Marland Monday: A Tryout and a Switch Around
Ho, Ho, ho! It’s the first Monday in December and it’s also…
Marland Monday!
That’s right kiddies, Mondays are when I write about Douglas Marland, one of the best writers in soap operas. Come with me!
Today we’re going back to 1979. Ah, 1979! The Muppet Movie was in theaters, with people wanting to make a Rainbow Connection. A comic strip from Canada named For Better or For Worse made its debut. There was a protest against Disco, or was it something else? In the meantime, people were listening to a new type of music, something called rap in the form of “Rapper’s Delight” Take it away Swedish Chef!
In the soap world, things were changing. That’s a given; things change rapidly in soaps. On Friday you can have one actor playing a character, Monday they’re replaced by a brand new actor wearing the same wardrobe the previous actor had. We discussed last week the “Phantom fetus” But in autumn 1979, changes were afoot. Douglas Marland left General Hospital. As mentioned before, he and Gloria Monty created a miracle with the show when it became number one in the ratings. But Monty wanted Marland to move to Los Angeles. Here’s what I know about Douglas Marland: No one told him what to do. He said thanks but no thanks, then left the show.
Over at As the World Turns, people were a little mad. Dr. Dan Stewart had been killed off. Columnist Chad Lowe said “He (Dr. Dan) developed a mysterious soap-opera cough, and then POOF! He was allowed to die…” Barbara Rodell who played troublemaker Joyce Coleman Hughes was written off two months before. So the show was indefinite flux. New executive producer Fred Bartholomew (who used to be a child star and was in Little Lord Fauntleroy and was in the title role of David Copperfield) decided to replace writers Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt. Who could he get to replace them??? Hmmm…
Calling Mr. Marland!
For years I thought Marland had taken over in September 1979, but Wikipedia has it he only wrote for the show starting in November and ended in December (more on that later) Also what did he write back then? It’s a bit murky.
There’s one episode I found (Thank you Roger Newcomb and We Love Soaps) which deals with the following:
- After Dan’s death, his widow Kim (Kathryn Hays) moved into an apartment with teenage stepdaughter Betsy (Suzanne Davidson) and toddler Andy. Betsy started running around with a fast crowd who drank and had loud parties. Betsy especially likes a girl named Lois (Diane Franklin) who acts sophisticated and worldly.
2. Lisa was involved with a Bennett Hadley (John Higgins) who ran an inn called The Willows. Bennett was suspected of killing his first wife, and some thought The Willows was haunted. It also had a stern housekeeper who didn’t like Lisa. It also meant Lisa had to get a divorce from her husband Grant Coleman. Ironically, Lisa’s portrayer Eileen Fulton was leaving her husband at the same time. She told this story to We Love Soaps:
“He (Marland) came on when I was supposed to go away with my real-husband, Fortunato — Husband 2. But I had decided I was going to leave him. So I changed my name to ‘Ruth Stern.’ My brother Jimmy went as my brother, ‘Hilary Stern.’ We had to go to a hotel in New York City because I had to meet with March of Dimes and UNICEF. I talked to the manager of the Hilton Hotel and said, ‘I’m really Margaret Fortunato, this is my card, but I don’t want to talk to anyone here, so put me on the registry as Ruth and Hilary Stern.’ Because I was hiding from my husband.
“So after we got through with the meeting, my brother and I got in his car and went up to Lake Minnewaska. We got lost in a terrible storm, with rain and fog, and we finally got up to the hotel, and it was not as we remembered. I had taken him there as a little boy. It was old and dilapidated and a shutter was banging. For two weeks we were around there, then we went up to Lake Mohawk. I hid out as Ruth Stern. Danny could not find us, no one could. When I came back we were staying at a hotel here in town, still as Ruth and Hillary, and I got my script that I had to go on location to Ringwood, New Jersey… When I got to Ringwood, and my brother went with me, Lisa had changed her name. Lisa was running away from Grant Colman. Lisa got stuck in a terrible storm with fog and lightning and rain that was blinding. She finally comes upon this old mansion and when she gets there the shutter was banging. My brother said, ‘If you had told me I would have never believed it. It was too spooky for words!’”
3. Don (Conard Fowkes) was falling for Mary Ellison (Kelly Wood) after the death of his estranged wife Joyce. However, she was engaged to another man.
4. Dr. Bob Hughes (Don Hastings) was falling for ballet dancer Dana McFarland (Deborah Hobart) Dana was still married to Ian (Peter Simon) There was also mention of Bob and Don’s sister Penny who lived in England at the time.
On December 8, 1979, it was announced that there was going to be a switch around. Doesn’t that sound like a 60s dance? Come on everyone! Let’s do the Switch around!
Bridget and Jerome Dobson the head writers for Guiding Light were coming to As The World Turns. Marland was going to Guiding Light.
Okay, this has been confusing, hasn’t it? Let’s take a breath.
So what do you think Marland learned/gained from his brief time in Oakdale?
1. One of his first stories on Guiding Light was of a new family. Newly widowed Jennifer (Geraldine Court) was having problems with her daughter Morgan (Kirsten Vigard) who was hanging out with Tim (Kevin Bacon) who liked to drink.
2. When Nola (Lisa Brown) met Quentin (Michael Tylo), it was at a mysterious mansion on Thornway Road, run by a stern housekeeper Violet Renfield (Beulah Garrett) and the mansion may/may not be haunted.
3. We’ve discussed before the Ed Bauer shakeup-and who replaced popular Mart Hulswit? Peter Simon.
4. Years later when Marland was back at ATWT, he had Frannie Hughes (Julianne Moore) spend time in London. She stayed with her aunt, Penny (Rosemary Prinz)
Maybe his time in Oakdale was short, but it did inspire some material.
Tune in next week for A Very Special Marland Christmas!
