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LOL, the line about what that nun had between her and her slip was between her and God. That was actually Willona, not Flo, who had the job at the department store watching women behind mirrors in the changing room which of course is beyond illegal these days. That was a "big brother" themed episode as a higher-up was in fact watching Willona while she watched customers, and of course the episode's message wasn't complete until a voice came over the loudspeaker, an even higher higher-up watching Willona's supervisor.

J.J. was not my favorite either, he had his moments of course, but I really don't see how he "stole" the show.

James' death is just so ironic because Esther Rolle and other black actresses in her position have always fought for the inclusion of a father. And then all that drama goes down with John Amos and the J.J. character et cetera, and he ends up getting killed off. Of course Esther also had a problem with the writing for J.J. and she left for a season (which was actually one of my favorite seasons, all of the Penny stuff).


It could be a little heavy-handed, and GT characters were quick to spout of some statistics, but I agree that they handled drama very well. The hypertension ep was good, and then there was the one where J.J.'s girlfriend played by Debbie Allen was shooting up.

Frances Foster, Alex's domestic help Vera on GL, guested in a VERY memorable episode where she played the Evans' friend and neighbor, Gertie. She had fallen on tough times and had resorted to eating pet food. They invited her over to dinner and she brought along a meatloaf, and well, you can guess the rest... hilarity ensues. J.J. has one of his finer moments in that one. When they bow(-wow) to say grace, J.J. prays, "The Lord is my German Shepherd..."

All My Shadows, on 18 March 2010 - 12:51 PM, said:

Oh, I didn't mind that every episode lacked social/political commentary, I minded the fact that these shows that started out so witty, smart, and hilarious got downright corny in their later years. Of course there were still highs (like one of my favorite episodes of all time, "A Matter of Mothers" where Penny's biological mother comes back and she and Willona serve some of the best black soap opera television's ever seen, on a sitcom no less). I mean, I do take issue with the fact that the network seemed to be threatened by the idea of a character like Michael Evans (who was the voice of creator Mike Evans aka Lionel #1 on The Jeffersons) voicing his militancy into his late teens. It was cute when he was the "Militant Midget" but he was lucky to get one politically-charged line every other episode as he became a young man. I don't think GT had to be "ghetto issue of the week" EVERY week by any means, but yeah, when you can't even get basic sitcom funny right it's like, "My, how the mighty have fallen..."

I am a huge What's Happening!! fan, and yes, there are only a couple of episodes that touch upon matters of race. And yet... one of the things that I love most about the show is its flavor which hasn't so much to do with the writing as it does with the characterizations. Frankly, I don't know if a person who doesn't have black relatives and friends will bust a gut at one of Shirley Hemphill's line deliveries the same way I do. I just don't know. But at the end of the day, we're watching a highly entertaining group of friends that anyone can enjoy.

Rerun was in fact originally written as a skinny white guy. And Haywood Nelson (Dwayne) was the show's teen heartthrob. If you catch some of those season 2 and 3 episodes, the girls go wild when he makes his entrances.

You can spot Debbi Morgan in this WH clip: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=yJXnT7f7b5U
She had a recurring role as Diane. In this episode she does a scene from one of Rog's plays with Rerun for a class assignment which of course goes all wrong thanks to Rerun.

All My Shadows, on 19 March 2010 - 12:03 AM, said:

Though I would have been just fine with it and OLTL does love to poke fun at its history of recasts, it probably would have been too awkward to pull off. I know it's been over a decade, but to me at least, ET and YM still feel too "close" if that makes any sense. Like Alicia Minshew's Kendall flashing back to SMG. See what I'm saying? The "new" young Cris and Jess looked considerably younger, younger than Erin and Yorlin looked back then which felt inauthentic to me but served the purpose of what the writers were going for, young first love. They'd have definitely broke some new ground though by flashing back to the original scenes.

And of course Erin Torpey is now baby Megan.

Watching those new flashbacks was so weird! I don't think I've ever had a soap watching experience like that before, like what old fans must have felt when they did those scenes of Robin Strasser reenacting the Victor stuff. Those kids seem SO YOUNG. Would have been a REALLY nice touch if they'd worked Kelly into the new flashback, DUH!

"Another night, another dream, but always you! It's like a vision of love that seems to be true..." Damn. MEMORIES...

I remember Yorlin appearing on the Ricki Lake show back then, "I've got a secret crush on a soap star!" or something like that. Maybe it was just about secret crushes in general, but I remember that Martha Byrne was also on the show and she SANG to the guy who was crushing on her. Like full on mic in hand and she kneeled in front of him and sang into his face and everything.

CarlD2, on 18 March 2010 - 04:15 AM, said:

I LOVED Oz and I need to catch up on all that I missed. I want the actors on my soap opera to look and be written like that, not the prison angle, but that kind of grit, that depth.