Vetsoapfan's Treasure Trove: Vintage Soap Material

[DRW50]

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Sorry about the glare.

[vetsoapfan]

 

No worries! My own scans have blotches and other defects. We can only do our best with ancient printed material and/or cheap scanners. I just love being able to read these classic pieces!

[teplin]

Great article. BTW, Slesar's $350,000 salary translates to $2.2 million today -- which seems like a bargain considering his achievements. 

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for digging into your treasure trove for us. Keep them coming, please!! ☺

[vetsoapfan]

 

My ancient and decrepit printer is on the fritz, but I'll upload more material when possible.

 

I'm always happy to hear someone saying they enjoy the articles.

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[amybrickwallace]

Yay!!

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☺

[jam6242]

From 1972, The Record (Hackensack, NJ)

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[SFK]

@vetsoapfan Share with us your impressions of the post-Pinkerton pre-Strasser, Malis era of Dorian on OLTL, please.

Edited November 6, 2019 by SFK

[Xanthe]

 

Interesting article with some fascinatingly dated language. Thanks.

 

Does anyone know who the performers were who went on David Frost and what they bitched and moaned about?

[jam6242]

Found this from March 1972.

 

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[Xanthe]

Thanks! 

[~bl~]

I wish this episode existed. I would absolutely enjoy it, though I wonder what sort of parody of soaps would be made in that era (non-Carol Burnett style). Thank you for finding the article, which gives us a bit of an idea of what happened.

Edited November 6, 2019 by ~bl~

[Franko]

Whoa, Tony kinda punched above his weight class by taking on Fulton, et. al.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I thought that the first few years, starting in 1968, of OLTL were brilliant. The story of Carla passing for white and her stormy relationship with her mother, was mesmerizing. The varied ethnic and economic backgrounds of the various characters was refreshing. The dialogue was natural and believable; the way people actually speak (not always common of soaps). The cast was comprised of both beautiful people and more "ordinary," next-door types that added realism to the show.

 

OLTL dipped in quality for a while after Agnes Nixon left completely. Although it was still quite watchable and always had a fine cast, the writing was sometimes...tepid. In the mid-1970s, even the directing was often inexplicably bad. Then in 1978, when the show paired Gordon Russell and Sam Hall, everything seemed to turn around again, and OLTL became as great as it had been during its first few years. 

 

Claire Malis was very good as Dorian. Many roles on daytime TV have been recast multiple times, with varying degrees of success. This show was fortunate in that virtually ALL five actresses chosen to play Dorian over the decades were well chosen, and that includes Malis. At the time she appeared, we also had Erika Slezak, Ellen Holly, Jacqueline Courtney, Judith Light, Brynn Thayer (who grew tremendously as a performer in a very short time) and many others; it was a show of stars; nary a bad apple in the bunch.  I'd say the the early saga of Carla's racial insecurities and then the 1978-9 material involving Karen Wolek's secret life as a prostitute and Viki Riley's murder trial (both of which were brilliantly intertwined) ended up being OLTL's very best plots. (There were other great storylines, of course, like the baby switch involving Jenny, Mary and Katrina Karr, and the Billy Douglas homophobia story).

 

IMHO, during the time Claire Malis appeared on the show, OLTL was at the very top of its game. I think from 1996 until its cancellation, the show's writing varied from weak to abysmal, but in the late 1970s, it was golden.

[vetsoapfan]

From Daily TV Serials, November 1975:

 

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