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(More customer reviews)Love, lust, backstabbing, murder and illicit secrets. Dallas, Dynasty, Knotts Landing - or maybe The Simpsons? Wrong! Those themes and many more touched the lives of those who inhabited Peyton Place, the first-ever TV primetime soap opera.
By today's standards those storielines may seem tame, but in 1964 when the show premiered they were risque and shocking, more so even than the two theatrical movies that had preceded it, because this WAS TV, gosh darn it!
Peyton Place ran on ABC in half-hour episodes from Sept. 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969, racking up a total 514 episodes. In a truly historic five-disc boxed set DVD release, Shout!Factor has collected the first two seasons that were broadcast in black and white. The remainder of the series was aired in color. (Note, this is only the second true TV soap opera to receive a DVD release - the first was the iconic daytime gothic series, `Dark Shadows.' It also ran on ABC for five years.)
Peyton Place boasted an almost unprecedented cast of talented actors, two of whom got their start on the show but ended as movie stars: Mia "Rosemary's Baby" Farrow and Ryan "Love Story" O'Neal. The stellar cast was lead by Academy Award winner Dorothy Malone.
Executive producer Paul Monash rejected the "soap opera" label for Peyton Place, referring to it instead as a "television novel." The series was, in fact, based on the Grace Metalious novel. Interestingly, it ended up as the ONLY primetime series that ran continuously, never repeating a single broadcast in summer reruns.
The series took place in the title town, which was founded by the Peyton family, whose members included the Harringtons. Like any good soap opera, the plots were deliciously complicated. A few early plots involved Rodney Harrington, the oldest son, choosing between the town's bad girl and the respectable girl. His brother took up with the working class girl, while Ms. Malone's character was keeping a very private secret of her own.
Thus, characters married, divorced, loved and lost. Secrets were the staples of the show, but there was also a healthy dose of illicit passion, murder, and insanity.
Episodes began by depicting a church steeple. The title "Peyton Place" overlays the image as the church bells tone. An uncredited voice proclaims: "This is the continuing story of `Peyton Place.'" The scene changes to the town square, a rolling brook, then a panoramic view of the town. It dissolves to photos of cast members, and a brief recap of previous episodes narrated by Warner Anderson, who also played Matthew Swain. (Anderson left the series after the first season, but continued to offer his voice talents until the final episode.) The memorable theme song, "Wonderful Season of Love," was composed by Franz Waxman, the lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster.
When the show premiered in 1964, Peyton Place aired twice a week. Both installments of the show were Top 20 hits in the Nielsen Ratings, inspiring ABC to air it three times a week in the fall of 1965. But, this move caused viewership to dip sharply and its popularity steadily declined. The series was cut back to two weekly episodes the following season, but it continued to lose its audience. In 1969 it was cut back to one weekly installment until it ended in June.
The core cast included: Ms. Malone as Constance MacKenzie Carson (1964-1968); Tim O'Connor as Elliot Carson (1965-1968); Ms. Farrow as Allison Mackenzie (1964-1966); O'Neal as Rodney Harrington; Christopher Connelly as Norman Harrington; Paul Langton as Leslie Harrington (1964-1968); Barbara Parkins as Betty Anderson Harrington Cord Harrington; Patricia Morrow as Rita Jacks Harrington (1965-1969); Evelyn Scott as Ada Jacks (1965-1969); Ed Nelson as Dr. Michael Rossi; George Macready as Martin Peyton (1965-1968); James Douglas as Steven Cord; and Ruth Warrick as Hannah Cord (1965-1967).
In the premiere episode, Dr. Rossi arrives in Peyton Place by train. He is picked up at the station by Rodney Harrington and his girlfriend Betty. When they drive him to the inn, Rossi catches his father kissing his secretary - Betty's mother!
The show was one of the first seen on network television to talk about sex and infidelity in a frank manner. As such, ABC brass would only allow the show to be aired at 9:30 p.m. Eastern/Pacific time, when children and teenagers were expected to be in bed. With the show in a ratings slump in 1968, the show was moved to 8:30 p.m. to draw in a larger audience - courting younger viewers they had once eschewed.
The series was revived briefly as a daytime serial `Return to Peyton Place' from April 3, 1972 to Jan. 4, 1974. Three of the actors from the primetime series reprised their roles - Frank Ferguson as Eli Carson, Patricia Morrow as Rita Harrington, and Evelyn Scott as Ada Jacks.
Peyton Place guest stars included a host of well-known actors: David Canary, who along with Ms. Warrick, is best known for their roles on ABC's popular daytime soap All My Children; James "Star Trek" Doohan; Mickey "The Monkey" Dolenze; Barbara Rush; Susan Oliver; Ruby Dee; Leslie Nielson; Greg "Mission:Impossible" Morris; Joan "Knotts Landing" Van Ark; Joyce Jillson; Diana Hyland; Gena Rowlands; Lana Wood; Erin O'Brien-Moore (who was in the original film,); Mariette Hartley; Frank Ferguson; John Kerr; Joan Blackman; Wilfred-Hyde White; Leigh Taylor-Young; and Dan Duryea.
Let's hope Shout!Factory follows this wonderful release with the remainder of this historic TV series.
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Peyton Place: Part One (1966)On September 15, 1964, then fledgling television network ABC began airing a twice weekly prime time serial drama based on the scandalous and sexy best selling book Peyton Place. With brilliant acting by Dorothy Malone, Mia Farrow and Ryan O'Neal among others, this superbly written and directed nighttime soap opera stretched the boundaries of what was considered morally acceptable in the pre sexual revolution 1960s. When all was said and done, Peyton Place had won a devoted following over the course of its 514 episodes, and ABC had become a major network.This is the continuing story of Peyton Place the soothing voice of benevolent town elder Matthew Swain would begin every episode. But the stories that followed were anything but soothing. Extramarital affairs, unwed teen pregnancies, family betrayals, mental illness and even murder were all lurking behind the storybook façade of this picture perfect, centuries old New England village and its citizens. From the day Dr. Michael Rossi arrives at Peyton Place to assume his role as town doctor, some of the townspeoples lives begin to unravel, revealing unexpected and intersecting relationships long hidden by secrets and lies. The widow Constance MacKenzie and her innocent daughter Allison; the troubled brothers Norman and Rodney Harrington and their powerful father Leslie; struggling George and Julie Anderson and their love struck daughter Betty; and the mysterious Elliot Carson are all revealed to be much more than they initially appear in these first 31 episodes. This is the beginning of the continuing story of Peyton Place.
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