From: riddle@brahms.udel.edu (Tammy Riddle)
Subject: DOOL:  SOM Info
Organization: University of Delaware
Distribution: world 
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 17:26:48 GMT


FINE TUNING

Thursday, October 15

Bill gives J&J a present, but Julie warns them that it might not
be exactly what it seems to be.

*****

DAYS PICNIC IN THE PARK

There are some really great photos of the DOOL cast at their
annual picnic.  Don Frabotta (DAVE) was pictured "clowin' around"
with the clown, and the babies that play Brady Alamain also in
attendance.  They are triplets, and their names are Max, Alex,
and Dash.  From the picture it looks like Max is the one with the
lighter hair color, what there is of it, and Alex and Dash have
more and darker hair.

*****

MYSTERY HOUSE

There is a short little paragraph about the present Bill is
giving J&J.  It seems that Ed Mallory, who plays Bill Horton, has
been working behind the scenes for several months.  He gives J&J
a house, but there's some mystery surrounding the place.  "Bill
tells Jennifer and Jack that it was the first house he and LAURA
bought," says Ed.  "I don't know exactly what the intrigue
involves, but I know that Jack and Jennifer will figure it out." 

For those of you who watch/watched SB, it seems to me they are
borrowing the Haunted House storyline from SB.  I guess we'll
just have to wait and see.  I do feel that the storyline has
potential, but, of course, any storyline Jack is given has
potential.

*****

FIVE YEARS AGO...After his wife Marlena's "death," Roman fell
hard for strong-willed reporter Diana Colville.  The morning
after Roman and Diana first made love, he removed his wedding
ring and announced that he was finally ready to get on with his
life.  The following year, they survived dangerous adventures in
Salem, Greece, Peru and the Bahamas, but a shadow from the past
finally caused Diana to leave Salem - and Roman - behind.

*****

DID YOU KNOW?

In 1976, TIME magazine gave daytime its first major national
promotion:  Susan Seaforth Hayes and Bill Hayes were on TIME's
cover, in a story called "Sex and Suffering in the Afternoon.

*****

DAYTIMES TOP TRIO:  Sharing 77 years of Experience

Among them, three daytime acting giants share 77 years of soap
opera experience.  Jeanne Cooper has starred as Y&R's Kay
Chancellor Sterling for 20 years; Macdonald Carey has played Dr.
Tom Horton for 27 years; and for almost 30 years, John Beradino
has been Dr. Steve Hardy on GH.  Who says actors can't hold down
jobs?  As this trio of terrific thespians (all are original cast
members on their shows) shared their lifetimes of experience,
they turned an exclusive interview with SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE into
a delightful free-for-all.

SOM:  Ar there too many chiefs and not enough Indians in today's
soaps?

BERADINO:  Oh yes.  For instance, Shelley Curtis returned to the
show with the new title of supervising producer.  There are
executive producers, supervising producers, producers, associate
producers, assistants to associate producers -- but all we want
are good stories.

COOPER:  I don't think there's anything very innovative in soaps
today.  IF one show gets a detective, all the other shows follow
suit.

CAREY:  We're not doing anything very innovative, either -- but
at least we're going back to the core family, the Hortons.  We've
been trying to do that for some time, but I think we were waiting
to see how other shows are doing in that respect.  Our real
success has been with a core family.

BERADINO:  In our case, it was hospital-based stories.  They've
been telling me we're going back to hospital storylines.  Enough
with the cops and robbers!


SOM:  What do you think has made your shows last for decades?

BERADINO:  If GH weren't the kingpin of ABC daytime, the network
would have probably tried to cancel it a long time ago.  A lot of
how well GH succeeds depends on how other ABC shows are doing. 
If AMC, OLTL and LOVING are doing well, we skyrocket to number
one.

CAREY:  That's true; we follow SB in some cities, which isn't
much help because of their low ratings.

COOPER:  I like SB; I think it's polished and crisp.

BERADINO:  But why are its ratings so low?  It won three Emmys,
so what's the problem?

COOPER:  Well, our show is a 20-year habit.  GH is a 30-year
habit, DAYS is a 27-year habit.  We have relationships with
people, and we have chemistry.  I was watching an old movie with
Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, and it was straight out of a
soap.  People like romance:  They want to laugh a little, cry a
little, so they watch daytime.  But they get antsy when we do
something like having an alien land in Port Charles.

BERADINO:  I thought I was the only one who felt that way.  But
that wasn't as bad as the time they froze Port Charles.  At least
we had Elizabeth Taylor with us.

COOPER:  Viewers definitely tuned in to LUKE, LAURA and Liz.  IN
fact, GENERAL HOSPITAL became so strong that, even if Y&R had had
an atomic bomb explosion, we couldn't have topped it.


SOM:  What do you think about the resurrections of characters on
soaps?

CAREY:  Oh, we do it all the time.  STEFANO DIMERA has been
brought back several times, MARLENA and ROMAN have returned from
the dead, and poor Drake Hogestyn came back as ROMAN, discovered
that he wasn't Roman at all, and is now an Alamain.

BERADINO:  On GH, characters are just PRESUMED dead.  I say you
have to have a corpus delicti, or they're just missing.  They
spend all this money on a funeral, and before you know it the
people come back.

CAREY:  PATCH was very big for three or four years and then they
killed him off, but on the day of his funeral, a couple of
mystery men switched the coffins before he was buried.  So we can
always bring him back.

COOPER:  ON Y&R, when they're dead, they stay dead.


SOM:  What would you like to see more of in daytime?

COOPER:  I think fans would like more humor.  Laughter was once a
daytime taboo; I think we were the first to put humor in daytime.

CAREY:  Even in the beginning, Frances Reid (ALICE) and I played
a lot of our scenes for laughs to balance the drama.  We had some
wonderfully zany stuff when we got Arleen Sorkin (CALLIOPE), but
we got rid of it because Shelley Curtis didn't like it.


SOM:  What changes would you like to see on your own shows?

BERADINO:  Unfortunately for my storyline, there's not much drama
involved with wholesome families like the Hardys.  I've asked the
writers to paint my character a little darker occasionally.  No
one can always be that nice!

CAREY:  A couple of years back, I played a closet poet.  It
sounds strange, but I had a great time with it.  My name was Norm
de Plume, and I had to sneak out of the house to read poetry in a
coffeehouse.  I'd like to do something like that again.


SOM:  Do you think your shows have remained consistent over the
years?

BERADINO:  Jeanne, you don't have many changes on your shows, do
you?

COOPER:  No, we pretty much stay with the same characters and
storylines, so the audience knows what to expect.

CAREY:  There's not much change on our show either.  We even have
some of the same sets.

COOPER:  So do we.  I think Katherine might have redecorated once
in awhile, but it keeps the familiar feeling that our show has
for the viewer.

CAREY:  I think soap operas survive because people KNOW us.  They
know our homes, they know about our jobs.  Bringing in new young
people is fine, but staying in touch with the entire cast is what
keeps our shows interesting!

*****

That's all from SOM.

--Peachy
-- 
**************************************************************************
I always have THOUGHTS about anything;      * Tammy Riddle - U of Delaware 
 However, SOLUTIONS might be another story! * riddle@brahms.udel.edu 
**************************************************************************