length by then. But to be fair, many shows saw the quality of their writing dip after expansion in length. DAYS shone as an hour under Pat Falken Smith, for example, but Harding Lemay's AW became repetitious and sluggish in its 60-minute format. I stuck with Bay City until the dismissal of Jacquie Courtney, George Reinholt and Virginia Dwyer, and then gave it up.

Thanks for the correction. You're right of course that a lot of soaps had issues when they expanded--Bill Bell always grumbles about this with Y&R (granted, a soap I don't know too much about.) AMC somehow seemed to weather this better than other shows, despite Nixon's resistance (was it having to do a week of trial hour shows before Ryan's Hope premiered?)

12 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

They seem like episodes that would have been saved--surely they knew their importance. They also happened, I found out, right when ABC stopped making kinescopes of key episodes of the shows they were planning to swipe the videos of, so maybe it was bad timing...

They should have saved the legendary Carla-passes-for-white saga as well, PARTICULARLY the scenes in which she was confronted by her mother for deceiving the community.

Alas, back then, TPTB just did not see soaps of having any inherent value, I guess.

16 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

@vetsoapfan your memories of these shows is one of the (many) reasons I love this forum. Thank you, as always, for sharing them.

Thank you much much for the kind words, @EricMontreal22 .😊