1 hour ago, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

@vetsoapfan You have to excuse me, vetsoapfan. Even though I have yet to properly watch Rich Man, Poor Man Book II for myself, I have become very interested in Kimberly Beck, who had a significant role on that miniseries. The aforementioned Facebook friend of mine has told me that Kim was very good on it. Did you catch any part of Kimberly's 1982-83 stint as Julie Clegg on Capitol? How about her four-episode stint as Claire Prentice on Dynasty during the 1986-87 season? How about her 1975 stint as Samantha Livingstone on General Hospital? Less than a year after leaving Capitol, she appeared as Trish Jarvis in the hit slasher movie Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Curiously, Kimberly never appeared on any Quinn Martin TV series, not even Barnaby Jones. Why was that? Another World alum Susan Sullivan, who played Kim's mother on Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, appeared in two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Even Robin Mattson guest-starred on Barnaby Jones as well as on the short-lived QM series Operation: Runaway before she began appearing as Heather Webber on General Hospital. Heck, Robin even appeared in an episode of the Bill Bixby TV series The Incredible Hulk. Kimberly never did despite being a Universal Studios contract player during the 1970s. Did Kim dislike the general horror genre that much before she did Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter?

By the way, Robin Mattson left the role of Heather Webber on GH at the same basic time that Kimberly Beck left the role of Julie Clegg on Capitol. I wonder if Robin was considered as a replacement for Kim on Capitol.

I know who Kimberly Beck is. I first watched her in 1965 ,when she was a child actress and appeared as Kim Shuster on the primetime soap Peyton Place. Later, in 1977, she played a totally different character in the TV movie Murder in Peyton Place.

Of all the projects she has been in, I liked the quirky cult film Massacre at Central High (1977). While it was ultra-low budget and had its weaknesses, it had a certain somethin g which made it curiously interesting.

And yes, I watched Capitol throughout Beck's run as Julie Clegg.

I don't believe she's done much film or television work in many years, aside from performing a few voice-over parts.

Actually, strangely enough, I enjoyed the novel Beggarman Thief much more than the TV miniseries version of it.

Interesting. Did the novel more closely connect the plots from RM,PM to BM,T? There did seem to be almost a deliberate disconnect between the two television mini-series. I'm wondering if the two novels might have had more in common.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Tisy-Lish

3 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

Now, I have no idea if Beggarman, Thief was a good sequel to RM, PM. It may have been wonderful, or perhaps it was dreadful. I just don't think the viewers gave it a chance. I certainly did not at the time.

The MASSIVE problem with Beggerman, Thief was that it followed a character that they totally excised from the original RMPM series: Rudy and Tom's sister Gretchen. She was the main focus of the adaptation of Beggerman, Thief. (Played, I believe, by the incomparable Jean Simmons, who still couldn't save it). I also recall that Lynn Redgrave was cast as Tom's widow--she couldn't have been more different from Kay Lenz, who played the part in the original. (Plus, she was quite a bit older than Lenz, I think).

These kind of event series don't happen anymore because of streaming. I remember SO clearly the reaction to RMPM--EVERYONE talked about it, it was water cooler talk, it was high school lunch room talk, it was college dorm room talk, it was a BIG freakin' deal. So you had an extremely large audience who experienced a different story from what was in the original book.

Sure, RMPM II was a flop, (poor writing and the absence of Nick Nolte being major factors, IMO) but at least it had a connection to the original with many of the original actors.

So it didn't matter if it was a faithful or even good adaptation of the book sequel--the only way Beggarman, Thief could have worked would have been if they had remade the original WITH Gretchen as a major character. Of course, they weren't going to do that.

Whoever at the network made the decision to greenlight Beggarman, Thief just really didn't think the whole thing through. It was a disaster.

24 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Sure, RMPM II was a flop, (poor writing and the absence of Nick Nolte being major factors, IMO) but at least it had a connection to the original with many of the original actors.

@DeeVee Well, I can't say that Rich Man, Poor Man Book II was a ratings flop. Sure, it didn't reach the blockbuster levels of its predecessor, but it still finished the 1976-77 television season in 21st place as far as the Nielsen ratings were concerned. It's my understanding that TPTB were willing to do a third Rich Man, Poor Man miniseries, but Peter Strauss vetoed that idea. However, I do admit that the original Rich Man, Poor Man TV miniseries was a tough act to follow.

57 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

And yes, I watched Capitol throughout Beck's run as Julie Clegg.

@vetsoapfan How do you think Kimberly Beck fared as Julie Clegg on Capitol? Do you think her replacement Catherine Hickland was any better? Do you think Capitol was beyond saving? You might want to read this piece by Connie Passalacqua Hayman.

By the way, vetsoapfan, do you even vaguely remember a short-lived Saturday-morning TV series from 1975 called Westwind? Nineteen-year-old Kimberly Beck regularly appeared as the daughter on that show, and it's my understanding that she did a lot of her own scuba diving for it. It's my understanding that she wore a wetsuit on Westwind. 😜

1 minute ago, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

Well, I can't say that Rich Man, Poor Man Book II was a ratings flop.

I really meant more of a critical flop. I'll admit it, I watched it. It blew but it had its soapy moments.