The storyline about the murder of Allison's evil drug-pushing husband Benny became so popular, a prime-time special was produced, recapping all the details and possible suspects - - a first for a daytime soap opera. The unique special program garnered high ratings.
Evelyn Scott initially declined reprising her role, but due to the persistence of the fans, she agreed to do a maximum of 2 episodes a week.
NBC Programming replaced the daytime series "Bright Promise" (1969-1972) with "Return To Peyton Place" (1972-1974). The 20th Century Fox night-time NBC series "Peyton Place" was anticipated to distinguish the highly popular series for daytime programming. "Return To Peyton Place" replaced the "Bright Promise" time slot, as well as following the same daily taping schedule, afternoon-night rehearsal and tape, on Stage 9, NBC Burbank Color Studios. The other half of Studio 9 was used in the mornings for "Days of Our Lives" production. New RCA Color Cameras replaced camera equipment in the studio upgrade with the new Peyton Place series, improving transmission quality.
Two property masters were in charge of daily set dressing and working with the actor's hand props. Ted "Teddy" Soares and Stanley "Stan" Kramer previously had worked as a team on other NBC Burbank projects in the stage-technician (stage-hands IATSE 33) division. Ted and Stan had a touring puppet theater business before retiring the company, joining the network as stage technicians. The two had a side business of making miniature dolls. They brought their period costumed dolls onto the set to dress the sets. The dolls were a novelty which became a feature for each setting.