DRW50

March 1976 TV Radio Mirror

Do Natalie fans prefer her before the rape story? To me she seems fascinating in the earlier stuff I've seen, but after the rape story it seems like she becomes more like someone that things happen to.

It always seemed strange to me that Joanna had been such a major part of the Chandlers lives for years before they arrived but was written out a year or two after they started on the show. I wonder why that was. A Digest best/worst 1984 issue had praise for her.

Helga wasn't sinister? I thought she went nuts and went off a cliff or something.

Wonderful photos. They make Paint Your Wagon sound very dirty. I love that cheesy photo of him in the Western. Couldn't get away with that now... I didn't know he was in the Turning Point. I'd never seen that Where the Heart Is photo before. Robyn Millan looks like an alien and Diana Walker seems terrified. Diana van der Vlis is like "What the hell is this?" Too bad they didn't put a photo of him on the show - there's one with his siblings.

Heather is being written out. It's too bad they never matured her - it made her unbearable. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a340859/eastenders-star-cheryl-fergison-to-leave-soap.html

I think it's been mixed in recent years, but I meant more in the late 90's - well, Jake as soon as the awful Lowry fell out of that damn tree, and then Tad a few years later. It used to drive me away from the show for periods of time. That was also when the whole Adam Chandler evil father stuff started kicking up, which I thought was too obvious.

Thanks for figuring that out. I don't have them at the moment, I don't think, but if I do I'll post more.

So Ted Tinling. Thanks.

Thanks. I'm not sure why he looks familiar to me.

Beyond letting so many leave, I think what they did to Tad and Jake (so self-righteous and unpleasant) also damaged the family. There was no real warmth there as time passed.

Just great. Beautiful photos. Who is the first guy, on the left?

That's why it's so important to keep "normal" characters like the Martins. I truly think the damage done to that family was AMC's biggest failing.

Wow that's great. I love all the color photos, in character. It's so weird seeing Kevin Spirtas dressed that way. I think I may have posted all the Rituals recaps, but I'm not entirely sure. I love the covers too. Poor MBE - epitome of the 80s. The guy looks so familiar to me. I'm not sure why. He reminds me a little of Bill Beyers.

That's what soaps don't know how to do now - everything is so generic. It's like hey, we need Pine Valley to keep remaking Sex and the City! Come on already. At the very least have Enid Nelson show up and tell them to get the f*** outta there.

I just wonder if fans at the time complained or if the show managed to flit between both worlds effortlessly. If you think about it, it makes a lot more sense than the more recent efforts to turn Pine Valley into some big cosmopolitan setting, which got worse thanks to Fusion.

That IS hilarious. I guess that's what happens when the UK is one of the few foreign countries to not become obsessed over B&B. Poor Kat Kelly. Now they'll say KKL is having a feud with Kym Marsh.

So at the time you didn't notice any big change during the 1981 strike? I guess it was more noticeable in 1988? The 88 one lasted a few months longer didn't it?

Thank you for reading them. If you have any thoughts on them, or the clips posted, or have more good gifts of your own, we'd all love that I'm sorry about them being so out of order. If there are any other soaps you'd like some synopses of or articles or anything, let me know. I have a Christine Jones interview from Rituals somewhere - you may have already read that though.

Chris Bruno auditioned to play David Rampal on AMC. He thought soaps were kind of silly at that point, and was glad in the long run he didn't get the role, because he got to stay in acting school (no comment from me). Paul Satterfield auditioned to play Mac. When he wasn't chosen, they rewrote the role of Paul Hornsby to suit him.

Another thing I always wonder about is whether fans bought Nina suddenly being an exec, the affair with Steve Jacobi, etc. It seemed to come fairly quickly after she married Cliff.

They're all very good. It's especially interesting to see the McDonalds when they seemed real and weren't the embarrassingly bufoonish, wretched self-parodies of recent years. All those who praised Jim's exit because "It was SUPPOSED to be a comedy!" should watch the episodes when Liz delivers that premature baby. Good luck getting that on Collinson's watch. Instead Carla would plow into her on a bender and she'd deliver a healthy baby released from the hospital after two days.

I was reading an old magazine that talked about a summer 1981 story (or spring maybe) with Nina slowly dying while being held in a bank with Sean. Do any of you know a lot about that story? It screams strike filler to me. I'd love to know what people think of 1981 strike material compared to 1988, what damage it did (if any, etc.). It seems like AMC wasn't all that hurt in the 1981 period - it was more 84 or 85 when they lost steam for whatever reason (perhaps lack of interesting new heroines - always a problem with AMC).

I was wondering exactly how long Erica's New York period lasted. Was her only PV interaction with Mona? What made this end? Was it the story with Adam? Did they end because they'd run out of ideas, or was it a ratings thing?

Thanks. They really should have you do something on Bravo, you do a lot to get me interested in this show.