Somerset Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

You'd never get something like that nowadays. Instead, the characters would scream from the top of their lungs to show their pain and agony. 

 

But who is Jingle the Clown? And was Robert Delaney already on Another World at this point?

[vetsoapfan]

Nuanced, subtle storytelling is long gone from today's daytime dramas, alas.

 

The scenes with Jingles the Clown were often quite terrifying, and the storyline went on for an extended period. As it turned out, Zoe Cannell, Carter's sister and Julian Cannell's wife, was the one under the disguise. She was afraid that her husband Julian was falling for Andrea, and with a husband as handsome as Joel Crother's Julian, could anyone blame her for being nervous, LOL? Actress Lois Smith (of EAST OF EDEN and TRUE BLOOD fame) was mesmerizing as the deranged Zoe. This was Writer Henry Slesar at his delicious best. We were so lucky to have him pen exciting, intricate, layered mysteries on TEON, but his work on SOMERSET was also very good. I only found OLTL weak under his pen, but he was not alone at the helm of that show.

[NothinButAttitude]

Yes it is. 

 

So Joel Crothers was on Somerset too before EON? Where there any other Somerset stars that moved onto EON afterwards. 

 

And do you think that Slesar struggled at OLTL b/c it was a different beast from what he was used to? 

[Paul Raven]

Other performers who were on Somerset before EON

Richard Shoberg Mitch Farmer/Kevin Jamison

Jay Gregory Carter Matson/Morlock Sevigny

Holland Taylor Rith Winter/Denise Cavanaugh

Bruce Gray Warren Parker/Owen Madison

[DRW50]

I wish I could see that (their return to Monticello). I guess hearing about it in such detail is almost as good, if not better.

Edited November 12, 2015 by DRW50

[vetsoapfan]

Now that I have watched this vintage episode of SOMERSET, I must say that the Jingles the Clown scene was not effectively executed at all; certainly, many other episodes in which the clown appeared were much more effective, probably because of the creepy music used, and more subtle, suspenseful direction.

 

It was fun to see Ernest Thompson, the best of the Tony Coppers, knowing that he would later become an award-winning screenwriter for the film ON GOLDEN POND.

 

Yes, Joel Crothers became a major player on SOMERSET. His character was enormously popular, and lasted through many writer and producer turnovers.

 

Richard Shoberg played Mitch farmer on SOM and the first (and better) Kevin Jamison on TEON.

 

Holland Taylor played a policewoman named Ruth Winter on SOM and also later turned up on TEON as Denise Cavanaugh.

 

Dorothy Stinette, so great as SOM's Laura Cooper, went on to play TEON's Nadine Alexander.

 

Susan MacDonald, an original cast member of SOM as Jill Grant was later the first Jinx Avery on EDGE.

 

Bibi Besch played Susan Forbes on TEON first, and then later starred on SOM as Eve Lawrence.

 

Many folks don't know it, but some actors who later became quite famous played roles on SOM. like Sigourney Weaver, Ted Danson, and JoBeth Williams. Danson was rather wooden, IMHO, but Weaver and Williams were great. Williams had enormous chemistry with her leading man, Gene Bua (who was so magnetic, he'd have chemistry with a rock).

 

It's hard to say why Slesar's tenure on OLTL was so tepid. He worked with Sam Hall for the first year, then by himself for a couple of months before getting replaced by the Corringtons. OLTL had originally been an intelligent interpersonal-relationships drama with social issues and class struggles at its core, but it changed drastically--and not for the better--in the early and mid-1980s. Jean Arley was the producer for most of Slesar's tenure, and the show floundered under her reign. It's hard to say why. Network interference? Incompetence on Arley's part? Slesar's "not getting" the show? In any case, the writing was mediocre. Not dreadful, on a Chuck Pratt or Jean P-Libidizone level, surely...but tepid. If I had to guess, I'd lay the blame on network tampering, because Slesar was so great elsewhere, but I guess we will never know.

[DRW50]

I'm glad to know the Jingles scenes worked better at other times. I think in this one the direction was just very flat.

 

What did you think of the Moores? 

I also wanted to ask - have you been able to listen to any of the audio recordings? They come with a link to a Somerset site that has a lot of interesting history of the show.

[vetsoapfan]

The entire Jingles scene in this episode was very clumsy. I don't believe that Carter would not have sensed someone behind the door, or even sensed movement a few feet behind him as Jingles ran out of the room. His claim that no one had been in the room, when he had not even bothered to LOOK, was silly. There was one early Jingles episode that was very creepy, with carnival-type music playing in the background, and blinking, strobe lighting on Jingles as "he" crept into the room. Eeeek!

 

I enjoyed the eccentric Moore family. It was wonderful seeing Lois Kibbee on a soap again, after her great work on TEON. Most of the family did not last very long, but they were fun while they lasted.

 

I have not listened to any of the SOMERSET audio recordings yet; I only found out about them yesterday, when you kindly let me know about the video episode.

 

It amuses me that folks are uploading audio-only material onto the web, and that fans are eating it up. I have many soap episodes from the 1970s on audio, but I've always figured I was the only one weird enough to listen to audio-only episodes of my favorite shows. Before the advent of VCRs, when I was away from home, I used to set up a tape recorder in my bedroom and another one in the basement, and have a timer turn them on and record the shows so I could listen to them later, in the evening. Everyone in the family told me I was crazy, but now...40 years later, I discover that I was not alone!

 

 

[DRW50]

Could you put any of those on Youtube? If you want me to do it or anything let me know.

[danfling]

Susan MacDonald was the SECOND actrss to play Jinx Avery Malloy, not the first.

 

Another actress who appeared on both The Edge of Night and Somerset was the late Lois Kibbee.   She began as Geraldine on The Edge of Night, then played Elizabeth on Somerset, and then returned to The Edge of Night.   (and was on One Life to Live before she died)

Also, Lois Smith was on both shows.

[robbwolff]

The Somerset Register website (an incredible treasure trove of information about the show) says that Andrea's aunt Rowena was Jingles the Clown, not Zoe. Zoe, however, had given Rowena the clown outfit along with instructions to give Andrea meds (laced with weed killer) every night.

 

[robbwolff]

India was gone but Lahoma was around through September 1973.

[DRW50]

Thanks. I hope there's something of her around.

[vetsoapfan]

The Somerset register is indeed a treasure trove of information, and your post has jarred and clarified my memory.

 

Yes, you are correct: afraid of getting caught, herself, Zoe Cannell manipulated batty Aunt Rowena into "helping" give Andrea Moore her medicine (which Zoe had poisoned) by donning the Jingles the Clown costume and visiting Andrea at night.

 

I should have written, "As it turned out, Zoe Cannell, Carter's sister and Julian Cannell's wife, was the one BEHIND THE PLOT TO KILL ANDREA MOORE. She was afraid that her husband Julian was falling for Andrea...."

 

All of this is in my SOMERSET scrapbook, which I maintained during the show's run, and I should have referred to that for verification instead of relying on my memory.

 

Color me embarrassed. With senior moments like this, I appear as dotty as...Aunt Rowena! Sorry about that!

When it comes to technology, I am the single most clueless person on the face of the planet. I have no clue whatsoever how folks upload anything to the internet.

 

We can talk about this more in a PM.

[robbwolff]

How cool that you kept a Somerset scrapbook! I have fuzzy memories of the show that stick in my head: Zoe killing Carter, Dorothy's attempts to kill Heather, Eve's mountain car accident, Avis talking about Julian's masculine hands, Jill and Jack's necklaces. Such a great show!