DRW50

It was. I had wondered how they kept the Meg/Vanessa relationship fresh through the '50s - now I know! And how sadly timely it is to have a story about Vanessa being fired from her newspaper job because she got too close to the truth. Thanks @chrisml. That photo would make a kick ass album cover.

I'm finally trying to get through more of the early episodes again. I've watched 70-79 so far. I am still annoyed at not having any material from the first 69 episodes to help understand the atmosphere of where 70 starts out. The most we get is a few flashbacks - the car crash, and then a few episodes later, a brief glimpse at Lori and Russ in the waves. Looking at my old comments I see that we eventually get some flashbacks of Becky and Lori as well. The acting still isn't the best, but I appreciate that some of the bad actors are at least more over the top in entertaining ways, and the lack of mousy women who were cast in most of the younger female roles later on. Lori #1 has a very golly gosh delivery but that's balanced out by a certain screen presence. Susan Scannell is such a standout - very believable as an anti-heroine, especially those '40s-style glances of regret and sorrow. And she and Russ have such a natural connection. Episode 76 has a number of scenes that were likely filmed in an actual hospital, including an operating room. The realism made me more invested in the material than I would have been otherwise. It makes story sense to have Terry face a crisis of faith few could imagine, losing her mother and husband, but Scott isn't bad at all - he's a believable enough stalwart face for goodness and righteousness. I wonder if they decided he and Terry served the same purpose. Terry's mother remains bewildering to me. Nora often seems like a sitcom character or what you get in the old Archie comics where Ms. Grundy or Mr. Weatherbee would try to be hip to annoy the kids. She has lines like (about Peter): "A bit fresh, maybe - full of beans. I'd rather have that than a greasy grind." Her relationship with Peter is interesting in that I've rarely if ever seen a grandparent/grandchild relationship like it on a soap - she tries to be his pal yet also seems to struggle with empathy for him, laying into him over his daring to be upset and angry that his sister may die. I notice the dialogue in general is snappier and self-aware than later on - characters cracking jokes to each other or making references to the real world. I was surprised when Becky and Russ joked about her paying for his meal was a part of the ERA. Nora saying that Vince Cardello sounds like "a name mystery writers used to give racketeers." There are other kinds of dialogue I never would have expected. Some of the talk between Nick Trench and his "secretary" Mandy was surprisingly blunt, between his pretty much saying he'd passed her around to other men and then her assuming that the money Russ had needed to help Lori was to pay for an abortion (and they even used the word). In another early episode, Miriam casually uses a racial slur as part of the story with her lover Norm, who apparently has the psycho Vietnam vet story that was so de rigeur. In order to show his decayed mental state, we get a lot of stock footage from Vietnam. I have read about the show over the years (mainly on here) and remembered a lot of stuff I'd completely forgotten, but I'm not sure I had ever heard of this story. I wonder how much was told in the first 69 episodes. Nothing against the taste of Bob Aaron, but I find this type of material more offensive than someone being cured of cancer via laser beam. Lois Robbins is such a striking figure as Mandy. Awful to learn why she did not last long. The story with Russ being blackmailed over Lori's treatment costs and the Davidsons finding out is moving much faster than I'd expected. I wonder if that was a response to the complaints of the earlier stories dragging out too much. I did not fully realize there were so many flawed or outright wicked characters in these early episodes. The Davidsons, the Redlons, and the town doctor, and Jeff's wife Liz. In contrast, you have layers upon layers of characters who range from troubled but somewhat good (like Russ and Becky) and get darker and darker and darker, to the point where the whole town seems to be teeming with sickness. This tone is typical of some Christian media, but I suppose some elements are also hallmark of Roy Winsor. It gets very thick at some points. I would love to know what his plans would have been if he hadn't been fired. The article @Paul Raven posted earlier where Winsor (or Aaron - I can't remember) did not want to have introductory scenes where Scott and Terry spoke about when they were saved is very interesting to me because I think that would have been a much better fit for the show than the efforts at weaving in religion that we got in some of the earliest available episodes (like Terry and Scott refusing to let Lori be operated on as soon as possible because of "waiting for a miracle"). I know Jeff and Liz don't stay on very long after Jeff is born again, but I do hope we get some of those beats, because Jeff here is AWFUL, a deeply repulsive figure. They really lay it on thick, especially when he says he doesn't even care about Lori moments after learning that she had nearly died in a car accident. I wonder if he was always planned to be saved and that's why they were laying it on so thick, or if anything changed along the way. I see that years ago I mentioned in here that there may have been plans to give Jeff, Liz and their daughter a spinoff. I have no idea where I heard that (it may have been on the very nice, long defunct Youtube channel where I first saw many of these episodes), and if it was ever true. That could have been interesting, I guess - maybe traveling the road like that Touched by an Angel spinoff no one remembers. This was never posted in here, I don't think. Susan Scannell Locher Room interview. She talks here and there about Another Life, all positive memories. I'm glad to see a few AL fans in the comments, which I wouldn't have expected in 2022. Around 32 minutes in she shares her answer to where she thinks Becky would be today.

I don't think she's wrong about Wheeler being in over her head, and I'm sure Wheeler was exhausting to deal with. I also agree that little group could sell material many others couldn't. Last week I was watching some of her last scenes with Jonathan where she was convincing him to go out instead of hiding in her house all the time and I was impressed by how much she and Tom Pelphrey were clearly just riffing and making it work. I just find the tone a little precious, and high-handed, given her own history with the show. It's a good read but I wish we had other perspectives about whether Wheeler was going to completely reset the show or not. I'm glad you keep mentioning British soap divas because that's exactly what they lack now - so often it's just Botox queens all over the place these days. Gentry's repressed Ed, quaking with rage, is very compelling. Rauch did bring him back. There was no spark. I think they may have considered bringing Ellen Parker back. Once that didn't happen, they seemed to just stop showing him.

Charlotte had been scheming for about 5-6 years up to that point. They may have felt there was nothing left for her, given that she had no long-term love interest and no child. Melinda O'Fee also seems limited as a presence to me. I agree that they caused conflict, but I think the mistake was not bringing in anyone else who could cause believable conflict. Don Stewart was a very handsome man, but I've always found Mike a little dreary. As others have said, I'd probably go with Mart Hulswit's Ed of the guys in that era. I had the same thought about comics. It's even worse in comics. Given Kim's hostility toward Pam Long and alleged feuds with a number of her female co-stars, it's difficult for me to have full weight in her opinion. I also rolled my eyes a bit when she was talking about all the new actors who were just happy to have new apartments and didn't understand the history of the show, given her also coming into GL and being thrust into the central role in a way that helped throw away much of the show's history. Much more than any new hires did in Kim's last years at GL. The irony is for all her disdain for Wheeler, Wheeler was probably the only producer in Kim's second run who gave her material that tapped into her best as an actress. I wish I knew what others said about this whole idea of wiping out all history. It's a crazy idea and would have been doomed to failure, but then, GL was ending anyway, no matter what. It could never be as narcissistic to me as the likes of JFP who made horrible decisions, hired all her friends, then spent decades going "lil ol me?" to all her soap journo pals. I wouldn't have seen a complete clean slate as an atrocity any more than I saw Dark Shadows choosing to end on 1841 Parallel Time as an atrocity. Still, I don't know just how far the plans would have gone. The Soap Opera Weekly letter reminds me of how intelligent many of their letters were, and the good quality of the magazine up to the mid '90s. I also agree that Maureen's death had no real followthrough or purpose, which was the biggest failure. Thanks for the photo @chrisml

This is a wonderful idea. I appreciate you laying out every step.

It's gone beyond giving the far-right attention at this point, unfortunately, as that type of bigotry what now runs our dying country, but hopefully there are still enough daytime viewers with any sense of decency to give the show a chance.

I really like the idea of her starting a business and trying to help younger women. I could have seen her being close to Amanda.

Thanks. Cute photo.

@Jonathan Great ideas! Thanks. An entanglement with Ross would be fascinating given the history of the characters. And I always thought it was a mistake to not bring Mark back one last time, especially when Mark LaMura was still looking so vibrant in his 2005 return.

I was about to ask why she was named Donna. I guess this tells you how much attention I pay to Sonny and Carly stories when I dip in now.

What would you have done with Erica in the show's last years?

@Vee That's a great idea for a story climax. Guza-era style but not a ripoff of clink boom. I did not even remember that Sonny and Carly have another child (was this meant to somehow be an apology from the show for killing off Morgan?). I'd also forgotten Ava already lost a child. RIP Kukla... I thought about waiting on another long-lost adult child story due to all the retcons with Sasha and Cody, but I figured why not.

Thanks @janea4old I didn't know that. Glad they gave him a little moment for the 50th.

I keep hearing people talk about how poor B&B's ratings are. I'm glad if that's still enough to help BTG.

I think there's a gulf between a more mature Erica and what Mona and Myrtle represented. The show never letting her move on meant we got Erica and Ryan, Erica as a showgirl, etc. and I felt like they had no idea who the character was meant to be by that point.

Clarence. He announced for the CBS soaps in the late '80s and early '90s, and again with B&B about 10-15 years ago.

I think BTG is mostly going to struggle from a new soap being introduced in 2025 and likely being seen as "DEI" by bigots at a time when they run every part of our media and government. It's a shame they can't provide better lead-ins in terms of ratings but ideally, they can still scrape through.

I hate almost all custody battle stories on soaps, so the aversion sounds good to me, although you're right they spent a lot of time on nothing (the perils of being made up as you go along). I do wonder what they will do with Ava, as that character always seems to be at a loose end. If they have to keep Ava, I would give her the whole long-lost child she has a love/hate relationship with storyline, only unlike most soap versions of this story, a man instead of a woman. I'd probably kill off Avery, maybe accidentally by Kristina's hand (causing her to have a full breakdown and a lengthy break from the canvas), with Ava's son severely injured trying to save Avery. There would always be tension with Ava and her son because she'd be unable to shake the belief that if he had tried harder, he could have saved her. Lucas would also be torn between them. For added angst, he might have a fling with Nina. Jason always has that halo.

I think what held Erica back was the show never letting her mature. Resetting her in her 40s, 50s, and 60s just became increasingly empty as a gesture. I think she and Jack were fine enough when they had them get back together in the mid '00s. It's just the show - yet again - did a reset, and I don't think they did anything especially good with Erica from that point on.

I would have been curious to see what would happen - probably nothing great, to be honest, but seeing her try a brand new show, maybe even have the actors as new characters, could have been interesting. The idea of going back to episode #1 is something comics like to do. I'm not a fan. Is Wheeler a big comic fan? Russell T. Davies also did that with Doctor Who last year, which did nothing for the show whatsoever.

It's hard for me to judge that period because we only have two episodes - I do think Charlotte's "suicide" aftermath episode is decent. The other is not great, in part because of everyone narrating, as you mention. Based on all the panning of Cenedella from Lemay's book (admittedly not the best source), and the issues with Lipton as a writer, some of the problems don't surprise me. I don't have a problem believing these three women would want Joe. One was crazy, one was a desperate schemer, and Sara didn't exactly have great taste in men (Joe was one of her better choices). I think Call was able to show his quiet charisma on OLTL. He's not playing much of a character here. The parts about Leslie's mother are clunkier to me.

As someone who read comics and watched soaps for many years, I think the idea of a one-off episode being tied into a comic isn't a bad idea. GL wasted years on stories involving mind control, magic mirrors, clones. An episode that gets some free publicity and a few new viewers I can see the appeal of. But the long term I agree it doesn't lead up to much. I will say I am one of the lapsed fans who did come back to watch that episode. (just not much else) I wonder if the Inside the Light episodes may have also been for some kind of budget reason. I know they would also use those to for some reason wrap up certain stories - didn't the Blake episode cover like a year of storyline for her?

Oh wow - I had no idea Sonni was mentioned that late in GL's run. I liked the idea of those episodes but I was not really watching by that point...I think I tried one about Blake because I read Holly was in it.

That's good to hear. I hope they can work in a little tribute to Wayne.

It doesn't. That's why I wanted you to know I didn't think you were coming across that way.