High Hopes (1978 TV Series)
Encyclopedia
High Hopes was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 television soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 that was shown on both Canadian and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 television, starring actor Bruce Gray
Bruce Gray
Bruce Gray is a Puerto Rican-born Canadian actor.-Early years:Gray was born Robert Bruce Gray in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Canadian parents...

.

The series was produced by Y&R Associates, Ltd, in conjunction with DCA Productions, Incorporated, and was filmed in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. It was shown on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

, in Canada, and was syndicated to US television stations. The show was directed by Bruce Minnix and was written by Bryan Barney, Mort Forer; Marian Waldman and Winifred Wolfe.

Premise

Gray played the role of Dr. Neal Chapman, a psychiatrist/family counselor who lived and worked in Port Hamilton, a college community in Canada, and was also associated with Delaney College, the town's college. Much of the action was set at either the college, or in his large home which also served as his office.

Neal was divorced from his former wife Helen (Candace O'Connor) and they (supposedly) had a grown daughter, Jessica, nicknamed Jessie (Marianne McIssac), a student at Delaney College, who lived with him. Also living in the Chapman house was his mother, Meg (Doris Petrie
Doris Petrie
Doris Petrie was a Canadian film and television actress, best known for her roles in the films Wedding in White and Ticket to Heaven and the television series High Hopes, in which she played Meg Chapman, the mother of the main character, Dr...

); Louise Bates (Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood , also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress most famous for appearing in the 2002 film Chicago. She was one of the original cast members of the Toronto branch of The Second City, and was a semi-regular on SCTV...

) a Port Hamilton real estate agent who had sold Neal his house, and his close friend, Port Hamilton attorney Walter Telford (Colin Fox
Colin Fox (actor)
Colin Fox is a Canadian actor. His acting credits include playing Jean Paul Desmond and Jacques Eloi Des Mondes in Strange Paradise , as well as voice work in various animated series, and in other roles in film, television and on the stage...

, Granville Van Dusen
Granville Van Dusen
Granville Van Dusen is an American stage, screen, and voice actor who portrayed Race Bannon in the 1986 television series The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, Jonny's Golden Quest, Jonny Quest vs...

), who lived with his wife, Evelyn Telford (Deborah Turnbull). Walter, Evelyn, Louise and another person, Dr. Jean Bataille, were all tenants in Neal's home.

Neal also worked with Dr. Dan Girard (Jan Muszynski), a physician who worked at Port Hamilton's hospital.

Despite his numerous counseling appointments and work at the hospital, Neal also found time for romance. He was involved romantically with Louise and also with local television talk show host, Trudy Bowen (Barbara Kyle).

One of the families Neal counseled was the Stewart family, one of Port Hamilton's more affluent families which was composed of successful businessman husband Michael Stewart, Sr. (Michael Tait); his wife, Norma, (Vivian Reis) and their son, Michael, Jr. (Gordon Thomson). Another family he counseled was the Sperrys, Amy (Gina Dick), a student at Delaney College, and her mother, Doris (Mignon Elkins).

Much of the focus of the series was Neal counseling his many clients, who were members of the Port Hamilton community, and/or Delaney College's students and faculty, whilst his own troubles mounted.

Neal had to deal with the trauma of realizing that Jessie wasn't his and Helen's daughter at all. She was revealed to be the daughter of Helen's sister, Paula Myles (Nuala Fitzgerald) and another man. Upon hearing this shocking news, Jessie took her newly discovered mother's name of Myles, and then sexually went after the man who was no longer her father. Jessie's real father was never revealed.

The show had a brief run in 1978, and was eventually cancelled. Musical arrangement was produced by Aeolus Productions, known for the themes on American soap operas like All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...

and One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

.

Notable alumni

Notable actors on the show, besides Gray and Eastwood who were already well established when this show aired, included Gordon Thomson, undoubtedly the show's most successful alumnus (he played Michael Stewart, Jr), who went on to much greater fame as Adam Carrington
Adam Carrington
Adam Alexander Carrington is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was originated by Gordon Thomson in the first episode of the show's third season ; he played the character until the series finale in 1989...

, the villainous son of Blake and Alexis Carrington on the 1980s prime-time soap Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...

; Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone
Dorothy Malone is an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind , for which she won the Academy...

 who had been best known for her role of Constance MacKenzie in the 1960s soap opera, Peyton Place
Peyton Place (TV series)
Peyton Place is an American prime-time soap opera which aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964 to June 2, 1969.Based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Grace Metalious, the series was preceded by a 1957 film adaptation. A total of 514 episodes were broadcast, in...

 who played Carol Herzog; actor Nehemiah Persoff
Nehemiah Persoff
Nehemiah Persoff is an American film and television character actor. He was born in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate.Born in what is now part of Israel, Persoff emigrated with his family to the United States in 1929...

 who played Carol's husband, Dr. Aaron Herzog; Granville Van Dusen
Granville Van Dusen
Granville Van Dusen is an American stage, screen, and voice actor who portrayed Race Bannon in the 1986 television series The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, Jonny's Golden Quest, Jonny Quest vs...

 and Colin Fox
Colin Fox (actor)
Colin Fox is a Canadian actor. His acting credits include playing Jean Paul Desmond and Jacques Eloi Des Mondes in Strange Paradise , as well as voice work in various animated series, and in other roles in film, television and on the stage...

 both of whom played attorney, Walter Telford; and Geraint Wyn Davies
Geraint Wyn Davies
Geraint Wyn Davies is a British-Canadian-American actor.He was born on 20 April 1957 in Britain, at Swansea. He was the son of a Congregationalist preacher...

, best known for his role on the series Forever Knight
Forever Knight
Forever Knight was a Canadian television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern day Toronto. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks redemption by working as a homicide detective on the night shift while struggling to find a...

, in one of his earliest roles, playing a Delaney College student named Glen.

Cast

  • Bruce Gray
    Bruce Gray
    Bruce Gray is a Puerto Rican-born Canadian actor.-Early years:Gray was born Robert Bruce Gray in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Canadian parents...

     — Dr. Neal Chapman
  • Doris Petrie
    Doris Petrie
    Doris Petrie was a Canadian film and television actress, best known for her roles in the films Wedding in White and Ticket to Heaven and the television series High Hopes, in which she played Meg Chapman, the mother of the main character, Dr...

     — Meg Chapman
  • Marianne McIssac — Jessica "Jessie" Myles (Chapman)
  • Jayne Eastwood
    Jayne Eastwood
    Jayne Eastwood , also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress most famous for appearing in the 2002 film Chicago. She was one of the original cast members of the Toronto branch of The Second City, and was a semi-regular on SCTV...

     — Louise Bates
  • Granville Van Dusen
    Granville Van Dusen
    Granville Van Dusen is an American stage, screen, and voice actor who portrayed Race Bannon in the 1986 television series The New Adventures of Jonny Quest, Jonny's Golden Quest, Jonny Quest vs...

     — Walter Telford (#2)
  • Colin Fox
    Colin Fox (actor)
    Colin Fox is a Canadian actor. His acting credits include playing Jean Paul Desmond and Jacques Eloi Des Mondes in Strange Paradise , as well as voice work in various animated series, and in other roles in film, television and on the stage...

     — Walter Telford (#1)
  • Deborah Turnbull — Evelyn Telford
  • Jan Muszynski — Dr. Dan Girard
  • Candace O'Connor — Helen Chapman
  • Nuala Fitzgerald — Paula Myles
  • Michael Tait — Michael Stewart, Sr.
  • Vivian Reis — Norma Stewart
  • Gordon Thomson — Michael Stewart, Jr.
  • Barbara Kyle — Trudy Bowen
  • Gina Dick — Amy Sperry
  • Mignon Elkins — Doris Sperry
  • Dorothy Malone
    Dorothy Malone
    Dorothy Malone is an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind , for which she won the Academy...

     — Carol Herzog
  • Nehemiah Persoff
    Nehemiah Persoff
    Nehemiah Persoff is an American film and television character actor. He was born in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate.Born in what is now part of Israel, Persoff emigrated with his family to the United States in 1929...

     — Dr. Aaron Herzog
  • Geraint Wyn Davies
    Geraint Wyn Davies
    Geraint Wyn Davies is a British-Canadian-American actor.He was born on 20 April 1957 in Britain, at Swansea. He was the son of a Congregationalist preacher...

    — Glen
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