Thursday, September 29, 2011

Today in Soap Opera History (September 29)

On this date in...

1969: BRIGHT PROMISE premiered on NBC. The show ran at 3:30 p.m. ET until March 31, 1972. The show revolved around students and faculty at the fictional Bancroft College and was created by Frank and Doris Hursley. The show starred Dana Andrews, and Anthony Geary would later join the cast. BRIGHT PROMISE actress Gail Kobe would become the executive producer of its replacement show, RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE.

1978: NBC's FOR RICHER, FOR POORER aired its final episode. The show was originally titled LOVERS AND FRIENDS. The characters of Amy and Austin Cushing arrived on the network's top-rated soaper, ANOTHER WORLD, in advance of the FOR RICHER, FOR POORER debut in the hope of attracting that audience. Rachel Cory and then Mac Cory also appeared on the show. Ultimately it wouldn't help.  Read this classic article for more.

1979: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, Grant shocked Lisa when he agreed to "grant" her a quickie divorce so she could marry Bennett. Meanwhile, Ian suffered a heart attack shocking the audience including Tom, Barbara, Nancy and Chris (pictured right).  Ian was rushed to the hospital and survived, but died five months later when having a another heart attack while making love with heartbreaking Dee Stewart.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Ian McShane (ex-Don, DALLAS) - 69
Drake Hogestyn (John, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 58
Roger Bart (ex-George, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) - 49
Andrea Pearson (ex-Gia, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 34

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a piece of soap opera history for this daily column, please email it to [email protected].

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