ALL: What are your lost soap media "holy grails" for 2025?

[DRW50]

We all know most soap episodes from before the last few decades are gone, but every year there is usually one gem or another which pops up. 2024 had a number of them, from the 1991 OLTL changeover period, to a number of early/mid '80s Loving and Capitol episodes, to precious glimpses at Harding Lemay-era AW, to a few scattered glimpses at 78-80 ATWT and 1980 GL, to a few more gaps filled in on Marland's ATWT run, to a few early GH episodes, a few Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow episodes, to the steady stream of original 80-83 Edge of Night airings, etc. 

And of course the number of scripts - many from Y&R, and glimpses of Where the Heart Is, Secret Storm, ATWT, GL, Search, etc. 

This isn't about what is likely to be found, it's what you want to see again, what you may hope to somehow manifest in 2025, so if you have a need to remind us that this stuff isn't around...we get it. 

There are a lot of things I could say - I'd take any scene or episode from any soap from the '50s to the late '70s - so I am just going to focus on what I specifically want to see. 

- any fragment of Dumont's Faraway Hill

- anything from Where the Heart Is 

- more of the Labine-era Love of Life

- anything of Somerset beyond the few scraps we have

- more 1982 material from Ryan's Hope (we currently have one episode and promos) 

- more Dobsons-era GL and more radio era GL episodes

- any "lost" radio soaps

- more of Edith (Ruth Warrick) on ATWT

- anything of Another Life's pre-syndication episodes. I know they were reportedly very poor, but I still want to see them.

-  I still want to see more '80s Loving...not exactly soap greatness, but I have a soft spot for Loving, I always have, I always will

- more '60s or '70s AW

- anything of early Kim on ATWT, especially her relationship with Bob

- more of that odd period of 79-82 Y&R

- while Archive is still around I wish articles and soap magazines of the '60s through the early '80s could show up there - I have a lot of scans, but some are on dying or dead computers, and there's so much I could never afford to buy 

Edited January 2 by DRW50

[cody_1990]

More of lost episodes of The Doctors (1980-1982) and the early years that apparently were in the archives (63-67).

More Days episodes from the 65-82 period of the show. Anything from 66-69 for sure. I’d love to see more from the Salam Strangler, other than the edits that have been out there for years. I’d love to see Mary’s death. I know those episodes were on WOST many years ago. I think that was one of Days first BIG location shoots. 

Anything Pre 1978 for General Hospital. I am really fascinated by the 1975-1977 period of the show. The 1977 edits on YouTube were a great watch. 
 

Anything from Bright Promise, Return to Peyton Place, How to Survive a Marriage and Somerset. 

Pre 1979 Edge of Night. The early Slesar years sound so amazing. 1968-1972 would be incredible finds. 
 

Early Another World. 1970s especially.  Iris/Mac/Rachel, Steve and Alice, Crazy Olive. 

[Franko]

If they exist, the bibles to Manhattan Lives, The Soul Survivors, and Aremid.

[Contessa Donatella]

Just been posting about this elsewhere. Must be something in us as we ponder closing out one year & welcoming a new one. Thanks for creating the topic. 

For me, immediately, it is STRONGLY anything from Pete Lemay's original tenure at AW. And, of course if any of that included our divine Beverlee McKinsey it would obviously be icing on the cake. I offer prayers up to the universe & to Soap Jesus for some person with a vault chockfull of kinescopes to come to their senses & realize that material is deteriorating by every second that goes by & rush all of it to a video lab. Then, at that point, in this theoretical I'm stringing along, I panic that the owner of this private video treasure dies & their people have zero clue what all that old stuff is!!! 

BTW, this is just my first dip into this, here. "I'll be back!" 

Edited January 2 by Contessa Donatella
lingering thought

[Maxim]

This is the topic that I've been waiting for my whole life.

1. AW - THE 1970s!!!!!!!! Anything... anything!!!!!!!!!! 

2. AW - 1982 to 1985 - these years have only scattered episodes available.

3. GUIDING LIGHT -  any 1970s and 1980s in ENGLISH.

4. AS THE WORLD TURNS - Douglas Marland entire run.

5. CAPITOL - in English

6. ALL MY CHILDREN - The 80s and early 90s... 

 

I will continue tomorrow. This is sort of a DREAM board. 

 

[DRW50]

Great choices. I remember seeing that DAYS episode somewhere there or elsewhere - Julie and Doug in Victorian era comedy mode contrasted with Mary biting the dust. 

I do hope a few more of those Doctors episodes pop up. At least there's a shot.

I'd love that. And that Calliope show if it ever got that far along.

I hoped it might be a common topic. I wasn't even sure whether to put it in this section or not but decided to as the current soaps (three of them anyway) have so much "lost" material. 

There's such a huge lost media collection out there for many forms of entertainment, but beyond the tape trading circuit, not a ton for soaps. I do hope there's just a lot we aren't hearing about and someone has been taking care of treasures and surprised we might get someday. So much is gone or presumed gone that even finding a baked copy of a random Brighter Day episode is a cause for joy.

[Maxim]

The Young And The Restless from episode 1... in a premium youtube channel that you are a member of to see episodes... in a follow-up to Bold uploading their whole catalog.

As I know... Young And The Restless have the entire series available and no media is destroyed.

This is the one that I believe some day we'll get. 

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Edited January 2 by Maxim

[DRW50]

That would be a great idea. Even a few full episodes a year would be something.

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay, I have no idea what that means. What makes something a 'baked' copy?

In the vein of people having treasures & our hoping they're taking care of them, I know of an actual event that is amusing about that. A certain actress had a videotape of an AMC episode that had originally belonged to Agnes Nixon & it was in the bottom of her closet just being kicked around for a long time till she finally thought about what that was that she kept accidentally kicking & made a decision & took action right off the bat & got it to someone (a soap fan who was a friend of hers) who immediately made a copy of it, etc. 

[DRW50]

Sorry - I just meant bad quality (visuals, sound, etc.).

That's a nice story for AMC. 

I hope some of the episodes Rosemary Prinz had digitized may show up someday for all to see.

Edited January 2 by DRW50

[Contessa Donatella]

Oh, you! Yes, that is she of the anecdote. So that is one that lived with her for a long while & has now been digitized but I have no idea who has access to it. I believe it is held by a private cadre. My fervent hope is that we can get  those special folks to make these jewels more widely available. I know some of these guys. One of them even just, out of the blue, gave me a clip of the opening to MISS SUSAN. See, he did not charge me for it!!! Totally gifted it for me. Now he did it because he knew her show is the first example of star billing & he knew I would immediately do a new version of the Star Billing Blog to include it once I had the clip. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that generosity on his part as well as the fact that he previously did not have it, so somehow he found it!!! And, then, of course, I appreciate people being that helpful & interested from the historical point of view. 

Edited January 2 by Contessa Donatella
typos are always with us

[DRW50]

That's a lovely story. Glad to hear something of Miss Susan survived.

[P.J.]

I've become such a fan of classic GL this year, I would take anything from the Dobson era to '93. 

from the Dobson era: anything Chris Bernau/Lenore Kasdorf/Cindy Pickett related

from Marland: early Ross/Vanessa (including Vanessa's suicide attempt), Andy Norris and Carrie Todd (in particular the revelation that she'd killed Diane and Joe Bradley)

the Long years: there's a fair amount of this up, but whatever fills in the gaps. There's nothing more frustrating that watching episodes and hitting a gap. I can't believe Josh's accident isn't up in English. Quint and Nola's reception in it's entirety, because there's a section where Billy and Vanessa are getting to know each other, and the translation is bad. And of course, Beverlee McKinsey.

[DRW50]

I forgot (partly because what survives is not very exciting, ironically) that I hope more of the "adult" Showtime soaps, A New Day in Eden and Loving Friends and Perfect Couples, show up, especially if there are any in uncensored form.

 

Great choices. I'd definitely want to see more of this, especially more of the Carrie buildup. I'd also like to see the very last of Cindy Pickett as Jackie.

[YRfan23]

This is echoing a lot of everyone's wishes, but If I ever see a post break out that says: "Y&R to Stream their entire archive from Day 1, on their Insider Page!" I'd die and gone to heaven!

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