Texas: An Oral History of Daytime TV’s Answer to Dallas Kindle Edition

Texas: An Oral History of Daytime’s Answer to Dallas focuses on Procter & Gamble and NBC’s 1980 spin-off from Another World. It was the first soap to debut in the one-hour format and set in a real city, Houston. Receiving star billing and leading the cast was Another World’s popular Beverlee McKinsey as Iris Bancroft. Having such high hopes for their new soap, Fred Silverman, the head of NBC, boasted to the press that it would be so successful that a move to prime time would be warranted. However, Texas turned out not to be the Dallas of daytime, as predicted, for several reasons and only lasted two and a half years. It went through four head writing regimes and two executive producers with various levels of success. Even so, the show built up a core audience that found it to be quirky and fun. And despite its short run, the soap is beloved to this day.This book is a collection of memories and stories from actors, including Kin Shriner, Terri Garber, Catherine Hickland, Harley Kozak, Pamela Long, John McCafferty, Caryn Richman, Tom Wiggin, and Michael Woods; creator and head writer Joyce Corrington; and various writers; directors; set designers; NBC network executives; and family members. Brutally honest, they share the good, the bad, and the outrageous with regard to what went into producing this one-hour soap, five days a week at its Brooklyn studio. Connecting their observations and anecdotes are plot synopses; tales of Procter & Gamble and network interference; and how General Hospital helped lead to Texas’s downfall. The book will be illustrated with publicity stills; print ads; and behind-the-scenes photos and original set sketches from some of the participants’ private collections.Tom Lisanti is an award-winning author whose books include Ryan’s Hope: An Oral History of Daytime’s Groundbreaking Soap and ten others about film/television in 1960s/1970s Hollywood. Read more