EricMontreal22

Dunno why I didn't think to check out Wiki--for the record here is what it says: In the mid-1990s, Fickett decided that she wanted to reduce her schedule and spend more time with her family. She allowed her contract to expire and expected to go on recurring status, meaning she could still appear on the program but did not have to meet any contractual obligations or minimum number of appearances. Negotiations with the producers of the program broke down, and the role of Ruth Martin was recast with Lee Meriwether taking on the character in 1996. In 1999, Meriwether was let go and Fickett rehired on recurring status. She resumed the role of Ruth and supported several front burner storylines including son Tad's romance with Dixie and the breakdown of son Dr. Jake (Joey) Martin's marriage to Gillian. After another year, Fickett decided to call it quits from the busy schedule of soap opera acting and retired in December 2000. In 2002, the producers wanted to bring the character of Ruth back, but Fickett remained in retirement, so Meriwether was rehired and played Ruth whenever the occasion arose.

I remember at the time some fans were so upset that they got rid of the oldest set, and I get that. However, as a viewer who just started watching in 1991, I swear that that set was barely EVER used in those years between then and the tornado so young teen me didn't get what the fuss was--I felt like maybe I had seen it two times in those years :P (I'm sure I saw it more, but...)

Who knows who/what's behind how these are being programmed. It does seem like we get a new batch on the weekend continuing into Monday/Tues and then for the rest of the week they just repeat those episodes (confusingly in different sequences--like right now sometimes they go between 6570-6575 but sometimes 5666-5675. I suspect by tomorrow/Sat we'll go up to 6581...) Besides the big jump backwards from August/Sep episodes to May/June episodes, this at least seems to be the rhythm they're following and I'm keeping my eyes open for but... Yeah--I completely agree. They did release online (for the BeondTV European base) that great random May 1 1980 episode in full that was captured here...

Where the Heart Is (why haven't any episodes shown up?) was notorious in the soap press at the time for obsessing about sex. I believe so was Return to Peyton Place--so could those be contenders?

There might be something interesting to mine storywise about a white character being of such lower social-economic class than her black best friend, but the show hasn't really gone there (and won't I suspect.)

Schemering in his Soap Opera Encyclopedia (and I've heard others say this) did say that in the 1970s AMC always looked cheap and it wasn't until a big overhaul a bit after they went to an hour (and ABC bought the show) that the sets by the 80s were up to snuff.

Only recently was I reminded about some of the drama when Fickett retired from AMC. I think it was shortly after the anniversary week at the start of 1995 (when it felt like literally dozens of past characters came to the homewarming of the Martins new home, after the previous one was destroyed in the fire.) I believe shortly afterwards was when Lee Merriwether took over the role, and then from my bad memory, Fickett DID come back in a recurring status for a while, before Lee took over permanently. I feel very guilty admitting that I didn't... well mind Lee in the role, even if it really wasn't the same (for the most part AMC seemed to do well by their vets, and it does seem with Fickett it was her decision not to return again.) It is tragic how she seemed to be pretty incapacitated (with Alzheimer's and other health issues) for the final years of her life, and died IIRC just days before the ABC finale for the soap which was dedicated to her. She was only in her early 40s when she started playing Ruth, which I suppose says something about how the age of actors (and age of people in general) has changed over the past 50 years, although for the first decades of AMC, although we don't have a lot of remaining episodes to easily check out, they certainly gave her a lot of her own stories.

Just what is stated above about when they hired Joseph Stuart to replace Doris Quinlan as EP but didn't change the writing team, despite the fact that apparently the cast jointly wrote to the execs complaining about the writing.

Do some AMC stories kinda count? Nico and Cecily were on the run weren't they? I always think of Jessie and Jenny in NY on the run (kinda) on AMC but that wasn't a romance story.

Ha, and that makes me want to watch it.

C'mon Mike Manning--you wouldn't kiss one of the male characters?

Right--as to our discussion about these issues in soaps in general and giving them a sense of reality. It would have been ridiculously easy to do.

I'm pleased to see they're doing promo--I spoke to someone who went to a discussion... somewhere (I can't remember) last week.

It's interesting, in hindsight we think of the Gordon Russell/Sam Hall era as always being strong, but there were a number of complaints about the writing at this time...

Certainly when you read Schemering's Soap Encyclopedia they give the impression that Y&R was novel for showing bedroom scenes from the start (and what the soap press back then called "nudity" with seems to just mean shirtless men.) But surely that wasn't the very first?