I really never saw many soaps. My mom was working when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, so I pretty much watched TV series when we were home. In the late 60s when I was 15 or so, I came to enjoy the show when I was out sick from school, and started to listen for the beautiful lead-in music. It was very touching and uplifting, I remember. The next time I saw the show the music was the same.I wonder if anyone remembers what the music sounded like in the late 60s - it was touching and almost other-worldly which fits the title well.When I was out of school I started to watch it whenever I was home from a part-time job. I am hoping to find out about the music now. It may have changed over the years, but I would love to find a VHS or DVD depicting how it was. Thanks!

The daytime serial "Search For Tomorrow" could have been subtitled "The Joanne Gardner Barron Tate Vincente Tourneur Story",for that character,certainly Mary Stuart,the actress portraying her set the tone for the show's entire 35-year run,producing over 2,000 episodes. In many ways Joanne was much like a radio soap opera heroine,remaining strong and supporting her friends while enduring terrible suffering in her life. But she had time for lighter moments with her co-stars while dealing with the usual situations that when on with her longtime friend Stu Bergman,who was first seen in December in 1951 and stayed until the end of the run,and by the 1970's, a chance to break out in song occasionally. The combination worked for viewers for at least 30 years,as the show's top rated soap from 1952 to 1955,stayed near the top through the 1960's,and remained a serious contender until CBS-TV,in a dispute with sponsor Proctor and Gamble,canceled it 1982 after more than 31 years with the network. The series premiere on CBS-TV on September 3, 1951 and ended its astounding run on March 26,1982. Then,a week after it left CBS,the soap moved to NBC-TV on March 29,1982 and remained with the network until December 26,1986. When it was on CBS-TV during the early years,the series was seen in 15 to 20 minute installments and it remain that way until the late-1960's. On September 9,1968 the show was extended to a full half-hour.The Black and White Episodes of "Search For Tomorrow" ran from 1951 until 1967. The Color Episodes ran from 1967 until 1986. The creation of this soap was from the brainchild of Agnes Nixon and Roy Winsor. Nixon,would go on to produced other soaps including being one of the head writers and other creations for "Another World",and later "All My Children". The series would be a stepping stone and a career launch for a number of up and coming actors who made their mark on this show. From Don Knotts(who made his television debut on this show) to Lee Grant,Nita Talbot,Martin E. Brooks,Philip Abbott,George Maharis,to Ken Kercheval,Jill Clayburgh,Robert Loggia,Joel Higgins,Michael Nouri, Morgan Fairchild,Tommy Norden,Natalie Schafer,Kevin Bacon,and Olympia Dukakis. Only Mary Stuart and Larry Haines were the only two cast members that stayed on throughout the show's 35-year run.

Actually, [email protected], you've got it wrong. The soap you are describing in your comment above is not "Search For Tomorrow," but "The Secret Storm." That's the one which for many years featured story lines revolving around the "Ames" family."Search For Tomorrow" revolved mainly around the characters of "Joanne Gardner Barron Tate Reynolds Vincente Tourneur" (played the show's entire, 35-year run by Mary Stuart) and her good friends "The Bergmans"-- "Stu Bergman" (Larry Haines) and, for many years his wife, "Marge" (played by Melba Rae for 20+ years until her sudden, 1972 death).However, both soaps were created by Roy Winsor.To answer your question, Jada Rowland, who played "Amy Ames Rysdale Britton Kincaid" off and on for most of the two decades "The Secret Storm" aired (replaced in intermittent periods by other actresses, including the last time by the equally popular Lynne Adams, who played "Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris Bauer" on "The Guiding Light" for many years) is now a painter and illustrator.After "Storm" was canceled in 1974, Rowland had another, long-running stint, as a character on NBC's "The Doctors."

In my case, this IS a show my Mom used to watch (she watched all of the CBS serials to varying degrees) and unlike today's soaps, as all of the marital infidelity, etc., was never on screen, I suppose it was all right for a little kid to see, although I seem to remember that JoAnne Tate lost a son about my age and it bothered my mother a lot. In those days the plot lines really moved slowly; I could go back to school for nine months and still know what was going on the next summer! I've always wondered how actresses like Mary Stuart who played the same character on the same show for decades did financially; presumably it was good enough that they didn't go look for other work. I've heard that more of the people whose TV careers started on this show became stars after they moved on than any other soap opera. And this show was really that - a true soap opera in every sense with all that implies. When I was a kid it still had the ominous organ music, a carryover from soaps on the radio (even though that this one, unlike "The Guiding Light" with which it shared a half-hour when they were both 15 minutes, did not go all the way back to the radio itself).