USA
/ NBC / x30m-e / January
3, 1977-September 29, 1978
NBC
took two shots at doing this
soap opera created by Harding
Lemay, who was doing well at the
time as head writer for
that networks top-rated soap
Another World.
The first version, titled Lovers
and Friends, emphasized the
conflicts between the struggling
Saxtons and well-to-do Cushings,
connected by a romance between
Rhett (renamed Bill in the
second incarnation) and Megan.
Megan's family consisted of her
brother Austin, her mother
Edith, and her father Richard,
while Rhett's family included
his younger brothers Jason and
Bentley, sisters Eleanor and
Tessa, and parents Lester and
Josie. Others living in the
Chicago suburb of Point Clair,
Illinois, were Amy Gifford,
Austins girlfriend; George
Kimball, Eleanors husband; and
Connie Ferguson, Rhett's
ex-girlfriend.
The show emphasized character
portraits over plot development,
and its slow pace did nothing to
grab any viewers away from the
competition, Ryans Hope on ABC
and Search for Tomorrow on CBS.
NBC shut the show down after
just four months, then
overhauled it for a second try
in late 1977. The Cushings no
longer
had a father, Amy married
Austin, and Lester and Josie
Saxton found that their youngest
children Bentley and Tessa were
now college students. Finally,
the Saxtons made room in their
social world for another
well-off family, Viola Brewster
and her daughter Laura.
Conflicts included Megan's
revelation on her wedding day
that her husband-to-be Bill had
impregnated his ex-girlfriend
Connie, plus the usual
alcoholism- and
addiction-related story lines.
Although Harding Lemay still was
listed as the show's
creator and head writer, as he
was in Lovers and Friends, he
claimed in his book Eight Years
in Another World that for the
1977-78 show he served only as
consultant to head writer Tom
King in an uneasy working
relationship where he reviewed
Kings plans.
"He seldom
called me and I hesitated to
offer criticisms of his outlines
and scripts, assuming, from my
own experience, that he was
already barraged with criticisms
from the producers and
sponsors," Lemay wrote.
Lemay claimed that he was
virtually shut
out from the show even though he
owned 60 percent of it, blaming
the situation on the battle of
wills in which he and producer
Paul Rauch were engaged at the
time, both on this show and
Another World. Audiences were
even less impressed than Lemay
by the melodramatic tales of
white slavery, kidnapping, and
street gang violence which
cropped up during the run.
These activities may have been
prompted by early reviews
suggesting that the show was
stodgy. Adding to the soap's
difficulties was the time slot:
NBC programmed it for a time
where the network had rarely
broadcast any series to its
affiliates before 1977, making
its success problematic from the
start, as some chose not to take
it and others aired it at
another period. All these
factors combined to cancel For
Richer, For Poorer before it had
celebrated its first birthday.
Cast
Rhett Saxton (1977)....
Bob Purvey
Rhett Saxton (1977).... David
Ramsey
Bill Saxton (1977-78)... Tom
Hopper
Megan Gushing (1977)....
Patricia Estrin
Megan Gushing Saxton
(1977—78).... Darlene Parks
Lester Saxton (1977).... John
Heffernan
Lester Saxton (1977-78)....
Albert Stratton
Josie Saxton.... Patricia
Englund
Jason Saxton.... Richard Backus
Bentley Saxton.... David Abbott
Tessa Saxton (1977).... Vicky
Dawson
Tessa Saxton (1977—78)....
Breon Gorman
Austin Gushing.... Rod Arrants
Richard Gushing (1977).... Ron
Randell
Edith Gushing (1977)..... Nancy
Marchand
Edith Gushing (1977-78)....
Laurinda Barrett
Connie Ferguson (1977).... Susan
Foster
Connie Ferguson (1977—78)....
Cynthia Bostick
Amy Gifford Gushing....
Christine Jones
Eleanor Saxton Kimball.... Flora
Plumb
George Kimball.... Stephen Joyce
Sophie Slocum (1977)....
Margaret Barker
Viola Brewster (1977-78)....
Patricia Barry
Laura Brewster (1977—78)....
Julia MacKenzie
Lee Ferguson (1977-78)....
Robert Burton
Ira Ferguson (1977-78).... Roy
Poole
Desmond Hamilton (1977-78)....
David Knapp
Sgt. Frank Damico (1977-78)....
Stephen Burleigh
Colleen Griffin (1977-78)....
Nancy Snyder
