When my brother, Billy was a little boy, he loved Roy Rogers. He was very excited when Mom told him there was a Roy Rogers show at the show uptown. (We called movies shows and the place we went to see them was also called the show.)
Anyway, it turned out to be a devastating experience. You see, Billy watched Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on Saturday mornings and they were really Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. In the “show,” Roy’s name was Tom. He was playing a different character. The whole thing was pretty upsetting to poor little Billy. He did not like that Roy was Tom and he didn’t even ride Trigger and Tom didn’t act right. Not at all like Roy…and where was Dale and Pat, the sidekick?
That was back in the good old days when moms used to sit their kids in front of the television on Saturday mornings, give them a bowl of Trix and let them watch all of those wonderful shows.
I watched Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Sky King, Zoro, Rifleman and a couple of cartoons. I was always sad when I watched the last one.
Sky King and Penny
I need to back up at little to tell you about my devastating television experience.
It all began the day we got our first TV set. I remember waiting for it to get all hooked up and suddenly, As the World Turns, which we later learned was a soap opera, popped up. Mom and I were mesmerized and we watched it whenever we could through the years. I still remember all of the characters, especially Bob and Lisa and their son, Tom. Bob and Lisa were divorced several times over the years and when they ran out of people to marry, they married each other again. That would just last until some new person moved to Oakdale.
Bob and Lisa were daytime royalty…
Meanwhile, there was poor little Tommy who later became Tom…not to be confused with the Tom Roy Rogers played in the movie. As the World Turns Tom was played by the same boy for several years. Then one day, Mom and I were watching and some new guy was talking with Bob and Lisa.
“Who is that?” I asked Mom.
“That must be Tommy,” she said.
“Piu! That’s not Tommy.”
I got up and left the room. I couldn’t bear to think that they could just put someone else in and expect me to treat him like he was Tommy.
I loved soap operas, but the Friday cliff hanger was the worst. I waited all week for something big to happen. The build- up was always intense, but did they give me the answer on Friday? No…
I couldn’t watch during the school year, but when I cleaned motel rooms for Mom in the summer, I always took my break during my favorite soap opera. I could miss months and be able to pick up the story-line in no time.
This and other interesting subjects came up in a conversation my brother and I had today.
If you can relate to these devastating experiences, in can only mean one thing…You’re as old as dirt.
One more thing…
I was out back painting rocks when I heard this bird singing. Does anyone know what kind of bird it is?
Progress
Those 70ish Girls 
You two are so funny in your back and forth. I never liked soap operas – soaps. Too slow and I wanted to be outside doing stuff with friends and cousins. Why are they called soaps?
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I love this quote by Rosemary Prinz: “There were many guidelines [in 1950s soaps]. This was way before Women’s Lib. You could NEVER get divorced. That is why so many leading men died. In order to further the story you had to kill off the guy because it was a woman’s medium. You killed off the guy and then the heroine married somebody else. If you were a leading man you never signed a long term lease.”
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That’s good. I haven’t watched one in years. I wonder how much they have evolved. I loved how everyone had these high powered jobs and no one ever had to go to work.
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Is it still on the air? I had a friend who was on General Hospital. He was in my poetry group in L.A. and we met at his house at least once.. Bet you’d know him by name–McDonald Carey?
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I googled him, but knew who he was right away.
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Hey! That isn’t a photo of Lisa, but that is an actress I remember.. Now I must know her name! Bait and switch is no fair, Mary.
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That’s not Lisa??
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Nope. I’m gonna see if Forgottenman can figure out who it is.
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Eileen Fulton
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I depend on the superior memory of my younger friends. Hold on to me Mary, it’s important to have friends from your past who still think of you as a kid! xo
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Did you see that the reunion is going to be July 16, 17, and 18 2021.
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Patti just asked me if I was going but she didn’t know the exact dates. Yes of course I’ll go if the world isn’t still in plague mode. You’ll go too, right? See you at Mark’s!!!
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I’ve been waiting 4 years,…just one year to go. I want to stay at Mark’s, too. We’ve been corresponding a lot this past year.
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I agree about the importance of having friends from your past.
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But, that being said.. what I meant was the photo in your blog of the woman looking up at the man was not Eileen Fulton or Lisa..It was another actress and I would love to know her name.
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Mary, the photo is of “Rosemary Prinz and Don Hastings as
Penny and Bob Hughes” As The World Turns
Thanks to Forgottenman for finding the answer.
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That’s right! I forgot about Penny. I believe she was pre Lisa. Same Bob though.
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Thanks Forgottenman
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Ha!! I thought you were being funny when you said you were outside painting rocks! Wrong again..and sorry, I don’t know what the bird is either. Striking out today..What a gorgeous little boy!!
Yes, I remember Lisa and that Mole. Do you know the actress’s name?
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Can’t you see little Billy watching the Roy Roger’s movie with Mom? He was pretty cute.
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I can, and I love seeing soft sides…
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I hadn’t heard that story until he told me yesterday.
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