Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Today in Soap Opera History (August 19)

1996: Another World's Frankie Frame was brutally murdered.
1996: General Hospital's Jason and Robin made love.
"To believe what has not occurred in history will not occur at all, is to argue disbelief in the dignity of man."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1929: NBC Blue network broadcast Amos 'n' Andy, starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, for the first time. The show ran as a nightly radio serial from 1928 (starting at local WMAQ) until 1943, then as a weekly situation comedy from 1943 to 1955.

1953: On Search for Tomorrow, Arthur Tate (Terry O'Sullivan) told Nathan Walsh he planned on leaving Henderson and forgetting all about Joanne Baron (Mary Stuart).  Later, Stu Bergman (Larry Haines) asked Nathan what kind of troubles Arthur was having.



1957: CBS replaced Valiant Lady with Roy Winsor's Hotel Cosmopolitan starring Donald Woods as the narrator of the goings-on in a plush New York hotel. Supporting players included James Pritchett (Dr. Matt Powers, The Doctors), Henderson Forsythe (Dr. David Stewart, As the World Turns), Wesley Lau, Tom Shirley and Walter Brooke.

1976: On Days of our Lives, Valerie Grant (Tina Andrews) was unhappy with her parents decision to not help Adele Hamilton.



The Grant family was introduced in 1975, and the interracial love story between Valerie and David Banning (Richard Guthrie) was Days' attempt to break new ground in daytime.

Below is an excerpt from a May 24, 1977 Los Angeles Times article by by William K. Knoedelseder:

The latest from NBC's Days of our Lives is that the chaste, year-long engagement of David Banning and Valerie Grant, daytime’s only interracial couple, is kaput. According to the script, the reason for the rift is David’s infidelity. But according to the actors, the reason is real-life racism.

"They're breaking us up because the storyline is unpopular,” said actor Richard Guthrie (David). "The studio has been getting a lot of hate mail from people threatening to stop watching the show."

"When they get enough of those letters, they respond," said actress Tina Andrews (Valerie). "One letter said: 'I hope you’re not going to let that ****** marry that white boy.' Apparently, they are not. I’m being canned."

Andrews pointed out that her television parents, Ketty Lester and Lawrence Cook, already have been written out of the script. With both the black storyline and the interracial romance ended, she said, Valerie is expendable.

Spokesmen for NBC in Burbank and the show’s co-executive producer, Wes Kenney, confirmed the couple's imminent breakup but denied the split was a reaction to unfavorable mail. Kenney said that although mail is read, analyzed, studied for trends in viewer response and discussed with the show’s writers, public reaction has not affected the long-term plans for the romance.

"This breakup has been planned from the very beginning. There has been change of direction."

Kenney said that while Days Nielsen ratings have fallen in the last year, from its perennial position in the top 3 to a current number 7 in a field of 14, the mail reflects a 50/50 split on the subject of David and Valerie.

Both Guthrie and Andrews said the mail was overwhelmingly negative and kissing quickly disappeared from the script.
“After that, we weren’t even allowed to touch,” said Guthrie. "Whenever we inadvertently worked it in, we were told to stop from the control booth. It was ridiculous."

Andrews said: "They would always say 'Richard, don’t touch her,' never the other way around. Pretty soon we started getting scripts with stage directions like 'They look at each other warmly, but they do not touch,' underlined five times so we wouldn’t miss it. That offended me as an actress, as a woman, and as a black person."

Kenney admits the physical aspects of the relationship had been played down in the past, but said the couple had again been allowed to kiss in more recent episodes. Referring to the “no touching” remonstratives, he said if he had seen such directions in the script, he would have taken them out. As co-executive producer, Kenney often edits the scripts before they are given to the actors.

Former head writer Pat Falken Smith, the creator of the interracial romance, disagreed with the young actors’ assessment of the situation. The kissing and touching was played down as a matter of storytelling. “In daytime programming, the drama is much stronger when you don't show intimate love scenes. If Richard and Tina thought it was unrealistic that a young engaged couple didn't kiss, that's tough. It was my story and gratuitous kissing was not part of it. And no actor re-writes me on the set, ever."

1981: Kin Shriner aired for the final time as Jeb Hampton in Texas.

1985: On Days of our Lives, Victor (John Aniston) invited a blind Kim (Patsy Pease) to move in with him.



1987: On Ryan's Hope, Ben (James Wlcek) showed up at the church just as Lizzie (Catherine Larson) was about to walk down the aisle to marry John Reid (Jason Adams).



1996: Nathan Hastings died on The Young and
the Restless
.
1996: On The Young and the Restless, Nathan Hastings (Adam Lazarre-White) died in the hospital after being struck by a car. Before succumbing to his injuries, Nathan talked to his son, Nate Jr. (Bryant Jones), one last time, then asked his estranged wife, Olivia (Tonya B. Williams), for forgiveness. The character of Nathan, first called "Kong," was created by William J. Bell in 1984. Prior to Lazzare-White, the character had been played by actors Forest Whitaker, Nathan Purdee and Randy Brooks.

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

1996: On General Hospital, Robin (Kimberly McCullough) and Jason (Steve Burton) made love. The clip below currently has over 8.5 million views on YouTube.



1996: On Another World, Frankie Frame (Alice Barrett) was brutally murdered. Before she died, Frankie tried to leave a clue about the killer's identity.



Margaret DePriest was Another World's head writer at the time. Jill Farren Phelps had resigned as executive producer on August 4th, and would be replaced by former NBC vice president Charlotte Savitz. In an interview with TV Guide Magazine in August 2012, Phelps (now executive producer of The Young and the Restless) declared she was not responsible for Frankie's death.

"Look, I'm sorry I killed Maureen Bauer on Guiding Light all those years ago," Phelps said, "but I am not responsible for the death of Frankie Frame on Another World! That was not my doing and I am tired of taking the heat for having killed a character when I didn't!"

This seemed to conflict somewhat with what Phelps said at the time.

”I am not going to claim absolutely no responsibility. The truth of the matter is the fans have to understand that Frankie did not die to make way for Robert Kelker-Kelly to come in. That is not the truth. What is the truth is that up until now, AW did not enjoy the kind of financial freedom the other shows do. There are so many beans in the jar, and people do have to go to make room for other people. It is not true that I did not like Alice; it is true that I like everybody to get an A story, and I get stymied when I find myself up against something I don't quite understand."

2004: Actor Remo Pisani, who played Speed Taft in The Edge of Night, died at age 85.

2008: On One Life to Live, Bo (Robert S. Woods) spoke with his late father, Asa Buchanan (Phil Carey). Bo: "You can rest now, Pa." Asa: "You and your brother were the best things I ever did."



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Jill St. John (ex-Deanna, Emerald Point N.A.S.) - 74
Jonathan Frakes (ex-Tom, The Doctors; ex-Sandy, Paper Dolls; ex-Damon, Falcon Crest) - 62
Peter Gallagher (ex-Chuck, Guiding Light; ex-Sandy, The O.C.) - 59
Adam Arkin (ex-Mark, Knots Landing) - 58
Darby Hinton (ex-Ian, Days of our Lives) - 57
Paul Satterfield (ex-Spencer, One Life to Live; ex-Pierce, The Bold and the Beautiful; ex-Paul, General Hospital) - 54
Frank Rossi (ex-Michael, General Hospital; ex-Dino, All My Children; ex-Dino, Days of our Lives) - 54
John Stamos (ex-Connor, Necessary Roughness; ex-Carl, Glee; ex-Blackie, General Hospital) - 51
Kyra Sedgwick (ex-Julia, Another World) - 49
Kevin Dillon (ex-Lonnie, 24) - 49
Matthew Perry (Mike, The Good Wife) - 45
Tracie Thoms (Tracie, Bandwagon) - 39
Callum Blue (ex-Zod, Smallville) - 37
Court Bauer (Former Writer, WWE, ECW) - 36
Melissa Fumero (ex-Adriana, One Life to Live; ex-Adriana, All My Children; ex-Zoe, Gossip Girl) - 32
Erika Christensen (Julia, Parenthood) - 32
Tammin Sursok (Jenna, Pretty Little Liars; ex-Colleen, The Young and the Restless; ex-Dani, Home and Away) - 31
Trent Baines (ex-Macca, Home and Away) - 30
Micah Alberti (ex-Jamie, All My Children) - 30
J. Evan Bonifant (ex-Lucas, General Hospital; ex-Al, One Life to Live) - 29
David A. Gregory (Richie, Youthful Daze; ex-Ford, One Life to Live; ex-Kyle, Deception) - 29

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you have a tip on a bit of soap history on this date or future dates, let us know. Send an email to [email protected]

4 comments:

  1. Frankie's murder was the worst day in Another World history and I honestly do not believe a single word Jill Farren Phelps has ever said on the subject. If you're the executive producer of AW and don't "understand" why your audience loves a character like Frankie Frame-------FIGURE IT OUT! Phelps made one bad decision after another as AW's EP but killing Frankie was the worst by far and it signaled the beginning of the end for the beloved soap.....and it still hurts to this day.

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  2. ^^ It astounds me that JFP continues to work in this genre. Seriously. She has terribly injured Y&R. It no longer resembles the lush, sophisticated daytime drama that the rest paled in comparison to for over the past 27 years ("paled" in terms of production value.) Now, Y&R looks cheap and worst_ the stories are terrible.

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  3. Alice Brown who played the beloved Frankie was quoted after this aired, that she had to fight to keep the line-"But I'm a mother"in the death scene, knowing well that the character's death would enrage the fans.Phelps was also the killer who had her fingerprints on the death of Maureen Bauer on Guiding Light too.

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    1. Alice's last name is Barrett........I also remember her saying at the time that she had to fight to portray the aftermath of Frankie's murder as brutally as it was written. After showing her being beaten and strangled the script described Frankie's lifeless body as "peaceful and at rest" but Alice insisted that she be shown as bloodied and bruised. It was painful to watch but Alice gave Frankie integrity even to the end. Another World lost its heart when it lost Frankie.

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