A Review of 1978 from Jon Micheal Reed. Seemed to forget All My Children...
BUFFALO COURIER EXPRESS. Saturday. January 6, 1979
NEW YORK — As the New Year begins, let's take a look at a few of the notable soap opera achievements of the past year. The ‘'Miracle” soap story of 1978 was the “rebirth'' of ABC's 15-year-old aerial, “General Hospital.” A year ago this show was approaching cancellation. A new producer, Gloria Monty, and a new headwriter, Douglas Marland, infused a new visual glamor and vigorous storylines for the ailing warhorse. Today, “GH” often ranks number one in the daytime Nielsen ratings. Despite the healthy symptoms, the prognosis isn’t entirely positive. The cast includes a number of weak, awkward performers, especially Mary O’Brien as Heather Webber.
AND WHILE cast newcomers receive a large share of storyline activity, the “old pros" who’ve been on the show for umpteen years are generally relegated to subsidiary inactivity. There also has been a marked and somewhat annoying storytelling tendency to focus on one storyline at a time and for an agonizing length to boot. That flaw, however, seems to be shifting in favor of more balanced, multistoried activity in the las couple of months.
Another notable soap “recovery” occurred on “Edge of Night.” In 1977, a glut of newcomers replaced the long-running characters. The emphasis was on romantic pap that didn’t jell with the show’s basic crimemystery format. IN THE PAST six months, the younger cast members have improved noticeably, and headwriter Henry Slesar gratefully returned to his incomparable storytelling mixture of romance laced with intrigue and set amidst melodramatic action. Slesar also incorporated topical subjects to his plots, such as the Children of the Earth cult and April’s psychic phenomena experiences.
For some reason, “Days of Our Lives” sank in the ratings at a time when the writing, at least to this viewer, seemed to sparkle with intelligence and well-rounded motivation.
“The Doctors,” too. hit the ratings pits, even though the writing of Linda Grover challenged the usual soap opera tendency of black and white stereotypes. But, again, there seemed to be too much and too prolonged concentration on one story at a time.
THE CASTS of “Guiding Light'' and “As the World Turns" proved in 1978 that they are among the most underrated in daytime television. When story material is weakly motivated as on *GL” or in a state of flux as on “ATWT and the performers still manage to make the stones interesting and “bookable,” the vitality of the actors can’t be ignored. "ATWT" generally failed in its attempt to join the more contemporary serials in both physical appearance and plots. It was however a noble effort that shouldn’t be completely shunted aside.
“RYAN’S Hope,”which sports the snappiest, wittiest dialogue on the tube, suffered from a severe case of massive ast turnovers and replacements. It was difficult to empathize with characters whose faces changed quarterly.
“Another World" experienced a similar problem with periodic cast dismissals and newcomers who ended their run just as they were beginning to trot. The emphasis on the Perrini family, however, was, io this viewer, a refreshing addition to the show, as was the spotlight on the superb talents of Dorothy Lyman (Gwen Frame), Brian Murray (Dan Shearer), Jay Morran (Vince Frame), among others, and let's not overlook the sometimes neglected Beverly Penberthy (Pat Randolph)
FOR THOSE critics who complain that soap operas don’t move at a rapid pace, “One Life to Live,” proved that soaps can progress unlethargically and excitingly. No small thanks to be given to headwriters Gordon Russell and Sam Hall for giving the sublime Al Freeman and Ellen Holly (Ed and Carla Hall) strong story material after years of virtual do-nothingness.
“Search For Tomorrow” and “Love of Life” underwent sweeping changes in story and character focus. “Search” is recently settling into a comfortable and attractive niche, but it’s too early to tell whether “Love of Life” can be saved by its new producer, Cathy Abbi, and new headwriter, Jean Holloway.
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Paul Raven ·
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