The beginning
On May 4, 1969, NBC's daytime serial, ANOTHER WORLD, celebrated its fifth anniversary and its highest ratings to date. The achievement was considerable in lieu of the fact that the show had started off with lackluster ratings under the guiding hand of its creator, the legendary Irna Phillips.
During the first six months of the series, the temperamental Phillips hired and fired actors whom she felt, for reasons unknown to anyone but herself, had displeased her. Nervous actors like Jacqueline Courtney held their breath every day, waiting for the next blow to fall.
After ten months of dismal ratings, Phillips — never at home with the psychological series she had created — was replaced as head writer by James Lipton, who in turn was replaced within a year's time by Phillips' protégé, Agnes Nixon. It was Nixon, along with sub-writers Don Wallace, Robert Cenedella and Ralph Ellis, who turned the series around and brought it to the top of the ratings. All of this done some time before the days of the famous Alice-Steve-Rachel triangle.
During the first six months of the series, the temperamental Phillips hired and fired actors whom she felt, for reasons unknown to anyone but herself, had displeased her. Nervous actors like Jacqueline Courtney held their breath every day, waiting for the next blow to fall.
After ten months of dismal ratings, Phillips — never at home with the psychological series she had created — was replaced as head writer by James Lipton, who in turn was replaced within a year's time by Phillips' protégé, Agnes Nixon. It was Nixon, along with sub-writers Don Wallace, Robert Cenedella and Ralph Ellis, who turned the series around and brought it to the top of the ratings. All of this done some time before the days of the famous Alice-Steve-Rachel triangle.
Another World 5th Anniversary
In the spring of 1969, having heard that rival network ABC was in planning stages for three new daytime dramas for the following year — two to be premiered on the same day* — Procter and Gamble and NBC approached Irna Phillips and current ANOTHER WORLD head writer, Robert Cenedella, to develop a new daytime drama with some sort of original gimmick — some hook they could use to boost ratings and promote the show as revolutionary — without being controversial.
* (a publicity stunt that NBC and ABC had used in the past – once on July 5, 1954 when NBC premiered four daytime dramas, with CBS jumping in with one of their own; and again on September 27, 1965, with ABC and NBC each premiering two).
* (a publicity stunt that NBC and ABC had used in the past – once on July 5, 1954 when NBC premiered four daytime dramas, with CBS jumping in with one of their own; and again on September 27, 1965, with ABC and NBC each premiering two).
Between Two Worlds
Another World cast in 1971 with Hill
Within months, Phillips and Cenedella presented an idea that was a first for daytime dramatic television — a spinoff series. The new series (working title "Between Two Worlds") would not merely be one that would introduce a set of characters only to bring them into a new series (as was done on LOVE OF LIFE for the soap opera WHERE THE HEART IS) or simply purloin successful characters from the parent show (hand-picked by Irna), but one that would have its own original characters and storylines as well as direct, continued relations to ANOTHER WORLD, with crossover plots and characters. It was hoped this would be the gimmick needed to provide a ready-made viewer base for the new show.
The core theme for the series would revolve around the corporate intrigues of the town's main source of employment, Delaney Brands, as well as the lives of the people who, one way or another, were connected to the family that owned it. Standard soap opera plots dealing with issues of social class, young love and family problems would be woven into the Delaney Brands stories, along with the criminal activities at the Riverboat Casino.
The town of Somerset would be located fifty miles from Bay City, enabling characters from both series to travel back and forth easily and maintaining a tie between the parent show and the spinoff. Both NBC and Procter & Gamble were delighted and gave the green light for further development.
The core theme for the series would revolve around the corporate intrigues of the town's main source of employment, Delaney Brands, as well as the lives of the people who, one way or another, were connected to the family that owned it. Standard soap opera plots dealing with issues of social class, young love and family problems would be woven into the Delaney Brands stories, along with the criminal activities at the Riverboat Casino.
The town of Somerset would be located fifty miles from Bay City, enabling characters from both series to travel back and forth easily and maintaining a tie between the parent show and the spinoff. Both NBC and Procter & Gamble were delighted and gave the green light for further development.
Robert Cenedella, Head Writer
Robert Cenedella 1995
Robert Cenedella’s history with ANOTHER WORLD stretched back to 1965, when he was among the sub writers for the series. From 1967, he became one of then head-writer Agnes Nixon's co-writers along with Don Wallace. Cenedella proved to be a solid writer and, more importantly, excellent at plot and character development.
Cenedella's career began when he started to sell some of his short stories while teaching high school English in the small MA town he grew up in. Later, he began writing for radio in the 1930s, eventually becoming a professional radio writer for
NBC, working on numerous big-name radio shows while continuing to publish short stories and essays.
In the late 1940s, Cenedella was elected to the board of the Radio Writers Guild. With the advent of the McCarthy era, he became part of a faction of the Guild that actively opposed the blacklisting of its members. Before long, other board members who held an opposing view to Cenedella's passed a resolution which he had authored, allowing the Guild to defend their own against smears and intimidation. As a result, Cenedella was blacklisted, essentially losing a decade's worth of work, but as the McCarthy era died, he began to write for ANOTHER WORLD (once again working for NBC).
Nixon credited the veteran TV and radio writer of hundreds of articles, short stories, live and taped television dramas and an acclaimed novel (A Little to the East) as being a major asset to her bringing ANOTHER WORLD from number seven to number three in the ratings within a six month period. Nixon largely plotted, while Wallace and Cenedella wrote with the assistance of numerous sub-writers.
When NBC balked at her idea for a soap opera about ethnic families and their inter-related lives, Nixon brought it to ABC, and in July of 1968, ONE LIFE TO LIVE premiered. By the end of the year, it was clear to Nixon that she needed to concentrate full time on her new “baby.” It was also clear ABC wanted another soap opera from her. With Hill's approval, Nixon recommended Cenedella as her successor, and he formally took over the reins of head writer for ANOTHER WORLD in February 1969, forging a strong if at times acrimonious working relationship with Hill over the next year.
In daytime television, the over-arching story lines are broken out into daily episodes, which are then individually outlined by particular writers, and fleshed out with dialogue by others. The head writer conceives and outlines the long-term story of a scripted television or radio series.
The head writer on a soap opera is responsible for the entire invention of the story seen on the air. He receives a large fee each week for the complete package, including the finished scripts, but it is left to the head writer whether he writes all of them, some of them, or none at all. The head writer prepares a long-term story projection every several months, detailing the future action of the characters as much as three or four months in advance. From that story projection, the head writer writes five weekly breakdowns (also known as outlines). Those outlines break up the story projection into manageable segments which are transformed by sub writers into what is seen on the air. Cenedella was known throughout the late 1960s through the 1980s as one of the best in the business.
Cenedella's career began when he started to sell some of his short stories while teaching high school English in the small MA town he grew up in. Later, he began writing for radio in the 1930s, eventually becoming a professional radio writer for
NBC, working on numerous big-name radio shows while continuing to publish short stories and essays.
In the late 1940s, Cenedella was elected to the board of the Radio Writers Guild. With the advent of the McCarthy era, he became part of a faction of the Guild that actively opposed the blacklisting of its members. Before long, other board members who held an opposing view to Cenedella's passed a resolution which he had authored, allowing the Guild to defend their own against smears and intimidation. As a result, Cenedella was blacklisted, essentially losing a decade's worth of work, but as the McCarthy era died, he began to write for ANOTHER WORLD (once again working for NBC).
Nixon credited the veteran TV and radio writer of hundreds of articles, short stories, live and taped television dramas and an acclaimed novel (A Little to the East) as being a major asset to her bringing ANOTHER WORLD from number seven to number three in the ratings within a six month period. Nixon largely plotted, while Wallace and Cenedella wrote with the assistance of numerous sub-writers.
When NBC balked at her idea for a soap opera about ethnic families and their inter-related lives, Nixon brought it to ABC, and in July of 1968, ONE LIFE TO LIVE premiered. By the end of the year, it was clear to Nixon that she needed to concentrate full time on her new “baby.” It was also clear ABC wanted another soap opera from her. With Hill's approval, Nixon recommended Cenedella as her successor, and he formally took over the reins of head writer for ANOTHER WORLD in February 1969, forging a strong if at times acrimonious working relationship with Hill over the next year.
In daytime television, the over-arching story lines are broken out into daily episodes, which are then individually outlined by particular writers, and fleshed out with dialogue by others. The head writer conceives and outlines the long-term story of a scripted television or radio series.
The head writer on a soap opera is responsible for the entire invention of the story seen on the air. He receives a large fee each week for the complete package, including the finished scripts, but it is left to the head writer whether he writes all of them, some of them, or none at all. The head writer prepares a long-term story projection every several months, detailing the future action of the characters as much as three or four months in advance. From that story projection, the head writer writes five weekly breakdowns (also known as outlines). Those outlines break up the story projection into manageable segments which are transformed by sub writers into what is seen on the air. Cenedella was known throughout the late 1960s through the 1980s as one of the best in the business.
Carol Roux Publicity Shot
From Bay City to Somerset
Initially, plans were made to bring four popular characters from ANOTHER WORLD to SOMERSET as the stars: Joe Gallison as Bill Matthews, Carol Roux as Melissa ‘Missy’ Matthews, Jordan Charney as Sam Lucas and Ann Wedgworth as Lahoma Lucas. All four were very popular and it was felt that the Alice/Steve/Rachel storyline was popular enough that ANOTHER WORLD could withstand the loss of a few characters without losing ground.
However, by July 1969, both Gallison and Roux had left the series — the former to join ABC’s ONE LIFE TO LIVE, the latter to try her luck in Hollywood. Despite this, Hill and newly promoted Producer Sid Sirulnick were determined that both actors would, with suitable inducment, be willing to star in the new series. While both men went about courting Gallison and Roux, Cenedella was charged with writing the show's story "bible" and creating the first six month's worth of plots, with Phillips working behind the scenes to support him.
However, by July 1969, both Gallison and Roux had left the series — the former to join ABC’s ONE LIFE TO LIVE, the latter to try her luck in Hollywood. Despite this, Hill and newly promoted Producer Sid Sirulnick were determined that both actors would, with suitable inducment, be willing to star in the new series. While both men went about courting Gallison and Roux, Cenedella was charged with writing the show's story "bible" and creating the first six month's worth of plots, with Phillips working behind the scenes to support him.
Lyle B. Hill, Executive Producer
Lyle B. Hill
During the mid to late sixties, Lyle B. Hill developed a reputation as an efficient producer of daytime dramas. After spending three years on As the World Turns, Hill accepted an offer from NBC in 1967 and went on to Executive Produce ANOTHER WORLD for four years and Somerset for a total of seven years. A smooth talker who understood how to deal with the network heads as well as the P&G honchos, some have said he was a sympathetic and understanding man, while others claimed that they cringed every time he came on the set.
The Executive Producer — the “show runner” — is the highest ranking individual who is responsible for the development and daily management of and is in charge of everything related to the show. As such, Hill was still responsible for the overall production and he made it clear to everyone who was in charge. His tendency to be overly “hands-on” did not always sit well with others. Hill took his responsibilities very seriously and, along with Sirulnick, his goal was to provide solid entertainment, maintain a high level of quality, to hire the best actors and to remain within budget.
One of Hill’s many functions included close cooperation in the planning scripts, providing the writer with an objective point of view to guide them from script to script. As with actors, writers are often unduly defensive about their work and talents, while disliking what they perceive to be as interference from the sponsor, network and especially from the producers. Producers walk a tightrope between the three factions. On the one hand, insisting on what they believe is best for the show, but also relying upon the abilities of the writers.
Along with Bob Short and Ed Trach of Proctor & Gamble, and Tom Adams of Young & Rubicam, Hill and Sirulnick met every few months with the Head writer to discuss the various storylines and to make decisions as to whether or not the head writer is taking the show in the right direction. Writers never like these meetings, feeling that producers have no understanding of the writing craft. At times, Hill had no choice but to lay down the law — something that may not have always made him popular but certainly kept the production in line.
Having helped to sell the concept of the new series based on the four leads from ANOTHER WORLD as the show's main attraction, Hill and Sirulnick worked overtime to persuade both Gallison and Roux to join the series. Gallison was interested but unable to get ABC to release him from his contract. Phillips and Cenedella compensated by killing his character off, thus giving Roux's character a reason to return to Bay City.
The Executive Producer — the “show runner” — is the highest ranking individual who is responsible for the development and daily management of and is in charge of everything related to the show. As such, Hill was still responsible for the overall production and he made it clear to everyone who was in charge. His tendency to be overly “hands-on” did not always sit well with others. Hill took his responsibilities very seriously and, along with Sirulnick, his goal was to provide solid entertainment, maintain a high level of quality, to hire the best actors and to remain within budget.
One of Hill’s many functions included close cooperation in the planning scripts, providing the writer with an objective point of view to guide them from script to script. As with actors, writers are often unduly defensive about their work and talents, while disliking what they perceive to be as interference from the sponsor, network and especially from the producers. Producers walk a tightrope between the three factions. On the one hand, insisting on what they believe is best for the show, but also relying upon the abilities of the writers.
Along with Bob Short and Ed Trach of Proctor & Gamble, and Tom Adams of Young & Rubicam, Hill and Sirulnick met every few months with the Head writer to discuss the various storylines and to make decisions as to whether or not the head writer is taking the show in the right direction. Writers never like these meetings, feeling that producers have no understanding of the writing craft. At times, Hill had no choice but to lay down the law — something that may not have always made him popular but certainly kept the production in line.
Having helped to sell the concept of the new series based on the four leads from ANOTHER WORLD as the show's main attraction, Hill and Sirulnick worked overtime to persuade both Gallison and Roux to join the series. Gallison was interested but unable to get ABC to release him from his contract. Phillips and Cenedella compensated by killing his character off, thus giving Roux's character a reason to return to Bay City.
Early Production
Sid Sirulnick
At first, Roux was reluctant to move back to New York City, in part due to a new romantic relationship in her life with a rock musician, but also because she was in the midst of what she referred to as a seven-month "sit and think" period. However, Hill and producer Sid Sirulnick wooed her by offering a clause for her contract that allowed her to leave after six months on the show. Roux relented at the start of 1970 and moved back to Manhattan.
Upon being given the initial greenlight for the new series, Hill had promoted production manager Sid Sirulnick to the post of Producer. Sirulnick was well-liked by actors and the production crew alike. His enthusiasm and ability to cast appropriate actors served the series well. He would remain as producer for SOMERSET during its entire seven year run.
For purposes of making it easy for cast members to float back and forth between shows, ANOTHER WORLD in SOMERSET was shot at the same studio where ANOTHER WORLD (soon to be retitled Another World in Bay City) was shot, JC Studios, located at 1268 E. 14th St., Brooklyn, NY, 11230. *
Hill and Sirulnick assembled their production staff largely from ANOTHER WORLD and AS THE WORLD TURNS contacts. Scenic designer Gene Tunezi, costume designers Jerry Boxhorn and Julia Sze, music director Chet Kingsbury, hairdresser Joe Coscia, stage manager Jerry Evans, production assistant Francine Caruso and announcer Bill Woolf had all worked with Hill and/or Sirulnick on one or both series.
* (this is the same studio to where As the World Turrns moved to when Another World ended in 1999).
Upon being given the initial greenlight for the new series, Hill had promoted production manager Sid Sirulnick to the post of Producer. Sirulnick was well-liked by actors and the production crew alike. His enthusiasm and ability to cast appropriate actors served the series well. He would remain as producer for SOMERSET during its entire seven year run.
For purposes of making it easy for cast members to float back and forth between shows, ANOTHER WORLD in SOMERSET was shot at the same studio where ANOTHER WORLD (soon to be retitled Another World in Bay City) was shot, JC Studios, located at 1268 E. 14th St., Brooklyn, NY, 11230. *
Hill and Sirulnick assembled their production staff largely from ANOTHER WORLD and AS THE WORLD TURNS contacts. Scenic designer Gene Tunezi, costume designers Jerry Boxhorn and Julia Sze, music director Chet Kingsbury, hairdresser Joe Coscia, stage manager Jerry Evans, production assistant Francine Caruso and announcer Bill Woolf had all worked with Hill and/or Sirulnick on one or both series.
* (this is the same studio to where As the World Turrns moved to when Another World ended in 1999).
Creating the world of Somerset
Ann Wedgworth and Jorden Charney
With the Lucas family as one of the core families on SOMERSET, and the about-to-be-widowed Missy Matthews intended to be the resident ingénue, Phillips and Cenedella created the new and socially diverse families that would populate the fictional town of Somerset, located in Michigan, just fifty miles from fictional Bay City:
The powerful and wealthy Delaney/Cooper family; the middle class Grants; the lower class Davis clan and the luckless Buchanan siblings. Added to this were Rafe Carter, a lawyer for the town's large corporation, Delaney Brands; Bill Greely, the town's most lovable bartender; the dirty dealing Ike Harding, part owner of The RIverboat Casino and shortly after the show's premiere, Chief of Staff at Somerset Hospital, Stan Kurtrz (played by the popular soap vet Michael Lipton).
Phillips and Cenedella also decided to make good use of two other popular ANOTHER WORLD characters — the nefarious Aunt Liz Matthews (played at that time by Nancy Wickwire), and the stalwart Mitchell Dru. *
Invented by ANOTHER WORLD's creator, Irna Phillips, Dru was the only character to appear on four of Phillips major soap operas: THE BRIGHTER DAY(1961-62), AS THE WORLD TURNS (1962-64), ANOTHER WORLD (1964-1971) and now, SOMERSET. Other characters from ANOTHER WORLD would also pop up frequently and infrequently on the new series. Among those characters most prominently featured during the first year where Rachel Davis (who's father, Gerald Davis, lived in Somerset), John Randolph, Wayne Addison, Steve Frame and Lenore Curtain.
As a writer, Phillips strongly favored character development and psychological realism over melodrama. An innovation of
Phillips’ was to provide what she referred to as “Greek chorus characters,” characters whose primary purpose was to comment on the crises faced and decisions made by the town's more dynamic residents. Characters like Ellen and Ben Grant were not there to have much in the way of their own storyline, but to be sounding boards for the other characters
and focus points for the viewers.
Irna’s rules for soap operas were simple, and she laid them out for people like Lyle Hill very clearly: “First, tell them what you are going to tell them. Second, tell them. Third, tell them what you just told them.” In keeping with this rule, Phillips' style favored gradual evolution over radical change. She held to the notion that a soap opera should move at the pace of life
itself – and sometimes even more slowly than that — slow, conversational, and emotionally intense.
Each new addition to a cast of her shows was done in a gradual manner, and was usually a key contact to one of the established members of the show. For more than twenty years, this style prevailed on AS THE WORLD TURNS and viewers loved it. But times were changing and Irna appeared not to notice or at least not to agree.
This was a problem because it went against the basic storytelling philosophies of people like Cenedella, and later, Harding Lemay — the former preferring melodrama, the latter drawing room drama. Cenedella in particular had his own rule: "never have one character tell another something they both already know." For this reason, once her six month contract as a consultant was up, despite Lyle Hill's admiration for her, Irna's involvement was, at best, negligible.
* (Actor Geoffrey Lumb has the distinction of being the only actor to play the same role continually on four soap operas).
The powerful and wealthy Delaney/Cooper family; the middle class Grants; the lower class Davis clan and the luckless Buchanan siblings. Added to this were Rafe Carter, a lawyer for the town's large corporation, Delaney Brands; Bill Greely, the town's most lovable bartender; the dirty dealing Ike Harding, part owner of The RIverboat Casino and shortly after the show's premiere, Chief of Staff at Somerset Hospital, Stan Kurtrz (played by the popular soap vet Michael Lipton).
Phillips and Cenedella also decided to make good use of two other popular ANOTHER WORLD characters — the nefarious Aunt Liz Matthews (played at that time by Nancy Wickwire), and the stalwart Mitchell Dru. *
Invented by ANOTHER WORLD's creator, Irna Phillips, Dru was the only character to appear on four of Phillips major soap operas: THE BRIGHTER DAY(1961-62), AS THE WORLD TURNS (1962-64), ANOTHER WORLD (1964-1971) and now, SOMERSET. Other characters from ANOTHER WORLD would also pop up frequently and infrequently on the new series. Among those characters most prominently featured during the first year where Rachel Davis (who's father, Gerald Davis, lived in Somerset), John Randolph, Wayne Addison, Steve Frame and Lenore Curtain.
As a writer, Phillips strongly favored character development and psychological realism over melodrama. An innovation of
Phillips’ was to provide what she referred to as “Greek chorus characters,” characters whose primary purpose was to comment on the crises faced and decisions made by the town's more dynamic residents. Characters like Ellen and Ben Grant were not there to have much in the way of their own storyline, but to be sounding boards for the other characters
and focus points for the viewers.
Irna’s rules for soap operas were simple, and she laid them out for people like Lyle Hill very clearly: “First, tell them what you are going to tell them. Second, tell them. Third, tell them what you just told them.” In keeping with this rule, Phillips' style favored gradual evolution over radical change. She held to the notion that a soap opera should move at the pace of life
itself – and sometimes even more slowly than that — slow, conversational, and emotionally intense.
Each new addition to a cast of her shows was done in a gradual manner, and was usually a key contact to one of the established members of the show. For more than twenty years, this style prevailed on AS THE WORLD TURNS and viewers loved it. But times were changing and Irna appeared not to notice or at least not to agree.
This was a problem because it went against the basic storytelling philosophies of people like Cenedella, and later, Harding Lemay — the former preferring melodrama, the latter drawing room drama. Cenedella in particular had his own rule: "never have one character tell another something they both already know." For this reason, once her six month contract as a consultant was up, despite Lyle Hill's admiration for her, Irna's involvement was, at best, negligible.
* (Actor Geoffrey Lumb has the distinction of being the only actor to play the same role continually on four soap operas).
Casting Somerset
Nicholas Coster and Marie Wallace
Casting on the new series began early in January of 1970 and continued right up until a few days before the premiere episode was scheduled to be taped. Quite a number of well-known actors were cast in various roles:
Marie Wallace joined the show as the crafty India Delaney, fresh from her role as Megan Todd on DARK SHADOWS; Nicholas Coster, cast as Robert Delaney, had recently finished working on THE SECRET STORM; Pamela Toll accepted the role of Pamela Davis direct from her popular role on NBC's THE DOCTORS; Ed Kemmer, famous for an early television serial Space Patrol, played the role of lawyer Ben Grant; Wynne Miller, daughter of the late Glenn Miller, was hired as THE RIVERBOAT nightclub chanteuse, Jessica Buchanan, and Georgann Johnson, with a twenty year career on stage and nighttime television behind her, was signed to play the sweet-natured Ellen Grant, sister of India Delaney.
Marie Wallace joined the show as the crafty India Delaney, fresh from her role as Megan Todd on DARK SHADOWS; Nicholas Coster, cast as Robert Delaney, had recently finished working on THE SECRET STORM; Pamela Toll accepted the role of Pamela Davis direct from her popular role on NBC's THE DOCTORS; Ed Kemmer, famous for an early television serial Space Patrol, played the role of lawyer Ben Grant; Wynne Miller, daughter of the late Glenn Miller, was hired as THE RIVERBOAT nightclub chanteuse, Jessica Buchanan, and Georgann Johnson, with a twenty year career on stage and nighttime television behind her, was signed to play the sweet-natured Ellen Grant, sister of India Delaney.
February 14, 1970 Rochester Sentinal
Dorothy Stinnette
Rehearsals began on March 9, 1970 with the roles of Laura Delaney Cooper and Peter Delaney as yet to be cast. Hill and Sirulnick were simply unable to find the right actors for characters that were considered to be of vital importance during the shows early storyline projections*.
With time growing short, Hill and Sirulnick met with a number of actors recommended by a friend of Hill's who worked mainly off-Broadway. Stage actors Dorothy Stinnette and Len Gochman read for the roles and were immediately hired days before taping of the premiere episode on March 16, 1970. Along with Ron Martin and Susan MacDonald, they were among the few actors not to have their characters introduced on ANOTHER WORLD.
* (The character of Robert Delaney was originally planned to die after six months, bringing the character of Peter Delaney back into the family business. Instead, the character of Wayne Addison on Another World was killed off).
With time growing short, Hill and Sirulnick met with a number of actors recommended by a friend of Hill's who worked mainly off-Broadway. Stage actors Dorothy Stinnette and Len Gochman read for the roles and were immediately hired days before taping of the premiere episode on March 16, 1970. Along with Ron Martin and Susan MacDonald, they were among the few actors not to have their characters introduced on ANOTHER WORLD.
* (The character of Robert Delaney was originally planned to die after six months, bringing the character of Peter Delaney back into the family business. Instead, the character of Wayne Addison on Another World was killed off).
Nineteen soap operas
March 31, 1970
NBC scheduled the show to premiere on Monday, March 30, 1970 — the same date ABC was premiering its new shows, A WORLD APART and THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, and the resultant publicity was considerable. Each series had at least one or two soap opera veterans, or in the case of THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, Hollywood film stars.
The debut of these series would bring the three network's daytime drama lineups to a staggering total of nineteen daytime dramas, something unheard of since 1954-55 season when sixteen soap operas aired throughout the year. When asked about the plethora of daytime dramas, all three networks confessed that "the immense profits" from soap operas fueled the development of new nighttime programs greatly. As yet, no one could foresee that the over-abundance of soaps would endanger the entire genre within a few short years.
As the two series were to be “sister” shows, many of the new characters were introduced on ANOTHER WORLD. Roux made a return to the show as of March 10, 1970, and child actor Jason Bernard was added as her son, Ricky Matthews. Other characters introduced on ANOTHER WORLD included Robert and India Delaney, Ben and Ellen Grant, Rafe Carter, Jessica and Randy Buchanan and Gerald Davis, father of Rachel Davis.
The debut of these series would bring the three network's daytime drama lineups to a staggering total of nineteen daytime dramas, something unheard of since 1954-55 season when sixteen soap operas aired throughout the year. When asked about the plethora of daytime dramas, all three networks confessed that "the immense profits" from soap operas fueled the development of new nighttime programs greatly. As yet, no one could foresee that the over-abundance of soaps would endanger the entire genre within a few short years.
As the two series were to be “sister” shows, many of the new characters were introduced on ANOTHER WORLD. Roux made a return to the show as of March 10, 1970, and child actor Jason Bernard was added as her son, Ricky Matthews. Other characters introduced on ANOTHER WORLD included Robert and India Delaney, Ben and Ellen Grant, Rafe Carter, Jessica and Randy Buchanan and Gerald Davis, father of Rachel Davis.
