Is it just fun to look at the primetime soap archetypes and tropes being used for the first time, or is this a genuinely worthy show?
What modern primetime soap does it most resemble, and what makes this as good or better than some of the modern shows?
To me its not really a soap. Its more of a courtroom drama series. I find it very entertaining but its frustrating to watch it with today's eyes. What was shocking back in the 1960's is not shocking today. I wish they could have pushed the boundaries with more of the story lines.
share The acting is first rate. Really good cast would easily compare with anything today. The narrative doesn't hold up but I think as a period piece it's quite entertaining.
It was the first two-ep per week show that I'm aware of.
" See dat scenery floatin by, you're now approaching NewportRI." Cole Porter
The American people remain a mystery to me. On the one hand, IMDb is the leading site for video products.
On the other hand, they seem to have forgotten Peyton Place, although it is part of their cultural heritage.
American like living fast?
I find that a lot of younger people can't stand watching something old. It's as if the very idea is unfathomable to them. They automatically assume that newer things are better, and nothing older is worth watching.
shareI haven't seen all of the series (it wasn't syndicated in the market I was in as a kid) but from what I've seen of it, it holds up well because of good casting/acting, competent scripting and, perhaps most of all, atmosphere.
There is a doomed noir quality to the show's vibe and look which audiences always respond to, and gives the show an energy and focus and clarity even decades later.
It also seems to display the change of seasons (appropriate, as the change of seasons are important to the prologue of the 1957 movie) which was almost unheard of for a TV series, then or now.
So all of that give PEYTON PLACE a bit of an organic quality most programs lack, so it feels less like a soap and more like a shrouded, tribal Cold War drama.
And that's a good thing.
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LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA