Wikipedia

Somerset(TV series)

Somerset(sometimes calledAnother World in SomersetorAnother World: Somerset) is an American televisionsoap operathat ran onNBCfrom March 30, 1970, until December 31, 1976.[1]The show was a spin-off of another NBC serial,Another World.The show was created by Robert Cenedella[2]and was produced byLyle B Hill.

Somerset
Somersetopening titles from 1971-1974
Genre
Created byRobert Cenedella
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No.of seasons6
No.of episodes1,710
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companyProcter & Gamble Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseMarch 30, 1970(1970-03-30)–
December 31, 1976(1976-12-31)

Overview

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Initially, the show revolved around Melissa "Missy" Palmer Matthews (Carol Roux), Lahoma Vane Lucas (Ann Wedgeworth) and Sam Lucas (Jordan Charney) and Missy's young son Ricky Matthews. These were popular characters who were first seen onAnother World.They moved to the fictional town of Somerset, not far from the fictional Bay City ofAnother World,which was supposed to be nearChicago,Illinois.

The first stories on the serial revolved around the trio's progress in starting new friendships and romantic entanglements. In Somerset, the other families of importance were the Davis family, the Buchanans, the Grants and the Delaneys, who ran Somerset's major employer, Delaney Brands. Within six months, Missy was gone and new characters had been added, including a new family, the Kurtzes, and several female characters to act as love interests for Dr. Stan Kurtz and Peter Delaney.

In early 1971, the show changed writers, with Robert Cenedella leaving the show in favor of famed mystery writerHenry Slesar.

Further,Somersetslowly moved away from the traditional soap opera format, and started telling stories that dealt heavily with theMafiaand other types of crime, not unlikeCBS'sThe Edge of Nightwhich Slesar also wrote. After the departure of Slesar, several other writers attempted to bring the show's ratings up with varying mixtures of the two previous formats, each of them slowly removing nearly all of the original characters. One of them,Roy Winsor,was the creator ofSearch for Tomorrow,Love of Life,andThe Secret Storm.

The premiere cast included Jason Bernard (as Ricky Matthews), Douglas Chapin (as Tony Cooper),Ralph Clanton(as Jasper Delaney), Nicolas Coster (as Robert Delaney), Len Gochman (as Peter Delaney),Alice Hirson(as Ellen Matthews), Georgann Johnson (as Ellen Bishop Grant),Ed Kemmer (as attorney Dick Grant), Susan MacDonnell (as Jill Grant Farmer), Ron Martin (as David Grant), Wynne Miller (as singer Sandy Buchanan Delaney),Gary Sandy(as Randy Buchanan), Fred J. Scollay (as Harry Wilson aka Ike Harding) Dorothy Stinnette (as Laura Delaney Cooper), Paul Sparer (as Rex Cooper), Philip Sterling (as Rafe Carter), Pamela Toll (as Pammy Davis) and Marie Wallace (as India Bishop Delaney).

The Somerset County Courthouse inSomerville, New Jersey,was used for exteriors.

Broadcast history

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NBC and packagerProcter & Gamble Productionsfirst launchedSomersetas an extension of the mother show, adding the locales to each program's title. They titled the parent programAnother World in Bay Cityand the new spinoffAnother World in Somerset,in the hope that the large loyal following of the mother show, which aired an hour earlier thanSomersetat 3:00 p.m./2 Central, would stay tuned for several of their favorite characters to appear in a new storyline. By March 1971, NBC shortened the title to simplySomersetand revertedAnother Worldto its original title, separating the two shows' identities and eventually phasing out the crossover characters by February 1972. Roux and Wedgeworth did not return toAnother World;Charney returned to the mother program in July 1973.

Airing in a time slot prone to affiliate pre-exemption (4:00/3:00 Central) causedSomersetto struggle throughout the whole of its 6¾-year history to gain a foothold in the daytime pantheon.ABC'sDark Shadowsheld the ratings and clearances lead at the timeSomersetwent on the air, but the unpopular "Leviathan" and "Parallel Time" storylines coincided with the premiere ofSomerset.This enabled NBC's new show to push the ratings ofDark Shadowsdown considerably, andSomersetachieved promising ratings during its first year.Dark Shadowshad achieved a rating of 7.3 during the 1969-1970 season, but by the end of the 1970-1971 season,Somersethad a rating of 7.0 andDark Shadowsa rating of 5.3. A successful revival of thegame showPasswordentered ABC's schedule at that slot during the 1970-71 season, and its ratings success cut into theSomersetaudience. Ratings did improve somewhat during the Slesar period (CBS'The Secret Stormended a long run againstSomerset), but after the end of a successful murder storyline in late 1971, the show's ratings began to stagnate or decline.

By 1974, the other networks had plugged in surprisingly strong game shows (CBS'Tattletalesand ABC'sThe $10,000 Pyramid) at 4:00 p.m. As a result, numerous affiliates began preempting the program in favor of cartoons,syndicatedprogramming (includinggame shows,sitcomreruns,variety showsortalk shows), old movies, and sometimes locally-produced content. Perhaps the nail inSomerset'scoffin came when ABC acquiredThe Edge of Nightfrom CBS in December 1975 due to CBS' expansion ofAs the World Turnsto an hour in length, itself a response of sorts to NBC eleven months earlier expandingAnother Worldto a full hour and its NBC sister soapDays of Our Liveslikewise three months later, with both expansions being successful. ABC placedThe Edge of NightagainstSomersetin the 4:00 p.m. time slot. AlthoughSomerset'sratings had improved during its final year, under the guidance of new head writerRobert J. Shaw,they were ultimately not enough to save the program from cancellation. NBC announced the cancellation of the program in the fall of 1976, and the show aired for the 1,710th and final time onNew Year's Eve.Somerset's place on the NBC daytime schedule was given toThe Gong Show,which became a popular-culture phenomenon eventually. The latter series' timeslot, 12:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. Central), was given to a new Procter and Gamble-packaged soap,Lovers and Friendswhich would later be retooled intoFor Richer, For Poorer.Both shows fared worse in the ratings thanSomerset.

Somerset,along with ABC'sThe Best of EverythingandA World Apart,marked the last time that more than two American network daytime serials premiered on the same date. Neither of the ABC shows lasted past 1971.

After the final episode aired on December 31, 1976, announcer Bill Woolf read the following message:

With today's episode,Somersetconcludes its run on the air. We want to thank all of our viewers for their loyalty these past 6½ years, and wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Cast

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More than 150 actors appeared on Somerset over its near-seven-year run.

Other performers in the cast indlude[3]

References

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  1. ^Hyatt, Wesley (1997).The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television.Watson-Guptill Publications. pp.400–402.ISBN978-0823083152.Retrieved22 March2020.
  2. ^Ellett, Ryan (2017)."Cenedella, Robert".Radio Drama and Comedy Writers, 1928-1962.Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, Inc. p. 45.ISBN978-1-4766-2980-3.Retrieved2022-06-08– via Google Books.
  3. ^Schemering, Christopher (1987).The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.Ballantine Books. pp. 221–222.ISBN0345353447.
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