Somerset Discussion Thread

[toml1962]

The story bible does not have any of that. I do think I have an article somewhere that answers some of those questions. I do remember that someone - probably the producers - were very big on getting Carol Roux. I sent the article to one of the people on here to post as I am having issues doing it myself. Anyway, Sam and Lahoma were not THE most popular, but they were popular. The biggies were Steve, Rachel and Alice. I always thought that the success of Where the Heart Is, a show that had its beginnings on Love of Life, was what might have inspired Somerset.

I will look for that article as well. Also trying to find the other one about Carol Roux.

I do know Joe Gallison was approached to reprise the role of Bil Matthews again, but he had a contract on OLTL. And the producers of AW were very impressed with Gary Sandy (forgot who he played on AW) and created role for him. Highly possible they considered others.

It is odd that they did not place the shows back to back. Perhaps they had it in mind to seperate them all along. I cannot recall reading anything about it but will look around and see what I find.

[toml1962]

Just found one of the two articles where Carol Roux says she is afraid to go out in her neighborhood becuase "a block away are the homosexuals!" Daytime TV October 1970. Will scan and send to be uploaded and will look for the one after she left the show.

[toml1962]

Funny, right after making a comment that they should have put AW and SOM back to back, I am searching magazines and find a letter published in Sept 1970 Afternoon TV (the one with the cover of Nick Coster and Marie Wallace on it). Someone wrote the very same thing because their kids come home at 3 and ruin Somerset for them! They also complained that it is impossible to follow the stories without watching both shows.

[Susan Hunter]

Thanks Tom. Did Carol Roux do anything else after leaving Somerset? She sounds somewhat unstable.

[toml1962]

It is sad but I think perhaps she was very unstable. I have not found the article I was looking for, but found another. She goes on and on about all the bad times she has had, and how afraid she is. She also said she was offered a role on Where the Heart Is. She says: "I couldn't take it. I had played Missy for too long and she was the only character I could dream of playing." Very strange. If you cannot play another character, bye-bye career. Shame really.

There is also a small blurb about her in a Daytime TV from 1972 where it says no one knew where she was.

If she acted after SOM I have never seen any info about it. The only thing outside of AW and SOM I know of is an episode of Bonanza she filmed prior to SOM. She also states that the producers of SOM told her she was vital to SOM.

This and other comments elsewhere make it hard for me to swallow the story that she claimed the producer's treated her badly and bullied her. She also goes on and on about feeling she is not worthy of love, blah blah. Am willing to bet she felt bullied because they told her she was a good actress and complimented her. Many people suffer from chronic low self-esteem and she appears to have been one of them.

Interestingly, she does mention that Jacquie Courtney was one of her closest friends from the show along with Joe Gallison and Barbara Rodell. Somerset was made in the same studio, which is why it was so easy for actors to pop up on either show.

Edited May 30, 2012 by toml1962

[NothinButAttitude]

I don't know if anyone posted a site that I stumbled across years ago on here but it has some yearly synopsis of the show on there:

http://somersetonline.bravepages.com/storylines.html

[vetsoapfan]

"This and other comments elsewhere make it hard for me to swallow the story that she claimed the producer's treated her badly and bullied her."

Keep in mind that reading magazine articles gives fans no real, concrete first-hand knowledge of the actress, nor of the backstage interactions she experienced during her tenure on the show(s). She, herself, admitting that certain executives treated her poorly is certainly a more credible account of her history than interpretations and suppositions gained through second- or third-hand sources. She lived it. Who better to know the truth?

It's been awhile since I've listened to it, but I remember Roux commenting about an executive who felt she wasn't cooperating with his demands enough, and he bellowed. "Little girl, I'm going to fire you!"

The interview is referenced here: http://www.igs.net/~awhp/index12.htm

Edited May 30, 2012 by vetsoapfan

[toml1962]

That is Mark Faulkner's old site. His newer version is offline for now but he says he is digging through floppy discs trying to get a new site up and running.

[toml1962]

Using intellect and reason and ability and experience usually gleans far more truth than emotional ramblings...If you do not understand that then you need to brush up on your psych. I spent fifteen years doing just that, thank you very much. As such, am willing to place a wager that my abilities to discern the facts are are solid ones. I never INTERPRET anything. But I do and can disect and use my intellect to get to some approxoimation of the truth. Unlike what you appear to be doing, I never trust any one source for information. As for the truth, did you know her? How do you know she was telling the truth? Have you read this and other articles or interviewed anyone who knew her? Other than her word, what brings you to YOUR assumption that she was telling the truth?

You are correct that the magazines give no first hand info. It is the words of the person being interviewed that does. At least, to those willing enough to work at it and compare and rationalize.

Andy Rooney said it well: "Contrary to popular belief, everyone is NOT entitled to their own opinion...If you don't know the facts, your opinion doesn't count."

[Matt]

I remember reading an interview with Carol Roux (in fact, it might be here in one of my old Daytime TV magazines) where she talks about how similar to Missy she really was. If I remember correctly, she was adopted and never knew her real parents and she was rather shy (or stuttered or something social awkward) and was put into speech & theater to counteract it. I do remember that when I read the article, she came across as REALLY spacey (of course, it was the late 70s and a lot of the actors/actresses of the period had a tendancy to be "far out, man" and rather hippy-ish). I do know that several years ago on the old WoST site, Brian actually did a podcast interview with Carol (I never knew that her last name was actually pronounced "Rue") and I was somewhat taken aback by how delicate and little girl like her voice sounded. Kinda like how Jennifer Tilly sounds as Bonnie on Family Guy. And she did come across as a rather excentric space cadet, IMO.

[vetsoapfan]

It shouldn't make you this enraged that I have "dared" to put faith in Carol Roux's account of her own life--which she lived, and knew about first-hand. Perhaps you could use your education and ability to analyze, to figure out why you are getting yourself so upset. A community message board is not meant to be a combat zone, where one poster needs to be "right" and more knowledgeable than other commentators, and denounce anyone who points out some information he, himself, either didn't have or does not choose to believe. You are free to interpret Roux however you want, based on all the second- and third-hand material you read, just as I am free to accept her own, first-hand accounts of her own life. There need not be such drama about different opinions. JMHO.

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, her voice in the audio interview was whisper thin; she sounded very fragile, indeed. It's a shame she didn't work more after leaving Somerset, since she did project an ethereal sweetness that was perfect for the soap opera medium.

[sungrey]

I can offer some insight on the decision to run Somerset at 4... I do believe it was P&G's decree that its soaps could not run opposite each other. Since Edge was still running at 3:30 back in 1970, that would have violated the sponsor's rule.

This P&G rule stayed until the mid-1970s, when ABC bought Edge and placed it at 4 with the sponsor's blessing. Of course, I believe NBC added the second 1:00 feed at the time; that was mainly meant for Central and Mountain stations that didn't have a noon newscast. I recall hearing Somerset did very well in the markets where it was on at 1:00. Can someone clarify?

[DRW50]

I don't have most of the articles tom is trying to upload, but I had this one. It's the December 1970 TV by Day.

[vetsoapfan]

What a great article, Carl. She sounds so sweet and innocent. Thanks for sharing.