Search for Tomorrow
Encyclopedia
Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera
which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS
. The show was moved from CBS to NBC
on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the longest-running non-news program on television. This record was soon broken by Guiding Light
which had premiered on television nine months after Search for Tomorrow.
The show was created by Roy Winsor
and was first written
by Agnes Nixon
(who was then known professionally as "Agnes Eckhardt") for thirteen weeks and, later, by Irving Vendig
.
, the makers of Joy dishwashing liquid and Spic and Span
household cleaner. As the show's ratings increased, other sponsors began buying commercial time. Both "Joy" and "Spic and Span" continued to be the primary products Procter & Gamble advertised on the show, well into the 1960s.
The show switched from live broadcasts to recorded telecasts in March 1967, went to color on September 11, 1967, and expanded to a half-hour on September 9, 1968 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrxtAWDvt8Q&feature=related. At the time, Search and its sister show Guiding Light
, which had shared the same half-hour for sixteen years, were the last two fifteen-minute soap operas airing on television. (As a result of the expansion, Search gained the entire 12:30 pm ET timeslot and an expanded Guiding Light moved to 2:30 pm.)
In 1983, both the master copy and the backup of a Search episode were lost, and on August 4, the cast was forced to do a live show for the first time since the transition sixteen years before. After the event, NBC
was accused of lying about the tape being misplaced in hopes that the noise generated by the accident would create a ratings jump for the show. It was thought that this situation mirrored a similar one in the 1982 movie Tootsie
.
Throughout its entire thirty-five year run, Searchs title sequence featured of a shot of clouds floating through the sky. In fact, they consisted entirely of that until 1981. The only noticeable change was the slightly altered "S" in "Search" upon switching to color. In late 1981, they switched to a glitzy new videotaped opening sequence beginning with a shot of a seagull flying over the ocean, followed by a helicopter shot of the clouds in the midday sky. In the show's final months, the titles featured a montage of cast clips, bookended with sky shots.
The theme music for the early years sounded a little like "Beyond the Blue Horizon" to some, which would have seemed quite appropriate for this show given the sequence. Upon switching to color, a theme titled "Interchange" by Bill Meeder was used for the opening, and later on in 1974, a short-lived theme titled "Signature for Search for Tomorrow" by Ashley Miller (by then, it was still using in-studio organ accompaniment).
From October 7, 1974 to February 25, 1986, Search used a pop ballad theme: "We'll Search for Tomorrow" by Jon Silbermann, Jack Cortner, and John Barranco. This followed a trend initiated by The Young and the Restless
for using pop ballads for soap theme tunes. Several arrangements were used during its 12-year run: the original version, a more orchestral version, a Latin disco-flavored version, and a vocal version for closing credits.
The sequence during the show's final months was accompanied by a new "techno-rock" theme by Bill Chinnock
called "Somewhere in the Night".
. The common structure of his announcements went like this:
The following sequences were used in the 70's and possibly to the end of the series:
When Weist retired to found his own public relations/casting company, former rock disc jockey Alison Steele
assumed the announcing duties with similar announcements as above. Her job carried over into the first few years of NBC's run until Hal Simms (former announcer for The Edge of Night
) took over in 1985, after which Don Pardo
(announcer for Saturday Night Live
) assumed duties for the remainder of the series. Both Simms' and Pardo's announcements were limited.
(played for the entire run by Mary Stuart
) who lived in a fictional town called Henderson. In the earlier years, Joanne's friends and next-door neighbors, Stuart and Marge Bergman (played by Larry Haines
and Melba Rae
) received much screen time as they commiserated with Joanne, usually over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. At the beginning of the series, Stu and Marge had a young daughter named Janet (originally played by Ellen Spencer).
Most of Joanne's dilemmas in the early years were due to her dead husband Keith Barron's overbearing parents – they (most especially her mother in-law, Irene) never liked her and were quite content with seizing Joanne and Keith's daughter Patti (played longest by Lynn Loring
) from the widow.
After Keith (played by John Sylvester White
) died in 1952, Joanne started managing a hotel, The Motor Haven Inn. Local thugs in town saw Joanne as soft because she was a woman, and they attempted to take over the business as a front for Mafia
dealings. Joanne's friend Rose Peabody (Lee Grant
, Constance Ford
, and Nita Talbot
), who was selling information to the Mafia, tried to poison a pot of soup that Joanne made, so her credibility would be tarnished. In the end, the scheme did not work and it was Rose who perished. A man named Arthur Tate (Terry O'Sullivan
) helped Joanne with financial backing for the Inn. Arthur's Aunt Cornelia gave him the inheritance money but insisted on meddling in his affairs as she hated Joanne. Eventually, Arthur and Jo fell in love and were married.
were hired to write the show. In 1963, with the ratings staying stagnant, the duo decided to write out Joanne's baby (written into the storyline a few years previous while she was pregnant with son Jeffrey) by having him run in front of a speeding truck and die upon impact. Miss Stuart was unhappy with the decision and, in the book All My Afternoons, Stuart was paraphrased as saying that she played the grief scenes with so much conviction that even the makeup lady could not bear to watch her to see if her makeup was right. In the end, the ratings did not rise, and Stuart threatened to quit the show unless the Hursleys were fired. The duo left the show and created the serial General Hospital
for ABC
the same year.
As the show progressed, Joanne's sister Eunice returned to town and seduced Joanne's second husband, Arthur Tate. When a woman named Marian Rand came to town and sued Arthur for paternity, the stress surrounding this dilemma, coupled with personal troubles and the guilt of sleeping with Eunice caused him to have a fatal heart attack.
Joanne's daughter Patti grew into a teenager and became involved with drug-dealing gang members (incorporating a scathing viewpoint regarding America's counter-culture of the day). Joanne's friend Sam Reynolds (who was, ironically, Arthur's archenemy) proved his worth to Joanne by saving Patti when she was held at knifepoint. They were going to be married, but alas, it was not to be. Actor Robert Mandan
, who played Sam, did not renew his contract with the show.
) helped her get it back. They fell in love and were married in 1972. In 1974, Mary-Ellis Bunim
was appointed executive producer of Search for Tomorrow. As a result of Bunim wanting to take the show in a more youth-oriented direction, fewer stories involved Joanne. In 1975, Bunim was rumored to have the writers of Search for Tomorrow kill off Joanne (after the death of Tony), which ended up not happening after vocal dissent from Stuart in the press. While the ratings took a slight dip when the series focused on younger viewers, the impact wasn't as heavy as was expected. Despite the show moving in a more youth-oriented direction, the character of Joanne embarked on a long-running story when she earned a foe in the ambitious schemer Stephanie Wilkins
(Maree Cheatham
).
In 1971, Stu and Marge's daughter Janet returned to the series and served as a peer to which Joanne's daughter Patti could relate. Early in 1972, Marge's sudden death was written into the storyline (actress Melba Rae had died late the year before). Stu later married Ellie Harper (Billie Lou Watt
) and helped Jo run the Hartford House, a modern incarnation of her old property, the Motor Haven Inn.
Examples of the "younger" stories included the maniacal Jennifer Pace
(played by Morgan Fairchild
); Jennifer shot and killed Joanne's sister Eunice after a vision of Eunice's husband John Wyatt (Val Dufour
), whom Jennifer was having an affair with, told her to do the murderous deed. Another popular story on the show was the budding romance between the characters of Steve and Liza Kaslo (Michael Nouri
and Meg Bennett
).
to 45 minutes in length (as they had made the expansion to 60 minutes six years earlier), and eliminating the time that most local stations aired newscasts. The final decision was to expand neither show and to move Search to a later timeslot despite P&G's lack of enthusiasm for the switch. Although Search continued to attract viewers, its ratings dropped slightly in the 2:30pm slot, which prompted Procter and Gamble to insist that CBS return the show to its original timeslot. However, CBS decided to cancel Search for Tomorrow in 1982, instead of renewing it. Procter and Gamble wasn't willing to give up on the show yet, and began searching for another home for it.
the following Monday. The move to NBC also saw a return to the 12:30 PM time slot. However, as a result of the network and time slot switch, Search now found itself going up against the hit The Young and the Restless on CBS instead of being part of a lineup that included it. Furthermore, while the 12:30pm slot was not as prone to preemptions as the 12:00 pm slot would've been, affiliates televised other programs in the 12:30 slot. Thus, Searchs ratings began to plummet even more so than they did when the show moved to 2:30 PM the year before. When Search first moved to 2:30 in 1981, the show continued to pull in fair ratings, enough to rank eighth in the season's final totals. In fact, when CBS cancelled Search, its ratings were at a 6.8, which was half a percentage point higher than they had been to end the previous season. The move to NBC resulted in the show becoming the second-lowest rated soap opera on television with a 3.4 rating. (A similar time slot switch plagued another former hit P&G produced serial, The Edge of Night
, ten years earlier. Coincidentally, both shows were moved into the same 2:30 PM slot and both would end up leaving CBS for other networks; by this time ABC aired Edge in a late-afternoon slot.)
One scenario that never came to pass, as reported by TV Guide
in June 1979, was Search moving to 3:30 pm (then used by daytime reruns of M*A*S*H); The Young and the Restless
expanding to an hour in fall 1979 from 12:30-1:30, and As the World Turns
and Guiding Light
remaining at their 1:30 and 2:30 start times, respectively. Despite these plans, Search stayed put, Y&R simply expanded its 1:00 time slot to 1:30 on East Coast stations, and ATWT and GL were bumped back thirty minutes each.
In an advertising campaign called "Follow the Search", the stars of the show wished for its loyal viewers to follow Search to NBC. However, CBS only allowed the advertisements if P&G did not name the network to which the show was moving in their advertisements; this was also decreed when The Edge of Night
moved to ABC
in 1975. At the end of the final CBS episode, veteran actors Mary Stuart and Larry Haines told the audience to start watching the show as it moved to "another network", and asked the viewers to locate the show and the network in their television listings.
Although Search had switched networks, it was still produced at the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57th St. in Manhattan until August 1982. By September, NBC relocated the production to the Reeves/Teletape Studio on Broadway and West 81st St., the former home of Sesame Street
(which themselves had relocated to the former WNET-TV studios at 9th Ave and 55th St.). However, in March 1985, production of the show moved to the former Edge of Night studios, the EUE/Screen Gems Studios at 222 East 44th St., where it remained for the rest of its run.
Searchs ratings on NBC remained only half as high as they had been on CBS
, even in the 2:30 slot. By this time, few viewers had interest in Joanne's final marriage to Martin Tourneur (John Aniston
), which had taken place while the series still called CBS home, and critics panned the show for its preposterous storylines, including the birth of a child just three months after conception. Search finished second to last in the ratings again at the end of its first full television season on NBC, finishing ahead of the struggling The Doctors and actually finishing in a tie with Texas
, which failed to make it through the year.
By 1984, the show mainly focused on two new families: the Kendalls and the McClearys. The McCleary family was headed by Matt McCleary, his Twin Brother Malcolm McCleary (Patrick Tovatt
), Kate McCleary (Jo Henderson, later Maeve McGuire
), brothers Hogan McCleary (David Forsyth
), Cagney McCleary (Matthew Ashford
), Quinn McCleary (Jeffrey Meek
), and sister Adair McCleary (Paige Hannah, later Susan Carey Lamn). The Kendall family was headed by Estelle Kendall (Domini Blythe
), Lloyd Kendall (Peter Haskell
, then by Joe Lambie, later Robert Reed
), and Mike Kendall (Thomas Sullivan
), brothers Alec Kendall (Robert Curtis Brown), Chase Kendall (Kevin Conroy
, later Robert Wilson), Steven Kendall (Phillip Brown, Steve Lindquist), and sister Theresa Rebecca (T.R.) Kendall (Jane Krakowski
).
In a newspaper interview during this period (Guy MacMillin's The Videot), Mary Stuart complained: "They have created a new program and they're calling it Search for Tomorrow." She said she believed she was being eased out by the Kate McCleary character. Regardless of the writers' intentions, at the end of the 1983-1984 television season, Search, which had been a solid top-five series for CBS just a decade before, hit bottom and finished last in the ratings with a 3.2. Search did climb out of the ratings cellar at the end of the following television season, but this was largely due to the continuing struggles of The Edge of Night (which ended on December 28, 1984), and Search returned to the bottom of the ratings list again with an anemic 2.9 rating for the 1985-1986 television season. NBC cancelled the show in 1986, but only after a memorable attempt to bring up the ratings: The whole town of Henderson was washed away in a flood, and in a display of reverence the only buildings left standing afterward were Joanne's residence and business.
On December 26, 1986, the final episode ended with senior characters Stu Bergman and Joanne Tourneur talking about the future. Stu asked Joanne what she was searching for, and she answered "Tomorrow, and I can't wait." This was followed by a taped piece in which the cast thanked the show's viewers for their loyalty over the past 35 years, ending with a slightly-tearful Mary Stuart saying "Thank you...thank you all. They were wonderful years." and saluting the audience goodbye. The show also ended with the song We'll Be Together Again
by Lou Rawls
. (Love of Life
also closed out its run with the same song, but used a version by Tony Bennett
.)
The series was replaced by the Tom Kennedy game show Wordplay
, which aired until September 4, 1987. As had been the case in two of the previous three television seasons, Search ended its 35-year run last in ratings with a 2.5 at the time of its cancellation.
, and later that year, to Jamaica
, to showcase a romantic rendezvous between the characters of Garth and Kathy. In 1982 prior to the switch to NBC, a storyline involving Travis Sentell took the show on location in St. Kitts. In 1984 the show did a lot of location shooting to show the wilds of Henderson. In the final months of the show in 1986, they went to Ireland to film a storyline with the McCleary brothers, who by that time occupied most of the storylines.
and writers
included:
In 1981, CBS wanted its newer serial, The Young and the Restless, to lead off the afternoon soap lineup. That move caused a shift in much of CBS's daytime schedule. Y&R, which had been airing at 1:00 pm ET, was moved back to its previous Noon ET/11AM CT slot; however, a second feed was added to allow stations in the Eastern time zone to air local news at Noon with Y&R at 12:30pm ET. Search was moved to 2:30 ET, which necessitated a move of As the World Turns back to its previous 1:30 ET time slot. Search still got decent ratings; in fact, at the time it was canceled, Searchs ratings were half a point higher than the end of the previous television season (6.8 vs. 6.3). However, P&G wanted the show back at 12:30 pm. In March 1982, P&G moved the show to NBC at 12:30 (bumping the network's low-rated soap The Doctors to Noon). Search left CBS with a 6.8 rating, ranking eighth in the daytime ratings. However, by the end of the year, Search ranked 14th in the ratings, just .1 ahead of where The Doctors would finish the year. In fact, Search's ratings had dropped by half in its first nine months on NBC, falling from the 6.8 rating it achieved in its last year on CBS to a 3.4 by the end of the year.
Part of the reason for the slip was that many NBC affiliates already preempted The Doctors, which previously aired at 12:30, and continued to do so when Search moved into the slot – which meant that, in some instances, Search would disappear altogether from some markets when it left CBS for NBC. As a result of the network and time slot switches, Search would now go up against Y&R instead of being its lead-in program in markets that did air the show.
To complicate matters further, even in markets where NBC affiliates didn't air newscasts in the 12:00 time slot, Search didn't have a strong lead-in like As the World Turns
in its final months on CBS. Instead, NBC placed Search in an hour with sitcom reruns and low-rated game shows such as Go
, The New Battlestars
, Just Men!
, and Hot Potato
between March 29, 1982 and September 24, 1984. The only show to share the hour with Search that was at least a steady hit was Super Password
. (As part of Search's move to NBC, Super Password's predecessor, Password Plus, was canceled so The Doctors could move to its noon slot.) In some markets, Search For Tomorrow
shared the hour slot with the low-rated soap opera The Doctors from March 1982 until December 1982.
Search's ratings continued to drop as the show went on. The following season, the show finished with a 2.7 rating, tied with outgoing NBC soap Texas
for twelfth in the ratings. In three out of its remaining four seasons, the show finished dead last in the daytime ratings, but it finished second to last in the 1984–1985 television season. The equally ratings-challenged veteran The Edge of Night
finished behind it during that season, which would turn out to be its final year on ABC.
Finally, Search was canceled in 1986, and finished with a 2.5 rating. Its last episode aired on December 26, 1986, putting an end to its then-record 35-year run on television. NBC would not give the 12:30 slot, or the 12:00 hour for that matter, back to the local affiliates until 1991, and would also take back the hour for five months in 1993.
Search was immediately succeeded by the Tom Kennedy-hosted game show Wordplay
in the 12:30 pm timeslot, but that series was canceled after nine months. Following the cancellation of that series, the hit game show Scrabble
, which had been telecast at 11:30 am since its 1984 premiere, moved into the slot and remained there until March 24, 1989, after which it was replaced by a new soap opera, Generations. The final NBC network program to air in Search's timeslot was Scattergories
, a Dick Clark-hosted game show that premiered as part of NBC's takeover of the noon hour in 1993. Of the four shows that followed Search in its 12:30 time slot, Scrabble was the only one that wasn't removed due to ratings trouble, as it moved back to the mornings following the debut of Generations.
Besides Scrabble, Generations was the only series to last longer than a year at 12:30, ultimately ending its run in January 1991 – two months shy of its second anniversary.
Capitol
, CBS's replacement for Search, ended its run nearly three months after Search came to an end; its finale aired on March 20, 1987, nine days away from its fifth anniversary, and it was replaced the following Monday by The Bold and the Beautiful
.
. The network aired episodes from the first three years of the NBC run.
In 2006, P&G began making several of its soap operas available, a few episodes at a time, through America Online's AOL Video service, downloadable free of charge. Reruns of Search for Tomorrow episodes began with the October 5, 1984 show and ceased with the January 13, 1986 episode after AOL discontinued the P&G Soaps Channel on December 31, 2008.
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. The show was moved from CBS to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the longest-running non-news program on television. This record was soon broken by Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
which had premiered on television nine months after Search for Tomorrow.
The show was created by Roy Winsor
Roy Winsor
Roy Winsor was an American soap opera writer, creator and novelist.Roy Winsor was born in Chicago Illinois in 1912. He is most famous for creating some of the longest running soap operas in television history. Before he created television soap operas he wrote for many radio serials. He also...
and was first written
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
by Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon is an American writer and producer. She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children...
(who was then known professionally as "Agnes Eckhardt") for thirteen weeks and, later, by Irving Vendig
Irving Vendig
Irving Vendig was an American soap opera writer.-Career:He created The Edge of Night for Procter and Gamble Productions and CBS Daytime in 1956. He had been a writer on the Perry Mason radio show...
.
Transition to tape
Search aired as a fifteen-minute serial from its debut in 1951 until 1968. The show's initial sponsor was Procter & GambleProcter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, the makers of Joy dishwashing liquid and Spic and Span
Spic and Span
Spic and Span is a major U.S. brand of all-purpose household cleaner, invented by housewives Elizabeth "Bet" MacDonald and Naomi Stenglein in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1933. The women experimented until they came up with a formula that included equal parts of ground-up glue, sodium carbonate, and...
household cleaner. As the show's ratings increased, other sponsors began buying commercial time. Both "Joy" and "Spic and Span" continued to be the primary products Procter & Gamble advertised on the show, well into the 1960s.
The show switched from live broadcasts to recorded telecasts in March 1967, went to color on September 11, 1967, and expanded to a half-hour on September 9, 1968 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrxtAWDvt8Q&feature=related. At the time, Search and its sister show Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
, which had shared the same half-hour for sixteen years, were the last two fifteen-minute soap operas airing on television. (As a result of the expansion, Search gained the entire 12:30 pm ET timeslot and an expanded Guiding Light moved to 2:30 pm.)
In 1983, both the master copy and the backup of a Search episode were lost, and on August 4, the cast was forced to do a live show for the first time since the transition sixteen years before. After the event, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
was accused of lying about the tape being misplaced in hopes that the noise generated by the accident would create a ratings jump for the show. It was thought that this situation mirrored a similar one in the 1982 movie Tootsie
Tootsie
Tootsie is a 1982 American comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman,...
.
Title sequences
The theme music for the early years sounded a little like "Beyond the Blue Horizon" to some, which would have seemed quite appropriate for this show given the sequence. Upon switching to color, a theme titled "Interchange" by Bill Meeder was used for the opening, and later on in 1974, a short-lived theme titled "Signature for Search for Tomorrow" by Ashley Miller (by then, it was still using in-studio organ accompaniment).
From October 7, 1974 to February 25, 1986, Search used a pop ballad theme: "We'll Search for Tomorrow" by Jon Silbermann, Jack Cortner, and John Barranco. This followed a trend initiated by The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
for using pop ballads for soap theme tunes. Several arrangements were used during its 12-year run: the original version, a more orchestral version, a Latin disco-flavored version, and a vocal version for closing credits.
The sequence during the show's final months was accompanied by a new "techno-rock" theme by Bill Chinnock
Bill Chinnock
Bill Chinnock , also referred to as Billy Chinnock, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, he was a prominent member of the Jersey Shore music scene during the late 1960s, leading bands that included future members of the E Street Band...
called "Somewhere in the Night".
Announcements
For much of the show's run on CBS, the announcer was Dwight Weist, who years earlier had narrated several short subjects for MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. The common structure of his announcements went like this:
- Black and white years and possibly early color years: "Search for Tomorrow"...Brought to you by (sponsor). The closing, on credit days, ran the credits (as flash credits) then Weist would say: "Search for Tomorrow is brought to you by (sponsor)." In two surviving 60's episodes available on video, a promo card for The Guiding Light was shown.
The following sequences were used in the 70's and possibly to the end of the series:
- Title sequence: "This is Search for Tomorrow. This portion brought to you by (name and description of sponsor)".
- Mid-program break #1: "This portion of Search for Tomorrow was brought to you by (name and description of sponsor). Our story will continue in just a moment."
- Mid-program break #2: "And now, the second portion of Search for Tomorrow." On days when the second half was officially sponsored, the announcement continued, "...brought to you by (name and description of sponsor)."
- Lead-in to next-to-last commercial break: "Our story will continue in just a moment!"
- Closing sequence: "This portion of Search for Tomorrow has been brought to you by (name and description of sponsor)", or on non-sponsored days, either "Join us each weekday for Search for Tomorrow", or, if no time remained, "This has been Search for Tomorrow, this program was recorded." Before the title change in 1981, Weist would tell viewers to stay tuned for the next program, either As the World TurnsAs the World TurnsAs the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
, The Young and the RestlessThe Young and the RestlessThe Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
, or The Guiding Light. TGL had a title card shown, while Y&R did not. Credits at this time were flash style, though they may have used a crawl for the full cast and crew. After 1981, credits were done in a crawl. The final episode had screen shots of the cast, and the production credits were done flash style. Mary Stuart got top billing at the start of the credits throughout the show's run.
When Weist retired to found his own public relations/casting company, former rock disc jockey Alison Steele
Alison Steele
Alison Steele was a pioneering American disc jockey in Manhattan at what would become the archetypal progressive rock radio station in the United States, WNEW-FM. She was commonly known as "The Nightbird"...
assumed the announcing duties with similar announcements as above. Her job carried over into the first few years of NBC's run until Hal Simms (former announcer for The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
) took over in 1985, after which Don Pardo
Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....
(announcer for Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
) assumed duties for the remainder of the series. Both Simms' and Pardo's announcements were limited.
1950s
For the show's duration, Search was centered on a midwestern housewife named Joanne GardnerJoanne Gardner
Joanne Gardner was the main character on the long-running soap opera Search for Tomorrow. For 35 years, the role was played by actress Mary Stuart...
(played for the entire run by Mary Stuart
Mary Stuart (actress)
Mary Stuart was an American actress and singer/songwriter.She was born as Mary Stuart Houchins in Miami, Florida and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she graduated from Tulsa Central High School and attended the University of Tulsa before embarking on her professional career...
) who lived in a fictional town called Henderson. In the earlier years, Joanne's friends and next-door neighbors, Stuart and Marge Bergman (played by Larry Haines
Larry Haines
Larry Haines, born Larry Hecht was an American actor. He was born in Mount Vernon, New York.-Biography:He was born on August 3, 1918....
and Melba Rae
Melba Rae
Melba Rae was an American soap opera actress.-Career:Rae was a key figure in early daytime television, playing the wife of the couple next door on Search for Tomorrow for 20 years — from its inception in 1951 until her untimely death of a cerebral hemorrhage...
) received much screen time as they commiserated with Joanne, usually over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. At the beginning of the series, Stu and Marge had a young daughter named Janet (originally played by Ellen Spencer).
Most of Joanne's dilemmas in the early years were due to her dead husband Keith Barron's overbearing parents – they (most especially her mother in-law, Irene) never liked her and were quite content with seizing Joanne and Keith's daughter Patti (played longest by Lynn Loring
Lynn Loring
Lynn Loring is an American actress and producer.She first started acting at the age of seven, playing the role of Patti Barron on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. She played the role until 1961, when she graduated from high school and explored other opportunities...
) from the widow.
After Keith (played by John Sylvester White
John Sylvester White
John Sylvester White was a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-born American actor.He was best known for his starring role as "Keith Barron" on the television soap opera Search for Tomorrow from 1951 to 1952, and many years later, to a different generation as the crabby, diminutive high school...
) died in 1952, Joanne started managing a hotel, The Motor Haven Inn. Local thugs in town saw Joanne as soft because she was a woman, and they attempted to take over the business as a front for Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
dealings. Joanne's friend Rose Peabody (Lee Grant
Lee Grant
Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
, Constance Ford
Constance Ford
Constance Ford was an American actress and model. She is best known for her long-running role as Ada Hobson on the daytime soap opera Another World.-Career:...
, and Nita Talbot
Nita Talbot
Nita Talbot is an American actress. Talbot was a leading lady who spent the first decade or so of her career playing "slick chicks" and sharp-witted career girls, but is perhaps best known for her role as Marya, the White Russian spy in the 1960s sitcom, Hogan's Heroes, as well as Sheila Fine in...
), who was selling information to the Mafia, tried to poison a pot of soup that Joanne made, so her credibility would be tarnished. In the end, the scheme did not work and it was Rose who perished. A man named Arthur Tate (Terry O'Sullivan
Terry O'Sullivan
Terry O'Sullivan was an American actor, best known for his role on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow as "Arthur Tate" ....
) helped Joanne with financial backing for the Inn. Arthur's Aunt Cornelia gave him the inheritance money but insisted on meddling in his affairs as she hated Joanne. Eventually, Arthur and Jo fell in love and were married.
1960s
The show was one of the highest-rated soaps in the 1950s, but Search was losing out to newer soaps as the decade drew to a close. When the show was in a ratings slump in 1960, Western-themed drama writers Frank and Doris HursleyFrank and Doris Hursley
Frank M. Hursley and Doris Hursley were a husband-and-wife team who wrote American serials....
were hired to write the show. In 1963, with the ratings staying stagnant, the duo decided to write out Joanne's baby (written into the storyline a few years previous while she was pregnant with son Jeffrey) by having him run in front of a speeding truck and die upon impact. Miss Stuart was unhappy with the decision and, in the book All My Afternoons, Stuart was paraphrased as saying that she played the grief scenes with so much conviction that even the makeup lady could not bear to watch her to see if her makeup was right. In the end, the ratings did not rise, and Stuart threatened to quit the show unless the Hursleys were fired. The duo left the show and created the serial General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
the same year.
As the show progressed, Joanne's sister Eunice returned to town and seduced Joanne's second husband, Arthur Tate. When a woman named Marian Rand came to town and sued Arthur for paternity, the stress surrounding this dilemma, coupled with personal troubles and the guilt of sleeping with Eunice caused him to have a fatal heart attack.
Joanne's daughter Patti grew into a teenager and became involved with drug-dealing gang members (incorporating a scathing viewpoint regarding America's counter-culture of the day). Joanne's friend Sam Reynolds (who was, ironically, Arthur's archenemy) proved his worth to Joanne by saving Patti when she was held at knifepoint. They were going to be married, but alas, it was not to be. Actor Robert Mandan
Robert Mandan
Robert Mandan is an American actor, most famous for his portrayals of playwright David Allen on the NBC serial From These Roots from 1958–1961, businessman Sam Reynolds on the serial Search for Tomorrow from 1965 to 1970, and his subsequent satire of the genre playing Chester Tate on the sitcom...
, who played Sam, did not renew his contract with the show.
1970s
In 1970, Joanne lost her eyesight, and Dr. Tony Vincente (Anthony GeorgeAnthony George
Anthony George was an American actor mostly seen on television. He is best known for roles of Don Corley in Checkmate, Burke Devlin and Jeremiah Collins on Dark Shadows, and Dr. Will Vernon on One Life to Live....
) helped her get it back. They fell in love and were married in 1972. In 1974, Mary-Ellis Bunim
Mary-Ellis Bunim
Mary-Ellis Bunim was an American television producer and co-creator of MTV's The Real World and Road Rules.-Biography:A native of Massachusetts, Bunim began her career in daytime dramas...
was appointed executive producer of Search for Tomorrow. As a result of Bunim wanting to take the show in a more youth-oriented direction, fewer stories involved Joanne. In 1975, Bunim was rumored to have the writers of Search for Tomorrow kill off Joanne (after the death of Tony), which ended up not happening after vocal dissent from Stuart in the press. While the ratings took a slight dip when the series focused on younger viewers, the impact wasn't as heavy as was expected. Despite the show moving in a more youth-oriented direction, the character of Joanne embarked on a long-running story when she earned a foe in the ambitious schemer Stephanie Wilkins
Stephanie Wilkins
Stephanie Wilkins Collins Pace Wyatt was a fictional character on the long-running American Soap Opera Search for Tomorrow. She was played from 1974 to 1984 by actress Maree Cheatham and from 1984 to 1986 by actress and writer Louise Shaffer....
(Maree Cheatham
Maree Cheatham
Maree Cheatham is an American actress, best known for her television appearances. She was credited for much of her career as Marie Cheatham....
).
In 1971, Stu and Marge's daughter Janet returned to the series and served as a peer to which Joanne's daughter Patti could relate. Early in 1972, Marge's sudden death was written into the storyline (actress Melba Rae had died late the year before). Stu later married Ellie Harper (Billie Lou Watt
Billie Lou Watt
Billie Lou Watt was an actress in theater and television, including several voice acting roles for commercials and animated series...
) and helped Jo run the Hartford House, a modern incarnation of her old property, the Motor Haven Inn.
Examples of the "younger" stories included the maniacal Jennifer Pace
Jennifer Pace
Jennifer Pace Phillips was a fictional character on defunct United States soap opera Search for Tomorrow. She was played by actress Morgan Fairchild from 1973 to 1977, the first in a long line of similar roles for Fairchild.-Character's background:...
(played by Morgan Fairchild
Morgan Fairchild
Morgan Fairchild is an American actress. She achieved prominence during the late 1970s and early 1980s with continuing roles in several television series, in which she usually conveyed a glamorous image. Fairchild has also performed in live theater and played guest roles in television comedies...
); Jennifer shot and killed Joanne's sister Eunice after a vision of Eunice's husband John Wyatt (Val Dufour
Val Dufour
Val Dufour, born Albert Valéry Dufour was an American actor. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dufour's parents were of Parisian French descent....
), whom Jennifer was having an affair with, told her to do the murderous deed. Another popular story on the show was the budding romance between the characters of Steve and Liza Kaslo (Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...
and Meg Bennett
Meg Bennett
Meg Bennett is an American television soap opera writer and occasional actress. She is married to General Hospital Head Writer Robert Guza, Jr.-Early life:...
).
1980s
After Search for Tomorrow spent much of the previous decade near the top of the afternoon ratings (it consistently ranked #4 in soap ratings throughout most of the 1970s), CBS made the decision to move the show to 2:30 PM (Eastern Time) in 1981. The show had been airing at 12:30 pm on CBS since its first episode thirty years before. P&G considered expanding Search for Tomorrow, reducing As the World TurnsAs the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
to 45 minutes in length (as they had made the expansion to 60 minutes six years earlier), and eliminating the time that most local stations aired newscasts. The final decision was to expand neither show and to move Search to a later timeslot despite P&G's lack of enthusiasm for the switch. Although Search continued to attract viewers, its ratings dropped slightly in the 2:30pm slot, which prompted Procter and Gamble to insist that CBS return the show to its original timeslot. However, CBS decided to cancel Search for Tomorrow in 1982, instead of renewing it. Procter and Gamble wasn't willing to give up on the show yet, and began searching for another home for it.
Switch to NBC (1982-1986)
CBS' final episode of Search for Tomorrow aired on March 26, 1982, and the show moved to NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
the following Monday. The move to NBC also saw a return to the 12:30 PM time slot. However, as a result of the network and time slot switch, Search now found itself going up against the hit The Young and the Restless on CBS instead of being part of a lineup that included it. Furthermore, while the 12:30pm slot was not as prone to preemptions as the 12:00 pm slot would've been, affiliates televised other programs in the 12:30 slot. Thus, Searchs ratings began to plummet even more so than they did when the show moved to 2:30 PM the year before. When Search first moved to 2:30 in 1981, the show continued to pull in fair ratings, enough to rank eighth in the season's final totals. In fact, when CBS cancelled Search, its ratings were at a 6.8, which was half a percentage point higher than they had been to end the previous season. The move to NBC resulted in the show becoming the second-lowest rated soap opera on television with a 3.4 rating. (A similar time slot switch plagued another former hit P&G produced serial, The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
, ten years earlier. Coincidentally, both shows were moved into the same 2:30 PM slot and both would end up leaving CBS for other networks; by this time ABC aired Edge in a late-afternoon slot.)
One scenario that never came to pass, as reported by TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
in June 1979, was Search moving to 3:30 pm (then used by daytime reruns of M*A*S*H); The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
expanding to an hour in fall 1979 from 12:30-1:30, and As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
and Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
remaining at their 1:30 and 2:30 start times, respectively. Despite these plans, Search stayed put, Y&R simply expanded its 1:00 time slot to 1:30 on East Coast stations, and ATWT and GL were bumped back thirty minutes each.
In an advertising campaign called "Follow the Search", the stars of the show wished for its loyal viewers to follow Search to NBC. However, CBS only allowed the advertisements if P&G did not name the network to which the show was moving in their advertisements; this was also decreed when The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
moved to ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1975. At the end of the final CBS episode, veteran actors Mary Stuart and Larry Haines told the audience to start watching the show as it moved to "another network", and asked the viewers to locate the show and the network in their television listings.
Although Search had switched networks, it was still produced at the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57th St. in Manhattan until August 1982. By September, NBC relocated the production to the Reeves/Teletape Studio on Broadway and West 81st St., the former home of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
(which themselves had relocated to the former WNET-TV studios at 9th Ave and 55th St.). However, in March 1985, production of the show moved to the former Edge of Night studios, the EUE/Screen Gems Studios at 222 East 44th St., where it remained for the rest of its run.
Searchs ratings on NBC remained only half as high as they had been on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, even in the 2:30 slot. By this time, few viewers had interest in Joanne's final marriage to Martin Tourneur (John Aniston
John Aniston
John Anthony Aniston is a Greek-American actor and the father of actress Jennifer Aniston. He is best known for his role as Victor Kiriakis on the NBC daytime drama Days of our Lives, which he originated in July 1985 and has played continually since then.-Early life:Aniston was born Yannis...
), which had taken place while the series still called CBS home, and critics panned the show for its preposterous storylines, including the birth of a child just three months after conception. Search finished second to last in the ratings again at the end of its first full television season on NBC, finishing ahead of the struggling The Doctors and actually finishing in a tie with Texas
Texas (TV series)
Texas is an American daytime soap opera which aired on NBC from August 4, 1980 until December 31, 1982. Created by John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington, and Paul Rauch, the show was a spinoff of Another World...
, which failed to make it through the year.
By 1984, the show mainly focused on two new families: the Kendalls and the McClearys. The McCleary family was headed by Matt McCleary, his Twin Brother Malcolm McCleary (Patrick Tovatt
Patrick Tovatt
Patrick Tovatt is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles on several soap operas, including Zane Lindquist on Another World ; Matt McCleary on Search for Tomorrow ; and Cal Stricklyn on As the World Turns...
), Kate McCleary (Jo Henderson, later Maeve McGuire
Maeve McGuire
Maeve McGuire is an American actress, best known for her role as "Nicole Travis Drake" on the soap opera The Edge of Night, which she played from 1968 to 1974 and from 1975 to 1977...
), brothers Hogan McCleary (David Forsyth
David Forsyth (actor)
David Forsyth is an American soap opera actor. He was born in Long Beach, California.David Forsyth was given several soap opera roles to play in rapid succession: T.J. Canfield on Texas , Hogan McCleary on Search for Tomorrow and John Hudson on Another World...
), Cagney McCleary (Matthew Ashford
Matthew Ashford
Matthew Nile Ashford is an American actor best known for the long running role of Jack Deveraux on the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives.-Personal life:...
), Quinn McCleary (Jeffrey Meek
Jeffrey Meek
Jeffrey William Meek is an American actor. Meek and his family moved often; as a child, Meek lived in Zweibrücken, Germany, Michigan, and San Francisco....
), and sister Adair McCleary (Paige Hannah, later Susan Carey Lamn). The Kendall family was headed by Estelle Kendall (Domini Blythe
Domini Blythe
Domini Blythe was a British-born Canadian actress. Her numerous stage and television credits included Search for Tomorrow and Mount Royal....
), Lloyd Kendall (Peter Haskell
Peter Haskell
Peter Abraham Haskell was an American actor who worked primarily in television.-Early years:Haskell was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Rose Veronica Golden and geophysicist Norman Abraham Haskell...
, then by Joe Lambie, later Robert Reed
Robert Reed
Robert Reed was a prolific American character actor of stage, film and television. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular...
), and Mike Kendall (Thomas Sullivan
Tom Sullivan (singer)
Tom Sullivan is an American performer, author, and motivational speaker.-Personal life:Sullivan was born and raised in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, the son of Marie C. and Thomas J. Sullivan, who owned a saloon. His premature birth caused him to need oxygen treatment while in an incubator...
), brothers Alec Kendall (Robert Curtis Brown), Chase Kendall (Kevin Conroy
Kevin Conroy
Kevin Conroy is an American stage, screen, and voice actor, best known for his acclaimed voice role as Batman in numerous animated television series, feature films, and video games that make up the DC Animated Universe.-Early life:...
, later Robert Wilson), Steven Kendall (Phillip Brown, Steve Lindquist), and sister Theresa Rebecca (T.R.) Kendall (Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
).
In a newspaper interview during this period (Guy MacMillin's The Videot), Mary Stuart complained: "They have created a new program and they're calling it Search for Tomorrow." She said she believed she was being eased out by the Kate McCleary character. Regardless of the writers' intentions, at the end of the 1983-1984 television season, Search, which had been a solid top-five series for CBS just a decade before, hit bottom and finished last in the ratings with a 3.2. Search did climb out of the ratings cellar at the end of the following television season, but this was largely due to the continuing struggles of The Edge of Night (which ended on December 28, 1984), and Search returned to the bottom of the ratings list again with an anemic 2.9 rating for the 1985-1986 television season. NBC cancelled the show in 1986, but only after a memorable attempt to bring up the ratings: The whole town of Henderson was washed away in a flood, and in a display of reverence the only buildings left standing afterward were Joanne's residence and business.
On December 26, 1986, the final episode ended with senior characters Stu Bergman and Joanne Tourneur talking about the future. Stu asked Joanne what she was searching for, and she answered "Tomorrow, and I can't wait." This was followed by a taped piece in which the cast thanked the show's viewers for their loyalty over the past 35 years, ending with a slightly-tearful Mary Stuart saying "Thank you...thank you all. They were wonderful years." and saluting the audience goodbye. The show also ended with the song We'll Be Together Again
We'll Be Together Again
"We'll Be Together Again" is a 1945 popular song composed by Carl Fischer, with lyrics by Frankie Laine. Fischer was Laine's pianist and musical director when he composed the tune, and Laine was asked to write lyrics for it...
by Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
. (Love of Life
Love of Life
Love of Life is an American soap opera which aired on CBS Daytime from September 24, 1951 to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation Search for Tomorrow had premiered three weeks before Love of Life, and who would go on to create The Secret Storm two and a half years...
also closed out its run with the same song, but used a version by Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
.)
The series was replaced by the Tom Kennedy game show Wordplay
Wordplay (game show)
Wordplay is an American game show which ran on NBC from December 29, 1986 to September 4, 1987. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy and announced by Charlie O'Donnell...
, which aired until September 4, 1987. As had been the case in two of the previous three television seasons, Search ended its 35-year run last in ratings with a 2.5 at the time of its cancellation.
Location shooting
Like many other soap operas, Search featured segments of location shooting in the 1980s. In 1981 the show went to Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and later that year, to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, to showcase a romantic rendezvous between the characters of Garth and Kathy. In 1982 prior to the switch to NBC, a storyline involving Travis Sentell took the show on location in St. Kitts. In 1984 the show did a lot of location shooting to show the wilds of Henderson. In the final months of the show in 1986, they went to Ireland to film a storyline with the McCleary brothers, who by that time occupied most of the storylines.
Main crew
The producersExecutive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
and writers
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
included:
- Joanna LeeJoanna Lee (actor)Joanna Lee was an American actress, writer and producer.-Early life:Lee was born in Newark, New Jersey; by the time she was 20, she was a divorced single mother with a son, Craig Lee.-Career:...
- Ellen Barrett
- Erwin Nicholson
- John P. Whitesell II
- David Lawrence
- Fred BartholomewFreddie BartholomewFrederick Cecil Bartholomew , known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor. One of the most famous child actors of all time, he became very popular in 1930s Hollywood films...
- Mary-Ellis BunimMary-Ellis BunimMary-Ellis Bunim was an American television producer and co-creator of MTV's The Real World and Road Rules.-Biography:A native of Massachusetts, Bunim began her career in daytime dramas...
- Gregory Lehane
- Bruce Minnix
- Ira Cirker (unknown episodes)
- Harry Eggart (unknown episodes)
- Nick Havinga (unknown episodes)
- Heather Hill (unknown episodes)
- Scott McKinseyScott McKinseyScott McKinsey is an award-winning American television director for soap opera General Hospital. McKinsey is the son of late Beverlee McKinsey.-Directing Positions:As the World Turns*Director General Hospital...
(unknown episodes) - Robert SchwartzRobert SchwartzRobert Schwartz may refer to:* Robert Schwartz, American designer of the M65 Atomic Cannon* Robert A. Schwartz , American physician* Robert Benjamin Schwartz, known as "Bobby", , American motorcycle speedway racer...
(unknown episodes) - Bob SchwarzBob SchwarzBob Schwarz is an American television director. He served as Director on Search for Tomorrow, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Spin-off, As the World Turns and Another World .-Awards and nominations:...
(unknown episodes) - Ned Stark (unknown episodes)
- Diana WenmanDiana WenmanDiana Wenman is an American television director and editor.-Positions held:* Director on All My Children , and Search for Tomorrow.* Associate Director on Royal Society Jazz Orchestra...
(unknown episodes) - Andrew D. WeymanAndrew D. WeymanAndrew D. Weyman is an American television director and producer. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and educated at Kingsborough Community College and Brooklyn College.-Directing and producing credits:...
(unknown episodes) - Art WolffArt WolffArt Wolff is an American television director and acting coach.For much of his career Wolff has amassed a number notable directing credits. Directing episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show, It's Garry Shandling's Show, The Powers That Be, Dream On and most notably the original Seinfeld pilot episode...
(unknown episodes) - Jeff HayengaJeff HayengaJeff Hayenga is an American actor, who played against Matthew Modine in And the Band Played On, Danny DeVito in Other People's Money, Fred Ward in The Prince of Pennsylvania and Claire Forlani in Memro . Another role he had in the motion picture Center Stage .- External links :...
(2 episodes, 1986) - Ted KubiakTed KubiakTheodore Rodger Kubiak is a former switch-hitting infielder for the Kansas City Athletics, the Oakland Athletics, the Milwaukee Brewers, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Texas Rangers, and the San Diego Padres. He was a member of the Oakland Athletics teams that won three World Series in a row...
(2 episodes, 1986) - Agnes NixonAgnes NixonAgnes Nixon is an American writer and producer. She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children...
(unknown episodes, 1951) - Irving VendigIrving VendigIrving Vendig was an American soap opera writer.-Career:He created The Edge of Night for Procter and Gamble Productions and CBS Daytime in 1956. He had been a writer on the Perry Mason radio show...
(unknown episodes, 1951) - Ray Goldstone (unknown episodes, 1973–1976)
- Ann MarcusAnn MarcusAnn Marcus ia an American television writer, producer and playwright. She graduated from Western College for Women, worked for the New York Daily News and Life, where she worked with famed photographers such as Alfred Eisenstadt....
(unknown episodes, 1974–1975) - Wesley Smith (unknown episodes, 1978–1980)
- Millee TaggartMillee TaggartMillee Taggart is an American actress, best known for her long-running role as Janet Bergman Collins on Search for Tomorrow. She portrayed the character from 1971 to 1982...
(unknown episodes, 1980–1981) - Thom RacinaThom Racina-Personal:He hails from Kenosha, Wisconsin, went to school in Albuquerque and Chicago, where he got a MFA in Theatre Arts and Directing.He is close friends with Sally Sussman Morina.-Positions held:Another World*Breakdown Writer: 1988*Script Writer: 1987...
(unknown episodes, 1980) - Harding LemayHarding LemayHarding Lemay is an American screenwriter and playwright. Born near the Mohawk Indian reservation, where his mother grew up, he ran away to New York City at age 17, where he has lived ever since.-Career:...
(unknown episodes, 1981) - Joan McCallJoan McCallJoan McCall is an American actress, screenwriter and minister. Her first film roles were in the 1976 horror/adventure hit Devil Times Five and Grizzly...
(unknown episodes, 1982) - Paul Avila MayerPaul Avila MayerPaul Avila Mayer was an American television writer and producer. His father was the late screen writer Edwin Justus Mayer, and his daughter is director Daisy von Scherler Mayer.-Positions held:...
(unknown episodes, 1985) - Stephanie BraxtonStephanie BraxtonStephanie Braxton is an American television writer, playwright and actress. She married Dan Hamilton in 1970, but they are currently divorced...
(unknown episodes, 1985) - Pamela K. Long (unknown episodes, 1986)
- David Colson (unknown episodes)
- John William CorringtonJohn William CorringtonJohn William Corrington was an American movie and television writer, novelist, poet and lawyer. He received a B.A. degree from Centenary College, in 1956 and his M.A. from Rice University in 1960, the year he took on his first teaching position in the English Department at Louisiana State University...
(unknown episodes) - Julian Funt (unknown episodes)
- Jeannie Glynn (unknown episodes)
- Charles Gussman (unknown episodes)
- Frank and Doris HursleyFrank and Doris HursleyFrank M. Hursley and Doris Hursley were a husband-and-wife team who wrote American serials....
(unknown episodes) - Leonard Kantor (unknown episodes)
- David Lesan (unknown episodes)
- Judy LewisJudy LewisJudy Lewis was an American actress, writer, producer, and therapist, and the secret biological daughter of actor Clark Gable and actress Loretta Young.-History:...
(unknown episodes) - Jean RouverolJean RouverolJean Rouverol is an American author, actress and screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s.-Biography:...
(unknown episodes) - Henry SlesarHenry SlesarHenry Slesar was an American author, playwright, and copywriter. He was also known as O.H. Leslie and Jay Street.-Early life:...
Ratings history
Search for Tomorrow was among the highest-rated soaps of the 1950s and 1960s, but by the early 1970s it had slipped to the middle of the pack. However, it would gain renewed popularity during that decade and peak at 4th in the ratings, a spot it last reached in 1976. Starting then, the show's popularity began to slide, but the show was still a solid top-ten soap.In 1981, CBS wanted its newer serial, The Young and the Restless, to lead off the afternoon soap lineup. That move caused a shift in much of CBS's daytime schedule. Y&R, which had been airing at 1:00 pm ET, was moved back to its previous Noon ET/11AM CT slot; however, a second feed was added to allow stations in the Eastern time zone to air local news at Noon with Y&R at 12:30pm ET. Search was moved to 2:30 ET, which necessitated a move of As the World Turns back to its previous 1:30 ET time slot. Search still got decent ratings; in fact, at the time it was canceled, Searchs ratings were half a point higher than the end of the previous television season (6.8 vs. 6.3). However, P&G wanted the show back at 12:30 pm. In March 1982, P&G moved the show to NBC at 12:30 (bumping the network's low-rated soap The Doctors to Noon). Search left CBS with a 6.8 rating, ranking eighth in the daytime ratings. However, by the end of the year, Search ranked 14th in the ratings, just .1 ahead of where The Doctors would finish the year. In fact, Search's ratings had dropped by half in its first nine months on NBC, falling from the 6.8 rating it achieved in its last year on CBS to a 3.4 by the end of the year.
Part of the reason for the slip was that many NBC affiliates already preempted The Doctors, which previously aired at 12:30, and continued to do so when Search moved into the slot – which meant that, in some instances, Search would disappear altogether from some markets when it left CBS for NBC. As a result of the network and time slot switches, Search would now go up against Y&R instead of being its lead-in program in markets that did air the show.
To complicate matters further, even in markets where NBC affiliates didn't air newscasts in the 12:00 time slot, Search didn't have a strong lead-in like As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
in its final months on CBS. Instead, NBC placed Search in an hour with sitcom reruns and low-rated game shows such as Go
Go (game show)
Go is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart and aired on NBC from October 3, 1983 to January 20, 1984. The show featured two teams, each composed of four contestants and a celebrity. The teams had to construct questions one word at a time to convey a word or phrase to their...
, The New Battlestars
Battlestars (game show)
Battlestars is an American game show that aired for two separate runs on NBC during the early 1980s. The show's first run aired from October 26, 1981 to April 23, 1982...
, Just Men!
Just Men!
Just Men! was a game show that aired on NBC Daytime from January 3 to April 1, 1983. The show starred Betty White, who won an Emmy award for her work on the show, with Steve Day announcing.-Gameplay:...
, and Hot Potato
Hot Potato (game show)
Hot Potato was a television game show broadcast on NBC in the United States from January 23 to June 29, 1984. Bill Cullen was the show's host and Charlie O'Donnell was the announcer....
between March 29, 1982 and September 24, 1984. The only show to share the hour with Search that was at least a steady hit was Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password
Password Plus and Super Password are American game shows that are revivals of the game show Password. Both Password Plus and Super Password had the same format other than some subtle changes....
. (As part of Search's move to NBC, Super Password's predecessor, Password Plus, was canceled so The Doctors could move to its noon slot.) In some markets, Search For Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...
shared the hour slot with the low-rated soap opera The Doctors from March 1982 until December 1982.
Search's ratings continued to drop as the show went on. The following season, the show finished with a 2.7 rating, tied with outgoing NBC soap Texas
Texas (TV series)
Texas is an American daytime soap opera which aired on NBC from August 4, 1980 until December 31, 1982. Created by John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington, and Paul Rauch, the show was a spinoff of Another World...
for twelfth in the ratings. In three out of its remaining four seasons, the show finished dead last in the daytime ratings, but it finished second to last in the 1984–1985 television season. The equally ratings-challenged veteran The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
finished behind it during that season, which would turn out to be its final year on ABC.
Finally, Search was canceled in 1986, and finished with a 2.5 rating. Its last episode aired on December 26, 1986, putting an end to its then-record 35-year run on television. NBC would not give the 12:30 slot, or the 12:00 hour for that matter, back to the local affiliates until 1991, and would also take back the hour for five months in 1993.
Search was immediately succeeded by the Tom Kennedy-hosted game show Wordplay
Wordplay (game show)
Wordplay is an American game show which ran on NBC from December 29, 1986 to September 4, 1987. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy and announced by Charlie O'Donnell...
in the 12:30 pm timeslot, but that series was canceled after nine months. Following the cancellation of that series, the hit game show Scrabble
Scrabble (game show)
Scrabble is an American television game show that was based on the Scrabble board game. The show was co-produced by Exposure Unlimited and Reg Grundy Productions. It ran from July 2, 1984 to March 23, 1990, and again from January 18 to June 11, 1993, both runs on NBC. A total of 1,335 episodes were...
, which had been telecast at 11:30 am since its 1984 premiere, moved into the slot and remained there until March 24, 1989, after which it was replaced by a new soap opera, Generations. The final NBC network program to air in Search's timeslot was Scattergories
Scattergories (game show)
Scattergories is an American game show on NBC daytime hosted by Dick Clark, with Charlie Tuna as announcer, that aired from January 18 to June 11, 1993...
, a Dick Clark-hosted game show that premiered as part of NBC's takeover of the noon hour in 1993. Of the four shows that followed Search in its 12:30 time slot, Scrabble was the only one that wasn't removed due to ratings trouble, as it moved back to the mornings following the debut of Generations.
Besides Scrabble, Generations was the only series to last longer than a year at 12:30, ultimately ending its run in January 1991 – two months shy of its second anniversary.
Capitol
Capitol (TV series)
Capitol is an American soap opera which aired on CBS from March 29, 1982 to March 20, 1987 for 1,270 episodes. As its name suggests, the storyline usually revolved around the political intrigues of people whose lives intertwined in Washington D.C....
, CBS's replacement for Search, ended its run nearly three months after Search came to an end; its finale aired on March 20, 1987, nine days away from its fifth anniversary, and it was replaced the following Monday by The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....
.
Notable guest stars
Many well-known film and television actors appeared on Search during its 35 year run:- Don KnottsDon KnottsJesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
(Wilbur Peterson) - Ken KerchevalKen KerchevalKen Kercheval is an American actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on the television series Dallas....
(Dr. Nick Hunter) - Larry HagmanLarry HagmanLarry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
(Curt Williams) - Audra LindleyAudra LindleyAudra Marie Lindley was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Career:...
(Sue Knowles) - Susan SarandonSusan SarandonSusan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
(Sarah Fairbanks) - John JamesJohn James (actor)John James Anderson is an American actor, best known to television audiences for playing the character of Jeff Colby in both the prime-time soap opera Dynasty and its spin-off series The Colbys throughout the 1980s....
(Tom Bergman) - Kevin KlineKevin KlineKevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
(Woody Reed) - Morgan FairchildMorgan FairchildMorgan Fairchild is an American actress. She achieved prominence during the late 1970s and early 1980s with continuing roles in several television series, in which she usually conveyed a glamorous image. Fairchild has also performed in live theater and played guest roles in television comedies...
(Jennifer Pace) - Kevin BaconKevin BaconKevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
(Todd Adamson) - Cynthia GibbCynthia GibbCynthia Gibb is an American actress and former model who has starred in film and on television. She is 5'-2" tall.-Biography:...
(Susan 'Suzi' Martin Wyatt) - Michael CorbettMichael Corbett (actor)Michael Corbett is an American actor best known for his work in daytime soap operas.Corbett's was cast as Michael Pavel Jr. on Ryan's Hope. by a casting director who had seen him in a play. He would play Michael Pavel Jr...
(Warren Carter) - Olympia DukakisOlympia DukakisOlympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck...
(Dr. Barbara Moreno) - Viggo MortensenViggo MortensenViggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. is a Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, including The Indian Runner , Carlito's Way , Crimson Tide , Daylight , The...
(Bragg) - Jane KrakowskiJane KrakowskiJane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
(Theresa Rebecca "T.R." Kendall) - Joanna GoingJoanna GoingJoanna C. Going is an American actress.-Early life and education:Born in Washington, D.C., she is the oldest of six children of Lorraine M...
(Evie Stone) - Audrey LandersAudrey LandersAudrey Landers is a German American actress and singer, who is probably best known for her role as Afton Cooper in the television drama series Dallas and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of A Chorus Line.- Early years :...
(Connie) - Lee GrantLee GrantLee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Carp in the...
(Rose Peterson) - Sandy DuncanSandy DuncanSandra Kay "Sandy" Duncan is an American singer, dancer and actress of stage and television, recognized through a blonde, pixie cut hairstyle and perky demeanor...
(Helen) - Barbara BabcockBarbara BabcockBarbara Babcock is an American character actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Grace Gardner on Hill Street Blues for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981 and her role as Dorothy Jennings on Dr...
(Gwen Delon) - Meg Myles (Mavis Stone)
- Barbara LunaBarbara LunaBarBara Ann Luna is an American actress with an extensive list of roles in film, television, and shows. Notable roles included Five Weeks in a Balloon and Lt. Marlena Moreau in the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror"...
(Anna Ryder) - Domini BlytheDomini BlytheDomini Blythe was a British-born Canadian actress. Her numerous stage and television credits included Search for Tomorrow and Mount Royal....
(Estelle Kendall) - Michelle Joyner (Sarah Whiting)
- Jacqueline SchultzJacqueline SchultzJacqueline Schultz is a film and television actress-Career:In addition to her recurring roles on two television soap operas — as Dee Stewart on As the World Turns ; and as the last Patti Tate on Search for Tomorrow — Schultz has appeared in over twenty-five other television productions, including...
(Patti Tate Whiting McCleary) - Patsy PeasePatsy PeasePatricia Ann "Patsy" Pease is an American soap opera actress. She is most known for her role as Kimberly Brady on Days of our Lives ....
(Cissy Mitchell Sentell) - Adam StorkeAdam StorkeAdam J. Storke is an American actor who has starred in television and film. He is best known for playing Julia Roberts' love interest in the 1988 hit film Mystic Pizza and as Larry Underwood in the 1994 hit Stephen King mini series The Stand.-Biography:Storke was born in New York City, New York,...
(Andrew Ryder) - Jennifer GattiJennifer GattiJennifer Gatti is an American actress who has taken on several television roles.She is notable for her portrayal as the first Dinah Marler on Guiding Light from 1986 to 1987, As well as for her role of HIV-positive character Keesha Monroe Winters on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless...
(Angela Moreno) - Damion Scheller (Joshua Moreno)
- Angela BassettAngela BassettAngela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
(Selina McCulla) - Lisa PelusoLisa PelusoLisa Peluso is an American soap opera actress.-Biography:Peluso was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Mary Peluso. Her first big break came at the age of nine, when she starred in the Broadway production of Gypsy with Angela Lansbury...
(Wendy Wilkins) - Louise ShafferLouise Shaffer-Biography:Shaffer was born in Woodbridge, Connecticut, where she showed an interest in acting early on in her life. After finishing high school, she attended Connecticut College for Women, then Yale Drama School...
(Stephanie Wilkins) - Ann Williams (Eunice Gardner Wyatt)
- Roger Montalto (Italian Baby)
- Colleen DionColleen DionColleen Dion-Scotti is an American actress. She is one of the more notable character actresses on soap operas....
(Evie Stone) - Patrick TovattPatrick TovattPatrick Tovatt is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles on several soap operas, including Zane Lindquist on Another World ; Matt McCleary on Search for Tomorrow ; and Cal Stricklyn on As the World Turns...
(Matt & Malcolm McCleary)
Reruns
From 1987 until summer 1989, reruns aired in late night on the USA NetworkUSA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
. The network aired episodes from the first three years of the NBC run.
In 2006, P&G began making several of its soap operas available, a few episodes at a time, through America Online's AOL Video service, downloadable free of charge. Reruns of Search for Tomorrow episodes began with the October 5, 1984 show and ceased with the January 13, 1986 episode after AOL discontinued the P&G Soaps Channel on December 31, 2008.
External links
- Search for Tomorrow Script Collection at Syracuse University Special Collection Research Center - breakdowns and scripts from 550+ episodes, 1971–1974