DRW50

I think Lisa would have returned. Kassie DePaiva wasn't at OLTL yet so she might have returned for a day. Lee Lawson. They just didn't care. I think JFP, who bragged about making viewers get invested in Maureen in the last six months of her time on GL, genuinely did not think viewers cared about Maureen and felt the only interest would be in how her loved ones reacted. People were still going to be unhappy, but at least they could have come away thinking the show had some respect for Maureen. Instead, it was clear JFP did not.

They did. So they knock BtG viewers out of the habit of watching and also get nothing in return.

I agree, although that seems to be more and more common now. One account I follow puts a weirdly positioned, very distracting timecode. Thames TV started putting weird watermarks. I do appreciate getting the see the content, of course as I would never know otherwise. I do know many reuploaded and reupload this material or even try to sell it as their own, so I get the decision for the watermark, of course, as we all do. That's a shame about the kitchen. I wonder if Lemay/Rauch felt that the only kitchen should be Ada's.

I think - admittedly I never cared about the Sonny/Mike relationship - it's tough to care about Mike without Ron Hale in the role. The conflict of Gio leaning toward Sonny would be smart if Sonny was not so played out, and if there was better setup.

Thanks. Someone in the comments said Strudwick so I wasn't sure.

This is not uncommon for soap actors - I remember one talking about their co-star going up on his lines because he or she smudged their hands on a cloth or something during taping - but if they are going to let Maurice do this they should make sure to keep his hands out of shot.

@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.