Search was always my favorite soap and over the past several weeks have found this board again and decided to post my thoughts, many in agreement of what was said in previous posts and some differences.

Have watched many of the first NBC shows for the first time in years and, yes, they do appear to be CBS ones, maybe because all the sets and studio were still the same, as were the characters. Jumping to the summer of 82, it definitely had a younger and more NBC feel to it, which when I originally watched them bothered me, but doesn't jar me so much now. That may be because compared to what we see on soaps today, Search was in way better shape. Unfortunately, too many changes, too many characters over the years ruined the show. It's NBC timeslot was the real reason it doomed, which is ironic to me, since the 1230 slot insistence was what prompted the move to NBC in the first place. Had Search been sandwiched between Days and AW, it could have had a resurgence, especially with Lee and Tomlin at the helm. One other thing that stands out to me is that while there were too many writer and storyline changes over the years, it seems that even in its hey dey, that was also the case. I blame the timeslot and network for the eventual downfall of this once great soap, which on second (or third!) glance was in way better shape than I thought even in its dismal NBC days.

So many other thoughts, but I don't want to bore everyone. I may post more later, as Search will always be my #1 soap and the divine Marcia McCabe my favorite soap actress ever.

As I continue to watch 85-86 episodes, I'm struck by a few more thoughts. I get that Gideon wasn't Mathis, but not sure who could have replaced her. I have been impressed with her work, especially after they basically redid the Sunny story with Liza, making her pathetic actions to keep Hogan sound like she was more of a desperate shrew, than the leading character of Search. I would be interested to have seen her in a completely new pairing had the show survived.

Also, to me Hogan/Sunny to me were the endgame and I wonder if that might have happened had Tomlin remained since he started the pairing in 1983?

Also, the teen scene was sorely lacking and that's where Traci and Chris could have come in and perhaps Traci fall for a returning Todd Adamson and Chris was in love with a new girl, who was the new vixen on the show who really wanted Traci's man (shades of Nola Reardon there.)

One final thought, was I the only one annoyed by the Quinn character? not a huge Meek fan to begin with, and usually fast forward through any scene or coupling he was in.