DRW50

Speaking of Rick, are there any clips online of Rick and Ed pulling the plug on Eve, and then Rick confessing the truth to Mindy, who leaves town so she can't be called to testify? I remember these scenes really getting to me at the time, it was the first time I was affected by GL after a very down period with me with the show during 1993-1994. At the time I thought O'Leary played it like Rick was falling for Eve.

The late ClassicGL had some clips of Eve sick, but I don't remember the rest being on there.

I never liked Jesse/Michelle. That was yet another instance of Rebecca Budig not having chemistry with her leading man, and the story was too contrived for me.

I did like Jesse with Drew. I liked Drew a lot. Tammy Blanchard was such an emotional, instinctual actress. Guttural. When she started out on the show she was awful but she really improved after a while, apparently thanks to the coaching from Lisa Brown. She could play the vulnerability and the tears so well. I liked seeing the "bad girl" slowly become good, but never saccharine, and I liked seeing her get the good guy, and find a family.

Jesse Soffer was great as Max. I remember a scene in the graveyard with the gravestone of his mother. I was really disappointed when he left for school and they recast him with that bland guy who went on to be on Wolf Lake. He looked too old for the role of Max.

I also loved the relationship between Drew and Selena. I wish we'd gotten to see more between Drew and her father Ben (the only role I've really liked Hunt Block in), and Drew and Ross.

I know a lot of people didn't like Selena but I thought she was a breath of fresh air. I hated her exit. For a long time GL really screwed up so many exits.

Rick and Abby were a great love story. They were built up for several years. Abby was probably one of the few real successes of Laibson/McTavish. There was a haunting episode early in her run where she first arrived in town, deaf and in the hospital, wandering the hospital, and she was terrified because she saw all this commotion and had no idea what was going on. Jugglers (for a hospital carnival), patients being rushed through the ER, Hawk Shayne screaming at her.

She had no real storyline after the one where she was in prison for killing her attempted rapist. There was a brief story where she got a cochlear implant, but otherwise that was it. I believe there was some tension because Rick wanted children but she wasn't sure.

I do have to defend the exit story, as I thought that was very strongly written. Rick didn't cheat with Claire. They had had an affair in the past and she blackmailed him by lying to him that she'd taken his medical exams for him while he was hooked on pills. There was a lot of tension because Abby resented her interfering in Michelle's life. To pay Abby back, Claire climbed into bed with a drunk Rick and Abby saw them.

What I liked about the exit scenes was that Abby told Rick she KNEW Rick had not been with Claire. She told him she was leaving him for reasons that had nothing to do with Claire. There was too much else for her to take being with him anymore.

The moment where she left, and Rick crumpled up onto the floor, was superb. That was the last real story Michael O'Leary ever had.

I don't know why they did that with Rick and Harley. It seemed to me like they originally wanted her to have Phillip's child again then changed plans at the last minute.

I never liked the Rick/Beth story.

You might as well give it a try.

There's some stuff on Youtube, a lot of 2009, bits and pieces of earlier stuff.

You should try Emmerdale too. Really good show, full of various story threads and great actors and soapy plots. Lots of hotties too.

I kept waiting and waiting for some romance and buildup between Rick and Mel. They were in love so quickly, they got together so fast, then he became sick, and suddenly she was pregnant (since they wrote in Yvonna's pregnancy), and they married. I felt like, as often happened in GL's last decade, the show had no real interest in Rick and burned through story for him at a rapid pace. I really wanted to like Mel and Rick. Instead, I ended up agreeing more with her father as to why this wasn't a great idea. And in the end I think Mel agreed with him too -- when I tuned back into GL regularly and they interacted, there seemed to be no warmth at all. I know he cheated on her with Beth (I'm glad I missed that story, it sounds awful), but still, I was surprised at how bitter Mel seemed when she would talk about being near him.

I didn't mind Cyrus and Mel together, mostly because if I were here I'd want to be all over him too, but it was rushed and I don't believe they would ever go beyond sex.

I wish they'd built up more with Rick and Mindy but I took what I could get. It always upset me that Mindy was essentially MIA for 15 years, so many newer fans probably barely knew who she was. Mindy was one of the people who got me hooked on GL. It was Kim Simms, but still, I like Krista too. Just don't get that boring Barbara Crampton anywhere near me. She was so dull that I rooted for Eve to destroy her.

I think they were laying some groundwork, the tension with Alan, as he paid for her med school (didn't he?), but then the show was canned. I think she could have been revealed as a Spaulding.

I actually liked that she was a B character. I know it sucks that they didn't do more for black characters but for me she fit in well with the background players and added some sparkle and humor. Soaps used to do that all the time.

I still don't get what they did with Leah. She wasn't even in the last 2 months of the show was she? She might have aged and died, like Dolly the clone, for all we know.

I hope you will keep Maggie Jones in your thoughts or your prayers. She plays Blanche, one of the funniest characters around. She's 75. They aren't releasing details, but she had to have emergency surgery and she's in critical condition.

This has not been a very happy year for Corrie.

At the time I was in disbelief that the only real airtime Shari Headley got was as a slave in Civil War Springfield.

I do think Lucky Gold genuinely wanted to integrate the cast, and I appreciated his efforts with Remy and Christina in the last year.

I'm not watching LMAD. I'm not really boycotting, I just don't care about seeing it. If I hear good buzz I might give it a try.

I never understood the point of Boudreau family. Both seasoned daytime vets Richard Biggs and Yvonna Kopacz Wright were completely wasted for the most part and then everyone except Mel was recasted. Remy was not used at all the until the "prestigious acting school graduate" took the role and Felicia when used had to have been the worst psychiatrist ever. Leah was idiotically SOARSed but rarely appeared after that, probably because TIIC realized their mistake. It would have been easier to have revitalized the Grant family when they had the chance instead introducing a whole new family with no purpose and no use.

I think the show brought them in as a sop. There were no actual plans to give black characters major story, but they were brought in to some fanfare to help stave off criticisms of racism. Then when the actors got sick of it and left, Rauch could just say that this was their choice.

I don't even remember that much about Kevin Mambo. I did like his friendship with Dinah, back before WM ate the show.

The last time I remember seeing Hamp was in late 1995. I think we saw him when Marcus was working at Towers and got into a fight with someone, which set up the story where he was framed for Cutter's murder.

At the time I didn't quite realize just how easily you could interpret the black stories during McTavish/Laibson as racist. Not only did you have the trash with Gilly's exit, but you also had Dahlia's drug-addicted prostitute mother (the actress was FABULOUS, I wish they'd kept her around), and Griffin arranging to be shot to help his cause. Even Geoffrey Ewing was angry about that. It's just ugly propaganda and really destroyed Griffin.

The sad thing is that was one of the last times they wrote for black characters on GL, with a few blips here and there excluded. I guess that's one of the reasons I liked Remy and Christina. I was happy that they were just a regular part of the community.

Thanks, I'd forgotten about Griffin, and the comfort with Vivian. I thought it was odd that Rauch did almost nothing with Petronia Paley, given that he brought her into AW, but then, that was the exception, not the rule, for how he treated blacks on his soaps.

The exit story for Gilly is one of the most despicable of all time in soaps, if you ask me. I was so offended. It was so sleazy. Seeing a similar story on Y&R this year only brought that back.

I really thought Vicky had so much potential. Ruth did too.

Does anyone remember the exits Dahlia and Marcus had?

Ruth, Vicky Spaulding, and David Grant never had exits, right?

LOLFanme has put up more episodes. They're all very interesting. They include the 1983 Christmas show, which is a mixture of family, friendship, some spiritual talk (they even mention Hanukkah, which tends to be ignored on soaps more often than not), and singing. Some of the songs are that cheesy stuff where someone's voice suddenly starts booming in their living room (like what used to happen with Karen on Knots Landing when she sang at Christmas), but others are more stripped down and fun to listen to.

Thank you for keeping us updated. I always appreciate how hard you fight for GL and ATWT and AW.

That's interesting, that the devil story was one of her favorites. I'd heard some didn't care for it.

Is this one of the ads?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCrrpfSlQDo

Why was there such a long gap between the time Ceara died and the time Laura returned to GH? And when did Genie leave AMC? Did she just sit on the ABC payroll for a year waiting to work again?

I often felt like her heart wasn't quite in her GH work when she returned. Was she better as Ceara?

Thanks. I thought I knew most of the characters, but obviously not!

So are Ollian ever going to get a story on VL?

Who is Mike? I don't know that character.

I do wish we'd seen more Roman/Axel.

I saw a few clips of the Carnation Killer story -- that was the story that was supposedly designed to write some of the bad blonde actresses off the show, right? What did you think of it?

I saw a clip of Gina's sister, Summer. The actress seemed AWFUL, but do you think the character should have died? Was she ever mentioned after her death?

This was pre Robin Mattson, right?

That's sad. Did they ever say why they didn't bring Tom back as Justin instead of the bad Chris Pennock recast?

I loved Rita on ATWT as Connor and Evan's snooty mother Edwina.

Louie Batley gets a break in America...for her ugly outfit.

(some spoilers)

http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2009/09/fuglyoaks.html

Can anyone tell me what you thought of Virginia Vestoff when she filled in for Liz Hubbard on the Doctors? How long was she there?

I loved loved loved loved loved Virginia on Dark Shadows and to this day I'm still upset that her only other soap work is unavailable.

Thank you for all the details. Was Lotty married to Curtis Alden?

I was watching some of a 1989 episode on Youtube and Jack was charming Stacey on a train trip. Did he play Jack all along? Why did he leave? Perry Stephens seemed good from the little I saw. He reminds me of Simon Baker. Too bad Stacey didn't get to have a happy ending with him instead of dating Buck and getting killed.

You never hear a lot about Stacey considering she was on the show from the start almost to the finish.

That's funny about Grainger and Wikipedia.

Who was Trisha's brother Rick?

OK. I haven't seen the recent episodes but I'm trying to keep up when I can.

Rosie Webster started sleeping with factory boss Luke Morgan, not realizing that he really just wanted the money she'd gotten from the man who kidnapped her, John Stape (John gave it to her as a way to make amends). The one he really wants is Michelle. Rosie and Michelle got into a catfight over him. Michelle won. But Luke is on his way out and Michelle is getting a new love interest.

John Stape is in prison but has been regularly visited by the love of his life, Fiz Brown. Fiz agreed to marry him, to the disgust of her family, but is now having second thoughts.

Peter Barlow and his little son Simon found Leanne working as a waitress. They convinced her to return to Weatherfield and try again with Peter. I'm not sure if she knows he was in love with Michelle (aren't they all!) while she was away.

Sean fell for a hunk named Leon. Leon had eyes for Jason. Through a confusing series of events, Sean convinced Leon that Jason was gay, but not available. Jason ended up entering, and winning, Mr. Gay Weatherfield, not knowing it was a gay thing. He has decided to enter the bigger competition because he wants the prize money. Jason and Leon now know the truth. I'm not sure if Leon has forgiven Sean.

Emily became very close to Norris' brother, Ramsay. Everyone loved Ramsay, everyone but Norris, who was disgusted by the way people fawned over Ramsay and saw him as a saint. Ramsay suddenly died and Emily was heartbroken. Emily said everyone always pities the dead, but not the living who have to pick up the pieces time and time again. She said she's tired of picking up the pieces.

Kevin and Molly are having an affair. Molly becomes very angry and insecure whenever Kevin is around his wife Sally.

This is about to hit a major roadblock when Sally learns she has breast cancer.

Becky and Steve married, but Becky was arrested on her wedding day after her old cop nemesis, Hooch, found stuff on her. The charges were dropped, but her old boyfriend is back in the picture and will probably be causing trouble.

Maria and Tony are together and are raising baby Liam, but Carla is on her way back to town very soon.

Eric lost the factory due to money problems. It's now owned by two South Asian brothers. Their wild sister is also in town. Eric and Val now own half of the B&B, running it with poor Terry Woods.

Speaking of Wyldes, the Wylde family is the big rich family on the show now, they moved into Home Farm after buying it from the Kings, who lost everything. The head of the family is Mark Wylde, his wife is Natasha. Their children are stuck up but insecure Nathan, wild child Maisie, and then Will, who is only about 9 or 10. He's friends with Belle Dingle. There's a huge secret hanging over Mark's head, as his real name is Daniel Lamb. He abandoned his wife, Faye Lamb, over 25 years ago, because he was tired of being poor. He did not know she was pregnant. Faye saw his photo in a magazine earlier this year and began stalking him. He brushed her off, and Natasha upon learning the truth threatened to send her to prison, then finally bribed her to stay away. Instead, Faye moved to Emmerdale with their son, Ryan. She is now sort of involved with Cain Dingle, who hates Mark. Mark told Natasha a few months ago about Faye and Ryan, but no one else knows. Ryan doesn't know either. He just thinks Mark is some married man his mother hooked up with.

Meanwhile, Debbie, after being released from prison after the murder she helped cover up, got custody of Sarah, her daughter with Andy Sugden. She lives with her father, Cain. Cain is upset because she's dating a man named Michael who Cain does not trust. Recently Michael told Debbie that he was supposed to marry another woman, but he's truly in love with Debbie.

What Debbie does not know is that the other woman is her mother, Charity.

Viv returned from prison, to a mixed reception from Bob. Bob had just slept with Gennie Walker, daughter of his business partner Brenda. Viv still doesn't know. Bob's son Jamie began dating Gennie, which made Bob nervous and jealous. Jamie soon learned the truth and washed his hands of Gennie and his father.

Carl King was in a loveless marriage with Lexi King -- loveless on his part. Lexi was obsessed with him and wanted his child. She had an ecoptic pregnancy and learned she would struggle to bear a child. She wanted to do IVF but Carl didn't want to have a child with her. Nicola, who had gotten together with Jimmy and was near the end of her own pregnancy, told Carl to be a man and be honest with Lexi, who deserved better. Carl did tell Lexi, and she got so angry at Nicola that she accidentally caused her to fall down the stairs. Nicola went into labor and had a healthy little girl. She forgave Lexi, but Carl was nasty to Lexi. Lexi ended up going to the roof with the baby. She gave the baby back, but nearly jumped. Carl caught her before she fell. She finally decided to wash her hands of Carl once and for all.

Carl then got involved with his old flame Chastity Dingle, even though she was living with the vet, Paddy Kirk, who adored her. When Carl told Paddy the truth, he threw Chastity out and humiliated her in front of everyone at the pub. Chas is now living with Carl, Jimmy, and Nicola, in a tense situation. Chastity's son Aaron, a teenage thug, is still living with Paddy (who dotes on him), as he despises Carl and sees Chas as a slapper.

There's a new farming family, the Bartons. They moved into Andy Sugden's farm. After Jack died and Andy lost custody of little Sarah, he had a mental breakdown and let the farm fall into total disrepair. John Barton, his wife Moira, and their teenage son and teen daughters all live there now. Andy helps out. There was some drama as Moira incorrectly assumed he was interested in one of her daughters, but that was sorted.