DRW50

That's sad to hear. I hate to see German soaps going the way of American soaps. What do you think is happening?

Are you surprised about the 40 minute expansion? I thought the ratings had lowered.

There is more of the 1988 Laura story up, which was named worst story of the year by SOD. The backstory is so convoluted, although I'm not sure if that's the strike, or just Marland (Carolyn Crawford's murder was also convoluted). It's, in some ways, a fascinating story, because no one will believe any bad word about Bob or the Hughes family. Normally I would hate this, but since the Hughes really were moral and upstanding people most of the time, it doesn't bother me that much (are you listening, AMC's Martin family). Anyway, this means that a lot of mileage has to come out of a) Bob and Tom being too polite to tell most people what a nut she is b ) short-term recurring characters coming in to help drive her story. By the time of these episodes she had gotten into a somewhat bizarre relationship with her boss, Herb Petrie. Do you know if this guy or the woman who plays his wife had been on any other soaps? They both look familiar. Laura is such an empty character, and a story similar to this (random crazy woman who seems nice at first, files a sexual harassment complaint against a good man) was playing out at AW at this time, but I do like some of the work from the woman who plays her (I think she was the mouse victim on GL before this). She does remind me of Kim Cattrall though. This episode also has some fantastic moments where Craig's harem learns that he is still alive, and they all react, separately and together. Some wonderful work, especially from Lindsay Frost. I can never believe the Craig of later on who hated women.

Judging Amy? How random. How many times do AWZ and VL share stories? I just wonder because

The May 1966 TV Picture Life says John Boruff (Henry Benedict) was assisting Agnes Nixon in writing scripts. How long did that last? How long was he on the show? I think IMDB lists him as 65-66. Did he ever work for her again?

I've heard that a few times (the story I mean). VW always seemed to have some craziness in her performance so I wasn't too surprised if that translated to real life, although I don't think we ever heard about any bad behavior onset or with other actors. I remember on the old Jump the Shark site, the entry for My Three Sons, the woman who played Dody came on to try to say something about all the attacks against her. This isn't the same thing but in one of the old magazines I was reading that they initially did not plan to kill off John Randolph, and it was only the delay in the debut of the 90 minute episodes that they decided to kill him, because they wanted to shock viewers. This cavalier attitude towards veteran characters is a good reason why ratings fell so hard at that time... Something else I have always wondered about with AW is Lahoma. Ann Wedgworth is so unlike most who were ever on AW (although she might have worked as a Frame) and was so unique to soaps in general. I've always wondered how she became so popular, if it was gradual. Did she start out as a small player? I wish I could see more of Lucas too. Jordan Charney seemed to struggle outside of that role. I wonder if the show made enough of an effort when they brought him back after Somerset.

I was not watching during big parts of 1996 so I might have missed him. It was nice of Valente to bring him back...while dumping so many others Anyway, Valente was probably the last producer to give the Hughes family stories, as sad as that is. I thought he was dull (and I always have), but Nikki and Dani never did a lot for me either. I did like Jeremy. I wish he could have stayed. I know the actor left for school but it was nice to have a quiet, thoughtful teen on soaps.

I remember reading that Morgan's character seduced every leading man on the show (who wasn't related to her). Did that happen quickly? It seems kind of unusual, but then, the early 80s were probably when the soaps were at their most risque.

Margaret Ladd is superb in the first season episodes I've watched so far (I'm up to around midseason or closer to the end than that). The episode where she was in a dreamlike state wandering around and Lance caused her to have a miscarriage was just some of the best acting I've seen in a primetime soap. I don't mind the episodes so much because they are setting things up but it annoys me how many times episodes end with the Giobertis being shocked that Angela is a schemer or had a conflict with Jason or might be keeping something secret. Then it's all dropped again. There's also a lot of repetition with Lance trying to learn the secret, or Julia, to no avail. What confuses me most is how Angela is desperate to keep this secret about Jason's death yet she starts going away all the time. Emma's a mess, Emma's saying things...bye everybody, I'm going to Rome for weeks! Really? Emma's falling apart, don't go near Emma...I'm going into town! Why didn't they have her like Elizabeth on Dark Shadows and she never leaves the estate? There are also the number of times Lance does horrible things (which he never pays for) and she either says, "Don't do that" but then smirks, or she never knows. It undercuts her. There was the episode where he was a dictator while she was away. Wouldn't it have made more sense if she told him she'd set all that up to test him, and he'd failed? I think Cole, Maggie, and Chase work well in their roles at this time but I still don't understand why they cast such a mature actress to play Vicky if Vicky was supposed to be an ingenue. I also get confused about her age - she never mentions any type of school and then suddenly they say she's in high school. Did I miss something? Then there's the story about her running off because Lance schemed to get her out of the way to cause strife with the family. The scenes got to be a little bizarre, and again I'm not sure about the actress being right, especially when Michael Zaslow (who should have been cast in a stronger role - why not Lance's father, or Chase?) basically tried to get her to start masturbating. Then you have Maggie and Chase wandering around looking for her as a kaleidoscope version of "Chuck E's in Love" plays softly. The whole episode about illegal immigrants and exploitation was ahead of its time, and I wish they'd kept Vicky's boyfriend, or the A Martinez character, around. I notice that these episodes seem to have to struggle to integrate the two families in the episodes. Their connections seem a little forced (like Lance getting Vicky to run away, or Angela promising to help with the illegal situation and then it's never mentioned again). What did you think of Angela's husband, Julia and Emma's father? I liked him, I wish he'd stayed longer, and that we'd seen more of him with his daughters, especially Julia. It was nice to see his relationship with Angela, which seems very complex, and romantic.

I guess I was thinking of Virginia Dwyer, as Lemay detailed her not being courteous enough to Hugh Marlowe in scenes - he also did the same with Val Dufour. I guess I wonder if on a show like L&F, if it would have helped if someone had been a bit of a spotlight hog and jumped out at viewers. Daytime TV Stars had surprisingly detailed and incisive soap critiques in the mid/late 70s. It's a bit startling to read now. SOD tended to move more and more away from criticism and in the last ten years or more has just had Carolyn Hinsey to sort of pretend to be critical. But it's amazing sometimes reading even SOD and seeing them be so openly critical or in some cases, like the Diva columns, nasty. I guess TPTB in daytime began to believe that soap magazines being negative affected the ratings (I doubt it did). I wonder if the Internet, which was often described as mean or negative by soap magazines in the late 90s, had an impact on their tone.

I'm sorry about your friend. I hadn't heard of this book Meredith is writing - that should be interesting. Did you see Andrea when she had a small role on GH last year? I have some other LiaMST stuff I will post when I get it together.

I'd forgotten Lee had been on soaps that early. So this was another lead role Susan inherited. I wonder if they should have kept the young couple - that might have brought in some of the younger demo who would soon be drawn in by shows like Dark Shadows.

Wow! This was unbelievable to read. How did they get all those screencaps? Are those episodes available? Or did they take them at the time? No wonder fans were upset. This makes the cliffhangers to Soap and Capitol seem tame. I can't believe that this was the last episode. This show sounds good, much better than what I thought based on the basic plot. A lot of this, like Ann torn between the men and her career struggles, seems very ahead of its time. It's a shame Susan Brown spent the last 25 years of her daytime career in a supporting role. She was the lead actress on so many soaps yet most of those didn't last.

I thought LL was fine as Jocelyn, and I like the idea of the toxic upbringing of Danny and Jocelyn and how it affected them (if The City was going to do "shocking" stories then I think an incest story between them might have made more sense than the stuff with Azure and with the racism story). I just didn't think she and Alex were a great match, they were both too droll and detached.

Thanks for sharing that with us. I posted an old article on her in the main soap section (in the thread about her passing) but hadn't seen that. The classic soap discussion here is such a fantastic experience - so many here have so many memories and so much information, it makes the soaps come alive again, even those we will never be able to see. Honestly I enjoy it more than anything on the existing soaps in quite some time. I and several others have posted a lot of story stuff and articles in various threads so I hope you can read it and share your own thoughts/memories. If there's anyone or any show you want to see more of let me know.

I think the problem for me was I never cared for Alex/Jocelyn and I thought Tess was sort of at loose ends much of the time (which I guess is why they threw her at Buck eventually). I remember they had it where Ava was keeping the kids from Alex, or whatever, and some fans were upset about that. The City was in such transition in those early months and I think they could have used more stability. It was something they didn't really get until Tracy arrived, which was too late. If they weren't going to have any of the old guard like Ava or Stacey then I would have kept Deborah around for a while.

Thanks. I asked because I never know what is out there, in terms of information, previously at WOST, or here (although I looked in the archives). I'd love to read more.

Willis was recast. So was Emma. I think Mac was also recast. That was about it I think, under Lemay. The only major one in that was Willis as Mac and Emma were smaller roles pre-recast. Bucky I am just fascinated by what you wrote. Do you think Daytime TV was more in the pocket than early Digest or were they all more free-minded? I know that soap history analysis said it was the Reinholt firing/Courtney leaving and all sides telling their stories that made the soap press grow up, as it were, but even before then the press seemed more mature than what we have now, which often seems like a press release. If you had cast L&F who would you have cast in the roles? The other thing I wonder about is that Rauch and Lemay seemed to have no time for actors who were not low-key and who did not keep a calm presence onset. Can a new soap have that and still continue? Or do they need some volatile, live-wire actors who communicate to the audience?

They did mention him at that time yes - I think he might not have been close to Ryder, I can't remember. He last appeared at Nancy's wedding to Mac in late 1988 (those episodes are on Youtube under Oakdalian). He was last mentioned in Lisa's 50th anniversary episode when they had Chris playing Don and Katie playing Lisa (which I thought was inappropriate and odd, but whatever). I still wish they had brought Penny back for Nancy's funeral.

I had the same thought. I kept thinking, "Where is Susan?" Thanks for confirming it. Robert Hogan seemed to be on just about everything, finally ending up at RH briefly. What happened to Mike Milker? Sorry if all this was already known - I had never seen it before so wanted to share it.

Faison. A great Guza story, huh I think he also wrote Dinah Lee/Ava on the run. I think it would have helped if they'd brought a few vets in for a while, because I think that they did get new viewers, but they also lost viewers IMO, as they gave Loving viewers little reason to want to stay tuned, and in some ways you might say they even sent a message to Loving viewers not to keep watching.

Thanks for all the extra information. I guess O'Keefe was after the boy in the episode where Tommy talks to Grandpa Hughes and then Bob. I thought he was a good little actor. Perhaps they should have kept him around. That ATWT tribute book last year interviewed Don Hastings about all the Toms. I'll have to read that part again. They should have had Don return as a widower and pursue Ellen in the early 90s. Why do you think Don never really clicked as a character?

Shana was an Alden right? Did she have a lot of interaction with them? Do you think they were right to fire her? I remember SOD saying that Lisa Peluso and Jean le Clerc had no chemistry the first time around and had no more the second. I never knew about Jeremy/Stacey. It seemed like Stacey was in a flux after Jack was written out. How long was it between then and Buck's arrival? Do you think the show should have considered putting Stacey on The City? I wonder if The City might have had more of a chance if they'd brought in more long-term vets. I remember that I resisted The City for a while when I knew Ava wasn't going to be there.

The August 1966 TV Picture Life has a one-page feature on the show's cancellation, and the protest mail they received. ABC gave the magazine resolutions to all the dangling plots: Susan and Dan Garrett (Peggy McCay-Paul Picerni) - Jerry Karr and Peter Houghton: After a strong emotional battle for all the four characters - Susan, because of the attraction for the first man she loved; Dan, because he senses this and even contemplates divorce to let Susan start out with her first family; Jerry, because he is torn between love for his real father and love for Dan, his only true image of solidarity and authoritative love; and Peter, because of his deep love for his son - Jerry would eventually have been left with the Garretts. Anne and Walker Reynolds Susan Brown-Mike Mikler): Not because of Walter's impending blindness, but because Anne would have realized that her love for Walter was all-important, she would attempt a reconciliation. She would at first be rejected, Walter being convinced she was motivated by pity rather than love. However, in the end she would convince him, and their marriage would be resumed. Gillie and Jill (Robert Hogan - Brenda Benet): After a fight between Jill and Anne, Jill would eventually have married Gillie. Their marriage would have been rocky in the beginning - Gillie expecting too much maturity from Jill. After she attends college at his suggestion, they would have found their way to a happier marriage, partly because of psychiatric guidance. Carol West (Susan Seaforth): Carol would withdraw from Walter's life and eventually marry Peter.