The half-hour daytime soap opera, Capitol ran from 1982 to 1987.
Insisting "we've only been allowed to see what the press and the politicians want us to see", producer John Conboy outlined, "I would like to explore...that kind of behind-the-doors thing we never know."
"I think the soap opera's time has come," writer Elinor Karpf offered. "It is the true realization of the novel....This is a true American art form."
Of Capitol, John pointed out, "There is great mystery about Washington because we are only allowed to see what goes on when a politican and his wife have a microphone put in front of them."
Carolyn Jones played Myrna Clegg on Capitol. "There's a bit of Myrna in myself," she revealed. "I say what I think. I can be acerbic....But then there's a little of Myrna in all of us."
"As the most powerful political and social hostess in Washington," Marj Dusay observed, "Myrna does all of the things people would like to do in real life, but can't."
Constance Towers played Clarissa McCandless on Capitol. "The character is a lady I can respect and love and enjoy playing," she enthused. "She is a widow with 6 children, and she has raised them to be fair and honest and caring and loving. She tries to solve her problems in a fair and honest way. It's the kind of role one would like to be identified with."
"Myrna and Clarissa - the object of her vitriol," Marj mentioned, "were childhood friends. Myrna was madly in love with Baxter McCandless, but Clarissa got him. Clarissa took the man Myrna loved, which completely devastated her, and she's been lacking in love ever since. She wants position and power to insure that she'll never lose again."
"When we started," John recounted, "we were told the audience didn't care about politics and that people weren't interested in politicians....The closest we could come to a real Washington story was a few scandals. That's the only thing we were allowed to touch."
On reflection, he conceded, "If we are able to move the show to cable we can take a much sharper storyline."
Writer Stephen Karpf shared, "The lines are blurred these days. Voters cross party lines all the time. In Washington today, you are judged by your character not your affiliation."
"I originally conceived Capitol as an hour show," John disclosed. "I'd produced The Young And The Restless for 9 years. When we expanded that to an hour it meant enormous changes. We had to create new families and new storylines. So I conceived of Capitol as an hour show from the beginning."
"Washington is fantasized in Europe a lot," John expressed. "We're dealing with the power center of the world."
Insisting "we've only been allowed to see what the press and the politicians want us to see", producer John Conboy outlined, "I would like to explore...that kind of behind-the-doors thing we never know."
"I think the soap opera's time has come," writer Elinor Karpf offered. "It is the true realization of the novel....This is a true American art form."
Of Capitol, John pointed out, "There is great mystery about Washington because we are only allowed to see what goes on when a politican and his wife have a microphone put in front of them."
Carolyn Jones played Myrna Clegg on Capitol. "There's a bit of Myrna in myself," she revealed. "I say what I think. I can be acerbic....But then there's a little of Myrna in all of us."
"As the most powerful political and social hostess in Washington," Marj Dusay observed, "Myrna does all of the things people would like to do in real life, but can't."
Constance Towers played Clarissa McCandless on Capitol. "The character is a lady I can respect and love and enjoy playing," she enthused. "She is a widow with 6 children, and she has raised them to be fair and honest and caring and loving. She tries to solve her problems in a fair and honest way. It's the kind of role one would like to be identified with."
"Myrna and Clarissa - the object of her vitriol," Marj mentioned, "were childhood friends. Myrna was madly in love with Baxter McCandless, but Clarissa got him. Clarissa took the man Myrna loved, which completely devastated her, and she's been lacking in love ever since. She wants position and power to insure that she'll never lose again."
"When we started," John recounted, "we were told the audience didn't care about politics and that people weren't interested in politicians....The closest we could come to a real Washington story was a few scandals. That's the only thing we were allowed to touch."
On reflection, he conceded, "If we are able to move the show to cable we can take a much sharper storyline."
Writer Stephen Karpf shared, "The lines are blurred these days. Voters cross party lines all the time. In Washington today, you are judged by your character not your affiliation."
"I originally conceived Capitol as an hour show," John disclosed. "I'd produced The Young And The Restless for 9 years. When we expanded that to an hour it meant enormous changes. We had to create new families and new storylines. So I conceived of Capitol as an hour show from the beginning."
"Washington is fantasized in Europe a lot," John expressed. "We're dealing with the power center of the world."
