DRW50

4 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

When Marriner runs into Mark in the hospital, he bitterly reminds him that he’s nothing but an ex-con who managed to get a parole-board member, Judge Lowell, to back him. Dante is married to Judge Lowell’s daughter Mary Ellen, who has been in a sanitarium for the past two years and refuses to speak to him. He assures Marriner that he’s paid the judge back.

I have a feeling Irna went on to haunt the Pollocks.

4 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Dr. Rex Pearson decides that after five years of widowhood, Terri has been deprived of a man in her bed long enough, and takes it upon himself to correct that situation. He remains in the club after closing and surprises her with an attempt to force himself upon her. 

[!@#$%^&*] hell. Barely in town and someone tries to rape her. Remember Goldie Hawn's friend in Foul Play who spent the entire movie convinced men were there to rape women? She must have been a GH viewer.

This is also such a tortured way to write that this sicko tried to rape Terri.

Thanks as always for these writeups. 

Thanks @Paul Raven

There are aspects of Peggy's story I wish I could see, like her reaction to the verdict. There are also parts which feel convoluted. And it seems like Brock was almost paired with every woman on the canvas but Liz Foster and Vanessa Prentiss. 

Bill collapsing because Katherine selfishly smokes is a hilarious image. And this lady later became the town saint. 

No matter how many times I read about the Brad blindness story, something about it still seems gross to me.

Just echoing all the above comments but I was so moved by Jane Elliot's work in this episode and I'm very glad the show did not try to ignore Tracy in all of this or to make her look like a shrew or a joke. The writing helped, but Jane was key as she was so willing to play the material with the utmost vulnerability. Tracy spent so many years feeling unloved by her family, and often giving them reasons to justify their rejection, but the love she felt for them, and their legacy, is integral to the character now, integral to the whole family, and the show. She is the matriarch who never thought she'd be a matriarch, which is what adds so much poignancy. 

The loss of Monica hung over the scenes, even though Monica is still technically alive, somewhere in the mansion. Monica's children and grandchildren are still important to the show but Tracy's family has made up the multi-generational dynamics the Quartermaines need and lacked for such a long time. 

So much of the episode revolving around Quartermaines, not just the Tracy branch, but Michael too, tells you just how central they are to GH's strengths and have been for nearly 50 years. 

I appreciated Amanda Setton snapping out of some of her haze and giving a very forceful performance with Rena Sofer (and I could actually believe they were mother and daughter).

I've had my criticisms of Lois and at times not been the fairest to Rena's work in the part, but I thought she was excellent here - what Lois did, the amount of times she played god with three innocents, was horrible, yet through Rena's very pure work, and some decent scriptwriting, I understood why she did what she did, and I felt sorry for her. 

It's not as good, please don't get me wrong, but the fallout of the story reminds me of why the Truth About Aaron plotline on ATWT was so powerful - there were no stunts, no psychos, just a lot of people who genuinely care about each other and that caring leads them to make very damaging decisions.

That's what soaps should be about.

23 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Ross wasn't driving story in '85, that's for sure. He had defended Lujack in the Andy Ferris murder, and he rides herd on Phillip as India tries sinking her claws into him. He did send Trish off to Europe, and he defends Billy and Mindy. But yeah--sometimes they just "forgot" about Ross until someone needed a lawyer. While there was always a fight around Spaulding, it was hitting a dry spell in terms of people connected to it to interact with.

They should have paired him with Suzette, or Suzanne, whatever. Jerry and Frances Fisher feel like a natural duo.

Part of a newly uploaded episode said to be from August 1984. If so I don't think any of those were around. 

The show really seems like a stranger at this point.

Grant Show sans shirt...naturally.

At around 15 minutes they use the music cue that they had been using from the earliest days of the show. When did that stop?

I dumped a ton of links in each thread but may as well post the link here to the Archive channel - there are a number of audio recordings of interviews with primetime soap actors of the early '80s.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

Audio of a Robert Foxworth interview from 1984.

Robert Foxworth Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Audio of a 1985 interview with Billy Campbell, talking about being on Dynasty, viewer reaction to him, network pressures about Steven's homosexuality.

Billy Campbell Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Kathleen Beller interview from 1984.

Kathleen Beller Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Al Corley interview from 1981. This also has some talk of Steven's sexual orientation.

Al Corley Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Audio of a 1983 interview with Claudia Lonow.

Claudia Lonow Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Constance McCashin interview from around the 75th episode. 

https://archive.org/details/Constance_McCashin_Interview_by_Bob_Lardine

Tim Patrick Murphy Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Audio of a 1983 interview with Tim Patrick Murphy. 

He mentions that he tested for Secrets of Midlands Heights, which he didn't get, but that got him Dallas.

Audrey Landers interview from 1981.

Audrey Landers Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

@Chuck1970 thank you so much for sharing this!

Thanks. I wonder if Lisanti tried to get in contact with her about the book. She would have had interesting perspective.

I know Sami was rarely on the best terms with John but I wish she could have been around for some of this. 

Is she going to be at the funeral? I can't remember if Ali's stint is already done.

8 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I don't think it was Jessie, unless they took a year to cast it. Kristi showed up the fall of '84, Jessie (Rebecca Staab) doesn't show up until October of '85, right before Kurt and Mindy's wedding. 

Funny they highlight Mary Kay Adams---I've been watching '85, and thinking they just don't know how to dress her. Everything seems frumpy or odd-fitting.

Thanks. Now that I think of it someone may have said Kristi auditioned for India and they created Roxie for her.

Interesting segment about the French Wheel of Fortune (which just came back after a 13 year hiatus) and Des chiffres et des lettres (which just ended last year). Starts at about 7 minutes.

36 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Who did he play on GL? He was on ATWT during the 80s, but I don't recall him being on GL.

When GL was announced as ending, Jeanne Cooper and Cris wanted to do small cameos. They appeared in one of the final episodes for a scene or two as guests at Vanessa and Billy's wedding - Jeanne was an old rich lady and Cris was her toyboy.

Thanks @Soapsuds I am not sure I've ever seen that before. Always nice to see (presumably) gay men interviewed as fans as they were often the dirty little secret of soap fandom. And I think that clip with Bert and Papa Bauer may be from one of the episodes that isn't around anywhere. I'd like to think it can appear someday. 

I guess that was Kristi auditioning for Jessie? Who was it people said she auditioned for and they gave her another part? Or was it they decided not to bring that character in and later brought Jessie instead?

16 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Many have said that GL hit its nadir in 1996. From what I've seen of 1996 ratings, they bottom out during the summer and early fall, and Another World even finished ahead of GL some weeks. GL was in cancel territory and it looked like B&B was preparing to expand to 1 hour to line up with the 10th anniversary in March 1997 but as we all know that didn't happen.

It was a miracle GL was not canceled. I fully expected that it would be. The show got 13 more years (or nearly 13), which is amazing.

Just now, chrisml said:

So George Pilgrim's biggest claim to fame is that he was a side piece AND he was in an episode of Red Shoe Diaries? I'm not knocking the latter as a lot of soap actors did that show, but the delusion is high with this person. Red Shoe Diaries and Skinemax shows were where former/soon-to-be soap performers went when they couldn't get hired on the soaps. And I'll take Anthony Addabbo (RIP) who also did RSD over this Pilgrim person any day. 

Or Cris Leblanc (who did have a brief part on GL...).

29 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Ok George Pilgrim was clearly delusional hahaha. I just googled him and he only did a few more things after GL. I found his website, and it doesn't seem like he's changed, as his personal bio starts with this (https://sites.google.com/site/georgepilgrimactor/home, which is funny because he wasn't there 3 years at all, but he likes to tout he was given that long of a contract haha.  He did age well though, he's pretty handsome - reminds me of David Duchovny.

This may be what Pilgrim is best known for:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/sydney-holland-george-pilgrim-sumner-redstone

57 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

LOL - love to hear it   Ugh, I knew that Rick Hearst eventually leaves, but didn't realize it was so soon after their wedding.  Do we know why he left? I just checked his wiki page and he didn't really do much at all for 3-4 years before joining Y&R and then GH.

I think he left mainly because he didn't think they were doing anything with him. 

Thanks as always for your mini-reviews.

I think you have one more opening left (have you gotten to the "rock" opening)?

Lizzie, not Cassie, is Philip's daughter. 

The reason they have likely taken J out of the opening is because the actor, George Pilgrim, had just abruptly quit around this time, giving an interview in TV Guide claiming he was going to be...the new Brad Pitt? I can't remember.

There will be more to the mysterious savior of Lucy. 

10 hours ago, Joseph said:

Funny how no one commented on Jean Marsh's (Rose Buck) Passing here, if she had a legacy it was this series

I think it was mainly mentioned in the Memoriam thread, but there was a brief mention right above your post. 

11 minutes ago, Aback said:

Also - if they're happy with the result, why would they want to invest further? The formula is working the way it is for now, so I don't see anything changing budget-wise, unfortunately. I'm just trying to unspin these disingenuous press releases.

I don't think anyone expects a budget increase. They just wish there was one.

@Dion @Bright Eyes @AMCOLTLLover

When was Kathleen ever a villainess?

I also never thought she looked like Nancy Frangione.

I keep hoping something of Behind the Screen will show up.

Thanks again @Paul Raven.

13 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

I don’t think they had to recast Charley. My impression at the time was that they didn’t feel Jo Anderson didn’t fit the perky/cute persona that they wanted/needed when Julianne Phillips left the show.

You're right. I think she was seen as too subtle or reserved. 

As @soapfan770I liked Sheila on LA Law but she wasn't needed here, especially as Charley as a character only made sense with a more reserved and less conventionally attractive actress.