Y'all could be right that it wasn't Henry Slesar.  But I think it's mighty strange that Russell Kubeck popped in as head writer with seemingly no previous writing credits or experience, then vanished into thin air once Somerset bit the dust.  And when you look at the subject matter of those last 6 months of Somerset combined with Slesar's previous tenure there under his own name --- I dunno.  

Well it was just a crazy theory that may never be solved. But it got us thinking.

There have been a couple of other mystery headwriters over the years. I remember when KC Collier tyrned up as ATWT headwriter. I think that was subsequently proved to be Millee Taggart.

So if Kubeck wasn;t Slesar, it might have been another known writer who used a pseudontm for some reason.

Moving on Somerset Pt. 4

Vickie is increasingly upset when both Dan and Fred Harrington warn her to stop Julian on his crusade because of the great danger he is in. But Julian is not to be deterred. Steve is told that Julian is using Greg’s investigation notes for his vendetta against crime and he is to stop Carrie. Steve again refuses, insisting that his job for the Organization is cleaning up their money, nothing more.

Needing a closer eye on Steve, Fred Harrington has a most loyal and efficient  Organization employee brought in to work with him. Denny Saunders is an attractive young woman who sees the Organization as her mother and father—it has provided her with the only nice things she’s ever had—and she is predisposed against Steve from the start because of his “double cross” on the witness stand. Despite this new and difficult. complication in his plans, Steve refuses Lieutenant Price’s plan for his escape. Price has arranged for a whole new identity for Steve, right down to plastic surgery to alter his appearance. But again, in spite of Carrie’s protests and the increased difficulty of making his contacts with the new watchdog on his back, Steve insists he can’t stop now. 

Harrington has a physical checkup with Jerry Kane and reveals, in the presence of Heather and Vickie that he has an iron plate in his arm, the aftermath of a skiing accident. Harrington takes this chance meeting with Vickie as his opportunity to ask her, if she can’t stop Julian, to at least convince him to share his information and plans with the Citizen’s Committee. 

Before leaving on a business trip, Harrington tells Castor he wants Julian taken care of before he gets back.  Sergeant Williams confronts Julian with the inside information he’s been using in his editor’s introductions to Carrie’s articles. Julian refuses to explain where or how he got the material. (It’s from Steve.) Tom has learned from Lena that she had Greg’s papers and let Steve have those he was interested in. Tom assures Lena that his knowing about this will harm no one, and he convinces her to let him help. Carrie is frightened when Julian suddenly disappears, and she discusses her fears with Lieutenant  Price, adding that she’s seen Joe Castor talking to Chip Williams.

Ironically, at that moment Chip walks in with Steve, whom he has arrested on suspicion of auto theft for driving Denny’s car. Denny has to come to the station and vouch for Steve, an experience she finds distasteful. Steve asks her to omit his arrest from her report to Castor, as he’s afraid of being fired. Denny, whose only loyalty is to the Organization, feels she can’t do that, even though Steve reminds her that  there is only one way the Organization “fires” people. Denny does report the arrest to Castor, saying she feels Chip is out to get Steve and she doesn’t want to be involved. Denny is upset, however, when Castor informs her that Steve “is a dead man”; she was never so close to this side of the Organization’s work before.

Castor informs them that they don’t have to worry  about Chip; the Organization can take care of that. He doesn’t mention, of course, that Chip has agreed to supply the Register’s source of information in exchange for Organization help in becoming Chief of Detectives. Steve senses that Denny has become withdrawn since her talk with Castor. He fills Lieutenent Price in about Castor’s assurances that Chip’s no longer a problem, but Price can’t pull Williams off without raising suspicions about Steve. Carrie and Steve meet secretly, and she tearfully expresses her fear that he won’t live long enough for them to have a future.

Thanks again @Paul Raven . 

With Denny we now get the arrival of Toni Bua. If the show had been renewed, I wonder if she would have stayed on. Given the influx of new female characters in her age range, I don't know.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks again @Paul Raven . 

With Denny we now get the arrival of Toni Bua. If the show had been renewed, I wonder if she would have stayed on. Given the influx of new female characters in her age range, I don't know.

Wouldn't the plan have been to pair Denny and Steve for a Steve/Denny/Carrie triangle and try to recreate the Tess/Bill dynamic from their time at Love of Life?

Or was it just a short term thing like her role on ATWT?

Maybe Toni wasn't interested in contract gigs?

8 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Wouldn't the plan have been to pair Denny and Steve for a Steve/Denny/Carrie triangle and try to recreate the Tess/Bill dynamic from their time at Love of Life?

Or was it just a short term thing like her role on ATWT?

Maybe Toni wasn't interested in contract gigs?

That would make sense. I should try to look for one of the interviews Toni had around then (I think there was one somewhere).

About a minute into this interview Tina Sloan mentions having some Somerset clips in her one-woman show. If she still has those I wish she could make them available.

 

Somerset 1976 Pt 5

Julian returns, explaining that he’s been to see the assistant attorney general in Washington about the Organization takeover in Somerset, but Washington’s cooperation is not immediately forthcoming. Carrie, under increasing emotional pressure, finally collapses in Julian’s office and is hospitalized. Learning of this, Steve disguises himself as a doctor and makes repeated stealthy visits to her bedside, reassuring her of his love for her. Steve feels he’s made inroads when he manages to obtain an Organization phone number by counting the dial clicks as Castor calls his superior. But Lieutenant Price finds there’s no connection to anyone. Steve is discouraged that all his leads—the “iron man” remark, the name Harry Rose, the music box, this phone number, and a second, which also proves nothing are inconclusive.

Discouraged, he and Carrie consider running now and not looking back. But Lieutenant Price points out what Steve already knows: The Organization will never let him go. No matter how long it takes, they’ll track him down. And Steve and Carrie admit to themselves that they can’t leave Julian to battle the Organization alone.

Steve is worried when Denny suddenly changes the a established route for their next money-exchange drop and refuses to explain why. They are unnerved when they come upon an unexpected roadblock—Sergeant Chip Williams, again—but their nervousness turns to shock when Williams goes to open the trunk and finds it empty: no money, nothing! Steve feels he’s  being set up by the Organization. Lieutenant Price tells Steve he didn’t order the roadblock but Chip was acting within bounds of good policework by setting it up. Chip then informs Castor that he wants quick results on his promotion.

Tom, under increasing pressure from the Organization to get Greg’s notebooks, manages to get Lena to  accidentally reveal that Greg’s things are in his suitcase in her attic. Tom lures Lena out of the house with tickets to a lecture series and searches for the notebooks. Greg’s effects are there, but not the books. Lena returns to find that her house has been entered, but tells Lieutenant Price she’s sure nothing has been taken. Tom realizes he has to cover himself with Lena  and decides that the best way is to forthrightly admit that Lena told him about the notebooks. He therefore tells Julian himself, upsetting Julian, who realizes all too well that if the Organization learns that Steve knew about Greg’s notebooks, he will be killed immediately.

At Dan’s instigation, Vickie again tries to warn Julian to think of his own safety. But Julian explains that too many people are too involved and their safety can be assured only if he follows his course to completion. When Vickie mentions the possibility of a future together, Julian doesn’t discourage her, but he makes it clear that the Organization investigation must be concluded first.

Harrington and Castor put their plan to eliminate Julian and Steve at the same time into effect. Castor explains to Chip that they can’t give him Lieutenant Price’s job, because they can’t get rid of Price now too. However, they will assure Chip of a swift rise in  rank though the department and a hefty bonus every month. Chip accepts the offer.

Steve, meanwhile, has come up with three more telephone numbers: the local country club’s, an exclusive tailoring shop’s, and the Register’s! Julian enlists Vickie’s help in obtaining membership lists from the club and the tailor’s client list but refuses to tell  her what’s happening. Ironically, Vickie’s the only one who holds the solution to connecting the clues.  While checking the lists for duplications, Julian routinely eliminates Harrington’s name. Tom is under increasing pressure to uncover the Register’s source of information, and knows he could take the pressure off of himself by revealing that Steve had Greg’s notebooks. However, his love for Carrie, even though she’s made it clear she doesn’t share his feelings, keeps him from hurting her by sealing Steve’s fate.

Castor arranges for his hit man and he and Chip start the chain of events leading, they hope, to Julian’s death and Steve’s conviction for it. Positioning the hit man at Chimney Corners with the gun bearing Steve’s fingerprints, Castor informs Steve that he will make ‘the money pickup alone tonight. However, Denny, unwilling to be an accessory to this trap, warns Steve, who is unable to reach Julian at the Register. Julian is already on his way to Chimney Corners, because Chip cleverly arranged for Vickie to “overhear” a  prearranged phone call, apparently from an informer, saying that Steve is to be killed at Chimney Corners.

As he knew she would, Vickie immediately notified Julian, who took off instantly, arranging with Carrie to  notify Price. In trying to save Julian from the hit man’s bullet, Steve is shot. He is rushed to the hospital in critical condition. However, he hangs on until Jerry can perform emergency surgery, and there is now a chance that he’ll make it. Tom, at the hospital to offer Carrie support, sees his regular Organization contact there with another man and warns Julian by anonymous phone tip that another attempt will be made on his life. Price has the  hospital searched and, on to Chip, questions him about why he didn’t follow up on his informer’s tip. Chip  tries to shrug it off, claiming this informer isn’t always correct.

Thanks @Paul Raven . We are fully into the crime story era now. I don't remember how many characters were on the show at this point, but we are lucky to hear about four or five of them in material that summed up (I assume) months of episodes.

On 6/15/2025 at 5:44 AM, Paul Raven said:

Somerset 1976 Pt 5

Julian returns, explaining that he’s been to see the assistant attorney general in Washington about the Organization takeover in Somerset, but Washington’s cooperation is not immediately forthcoming. Carrie, under increasing emotional pressure, finally collapses in Julian’s office and is hospitalized. Learning of this, Steve disguises himself as a doctor and makes repeated stealthy visits to her bedside, reassuring her of his love for her. Steve feels he’s made inroads when he manages to obtain an Organization phone number by counting the dial clicks as Castor calls his superior. But Lieutenant Price finds there’s no connection to anyone. Steve is discouraged that all his leads—the “iron man” remark, the name Harry Rose, the music box, this phone number, and a second, which also proves nothing are inconclusive.

Discouraged, he and Carrie consider running now and not looking back. But Lieutenant Price points out what Steve already knows: The Organization will never let him go. No matter how long it takes, they’ll track him down. And Steve and Carrie admit to themselves that they can’t leave Julian to battle the Organization alone.

Steve is worried when Denny suddenly changes the a established route for their next money-exchange drop and refuses to explain why. They are unnerved when they come upon an unexpected roadblock—Sergeant Chip Williams, again—but their nervousness turns to shock when Williams goes to open the trunk and finds it empty: no money, nothing! Steve feels he’s  being set up by the Organization. Lieutenant Price tells Steve he didn’t order the roadblock but Chip was acting within bounds of good policework by setting it up. Chip then informs Castor that he wants quick results on his promotion.

Tom, under increasing pressure from the Organization to get Greg’s notebooks, manages to get Lena to  accidentally reveal that Greg’s things are in his suitcase in her attic. Tom lures Lena out of the house with tickets to a lecture series and searches for the notebooks. Greg’s effects are there, but not the books. Lena returns to find that her house has been entered, but tells Lieutenant Price she’s sure nothing has been taken. Tom realizes he has to cover himself with Lena  and decides that the best way is to forthrightly admit that Lena told him about the notebooks. He therefore tells Julian himself, upsetting Julian, who realizes all too well that if the Organization learns that Steve knew about Greg’s notebooks, he will be killed immediately.

At Dan’s instigation, Vickie again tries to warn Julian to think of his own safety. But Julian explains that too many people are too involved and their safety can be assured only if he follows his course to completion. When Vickie mentions the possibility of a future together, Julian doesn’t discourage her, but he makes it clear that the Organization investigation must be concluded first.

Harrington and Castor put their plan to eliminate Julian and Steve at the same time into effect. Castor explains to Chip that they can’t give him Lieutenant Price’s job, because they can’t get rid of Price now too. However, they will assure Chip of a swift rise in  rank though the department and a hefty bonus every month. Chip accepts the offer.

Steve, meanwhile, has come up with three more telephone numbers: the local country club’s, an exclusive tailoring shop’s, and the Register’s! Julian enlists Vickie’s help in obtaining membership lists from the club and the tailor’s client list but refuses to tell  her what’s happening. Ironically, Vickie’s the only one who holds the solution to connecting the clues.  While checking the lists for duplications, Julian routinely eliminates Harrington’s name. Tom is under increasing pressure to uncover the Register’s source of information, and knows he could take the pressure off of himself by revealing that Steve had Greg’s notebooks. However, his love for Carrie, even though she’s made it clear she doesn’t share his feelings, keeps him from hurting her by sealing Steve’s fate.

Castor arranges for his hit man and he and Chip start the chain of events leading, they hope, to Julian’s death and Steve’s conviction for it. Positioning the hit man at Chimney Corners with the gun bearing Steve’s fingerprints, Castor informs Steve that he will make ‘the money pickup alone tonight. However, Denny, unwilling to be an accessory to this trap, warns Steve, who is unable to reach Julian at the Register. Julian is already on his way to Chimney Corners, because Chip cleverly arranged for Vickie to “overhear” a  prearranged phone call, apparently from an informer, saying that Steve is to be killed at Chimney Corners.

As he knew she would, Vickie immediately notified Julian, who took off instantly, arranging with Carrie to  notify Price. In trying to save Julian from the hit man’s bullet, Steve is shot. He is rushed to the hospital in critical condition. However, he hangs on until Jerry can perform emergency surgery, and there is now a chance that he’ll make it. Tom, at the hospital to offer Carrie support, sees his regular Organization contact there with another man and warns Julian by anonymous phone tip that another attempt will be made on his life. Price has the  hospital searched and, on to Chip, questions him about why he didn’t follow up on his informer’s tip. Chip  tries to shrug it off, claiming this informer isn’t always correct.

I watched live during this period (as a kid) with my Grandma and the show was not enjoyable to watch.  Slow, mostly uninteresting compared to the six month period when they focused on Dale/Ellen and the murderer with the senior crowd. That was such a fun six months. My grandmother scoffed at Ellen and Dale but watched every day. The subsequent writer and crime plots couldn't hold a candle to Edge and they shouldn't have tried.

This is from the May 1976 SOD, with Suzanne Rogers on the cover. That cover & some other pages can be seen in the Retro thread. SOMERSET was featured. If there is anything that can't be read, holler & I will take another picture, closer and/or type up the unruly passage. 

This or the one just before here are the end.

 

5 hours ago, VelekaCarruthers said:

I watched live during this period (as a kid) with my Grandma and the show was not enjoyable to watch.  Slow, mostly uninteresting compared to the six month period when they focused on Dale/Ellen and the murderer with the senior crowd. That was such a fun six months. My grandmother scoffed at Ellen and Dale but watched every day. The subsequent writer and crime plots couldn't hold a candle to Edge and they shouldn't have tried.

That's interesting. It doesn't read as compelling but I still wish I could see some.

Did she ever try any of that Lovers & Friends show?

 

I still think the earlier lists of head writers on this board and other places is incorrect as to the final three head writers. I watched the show with my grandmother and my recollection is that the progressive stories with Dale/Ellen and the older folks, murder plot was Don Appell/Winifred Wolf with Frank Salisbury, then they replaced those head writers with Kubeck whose period was terrible compared to the Appel period. My recollection is that in the final few months (and I see from the May 76 photo above that Kubeck is listed as the writer with Jamison Parker still in the cast) the show brought in AJ Russell with Frank Salisbury. Jamison was gone. Ellen and Jill were never on as I think GJ was ill. AJ I believe created the characters that Gene and Toni Bua played,.  I wish there were tapes or other evidence of this, but that's my recollection.  I remember by grandma being happy they replace Kubeck because the show was improving when it was cancelled. I guess I could have it backwards with AJ and Kubeck, but I don't think so.

Edited July 3Jul 3 by VelekaCarruthers

On 1/31/2025 at 1:38 PM, Xanthe said:

Thanks for these tidbits. I have no idea who Karla would be but Somerset wasn't on for even one decade, let alone multiple, so her claim of seniority doesn't sound accurate. It makes me wonder if Sloan is mixing it up with another longer-running show or just confusing details. But the despair of the older actress rings true enough.

Are there any long-running soap actresses named Karla?

If you substitute SEARCH FOR TOMORROW for SOMERSET, and Mary Stuart for Karla, then it makes complete sense. Stuart had been on SFT for two decades and wasn’t crazy about younger actresses stealing her thunder on “her” show.  Tina played Patti at that time. Perhaps Tina is fudging the names, or perhaps her memory is poor, since she also claimed that Kate had the first soap abortion ever on SOMERSET. We all know it was Pat Matthews on AW. 

On 7/3/2025 at 2:05 PM, VelekaCarruthers said:

I still think the earlier lists of head writers on this board and other places is incorrect as to the final three head writers. I watched the show with my grandmother and my recollection is that the progressive stories with Dale/Ellen and the older folks, murder plot was Don Appell/Winifred Wolf with Frank Salisbury, then they replaced those head writers with Kubeck whose period was terrible compared to the Appel period. My recollection is that in the final few months (and I see from the May 76 photo above that Kubeck is listed as the writer with Jamison Parker still in the cast) the show brought in AJ Russell with Frank Salisbury. Jamison was gone. Ellen and Jill were never on as I think GJ was ill. AJ I believe created the characters that Gene and Toni Bua played,.  I wish there were tapes or other evidence of this, but that's my recollection.  I remember by grandma being happy they replace Kubeck because the show was improving when it was cancelled. I guess I could have it backwards with AJ and Kubeck, but I don't think so.

Is the head writer information on The Another World Homepage or Somerset Register correct

http://anotherworldhomepage.com/spinoffs.html
 

https://web.archive.org/web/20130724045214/http://awinsomerset.com/production-credts.html