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Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 (1950)
BLOG 4 PAINTED DREAMS & HAWKINS FALLS
BLOG 4 PAINTED DREAMS & HAWKINS FALLS
THE MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO WORLDS WITHOUT END THE ART & HISTORY OF THE SOAP OPERA (1997) Harry N. Abrams, Inc. The Soap Opera on Television Despite the success of the serial in magazine publishing, at the movies, and on radio, there was still resistance by television execs to use the form. One of the visionaries of early television, NBC president Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, felt the radio technique woudn't work in a visual medium because there was higher absorption and greater tension demands on television. Although prime-time entertainment was successful in 1948 with Milton Berle vaudeville on television; it took three more years for the soap opera to make a successful jump.
The DuMont producer David P. Lewis, searched for daytime drama that would allow the housewife "to turn away and go on peeling potatoes or knitting." Even Irna Phillips failed in her initial attempt, a reworking of her first radio serial PAINTED DREAMS, because she made no concessions to the visual medium. One piece from Chicago, known for its realism, HAWKINS FALLS, ran three months in prime time and four years in the afternoon. Cocreator was Roy Winsor. Daytime Versus Early Prime Time Whatever the ultimate root of the critical prejudice against the television soap opera, it is interesting to note that it existed from the beginning, even when daytime and prime-time dramas were much closer in tone and style. During the fifties, daytime serial and live drama shared many of the same aesthetic values: both emphasized psychology of character and the power of the revelatory close-up; both employed actors who had training in the theater and writers working in the realistic tradition of the Broadway problem play; both were performed live
The Guiding Light (1952)
BLOG 3 GL & CANCELLATION
June 30 1952 - September 18 2009 Procter & Gamble CBS From the Schemering The longest-running drama in broadcast history, evolved from a radio soap about a minister and his flock in the 1930s and 1940s; to a fifteen minute television entry about the German-American Bauer family in the 1950s and 1960s; to a half hour drama about the romantic lives of Mike and Ed Bauer in the 1970s; to, finally, a triumphant hour celebrating the domestic interaction between various Springfield families in the 1980s. Created by Irna Phillips, THE GUIDING LIGHT began broadcasting on NBC's Red radio network January 25 1937. Supervision for Procter & Gamble was Compton Advertising Agency. Set in the fictional city of Five Points and introduced by organ music, the drama focused on Dr. John Ruthledge and the problems of his parishioners. The soap was inspirational in tone and frequently the whole show was given over to Ruthledge's sermon. These sermons, which taught that faith and patience brought happiness,proved to be so popular that a collection of them sold almost 300,000 copies. Originally broadcast from Chicago, the show was moved to Hollywood when Irna and her associates relocated to the West Coast. Then, in the late 1940s production was moved to New York and the setting of the drama was moved from Five Points to Selby Flats, a fictional suburb of Los Angeles, where the Bauer family lived. Similarly content was changed. The religious implications were gone. But, support of a close-knit family for crises became paramount. The Bauers were a first generation Germanic-American family with Old World values who struggled for a better life in the US.Among them were Mam Bauer, Papa Bauer, son Bill, Bill's wife Bert, Bill's sister Trudy and Meta, a feisty young woman who would cause trouble. Bert fought hard to keep the family together and became in a sense the "guiding light". Bill had become an alcoholic. Meta ran off & got pregnant by a cad named Ted who she murdered when he browbeat their child. Meta got off on a temporary insanity plea.
THE GUIDING LIGHT June 1952 Irna began broadcasting THE GUIDING LIGHT both on television and on radio but not simultaneously. (Fanlore has it that the networks were perpetually afraid of losing the radio revenue that they already had to take a chance on some television revenue that they didn't have and would take time to build up.) Irna assembled the cast at Liederkranz Hall for AM rehearsal & performance, live for television. Then they walked 5 blocks down to another studio & performed the same show for the radio audience. 4 years later they did away with the radio broadcast. While the show was being dually broadcast they moved the setting yet again, this time from California to the community of Springfield, somewhere in the Midwest. THE GUIDING LIGHT's successful transition from radio to television was rare. In the 1950s story, written by Irna & Agnes Nixon, focused on Meta's stepdaughter, Kathy. After Meta's husband died of cancer, Meta and Kathy both fought over Mark Holden, a business partner of Bill Bauer. In 1958 Kathy was killed in an automobile accident and CBS was swamped with protests. Irna answered fans with a form letter: "You have only to look around you, read your daily papers, to realize that we cannot, any of us, live with life alone ..." Meanwhile Bert tried to keep her marriage together. Agnes Nixon who had been Irna's associate became headwriter and THE GUIDING LIGHT flourished. This was the time that Agnes began to insert social and educational issues into the show. Bert Bauer's life was saved by early detection of uterine cancer. Mike Bauer married the scheming Charlotte Waring. (Charlotte Waring was played by Victoria Wyndham who later was Rachel on ANOTHER WORLD.) Agnes Nixon left the show to go headwrite ANOTHER WORLD IN THE MID 1960s. Writers during the next decade include: David Lesan, Julian Funt, Theodore and Mathilde Ferro, John Boruff, James Lipton, Gabrielle Upton, Jane and Ira Avery, Robert Soderberg, Edith Somner, James Gentile and Robert Cenedella. Color broadcast began spring 1967 with the show expanding to a half hour September 1968. The drama had not caught up with Irna's prote'ge's Agnes Nixon and Bill Bell. ALL MY CHILDREN and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS both became immensely popular with a mix of social-issue oriented drama and youthful romance. In 1975 Jerome and Bridget Dobson took over headwriting duties at THE GUIDING LIGHT and successfully contemporized it over the next 5 years. 1977 took the show to a full hour and the Dobsons constructed intricate triangles and quadrangles - Alan Spaulding, unhappy wife Elizabeth, son Phillip, Jackie Marler (the natural mother of Phillip), Mike Bauer, Hope Bauer and Justin Marler. Roger Thorpe seduced Ed Bauer's second wife Holly and his third wife Rita and Ed's half-sister Hillary. Roger became the sexiest villain and the audience refused to let him die even after a decade of troublemaking. After a sensational trial for marital rape (a gambit the Dobsons would repeat on AS THE WORLD TURNS) Roger was "killed" by Holly only to pop up again a year later to terrorize both Rita and Holly. The brilliantly directed sequence where Roger chased Rita through a hall of mirrors the recording of Barbara Streisand and Donna Summer's duet "Enough Is Enough" won THE GUIDING LIGHT the Emmy as Outstanding Daytime Drama 1980. Roger finally met his fate on location in the Dominican Republic where he fell to his death off a cliff. The star turn of Michael Zaslow ran from April 1 1971 for 9 years till April Fools' Day 1980. (Viewers never saw the body.) In 1980 Douglas Marland took over as headwriter, creating the triangle of Morgan Richards, Dr. Kelly Nelson and Nola Reardon. Lisa Brown's Nola was so energetic and convincing that CBS began receiving the most intense "hate" mail of any daytime performer since Eileen Fulton 2 decades before. Marland deservedly won Outstanding Writing Emmy 1981. He then exploited Lisa Brown's comedic flair and formidable acting skills in a series of famous fantasy sequences. Marland then wrote an intense hair-raising split personality story of character Carrie Todd played by Jane Elliot. Producer Allen Potter dropped it and a furious Marland finished out the few months of his contract and quit. Pat Falken Smith came on as headwriter for a short time and tried to disentangle what had become a convoluted mess. With L. Virginia Browne as headwriter Grant Aleksander came on as Phillip Spaulding, Ed Bauer's son Rick, Phillip's best friend was pushed to the forefront and the ratings jumped up 2 points. But TEXAS team Richard Culliton writer and Gail Kobe producer took over spring 1983 with the show in a critical slump, they put the show on the comeback trail, focusing on the Bauer family, finishing the byzantine storylines, and introducing the most appealing young-love stories ever on daytime. Headwriter Culliton and later Pamela K. Long (also of TEXAS) transformed THE GUIDING LIGHT back into a *famiily* show constructing stories around 5 main families - Bauers, Spauldings, Chamberlains, Lewises and Reardons. The audience began to respond to a senior prom, a civil war themed ball, young lovers on the run in Manhattan, "The Four Musketeers", flesh and blood figures, etc. Krista Tesreau the hilariously spoiled Mindy Lewis, Bill's daughter, Judi Evans (who nabbed an Emmy) as rape victim Beth Raines, taken advantage of by her stepfather, other Beth's husband. Vincent Irizarry the pugnacious Lujack, Michael O'Leary the sensitive med student Rick Bauer (known now by one & and all still as Mikey!) most especially Grant Aleksander the flamboyantly alienated Phillip Spaulding, with all seeming poised for stardom. The first half of 1984 the show added 2 million viewers while its competition GENERAL HOSPITAL lost 5 million with Luke & Laura leaving. The show zoomed to the #1 spot in the ratings, with the finest daytime drama over the past 5 years finally, if briefly, becoming the most popular. The introduction of the exquisite Beverlee McKinsey (top-billed on TEXAS) as Alexandra Spaulding brought new critical and commercial interest to the show. In October 1984 the Bauer family endured a number of hits. Hillary Bauer was killed off. Her brother Mike was written off. Ed Bauer was recast. February 28 1985 Charita Bauer died, the end of an era. Jerry verDorn who played Ross Marler read the words, "The continuing story GUIDING LIGHT is dedicated to the memory of Charita Bauer, whose portrayal of Bert Bauer has illuminated our lives for over 35 years. The spirit of Charita Bauer, her strength and her courage, her grand good humor, her passion for life, and her humanity have touched us all. She has graced our lives at GUIDING LIGHT and will be with us always." The Lewises became Springfield's first family - the former Reva Shayne, married to Billy Lewis, later engaged to his brother Josh, then wed to patriarch H.B. and finally fell for Kyle Sampson, who claimed he was H.B.'s illegitimate son. Like Reva, GUIDING LIGHT was suffering an identity crisis. The lack of focus continued through 1986 with 5 headwriting regimes and a new executive producer. Joe Willmore brought back popular characters and performers - Christopher Bernau's Alan, Peter Simon's Ed, Robert Newman's Josh and Grant Aleksander's Phillip. And the "have-not" Shaynes were established - Hawk, Sarah, Reva, Roxie and Rusty. Headwriter Sheri Anderson's forte was young romantic pairings and intrigue. As GUIDING LIGHT celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1987 it was the end of one era and the beginning of another.
GUIDING LIGHT: THE COMPLETE FAMILY ALBUM SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY EDITION by Julie Poll with Caelie M. Haines INTRODUCTION by Jerry ver Dorn "I created GUIDING LIGHT with one fundamental theme in mind: the brotherhood of man." So wrote the show's creator, Irna Phillips, in 1937. Who could've imagined that that breathtakingly simple intention would carry the show to its
St. Elsewhere (1982)
BLOG 10 ST. ELSEWHERE & THE WESTPHAL UNIVERSE
Genre Medical drama, Serial, ST ELSEWHERE
Created by Joshua Brand & John Falsey
Developed by Mark Tinker & John Masius
Starring
Ed Flanders David Birney
G.W. Bailey Ed Begley Jr.
Terence Knox Howie Mandel
David Morse Christina Pickles
Kavi Raz William Daniels
Norman Lloyd Cynthia Sikes
Ellen Bry Denzel Washington
Mark Harmon Eric Laneuville
Kim Miyori Nancy Stafford
Stephen Furst Bonnie Bartlett
Bruce Greenwood Cindy Pickett
Ronny Cox Sagan Lewis
France Nuyen Jennifer Savidge
Byron Stewart
Theme music composer Dave Grusin
Composer(s) Dave Grusin
J. A. C. Redford
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 137 (list of episodes)
Production
Production location(s) CBS Studio Center
Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Running time 45-48 minutes
Production company(s) MTM Enterprises
Distributor MTM Television Distribution Group
(1988-1989)
20th Television Release
Original network NBC
Audio format Monaural (seasons 1-5)
Stereo (season 6)
Original release October 26, 1982 - May 25, 1988
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels as teaching doctors at an aging, underrated Boston hospital who give interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions. The series was produced by MTM Enterprises, which had success with a similar NBC series, the police drama Hill Street Blues, during that same time; both series were often compared to each other for their use of ensemble casts and overlapping serialized storylines (an original ad for St. Elsewhere quoted a critic that called the series "'Hill Street Blues' in a hospital"). St. Elsewhere was filmed at CBS/MTM Studios, which was known as CBS/Fox Studios when the show began; coincidentally, 20th Century Fox owns the rights to the series when it bought MTM Enterprises in the 1990s.
Recognized for its gritty, realistic drama, St. Elsewhere gained a small yet loyal following (the series did not rank higher than 49th place in the yearly Nielsen ratings) over its six-season, 137-episode run; however, the series also found a strong audience in Nielsen's 18-49 age demographic, a young demo later known for a young, affluent audience that TV advertisers were eager to reach. The series also earned critical acclaim during its run, earning 13 Emmy Awards for its writing, acting, and directing. St. Elsewhere was ranked No. 20 on TV Guide's 2002 list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time", with the magazine also selecting it as the best drama series of the 1980s in a 1993 issue. In 2013, TV Guide ranked the series No. 51 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time.
Contents
1 Overview
2 Main cast
3 Episodes
3.1 "Newheart"
3.2 "Cheers"
3.3 "Time Heals"
3.4 "After Life"
3.5 "Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball"
3.6 "A Moon For the Misbegotten"
3.7 "Their Town"
3.8 "The Last One"
4 Allusions, crossovers, and homages
5 Awards and nominations
6 Film adaptation
7 Syndication
8 Home media
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links
Overview
St. Elsewhere was set at the fictional St. Eligius Hospital, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood. (The South End's Franklin Square House Apartments, formerly known as the St. James Hotel and located next to Franklin and Blackstone Squares, stood in for the hospital in establishing shots, including the series' opening sequence.) The hospital's nickname, "St. Elsewhere", is a slang term used in the medical field to refer to lesser-equipped hospitals that serve patients turned away by more prestigious institutions; it is also used in medical academia to refer to teaching hospitals in general. In the pilot episode, surgeon Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels) informs his colleagues that the local Boston media had bestowed the derogatory nickname upon St. Eligius since they perceived the hospital as "a dumping ground, a place you wouldn't want to send your mother-in-law." In fact, the hospital was so poorly regarded that its shrine to Saint Eligius was commonly defiled by the hospital's visitors and staff, and is passingly referred to by Dr. Wayne Fiscus as "the patron saint of longshoremen and bowlers." (Eligius is neither; he is patron saint of numismatists, metalworkers, and horses.)
Just as in Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere employed a large ensemble cast; a gritty, "realistic" visual style; and a profusion of interlocking serialized stories, many of which continued over the course of multiple episodes or seasons. In the same way Hill Street was regarded as a groundbreaking police drama, St. Elsewhere also broke new ground in medical dramas, creating a template that influenced ER, Chicago Hope, and other later shows in the genre. St. Elsewhere portrayed the medical profession as an admirable but less-than-perfect endeavor; the St. Eligius staff, while mostly having good intentions in serving their patients, all had their own personal and professional problems, with the two often intertwining. The staff's problems, and those of their patients (some of whom didn't survive), were often contemporary in nature, with storylines involving breast cancer, AIDS, and addiction. Though the series dealt with serious issues of life, death, the medical profession, and the human effects of all three, a substantial number of comedic moments, inside jokes, and references to TV history were included, as well as tender moments of humanity.
The producers for the series were Bruce Paltrow, Mark Tinker, John Masius, Tom Fontana, John Falsey and Abby Singer. Tinker, Masius, Fontana, and Paltrow wrote a number of episodes as well; other writers included John Tinker, John Ford Noonan, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Overmyer, Channing Gibson, and Aram Saroyan.
The cast of St. Elsewhere (season one)
The show's main and end title theme was composed by famed jazz musician and composer Dave Grusin. Noted film and TV composer J.A.C. Redford wrote the music for the series (except for the pilot, which was scored by Grusin). No soundtrack was ever released, but the theme was released in two different versions: the original TV mix and edit appeared on TVT Records' compilation Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: 70s & 80s, and Grusin recorded a full-length version for inclusion on his Night Lines album, released in 1983.
Main cast
Main article: List of St. Elsewhere characters
Along with established actors Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels, St. Elsewhere's ensemble cast includes David Morse, Alfre Woodard, Bruce Greenwood, Christina Pickles, Kyle Secor, Ed Begley Jr., Stephen Furst, Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon, Denzel Washington and Helen Hunt. Notable guest stars include Tim Robbins, whose first major role was in the series' first three episodes (as domestic terrorist Andrew Reinhardt), and Doris Roberts and James Coco, who both earned Emmy Awards for their season-one appearance as, respectively, a bag lady and her mentally challenged husband.
Ed Flanders as Dr. Donald Westphall
David Birney as Dr. Ben Samuels (1982-1983)
G.W. Bailey as Dr. Hugh Beale (1982-1983)
Ed Begley Jr. as Dr. Victor Ehrlich
Terence Knox as Dr. Peter White (1982-1985)
Howie Mandel as Dr. Wayne Fiscus
David Morse as Dr. Jack Morrison
Christina Pickles as Nurse Helen Rosenthal
Kavi Raz as Dr. Vijay Kochar (1982-1984)
Cynthia Sikes as Dr. Annie Cavanero (1982-1985)
Denzel Washington as Dr. Phillip Chandler
William Daniels as Dr. Mark Craig
Barbara Whinnery as Dr. Cathy Martin (1982-1986)
Norman Lloyd as Dr. Daniel Auschlander
Ellen Bry as Nurse Shirley Daniels (1984-1985, recurring: 1982-1983, 1987)
Mark Harmon as Dr. Robert Caldwell (1983-1986)
Eric Laneuville as Luther Hawkins
Kim Miyori as Dr. Wendy Armstrong (1982-1984)
Nancy Stafford as Joan Halloran (1983-1985, 1986)
Stephen Furst as Dr. Elliot Axelrod (1983-1988)
Bonnie Bartlett as Ellen Craig (1986-1988, recurring: 1982-1985)
Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Seth Griffin (1986-1988)
Cindy Pickett as Dr. Carol Novino (1986-1988)
Ronny Cox as Dr. John Gideon (1987-1988)
Sagan Lewis as Dr. Jacqueline Wade
France Nuyen as Dr. Paulette Kiem
Jennifer Savidge as Nurse Lucy Papandreo
Byron Stewart as Warren Coolidge
Episodes
Main article: List of St. Elsewhere episodes
Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 22 October 26, 1982 May 3, 1983
2 22 October 26, 1983 May 16, 1984
3 24 September 19, 1984 March 27, 1985
4 24 September 18, 1985 May 7, 1986
5 23 September 24, 1986 May 27, 1987
6 22 September 16, 1987 May 25, 1988
St. Elsewhere ran for six seasons and 137 episodes; the first season (1982-83) aired Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET), with remaining seasons airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m.
St. Elsewhere was noteworthy for featuring episodes with unusual aspects or significant changes to the series' status quo. Some of those episodes included:
"Newheart"
Original air date: November 9, 1983 - Dr. Morrison learns of the death of his wife, Nina (with whom he had an argument in an early scene of this episode), after slipping and hitting her head. Nina's heart is donated to a heart transplant patient - a patient of Dr. Craig. The poignant final scene of the episode finds Morrison entering the patient's room and, with a stethoscope, hearing the patient's new heart - Nina's heart - steadily beating.
"Cheers"
Original air date: March 27, 1985 - St. Elsewhere ended its 3rd season with this TV crossover that found Drs. Westphall, Auschlander, and Craig getting together at that other Boston TV institution, the namesake setting of the comedy series Cheers. The scene, which was filmed on the main Cheers soundstage (Stage 25 at
The Young and the Restless (1973)
BLOG 20 YOUNG & RESTLESS
THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS LIFE OF WILLIAM J. BELL Creator of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful by Michael Maloney with Lee Phillip Bell (2012) Sourcebooks Foreword by David Hasselhoff
As most of us were, Bill was introduced to soap operas by his mother. He listened with her to serial dramas including Our Gal Sunday, The Romance of Helen Trent and Life Can Be Beautiful, on the radio. "Mom would have soup and a sandwich and be waiting for me," he was quoted as saying in WORLDS WITHOUT END: THE ART AND HISTORY OF THE SOAP OPERA. Before long Bill was hooked. He was particularly taken with "The Guiding Light, created by Irna Phillips." Bill brought greater characterization and depth, for example, to Y&R's Victor Newman because the viewers learned that he had been left in an orphanage as a little boy. He created a financial empire so he could never be hurt again, becoming literally a "new man" in the process.
Bill's son Bradley, head writer and executive producer of B&B, followed in his father's footsteps by shedding light on the controlling Stephanie Forrester. Viewers understood the domineering matriarch more after learning that Steph had been physically abused by her father, while her mother Ann, looked the other way. "Bill himself would be poor material for a daytime character," entertainment writer Clifford Terry wrote in the Chicago Tribune in 1973. "After all, how tormented can someone be whose favorite word is 'nifty'"? Terry made this assessment about Bill noting that he didn't hold traditional positions like on-screen characters such as attorney Mickey Horton on Days or newspaper publisher Stuart Brooks on Y&R. "There's a little of me in most of the male characters I've created," Bill told veteran soap-opera journalist Dorothy Vine. "There's some of me in John Abbott, Jack Abbott, Eric Forrester and even in Victor Newman. I create characters to tell a story and when you do that you have to start with some of yourself so you can understand and motivate them." Bill's younger self can be found in two family-oriented and ambitious brothers whom he created for Y&R, Snapper and Greg Foster.
Bill Bell would have fit in perfectly on the TV series MAD MEN. He didn't have that dark edge that Don Draper has, but he always had that smile. -Thomas Phillips, Irna Phillips's son Bill Bell worked in the world of advertising before he became a soap-opera writer. Jerry Birn became Bill's lifelong friend but at first Jerry doubted that. They were at McCann Erickson, one of Chicago's top ad firms. Bill had something of a hot-shot reputation for writing comedy sketches and the ad copy he had written at WBBM-TV. Jerry didn't want to be "walking the plank to make room for Golden Boy Bill. And, believe me, there was always a Golden Boy "for a time". The boss had taken Jill had breakfast and in Venice get my parents seeing him fall. Bill revealed that he'd lied about his age to enlist in the Navy during WW2. Later, the conversation hit a bump in the road when they talked about salaries: Bill was making more. Jerry was too impressed. As impressed he flagged down. Jerry knew Bill was getting an episode. When Bill summoned and Margaret, delivered. Wild children. He had some of the occasions of the murdered. Writers' rooms he was diagnosing , their honey moon episodes.
Jill & Lee portrayed noble causes that they fought for. Standard Oil execs had suggestions that were sophomoric, amateurish and hopeless but Jerry thought they should go with them anyway. Bill did not agree. He told the Standard Oil folk that they could fire him but he wouldn't put their name on his work. Then he walked out. Bill would take a similar stance with NBC execs who tried to tamper with his storylines. Bill waited for CBS to fire him over the Standard Oil issues. Never happened. The head of the office got a letter from the ad director at Standard Oil applauding Bill and wanting him kept on the account. They were on for the kind of honesty and integrity that they go from Bill Bell. Bill was floored but he had one question, "Could he have a raise"?
When they weren't working, Bill & Jerry hung out at a local watering hole, the Bowl and the Bottle. Jerry got Bill started on martinis. They came up with the slogan, "The olive with the taillight," because they had pimentos in them. The agency passed. They pitched a food account to a female exec. When they finished she had one question, "How much experience did they have with food?" They got a laugh but not the account when they replied, "We eat." Television changed the ad world. Clients were able to promote their products in a whole new way. Standard Oil began running TV ads during Chicago Bears game broadcasts.
Bill was a traditionalist. He rejected the computer age, preferring to stick with his trusted typewriter. But, he did try to move from using traditional advertising storyboards to employing live models for presentations. Jack Tinker, a top-ranking writer at McCann Erickson, shot the idea down. Jerry and Bill were the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid of the ad world. That changed when Bill met his own Etta Place, TV personality Lee Phillip. Bill was knocking on Irna Phillips's door with one hand and with Lee's door with the other. Bill got down on one knee and asked Lee to marry him. Soon Jerry was his best man & planning was underway. The Christmas card Jerry got said, "The Bells Are Ringing!" Bill and Lee wed on October 23, 1954. Three hundred family and friends gathered to celebrate the wedding of William Joseph Bell and Loreley (Lee) June Phillip. Lee was the celebrity in the family long before Bill became an icon in the soap opera world.
Santa Barbara (1984)
BLOG 2 SANTA BARBARA & EMMY WIN
SANTA BARBARA Schemering, IMDb, Wesley Hyatt. Soap. Color. Hour. July 30 1984 - January 15 1993 created by Bridget and Jerome Dobson. Production Company Dobson Productions. NBC. Executive Producers: Jerome and Bridget Dobson; Jeffrey Hayden; Charles Pratt, Sr.; Mary-Ellis Bunim. Headwriters: Jerome and Bridget Dobson; Anne Howard Bailey. Producers: Steven Kent; Jill Farren Phelps; Leonard Friedlander; Directors: Gordon Rigsby; Norman Hall; Rick Bennewitz; John Sedwick; Gary Bowen; Andrew Weyman; Dennis Steinmetz. (2,137 episodes) SANTA BARBARA was NBC's last bid to compete against GENERAL HOSPITAL on ABC and GUIDING LIGHT on CBS. The show's early going was rough and included numerous changeovers in cast. Four actors played the pivotal role of C.C. Capwell within the first two years alone. The biggest controversy, however, arose in 1987 when NBC took creative control away from the show's producers, Jerome and Bridget Dobson, who spent three years trying to get it back. Perhaps in part because of these problems, SANTA BARBARA never really threatened the competition, although it did win three consecutive Outstanding Daytime Drama Emmys through 1990 and had a large international presence. . Santa Barbara revolves around the shock waves that ensue from Sophia Capwell's child by Lionel Lockridge, Channing, Jr. passed off as the second son of her husband, C.C. Capwell. Channing impregnates the maid's daughter, Santana, and as Sophia argues with her son about it, she accidentally shoots him to death. C.C. is furious at the loss of his son. Sophia flees the country, eventually returning disguised as a man, with the aid of second daughter Kelly. In the meantime, C.C. wants his new grandson, Channing's son by Santana, and to get custody of him, Santana is institutionalized. C.C. remarries that vixen too endearing to be a villain, Robin Mattson's Gina, and they adopt Brandon, Santana's baby by the late Channing. Santana tries to reclaim her son, but winds up with visitation rights. Brandon is happy with Gina as his mother, with his father being the man who was his grandmother's husband, but biologically not related to him at all. Gina and C.C. wind up divorcing, Gina remarries Mason, C.C.'s son by first wife Pamela. That marriage does not last, either. Sophia and C.C. reunite, but their remarriage does not last one year before they separate again. The enormity of Sophia's infidelity and the true paternity of Channing serve as the pretext for the disappearance of her most famous offspring, first daughter Eden. (Robin Wright left SANTA BARBARA for an extended period of time to play the lead of "Buttercup" in THE PRINCESS BRIDE.She was chosen by William Goldman, Rob Reiner and Cary Elwes out of thousands of ingenue's. NBC penalized by making her do without money she could have made off of it. She is remembered to this day as "Buttercup" in that cult classic.) While the extraordinarily popular actress who portrayed Eden (Marcy Walker) tried other roles in other productions, her absence was explained by her insanity at not being able to cope with the discovery of Channing's true parentage. CC Capwell is a multimillionaire who is very powerful and greedy man, who loves money and authority. His children are: Eden, Kelly, Ted, Greg and adoptive child Brandon. CC loves Sophia. Her children are: Eden, Kelly, Ted and Brick. CC's worst enemy is Gina. Gina is Brandon's foster-mother. She raises him. CC wants to do it himself. Brandon's real mother is Santana. Eden loves Cruz. Cruz is a policeman. Julia and Mason are divorced, they have a daughter Samantha. Lockridge family persecutes the Capwells. Minx Lockridge is an old lady, she is the mother of Lionel and Cassie. Lionel is in love with Augusta. They are a strange couple, just like Gina and Keith. There was an occasion while the Dobsons were being locked out of the studio when they won their first (of three consecutive Daytime Emmys but Bridget made it to the podium and began a gracious acceptance speech, while Jill Farren Phelps stood to her right looking glum.That's because she was the Interim Executive Producer and was thinking she should have been making that speech. Contrary to years of rumor, it was *not* a knock down- drag-out fight.It was just some decent "oneupmanship".(The Dobsons had previously had a spectacularly successful writing career on GENERAL HOSPITAL in the early 1970s. Bridget was the daughter of Frank and Doris Hursley, creators of the show. After maintaining good ratings on that show the Dobsons were snatched up by Procter & Gamble to spruce up GUIDING LIGHT. They worked w onders on that show for 5 years, then created miracles on AS THE WORLD TURNS, becoming the most sought after team of writers in daytime television.) Set in Santa Barbara, where the Dobsons used to live (except when they lived in Atlanta, Georgia) the drama traced the lives and loves of 4 families: the blue-blood Lockridges, the powerful Capwells, the middle-class Perkins, and the Andrades, a low-income Hispanic family. The serial opened with a party in 1979 where Channing Capwell, Jr. was murdered after an argument with his sister Kelly's fiance' Joe Perkins. The scene jumped forward to an engagement party for Kelly and the opportunist Peter Flint in 1984 where it was learned that Joe Perkins, Capwell's alleged killer, had been set free. The release caused havoc among the seaside community, particularly for Kelly Capwell, who was torn between Joe and her memory of Channing's death. The show was taped in new $12 million production facilities in Burbank. In its premiere week the glamorous new soap about Beautiful Blonde People ran opposite ratings-grabbing Olympic games; with its first episode only receiving a 4.2 rating and 13 share. The Dobsons soon found their footing with two dazzling anti-heroes: Lionel Lockridge, whose roguish charm was exceeded only by his penchant for mischief, and the envious, cryptic Mason Capwell, whose ironic self-knowledge provided the city with a one-man greek chorus, commenting dryly on all the drawing-room intrigue. By 1987, this delicious black comedy had become a cult hit and the slowly rising ratings began to reflect that status. SANTA BARBARA was superbly romantic in its star-crossed love story of the WASPy Eden and the Hispanic Cruz. In a great erotic fast dance, Eden shook her blonde mane like a stoned-out Lady Godiva. It certainly was dramatic (the death of Mason's "salvation," Mary Duvall, proved to be an extremely unpopular event with viewers-probably the biggest boo-boo in the Dobsons' career). "There is a slight bit of perversity in us. That's me. That's my husband. We're ambivalent people. We always strive for purity and always miss." (Robin Wright took a large amount of extra time off from playing Eden in SANTA BARBARA to star in the movie THE PRINCESS BRIDE.) There was the long-running romance of blonde Eden, a TV news anchor, and her dark handsome lover, lawman Cruz Castillo. He stayed with Eden until they wed in 1988. Also fascinating was Mason, a lush who felt his dad did not love him but who came up with plenty of comments on the goings-on around him, including his own troubled relationships with ex-nun Mary Duvall.) The manner of Mary's death-a "C" from the rooftop of the Capwell hotel fell and crushed her-struck some viewers as blackly funny and some as an example of poor taste, and prompted many to speculate on its possible significance.) In 1988 the emergence of some weird alternate personalities. Among the latter was Mason's other personality Sonny Sprockett, whom his girlfriend attorney Julia Wainwright, found living in Las Vegas, and Bunny Tigliatti, a transvestite involved with the mob who rented all of Gina's rooms when Gina made the former Lockridge mansion into a bed-and-breakfast. Dr. Zack Kelton was the "Video Rapist" who attacked several women including Eden. Mason and Julia had some ups and downs due to his personality problems. Julia dated environmentalist Dash Nichols. The love between Julia and Mason and between Eden and Cruz was about the only constant. In 1990 the Dobsons having regained control of the show, returned to make sense of the mess. NBC kicked the Dobsons out again early 1992 as it became the lowest rated soap. In October 1992 NBC announced its cancellation despite its continuing international popularity. The show aired in 48 countries, making it the most watched serial. (The final shot was of executive producer Paul Rauch stepping into the spotlight on a bare soundstage and rubbing out his cigarette butt.)
As the World Turns (1956)
BLOG 7 ATWT 1966-70
As the World Turns. The Complete Family Scrapbook. Special 40th Anniversary Edition. by Julie Poll. General Publishing Group. Los Angeles. copywright @ 1996 by Procter & Gamble Productions.
For the Hughes and Lowell families, 1966 to 1970 were tumultuous years of pain, hardship and triumph. Several Oakdale citizens fell victim to sudden and violent deaths, and young people struggled to find themselves amid family skeletons and against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s.
Heeding Claire's advice, Ellen informed Franny Brennan that her services would no longer be needed once Ellen became Mrs. David Stewart. Franny responded with a vicious threat---she would tell Dan that Ellen was his mother. Desperate, Ellen grabbed a statue and hit Franny over the head with it, killing her. Ellen confessed to the murder without giving any reason for her actions. This tragedy resulted in a variety of reactions among the Stewart family: David was baffled and Paul was supportive and sympathetic, but Dan vowed to disown his family if David were ever to marry that murderess!
Meanwhile, another adoptee was to learn the ironic truth of her heritage. Bill Holmes, on his deathbed, admitted to his adopted daughter, Amanda, that Sara Fuller was her real mother. Amanda was at peace with this knowledge but was held back from revealing it when she and Sara found themselves in fierce competition for Donald Hughes's affections. Sara tried to make Donald believe that she was selling out her interest in her dress shop so she could be a traditional wife to him. Nancy was so won over by the ch
The Guiding Light (1952)
BLOG 3 GL & CANCELLATION
June 30 1952 - September 18 2009 Procter & Gamble CBS From the Schemering The longest-running drama in broadcast history, evolved from a radio soap about a minister and his flock in the 1930s and 1940s; to a fifteen minute television entry about the German-American Bauer family in the 1950s and 1960s; to a half hour drama about the romantic lives of Mike and Ed Bauer in the 1970s; to, finally, a triumphant hour celebrating the domestic interaction between various Springfield families in the 1980s. Created by Irna Phillips, THE GUIDING LIGHT began broadcasting on NBC's Red radio network January 25 1937. Supervision for Procter & Gamble was Compton Advertising Agency. Set in the fictional city of Five Points and introduced by organ music, the drama focused on Dr. John Ruthledge and the problems of his parishioners. The soap was inspirational in tone and frequently the whole show was given over to Ruthledge's sermon. These sermons, which taught that faith and patience brought happiness,proved to be so popular that a collection of them sold almost 300,000 copies. Originally broadcast from Chicago, the show was moved to Hollywood when Irna and her associates relocated to the West Coast. Then, in the late 1940s production was moved to New York and the setting of the drama was moved from Five Points to Selby Flats, a fictional suburb of Los Angeles, where the Bauer family lived. Similarly content was changed. The religious implications were gone. But, support of a close-knit family for crises became paramount. The Bauers were a first generation Germanic-American family with Old World values who struggled for a better life in the US.Among them were Mam Bauer, Papa Bauer, son Bill, Bill's wife Bert, Bill's sister Trudy and Meta, a feisty young woman who would cause trouble. Bert fought hard to keep the family together and became in a sense the "guiding light". Bill had become an alcoholic. Meta ran off & got pregnant by a cad named Ted who she murdered when he browbeat their child. Meta got off on a temporary insanity plea.
THE GUIDING LIGHT June 1952 Irna began broadcasting THE GUIDING LIGHT both on television and on radio but not simultaneously. (Fanlore has it that the networks were perpetually afraid of losing the radio revenue that they already had to take a chance on some television revenue that they didn't have and would take time to build up.) Irna assembled the cast at Liederkranz Hall for AM rehearsal & performance, live for television. Then they walked 5 blocks down to another studio & performed the same show for the radio audience. 4 years later they did away with the radio broadcast. While the show was being dually broadcast they moved the setting yet again, this time from California to the community of Springfield, somewhere in the Midwest. THE GUIDING LIGHT's successful transition from radio to television was rare. In the 1950s story, written by Irna & Agnes Nixon, focused on Meta's stepdaughter, Kathy. After Meta's husband died of cancer, Meta and Kathy both fought over Mark Holden, a business partner of Bill Bauer. In 1958 Kathy was killed in an automobile accident and CBS was swamped with protests. Irna answered fans with a form letter: "You have only to look around you, read your daily papers, to realize that we cannot, any of us, live with life alone ..." Meanwhile Bert tried to keep her marriage together. Agnes Nixon who had been Irna's associate became headwriter and THE GUIDING LIGHT flourished. This was the time that Agnes began to insert social and educational issues into the show. Bert Bauer's life was saved by early detection of uterine cancer. Mike Bauer married the scheming Charlotte Waring. (Charlotte Waring was played by Victoria Wyndham who later was Rachel on ANOTHER WORLD.) Agnes Nixon left the show to go headwrite ANOTHER WORLD IN THE MID 1960s. Writers during the next decade include: David Lesan, Julian Funt, Theodore and Mathilde Ferro, John Boruff, James Lipton, Gabrielle Upton, Jane and Ira Avery, Robert Soderberg, Edith Somner, James Gentile and Robert Cenedella. Color broadcast began spring 1967 with the show expanding to a half hour September 1968. The drama had not caught up with Irna's prote'ge's Agnes Nixon and Bill Bell. ALL MY CHILDREN and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS both became immensely popular with a mix of social-issue oriented drama and youthful romance. In 1975 Jerome and Bridget Dobson took over headwriting duties at THE GUIDING LIGHT and successfully contemporized it over the next 5 years. 1977 took the show to a full hour and the Dobsons constructed intricate triangles and quadrangles - Alan Spaulding, unhappy wife Elizabeth, son Phillip, Jackie Marler (the natural mother of Phillip), Mike Bauer, Hope Bauer and Justin Marler. Roger Thorpe seduced Ed Bauer's second wife Holly and his third wife Rita and Ed's half-sister Hillary. Roger became the sexiest villain and the audience refused to let him die even after a decade of troublemaking. After a sensational trial for marital rape (a gambit the Dobsons would repeat on AS THE WORLD TURNS) Roger was "killed" by Holly only to pop up again a year later to terrorize both Rita and Holly. The brilliantly directed sequence where Roger chased Rita through a hall of mirrors the recording of Barbara Streisand and Donna Summer's duet "Enough Is Enough" won THE GUIDING LIGHT the Emmy as Outstanding Daytime Drama 1980. Roger finally met his fate on location in the Dominican Republic where he fell to his death off a cliff. The star turn of Michael Zaslow ran from April 1 1971 for 9 years till April Fools' Day 1980. (Viewers never saw the body.) In 1980 Douglas Marland took over as headwriter, creating the triangle of Morgan Richards, Dr. Kelly Nelson and Nola Reardon. Lisa Brown's Nola was so energetic and convincing that CBS began receiving the most intense "hate" mail of any daytime performer since Eileen Fulton 2 decades before. Marland deservedly won Outstanding Writing Emmy 1981. He then exploited Lisa Brown's comedic flair and formidable acting skills in a series of famous fantasy sequences. Marland then wrote an intense hair-raising split personality story of character Carrie Todd played by Jane Elliot. Producer Allen Potter dropped it and a furious Marland finished out the few months of his contract and quit. Pat Falken Smith came on as headwriter for a short time and tried to disentangle what had become a convoluted mess. With L. Virginia Browne as headwriter Grant Aleksander came on as Phillip Spaulding, Ed Bauer's son Rick, Phillip's best friend was pushed to the forefront and the ratings jumped up 2 points. But TEXAS team Richard Culliton writer and Gail Kobe producer took over spring 1983 with the show in a critical slump, they put the show on the comeback trail, focusing on the Bauer family, finishing the byzantine storylines, and introducing the most appealing young-love stories ever on daytime. Headwriter Culliton and later Pamela K. Long (also of TEXAS) transformed THE GUIDING LIGHT back into a *famiily* show constructing stories around 5 main families - Bauers, Spauldings, Chamberlains, Lewises and Reardons. The audience began to respond to a senior prom, a civil war themed ball, young lovers on the run in Manhattan, "The Four Musketeers", flesh and blood figures, etc. Krista Tesreau the hilariously spoiled Mindy Lewis, Bill's daughter, Judi Evans (who nabbed an Emmy) as rape victim Beth Raines, taken advantage of by her stepfather, other Beth's husband. Vincent Irizarry the pugnacious Lujack, Michael O'Leary the sensitive med student Rick Bauer (known now by one & and all still as Mikey!) most especially Grant Aleksander the flamboyantly alienated Phillip Spaulding, with all seeming poised for stardom. The first half of 1984 the show added 2 million viewers while its competition GENERAL HOSPITAL lost 5 million with Luke & Laura leaving. The show zoomed to the #1 spot in the ratings, with the finest daytime drama over the past 5 years finally, if briefly, becoming the most popular. The introduction of the exquisite Beverlee McKinsey (top-billed on TEXAS) as Alexandra Spaulding brought new critical and commercial interest to the show. In October 1984 the Bauer family endured a number of hits. Hillary Bauer was killed off. Her brother Mike was written off. Ed Bauer was recast. February 28 1985 Charita Bauer died, the end of an era. Jerry verDorn who played Ross Marler read the words, "The continuing story GUIDING LIGHT is dedicated to the memory of Charita Bauer, whose portrayal of Bert Bauer has illuminated our lives for over 35 years. The spirit of Charita Bauer, her strength and her courage, her grand good humor, her passion for life, and her humanity have touched us all. She has graced our lives at GUIDING LIGHT and will be with us always." The Lewises became Springfield's first family - the former Reva Shayne, married to Billy Lewis, later engaged to his brother Josh, then wed to patriarch H.B. and finally fell for Kyle Sampson, who claimed he was H.B.'s illegitimate son. Like Reva, GUIDING LIGHT was suffering an identity crisis. The lack of focus continued through 1986 with 5 headwriting regimes and a new executive producer. Joe Willmore brought back popular characters and performers - Christopher Bernau's Alan, Peter Simon's Ed, Robert Newman's Josh and Grant Aleksander's Phillip. And the "have-not" Shaynes were established - Hawk, Sarah, Reva, Roxie and Rusty. Headwriter Sheri Anderson's forte was young romantic pairings and intrigue. As GUIDING LIGHT celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1987 it was the end of one era and the beginning of another.
GUIDING LIGHT: THE COMPLETE FAMILY ALBUM SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY EDITION by Julie Poll with Caelie M. Haines INTRODUCTION by Jerry ver Dorn "I created GUIDING LIGHT with one fundamental theme in mind: the brotherhood of man." So wrote the show's creator, Irna Phillips, in 1937. Who could've imagined that that breathtakingly simple intention would carry the show to its
Another World (1964)
BLOG 9 FAMOUS FANS
Alice Barrett (Frankie Frame) discovered that movie superstar Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding) is an "Another World" fan. Barrett filled in for Roberts during rehearsals for the series finale of "Murphy Brown," on which Roberts was a special guest star. When Roberts finally arrived on the set, Barrett was surprised to find that Roberts recognized her as Frankie Frame. After giving Barrett a hug, Roberts admitted that she was thrown for a loop the day Frankie was killed off.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
Tennessee Williams, who wrote such theater classics as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," counted "Another World" as one of his favorite television series.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
The legendary, singer-actress, Judy Garland, best known for her performance as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", was so thrown by seeing Constance Ford (Ada Davis) in the audience at one of her concerts that she had to take a break.
Another World (1964)
BLOG 9 FAMOUS FANS
Alice Barrett (Frankie Frame) discovered that movie superstar Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding) is an "Another World" fan. Barrett filled in for Roberts during rehearsals for the series finale of "Murphy Brown," on which Roberts was a special guest star. When Roberts finally arrived on the set, Barrett was surprised to find that Roberts recognized her as Frankie Frame. After giving Barrett a hug, Roberts admitted that she was thrown for a loop the day Frankie was killed off.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
Tennessee Williams, who wrote such theater classics as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," counted "Another World" as one of his favorite television series.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
The legendary, singer-actress, Judy Garland, best known for her performance as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", was so thrown by seeing Constance Ford (Ada Davis) in the audience at one of her concerts that she had to take a break.
Another World (1964)
BLOG 9 FAMOUS FANS
Alice Barrett (Frankie Frame) discovered that movie superstar Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding) is an "Another World" fan. Barrett filled in for Roberts during rehearsals for the series finale of "Murphy Brown," on which Roberts was a special guest star. When Roberts finally arrived on the set, Barrett was surprised to find that Roberts recognized her as Frankie Frame. After giving Barrett a hug, Roberts admitted that she was thrown for a loop the day Frankie was killed off.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
Tennessee Williams, who wrote such theater classics as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," counted "Another World" as one of his favorite television series.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
The legendary, singer-actress, Judy Garland, best known for her performance as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", was so thrown by seeing Constance Ford (Ada Davis) in the audience at one of her concerts that she had to take a break.
Another World (1964)
BLOG 9 FAMOUS FANS
Alice Barrett (Frankie Frame) discovered that movie superstar Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding) is an "Another World" fan. Barrett filled in for Roberts during rehearsals for the series finale of "Murphy Brown," on which Roberts was a special guest star. When Roberts finally arrived on the set, Barrett was surprised to find that Roberts recognized her as Frankie Frame. After giving Barrett a hug, Roberts admitted that she was thrown for a loop the day Frankie was killed off.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
Tennessee Williams, who wrote such theater classics as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," counted "Another World" as one of his favorite television series.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
The legendary, singer-actress, Judy Garland, best known for her performance as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", was so thrown by seeing Constance Ford (Ada Davis) in the audience at one of her concerts that she had to take a break.
Another World (1964)
BLOG 9 FAMOUS FANS
Alice Barrett (Frankie Frame) discovered that movie superstar Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding) is an "Another World" fan. Barrett filled in for Roberts during rehearsals for the series finale of "Murphy Brown," on which Roberts was a special guest star. When Roberts finally arrived on the set, Barrett was surprised to find that Roberts recognized her as Frankie Frame. After giving Barrett a hug, Roberts admitted that she was thrown for a loop the day Frankie was killed off.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
Tennessee Williams, who wrote such theater classics as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," counted "Another World" as one of his favorite television series.
Famous Fans/AW Trivia
The legendary, singer-actress, Judy Garland, best known for her performance as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", was so thrown by seeing Constance Ford (Ada Davis) in the audience at one of her concerts that she had to take a break.