DRW50

Thanks for your help in getting some other vintage clips out there. The Kathie Lee clip is still on the NBC Today site for anyone who wants to see it - I am never sure how long these will stay up before they start to make the sites unavailable. https://www.today.com/video/klg-on-her-days-of-our-lives-debut-the-worst-acting-ever-552750147849

DS' black and white run does hold up well. I don't think the show suited color. Only in the last year do they finally begin dressing the ladies for color. I think most of them hold up, although we've not seen a great deal. I know Denise Alexander talked about how dated GH was in production (as mentioned on here by some fans), and you can see that is the case from what's available.

I'd say there was plenty of wonkiness on Dark Shadows. My all-time favorite would be when Kate Jackson was gagged, the gag clearly came untied, and she had to hold it in her mouth with her teeth as the sides were flapping away. It just didn't really matter because the cast and writing did enough to make you care and they also took a lot of chances, going all across time, had all kinds of horror content, etc. That wasn't the case with GL's last few years (some might say they had horror content, admittedly).

It does look like Eileen's side profile. I'd love to have heard her thoughts on that drawing.

I'd never seen that. I think the ATWT lady is Dee (matching my feelings for most of her storylines). I don't know why Nikki would be in the 4 Ls. Maybe that was Leslie?

In her Locher Room interview last year she said she mostly enjoys spending time with her grandchild. If the material is there, you never know, but that won't be happening on this show with the present regime. They did have good chemistry.

Some rare good news these days. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/long-island/long-lost-silent-film-thought-lost-forever-found-long-island/6136458/

I think he works well enough with his kids or in a support role. There are many others I would write out.

They could just say she's more in the fundraising/charity side. I don't know if Crystal would work long-term. There are some I'd love like Maureen Garrett or Maeve Kinkead, but they are retired and likely seen as too old by TPTB.

nm, already discussed

Of options, Newman is definitely much more likely. I don't even think Marx acts anymore. And Jeff would probably be part-time anyway so it might be easy for him to commute. The casting for the mother would be much more interesting. I'm not even sure where I'd start. I might say Crystal Chappell. I'm half-surprised that one didn't take. I hope Sam leaving might mean they won't write her out as well - maybe enough money was freed up to not have to do this again and again.

IIRC at the time Becky actually was fired, and they were going to leave Liz in a mental institution (?) if not for intense fan backlash. I think they genuinely believed all fans just saw her as a dirty whore who could be banished. Jacob was still something of a B-player, but the Greg years, and Guza and Geary's clear contempt for him, was the death of the character. I say that as someone who liked Greg the most of the Luckys.

This is a break, not permanent. My guess is due to budget.

I think Lucky was in JJ's last two years, and Liz for around that time up to when Jason left in 2000. After that, probably not. It did seem like Guza was trying to push Lucky heavily again when Jonathan first returned.

A-level is still mostly whoever is tied to Sonny/Jason/Carly.

I think it's a combo of many things - I don't believe Frank really wanted him back, Lucky is exclusively tied to characters Frank has no great interest in, and Luke, who defined Lucky, is long gone. We may be getting the same treatment with Lulu if she didn't have a child via Valentin. I think Robert Newman would be fine as Jeff, if they give him a chance. I was never that into him as an actor but he's certainly capable. I would say there are more dynamic actors, but then you look at what GH did with those actors, like Richard Burgi, so maybe it doesn't matter. I'd say maybe Gregg Marx, if he was interested.

I could definitely see Ava becoming paranoid about Liz and scheming against her. I know Ava fans would say that's beneath her and she deserves happiness and a good man, but I think Ava would be better off as a character (the recent OLTL Dorian stuff I watched still in my head) who never lets herself be happy and always wants what she doesn't have. I can see Jake going being down to wanting to avoid Jason/Liz. I also wonder if it's because they want to concentrate more on Jason still being in "adventure" or with the Corinthos and Quartermaine crew (as Sasha is now in that grouping too), and they thought Jake and Liz being in his life would be too confusing. It's a waste as the feud between Jake and Danny could have gone somewhere.

I'm probably a contrarian as I did not care for Liz in the years where the show was pushing her (moreso after JJ left and we got Jason/Liz, the model period, and all the endless dock pity party scenes) but after it became clear the show had no real use for her beyond what moved the plot along (this began somewhere in the mid '00s, if not a few years earlier), I warmed to her a little. The truly ugly way that she was treated in JJ's first return (through no fault of his) still stays with me. Becky Herbst will never be one of my favorite actresses, but she is calm, direct, capable of some subtlety, and after getting to see some of GH of the '60s and '70s over the last decade, is more at home with the foundational acting style of GH than I had realized. She also has chemistry with most of her leading men, which is rare. The show should have done so much more with her as a single mother, should have done much more with her kids, who have now all been shipped off, or in Aidan's case, overaged and given a cynically, depressingly offcamera coming out storyline. But in some ways that may have benefited Liz - look at what happened to Carly and her kids when they were treated as leading characters. They are all completely spent (and one is long dead, somehow staying dead even with ill-fated attempts to change that). It's a shame they apparently did such a half-assed job bringing in her parents as I know a number of fans had wanted that for a long time. I agree that Liz should be in a new relationship. Lucky's return has been exactly what I expected (I believed the show had passed him by, and I still believe that), and Ric makes sense in her life as their version of John Dixon and Kim Hughes. As for Jason - Jake should still be on the canvas and that should cause much more of a relationship between Jason and Liz, but I think that only works as tension over what could have been and never was, not anything now.

Anna may not want to think about that after her liplock with Jason.

That's awesome.

Thanks. Really appreciate you taking the time to look and to respond.

This sums up many of my feelings about Trump and China in this term. I'd go a step further and say I wonder if they own him now (Russia still has a big hold but they've lost a great deal of influence and China has had to bail them out). His ties to Elon, who is also in thrall to China, are another clue. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/02/05/trump-pro-china-moves-00202500

Rebecca Minkoff Exits 'The Real Housewives Of New York' After 1 Season

I think this is Simon Prebble in this vaguely frightening ad.

That makes a lot of sense. We could even tie the bizarre Krystal brain tumor/damage story to the end of the Reagan era - she started the show strong and vibrant and ends as a disappearing shell. Neighbours recently introduced another member of their rich family, who is named Fallon Morell. Another reminder that the main memory many have of Dynasty now seems to be stupid names...and the family in question is another reminder of just how dull rich families often are on soaps (Dynasty in particular after the first few seasons).