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| 1970: A World Apart and The Best of Everything premiered on ABC. Another World spinoff Somerset premiered on NBC. Dark Shadows' Maggie found a mysterious note. |
― Anselm Kiefer
"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...
1970: Daytime soap opera A World Apart premiered on ABC. The show was created by Katherine L. Phillips, Irna Phillips' daughter, and combined Irna's own life story with examples of the generation gap. Susan Sarandon and Matthew Cowles were siblings Patrice and Chris Kahlman, adopted children of soap opera writer Better Kahlman (played by Elizabeth Lawrence and later Augusta Dabney) who had never married. A well-written family drama in the World Turns vein, it also featured Susan Sullivan, James Noble, Kathleen Maguire, Stephen Elliott, Tom Ligon and William Price. Set in Chicago, and taped in New York, its directors included Tom Donovan and Walter Gorman. Donovan also produced. It was cancelled June 25, 1971.
1970: Daytime soap opera The Best of Everything premiered on ABC. James Lipton adapted it from the Rona Jaffe novel about the woes of working girls in New York, set mainly at Key Publishing Company. The main characters were Linda Warren (Patty McCormack), April Morrison (Julie Mannix), Kim Jordan (Katherine Glass) and Barbara Lamont (Rochelle Oliver). They were tormented by their ruthless editor, Amanda Key (Gale Sondergaard), and counseled by the warm and loving Violet Jordan (Geraldine Fitzgerald). The series lasted less than six months, with the finale airing on September 25, 1970.
1970: On Another World, Russ Matthews was upset when the expensive crib his wife, Rachel (Robin Strasser), ordered arrived. She tried to gain sympathy with tears but it didn't work.
