ON THE COVER

From 1964-69, the talk of the town was “Peyton Place,” prime-time television’s first successful soap opera. At one point, it aired three times a week, and every episode during its five-year run was original--no repeats.

Following that, “Peyton Place” had a brief reincarnation as a daytime soap, but the daylight stories never matched the success of the nighttime version.

Now, comes “Peyton Place: The Next Generation,” in which nine of the original cast members reprise their roles. It airs 9-11 p.m. Monday on NBC (Channels 4, 36, 39).

This time around, 20 years have passed and Allison MacKenzie’s daughter shows up in town, “igniting a trail of love and murder” (in NBC’s words). The film was shot in both Dallas and Waxahachie, Texas, which doubled as the small New England town of Peyton Place.

Back from the original cast (and seen on the cover) are Dorothy Malone and Tim O’Connor (top photo), Barbara Parkins and Ed Nelson (center), and Chris Connelly, Evelyn Scott and Patricia Morrow (lower photo).