DRW50

Apparently the first Peter wanted to leave the show. After that the show seemed to have no idea what to do with Peter. I haven't seen Holder's work, but Smythe seemed weak/ineffectual. Honestly the Love dynamics are something which sound much better on paper than they were when I got to watch them onscreen. I loved the interaction between Nicole, Peter, and Donna in their first year or two, but once the recasts started, and once Reginald returned, everything went downhill fast. Lots of whining and pouting from Peter, lots of Donna freakouts, and Reginald twirling his mustache.

I've seen that a few times but my main question always ends up being who is that Trudy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jJQYZ7Dm7s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCBMFiKhiuw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq46b1TNYqU Some of Jane's best work.

Some good Carrie scenes in this I hadn't seen before. When they focus on her inner struggle, the story is great. When they have to give Ross stupid pills...not so much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jJQYZ7Dm7s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCBMFiKhiuw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq46b1TNYqU

DTC overidentifies with Johnny (who, as with his other pets like Christian, is a generic ubergay cliche who knows everything about being gay and needs to help rescue self-loathing closet cases, with more time spent on his hair and clothes than on characterization), and likely believes Sam Strike is the only one who can represent him. He did the character a huge disservice by giving him poor, half-written stories (was there ever any reason he let Sharon get beaten?), overexposing his sour, one-note relationships with crabs like Linda, then shoving him in the background until time for the tedious anti-chemistry of Johnny/Ben. Strike fled as soon as he could because he knew he wasn't getting anything anyway. Could this get any more generic? What does this even mean? Does Harry Reid go around killing people and doing impromptu Broadway dance routines? There's nothing to come for Ben. The character is played out. The fact that they had to revive a sexuality storyline says it all. No one cares about Ben's sexuality or about his relationship with Phil. What else is there? Oh, will Abi get pregnant? How shocking. He needs to stop focusing on his fantasies and all these ideas that he has no ability to execute, and start working on trying to save a show. Endless hype and PR drone-type fans and the declining fortunes of ITV soaps aren't going to mask his weaknesses as a producer.

Debbie Dean?

Thanks so much for finding that article. Farrah had faded somewhat but was still a fairly big name in 1979. That she did an interview with a soap magazine (and one that was on the way out) is a real surprise. She seems to have had nothing but good memories and was very pro-soaps, instead of being ashamed. I love her Dark Shadows anecdote. She's right about the value soaps provided for young actors. Another reason to mourn their loss.

Happy birthday (I wonder if the two of them ever celebrated it together) Between The Doctors and some of the great 1992 ATWT material uploaded, this has been a good year to be a Liz fan (I think they used to call themselves Lizards...).

Thanks.

Another woman. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bill-cosby-accused-raping-ex-girlfriend-sammy-davis-jr-article-1.2052890 His legal team pisses it out with CNN. http://www.tmz.com/2014/12/22/cnn-bill-cosby-letter-beverly-johnson-drug-victim-boyfriend/

Really enjoyed this - Paulina spending time with Rachel and Carl, and Vicky with Jack. This reminded me a lot of the old Vicky, especially the finger snapping.

The first two parts of this are already online, in the "If This Isn't Love" clipset on the classicGL channel. The scene pops up near the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP-ZkCpzWso

Mitch, I kept thinking of your Marland criticisms when I watched that Larry/Susan scene, as it amounted to: Larry: We have to talk! Susan: I don't want to talk! I'm TIRED of talking! Larry: Don't you see? Even when we don't talk, we're talking! We have to talk! It cracked me up.

Thanks for sharing this. This was such an interesting time for the show, as much of the material here didn't carry on to 1993. I wish we'd been able to see whether Marland would have picked some of this back up. There's some really potentially great stuff here, especially Scott attempting to unthaw a rattled Lucinda, and then Lisa's fear of this happening (I loved her minor freakout when Lyla said she didn't want Scott to do what Craig did - then Lyla has to hastily backtrack/cover). I was a Caleb/Julie fan, but hadn't really remembered why in watching their material back (what is available of it). This episode is a good reminder of why. MDM and SMS, when they had the chance, gave Caleb and Julie such a tenderness and longing and pain. You could see why they were drawn to each other. Thanks so much for giving me the chance to see this again. The party scenes are a great example of why the friends and home and family aspect of ATWT made it so special and so real. Little things like Andy and Frannie hoping that Margo is pregnant, as a somber Lyla tries to get them off the subject. Or Andy saying he's going to go out there and be a little [!@#$%^&*] (and how rarely by this time did Andy ever even get to be an annoying kid brother?), and Lyla tells him that's a bad idea. Or that heartbreaking scene where Margo is overcome with emotion at the fear that she may not have many birthdays left to celebrate with Adam, and Lisa has to step in. Iva's makeup is awful here. I liked Susan and Larry at the time but sometimes these episodes make him seem like such a pill. Still, Marie Masters and Ed Fry worked well together, and it was smart to use his past with Frannie to cause tension in their relationship. I thought Frannie already knew about Jennifer at this point. Yikes at that last scene (and wow did Mary Ellen Stuart remind me of the wonderful Mickey from Friday the 13th the Series). Such beautiful scenes with Hal and Barbara, and all of Barbara's neuroses on display. This night of course led to a little Will 9 months later. Hal's venting about all the confusing suspects in this murder mystery feels like a viewer complaint. This episode reminds me of why I had such a hard time accepting KMH as Emily. She just seems superfluous and bratty and has no real spark. Throwing her in scenes with Hutch and Rosanna doesn't help. (as always Rosanna's more-lethargic-version-of-Lily material feels out of step and oddly out of date with what was otherwise a very contemporary show).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLXrnrBXrP4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR_GIPMRzLw I like her scenes in that second one a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLXrnrBXrP4 Carrie seems to be dressed like a femme fatale (although the way it's let out makes it looks like she's wearing a tent). Great to get to see more of Carrie 2. Jane Elliot plays up that tough persona without overdoing it. The sad part of her talking about how she can dump Ross via letter is that's how the show ended up writing Carrie out. Seeing that set makes me sad too, as I think that ended up being the show's longest-lasting set by the time they dumped it in the early or mid-00's. I wonder if Ross ever thought of Carrie when he looked around the place. I'd seen the Nola/Maureen scene but I don't remember the later part. Nola smiling at her sister's happiness with Ed kind of touches my heart. I've seen the pool party stuff and, call me prudish, but I can't help thinking it was tacky for Morgan and Kelly to have sex in a pool that belonged to the person letting them live on his property. All these random pool parties with random people - no wonder Bert moved out. I will say that Morgan looks very fetching with the bikini and the robe - now I can see why she got some modeling work. I remember reading something about Tony beating up Derek but never really knew much about it. I see a bit of it in the opening credits. Poor Amanda is dressed in the punishing idea of what a businesswoman should be, which is, apparently, the Chicken Lady from Kids in the Hall. Carrie's behavior at that party turns out to be a wild ride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR_GIPMRzLw Never seen any of this Carrie material. It's very strong, especially that last part when Carrie 2 is afraid Carrie 1 could still come back. OLTL did this with Viki/Niki but they did it so much it descended into camp. Here, you really do feel concerned and scared and confused. I can't remember if Floyd ever found out about all the lies. Maybe he did and that's a reason he wanted custody. I don't know. I wish they'd had more of Derek and Nola. Maybe he could have gotten a job with Quint and gotten tangled up with Helena. You know someone once told me that when Marland was writing, it was difficult to remember that Hillary was a Bauer. You can sort of see that here. I was shocked when she mentioned her history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLtvxZYTpPk

Sorry to hear this. I guess he must be one of the most famous directors daytime soaps ever had.

This is just kind of sad now for several reasons.

This is already online, with a different date, but this is a better quality upload. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4zxDzkMwvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQb1jkmXenE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kQAISdUrLw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4zxDzkMwvA That story with Henry looking for Sean seems to go on and on...I wonder when he did eventually drop it. The other upload of this (which has lower picture quality) has a date of June 3. Do you know which date is right? Jane Elliot was so good as Carrie. I'm sorry we never got to see the full plans for the character, and that Jackie was killed off because of truncating the storyline. Jackie not being alive for the Philip reveal was a big mistake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQb1jkmXenE Those flashbacks of the fight in the cable car are terrific. I guess Marland used this again with Frannie and Daryl on ATWT, but in a different context. I will say the score was wrong - it sounded like Mike was going to pop in and Goff was going to explain the history of cable cars to him. Love the quick Bert/Derek scene. Bert was so good at those types of talks, at showing people that someone cared about them. For someone undercover, Ivy is extremely aggressive at work. I guess Henry must know she's undercover. Vanessa even has Diane's old hair and clothes here. The group karate class always kind of cracks me up, as it just sort of looks so ludicrous seeing that group of characters all doing karate. That Tim looks about 30+. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kQAISdUrLw Looks like Katie and Eve got new clothes and hair to mark the real arrival of the '80s (as the first few years were hanging on from the '70s). Katie's outfit doesn't suit her at all - it's very frou-frou lady who lunches. Eve's hair and clothes suit her, but they also make her look like the youngest daughter on Gimme A Break. Mark is so sleazy and offputting. I know Jennifer was lonely, but he's just such an obvious weirdo. That last scene with Carrie is terrific. Gives you the chills. Some of the comments there were talking about why would Hillary ever want Tony over Derek. I tend to agree, but then I have a soft spot for guys like Derek. Tony's not as bad here as he was earlier on in terms of behavior, but he doesn't do tons for me. I will say that I do wonder at times how longtime viewers felt at this point. The show seems somewhat disconnected from its core, especially when you have long, sour scenes of new or relative new characters like Josh and Vanessa bitching at each other, or the somewhat aimless, mostly new group doing karate, etc. At least there was still Bert...

Hilarious to use that one shot of Paige when it was one of her only scenes. The Abby/Val sparring is fun. The cast rewrote a lot of their lines. I wonder if they did that in this scene.

Paul Raven thanks for finding that. I wondered if Whiteside had any other soap work. I guess this must mean Ruth really is gone.

Arya's new clothes. http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/12/18/game-of-thrones-arya-costume/?xid=email-gameofthrones-20141218-mainimg Promo with a few new scenes.

I never knew that. I always sort of assumed they would have paired her with Ed again. I guess she did have a thing for dangerous men. Vanessa essentially took Diane's place on the show, which tells you Marland knew he needed this type of character. Maybe he just thought Diane was an obstacle to moving forward the stories he wanted to tell, or what have you. If Ben had stayed around I wonder if the show might have tried something with them.