Thanks Paul. I will try to update it as much as I can.

We should list who was writing the shows in that month.

AMC: Agnes Nixon

ATWT: Robert Soderberg & Edith Sommer

AW: Harding LeMay
Days: William J. Bell with Pat Falken Smith

Doctors: Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock

Edge: Henry Slesar

GH: Bridget and Jerome Dobson

GL: James Lipton & Don Wallace

HTSAM: Margaret DePriest

LOL: Claire Labine & Paul Avila Mayer

OLTL: Gordon Russell and Sam Hall

SFT: Ann Marcus

SOMERSET: Robert J. Shaw with Winifred Wolfe

Y&R: William J. Bell

Thanks for doing this, FrenchFan.

saynotoursoap I love your icon.

We should list who was writing the shows in that month.

AMC: Agnes Nixon

ATWT: Robert Soderberg & Edith Sommer

AW: Harding LeMay

Days: William J. Bell with Pat Falken Smith

Doctors: Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock

Edge: Henry Slesar

GH: Bridget and Jerome Dobson

GL: James Lipton & Don Wallace

HTSAM: Margaret DePriest

LOL: Claire Labine & Paul Avila Mayer

OLTL: Gordon Russell and Sam Hall

SFT: Ann Marcus

SOMERSET: Robert J. Shaw with Winifred Wolfe

Y&R: William J. Bell

Such awesome writers

Amazing how many plots on these shows revolved around medical and mental issues. Suicide, surgery, chronic illness. All so depressing sort of but so many fans tuned in to see the drama. No big corporate drama, no international spies and mobsters dominating.

The serials reflected society, and that was an era of pop psychology. Characters were encouraged to explore their feelings and motivations for behavior, hence therapeutic for real-life viewers facing similar problems. Of course, in those days characters had substance. The audience cared more about the characters than the plot. Personally, I find it far less depressing than contemporary soaps, which also reflect current society. We live in a society of narcissism and self-centered, confrontational behavior. People think nothing of picking up a gun, killing another person, and justifying their actions with the most pathetic of excuses, "I was being disrespected." Consequently, lead characters in soaps can be rapists, murderers, and commit any number of heinous sins, and the audience accepts them because this behavior can be seen in every newscast, on every talk show, and in every internet headline. This depresses me. Soaps were once morality plays with good triumphing over evil, or with complex characters who did bad things but ultimately changed. Now even "good" characters do bad things, and we dismiss it jokingly. I watched Y&R the other day. There was a scene in which Phyllis became unhinged in Underground and screamed, "I'm the sanest person in this room." It was meant as irony, but quite frankly, there was more truth in it than intended.

Viewing 1968 episodes on RetroTV, it is really interesting to read the summary of The Doctors. Rita Lakin and Rick Edelstein's version is so adult and strives for realism. It seems more of a serialized drama than a "soap opera". With the Pollocks, one can see how drastically the tone changes in the 1970s with soapy cliches and amped up melodrama (some of which the duo utilized quite amusingly on Dynasty). The Doctors evolves into something very different. If Retro broadcasts the series long enough, I will be interested to read reactions to it on this board.

Thanks for doing this, FrenchFan.

saynotoursoap I love your icon

Oh, I love yours, too! I was very happy to see Gillian Taylforth on EastEnders yesterday, but I told my husband that the actress I really want to see return, even for a cameo, is Sue Tully. I so miss those three women in your icon. They are the "heart" of EE.

Me too. I know she's a director now but I'd love to see her one more time, especially if they are building up the Fowlers again.

I agree so much with your comments about the way soaps were written then compared to now. I have to admit a part of me dreads seeing the later Doctors material as much as a part of me looks forward to it.

Most of all I just wish the ATWT and AW material from 1975 had not been destroyed.

I've always felt that the 1970s was the best decade for the soaps, overall.

((Sigh))

I long for the good old days, when literate writers penned compelling storylines for complex, fascinating characters.

I've always felt that the 1970s was the best decade for the soaps, overall.

((Sigh))

I long for the good old days, when literate writers penned compelling storylines for complex, fascinating characters.

I could not agree more! We had more soaps than ever from which to choose, yet they were all quite unique. The production values had improved since the early days, better sets and better music, though they retained their charm. They were still about home and family and community. You had a sense of continuity with the past. My biggest regret for the industry is that so much of that era was wiped when it could have been saved, and my regret now is that what was saved is largely left to rot in vaults. We have been fortunate that Ryan's Hope and The Doctors were salvaged. If only Televest would find a platform for us to enjoy the P&G soaps, and someone would get on the ball and release 70s Days and Y&R. Hope springs eternal, but my days are dwindling.

I could not agree more! We had more soaps than ever from which to choose, yet they were all quite unique. The production values had improved since the early days, better sets and better music, though they retained their charm. They were still about home and family and community. You had a sense of continuity with the past. My biggest regret for the industry is that so much of that era was wiped when it could have been saved, and my regret now is that what was saved is largely left to rot in vaults. We have been fortunate that Ryan's Hope and The Doctors were salvaged. If only Televest would find a platform for us to enjoy the P&G soaps, and someone would get on the ball and release 70s Days and Y&R. Hope springs eternal, but my days are dwindling.

You said it perfectly.

In the 1970s, soap fans could really take for granted that soaps would offer us mesmerizing, diverse entertainment (regardless of the scorn heaped upon the genre from clueless and condescending critics). The quality of certain soaps survived into the 1980s, and a couple of the shows even managed to churn out quality, literate entertainment into the early 1990s (Claire Labine's tenure at GH and Nancy Curlee's reign at TGL), but the soaps have generally been a wasteland since about 1995.

We will never again see the likes of Henry Slesar's brilliant, intricate mysteries (the Jonah Lockwood saga on TEON being a landmark in suspense), or long-running character sagas that pull at the viewers' heartstrings for YEARS (like the engrossing Alice/Steven/Rachel triangle on AW).

Thank heavens for all the vintage material to be found on youtube, but you are right: they need to release the early years of DAYS (1966 to 1976, under Bell and Smith) and Y&R (particularly 1973 to 1983).

Thank you very much FrenchFan....and I can't wait for March 1975!!!! Thank you!!!!!!