All My Shadows

She isn't actually with Gary anymore, thankfully, although they still haven't found anyone good for him (I'd say he's waiting for the right man...) Lord knows I haven't paid attention to the show in years, but I would've bought Gary being with a man back then, so I doubt it'd be hard to believe now. It would be too obvious to say "put him with Todd," and I know they've really screwed around with Todd since he's been back, so I don't know. I like the idea on the last page about there being a flat of young guys. It sorta brings to mind the old set up of Len, Roy, and Jerry, but in 2016, you can have one of them in a relationship with a guy and explore the dynamics of that.

Wait WHAT??? Izzy is still on this show? I could've sworn she was only set to be some short-term character the last time I regularly watched current episodes of this show maybe 5 or so years ago. She is not interesting enough to merit being around this long!! And with Gary. Yikes.

I distinctly remember CZ saying at the time of the 50th anniversary that she liked the triangle with Gunnar and James the best.

Is it possible that they were considering bringing Rick back to kill John? I always read that his main story in the early 70s was trying to ruin Bob's life, and once he succeeded in driving a big enough rift between Bob and Jennifer (enough to make Bob sleep with Kim), he left town. I would assume he left around the time Frannie was born onscreen, which I think is 1973 (I forget who was born first out of her and Emily).

Soap Central says 1972-1973.

Long story short, I was reading Helen Reddy's wiki page, and there were a few passages about how when she returned to singing for a few years, she refused to perform "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)," written by Linda Laurie. I looked up LL to see what else she'd written, and lo and behold. "Ambrose. It's dark in hea."

This has to be my #1 favorite version of this great romantic classic. That bossa nova beat together with the tension from the strings in the opening verse...just sends chills up my spine.

He played Bill Winters. Their storyline was on the frontburner for several months in the reruns.

WHAT THE F-U-C-K IS THIS

Nothing drives this fact home more than Papa Bauer's death/funeral, where Meta is seen comforting Bert. Agreed. That, and at the service Meta isn't sitting in the front row, she's sitting behind Bert, Ed, and Mike. I haven't watched that episode in awhile, but did they even address Trudy at all? I don't think they did, but it's been a while since I've watched it in full, too. There were some of the obligatory "So-and-so called..." mentions early in the episode, but I don't think she was one of them. A while back, I did a thread on DTS about the "chosen" siblings of each major family on each soap, and Meta was one of the characters I had in mind when creating the thread. For whatever reason, Bill was the "chosen" Bauer sibling early on, and I guess they just felt there was no room for Meta to be the nucleus of her own long-term family unit. And really, Bert was the "chosen" Bauer more so than Bill. It's like how Chris was the "chosen" Hughes over Edith and John (and then Bob was "chosen" over Penny and Don).

As always, Miss Channel needs her ass kicked.

Nothing drives this fact home more than Papa Bauer's death/funeral, where Meta is seen comforting Bert.

What a fantastic episode from November 1972! The social studies teacher in me really appreciates the election coverage promos. Lois Kibbee is really an underrated legend. So many of the great leading ladies of this era were pros at taking pages of dialogue and bringing them to life with nuance and tone. The Emily/Carter scenes are the best in the episode. Chris Pennock has annoyed me since I first saw him as Jeb on DS reruns 15 years ago, Carl, so you're not alone. I liked him here, though. Andrea seems like she might have been the classic babyfied heroine of the late 60s/early 70s, the woman that everyone insists upon treating like a little girl, sorta like Liz on the Doctors circa 1967-1968. Neat to see Jordan Charney. Tony is pretty hot, and some quick research tells me that the actor is a very successful playwright, best known for On Golden Pond. And of course, how lovely to see that gorgeous painting in full, vibrant color!

I'm still stuck on this supermarket playlist from 1975. This one is so sassy and elegant, and then that harmonica breakdown comes in.

YES! I got excited when I saw the picture, and then you called me out like that. I will see Margo one day.

70s supermarket music was so soapy.

Mabel Christianson's letter reads like pure satire.

I loved me some JB on OLTL, so I'm looking forward to seeing him on this!

This song scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. I always interpreted the "Didn't know the price we had to pay" line as someone dying.

Such a lovely version of this theme.

Aw, I loved Kirby! I couldn't take her in the beginning, but as she toughened up a bit after her experiences with Adam and Jeff, I started to appreciate her. They wrote her out at just the right time. I don't know if she would have worked in the long-term because then she would have just become a weepy-eyed heroine, but for the few seasons she was on, she had some forward progression as a character and then she was gone. Perfect, IMO.

I mean, I was citing those programs as good ones that are worthwhile but I think we can both agree that FH understanding its trite [sic] and true formula and embracing it is a very different side of television these days, and IMO a sane counterbalance to everything else that is either very good, very modern or simply trying too hard. And yes, I'm disturbed that Nicky and Alex grew up hot. Oh, I didn't mean to refer to those particular shows you listed. Like you said, there is some very good stuff out there, but there are also things that fail to hit the mark they're aiming for. Technically, the actors playing Nick and Alex are only seven months younger than me, but I can't even bring myself to refer to the one as "Nicky" anymore bc it makes me feel like a creep.

I just skimmed through the premiere, and I really have to agree that they hit all the right notes in making it in the spirit of the original series while making it its own thing. The key to a good sequel series is making sure the new show has the same feel and tone of the old show, and that's where so many sequels have failed (mostly looking at you, Dallas, Melrose, and Charlie's Angels). It's obvious that the people behind this show did not care about trying to make FH fit the current TV comedy zeitgeist, and that's why it'll most likely work. I've never been a Stephanie fan because I thought she was an obnoxious brat, but I am in LOVE with the idea of her as the semi-irresponsible, DGAF live-in aunt. I need to watch the whole season before I go any further, but they could really do some good stuff if they go with a Stephanie-the-f!ckup vs. perfect-DJ narrative. Too bad Nick and Alex's fine asses aren't regulars. I completely agree with this. We've gotten so much overhyped bullsh!t trying so hard to be so seriously dark and brooding. It's nice to see something that is clearly not trying to follow that lead and succeeds in being exactly what it is. I have a lot of respect for shows like that, even if they're poorly done.

Netflix is the one streaming site that I've never had buffering issues with. It automatically adjusts the picture quality based on your connection speeds, but it never just cuts out in the middle of something.