Texas is a 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. It was the first daytime soap opera to air hour-long episodes from its inception.
Premise
The Corringtons' initial concept was for a show set in the
Antebellum South entitled "Reunion", but NBC wanted something more in line with the hugely successful primetime soap
Dallas. Rauch then chose to have the show revolve around the popular
Another World character Iris Cory Carrington, played by
Beverlee McKinsey. Iris initially set out to visit her grown son Dennis (
Jim Poyner), who had relocated from Bay City to
Houston. Within a matter of weeks, Iris became involved with her first love, Alex Wheeler (
Bert Kramer). A
slew of characters debuted on
Another World in hopes that when they moved over to
Texas they would take fans with them. The show had a difficult task from the beginning, as the series' main timeslot competitors were
General Hospital, then at its most popular, and
Guiding Light, which was going through a resurgence and enjoying great ratings at the time as well.
Production
Critics complained that Iris (who was known on
Another World as being a villainess) had become too tame, and that other roles were poorly cast or suffered from paper-thin writing. In early 1981, the Corringtons were replaced as head writers. These airings of
Texas were paired with a new half hour soap,
The Catlins, which was one of the few made-for-cable soaps.
In 2006, Procter & Gamble began making several of its soaps available, a few episodes at a time, through America Online's AOL Video service, downloadable free of charge.
Reruns of Texas episodes began with the show's first episode from August 4, 1980.
As of January 1, 2009, Procter & Gamble announced that Texas and three other of its cancelled soap operas would no longer be streamed on AOL Video. The notice referred to exploring other options to make the shows available for viewing. The last Texas episode made available through AOL Video was #339, which originally aired on December 4, 1981. Thanks to the internet, numerous clips are available at ones convenience on Youtube.
There are five missing episodes so far:
Episode #47 dated October 7, 1980 posted at AOL is the same as episode #24 and it seems to be either missing or was somehow mislabeled.
Episode #203 dated May 21, 1981
Episode #245 dated July 21, 1981
Episode #247 dated July 23, 1981
Episode #288 dated September 18, 1981
Episodes 78-163 were once available at AOL, but removed sometime in spring 2008.
Although episodes 1-77 are still available through the WMV stream URLs, AOL has completely removed the embedded player pages at the website.
Famous alumni
Cast
Daniel Davis (Eliot Carrington)
Harley Jane Kozak (Brette Wheeler)
Beverlee McKinsey (Iris Cory Carrington Delaney Bancroft Wheeler)
Jim Poyner (Dennis Carrington/Wheeler)
George Patterson Nigh (Governor of Oklahoma)
Kin Shriner (Jeb Hampton)
Crew
Judy Lewis - Producer
Notes
During its initial run, Texas Lieutenant Governor William P. Hobby, Jr. took a tour of the program's Brooklyn studio, and praised the show's realistic visual feel.
Oklahoma Governor George Nigh and his wife Donna appeared in walk-on roles in Texas (playing themselves as Governor and First Lady of Oklahoma) in episode # 19, which aired in August 1980. Cast member Lisby Larson (Paige Marshall) serenaded the couple with a rendition of "Oklahoma!"
The show's opening credits included shots of the Houston skyline and the San Jacinto Monument.
Episode #217 features scenes with country singer Ray Stevens
The cancellations of Texas and The Doctors ushered in a change in NBC's morning lineup, as the lineup that premiered the following Monday was full of game shows. The block led off with the Jim Perry-helmed revival of Sale of the Century at 10:30 a.m. The hour Texas held went to Wheel of Fortune, which Texas had displaced with its move to mornings, and the game show Hit Man, which introduced audiences to Peter Tomarken. The slot that The Doctors occupied was taken by Just Men!, hosted by Betty White. Of the shows that premiered that day, Sale lasted until 1989, but Hit Man and Just Men! were cancelled after only 13 weeks.
When Texas was moved from the 3 p.m. slot, reruns of CHiPs aired there first for a few months. Then two game shows followed it in that slot. The first was Fantasy, an hourlong audience participation show hosted by Leslie Uggams and Peter Marshall. The second was the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, hosted by Gene Rayburn and Jon Bauman. A soap opera would not air in that slot again until July 1984, when Santa Barbara premiered.
References
Schemering, Christopher. The Soap Opera Encyclopedia, September 1985, ISBN 0-345-32459-5 (1st edition)
External links
IMDb Page
Texas fan website
Texas section at the Another World Home Page
World of Soap Themes: Texas multimedia page (registration required)
Clips from Texas episodes
Procter & Gamble soap blog with occasional Texas flashbacks
Link to Texas fan discussion board
Direct URLs to all Texas episodes still available from AOL
Category:1980s American television series
Category:1980 television series debuts
Category:1982 television series endings
Category:NBC network shows
Category:American television soap operas
Category:Television spin-offs
Category:Television series by Procter & Gamble Productions
Category:Television shows set in Texas