(NBC Daytime, 1958 - 1963) [this was based upon the radio soap opera of the same name which ran from 1939 - 1960, nearly two decades -- with half of those years cheerfully plugging Crisco vegetable shortening to the tune of "Alexander's Ragtime Band"; something that seems a bit out of character with the sentimental theme of a soap opera; The radio series overlapped just two of the TV seasons, but on a different network with a different cast; William Prince had the title role as Dr. Jerry Malone on the TV version; The series was set in the town of Three Oaks, where the Malone family trials and tribulations took center stage -- there was even a divorce and a second wife on the radio series; but things were a bit less turbulent on TV; When it began, the genre of medical shows on TV had yet to burst into Primetime with such 1961 series as "Young Dr. Kildaire" and "Ben Casey"; this series certainly promoted the concept of a medical setting for a daytime drama, but didn't have a chance to enjoy an equally long run on TV as it had on radio; In the fall of 1963, "Young Dr. Malone" was replaced by a more modern young group in a soap opera simply called, "The Doctors" on the NBC daytime schedule...]
[ASCAP title... aka: "Prelude"; This was also the THEME used for the radio series, credited to one if its composer/organists, known as John Winters; Some hear a resemblance between this supposedly original THEME...and the courtly waltz variation in Ernst von Dohnanyi's "Variations On A Nursery Song" for piano and orchestra (Op. 25)(1913), but no link has been established; The Dohnanyi piece was promoted as a fantasia on the nursery song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", but does take some fanciful liberties into new thematic territory, especially during the waltz variation...Perhaps that inspired other liberties to be taken for this soap opera THEME :-)] Composer: John Winters (ASCAP) [professional name of John Schaeffer Wintersteen] 1978 Publisher: Emil Ascher, Inc. (ASCAP) 2001 Publisher: Emil Ascher, Inc. (ASCAP) c/o Thomas J. Valentino, Inc. of New York, NY Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recording:
Composer: Billy Nalle (ASCAP) [professional name of William Temple Nalle] 1978 Publisher: Alice Remsen, Inc. (ASCAP) 2001 Publisher: [listed in the 2001 ASCAP ACE database without publisher] Copyright Date: Renewal Date: Recording: