The Best of Everything (TV series)

The Best of Everything is an American daytime soap opera which aired on ABC from March 30, 1970 to September 25, 1970. The series was a spin-off of the 1959 film of the same name and the novel that spawned it.

Plot

The show focuses upon four young secretaries and their lives in an intense publishing firm: Linda, April, Kim, and Barbara. They were tormented by their ruthless head editor, Amanda Key, and counseled by the warm and loving Violet Jordan. Although the soap opera was short-lived, there were several plotlines, including Kim being brutally attacked by a man who turned out to be Squirrel. The series also revolved around Barbara, who had become depressed since her marriage failed.

Cast

• Geraldine Fitzgerald as Violet Jordan
• Gale Sondergaard as Amanda Key
• Patty McCormack as Linda Warren
• Julie Mannix as April Morrison #1
• Susan Sullivan as April Morrison #2
• Katherine Glass as Kim Jordan
• Rochelle Oliver as Barbara Lamont
• Gwenn Mitchell as Ginnie Curtis
• Gregory Rozakis as Squirrel

Production notes

The soap opera premiered on March 30, 1970, at 12 Noon Eastern time. The Best of Everything replaced reruns of Bewitched and premiered alongside A World Apart on ABC.^[1]

The series was executive produced by creator/headwriter James Lipton. Jacqueline Babbin was the producer. The production company was 20th Century Fox Television in association with the ABC Television Network. The Best of Everything was videotaped at ABC-TV Studio 17 in New York City.

The series' opening and closing credits used a video shot of sea gulls in flight over New York Harbor. Nashville artist Connie Eaton recorded a version of the series' instrumental theme, using lyrics which she sang on an episode telecast near the end of the program's network run. The single was released in 1970 by the Chart label. Both the theme song's melody and lyrics were composed by headwriter James Lipton.^[2]

Broadcast history/ratings

Of the 19 soap operas aired in the 1969-1970 season, The Best of Everything did the weakest at the Nielsen ratings, coming in at the bottom of the Nielsens. One reason for Best's failure was its time slot at 12 Noon/11 a.m. Central, in which it competed against the original run of Jeopardy! on NBC, then at the height of its daytime popularity, and was not cleared by many affiliate stations running local newscasts in the time slot.

1969-1970 Season

• 1. As the World Turns 13.6
• 2. The Edge of Night 10.8
• 3. Search for Tomorrow 10.0
• 12. Dark Shadows 7.3
• 19 The Best of Everything 1.8 (Debut)

References

External links

• The Best of Everything at the Internet Movie Database
• The Best of Everything at TV.com