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Peyton Place - The fictional New
England town (pop. 9875) that was the inspiration for the steamy prime time
drama PEYTON PLACE/ABC/1964-69 and the sequel RETURN TO PEYTON
PLACE/NBC/1972-74. The program was based on the
best-selling novel "Peyton Place" (1956) written by Grace Metalious,
the wife of a school teacher who lived in the quiet little town of
Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
Unfortunately, the sexual going-ons
professed in the novel upset the citizens of Gilmanton especially
the high school principal Thomas Makris who sued Metalious for
slander and defamation when he discovered that the principal in the
book was suggestively named "Tomas" Makris.
Metalious claimed that her book was a work of fiction and that
none of the characters were based on the good people of her
hometown, but that didn't keep her husband from being fired from his
teaching position.
Look magazine offered some viewing rules when watching the
soap opera: 1) You need to watch every episode; 2) If you suspect
anything, you're wrong; and 3) If a villain appears, he's probably
not one.
Gilmanton (a.k.a. "Peyton Place") is located about 20 miles
northeast of Concord, taking eastbound Interstate 393 and northbound
New Hampshire 106 in the Lakes Region near Laconia. The prime time
TV version was so popular that it was aired three evenings a week
during the 1965-66 season.
Metalious' book also inspired the movie Peyton Place
(1957) starring Lana Turner as Constance MacKenzie; the sequel
Return to Peyton Place (1961) starring Carol Lynley as Allison
MacKenzie; and the made-for-TV-movies Murder in Peyton Place
( 1979); and Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985).
The town of Peyton Place worked its way further into American
popular culture when the phrase "This is just another Peyton Place"
appeared in the lyrics of the Number One hit song "Harper Valley,
PTA" (1968) sung by Jeannie C. Riley. See also -
FASHION: "Mia Farrow's Trim"
TRIVIA NOTE: The 2001-2002 season WB
Network program GLORY DAYS starred Eddie Cahill as author Mike Dolan
who returns his hometown Lake Glory to write a second novel .
Unfortunately, the town's residents give him a cold welcome because
of the way he portrayed them in his first novel. What an original
idea!
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