DRW50

I'm sure he's going to have them - ideally not in a way that is rushed or perfunctory.

I haven't heard anything of Tanya or Shirley returning. It's hard to believe Shirley returning anytime soon, if ever.

Just more RTD ego trips, seemingly his main reason for coming back.

Thanks @Paul Raven That's a lovely writeup. Do fans feel it was warranted?

Durkin was awful. The writing did her no favors, but she was all wrong for the part, lacking the mix of mystery, steeliness, sorrow and hesitancy that defined Victoria. I still have the awful memory of Adam lugging her around like a rag doll. She looked much more like one of the Blue Whale dancing extras than Victoria. And her voice... Maybe I am too harsh. With that said, Curtis didn't seem as bothered. I see from a fan review mentioning Barnabas & Company that Durkin was asked to return for Victoria's final episodes and declined as she had a Christmas trip to Europe with her husband planned and wasn't interested in just a few appearances. I refuse to believe Victoria actually died during the Leviathan storyline. If Barnabas and Angelique could come back 8 times, she could come back a few.

I'm not even sure why Zoe would care, even if they know each other offcamera. I can't see Jean going, but if she is - good riddance at this point.

I have to admit Annie exhausted me somewhat before she went nuts. So much anxiety. She and Robert were OK I guess. Didn't ever stick out much one way or the other.

Unfortunately, that period of the show would likely just put you to sleep. A part of me agrees, as I do think Robert is a good actor (better than I gave him credit for at the time), but I'm not sure, aside from Harley, how much he ever clicked with other ladies. He did have some spark with Crystal Chappell. I know there were claims they didn't get along either, although I remember reading somewhere (I think) a story about how Michelle was panicking when they had to film the rope ladder scenes in Venezuela, and Kim had to help her through...and Kim had also had a bit to drink. (I hope I have the details right)

Oh I knew it was common (I did not realize Muenker's channel was gone - I'm glad I saved all those videos). I just didn't realize it was the case with the rape episode. I never really felt like she dominated the show in her second stint either, although I can see where she probably did. I can feel it more in some of her first run, because the show was much different before she came in and suddenly a woman we'd seen for a year was [!@#$%^&*] and marrying an entire family. In that sense Reva is more like Babe than Erica Kane. One of the more infamous AMC lines was, "Babe is love." You just know HB would have said that line about Reva at some point.

I initially read this as Marilyn Manson and did a double take. Thanks for the screen grabs. The outfits are horrible. Somehow Victoria's Miss Piggy dress is the best. Ashley looks like a French madam bent on revenge, and Abby looks like she hot glued lace scraps to her garbage bag.

The implication that Rita saying Roger raped her was done for the sake of his rape trial with Holly is interesting, as that wasn't really the case. Maybe it was if you just watched the show, I don't know as I've never seen the episodes, but the Dobsons wrote it as a rape between Roger and Rita and then wrote the Roger and Holly rape in part because of the show turning what he did to Rita into a seduction. I did not realize the only reason the Roger and Holly rape material exists is due to the actors saving it. I guess P&G didn't start saving their material until very late in 1979, based on the German DVD release.

That's an interesting point. I generally think of Long as taking inspiration from Tennesse Williams and other Southern writers. The only one that comes close for CBS soaps may be Lucinda Walsh or Sally Spectra, and maybe those grotesque later years of Stephanie Forrester where she kept beating people up and attacking them with canes.

I also do not like the bits I've seen with Delia during Labine's 83 return. I am glad when she came back for the last time in 1986, she allowed Delia to move on from Frank.

Thanks. I barely remember any of the backstory there, just his ties to her parents. It was all so convoluted, everything with Tangie.

An early TV role for Carolyn Groves, the Victoria recast we deserved.

They are pretty rough in 1981 too, although at least we know the characters.

Roger mostly just had a conscience if it affected him, although there were a few bits here and there. Didn't he look out for Tangie out of loyalty to her parents? Even at the time I don't know if I could have argued that Roger had been ruined, given that he had raped two women, but there was a complexity in the writing for Roger for most of his return until Laibson/McTavish. He just became a one-note heel. Even worse, I just found Dinah completely unwatchable as Wendy Moniz was incapable of playing a heroine (I know even the best could not have made that material work).

There are details through the thread, but yes, as mentioned, she hated Ellen Wheeler, and lambasted her for crying a lot, for her decisions with firing and Peapack, etc. Back in the day she also hated Pam Long, who created Reva and gave Reva all of her best material. The producers or writers she liked most seemed to be those who saw Reva in the most generic of molds, although she likely doesn't see it that way. She was OK on OLTL; I think @Vee could probably give a better summary. She was earthy and added her usual hard work to some trash material. There was nothing special going on, as yet again with patron saint Carlivati it was all plot, no character, and he cared more about writing for a cutesy child character. You're right about what they could have done with Reva. Reva, Erica, and any women who are in story long enough face this problem. The biggest difference is Reva was allowed to age (even with the post-menopausal baby), which Erica was not.

Happy birthday to the best of the best.

Some awkward vibes in the interview, although it was interesting to hear him talk about Knots Landing and also mention that he was writing a primetime project with Ken Corday (did that go anywhere?). He also mentions plans to leave again eventually for a primetime soap.

I know it won't last but I'm glad GH got the boost. They tried much harder than I thought they would to make the Nurses' Ball dramatic this year, in ways that mattered.

She was great on there. And Wings. And so many shows. I don't feel like we get those character actors as much now.

Valerie Mahaffey Dead: ‘Northern Exposure,’ ‘Dead to Me’ Actress Was 71 Loved her. I've never seen her Doctors work.

Valerie Mahaffey Dead: ‘Northern Exposure,’ ‘Dead to Me’ Actress Was 71 I just loved Valerie on my early '90s TV shows. This one gets me.