All My Shadows

Since I've been devoting a lot of time to digging into AMC eras I haven't actually watched before, I want to do the same for ATWT. What would be a good starting point in the 80s for a mostly unbroken run of episodes that last at least a few years? I'm undecided if I just want to start with 1985 so I can see pre-Marland and then into his stuff or if I want to see earlier in the decade as well.

Lord, Shemar walked onto the set and was immediately the sexiest man on CBS at the time. If it wasn’t established that they were brothers, I would’ve been reading way too much into Malcolm giving Neil “fck me” eyes through the entire episode.

"You're Neil." "You're Malcolm." "It's been a long time. Aren't you going to let your brother in?" Classic soap introduction of the long-list sibling.

I pulled out the 25th anniversary book, and it has a different photo from the same wedding listed as being their second wedding and occurring at Thanksgiving time in 1980: "An anguished Dr. Frank Grant came close to leaving Pine Valley when his ex-wife Nancy accepted Dr. Russ Anderson's proposal of marriage. As their wedding drew near, Nancy realized she still loved her ex-husband Frank, and they remarried in a Thanksgiving wedding." It's gonna stay IDK how I feel about a couple coming in and commanding so much time, especially in Cliff and Nina's case. Nothing from their introduction into the show is online at all, and I don't think it ever has been - we have one 1979 episode that doesn't feature them, but we do have that string of masquerade ball episodes from Feb. 1980 thanks to Eric. I just want to see how they were integrated into the show, and I definitely want to see more of Sybil.

It was the same for Cliff and Nina - their September 1980 wedding was huge and ushered in the era of location shoot weddings for supercouples, and they'd been on for maybe a year and a month or two? I think the Cortlandts first arrived the previous summer. I'm entering April 1989, and I have some comments and questions. - Walt Willey deserves credit. The energy he had in the Jack/Erica romance 30+ years ago was still there later, even as they were on rehash number-whatever in the early 2000s. Regardless of the stories between the two, the chemistry was always there between the two, and they just felt believable. - Bye, Julie girl! They kinda rushed her exit, though, right? We went from lovey-dovey Julie and Nico couple scenes to him being an [!@#$%^&*] to justify her deciding to leave. - Do people generally prefer this earnest, homespun, country boy version of Will as played by LQ or the more villainous version as played JPS? Was the change in characterization gradual or quick? - I can't help it. I love David and Melanie. Maybe not LOVE, but I'm falling for TPTB's manipulations to make me like them. The lingering looks, the wispy music in the background that plays every single time, the dorky cute motif of them enjoying classical music, etc. It's all so sugary sweet, and I'm eating it up. - I know that this is definitely a big transition period for the show (maybe it's biggest?), but it's so weird to see Donna pop up as barely a supporting character. I know she gets more to do when Chuck comes back later in the year, but you can already see they were unsure of what to do with people like her and Benny.

I’ve wondered that over the years, too, and I don’t think a connection was ever made. Montgomery was Claudette’s married name through her ex-husband Spencer (mentioned here), and I’m not sure he ever even appeared onscreen - could be wrong, though.

I understand that completely, and I hope to one day find the time to watch as much as those early years as possible so that I can truly appreciate the character and her growth. As it stands, as a viewer in 1990-1991, I don't think I would have liked her at all.

Right, and I can only assume VR was playing it as she was told. Anyone who knows the background more than I do, please inform. I feel as though as the 90s went on, Victoria Rowell had more input in molding the character so that she was elevated from her try-hard beginnings.

Claudette was WILD! I sure hope Erica confronts her in the following month, and if miracles are real, that confrontation exists somewhere on tape.

I'm sorry, but early Dru is aggravating as hell. She was fine by the time of the honeymoon episode from a few weeks ago, but here and the other ep where she was in jail - was there anyone who was calling her tf out for her stank attitude? I know Mamie tried, but I mean someone around the same age who could have realistically slapped her. Dru and Neil met to the strains of Liz Foster's Theme in the background

Court jester Julie. I was barely barely BARELY watching when Annie was first introduced through all of the stuff with Richie. I just remember having very little interest in her because she was created solely to further the SuperRyan narrative. Once she was put into the Chandler mix, that was it. The dynamics of devious JR, frosty Annie, aw shucks Scott, and pink flannel Marissa bumbling around the mansion shot some life into the show, and even though AMC was far from perfect, the show as a whole was watchable for the first time in foreverrrrrrrr. Dave'n'Don did all right by the show, as far as I'm concerned. Also - it's so good to see you around these parts again, Eric!

And she STILL managed to win four NAACP Image Awards! And beat DEBBI that first year!

I just found it! Whew, I was starting to think it never happened lol I think it was less racy and more comical because it's so random. This clip is kinda washed out and there's terrible static over the music, but there she is.

??? I was trying to compare the more blatantly sexual red opening with the not outwardly sexual opening that followed on the basis of Melody Thomas Scott's breathless moans. I don't think I was addressing anyone in particular...

The red opening is called the porn opening for obvious reasons, but why can’t I find a clip of one of the very first versions of the 2003 white opening? It featured a right close-up of MTS having...ahem...the time of her life. A few weeks later, it was replaced with her Peter Pan poses.

All I can think about in these Malcolm scenes is that Shemar probably taped them shortly after having the honor of Susan’s Emmy win They were still using original 1973 cues as late as 1999???

I think those people just have to suck it up lol At this point, it’s reruns or nothing at all. They’ve graciously seen the light and pulled out episodes from over a 30-year span instead of just encores from the last year. Those people should be thankful that we’re getting episodes that they’ve already seen 20+ years ago instead of just two months ago. God, I remember being terrified at the sound of Victor’s angry voice back when EB really cared enough to actually participate in scenes. GH is still there up until 1970, I believe. Once ABC completely took over production, they wiped until 1977-1978. P&G and ABC need their asses whooped for what they did.

What if they put all of the background info for each episode online and blast it on social media? In the afternoon, they could post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. sort of a "fact file" with everything you need to know to jump into the following day's repeat. A simple graphic that lets you know who the characters will be and what their stories were at the time. After the episode airs, they could post a "here's what happened next" type of thing.

Okay, Paul, watch it with the Susan crack, kiddo.

AMC, still on fire! I've always been fascinated by the Margo character, but that fascination just keeps growing. Obviously by this point, Erica was fast becoming soaps' most well-known schemer and conniver, but Margo and Claudette seemed to be much more malicious, and I finally see now why they didn't build more around the two characters in the long run. The Phoebe/Charles/Mona story - I've always thought of it as lightweight comic relief that cropped up in the late 70s, and I never realized just how long and spread out the development of Charles and Mona's relationship was. Charles and Phoebe were still together when Erica married Tom over three years later. I'm curious as to how the child abuse storyline really played out onscreen. The Doctors had done a child abuse story a few years earlier, and AMC had just introduced Tad two years earlier as a victim of child abuse and neglect. Were the Coles meant to be long-term or were they just shoe-horned in for the purpose of the abuse story and to facilitate couple drama for the main characters.

That Tony/Katie clip is fire! Greg Beecroft is one of the sexiest men in soap history on the strength of charisma alone. I felt tears well up when Charita announced GL as a nominee! She was and always will be Ms. Guiding Light.

There was not a goddamn thing groundbreaking about Hogan's ATWT. Was he still around for Luke's coming out or was that all Jean? I seem to recall Hogan was there, then he wasn't, then he went back to work under Jean? And this is the problem. No one in the room respected ATWT enough to say "You can't do that" nor did Hogan respect the show he was tasked to write enough to say "I shouldn't do that." I can't herald someone like that as a soap hero. I'm sorry for the struggles he faced in his post-soap life, though, and I hope he was able to find some kind of peace before his death.

Maura is most definitely playing Carly in the clip above (wtf at him throwing her out of the ambulance), and it illustrates precisely the problem with Carly Tenney Snyder. She was bitter and angry for a solid 5 (maybe 10?) years. Half of her lines were said through gritted teeth and the other half were yelled from one end of Oakdale to the other. At one point, there was a compilation video of her angrily uttering Jack's name, weirdly referred to as "Carly's KKK."

Some interesting tidbits. I've read in the past about her thoughts in regards to wanting more story, and of course, she's right. I'm not sure if Hazel, as a character, could have added anything different from what was already going on with the show, but there was no real reason to not give her more to do anyway. I remember seeing photos of the cast partying together back in the day, and Christina was absolutely much more outgoing than her character Terri ever was lol I wonder how far in advance TPTB knew where they would be going with the Rick story. Did they write Terri out knowing that he'd come back the following season for the school shooting story? Both women are so fun and look fantastic. I'm glad they're being real about both the highs and lows of doing the show.

What are everyone's general thoughts on Cecily? I'm seeing her a lot for the first time, and I didn't expect to enjoy her as much as I am. She's a nice plucky breath of fresh air in a younger set of teens and twentysomethings that was filled with very "good" and "earnest" characters (not just ragging on ol' Julie this time - also thinking about David, Melanie, and Will). I know that she and Nico end up together, and I'm liking the beginnings of their attraction, which really hasn't been spoken of yet, as Julie prepares to leave for Washington (bye, girl). Her scenes with Myrtle also highlight how perfect and important Myrtle's role on the show was through all these years. I mostly like David and Melanie. They're a classic AMC "young love" couple in the tradition of Phil and Tara, so it fits and it makes sense. And honestly, I'm not gonna lie, Trent Bushey was hot as fck.