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At the soap's center was the Ames family, a prominent clan in the fictional Northeastern town of Woodbridge. The Ames family consisted of Peter, his wife Ellen, and their three children: Susan, Jerry and Amy. The mother Ellen was killed off in the first episode and subsequent stories focused on the widower Peter raising his three children.

Thirty years after the show's cancellation, the show is most famous for, arguably, the most preposterous case of stunt casting in soap history. When Christina Crawford suddenly fell ill with an ovarian cyst, her adoptive mother, Joan Crawford, filled in for her, even though she was thirty years older than the character. She was a major embarrassment to Christina as it was evident that she was drunk on the live episode transmission. Christina's character was written out soon after. Christina's illness, her tenure on the soap and her battles with her mother are well chronicled in her book Mommie Dearest, a tell all book of her life with her famous mother. While Christina does not draw an explicit parallel, she implies that her character, a bitchy persona named Joan, is somewhat based on the stories she told of her mother.

The show, originally fifteen minutes in length, expanded to thirty minutes an episode in 1962. The main reason for the show's demise was CBS's choice to buy the show from the original sponsor/producer, American Home Products , in 1969For other uses, see Number 1969. For the movie, see 1969 (movie). Events January January 1 Australian media baron Rupert Murdoch purchases the largest selling British Sunday newspaper The News Of The World January 5 The Derry Riots leave over 100 people i.The show suffered with numerous changes in Head Writers and Producers that added to the eventual cancellation.

The series had three distinctive opening visuals. The first was a shot of a tree with windblown branches. The second was a shortlived shot of a town with shots of people walking about similar to Peyton Place. The third, perhaps the most remembered one, had shots of the surf at high tide, crashing against the rocks in the opening titles similar to that of Dark ShadowsDark Shadows was a TV soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. It added a gothic vampire story to the standard "soap" plots and stories, and it won a cult following that mirrored that of another lon.

An interesting fact to note is the character of Amy was allowed to age in real time and not to be subjected to rapid aging as most soaps do. Jada RowlandJada Rowland (born February 23, 1943 in New York City) is an American actress. Rowland has appeared on Broadway and television, most notably in daytime soap operas. She has appeared as Dr. Susan Stewart on As the World Turns and Carolee Simpson Aldrich on played the character, minus a few breaks, for the length of the show's run.

When the show was canceled abruptly in 1974, CBS executives replaced the show in its timeslot with TattletalesTattletales was a game show which first aired on the CBS daytime schedule on February 18, 1974, replacing long-running soap opera The Secret Storm''. The show revolved around the emcee, Bert Convy, asking celebrity couples personal questions about their l, a game show hosted by Bert ConvyBert Whalen Convy ( July 23, 1933 July 15, 1991) was an American game show host, actor and singer. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He started his career in the entertainment business as a Broadway actor, starring in Fiddler on the Roof ( 1964) and Cab. It would prove to be lucrative for the network and it ran for many years.