October 9, 1981 (1981-10-09) – January 8, 1982 (1982-01-08)
Behind the Screen is an American late-night weekly serial which aired on CBS (Fridays, 11:30 PM EST) from October 9, 1981 to January 8, 1982.
Series overview
Behind the Screen was created by David Jacobs (Dallas, Knots Landing) for CBS, which wanted a late night counterpoint to ABC and NBC's more successful efforts in that timeslot. Drawing upon his experience with the prime-time serials, Behind the Screen was a dramatization of the goings-on at a fictional TV soap opera called Generations. This was not the first attempt to explore the concept of a "soap within a soap" as radio soaps had used the idea as far as back as the 1940s (A Woman To Remember). Ryan's Hope had also done a similar storyline in the early 1980s.[1]
The show premiered as an hour-long special, and regular episodes were 30 minutes. It revolved around the beautiful young star of Generations, Janie-Claire Willow (Janine Turner), who was a pawn in a power struggle between her wheelchair-using mother Zina (Joanne Linville), her powerful agent Evan (Mel Ferrer) and her show's leading man, Brian (Michael Sabatino).
The show's early pacing was described as "a bit meandering"[1] and it had problems finding an audience. Eventually the show was canceled after only 3 months on the air. The last episode concerned a backstage party where starlet Joyce Daniels was poisoned. Suspicion quickly fell on Lynette Porter (Debbi Morgan). In a bit of levity, Michele Lee (a star on Jacobs' Knots Landing) appeared as herself, playing a guest at the party; when questioned by police, she was mistakenly identified by the cops as Mary Tyler Moore.[1][2]
Cast and characters
The cast included Generations creator and producer Gerry Holmby (Joshua Bryant); his screenwriter wife Dory Ranfield (Loyita Chapel); his son, Brian Michael Sabatino, a cast member on Generations; Brian's lover Janie-Claire Willow, star of Generations; Janie-Claire's brother Jordan (Scott Mulhern); Janie-Claire's invalid mother Zina (Joanne Linville); her actress roommate Lynette Porter (Debbi Morgan); Janie-Claire and Lynette's conniving manager Evan Hammer (Mel Ferrer); movie mogul Merritt Madison (Warren Stevens); Merritt's son Karl (Mark Pinter), who is Dory's former lover; and Bobby Danzig (Bruce Fairbairn), a married lawyer who is struggling with his homosexuality.
^ abcChristopher Schemering (1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Ballantine Books. ISBN0345324595.
^Mary Ann Copeland (1991). Soap Opera History. Mallard Press. ISBN0792454510.
^Bruce B. Morris, Prime Time Network Serials: Episode Guides, Casts and Credits for 37 Continuing Television Dramas, 1964-1993, McFarland and Company, 1997.
