Peyton Place, a prime-time program based on the Grace Metalious novel, was an experiment for American television in both content and scheduling when it appeared on ABC, at that time still the third-ranked U.S. network. Premiering in the fall of 1964, Peyton Place was offered in two serialized installments per week, Tuesday and Thursday nights, a first for American prime-time television. Initially drawing more attention for its moral tone than for its unique scheduling, the new night-time serial was launched amid a sensational atmosphere borrowed from the novel's reputation. ABC president Leonard Goldenson defended the network's programming choice as a bread-and-butter decision for the struggling network, and the moral outcry settled down once the program established itself as implying far more sensation than it would deliver. This prototype of what came to be known in the 1980s as the prime-time soap opera initially met with great success: a month after Peyton Place premiered, ABC rose in the Nielsens to number one for the first time. At one point, the program was so successful that a spin-off serial was considered. Both CBS and NBC announced similar prime-time serials under development.

    Executive producer Paul Monash declined the "soap opera" label for Peyton Place, considering it instead a "television novel." (His term is, in fact, the one applied in Latin America, telenovela, and Francophone Canada, teleroman.) Set in a small New England town, Peyton Place dealt with the secrets and scandals of two generations of the town's inhabitants. An unmarried woman, Constance MacKenzie, and her daughter Allison were placed at the dramatic center of the story. Constance (played by 1950s film melodrama star Dorothy Malone) eventually married Allison's father, Elliott Carson, when he was released from prison, though his rival Dr. Michael Rossi was never entirely out of the picture. Meanwhile, Allison (Mia Farrow) was caught up in a romantic triangle with wealthy Rodney Harrington (Ryan O'Neill) and Betty Anderson (Barbara Parkins), a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Over the course of the series, Betty tricked Rodney, not telling him she had miscarried their child until after they were married; Rodney fled and found love with Allison, but Allison disappeared; Betty was married briefly to lawyer Steven Cord, but finally remarried Rodney. Other soap-operatic plot lines involved Rodney's younger brother Norman Harrington and his marriage to Rita Jacks.

    The production schedule was closest to that of daytime soap opera, with no summer hiatus, no repeats, unlike any prime-time American series before or since. Within the first year, the pace was increased to three episodes per week rather than two, going back to two episodes per week in the 1966-67 season as the craze for the show declined. Several of the show's plot twists were necessitated by cast changes. Most notably, Allison MacKenzie's disappearance occurred when Mia Farrow left the series in 1966 for her highly publicized marriage to Frank Sinatra. The program never fully recovered from Farrow's departure, though news of the distant Allison kept the character alive. Some two years later a young woman appeared with a baby she claimed was Allison's--this timed with the release of Mia Farrow's theatrical film, Rosemary's Baby.

    In 1968, Peyton Place underwent a transformation. Though some storylines were developed to accommodate more cast changes (Dorothy Malone left the show), many of the changes in the final season seem to have been in response to Goldenson's call for more youthful, "relevant" programming. One of the youthful additions was the leader of a rock group. Most significantly, however, an African-American family--Dr. Harry Miles (Percy Rodriguez), his wife Alma (Ruby Dee), and their teenage son, Lew (Glynn Turman)--assumed a central position in the heretofore all-white Peyton Place. Cut back to one half-hour episode per week, the show also was scheduled a half-hour earlier to appeal further to youthful audiences.

    These drastic changes did nothing to revive ratings for the serial, which lasted through the spring of 1969. ABC brought it back for two years in the seventies as a daytime serial, and in 1985, nine of the original cast members appeared in a made-for-TV movie, Peyton Place: The Next Generation.

    -Sue Brower

    CAST

    Constance Mackenzie/Carson (1964-1968) ....................Dorothy Malone  

    Allison Mackenzie (1964-1966) ......................Mia Farrow  

    Dr. Michael Rossi.......................................... Ed Nelson  

    Matthew Swain (1964-1966).................. Warner Anderson

    Leslie Harrington (1964-1968) ......................Paul Langton  

    Rodney Harrington ...................................... Ryan O'Neal  

    Norman Harrington ......................... Christopher Connelly  

    Betty Anderson/Harrington/Cord/Harrington ....................................Barbara Parkins

    Julie Anderson........................................Kasey Rogers

    George Anderson (1964-1965) ................Henry Beckman

    Dr. Robert Morton (1964-1965)...................... Kent Smith

    Steven Cord.......................................... James Douglas

    Hannah Cord (1965-1967)............................ Ruth Warrick

    Paul Hanley (1965).................................. Richard Evans

    Elliott Carson (1965-1968) .........................Tim O'Connor

    Eli Carson .............................................Frank Ferguson

    Nurse Choate (1965-1968)................. Erin O'Brien-Moore

    Dr. Claire Morton (1965)......................... Mariette Hartley

    Dr. Vincent Markham (1965)..................... Leslie Nielsen

    Rita Jacks/Harrington (1965-1969).......... Patricia Morrow

    Ada Jacks (1965-1969).............................. Evelyn Scott

    David Schuster (1965-1966).................. William Smithers

    Doris Schuster (1965)..................................... Gail Kobe

    Kim Schuster (1965) ...............................Kimberly Beck

    Theodore Dowell (1965) ............................Patrick Whyte

    Stella Chernak (1965-l968) ..............................Lee Grant

    Joe Chernak (1965) .......................................Dan Quine

    Gus Chernak (1965-1966) .........................Bruce Gordon

    Dr. Russ Gehring (1965-1966) .................... David Canary

    John Fowler (1965-1966) ................................. John Kerr

    Marian Fowler (1965-1966) ......................Joan Blackman

    Martin Peyton (1965-1968) ................... George Macready

    Martin Peyton (temporary replacement, 1967) ...................Wilfred Hyde-White

    Sandy Webber (1966-1967) ...........................Lana Wood

    Chris Webber (1966-1967) .........................Gary Haynes

    Lee Webber (1966-1968)......................... Stephen Oliver

    Ann Howard (1966) .....................................Susan Oliver

    Rachael Welles (1966-1967) .............. Leigh Taylor-Young

    Jack Chandler (1966-1967) ......................... John Kellogg

    Adrienne Van Leyden (1967) ................... Gena Rowlands

    Eddie Jacks (1967-1968) ............................. Dan Duryea

    Carolyn Russell (1968-1969) ......Elizabeth "Tippy" Walker

    Fred Russell (1968-1969) .............................Joe Maross

    Marsha Russell (1968-1969) ......................Barbara Rush

    Rev. Tom Winter (1968-1969) ........................ Bob Hogan

    Susan Winter (1968-1969) .........................Diana Hyland

    Dr. Harry Miles (1968-1969 )....................Percy Rodriguez

    Alma Miles (1968-1969) ................................... Ruby Dee

    Lew Miles (1968-1969 ).............................. Glynn Turman

    Jill Smith/Rossi (1968) .............................. Joyce Jillison

    Joe Rossi (1968) ................................ Michael Christian

    PRODUCERS

    Paul Monash, Everett Chambers, Richard Goldstone, Felix Feist, Richard DeRoy

    PROGRAMMING HISTORY

    514 Episodes

    ABC

    September 1964-June 1965   Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:00

    June 1965-October 1965   Tuesday/Thursday/Friday 9:30-10:00

    November 1965-August 1966   Monday/Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:00

    September 1966-January 1967   Monday/Wednesday 9:30-10:00

    January 1967-August 1967   Monday/Tuesday 9:30-10:00

    September 1967-September 1968   Monday/Thursday 9:30-10:00

    September 1968-January 1969   Monday 9:00-9:30/Wednesday 8:30-9:00

    February 1969-June 1969   Monday 9:00-9:30

    FURTHER READING

    Litwak, Leo E. "Visit to a Town of the Mind," New York Times Magazine (New York), 4 April 1965.

     

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    Ruby Dee on appearing as a regular on Peyton Place

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    Douglas S. Cramer on developing Peyton Place

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    Ruth Warrick on playing "Hannah Cord" on Peyton Place

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    Lee Grant on working with Ryan O'Neal, who played "Rodney Harrington" on Peyton Place

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    Lee Grant on the cast of Peyton Place

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    Lee Grant on winning an Emmy for her performance on Peyton Place

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    Lee Grant on the popularity of and audience reaction to Peyton Place

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    Jeffrey Hayden

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    Jeffrey Hayden on the good-natured relationship he had with star Ryan O'Neal

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    Jeffrey Hayden on how Mia Farrow came to impulsively cut her hair short following an altercation that happened on Peyton Place

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    Jeffrey Hayden on the ease of shooting Peyton Place for him due to the closeness of the studio and its vast resources

    00:55

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    Rita Lakin on writing Peyton Place: The Next Generation, and on the legacy of Peyton Place

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    Ann Marcus

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    01:42

    Ann Marcus on writing for Peyton Place

    06:22

    Paul Monash

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    Paul Monash on casting Mia Farrow as "Alison MacKenzie" on Peyton Place, and on the concept of the show

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    Paul Monash on declining to bring Irna Phillips on to Peyton Place

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    Paul Monash on Peyton Place being groundbreaking in terms of being the first nighttime serial

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    Paul Monash on the subject matter of Peyton Place

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    Paul Monash on the casting of Peyton Place, and on losing Mia Farrow

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    Paul Monash on initial reaction to Peyton Place, and on the budget of the show

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    Paul Monash on the cast of Peyton Place

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    Paul Monash on dealing with Standards & Practices on Peyton Place, and on planning the stories of the show

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    Paul Monash on the end of Peyton Place, and on the legacy of the show

    04:15

    Thomas W. Moore

    Thomas W. Moore on programming and developing Peyton Place, and on ABC dealing with the advent of color

    04:02

    Nichelle Nichols

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    07:40

    Del Reisman

    Del Reisman on being associate producer on Peyton Place for executive producer Paul Monash

    04:28

    Del Reisman on the storylines and cast of Peyton Place, including Mia Farrow

    02:36

    Del Reisman on writing the final episode of Peyton Place

    03:03

    Del Reisman on working on the presentation for the daytime version of Peyton Place

    01:40

    Del Reisman on writing the network presentation for the daytime version of Peyton Place, and on the show bible

    01:49

    Edgar J. Scherick

    Edgar Scherick on the development of Peyton Place

    01:44

    William Self

    William Self on developing Peyton Place

    03:20

    Dick Stiles

    Dick Stiles on acting as assistant art director for Peyton Place

    02:59

    Stanford Tischler

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    00:54

    Stanford Tischler on the use of long takes on Peyton Place  

    00:36

    Stanford Tischler on editing Peyton Place and working with writer/producer Paul Monash

    01:14

    Stanford Tischler on how the racy reputation of Peyton Place lost his daughter one of her friends

    00:37

    Stanford Tischler on the failure of the TV movie Peyton Place: The Next Generation

    00:57

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    Ruth Warrick on being nominated for an Emmy for Peyton Place

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