Search for Tomorrow

I remember when I first watched soaps in 1981 I remember I wanted to see what the oldest soap (at the time "Search for Tomorrow" was the oldest soap on the air)was like. I liked what I saw and I got hooked on the show but I never understood a show like that was only stayed a half hour where most soaps aired for an hour. I watched it when it was in its last few months on CBS and it had a good thing going on location to Hong Kong with Travis (Rod Arrants, who had a quality of Luke Spencer) and his wife Liza (Sherry Mathis, later Louan Gideon) and they were the super couple of the show. I was glad that NBC picked up the show after CBS cancelled it and gave it a few more years to live. I did like the teenagers scene, Wendy (Lisa Peluso) and Suzi (Cynthia Gibb, then Elizabeth Swackhamer and Terri Eoff)and I thought the show was good. Of course the best was Stephanie (Marie Cheatham). She was the best character they had in Henderson, USA. The only problem this show had was that they had a constant turnover of executive producers and writers that the show got lost with viewers. I did remain true to the show till it got cancelled. But I liked it and was glad to be a fan to a soap that lasted for 35 years. It still lives on and the search isn't over.

Another commentator seems to suggest(I could be reading it wrong) that ATWT and EON were once on for 15 minutes. While SFT and GL did air for 15 minutes a day, EON & ATWT started out as half hour soaps. I grew up watching the entire CBS daytime lineup with my grandmother during the summer. The only soaps I could watch during school were EON and Dark Shadows because they aired in the late afternoon. I have so many memories of those years. Jo Anne blind. Malcolm Thomas stabbed on EON. Jonah revealed as Keith Whitney on EON. Kip cheating on Amy on Secret Storm. I don't know if the stories were better because I was young and everything was new to me. But they certainly seemed better.

In my case, this IS a show my Mom used to watch (she watched all of the CBS serials to varying degrees) and unlike today's soaps, as all of the marital infidelity, etc., was never on screen, I suppose it was all right for a little kid to see, although I seem to remember that JoAnne Tate lost a son about my age and it bothered my mother a lot. In those days the plot lines really moved slowly; I could go back to school for nine months and still know what was going on the next summer! I've always wondered how actresses like Mary Stuart who played the same character on the same show for decades did financially; presumably it was good enough that they didn't go look for other work. I've heard that more of the people whose TV careers started on this show became stars after they moved on than any other soap opera. And this show was really that - a true soap opera in every sense with all that implies. When I was a kid it still had the ominous organ music, a carryover from soaps on the radio (even though that this one, unlike "The Guiding Light" with which it shared a half-hour when they were both 15 minutes, did not go all the way back to the radio itself).

The daytime serial "Search For Tomorrow" could have been subtitled "The Joanne Gardner Barron Tate Vincente Tourneur Story",for that character,certainly Mary Stuart,the actress portraying her set the tone for the show's entire 35-year run,producing over 2,000 episodes. In many ways Joanne was much like a radio soap opera heroine,remaining strong and supporting her friends while enduring terrible suffering in her life. But she had time for lighter moments with her co-stars while dealing with the usual situations that when on with her longtime friend Stu Bergman,who was first seen in December in 1951 and stayed until the end of the run,and by the 1970's, a chance to break out in song occasionally. The combination worked for viewers for at least 30 years,as the show's top rated soap from 1952 to 1955,stayed near the top through the 1960's,and remained a serious contender until CBS-TV,in a dispute with sponsor Proctor and Gamble,canceled it 1982 after more than 31 years with the network. The series premiere on CBS-TV on September 3, 1951 and ended its astounding run on March 26,1982. Then,a week after it left CBS,the soap moved to NBC-TV on March 29,1982 and remained with the network until December 26,1986. When it was on CBS-TV during the early years,the series was seen in 15 to 20 minute installments and it remain that way until the late-1960's. On September 9,1968 the show was extended to a full half-hour.

The Black and White Episodes of "Search For Tomorrow" ran from 1951 until 1967. The Color Episodes ran from 1967 until 1986. The creation of this soap was from the brainchild of Agnes Nixon and Roy Winsor. Nixon,would go on to produced other soaps including being one of the head writers and other creations for "Another World",and later "All My Children". The series would be a stepping stone and a career launch for a number of up and coming actors who made their mark on this show. From Don Knotts(who made his television debut on this show) to Lee Grant,Nita Talbot,Martin E. Brooks,Philip Abbott,George Maharis,to Ken Kercheval,Jill Clayburgh,Robert Loggia,Joel Higgins,Michael Nouri, Morgan Fairchild,Tommy Norden,Natalie Schafer,Kevin Bacon,and Olympia Dukakis. Only Mary Stuart and Larry Haines were the only two cast members that stayed on throughout the show's 35-year run.

Back in the 1980s, soaps ruled daytime. It's not replaced with talk and service shows now. There are only 9 shows. Only four are produced in New York City and the 5 are produced in Los Angeles. There was a time when it was 14 and New York City ruled daytime television. Those days are long gone because of production costs and the fact that audiences don't seem to be interested in daytime television as much as prime time. In England, soaps are very popular and acceptable. They have become part of their culture. It's sad that the same country that produced the early daytime serials like Search for Tomorrow which showed Agnes Nixon's creative genius and actors like Mary Stuart and Larry Haines play Jo and Stu for 35 years to lose daytime television. Daytime soaps like Search for Tomorrow are no longer being produced in New York City. I don't believe New York City will ever reclaim or want to reclaim it's title of the daytime television industry. It's a shame. There are plenty of actors who want to stay in New York City and work in stage, film, and television without having to relocate to Los Angeles. Maybe the answer is north in Toronto where actors and actresses can work on stage, film, and television. I remember Mary Stuart and Jane Krakowski from Ally McBeal fame in this show. This was a pleasant half-hour on television. We don't have them anymore.