Louise attempted to shed her comedic image by playing darker roles, such as a guest appearance as a heroin addict in a 1974 "Kojak" episode and as a corrections officer in the 1976 television movie "Nightmare in Badham County". Her other television appearances of the period included "Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby" (1976), "" (1977), "Friendships, Secrets and Lies" (1979), and the soap opera "Dallas" during the 1978–1979 seasons. In the fall of 1984, she replaced Jo Ann Pflug as Taylor Chapin on the syndicated soap opera "Rituals".