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*Behind the Screen*
Behind the Screen
	Cast of Behind The Screen
Created by	David Jacobs
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 9, 1981 –; January 8, 1982

Behind the Screen is an American late-night weekly serial which aired on CBS (Fridays, 11:30 PM EST) from October 9, 1981 to January 8, 1982.

Series overview

Behind the Screen was created by David Jacobs (Dallas, Knots Landing) for CBS, which wanted a late night counterpoint to ABC and NBC's more successful efforts in that timeslot. Drawing upon his experience with the prime-time serials, Behind the Screen was a dramatization of the goings-on at a fictional TV soap opera called Generations. This was not the first attempt to explore the concept of a "soap within a soap" as radio soaps had used the idea as far as back as the 1940s (A Woman To Remember). Ryan's Hope had also done a similar storyline in the early 1980s.^[1]

The show premiered as an hour-long special, and regular episodes were 30 minutes. It revolved around the beautiful young star of Generations, Janie-Claire Willow (Janine Turner), who was a pawn in a power struggle between her wheelchair-using mother Zina (Joanne Linville), her powerful agent Evan (Mel Ferrer) and her show's leading man, Brian (Michael Sabatino).

The show's early pacing was described as "a bit meandering"^[1] and it had problems finding an audience. Eventually the show was canceled after only 3 months on the air. The last episode concerned a backstage party where starlet Joyce Daniels was poisoned. Suspicion quickly fell on Lynette Porter (Debbi Morgan). In a bit of levity, Michele Lee (a star on Jacobs' Knots Landing) appeared as herself, playing a guest at the party; when questioned by police, she was mistakenly identified by the cops as Mary Tyler Moore.^[1]^[2]

Cast and characters

The cast included Generations creator and producer Gerry Holmby (Joshua Bryant); his screenwriter wife Dory Ranfield (Loyita Chapel); his son, Brian Michael Sabatino, a cast member on Generations; Brian's lover Janie-Claire Willow, star of Generations; Janie-Claire's brother Jordan (Scott Mulhern); Janie-Claire's invalid mother Zina (Joanne Linville); her actress roommate Lynette Porter (Debbi Morgan); Janie-Claire and Lynette's conniving manager Evan Hammer (Mel Ferrer); movie mogul Merritt Madison (Warren Stevens); Merritt's son Karl (Mark Pinter), who is Dory's former lover; and Bobby Danzig (Bruce Fairbairn), a married lawyer who is struggling with his homosexuality.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	US viewers (millions)
1	"Episode 1"	William E. Glenn	David Jacobs	October 9, 1981 (1981-10-09)	7.4^[3]
2	"Episode 2"	William E. Glenn	Ronnie Wenker-Konner	October 16, 1981 (1981-10-16)	5.8
3	"Episode 3"	William E. Glenn	Peggy Schibi	October 23, 1981 (1981-10-23)	6.7
4	"Episode 4"	William E. Glenn	Margaret DePriest	November 6, 1981 (1981-11-06)	5.1
5	"Episode 5"	William E. Glenn	Peggy Schibi	November 13, 1981 (1981-11-13)	5.7
6	"Episode 6"	William E. Glenn	Ronnie Wenker-Konner	November 20, 1981 (1981-11-20)	6.2
7	"Episode 7"	William E. Glenn	Margaret DePriest	November 27, 1981 (1981-11-27)	5.8
8	"Episode 8"	William E. Glenn	Peggy Schibi	December 4, 1981 (1981-12-04)	5.4
9	"Episode 9"	William E. Glenn	Peggy Schibi	December 11, 1981 (1981-12-11)	5.1
10	"Episode 10"	William E. Glenn	Peggy Schibi	December 18, 1981 (1981-12-18)	5.5
11	"Episode 11"	William E. Glenn	Ronnie Wenker-Konner	December 25, 1981 (1981-12-25)	4.4
12	"Episode 12"	William E. Glenn	Peggy Schibi	January 1, 1982 (1982-01-01)	6.8
13	"Episode 13"	William E. Glenn	Ronnie Wenker-Konner	January 8, 1982 (1982-01-08)	5.8

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Christopher Schemering (1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0345324595.
^ Mary Ann Copeland (1991). Soap Opera History. Mallard Press. ISBN 0792454510.
^ Bruce B. Morris, Prime Time Network Serials: Episode Guides, Casts and Credits for 37 Continuing Television Dramas, 1964-1993, McFarland and Company, 1997.