Charles Ellis
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2002
- Messages
- 2,098
Warner Bros. has had a great success with "Dallas" on DVD, and with the recent so-called "Dynasty" docudrama, people are again looking at the classic primetime soaps of the past. Soapnet is about to add 90210 to its lineup, and of course we all know about that current show on Sunday nights on ABC.
However, some people seem to have forgotten that exactly 40 years ago the Alphabet Network had a primetime soap that also became an instant smash: the grandaddy of primetime soaps, Peyton Place! For 5 years (and 514 episodes!) millions watched the saga of life in that notorious small town that was truly the spiritual ancestor to Desperate Housewives, led by a truly memorable cast that had a mixture of Hollywood veterans (Dorothy Malone, George Macready, Ruth Warrick, Leslie Nielsen, Kent Smith, Barbara Rush), New York-based actors on the rise (Lee Grant, Ruby Dee, Gena Rowlands) and hot newcomers who became household names (Ryan O'Neal, Mia Farrow, Barbara Parkins, Leigh Taylor-Young, Mariette Hartley, Christopher Connelly).
The folks on Wisteria Lane owe a lot to characters like the virginal Allison McKenzie, rich stud Rodney Harrington, town vamp Betty Anderson Harrington Cord Harrington, evil patriarch Martin Peyton, stalwart town doctor Mike Rossi, the brooding Steven Cord and his sinsiter housekeeper mom Hannah, single mom-with-a-secret Constance McKenzie, young lovers Rita Jacks and Norman Harrington, tragic nurse Ann Howard and the troubled Webbers. By the way, Ryan O' Neal is doing an appearance on Desperate Housewives playing a character named- RODNEY!!!
I'm sure that Fox is already prepping Dynasty for DVD, but it should look at this Emmy-winning classic that inspired every single primetime soap that has come down the line ! Fox has been quite delinquent in releasing its classic TV shows on DVD, unlike Paramount, Warner Bros, Sony and Universal. I'm surprised it has actually gotten to release Lost In Space , but where's the likes of Dobie Gillis, The Green Hornet, Adventures In Paradise, Land of the Giants, and other 50s-60s gems?
Peyton Place is a classic just waiting to be discovered by a new generation. If MPI can have a great success putting all 1225 episodes of Dark Shadows on VHS and DVD, why can't Fox do the same with the 514 episodes of Peyton Place ?
However, some people seem to have forgotten that exactly 40 years ago the Alphabet Network had a primetime soap that also became an instant smash: the grandaddy of primetime soaps, Peyton Place! For 5 years (and 514 episodes!) millions watched the saga of life in that notorious small town that was truly the spiritual ancestor to Desperate Housewives, led by a truly memorable cast that had a mixture of Hollywood veterans (Dorothy Malone, George Macready, Ruth Warrick, Leslie Nielsen, Kent Smith, Barbara Rush), New York-based actors on the rise (Lee Grant, Ruby Dee, Gena Rowlands) and hot newcomers who became household names (Ryan O'Neal, Mia Farrow, Barbara Parkins, Leigh Taylor-Young, Mariette Hartley, Christopher Connelly).
The folks on Wisteria Lane owe a lot to characters like the virginal Allison McKenzie, rich stud Rodney Harrington, town vamp Betty Anderson Harrington Cord Harrington, evil patriarch Martin Peyton, stalwart town doctor Mike Rossi, the brooding Steven Cord and his sinsiter housekeeper mom Hannah, single mom-with-a-secret Constance McKenzie, young lovers Rita Jacks and Norman Harrington, tragic nurse Ann Howard and the troubled Webbers. By the way, Ryan O' Neal is doing an appearance on Desperate Housewives playing a character named- RODNEY!!!
I'm sure that Fox is already prepping Dynasty for DVD, but it should look at this Emmy-winning classic that inspired every single primetime soap that has come down the line ! Fox has been quite delinquent in releasing its classic TV shows on DVD, unlike Paramount, Warner Bros, Sony and Universal. I'm surprised it has actually gotten to release Lost In Space , but where's the likes of Dobie Gillis, The Green Hornet, Adventures In Paradise, Land of the Giants, and other 50s-60s gems?
Peyton Place is a classic just waiting to be discovered by a new generation. If MPI can have a great success putting all 1225 episodes of Dark Shadows on VHS and DVD, why can't Fox do the same with the 514 episodes of Peyton Place ?