All My Shadows

Another show about gay men looking for dick in the club every weekend doesn't really strike my fancy. There are other varieties of us out there.

Yeah no, ain't nobody gonna watch that sh!t.

Currently knee-deep in the marathon, and I'm loving every minute of it! The first four episodes were a pair of two-parters from the second season, but everything else has been from the seasons not on DVD, and the picture and audio are fantastic. The episodes themselves have been great, though I'm not sure why they skipped over some key moments (mainly Willie's marriage to his terminally ill girlfriend). Two things really stick out to me. The quiet, low-key tone they set in the beginning was maintained throughout the entire series, and it's wonderful. I don't think I've ever seen a show put so much care into developing one-shot guest characters. By the end of each episode, it feels like they are just as important as the regulars. Speaking of the regulars, it just doesn't get better than Sada Thompson, Meredith Baxter, and Gary Frank. The second Sony puts a full-series box set out there, I'm snapping it up. This marathon has solidified Family as one of my favorite drama series of all time. The next two weeks are The Greatest American Hero and Renegade. I have no interest in TGAH. I might watch a few episodes of Renegade purely for the nostalgia factor. I don't have word on what's following those, but I'm hoping for more largely unseen and unreleased dramas.

Am I the only one who doesn't see this as a new concept? Aren't we in the midst of shows being "rebooted" simply as revivals/continuations/sequels catching up with the characters we already know and love? It actually doesn't surprise me at all that 90210 would come back in this form. I guess I'm just surprised that so many of the cast has signed on for it, including JP (with whom I am still madly in love). My heart LIVES for the possibility of seeing 70ish Cindy Walsh just as dorky and as bland as ever!

I'm hoping that no one around here gives enough of a sh!t about me to send me random emails.

I would love to. I'm not sure if I would actually have the time to, but if you send it to me, I'll definitely keep it on the frontburner and let you know what I think! Email me at [email protected]

It's about damn time they put it on DVD, but I'm seeing that it's merely a full-length clip show? What is this, 2002? If they did full episodes and sold it in the US, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

GOD IS GOOD!!! The Weekend Binge two weeks from now is Family!!! I am SOOOOOOOOOO excited! I have the first and second seasons on DVD and have been craving more of it for yeeeeeeears. KUDOS, DECADES! KUDOS!!!! I won't even care if they are dirty, edited syndicated prints, to be honest.

Here's an extremely random find. An artist created sand-on-canvas renderings of vintage soap logos and used ATWT as the title piece. The gorgeous ATWT and OLTL pieces are sold, but you can still purchase AMC and AW.

And at this point, what is there to lose? Just put a bunch of longtime AMC people in a room and let ‘em rip. Who would they piss off?

I’m about three-quarters of the way through season five, and I hate Nicole so much! If I didn’t already know who dies at the wedding, I’d be wishing she’d be one of them.

Wasn’t Love of Life once housed in what would become Studio 54? By the early 70s, most of the soaps on CBS were done in the same building.

When Erica came back to PV for good after spending most of the early 80s in her own orbit, it was like they decided to hit a reset button on the character. Susan had entered her 40s, Erica's main motivation couldn't be stardom anymore because they'd done it, and all of the women around her were getting married and having children. Part of me wonders if she would've lasted had they not tied her down with a child and more long-term suitors, especially as soaps as a whole became more family-oriented in the late 80s and early 90s. In the 70s, she was selfish, impulsive, and desperate with no regard to anyone or anything. By the early 80s, she was a hot mess trying to make an enviable reputation for herself professionally and personally. Neither character type could be a leading lady in the early 90s, especially at her age.

I'm thankful either Hulu or Amazon has the early episodes - hopefully they stay on long enough for me to get around to watching them. Not too much time for soap-watching anymore these days, I'm afraid. I do have the very first DVD collection, so there's that. I found the article - they're showing 260 episodes. Not sure why they released that, but kinda glad they did. Hopefully they continue past that point and eventually cycle back to the beginning.

Dark Shadows will be joining Decades's weekday schedule, airing Monday-Friday at midnight eastern (which pains me to say because I live in the central time zone - but how can you NOT say that it airs at midnight?). They are, of course, starting with 210. I read something that said they plan to air it through at least next spring/summer.

At the end of the day, it'll always be these ladies.

Frank and Nancy were pretty busy in the late 70s. They'd gotten divorced after she moved to Chicago and both moved on to other lovers. Here's some info from the Pine Valley Bulletin's bio for Frank: 1977: The distance proved to be too much for Frank and Nancy. Frank filed for a divorce. He almost immediately began a relationship with nurse Caroline Murray. Caroline was a Vietnam veteran. Frank helped Caroline get over her memories of the front lines. When Nancy came back to town, Frank was willing to give her one last chance. They slept together but Nancy was harboring a secret. She was already dating another man. Frank and Caroline married. 1978: Frank was happy with Caroline, but his heart sunk at the thought of Nancy’s pain. He fiancé, Carl Blair, died in an airplane crash. When Nancy gave birth to his son, Carl Blair, jr., Frank took it upon himself to be a father figure. The more time he spent with Nancy, the more his current marriage began to unravel. His feelings for Nancy were still very much alive. 1979: Frank found out Nancy had been lying to him about Carl: he was in fact his son. In an argument with Nancy, she admitted Caroline had known the truth as well. He could not handle Caroline’s deception, and asked for a divorce. 1980: Nancy was making plans to marry again, this time to Frank’s colleague Dr. Russ Anderson. Frank wanted to be a part of his son’s life. But most of all, he was still in love with Nancy. He had all but given up hope the night she was to marry Russ. He was in for a surprise when Nancy arrived on his doorstep. She finally professed her love for him. The Grants remarried that Thanksgiving. Just another reason why I'd give anything to see more episodes from this truly golden age of AMC. In the ep surrounding Tom and Erica's wedding, we see brief glimpses of Frank and Caroline at the wedding while Nancy had just given birth the same day to Carl Jr. ETA: And yes, Eric, you have been so missed!

Yep, Andrew Preston is who immediately comes to mind every time Sean appears. That preppy guy with the devious eyes who is clearly up to no good. It's a soap trope that I've never really paid a whole lot of attention to, but now it makes sense. I'm loving Sybil. It's just so fun to see how these characters really were as opposed to how I've always perceived them via summaries and short clips over the years. Sybil could've been a fun character to have through the 80s when so many of PV's women had become either pillars of virtue, villainesses, or Erica. Maybe it's because I've just never been huge on Cliff and Nina. I, too, was surprised at how quickly the ball got rolling with Jesse and Jenny. The Gardner storyline as a whole happened way more quickly than I always thought it did. I like that Opal and Jenny remain in Kate's orbit and are only introduced to other characters through her and the Martin porch. There's just a stirring feeling underneath every scene that the sh!t will hit the fan soon. Mark was such an exhibitionist, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he went commando in many episodes. I'm assuming whenever Jesse and Jenny end up in school, Greg and Liza will make their debuts. I'm heartbroken because it seems as though there aren't any more episodes in this consecutive set. Seven episodes are better than none, I suppose.

Good for him. He arrived to GL at the worst possible time and couldn't do much for anyone, but I've always liked his offscreen personality. I'm glad he's working steady.

I've always assumed Tood-ee, rhyming with Judy. She was on Match Game, so if anyone ever finds an episode, we can hear Johnny Olson say it. Do we have any information whatsoever on where the house used for exteriors of the Martin home is located or if it's still standing? I'm assuming somewhere in Connecticut, probably near real-life Pine Valley Hospital.

By the time of the 1985 episodes I've been watching, Erica was determined to turn it back into that. I'm digging into the '81 episodes, and it's interesting to see the show in a time of transition. In the first one from August 18, only Kate and later Charles are characters who'd been around since the early 70s. No more Linc, Kelly, Nick, Phil, Tara, Anne, etc. I wonder what the initial reaction to the Cortlandts was as their introduction coincided with the fading out of so many characters who'd created the show's identity in its first decade. I know Cliff/Nina were huge, but by this year, people had to be tired of watching them fight against outward obstacles, especially Palmer. I didn't realize how important Betsy Kennicott was (or how important they wanted her to be). Mark La Mura continues to prove to be AMC's most handsome actor and one of its most charismatic. I ain't mad at that one scene of him shirtless digging in the refrigerator. Uncle Mark had cakes. Dorothy Lyman never missed a beat as Opal, but wow, I never thought I'd ever see her and Jenny first showing up. Now I see what they always meant by Opal being less comedic and more villainous in the beginning. Early Jesse with Frank and Aunt Bess is also a treat that I never thought I'd see any time soon. I'm three episodes in, and Opal and Jenny just pulled up at Foxy's. Great stuff. Is this between John E. Dunn leaving the role of Tad and MEK showing up? Everything I've seen of JED means that his Tad would be younger than Kim Delaney's Jenny, but he's supposed to be older, buttttt doesn't MEK show up in the following year? How long was he missing from Pine Valley? Also great to see Tudi Wiggins as Sarah Kingsley - yet another character I thought I'd never see. These episodes are awesome! No disrespect to the late Harriet Hall, but she sucked. Sorry for my habit of saying so much when I binge classic AMC, but I have so many thoughts and observations lol Alan Dysert was so cute and clean-cut, stereotypical early 80s.

When was Tempo first introduced? I'm planning to dig into these tonight and tomorrow, but I already see a Tempo cover in one of the thumbnail shots.

Heaven...I'm in heaven...and my heart beats so that I can hardly speeeakkkkk

Chris Lawford (Charlie Brent) has passed away.

It would seem to be late 1976 or early 1977, so shortly before the Spauldings arrived.