DRW50

@vetsoapfan Just a brief, silent clip, but a color glimpse of Jacqui, and a rare glimpse of (I think) Virginia Dwyer and Shepperd Strudwick.

I haven't watched 227 in a long time, but I did enjoy the show back in the day, thanks in large part to the very sharp, likeable cast. Watching, for the first time, Jackee (why did they not name the show Sandra?), I see just what a difference a cast can make. Yes, there's the whole struggle about whether a comedic sidekick on a sitcom should be a lead, but if they'd done a better job throwing Sandra into a new world, I think it might have worked. As it is, they cram too much plot in (the first few minutes almost feel like a different show to the rest), too many characters, and most of the characters aren't interesting. They also seem to be in three or four different shows, especially the player, the usual sour receptionist and the neurotic boss (it's nice to see John Karlen at least). They also jump much too quickly to having Sandra befriend another woman and having that as a central part of the pilot. I don't believe Sandra would have had much use for this woman, either. The biggest casting question for me is who cast the gym hunk that Sandra was drooling over - frankly, he reminds me of Kato Kaelin. Franc Luz, cast in a guest part, shows more heat with a shot of his ass in jeans. There is one good surprise in this that I won't spoil, if you've never seen/watched. It's near the end.

That's not a bad idea, although knowing AW of that era, Sharlene would have been dead within two years.

I think part of the problem is GH doesn't really know how to do playboys in recent decades, and the other is they have never known what they want Josh Kelly to play. Cody was a con artist, then Cody was fighting to be a better man, and now he's just there. The pairing with Tracy would have made a lot of sense. Something with Lulu also would have made sense, as I assumed they were going to build up some tension between Dante and Brook Lyn (why give them a child otherwise?), but we aren't getting anything. I don't think Kelly was very good in the cad part on OLTL, but he did impress me with his sincerity with Tracy and revealing that he was Mac's son, bonding with James, etc. They just seemed to move away from all of that for no real reason. I do like Chase well enough, but he's another character they don't seem to have much interest in writing for beyond just holding Brook Lyn's hand. They should have had her keeping secrets from him for a long period of time, all the way up to the Gio reveal, for maximum dramatic impact. But they are very conflict averse.

Very classy of Wendy. I can't see Lemay lasting long, but you do wonder what might have been. I would normally say you can't go back, because you usually can't on soaps, but his brief return was so damn good. What impressed me most was the very strong individual scenes which popped up, especially surrounding Matt learning the truth about his conception. It would take a number of years for that to happen again in one story - I'd say Felicia's alcoholism.

Lee Holdridge.

It was extremely rare for the soap press to ever call for a producer's firing. Marlena de La Croix did have some criticisms of shows in her SPW column but I don't think she ever went that far either.

I do wonder if it was ever really explored, beyond him just being a psycho who went around punishing "bad" women. The other stories at the time didn't seem to have all that different a view of women than he did, based on the treatment of MJ.

Dirges all around. It might have been interesting seeing her as Emily Ann. Two of the three ladies in those parts would go on to be primetime TV staples in the '90s.

I did feel bad for him - talk about a thankless role (that's one of the reasons Hearst left). I liked him on PC but wasn't really surprised he was recast. Joe just never really clicked as a character.

Nice to know something positive happened from their stints on ABC Daytime. I will never really be able to think of her without hearing Erica saying, "That Kit Fisher person."

They would probably case Nicole Kidman (please no) or Meryl Streep, but someone like Lange could work. Or Sarandon. Or maybe Julia Roberts. Beth was great in that part.

I think I may have but it's been a long time. And after reading what you and @chrisml said I realized Fax did kill Courtney. Sorry. I thought the previous serial killer had. What an awful year for the show.

I'm talking about the stories in 1996, not the Sin Stalker. To be honest I don't think a good final scene for Nicole was worth the damage done.

The stories were similar (another reason why JFP was so wretched a producer) but they had different killers. I don't hate the idea of Nicole killing Jason, but I think the aftermath could have been much different. It felt very slanted against her, and then they just banished Nicole from the canvas.

When on Soapnet, I did have some issues with choices made, but I found most of the show watchable. My biggest "miss" for 1989 would probably be Stacey/Derek (just forgettable) and the decision to turn Nicole into a psycho in order to push Cass/Frankie. I don't really mind the Red Swan story. It's dull, and convoluted, but I do at least care about most of the people involved. Cali's Paulina is also worth watching from day one. They shouldn't have paired Ken and Rachel so quickly and let Rachel be on her own for longer, even if Ken had some potential (I think Vicky Wyndham complained in the press about his being written out). As for worst AW stories, I'd have to include Reginald, Sin Stalker, and the grotesque serial killer in early 1996 that involved killing Bridget as well as Courtney, not long after she had already been raped by her abusive husband. Sick and disgusting.

https://www.itv.com/news/2025-04-26/philip-lowrie-one-of-corries-original-stars-dies-aged-88-publicist-says Lowrie's first run as Dennis is some of Corrie's best. Handsome, charismatic, deeply funny, bouncing all over the screen, sparking with everyone. His relationship with his mother Elsie was great to watch, so often a joy, with some dramatic undercurrents. Dennis was what soap characters should be as he felt "real" without ever feeling too real. When I first began watching classic Corrie, in the late '00s, Dennis was among the first who drew me in. Let's just pretend he never came back.

I treasure Bet, but that doesn't quite work for me either. The part where she is standing in front of the cab and giving a bit of an inspirational speech is a little too much like Elsie, a little too self-conscious, and I get the sense Julie doesn't believe in it. The moment in the pub where she is leaving, and looks at herself in the mirror, the, "Easy when you know how," is much stronger. Everything about Liz's exit, and Liz's last decade on the show, is a failure. Knots Landing did this when Valene moved back into her old home in season 13. It's well done there. Thanks. I couldn't stand that. Few shows lodge inside their own asses the way EE does. It's not great. I also hate all the trumpet references with Sonia. They had her blowing trumpets in her last scene. Just sad. She blew more trumpets than she had storylines.

That song always makes me emotional.

Thanks for taking the time to screencap. The Fiz mention is amusing, as she was a terrible foster child. IIRC, she accused Roy of abusing her.

There was also Hilary and Cecily, but I'm not sure if Shannen was on Our House around that point.

Thanks for the promo.

I agree. I think he also would have been more overt in her looking for Mac replacements, which was sort of implied with how quickly she fell for Lucas, and later, Spencer, but never properly told. It's all been written about enough as it is but the show did Iris so dirty in the '90s. The last mention of her being in an interview where Michael Malone basically had to say that P&G saw her as too old to return still bothers me.

That promo is pretty rough. Very sluggish, very lackluster narration...and whatever was being said at 13 seconds cracked me up. Oh of course, that's Susan. Does Stacy Haiduk usually play her like Zelda Rubinstein with strep throat? One Stormy Night was the name of that special from the early '90s which featured Bo. Maybe they are hinting at a Carly return...

I think for the severity of some of what Iris did in the '70s it was quick, but then I have never seen most of that, only read it. If Mac had lived I imagine he and Iris would have had a further period of estrangement. The only reason they needed to have forgiveness after several months was because the Corys would have been too scattered otherwise. I think it also may have been down to not really having story if Iris was fully estranged from the Corys as she was never close to any of them anyway - Mac was the one she loved. I think it was R Scott Colishaw (?) who said Mac's death was the ultimate comeuppance for Iris all through the rest of her time on the show.