SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

September 3, 1951 - March 26, 1982 (CBS)

March 29, 1982 - December 26, 1986 (NBC)

INTRODUCTION

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW was a soap aptly named - for more than fifty years it's been Joanne Barron Tate Reynolds Vincente's search for some abiding personal happines, to say nothing of a husband who won't go crazy, die of a heart attack, become alcoholic, get shot to death, or in some other way let her down.

It was the creation of Roy Winsor, who gave many of CBS's soaps their start, and what he had in mind was a modern version of Stella Dallas or the Romance of Helen Trent, both radio soap classics featuring a woman as the strong central character.

Joanne Tate, star character of Search for Tomorrow, who was played for the entirety of the show's thirty-five year run by the late Mary Stuart, was meant to be an exemplary woman with whom millions of American women could identify as they followed her through her struggles, her loneliness, her triumphs. Winsor saw Joanne as a kind of young Ma perkins, ' the sort of woman who cared about her neighbour's problems, who would offer help to others, and who could face her own personal problems with dignity'.

She was to be a young widow bringing up a daughter on her own, never followed for long to depend on the support of a stable marriage.

Henderson, the home of Search, has been around as long as many incorporated towns, features rather mundane and likeable Middle American families, but it has spiced up their lives with murders, mafia dealings, attacks of hysterical blindness, illegitimate children, and financial wheelings and dealings among rich in-laws that would turn any getty or Rockefeller pale.

The story started on September 3, 1951 on CBS and the cast was:

MARY STUART as Joanne Barron

LYN LORING as Patty Barron, JoAnne's daughter

JOHN SYLVESTER as keith barron, JoAnne's husband

CLIFF HALL as Victor Barron, Keith's father.

Later in the first week BESS JOHNSON was added as Irene Barron, JoAnne's overpowering mother-in-law.She was to cause problems for over ten years. LARRY HAINES and MELBA RAE were added to the cast in December 1951, as Stu and Marge Bergman, two parts that originally were only to be played for a few shows. They drew so much mail response from the viewers, though, the producers decided to keep them on.

And after 35 years in Henderson, and a very rich history, the show ended with a scene between two of the best friends in soap history, JoAnne and Stu, on the porch, with Jo staring up into the stars. When Stu asked what she was searching for, JoAnne replied, 'Tomorrow. And I can't wait'.

Picture: John Sylvester, Lyn Loring and Mary Stuart (1951)