Looking Back on a “Capitol” Idea That Did Not Survive

Marlena says: The eagerly awaited new CBS soap, Beyond the Gates, premiering Feb. 24, isn’t the first to be set in the world of Washington, D.C. political intrigue. Four decades ago, CBS offered Capitol, set in the fictitious suburb of Jeffersonia, home to three moneyed and sometimes feuding families. With a cast that included Constance Towers, Carolyn Jones and Rory Calhoun, Capitol showed promise when it debuted on March 20, 1982. But by the time it was cancelled on March 20, 1987, after 1270 episodes, it had failed in the ratings. How did that happen? Our resident historian Mike Poirier dug into the archives, and came up with this richly detailed behind-the-scenes report.

By: Michael Poirier

How did Capitol come about? Then, as usual, a new soap replaced a troubled older show in the same time slot. Capitol was the new show and Search for Tomorrow was the casualty. Throughout 1979, Search would rise as high as number three in the Nielsen ratings race. But by 1980, the CBS ratings began dropping heavily, with Search taking the worst hit. Much to sponsor Procter and Gamble’s surprise, in June 1981, CBS moved Search’s timeslot to later in the day. This didn’t hurt the show, and in fact, the ratings were increasing again, despite it still being in last place of all CBS soaps.

P&G launched a very aggressive campaign to restore the show to its former timeslot, and began talks with both NBC & ABC, about jumping networks. Meanwhile, CBS exec Brian Frons invested more money into the show such, including a trip on the QE2 and a location shoot in Hong Kong. Talks broke down and P&G jumped at moving the 30-year-old soap to NBC in the 12:30 timeslot. Soon, CBS began soliciting proposals for a new drama. One of them was a rock and roll soap opera by former Search Head Writer Don Chastain. It was called, Rainbow’s End. Another was Judith Krantz’s Beverly Hills. Frons chose Capitol, a collaborative project by John Conboy and writers Stephen and Elinor Karpf. Conboy had served as The Young & the Restless’ executive producer and had previously held the same capacity on Love is a Many Splendored Thing.

Most daytime dramas at that time were set in fictional cities, except for Ryan’s Hope. Capitol, too, would be set in Washington, D.C. According to Conboy, “It’s not about smoke-filled rooms. It’s more intimate. It’s about Washington, but on a personal level — who does what to whom and why…I think people want to know what goes on behind the marble curtain.” Stephen and Elinor were of the same mindset. They had worked on the show bible for almost two years. Stephen said they were avoiding party affiliations. “Voters cross party lines all the time… you are judged by your character, not your affiliation.” Elinor enthusiastically chimed in, “You are going to see Washington like it’s never been seen before.” Conboy claimed he had an “average” interest in politics, and noted that former President Ford was a neighbor in Palm Springs. In fact, the producer hired Ford’s son Steven at Y&R.

The savvy producer realized he could set Capitol apart from others by hiring Hollywood stars like Constance Towers, Rory Calhoun, Ed Nelson (who at the last minute replaced Jon Cypher), and, most impressively, Carolyn Jones. They would offset the young romantic leads played by Deborah Mullowney (now Debrah Farentino), Nicholas Walker, David Mason Daniels, Kimberly Beck (who would be replaced by Catherine Hickland), Todd Curtis, and Tonja Walker.

Capitol would debut as a prime time special on Friday, March 26, 1982, after an episode of Dallas. It was given a five-year contract with the network. The reviews were uniformly good and soap journalist Jon-Michael Reed declared the new drama was off to a “rousing start.” He praised the scripts that “outdistance the daytime norm.”

Carolyn Jones played Myrna Clegg with such fierceness (an early scene had her threatening Connie Tower’s character Clarissa McCandless, “Stay out of Washington!”) that J.R. Ewing, Angela Channing, and Alexis Carrington would have been nervous around her. Unfortunately, Jones’s fast-moving cancer forced her to bow out within a year. Marla Adams subbed on occasion while waiting to start her new role on Y&R. Jones soon passed away. Marj Dusay then became the new Myrna.

The ratings for the new show started off strong. Thanks to Jason47’s website, we can see the weekly Nielsens for the show’s entire run. The next few months showed all the CBS line up take some large dips, but by summer Capitol began rising with the rest of them. As August was ending, the new soap was beating longtime favorite, Days of our Lives, in the ratings. This would continue off and on throughout 1984. I point this out as Days often got the covers of the leading soap magazines, while Capitol almost never did. Had it gotten more equitable coverage, the ratings might have grown even more. Its high point was an 8.4 in 1984, but generally was in the 6’s and 7’s for its first few years. Very respectable for a new show.

Actress Tonja Walker remembered those early days in a 2001 letter to me: “Carolyn Jones even taught me how to ‘use’ my eyes on camera, so as not to have fried egg white-looking eyes on film. She said, ‘always turn your eyes, and your head at the same time or all they’ll see is white when your eyes are so big.’ She also taught me to speak up for myself… Rory and I were great friends. Connie Towers is still one of the classiest, kindest people I’ve ever met. Marj Dusay is like a mentor to me to this day. Richard Egan and Ed (Nelson) were a hoot!”

Like any fledgling soap, there were growing pains. Actors were replaced and characters were written out. The Karpfs were out as head writers after 6 months and John and Joyce Corrington were in. The couple had given Search For Tomorrow its highest ratings in its last resurgence from 1978 through 1979. Then they went on to create Texas. Unfortunately, they failed to work their magic on Capitol and were gone in a few months. Peggy O’Shea became its new scribe and things began to gel. She previously had penned Peyton Place when it was a phenomenon as well as One Life to Live during its renaissance period in the late 70s and early 80s. Todd Curtis recalled, “It was always a welcome joy to see her name atop a script.”

She correctly focused on Trey and Sloane as the super couple, resulting in strong ratings. What set them apart from other major duos at the time was, they weren’t fighting external forces such as madcap villains or traveling to exotic locales to solve mysteries. This attractive, ambitious pair found a way to connect on a deeper level, despite their fears and neuroses. Their love and shared vision of becoming President and First Lady of America was a fresh take for a soap. This storyline culminated in a beautiful wedding partly filmed in Washington, D.C. $10,000 was spent on the wedding dress by Susan Clare. An Honor Guard of 62 Marines was used outside the Jefferson Memorial. A helicopter flew the newlyweds along the Hudson River and landed on the deck of the QE2. The week’s episodes cost three quarters of a million dollars. Conboy, buoyed by Capitol’s growth, was ready to pitch a new daytime soap based on a book called, Starrs from Texas by Warren Lesley. Talking with a crowd, including entertainment reporter Jerry Berger, the producer envisioned asking acclaimed actress Eleanor Parker to play the lead.

The soap steamed ahead until October, when Emmy award winning soap writer Henry Slesar took over for Peggy O’Shea, who in turn went back to One Life to Live as co-head writer. Slesar’s forte was mystery and crime. He skillfully penned Edge of Night for many years as well as short stints at Somerset, Search For Tomorrow, and One Life to Live. The ratings for Capitol remained steady for his first few months. In fact, the D.C. based serial bested Days of Our Lives yet again in the ratings going into the first week of November 1984.This was always a feat unappreciated by the soap press, considering Conboy’s show had much lower station clearance versus the long running Corday creation. However, by early 1985, the ratings for Capitol began to drop heavily. In fact, the entire. CBS lineup’s numbers were looking very troubling. Especially as NBC’s ratings began to show growth after years of being at the near bottom of the pack. Brian Frons had taken over the Peacock network’s daytime division in mid-1983 and had been working at turning around the shows. Similarly, One Life to Live, which aired opposite Capitol, was ascending in the Nielsen’s again.

Billionaire Ted Turner began a takeover attempt at CBS which also did some damage to the network’s lineup. Only The Young & the Restless rebounded that summer as the others struggled in the middle. A cursory glance shows that Capitol had a rating of 6.6 in the Nielsen’s, in the last week of May 1984. In that same time period in 1985, the soap had a 4.8, even though Slesar had picked up the pace with his storylines; Congressman Trey Clegg cheating on his television reporter wife Sloane Denning with his mistress, the reformed hooker Kelly Harper. War hero Tyler McCandless trying to take down a political crime ring that ensnared his wife Julie and their newly adopted baby. Stalwart Senator Mark Denning divorced his comically unbalanced wife Paula in order to marry the noble Clarissa McCandless, but in the background Clarissa’s supposedly late husband Baxter had returned, However, he was unrecognizable due to extensive plastic surgery and injuries that put him in care of his son, Dr. Thomas McCandless. Despite the exciting goings on and the stellar acting, ratings continued to drop. Veteran soap journalist Connie Passalacqua wrote a column about the writing on Capitol, during this period, entitled, ‘The Thinking Person’s Soap.’

CBS executive Laurence Caso, recently admitted in an April 2024 interview with Alan Locher that he and fellow execs began soliciting a replacement for Capitol by mid-1985. It was during this same timeframe he was trying to bring Douglas Marland to As the World Turns to become head writer. Michael Brockman, the head of CBS daytime during this period, had previously greenlit Ryan’s Hope at ABC. Also, when he was at NBC, Brockman was one of the execs who oversaw Another World’s failed expansion to 90 minutes, He now had a chance to add another new soap to his resume. According to Claire Labine, in a December 21, 2009 q&a, with We Love Soaps, she had a proposal the network was interested in. “Michael Brockman was head of daytime at CBS.  He asked me to develop Celebration. Bill Bell had been reluctant to do another show at the time.  I was kind of used in a way, but it was alright because it was legitimate use.  Michael was very upfront about it.  He said, “I have to tell you, I’ve asked Bill to do a series and he has declined.  He may accept if we get down to the wall and I have something from you that I’m going to put on the air…  And indeed, Bill Bell decided, “Yes, maybe I will do another one,” and went ahead and did The Bold and The Beautiful.”

Early in 1986, Slesar was out as head scribe, and James Lipton was in. He was given a mandate by the nervous Conboy who knew his show’s contract was soon to be up for renewal, and whispers of a new CBS soap began getting louder. Lipton, talking about his tenure at the show with the website Premium Hollywood, revealed the instructions he received from Conboy.  “Would you come in and, please, just take us somewhere? Get us going!”

The final year has been controversial for decades due to story decisions made by Lipton. When put in context with Conboy’s plea, it does make more sense. Lipton didn’t endear himself to most of the crew. Writer Linda Hamner recalled a memo he sent reminding them he was the “Captain” of the ship. Her fellow scribe Tina Bradbury referred to him as, “That idiot wind ‘writer’.” Director John Zak, remembers, “He was also mean. I saw a couple of his rages… an odd duck; not likable. I think they took some odd directions in the stories. We had Grant Aleksander and Tawny Kitaen in a lot of hot tub scenes.” In a chat with Jessica Klein, who co-created 90210, she talked about Lipton and joining the writing team with her then husband Steve Wasserman in the final months of the show. “James Lipton was fascinating. We worked really, really hard and the reward was listening to his stories. We heard rumors the show would be cancelled months before it was. Our agent didn’t believe us.”

That April, soap correspondent Connie Passalacqua went on location for The Soap Report to cover the wedding of the characters Zed and Jenny Diamond. Catherine Hickland skillfully played both Jenny and her unrelated lookalike Julie Clegg. Passalacqua found one actor who wanted to remain anonymous but told her he didn’t expect the soap to last past the end of the year. The reporter also broke the news that Bill Bell was developing a new soap…. And, “it was slated to replace Capitol.”

The show forged ahead with Sloane Denning meeting up with a former childhood friend, Prince Ali Mamoud, from the fictional Middle Eastern country of Baracq which turned into love match. It was reminiscent of Dynasty’s Amanda Carrington being romanced by a Prince. Recently, on Tonja Walker’s show, One Day to Love, she and former Capitol co-star Jess Walton both agreed that storyline was not a good move for the show.

Despite the hot new romance for her character, Debrah Farentino, according to reporter John Goudas in his syndicated column from January 1987, was dispirited. He said numerous others on the show were as well with the cancellation rumors. Goudas claimed that the cast was on edge, and Farentino especially wanted to leave at the end of her contract.

Actor Todd Curtis was injured in a bad car accident. Curtis and Conboy agreed the same should happen to his Jordy Clegg in order to show his recovery. Meanwhile, drugs became the comfort to Jess Walton’s Kelly Harper, as she struggled to fit in as Congressman Trey Clegg’s fiancé. Both Todd and Jess gave Emmy-worthy performances for their characters struggles. Miranda Wilson joined the show as Kate Wells who schemed to become the mistress of Clegg manor. This included covering up her role in an accidental death and blackmail.

While the direction of the storylines changed yet again, the lush production values remained the same. John Zak, who had previously directed Rituals, The Doctors, and served as the lighting director of General Hospital, waxed nostalgic about his first day. “When I visited the set of Capitol for the first time, I was astounded by the beauty and intricacy of the sets. The director that day was Michael Stich… The set was a very authentic-looking Middle Eastern hotel complete with a fountain in the center of a courtyard. Michael’s camera direction was exquisite. I felt as if I were watching a film rather than a daytime drama series.”

He continued, “During my day of observation, I was introduced to the production designer, Sy Tomashoff. This brilliant man had won multiple Emmys for various East Coast daytime dramas, and now was weaving his magic spell over the sets on Capitol… In the course of our conversation, I realized that Sy and his wife Naomi lived in the same high-rise building as did I.”

Longtime soap reporter, John Kelly Genovese (now John Read) praised the soap and the characters in his November 4, 1986, Soap Opera Digest’s Critic’s Corner column for being “crisply defined,”, but noted its main problem was “story direction” and that “international intrigue bores most fan.” He ended it by saying the drama had the ingredients for success.

Ed Nelson found his character sidelined. He decided to leave the show, and as he told me in a letter, the show had become like the movie, “Tootsie.” To write him off, Lipton turned the kindly Mark Denning into a murderous double agent. His daughter Sloane returned from Baracq and began investigating the secretive government organization, but had no idea her father was one of the leaders. (Author’s note: When Mark was shot on the steps of the Capitol, dying in Sloane’s arms, I cried. The two actors turned in a bravura performance.) I asked actress Constance Towers about her character’s long-term romance and which love interest she preferred. “Clarissa adored Mark and kind of resented Baxter when he returned… The writers almost had to create an unforgivable story for Mark to help Clarissa and the audience get over the feelings of love for him.”

Just as these twists were getting ready to be filmed, Catherine Hickland recounted to me about the fateful day she and the others received CBS’s decision. “I remember the day they called us upstairs on the loudspeaker. ‘Cast, we’re taking a break. Please meet us upstairs in John’s office.’ So, we were all going up the stairs and I remember us thinking, ‘Oh my gosh! What could this possibly be? We all got in the office, and he told us that show had been canceled.’” Jess Walton, when talking with me, flashbacked to the moment Conboy delivered the news, “there was a lot of crying.”

Nicholas Walker, reminiscing in the April 30, 1991 issue of Soap Opera Digest, said, “we saw the tears in his eyes… He said, ‘We gave it our best, did a good show, and I am proud of all of you. But I am afraid to say, the show is off the air.’” In that same issue, Marj Dusay said that Conboy joked, “I don’t want anyone buying a house over Christmas.”

John Zak recollected that unhappy time as cancellation became official. “As Capitol wound down a number of people were chosen by CBS to join the team on The Bold and the Beautiful. Conboy was not pleased. I was offered a contract to direct The Young and the Restless. John Conboy was, as expected, furious, threatening me with being blackballed from all of CBS programming in perpetuity. Y&R producers and my attorney called Michael Brockman‘s office. Michael straightened things out, saying that if Y&R wanted to hire me, he had absolutely no problem with it… That was a relief, because John Conboy could be quite frightening when he was unhappy. I remember that there was some kind of indigenous war mask in his office. Oddly, when he was unhappy, Conboy’s expression mirrored the imposing face in the plexiglass box.”

Michael Brockman and John Conboy were interviewed by entertainment writer Jerry Buck in early February of 1987. Conboy said the biggest problem was the timeslot. He also griped about network interference. Brockman flatly stated, “We’ve given this one time to develop, worked with it, tried to give all the opportunity, and it hasn’t lived up to expectations. Now is the time to try another program.” To say it didn’t live up to expectations isn’t the whole story. Brockman left out that the show did quite well its first three years on the air, before things went south.

The main cast was together on air for the last time at the funeral for Mark Denning. CBS and Conboy worked out a date, and agreed that March 20, 1987 would be the final airing. As stated by John Zak, the soap began filming two episodes a day in order to facilitate not only wrapping up the show, but giving time for The Bold & the Beautiful to move in, build sets, and begin filming. Marj Dusay ruefully added, in that 1991 interview, that the final tape day was February 20, her birthday. Reminiscing about those final days, Tina Bradbury mentioned how Lee Bell, wife of Bill, came by to see Conboy and to measure for curtains in what would be the Bells new office.

Conboy began to pitch having the soap continue either at another network or in syndication, but no deals came to fruition. A bargaining chip was that Capitol was wildly popular overseas, especially in Italy. Constance Towers informed John Goudas that fans should write the CBS affiliates to try and save the show. Furthermore, she declared, “We were in good shape… we had direction and momentum.” Similarly, former CBS exec Laurence Caso said on The Locher Room, “Lipton… he was starting to pull it together. But by then, it was too late. We had already made the commitment to Bill.”

Had the show continued, Tina Bradbury clued me in that Lipton only planned to stay for about a year. His replacements were scheduled to be Peggy Sloane and Sam Ratcliffe who had both been with show’s writing team for most of the run. Instead of waiting for the end, Sloane moved to All My Children as an associate head writer. Lipton admitted to Premium Hollywood, why he wanted to end the show on a cliffhanger. “Just perversely…because, out of respect for John, the executive producer, I wanted to make everybody suffer for it going off the air.”

The Soap Report arrived at the CBS studio for what would be the last day of taping. Connie Passalacqua informed her readers of what she saw. “The mood was not so much one of sadness as one of unequivocal bitterness. As each scene was finished, stage hands immediately began dismantling the sets… Everyone was either privately swearing at the network, which is sacrificing Capitol for B&B or at James Lipton, Capitol’s head writer. He had written too many twisted tales during the last year. Only John Conboy, the show’s producer, remained stoic. There were lots of hugs and tears. At the end of the day, everyone literally drowned their pain in a sea of margaritas and tacos at a wrap party thrown by Conboy in a rehearsal hall.”

Jess Walton’s final scene was with Michael Catlin, Rory Calhoun, Bill Beyers, and Constance Towers. Looking back, she voiced to me, “I just remember looking around at the set and thinking, “I don’t live here anymore,” because that was like another reality for me, was my setmof the studio.  And it was super sad to know that that whole world was going to cease to exist, that whole world that we created. It was a fantasy world but it was very real to us.”

Catherine Hickland graciously narrated her memories of the final scene being taped. “The firing squad with Sloane… we all were on the set for that. We all came to watch it because it was the very last scene we shot. And so, it was very intense and it was also very sad because we all knew that it was the last time we were going to see each other together like that. But we did end up seeing each other at Richard Egan’s funeral shortly thereafter. So, I just wanted to tell you that three, two, one, fire, fade to Black was an emotional a day in my life as you could possibly get.”

I chatted online with one of the show’s makeup artists who discussed the final production from their point of view. “I was there the final day. It was a brutal day. And at the time we were possibly going to be picked up elsewhere because the show was extremely popular in Europe. So, we were all hoping and waiting for good news. But hearing Andy (Lee), our assistant director/floor manager say, “That’s a wrap,” for the last time was devastating. I had just touched up Debrah’s make-up as the final close-up of her was the final shot of the entire show. Afterwards she grabbed me and we cried a little. It was a rough day. But fantastic memories.”

Like many fans of the show, I wished for a different ending. So did the cast. When I mused to Nicholas Walker that I wished that Trey and Sloane had been reunited in the final episode, he wrote back with a wistful, “me too.” Tina Bradbury quipped that the cliffhanger with Sloane in front of the firing squad, even with clues to her likely rescue, was “a big F-U to the five remaining viewers.”

Bill Bell wanted to set the record straight in the June 8, 1987 edition of Soap Opera Digest. “I don’t want people ever to think that we’re replacing Capitol. I know that feeling is out there, but the point is we had a commitment for a show a year ago. We were going to go on and, some show — who knew which one– would go off. It could have been any show, it wasn’t predetermined. It just happened to be Capitol. A lot of people liked Capitol and, might I add, it was a very good show. John Conboy did a brilliant job of producing that show. But it’s no secret that the biggest problem John had with that show was the writing. Ultimately, I guess that was the thing that hurt the show to the extent that it had to be removed.”

To say it wasn’t pre-determined was perhaps wishful thinking on Bell’s part. Capitol was the lowest rated of the CBS soaps. Since As the World Turns & Guiding Light had stumbled in the ratings as well, perhaps there was a possibility one of them would sink lower than Capitol, but not likely. Especially since they had higher station clearance.

John Conboy, years later, recognized the need for a strong writer to guide a show to the top. “You need Scheherazade,” he jested in the February 18, 1992 edition of Soap Opera Digest, “And if you can’t get her, you need Bill Bell.”

Like any soap, when it goes off the air, there are fond memories. When Julie Adams, who played the colorful Paula Denning, sent me a copy of her autobiography, she inscribed it, “Paula Denning from Capitol, lives on!”

Thank you to John Zak, Catherine Hickland, Jess Walton, Nicholas Walker, the late Tina Bradbury, Jessica Klein, Constance Towers, Todd Curtis, Tonja Walker, etc. for sharing their memories of being part of the show. I’m grateful to Ryan Clements for arranging the chat with Cat. Thanks also to Nello Frasca who runs the marvelous Facebook page “Rivogliamo Capitol” where he’s interviewed cast and crew, and amassed a wonderful collection of rare photos. Also soap historian Mark Faulkner who provided weekly synopsis of the show, and knowledge of the soap’s history. Of course, thank you to Connie Passalacqua and Ed Hayman for their hard work on this article.

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A note from Connie Passalacqua Hayman about her long-time respected news source John Conboy:

As you may know, John Conboy started out as an actor.  He was always an elegant man with superb taste. When Y&R began, we were all knocked out by how beautiful everyone was and how gorgeous the production values were. Conboy was responsible for a lot of that—and look at the attractive cast—Mr. Tom Selleck, Jaime Lyn Bauer, and Janice Lynde, for example.

His East Side apartment was pure taste and perfection. He had a personal art collection that rivaled Paul Rauch’s.  He also had a place in Fire Island in the chicest area there was. I found him personally to be a true gentleman.

Capitol, to me, was the precursor to the upcoming Beyond the Gates, which will also have characters involved in politics.

What I liked about Capitol was it had a good cast.  Nicolas Walker was stellar (he later went on to work for Elizabeth Taylor as her landscape designer). I once interviewed Bill Beyers who died from AIDS.  And of course, the show had great vets like Rory Calhoun, Connie Towers, Richard Egan, Julie Adams, and Ed Nelson. Even Natalie Wood’s sister (and Bond girl) Lana Wood was in the cast, plus Lola Falana. Jess Walton was terrific!

I was in Bill Bell’s office the day CBS cancelled Capitol so that Mr. Bell could have his B&B.  He was ecstatic, as if he won the World Series. You can tell how pissed Mr. Conboy was to be cancelled, because the last scene, putting Sloane in front of a firing squad, was a total mindblower!

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Sources used in this article:

The Sun News, 12/27/81

The Boston Globe 10/30/81

The Boston Globe, 12/23/81

The Daily News, 3/9/82

Boca Raton News, 3/19/82

The Birmingham News, 1/29/82

The Hartford Courant, 3/28/82

The Sunday Record, 4/4/82

San Francisco Examiner, 6/10/84

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/19/84

The Daily American, 1/31/87

The Durham Sun, 2/3/87