DRW50

Thanks for letting us know. If anyone wants to see the Youtube version this one has been up for about a decade:

Granger is one of those performers I think of having such a strong presence onscreen, which is well used in his Hitchcock films. I think the day-to-day grind of acting wasn't his forte. He's not awful here, but it stands out for me compared to some of the others in these episodes. I can't see this being what they had expected. I started watching that 1975 episode earlier today but am still only partway through. Dorrie has such a formidable presence as Cathy. Harmon is also very good but it does feel more like seeing the character wind down with her in the role. Thanks for reminding me of those three 75/77 episodes as I'd never saved them (they also have some Manhattan Transfer variety series episodes).

I could see that being true. I can't think of another reason why they would have let Delano go. Admittedly it's just a very short clip, but he's a handsome guy with screen presence, seems to be an OK actor too.

@vetsoapfan Thank you for the info on Peter's accent. The explanation reminds me of when EE realized the Vicky Fowler they cast could not do an American accent, so one day she just started using her natural British accent and she gave the same line about trying to fit in or something along those lines. I haven't ever seen Erica Hope so you may be right about her being better than MTS early on. I had forgotten Gerald Anthony's quote about Brynn Thayer. It makes me laugh all the more knowing they were married at the time. I can see her being somewhat wooden early on - she just had so much presence. Watching the fourth episode on the channel, I am glad to get to see more of Tony around Llanview. I only ever associate him with the Dorian and Victor story. Never knew much about his involvement with Cathy or that Wanda worked for him. I thought George Reinholt did a good job in the depressing commiseration scene with Joe. Wanda is such a spark plug even here. I can see why Paul Rauch kept her even as he wiped out so many longtimers. Marilyn Chris never loses what makes her special. It took me a while to figure out who was talking with Viki - Will Vernon. I wouldn't have recognized Farley Granger. He was never much of an actor, but at least on ATWT he had the same charisma from some of his old films. There's just nothing here, aside from, frankly, a very shaky performance. I can see why he was recast. Erika is styled better in this episode. I will say it's weird seeing Viki in that house. I know she was in there for a lot of the '70s, it makes sense for her to have her own home with Joe (did Joe ever live in Llanfair?) and have the resentment in the background of Dorian "taking" Llanfair from her, but I'm glad Joe Stuart or whichever producer eventually let Viki take Llanfair back. I just love watching Nancy Pinkerton. It's such a deeply intelligent performance. You know Dorian is troubled, but she doesn't let Dorian's neuroses overwhelm her. She seems like an everyday person, but you know she isn't - that's what makes her so dangerous.

I didn't watch the whole thing but I think even Steve Burton said on his podcast he doesn't want a Sasha/Jason relationship. I hope they listen to him. I think it would just be lazy and sad, and kind of gross given his history with Michael. I think it makes sense if Jason becomes attached to Sasha and her baby, but that doesn't need to turn romantic. It's not exactly out of the norm for GH, or any soap, in recent decades. This show can often be brutally plot-driven. Tracy has never liked Sasha anyway. I think it just stings more because of the periods when they do write better material for Tracy. Seeing her put back in some of the slop that reminds me of when she was just there to be a foil to the "good" Quartermaines is beneath her and Jane and us. And I don't even mind Sasha. All the Carly and Brennan stuff, what I've seen anyway, leaves me with mixed feelings. I do see where he's something of a temporary character, the type who would have been killed off in "events" back in the day, and it's just a stopgap until the show figures out which big pairing to put Carly in...but it is better than going with Sonny/Carly again, a pairing I genuinely do not think any viewer wants at this point. Carly needs to be rebuilt, and doing so while she's lost so much of her family would be a good time to do it. For a long time, I would have said they should take away all her money and status, but I'm not sure it would matter now. Still, I hope they give her a big reset.

Thanks. How is it that Peter still has that Allo Allo accent in the December 1976 episode but does not in the May 1977 episode? Did he go to the no-accent clinic we saw on GH last year? Was that whole thing just Frank Valentini honoring OLTL in a way we never appreciated? Nice to see a Pat episode from this time beyond the truncated Daytime to Remember installment from around the time Kevin was born.

This may seem like small potatoes, but it's still a sign of voter discontent, one that explains why the GOP are so eager to dismantle anything stopping them and why they own our entire media. Democrats flipped a state senate seat in a district Trump just won by 21%. This was not expected. Dave Weigel mentioned that Democrats in the district had recently "waved it off" when he asked them about their chances. https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-senate-district-35-election-democrats-win-mike-zimmer/63596596

Finishing the last episode I now see why this Vince was vaguely familiar to me - it's Sam Lucas from AW. The scraps I've seen of him on there are better. And he could even play a blue-collar man without having a Guys and Dolls accent. There's a good, understated dream/nightmare sequence with Dorian and Joe in the third episode. Matt so clearly wants Dorian and can't accept that she has no interest in him. In this last episode it came through more and he wasn't as much of her frenemy. In some ways he feels like what David was to her in 1995, before they made the relationship more romantic and made David into either a good guy or a complete moron depending on the writer.

This OLTL episode has a GH promo at 16 minutes with Terri Webber and Mark Dante. I think this is Michael Delano. Is this the first clip we have of him?

I know Dorrie herself was a big feminist, based on her interviews. I think she may have mentioned some back and forth with George in those although it's been a while. They must have just been trying to find any part for Albee after his allegedly messy departure from Edge. Definitely. Or one of the doomed girlfriends on Soap. Watching the third episode and we see this Felicia who was a devoted maid to the Lords for years. I am guessing she was whipped up just for this story. Does anyone know if she was ever mentioned later on?

I kept meaning to watch but hadn't yet. I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers, cliche as that phrase has become. I know he and his family are facing so many unimaginable choices. I see that during this part of the interview an old clip of Jerry ver Dorn randomly pops up, which is eerie, but comforting. I wasn't sure what he meant about not being in contact with his daughter - I'd need to go back and watch. Locher remains as awkward as ever, but you can see how some of the P&G actors do still trust him, and I don't think we'd be getting these interviews without him.

There was so much potential with what she set up (and Rauch somehow allowed compared to his later soap choices). Quinn and Henrietta are both compelling characters played by very charismatic actresses. Michele Shay is one of the most unique actresses I've seen on a soap. (has she ever been asked about her time on AW?) @chrisml Thank you for the article. I did laugh at Robert Christian being called an AW mainstay. I guess at that point being on the show for a year did make you a mainstay.

Thanks. I never have known why they didn't bring Cathy back sometime in the late '70s or early '80s - I guess with Tony, Joe, and Jim gone, they didn't think there was a point. I did a double take at Tony looking so much like Jim Jones with those glasses. I remember some talk of the state of Reinholt's performances by the time he left (unless that was just AW), but so little of his run is around. It's hard to imagine this Vince wooing Niki Smith. He seems like he got lost on the way to a Gary Marshall sitcom.

I also love that all three episodes have beauty shots. I would say I wish they'd come back but we don't even have proper closing credits now. There's something unique about a soap and a beauty shot. In this one you have the wide shot of Joe and Viki's living room (starting with the painting), characters sleeping, and my favorite, Matt stewing, flouncing and boozing in the Lord living room.

Breech and Glass are probably what Erica Hope or Patsy Rahn probably were on Y&R and GH - competent actors who would today hang around and hang around, doing decent, not memorable work in not memorable stories. Thayer and Light both brought so many shadings to their parts and made Karen and Jenny feel like people you know and can care about. Watching the Jenny and Karen scenes here seem more like sitcom cuties than the layered, at times heartrending bond they had in later years, where Karen sacrificed in ways Jenny never would have wanted her to do. I agree about Glass' voice. She sounds like Almonzo's sister on Little House. This is the same Peter Jenny later married, right? When exactly does he lose the ve-hav-vays-of-making-you-talk accent? You're very right about Dorian. That scene in the August 7th episode (the type of scene you never get now) where Matt essentially reads Dorian to filth - it says so much about who Dorian would remain for much of the '80s, as Dorian always wanted more and would never be satisfied. Her antics when Herb ran for governor, her wanting David when she was happily married to Herb and had reunited with Cassie, etc. And this is who Dorian always should have remained, as it's the classic anti-heroine motif. The flashback where Viki warned Dorian she was on to her games - is this the oldest Viki/Dorian confrontation we've ever seen? Amazing how in 40 years, Erika's acting style never changes. No sudden British accent, no suddenly trying to act or talk younger than she was, etc. As @titan1978 said, hard to believe just how long-lasting this material would be, even as the other part of the story (Tony) would be long forgotten. When the show started, Cathy was about 16 or 17, wasn't she? I wonder just when the biggest age jump was.

I never can remember just when Pinkerton and Belack left. Was the former in 1976 and the latter in 1977, or both in 1977? OLTL always benefited so much from vibrant female characters, it must have been a jolt for fans. Luckily, they still had Viki, and maybe Pat, and soon Judith Light on the way... I wonder when it is that they finally start to style Viki in a more glamorous way. Erika's hair is very '60s here and her clothes are more along the lines of a very unflattering bedcover.

This old soap tumblr account has an interview with Vance from maybe the best soap magazine (Daily TV Serials). https://www.tumblr.com/vintagesoaparchives/173904963968/daily-tv-serials-october-1975-vance-jefferis I had forgotten Vance passed in 2023. In motion he reminds me of a somewhat more flaming Howard Hesseman.

I'd think it must have. I wonder what discussions were about no longer doing crossovers. Lemay/Rauch likely had no interest, but still, imagine India popping up as a frenemy of Iris'. And there were characters who never got a lot to do in Bay City who could have moved to Somerset - that Dave Gilchrist character who mostly seemed to hop between Bay City ladies who didn't want him. Or Michael Randolph could have been one of Ellen Grant's toyboys.

Thanks for sharing. Really appreciate it. I couldn't remember how long Marie worked under Slesar's writing. Wasn't Robert Cenedella the HW for most of her time on the show?

I always forget that Lars character was tied to him. I wonder if they had further plans for Kent or if he was always just meant to get killed by Erica. I know there were claims Godart and Lucci didn't get on. Weren't they also thinking of pairing Liza/Greg up again, maybe after the recasts? I can't remember. That whole age set seemed to implode around 84/85.

Yes. I understand why they both said no, especially as Loving was a much smaller show and it would have been seen as a degradation. I am glad Debbi and then Darnell were willing to take the chance, and I think it paid off for them. Speaking of Lillian, I don't really understand why this is in her IMDB. Maybe they will delete it: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4426708/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_cdt_eps_tt_9 Sometimes I wish I could go through the various stories Jesse and Angie had in their first AMC run as some seem much better than others, not that that was exclusive to them (the "fake Jenny" for Greg was a terrible idea, whether it was meant to make him move on from her or not).

Loving did not do anywhere near enough with black characters in the '80s, but Minnie was not the first black character on Loving. Art Hindman was recurring through the decade, and we also saw his kids, Dave and Tally. I have a feeling that if AMC had not already had a number of black characters at the time, they might have brought her back. Of course, many of those characters began filing out and/or were given poor material starting in 1994 (I remember Dondre Whitfield complaining about Mimi and Derek getting married in the Chicken Shack), which never improved (I think most of the material with Noah and Julia veers between boring and unwatchable, not to mention the desecration of Taylor as a character). In contrast, I think Loving, and to a lesser degree The City, had some genuinely good material for their black characters, rather than voodoo princesses and poor Leslie Uggams and Randy Brooks being stuck in something that felt vaguely lifted from 1972.

Storm brews over Byron Allen Media's plan to consolidate TV weather Local Meteorologists Give Emotional Farewells After Nationwide Layoffs Bit by bit the money men are making sure local news is decimated.

You won't be surprised to learn that the brain dead leftists out there like Ken Klippenstein have been leading people to care more about Schumer's statements and how inadequate they are meant to be than about this crisis itself. Meanwhile, that piece of [!@#$%^&*] Jon Stewart has been working hard to minimize what Trump is doing and telling us we shouldn't care as no one even knows how many federal attorneys there are. This is why Trump gets away with whatever he does. So many are bought and paid for, waiting to play mind games and make sure everyone else is made to take the blame.

So we're still waiting. I hope I'm wrong, but I do think this is it.