Scarlett Hill

[DRW50]

I'm not quite sure what the years on this are (I've seen everything from 1962-1966), but saynotoursoap uploaded an episode. It's actually much better than I would have expected. The woman playing the mother is good - she's a very theatrical actress, in her mannerisms, but she sells everything the character goes through, and she goes through quite a lot in the episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1HLkAYlzKw

[DRW50]

From Chris Schemering's soap encyclopedia:

1965-1966 Syndicated

A kind of mini-Grand Hotel, this little-known serial premiered in New York on September 20, 1965, and had a short syndicated run. The show dramatized the lives of various people residing at a hotel in Scarlett Hill, New York, Kate Russell, the landlady, managed to be in on all the intrigue, including Dr. David Black's proposal to the young heroine, Janice Turner.

Janice Turner - Suzanne Bryant

Dr. David Black - Gordon Pinsent

Kate Russell - Beth Lockerbie

Walter Pendelton - Ivor Barry

Ginny - Lucy Warner

Sidney - Alan Pearce

Harry - Ed McNamara

[saynotoursoap]

The episode I posted was recorded in either 1962 or 1963. Scarlett Hill was taped at the Robert Lawrence Productions studio in Toronto, the same studio later used to record the Douglass Watson serial Moment of Truth. From the best that I can determine, Scarlett Hill was produced in 1962 and 1963. Reruns of those episodes continued to air in Canada through 1965. The same 62/63 episodes were then syndicated to the United States beginning in 1965. The format was similar to the early years of The Doctors. One complete story played out over five episodes. Anecdotal evidence suggests the CBC attempted to keep the five episodes running Monday through Friday, so when preemptions occurred, an episode would just be skipped in order to keep the series on schedule. Naturally, this angered many fans. An interesting aside: the CBS affiliate in St. Joseph, Missouri carried Scarlett Hill in lieu of The Edge of Night.

[DRW50]

Thanks. This is a big help to filling in blanks. I'm surprised at this subject matter for 62-63, although it explains the titles.

I wonder why that town didn't care for EON.

[saynotoursoap]

It must have been perhaps a regional thing, or maybe the station manager found Edge too violent. Who knows. From the research I have done, it seems no soap has ever received 100 percent affiliate clearance. Even GH in the 80s with its massively inflated numbers was not carried by every ABC station. Regional differences in soap watching is quite fascinating to me.

[slick jones]

Does anyone know what date this show went off the air in the U.S.?

[dc11786]

I've been doing some research on "Scarlett Hill" this past week. The show was shown in syndication as late as September 1968. Its listed in newspapers for Indiana/Pennsylvania during this time period.

The initial Canadian run was from October 1962 until January 1964 with a hiatus during the summer of 1963. As saynotoursoap says, it was similar to 'The Doctors' as it, too, evolved. During the first 26 weeks, "Scarlett Hill" aired a story over a period of 5 days with several characters appearing in a recurring role as citizens of Scarlett Hill. The character who recurred the most often was actor Henry Comor as Graham Hicks, an unscrupulous lawyer. In April 1963, the show launched the story "Room to Let" which aired for the show's final 26 weeks. This is story that is described in the soap book listing. Beth Lockerbie played Kate Russell, who ran a boarding house, and she had a brother Harry Macclaine and a daughter Ginny. There were other characters who worked in and out of the story.

[DRW50]

That's really interesting. I hope we can see more someday. Thanks for finding that info.