DRW50

I think the comments from Phil and Shirley were very true to life. Many people are racist, and racism is often casual - it's not something I was surprised by in either character, and I'm glad the show did it. There is no real proof she is going to be in a story with Billy but many are speculating she is The most interesting clips involve her relationship with Mark and with Kathy. The reason I found it offensive is because there is a very vocal belief out there that hate crimes against gays are hoaxes, are exaggerated, and are just a calling card of the gay agenda. So when you have a story where a gay man who is beaten uses this for his own personal gain and has no point of view beyond the scheming gay, it's damaging, IMO. I assume Ricky will be back, but I guess we won't know until Patsy decides.

The main problem with Kyle and Oliver was most of their backstory took place offscreen, which meant that viewers had little idea who they were, and yet we were immediately supposed to be involved in this love story. Then you had the ridiculousness of the Nick character who instantly wanted to marry Kyle and then he exploited gay-bashing to get a man, which was horribly offensive. No soaps have had gay love triangles, aside from the brief story on Emmerdale where Zoe cheated on her partner with her ex-girlfriend, which wasn't really a triangle. The chemistry between the actors was what made it work...unfortunately by the time they actually got together, ABC had already pulled the plug. Christian has wanted to be a father even before he met Syed - when Roxy thought Sean Slater wasn't going to be with her Christian told her he would act as Amy's father. He was very invested. I think the story is rushed but I think they have shown, through some of Syed's doubts, that it isn't a decision being made lightly. Did you see the clips I posted a few pages back when her return was announced? Mandy is, or was, a real sparkplug character, a terrier. She's fascinating to watch. She's vulnerable but she causes such havoc. I'm not sure if she will be now, especially if she's in a story with Billy, but we'll see.

Thanks. I didn't recognize her. I'm glad that she got this little role on OLTL. I really like her work, and how natural she seems. Giving work to talented actors who often don't get it is what I may miss most about soaps.

Things have changed badly and keep getting worse - now Phyllis Schlafly is basically the ideal (I'm going to spend a lot of time going around telling you why you should choose not to have any control over your mind or body). It's always interesting reading these old interviews because of the freedom of thought. I was reading one with Lynn Benesh and it was a laundry list of stuff that would never be said today and was pretty daring then as well. I love the photo of Jada as Lone Ranger.

I hadn't seen a lot of this before. Do you know who is playing the Gannon aunt? I like her. This must have been just about the end of Ellen Bethea, right before the disastrous recast. I love the music in the Bo/Nora scenes. It reminds me of those really good RPGs that used to come out in the 90's.

enough money, I may start an acting company or a puppet theater somewhere. I'd love to do a musical - and a movie! They would be different experiences. I like the freedom to change. So I have a lot of options. " She admits that writing is very much a part of her life. Smiling in an impish, engaging way she adds: "I don't worry about having too many projects going at one time. I like it that way. I can't do just one thing. I do 'Secret Storm,' write my novel and a children's book I've started, plus an underground comic book and I enjoy writing very much. I guess I'd rather be a Jack-of-all-trades!" Freedom to live as she chooses and concentrate on a variety of things is a recurring topic of conversation. "There was a water tower on the top of my penthouse apartment in Manhattan. A huge thing, that I was always afraid would fall, when I was out on the terrace. It was surrounded by mid-town Manhattan skyscrapers. i used to think I'd write my name, in huge letters, on the side of the tower that faced the William Morris Agency and ABC, but my attitudes have changed about my career. Now I just want the freedom to do what I want." A rather perfect embodiment of the true feminist, Jada prefers being her own master. "I don't plan to marry again. I was married for five years, but the men and women I know now aren't into marriage at all. I like men who are challenged to find someone who's not a nincompoop." Very into women's lib, she believes that it has created a war between the sexes. "I can't accept anybody saying it's not causing a social upheaval. More women are constantly trying to better their situations, broaden their options. "It's difficult because many men are resisting that. I was astonished a few weeks ago when a man I'd just met, who seemed sensible, said that women's skull sizes are smaller and that is why they aren't as intelligent as men." Jada, who has been earning her own living in television since she was two years old, said she didn't even bother to grace his remark with a reply. She laughs at the absurdity of it and says: "Many women have to cope with thinking like that. I feel desperately sorry for girls who allow themselves to get into that position. With my character on 'Secret Storm' I'm trying to show some of the things that women can do to help themselves. Amy is not me and I can't alter her to suit me, but to show that women can change their lives in some way, I've suggested that she can be a painter as well as a housewife. I'll ask to change lines in the script that aren't true of women in general. I had a line like that in the script the other day. Amy is having a baby on the show and I was supposed to say: 'We women get all the joy and you men get all the responsibility.' I cut that line. I don't think it's true." Jada indicated her belief that attitudes are changing regarding woman's status. She feels that more women are willing to follow the idea that roleplaying is outdated. "I used to be more lonely than I am now. My independence is not so unusual in today's world. The men I enjoy knowing think household duties should be shared. They don't believe women should have servile attitudes." Independence to Jada is something that is often put in jeopardy by the possibility of marriage. "As long as I can marry and just let a man take care of me, the danger is there that the edge will be taken off my drive. I think that's true of all career-oriented women." The novel Jada is writing reflects the attitudes of the liberated female, "but it's not feminist literature," she insists. "I don't believe in possessiveness. I'm not a selfless person at all. In fact I'm highly selfish. But that doesn't mean I'm not constantly changing. It doesn't mean I want to hold onto me. I believe every problem starts first with self - with me. I become more the less I try to possess.' Her independence is evident even in Jada's philosophical nature. ALthough she has no formal religious beliefs, she says: "I believe in some sort of force. Perhaps 'energy source' would be one way of putting it. But it's difficult to talk about, because I'm changing even what I'm trying to define what it is iI believe. The whole topic reminds me of a TV poll I got in the mail. I was so happy when I got this form asking me to indicate my opinion of television programming. At last I was having my chance to say what I thought! So I would come home, turn on the set and start filling out the form. I realized my viewing habits were changing even while I was trying to tell the poll-talkers what my habits were. Instead of showing my personal preferences I was being controlled by the thing. Watching television more than I ever did, I was not presenting a true picture of my habits or taste. i finally decided the whole thing was invalid. The poll, like my philosophy, was changing constantly. it was va ery funny case of the tail wagging the dog!" Listening to the way this petite, yet somehow sturdy, young woman charts her course through life, brings to mind the lines of the old Irish folk song "I know where I'm going." As the afternoon ends, Jada remarks: "I guess you could say I'm a variable constant." And a delightful one, that's straight on course! - JOANNE BURKE

September 1973 Afternoon TV.

I don't think it paints gays as irresponsible - if we're talking about bad stereotypes then Chryed have always been bad stereotypes, but at least some of this has been addressed. I think this is mostly just a plot device so Syed will learn about Amira's pregnancy. I have never been a huge fan of this relationship and I spent much of 2009 and 2010 complaining about them, but I think the show has gotten better at exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the characters and trying to show them changing over time. Syed in particular is more of a person and less of a plot device.

I can't make it through Emmerdale anymore. It's basically Survivors meets Skins. Or Hollysurvivors. I think EE is OK at the moment, some more than others. The Masood stuff is good and the Michael/Eddie saga is picking up steam. There are quite a few strong scenes in most of the episodes. I do wish the stories themselves were better (Max/Tanya ugh). There were rumors of illness and other things last year which caused problems. There was also the replacement of the story editor, Emily Gascoyne, with Kathleen Beedles being moved over from producing River City.

That makes no sense to me. The way the story she had about her child with Billy ended was bizarre and it's clear this was one of many issues going on during whatever chaos was supposedly happening behind the scenes late last year. I don't understand the point of bringing on her granddaughter and then getting rid of her. Won't this just be a repeat of Billy and Jay, only this time Jay is in drag?

I love Nina Wadia. Here she is on that View knockoff.

One of the Republican conferences had an Obama impersonator. He was pulled off the stage just as he was about to tell some jokes about their darling, extremist Michelle Bachmann. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/reggie-brown-obama-impersonator-rlc-performance_n_880541.html

There are some wonderful wonderful scenes with Miss Ginny and Clint in this clip, especially when he thinks she's Viki, and then the final few minutes.

A March 1986 Digest interview with John Whitesell. The interview is by Robert Rorke. RR: What kind of difference do you think you'll make when so many other producers have failed? JW: I believe that the show's not dead. I think that what's happening in half hour shows across the board is that no one's having much success. LOVING's not doing that great. RYAN'S HOPE certainly isn't doing very well. CAPITOL's doing the best, but it's also in a nice position between AS THE WORLD TURNS and GUIDING LIGHT, which are two very old, strong shows that have their own audience. But I think what has been done in the half hour n the past that doesn't work is that we're competing with the hour. We're trying to give the viewer the same thing that the hour gives them, which is a lot of action. You don't have to do that in a half hour; you've got less time. I intend to have fewer scenes. I'm hoping that by March we'll be doing eight scenes a day as opposed to 14 and 15. I'm looking forward to the possibility of doing a whole act, commercial to commercial, on one scene. I'm looking forward to telling stories with fewer people in one day, instead of twelve to thirteen actors on a day, which is what we have now. Part of the new wave, I hope, will be to do a long arcing love story in March and also a series of short stories, 4 to 8 weeks long, and they will be finite, small stories that will have a beginning, middle, and end, and we'll get out of them and go on. If we find a character in one of those stories that we think is interesting, they'll move on to another story, as opposed to dragging that story out. What we'll try to do is identify a core of characters that the audience can identify with, can grow to love. Also tell a story that's less action/adventure oriented and more character oriented. RR: What do you think is the show's biggest problem? JW: Right now I think we don't have any love couples. You know, we don't have anybody embarking on new love or anybody in the midst of a real strong love relationship. We have the Liza, Hogan, Lloyd story which is not enough about love but something that we're trying to refocus. That is a relationship we're trying to tie up. That relationship is so screwed up and twisted around that I don't think the audience really has invested in Liza and Hogan as a love couple. Our emphasis is really on trying to create some new love couples and new relationships and that's where you're going to see us focusing our energy in the first part of this year. RR: Do you plan to play a big role in casting? JW: Absolutely. You know, I think there's so much that is determined by the way you cast a role. We just cast Jackie Schultz as Patty. We spent a month and a half looking for this role and saw a ton of people and Jackie is someone whose work I know and I think other actors will be able to play with and making sure the chemistry between those actors is there. RR: Will you bring over some people from GL if you can? JW: I would bring over some of the actors that I thought were good, people I thought were solid actors. I'm really not a big believer in taking a star from another show will help your audience. I was on TEXAS when we brought Kin Shriner over from GENERAL HOSPITAL. That was before Luke hit. Kin was the number one male star in daytime and he came over to TEXAS and all the fan letters said, "Come back, Scotty, come back to GH." Which is not the kind of mail you want, and it didn't bring an audience over at all to TEXAS. I think you hire good actors. But if Kim Zimmer were to become available, everybody would be a fool not to try to grab someone like that. If Robert Newman had decided he was really ready to come back to New York and do daytime, that's another guy out there that you go out and you try to get. RR: What's the incentive for leaving a show with good ratings for a show with the worst ratings? JW: I had a lot of responsibilities and felt a big part of GUIDING LIGHT. Gail Kobe was the executive producer and here, I'm the executive producer. Having total autonomy is really nice because you can do what you want. It really becomes the way you want to see it happen. I haven't been involved in daytime all that long - four years - but in those four years I developed a lot of ideas about what I think makes it work and what I don't think works. Now I'm going to find out if all those ideas that I've formulated really work or not. RR: Besides the romantic couple, what else do you think makes daytime work? JW: I think the audience wants to laugh. I really want to incorporate more humor into the show. I have Larry Haines on the show, who is very funny, an extraordinary comedian. I'm really looking forward to letting Stu be someone who is fun and interesting. We're going to do a major story with Stu in February and March. We're going to kick off this whole story with him because I think he's very likeable and giving and he could bring an element to the show that's sadly missing.

Thank you again for your hard work and detailed notes. This is a wonderful resource that we don't deserve. I wonder how far into 1995 Ellen appeared. I was watching at the time but don't remember a lot of this. I loved the lawsuit story which brought in so many characters.

Oh. That's a shame. I wonder why they didn't consider asking Andrea. Or even Tammy Taylor.

http://www.walfordweb.co.uk/ww/spotlight/4108/exclusive-qa-bryan-kirkwood

Were they trying for Lilibet or Andrea? I think they should have just hired a new actress...it wouldn't have had to have been like the fiasco in 2009, one of the worst soap stories of all time.

I think this may have already been asked, especially around the time of the hideous Patty story a few years ago, but how close was Y&R to actually bringing Patty back in 1996? Did plans fall through with one of the old Pattys? Also, what was Patty like when Tammy Taylor played her? Was she just a rarely seen kid sister?

A Soap Opera Magazine item from April 1994 has GL's casting person Jimmy Bohr talking about when Leonard Stabb had been cast as Hart. They were very fond of one of the runners-up, David Case, and brought him back for a small role (according to IMDB he did some acting/directing up to 2007). Another runner-up was Shawn Christian, who would soon be cast as Mike Kasnoff on ATWT.

There was some talk here of Haila's passing, and links to some articles. If there are any actors you want to see articles on let me know and I'll try to post some. In the Daytime TV magazines from the early 70's they mention every few months, it seems, that Marjorie Gateson was still recovering, and her role was being held. Then over time they said she still hadn't regained her speech to where it had been before the stroke. I guess that's why they recast. They kept asking people to write her letters to show her how they cared about her. I hope that the letters helped her in some way.

Just for completion's sake http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQOdGvmeNQo

Oh I remember Jeremy. I just didn't remember the story of Hal and Tom warring over him. I'm surprised Tom would defend him so much...I guess he was a proxy for Adam. The actor who played Jeremy wanted to leave so he could finish his education. I was sorry to see him go - I think it was around Thanksgiving or Christmas 1995. He had a certain soulful quality which most of ATWT's junior leading men did not have. I still don't care to remember Ryder, or Eddie Man. It didn't get better until poor misused Craig Lawlor Adam, and then years later, Jesse Soffer's Will.

Thanks. I don't remember the stuff with Jeremy at all. I wish he'd stayed around. I'm surprised Tom was so on his side. It's not in character for Tom.

Who is this boy with Marlena? Whenever I see this Mary I wonder why they cast an actress who was so old for the role.