Lost TV Show - A New Day in Eden - Episode 60 - July 28, 1983

[@ZackSmith8]

Good lord! Heard of this show, but never seen an actual episode! I thank you, and if you come across any more, please share as well!

[@kengeorgejones6855]

Thanks so much! This is a treat. This show is almost impossible to find - all I've ever seen are promos.

[@carlsnyder7015]

Lara Parker hubba hubba.

[@mitch6225]

I remember this show fondly. Glad to see a show pop up. Thank you!

[@mmcost]

thank you so much,luv it

[@LARDLOGO]

Did this also come from the warehouse in San Francisco? First time hearing about this one.

[@BoredVHSlover]

no

[@erikandrus4387]

Thank you, thank you... this is very kind of you to share this rare gem with all of us in the soap community. 🧼 "A New Day in Eden" (EDEN), the infamous "first 'nude' serial"... I am not surprised viewers had to watch this late at night, as to not get it confused with the daytime shows (heaven forbid the toddler who wandered in). The Showtime bumper for what's on schedule takes me back. Watch EDEN at 11:30 pm and then Star Wars right after, at midnight :) I thought EDEN must have been a weekend thing, but I read they aired new episodes twice a week, and then had days set aside for marathons to get people caught up (pre-Soap Net). Given the episode #, 60, is it six more episodes, until EDEN just vanishes from the Showtime schedule, without any explanation? There are fans who used to watch this show as a guilty pleasure, and said, without internet back in the day you had no idea what the reason for cancellation was, and there was no real final closure to the series :( I suspect the Moral Majority... ✝ Having just watched the episode of EDEN you shared, starting with the opening... everything in silhouette (including a nipple!), I felt like I was supposed to be transported into the book of "Genesis", just witnessing another frolic in paradise between Adam and Eve. The opening is kind of slopped together (even for standards in 1983), having seen more filmed openings for the ABC soaps that were quite dynamic for that day. Of course, Showtime's groundbreaking "Queer as Folk" (QAF) had the same kind of silhouetted graphics and acid-like background, but given QAF's success over time, producers created a better opening that represented the series. Maybe due to budget, this was all part of the evolution with EDEN? Speaking of producers, I always thought that "Bold and the Beautiful"'s Susan Flannery was a producer (and sometimes director, per Wikipedia). That's a great talent to have on board if you're looking to do something evocative, while being provocative... As are Patrick Mulcahey, credited as this episode's writer, and creator Douglas Marland credited with story... I am in the process right now of rewatching and trying to observe why the story and scripting doesn't come off deeper, given either artist's usual nuance in plotting or planning? It all lacks gifts that could make EDEN sexier: Mulcahey's sharp, "tongue in cheek" wit (as exhibited on "Santa Barbara"), along with Marland's social relevancy (as exhibited on "Loving", and "As the World Turns"). Maybe five days a week gives the ability to tell the necessary beats for a story vs. two days doesn't? Also, with it being created by Marland, I was expecting more epic-sounding names like Nola, or Holden, or Seth, or Ava... but then maybe my expectations are running too high for something that was commissioned to be soft-porn escapism... Yet, this episode didn't pose to be any more or less risqué than what they were doing on "Young and the Restless" or "General Hospital" in 1983... (but to be fair, I didn't see EDEN's erotic deflowering in a barn, or lesbian seduction in the family pool) ... When I look at the date of this episode, 7/28/83, I have to wonder if the creation of EDEN took somewhat of a backseat to what Marland was working on concurrently with Agnes Nixon at that time: "Loving". To me "Loving", in its creation as "a soap opera for the 80's" was always too good for ABC. The alphabet network, not only allowed for "Loving's" scheduling to compromise "Ryan's Hope"'s ratings, but any attempt in telling original story for daytime was hindered in favor of other primetime projects the network wanted to highlight. "Loving", give or take several premiere characters, should have been the EDEN Showtime was looking for as I think, the new network would have allowed them to freely tell the edge stories they wanted about *incest, AIDS, progressive priests, liberal media, and PTSD. (*My research has since turned up that EDEN did do a father/daughter incest story). I feel, given the talent involved, EDEN wasn't totally in vain. People wanted something more adult, but also the template of two, three, episodes a week, could be very welcomed to preserve the current genre for networks (that maybe Prospect Park should have considered out of the gate). But no matter how many pair of breasts your characters show, or "F-bombs" they drop, your story is what needs to be "gripping". I also feel... Larry Poindexter (Greg Lewis on EDEN) was and is still cute to this very "new" day. 🌄 Erik