DRW50

I have a vague memory of Mindy having a flashback where she was in a soda shop or somewhere with Lujack, to try to imply she'd had feelings for Lujack which would I guess further give motivation for her being with Nick. I remember Nick and Lillian also having a talk soon after his arrival. It's too bad they didn't do more, but I don't know what they could do anyway - the only part of the story which had juice was Beverlee's responses, and the show took that for granted. JFP really was deluded enough to believe the only person in that story GL fans cared about was Vincent.

I am curious - when Larry was brainwashed into proposing to Karen again, did he still love her but had just tried to move on? I can't see them lasting if Karen had stayed. I love the idea for Karen, and the show needed that, especially when you think of how many lost souls were around in the '80s who could have been brought into Llanview. The '80s was a lost decade, in many ways. Your idea is so much better than what they were going to do with Karen if Judith had returned for the finale (allegedly), even if some soap stenos at the time tried to drag Judith for not agreeing to it.

Thanks @DemetriKane I'd never heard this.

By that point I was skipping large portions of the show, but I do remember this was when he and Alan Michael were heated rivals. I'm not sure who they thought cared.

Those are very good ideas, and very fitting for the time (the gym/eatery). The family drama for the Todds too. Maisie and Vince would have made more sense to me in the long run than Vince and Mary reunited.

It was worse than that for me because I felt like Mindy also went under the bus and she and Alexandra both just suffered for the sake of Nick. I remember lots and lots of Nick being a sanctimonious ass to them and various others to the point where it was only his final year on the show, when they had clearly given up on the character, that he behaved in a remotely kind or human manner. You aren't wrong. Coleman did a good job with the story, but the story was a mistake. It was too soon to bring Annie back, and while I appreciated how cold and sharp Coleman was compared to how OTT Watros could be by the end, there just was no need for her. The whole idea of her using poisoned aftershave to make Josh want Cassie felt like a rejected Dynasty plotline. And then she ends up stuck in a boring relationship with Alan before she skips town - I can't even remember what her exit was...did she go on the run? The only positive was her confrontation scenes with Alex in the attic during Marj's brief 98/99 return - some of Marj's best work in the role.

More great ideas. The idea of a Quinn/Dennis pairing is something I can't believe I never thought of - she is just his type of classy, remote older woman. And Iris would definitely question the racial element. I can see Iris being involved with Mitch too. I hadn't even considered someone impersonating Mikey, but it makes sense. Maybe a more coherent version of all that Sandy/Jonathan mess on GL, without puppets.

It's such a moving scene, especially when I see that it carried over to the beauty shot (maybe one of the strongest beauty shots I've seen - a great example of the power they could have). So many who write soaps in recent years often just want to write bitchery and "camp" between female characters. It's cheap and easy, a way to get fans talking and to get attention on social media. They could have gone that way with Karen, especially if they had stuck to the earlier shadings of the character but having her trying to look out for the other broken dolls, giving them the support Viki had given her in her lowest moments, is so much more impactful for me. A gorgeous moment that the world needs more of now.

Thanks @Efulton that's a great find!

I think Mindy was beneath her talents, to be honest (and I am a Mindy fan). Still, it would have been more logical than what they did with Tangie. @P.J. Thanks. I think I watched the episode a few years ago, but that one moment is still visceral in my mind.

I do enjoy the Buchanans, but episodes like this remind me of the consequences of their devouring the show. You have such a beautiful scene near the end of the episode with Karen and Edwina (she really did have very pretty hair - no wonder her cutting it got such notice), two outsiders, very broken, trying to survive, and Karen can only try to take Edwina into her arms to share her pain. That was one of the cores of OLTL - outsiders, outcasts. And then you have Asa and the whole jamboree, hee and haw. You know which one ends up winning. In the Rauch era, you mostly just have those characters being absorbed into the Buchanan circle and the focus shifts to the danger they bring to the "good" characters, rather than focusing on their brokenness. It still works, in some ways, thanks to the work from Andrea Evans and Fiona Hutchinson, and some tender writing here and there, but it does turn OLTL into something it was not intended to be.

I can't remember if this one had ever been up before, but just in case it hasn't been: This has some of the Paris location shoot, including a neat little sighting of a Pat Ashley Show clapperboard and some footage of Pat actually filming her show. (I didn't realize how long the Paris sojourn was as there are still moments there in September) A big location shoot and hoopla with Asa too for...a party being thrown for Samantha Vernon and Mimi King (sure, why not). I was trying to figure out if this is the "Asa raps!" episode but I don't think it is? Didn't fully check though. I do wonder how viewers at the time felt about the sudden yee-hawization of their Llanview. Fascinating they were doing all this location work in August, not even a sweeps period. Some fun moments here with Dorian, Clint and Viki where Dorian asks Viki if she'd save her if she was drowning: "Dorian, I would think about it." It's nice to see this lighter Dorian, a reminder we are still early into Robin's run. Oh, there's a really good scene with Katrina and "Mario" near the end of this episode. Nancy Snyder brought so much believability to a role that was basically an extended plot device. Good scene in here of Karen blasting the hell out of "Mario" because he still has the horn for Tina and is just a trashy, sloppy mess in general (poor Edwina...). The layers of deception with Karen and Marco are fascinating (and they casually talk with Katrina even though IIRC they had already stolen her child by this point). It's a credit to Judith Light and Gerald Anthony that viewers were still on their side. @Vee @Franko @Paul Raven @slick jones @EricMontreal22 @FrenchFan @vetsoapfan @Khan @Soaplovers @SFK @dc11786 @chrisml @Marco Dane @Jagger1966 @MissPalmer @dragonflies @janea4old @TheyStartedOnSoaps @BetterForgotten @Kane @Soapsuds @Contessa Donatella @Maxim @All My Shadows

@Paul Raven Love your ideas. So many are no-brainers - Pammy and Gerald should have returned, if anyone at AW by then even remembered them. Ben should have come back. And Vicky vs Iris writes itself. I really want a Michael Randolph return too and I had a lot of ideas on that.

Thanks. I knew it had to be some short-lived blonde. I get her and the first Laurel mixed up at times.

Thanks. Very sloppy to just not ever talk about him again, although I guess they figured most viewers wouldn't remember or care. Mid 1986 AW and late 1987 AW are almost like two different worlds. They likely would have trashed the Millers in some way, although we barely ever saw them enough to where they'd have to work hard to make them look bad. Maybe he turns out to be lying about them and was just tired of being poor and feels like he's a burden to his parents as they are still paying off the money they spent fighting for him. Donna and Michael help him and the Millers end up letting him stay (or maybe he's already 18 by that point).

I probably should have said we didn't know - I think there was mention here of them laying groundwork (beyond bringing the kids back) but it was never confirmed.

Thanks. I didn't realize they had brought the story of their dead son back. I imagine if Sharon's tenure had worked out better, they would have revisited the story again. You're right that Catlin would have raised Kevin. What was his exit - going to LA with Liz? He never died, but I thought they should have brought Mikey, the child taken from Donna and Michael, back in the mid '90s. He could have easily had the stories Nick was given.

I remember watching just a fragment of it on the 50th anniversary special and being mesmerized. Lisa Brown did good work for many years to come but that level of rawness and brokenness stays with you.

I wish they would have Roman shoot EJ and then confess, allowing for some time away and a proper recast. I know it won't happen, but I still wish it could.

I know there are the Men and Women of Loving videos (which I never got to see) but I hope we get an oral history while a number of the players are still with us. I only ever knew of the show through having the show on in summer '95 and the mentions in the soap magazines about the revamp. Other than that, until this thread, and Youtube, all I ever knew was scraps of scraps, some of which weren't even true. It's a shame The City didn't get more time as I do think Tracy gave the show a boost of life and there were hints on the way of more necessary changes (like Ava returning), but then, they had 14 years, which is a rarity for most soaps.

Ah. Alice and Steve? That could have been a very good storyline, especially if that child ended up having a bitter feud with Jamie.

There is one episode from 1981 or 1982 (?) where he's with Tom in the law office. I got the sense that was the main place he would have been, but I can't say.

Rachel had a miscarriage in her first pregnancy with Mac, although that might have been too much as viewers saw Kim pregnant all the way through whereas Rachel miscarried in her first (?) trimester. I don't think Marland would have done it, but if Pat had stayed on AW and AW had gone into the '00s I could see them bringing on her aborted child as some kind of vendetta plotline. If they ever brought Catlin back, then they could have said his child with Brittany (the one washed away in a flood or whatever) was still alive.

Furthest to the left is Brooke/Erica (AMC), and below them L&L. Then I think you have Margo and Tom (Deas and Colin era), Victor, and Bo and Hope. Then Elizabeth, Mike and Alan (GL), I think @janea4old is right about DAYS and Lucas, the Capwells, and Antonio/Gabi/Ricardo from Sunset Beach. I have watched that sketch a few times over the years but didn't ever notice some of the more obscure images alongside the big ones. Thanks.