I'll post some questions shortly for all who've watched the show to ponder, such as
1. Favorite characters
2. Most unnecessary characters
3. Best storylines
4. Worst storylines
5. Best villains
6. Best temporary characters
7. Was the show better in color, or black and white?
8. Best general thing about the show
9. What could have been better about the show?
10. Characters mentioned but never seen---who could have played the role?
1- Betty, Mr. Anderson, Rachel Welles, Rita, Ada Jacks, Mr. Peyton, (she was so bad az!)
2- Jill- hated her storyline, Eli Carson- very overbearing annoying character
3- Betty and Rodney pregnancy storyline, Betty blackmail by Leslie, Steven and Ann storyline.
4- Jill and her baby, Rodney murder storyline- It was a good storyline but they dragged it out far too long.
5- Leslie, Lee Weber, Adrienne Van Lyden
6- Ann
7- I like them equally to be honest.
8- I love the small town setting
9- If they could have gone further with certain storylines, I wish Betty would have continued as a villain the way she was in the first few episodes. I loved the Shusters and think they could have delved further into the husbands attraction towards Allison. They never should have married off Constance and Elliott so quickly, it left their characters with nothing to do. I wish they would have gave the black family a better storyline, I loved the character Vickie Fletcher, she could have been a great villain.
10- Rodney's mother? Hmm maybe Jeanne Cooper could have played her?
Thanks for your answers. I may comment more later, but I just need to point out about #10---perhaps you missed the very first episodes, but Rod's mother Catherine was seen in the beginning; she was played by Mary Anderson. She died in the hospital---I forget the exact cause (I can check my DVDs) but I know they accused Mike Rossi of negligence at first, but then it was realized that he had diagnosed Catherine's condition correctly while Dr. Morton, the older doctor she had trusted more, had gotten it wrong.
shareThank you for bringing this Peyton Place posting alive again here. Catherine died from a peptic ulcer of the duodenum. That was Dr. Rossi's diagnosis, and he went ahead of others opinions and operated. Chief medical examiner & surgeon Dr. Morton did not want her operated on. It was later mentioned that Catherine's medical problems could have been due to the stress of her holding in the fact that she, herself had been the murderer, not Elliot. I was sorry to see Catherine die off so soon as her neurotic and emotional state along with a closeness to Norman could have been played out longer, but it did give Norman his inner tortures, along with loosing the house. The photography was amazing on Catherine in bed dying - stark B&W.
1. Favorite characters: eddie jacks, played by the great dan duryea. in the hands of a lesser actor, eddie could have become just a cardboard character, but duryea made him almost likable despite his almost total lack of redeeming qualities.
2. Most unnecessary characters: chris webber; they should have made chris a fatality when he fell off that bluff and we wouldn't have had to suffer indefinitely with his passive/aggressive nonsense and his involvement with allison.
i could also live very easily without sandy webber; i'm hard pressed to find anything worthwhile about her. she was necessary for lee to play off of, but we saw too much of her in general.
3. Best storylines: ann howard. at first i found her annoying, but she started to grow on me, and then once she'd becomean integral part of the show, she's dead.
4. Worst storylines: the storyline with paul and calvin hanley was unnecessary. although it was important to know that elliot was framed and why, we didn't need to be introduced to either of them.
also, many storyline with allison, while maybe not unnecessary, seemed to go on forever.
5. Best villains: martin peyton hands down; like eddie, martin was played by a legendary character actor (george macready). hannah cord is also right there with mr. peyton as far as villainy.
6. Best temporary characters: richard jensen, stella chernak's old boyfriend, played by don gordon.
7. Was the show better in color, or black and white? both are ok with me; after seeing all the black and white episodes, it was interesting to see how all of the characters looked in color.
8. Best general thing about the show - overall i liked the way that many of the characters evolved over time: betty, elliot, rodney, norman, steven and constance. an execption to that was how allison eventually turned into mia farrow - by the time she left the show i was so sick of her almost to the point where i'd fast forward over any scenes with allison.
9. What could have been better about the show? some storylines dragged on a little too long, such as some concerning allison and also rodney's trial.
10. Characters mentioned but never seen---who could have played the role? i agree with the other poster who mentioned brian cord. i would have cast an actor of some stature in the role, maybe lloyd bridges, richard conte or darren mcgavin.
1: Favorite characters: Rodney & Betty: Rod's smooth talking & Betty's sharp & direct style - Ada Jacks no-nonsense style
2: Most unnecessary characters: Carolyn Russell, Susan Winter, Doris Schuster (her acting overdone)
3: Best story lines: Betty back with Rodney ... Old man Peyton changing his will... Lee Webber changing his ways, trying to better himself as Peyton's #1 man.
4: Worst storylines: Paul Hanley's overwrought acting...Jill and her baby... Allison in the hospital dragging on post accident being babied did not seem realistic knowing how it really happens in hospitals: they don't lay around and are up and around and out as quick as possible.
5: Best villains: Hannah Cord & Leslie Harrington and prosecutor at Rod's trial
6: Best temporary characters: Ann Howard - Rossi's real chance at finding a life mate.
7: Was the show better in B&W or color?: Color - able to see the real characters and sets in more definition.
8: Best general thing about the show: The maturing of Rodney and becoming more a man with responsibilities and claiming his independence as the years went on.
9: What could have been better about the show? Less dialog scenes and more action to keep on the edge of chair. Keeping Lee Webber and giving him a bigger role towards the end.
10: Characters mentioned but never seen - who could have played the role? ...not sure who this could be as worded. Miss Choate - as a head nurse of the hospital, she should have been more involved with the staff instead of answering the phone and at admittance, and showing more leadership as a nurse. The physiotherapists normally do not give a choice to the patient but make them work more actively. Dr. Rossi carried the show very well, and was impressive as was Dr. Harry Miles.