DRW50

Thanks @chrisml I'd be fascinated to know if Deena stuck with OLTL through the years of noble rapist #1 and noble rapist #2 and finally noble rapist #3, Ford. I also wonder how she felt about Brad Vernon... Malone judging people for not wanting to see Todd's (totally unearned) "redemption" is a great example of the attitude that drove many soap fans away, never to return. Logan having the editorial freedom to get to have an entire column on such a controversial subject, and to have a column which goes against decades of soap precedent, is an example of voices the soap press would soon lose. Can you imagine anything like this ever happening even by the '00s? (not to mention the ass-kissing Daytime Confidential/"Soap Opera Spirit Awards" era). Angel Square never quite worked in terms of the double life/return of grit (partly because of the overall decay of ABC Daytime and partly because Horgan just wasn't a strong enough producer), but I did respect the idea and I'm glad it stayed around to the end of the show.

I haven't watched Sonni/Josh that closely but anything I have seen is Sonni pining and being paranoid and being manipulated while Josh worries over Reva. I didn't really see a lot between Cynthia and Robert, although they barely had a chance before Kim returned. I do think Josh was a self-righteous ass, but many regimes tried to paint him as having to put up with Reva and her antics. Long was the one I think could admit in the writing that they were as bad as each other.

I think all of this made sense with Josh's obsessive nature, which most writers who weren't Pam Long never seemed to tap into. Beth Ehlers and Robert Newman had good chemistry, which helped (other than Kim he wouldn't really have chemistry with another woman until Crystal Chappell). I never saw Harley that way, although she wasn't in the dynamic long before Newman left. I wonder how Curlee felt about Mallet/Harley. To me THAT was the pairing which changed Harley, draining her of all life and saddling her with a dull, sanctimonious [!@#$%^&*]. For the most part Harley never regained what had made her special (not helped by the Philip pairing, someone else who tended to drain life out of his partners). I couldn't remember if they still mentioned Susan and Nick at the end. Thanks. Usually, any gay man on a soap with AIDS was a short-term character and we often just saw them through the eyes of our heroine. GL had a friend in Lucy's support group (I can't remember his name, but I liked him). GH had Jon Hanley, Lucy Coe's dresser. We never saw any of their suffering (Lucy did have a moving reaction after Hanley passed away in real life). The closest was AMC, which in early 1995, when Julia Santos was becoming a nurse, had some very hard scenes to watch where Julia helped a young man who was dying of AIDS, and they were more honest in showing him in agony and in tears, saying he did not want to die, etc. Thank you to everyone who answered my questions about the blizzard and Fiona, and Mary Ellen Stuart. Sadly it was taken down.

It's pathetic. He really does want to collect Beanie Babies of soap alum just because he can, and generally it's alum I never needed to see again. And even those I am happy to see again are stuck in worthless parts most of the time. The biggest "success" on that front of late is probably Van Hansis, and he could be dumped at any time.

I was never a huge supporter, but during the periods of time I tried to sit through Y&R in those years (mainly the late '00s), I didn't think he was that bad. However, the alleged pushback he and/or his fans had to Cane being paired with Beth Maitland left a very bad taste in my mouth. He was very lucky to still have a job at that time and should have been happy with what he was given. I've been a fan of Beth's from the first time I began watching Y&R and the whole idea that he was somehow meant to be above her just because of the usual overinvested banner-flying antics turned my stomach.

Thanks so much for the details. I can see why Gottlieb would be drawn to the use of the flashbacks, and Robin's many talents. I do feel bad for Elaine. Do you know if Robin ever spoke about auditioning for Dark Shadows?

The story itself was terrible, which didn't help. And I don't know if the characters, especially Nora, ever fully recovered. I know there were supposedly some plans to reunite Viki/Clint which didn't happen, maybe due to the backstage issues with RItchie, but I got the feeling the main reason they killed Sloan was for Viki to be completely broken and set up the DID story, not to reunite her with Clint.

And that role was originally meant to go to Jennifer Grey, per the show's Wiki, until test audiences complained about the age difference. HBS was only three years older, but I guess she was not eternally Baby to them. Hillary later blamed the sitcom for why viewers had such a visceral reaction to the breakup of Bo and Nora, as they were given a lot of light material through that whole Something Wilder run that most couples on soaps weren't given. Thanks for the articles @chrisml I've always loved that photo of Clint Ritchie. I remember the hate the character of Clint received from some fans, how he was meant to hold Viki back, etc. All I can say is I hope they enjoyed all the wonderful material Viki got without him.

I would not say LeClerc and Peluso had great chemistry...but the main issue is she had wonderful chemistry with Randolph Mantooth and viewers seemed to want them together more than the show itself did. There are multiple times over the history of the show where they try to move the characters on, and I don't think viewers ever accepted it. I don't even think most of them ever accepted Alex/Jocelyn. I didn't. I don't think LeClerc was the right choice for a dual role. I wonder if he told them he would leave if he didn't get something interesting to do (which he had not as Jeremy in a long time).

Is that the same part Mary Ellen Stuart would briefly play?

They could...and the way things are going, I imagine they can again. I'd totally forgotten about this. It's not a bad idea, although there's no real value without having his grandfather Mike on the canvas to react. Yes, her OLTL exit seemed very high-profile. IIRC it was said ABC made an example of her.

Lovely of Michele to have a cake and everything. This clearly means so much to her.

I liked Alan-Michael. It always made him seem a bit immature and like he had a foot in two worlds, which is something the show never did enough with. Keeping Kelly Louise would have been dumb because she was named that partly down to Nola being fixated on Kelly. I wonder if Marland was still upset he never got to pair them properly.

This seems random. I wondered if they were bringing him back to kill him off, but apparently not. I stopped watching by most of his run but kept up at times. I had forgotten all that mess with Taylor. Maybe he can take her with him and she can return played by Kristen Alderson.

Thanks. They really did seem to give up on Jenna after she and Buzz reunited. So her activism for Zaslow may have been the reason. Jenna was never much of a character, but Fiona had a natural spark which left as soon as she was paired with Buzz. I know Fiona enjoyed working with him, and I'm glad, but much as I grew to tolerate them, there was something, anything else to do with her. Maybe have her get involved with Matt, in a money scheme if not romantically, to cause some tension with Vanessa. Thanks. Curlee must have been the writer interested in Alan-Michael and Blake as I can't remember if they ever interact much after she goes.

I never saw the resemblance, mainly because JFP's very famous hairstyle is not similar. Thanks. I don't remember this blizzard, admittedly I was barely watching for large parts of 93 due to most of my favorite cast members leaving. I may be wrong, but I believe there was a rumor that P&G fired Fiona because she had an issue with how Michael Zaslow was treated. It may have been something else though.

Watching these December 1989 episodes that have been around for a while on Youtube but I'd never seen for some reason. The other two have some wonderful Kate material (when she first has to wear her wig and meets Louie). This focuses more on Trisha's first funeral, and the last appearance of Ron Nummi as Rick. This is a mature, understated exit, with Stacey being very gracious to him. It bothers me a lot that they undid this only months later to trash and murder the character. You also have Marianne Tatum as Gwyn. I did not realize until recently that she was the bridge between Christine Tudor and Elizabeth Savage rather than Tudor returning one last time and then leaving. She is much closer to the last years of Gwyn, just drowning in pain. Savage is brassier, the more flip side of '40s movies, blowsy, with a heart of gold. Another thing in the other two episodes (20/21) is how sorry I feel for Noelle Beck having to talk about how acorns are a symbol of love. Similar to Trucker having to talk to a raccoon in this episode, declaring that the raccoon helped his love for Trisha, I wonder how much they laughed and laughed. Robert Tyler was thrown in the deep end with some of this emotional material, but I do credit him for trying and getting better and better as the show went along.

Thanks. The comment about the Tom pairing is probably my favorite. No one seemed to like that.

Thanks. That story about the shoulder pads is very funny. I wonder whatever happened to the antique store.

As some have speculated on here, something clearly went on with Phillips and the show. I totally agree about Todd. I don't think it helped that Suede and Marty didn't have a lot of chemistry, but the optics of Todd surviving and thriving while the man who was a rock for Marty died, soon forgotten, were telling.

I do wonder if having another soap on is helping B&B's numbers.

I think one of the problems with soaps is how often there even has to be A gay character, instead of just a number of gay characters. Lucas was often in that role in the '10s, but it never did him any favors (maybe because the show saw Brad as more fitting of the role?). Lucas probably still is a more important gay character to them than Marco, contract or not, but Marco is there to help support other characters we are meant to care about (his parents). I do wonder if they want to redo the homophobia storyline and redeeming Natalia because the original version was cut short due to dumping Blaze in such a hurry.

Thanks. This is what I was thinking of: We Love Soaps: Claire Labine Answers YOUR Questions, Part Six PJ asks: Is there any truth to the rumors that on GL, around the time you were writing, Olivia and Holly were going to get involved? Claire Labine: That wasn’t the original plan, but it was a later plan. I wanted to do a “Children’s Hour” story. I was very serious about wanting to do that, but the network shied away from it. We really wanted to try it to see if it would go with those two consummately gifted actresses. I would have loved to do that. We Love Soaps: But "Children’s Hour" is a very tragic story [in which a lesbian commits suicide]. Claire Labine: It sure is. We Love Soaps: Did you mean for it to end that way? Claire Labine: No. I don’t think anyone needed to have committed suicide. But the realization of one or the other, that she really was in love with the other. I think how she managed that, and how the other character managed it in a loving way. In a sympathetic and loving way ask, “How the hell do we stay friends and how the hell do I not torment you? At the same time how do we do this?” That’s the stuff you get can get a lot of emotional scenes out of. It moved me. I was really interested.

Welcome. As mentioned, there's nothing - this isn't exactly what you want but is from around that period.

I wish people didn't put their kids on social media, but it's a cute video. Thanks again @chrisml for the article. Red-hot Grace Phillips... In the long run I don't think Gottlieb did Pat Elliott any favors at all, but in the short-term she did give her some of her strongest scenes as Renee. Suede was another character who went nowhere fast.