DRW50

Yes, I meant Jeff. Thanks. For some reason I thought it looked like Carole in some of the shots. I am glad to know otherwise. Well it seems like Carole got to play some very meaty material. I think she was better at the quieter moments than the hysteria. I'm sorry she didn't get another role on AW later on. How long was Beverlee's last stint to the time she went to Texas?

You're right. It's always hard for me to remember exactly how long the stories on Rituals even were. I guess it had to be a while since MBE didn't come in for some months.

Oh that's right - I knew her in the clip but had forgotten her name. I think an earlier recap mentioned an I Love Lucy fetish, an entire room styled that way, fish named Lucy and Ricky. I can't remember if that was Mike.

AWHP says winter/spring 1980. I thought she was there when Kirk took Iris hostage, but I guess that was Beverlee, as she was in some of the shots. But some of them also look like Carole. Odd. From the clips I've seen she was there when they found out for the aftermath of Janice poisoning Mac/Rachel killing Janice, and she was there when everyone found out about Iris' plans against Cecile. I was going to ask what was going on with Joey Perrini's love life. He was very in love with Eileen for much of 1979, and married her before she died. Yet, by early 1980, there is a brief scene of Sally Frame saying that she is his fiancee? From what I'd read, he blamed her for Eileen's suffering (I'm not sure why). How did that become engagement? And then, by what is, I assume, summer 1980, he's married to Kit? What was the rush with all this? Also, what did you think of Angie, and what was her exit? Joey seemed to linger on the canvas a while after she and Rose were gone.

I didn't think it was onscreen, I am just relieved to know he had an exit at all. I thought until his 2009 appearance he'd just vanished without a trace. Of course Hank is now living in the Buchanan mansion attic... I always assumed someone at ATWT had been watching their competitor and thought he'd make a good addition to their show when they wanted to tell a token story for the fresh hell Zoe. He did fit in better on ATWT than he did on OLTL, I have to admit, but then I haven't seen all that much of him on OLTL beyond being the straight man for Mari Morrow as she went on her long audition for Requiem for a Dream's orgy sequence. I know he had a big part in that "Superflu" story but for some reason I've never really wanted to see that.

I didn't even know Hank had had an exit in 2003, I thought he'd just gone. I guess at least he wasn't killed. I'd love to see Rachel again. The Rachel/Hank relationship had so many layers, at least with Ellen Bethea in the role. The dynamics when she was involved with Kevin were just so rich, especially during the rape trial. I would love to know what Gottlieb's plans for the story were as I assume the network stepped on this story. Rachel was in a backburner story with Ben (first goofy and mumbling, then boring and saintly), and Kevin spent most of 1994 in a supporting role until they recast him with the piece of ass from Eden.

Christine Tucci auditioned to play Lorna.

They could cast Shanelle Workman. OK maybe not... I'd love to see Hank again. You could do anything with him. I wanted them to try Hank/Nora when Nora lost her memory for a while. One of the best moves Labine made was giving Hank a love interest and a strong voice on the canvas again. They could make Hank mayor and have some tough crime policies and see how they affect the canvas, especially if RJ also returns. I also thought it was a wasted opportunity to have Sheila pregnant and then lose her baby and vanish. A baby would have given Rachel story and would have caused angst for Bo/Nora in that phase where they weren't sure about having a child. Sheila was fading away even for the last year Pettiford was in the role, but her presence added so much to scenes like Marty's rape examination.

I've wanted to see this for a while so glad that it's been uploaded. This is the setup to the story where Tina gets Sheila into the country club and Luna drops in via parachute (and then apparently Sheila and Tina forgot each other's existence for over two years!). Sheila tries out for the local musical and has to deal with racism. This is something no soap would ever touch today, as they'd be called dated, PC, out of control bleeding heart liberals, but this type of bigotry is more common and popular than many will ever say. Also very telling is when Babs says Llanview can't deal with interracial relationships - 20 years later, she's as right as ever. It may be heavy-handed, but it's beautifully acted by Valerie Pettiford, and with good, fun support from Karen Witter. And giving a campy and yet believable performance as the local control freak/ham/diva/racist is Broadway's Carole Shelley, who also had the unenviable task of temping for Beverlee McKinsey on AW in 1980. Carole's a lot of fun here - my favorite part is when they announce Cord as what she assumes to be her co-star, and she licks her lips in anticipation. Plus, John Lopreino sings! And Karen Witter does acrobatics!

Not that anyone gives a hoot or that it's any great chapter in Carole Shelley's career, but after not being too crazy about her work as temp Iris in most of the scenes I'd seen her in, there were a few, from before Iris was exposed as hiring Phillip to seduce Cecile (most of that seems unavailable, sadly), that really impressed me. Some flirtatious and romantic scenes with Brian, and a wonderful faceoff with Rachel which went from Iris trying for a truce to going for Rachel's throat (verbally). Carole brought a much more relaxed and genteel vibe to the scenes than Beverlee, who was pure ice waiting to be cracked. She also seemed to finally get Iris' accent, after spending a number of other scenes auditioning for Scarlett. It was quite a performance and while I love Carmen Duncan as Iris, I wish they'd considered asking Carole Shelley back at some point, perhaps after Carmen left. Then again, Michael Malone/NBC told us that viewers couldn't see Iris because she was too old, so who am I to disagree?

Just promise you won't name your son Chuckie.

Fascinating stuff! Apparently John first appeared as a friend of Dan's. He was also Dan's roommate, and worked under Michael Shea.

That's nice to hear about John Pankow. All I know of the older cast members and their feelings on the last years is a quote Alec Baldwin had from David O'Brien. I'm glad the vets were still giving their all.

There was once a hilarious article asking if Barbara Parkins was trying to be "the new Mia Farrow", because she no longer was as friendly to the gossip magazines, was now dating Hollywood types, and had moved out of her mother's home.

Thanks. What did you think of the show at this time?

A lot of the old magazines from back then talk about the show but it all blends together. They often report that Mia Farrow hated the show, was trying to get off of it as quickly as she could, played games with the press, etc. They also liked to report on the personal problems of Dorothy Malone and painted her as a lovelorn mess.

Just fantastic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oss0r6xMDsU

From a March 1995 issue of Soap Opera Update.

The music in the Lee/Marilyn scenes is another example of how wonderful the score in the Rauch era was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JWnhJTCI60&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

This may be one of the earliest Gottlieb clips I have seen. I have a very strong wish to see complete episodes of Rauch's last months and Gottlieb's early months. There is no EP credit on this. It's still the opening credits of late Rauch, and Rafe is mentioned, but I don't remember Gottlieb creating Jason. Then again this doesn't seem like Gottlieb's Jason - he's more of a one-note punk. He also has one of the most horribly wandering accents ever - in one scene he goes from his normal voice to Guys and Dolls to Madonna's "British" accent. The pointless car crash is also more like Rauch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQhPqBUVx4c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQhPqBUVx4c

I didn't even notice Renee Jones. Who did Vozoff play? So the reveal was after Mike learned of Lacey's one-nighter, right? I can't remember how the story went, the order. MBE did seem a bit checked out in her later soap work. She had a lot of sincerity here and in some of her other performances over the years. I noticed in one of the early clips Mike mentions I Love Lucy, which was in one of the early recaps as some fetish of his. I guess that ended with the writer changes.

This is from a November 1986 Digest. Is this Uta Hagen on OLTL? SOD once again gets in a dig (this is the third dig at her OLTL run I've seen in a soap magazine).

I always get the older women on the show confused. Sally looks a little like Serena from Bewitched.