DRW50

Anderson was the one who ended the Reginald story, Donna's miscarriage, Nicole and her mother looking alike, Jason's intro? I thought that was a mess.

I don't remember reading about any plans, but I don't know. When Cass first returned, SOD said he would be involved with Amanda (paraphrasing). I guess that may have meant the show was considering a story where REX hooked up with Amanda, perhaps for her money. Either way, none of that ever happened. In mid-88 when they had the story about the haunted house, SOD asked Stephen Schnetzer about whether Cass would be able to let go of Kathleen's memory, Schnetzer said he thought they'd already had Cass move on from Kathleen's memory, and that this must just be a strike story.

I love that this ode to youth has what looks like a middle-aged woman as the main dancer behind Billie Piper...

How long was she around? Was she a fake or was she yet another back from the dead/long-forgotten spouse?

I'd never seen those ads. Is that second one supposed to be Jake and...who? That looks like they slapped a Philece Sampler circa 1981 photo onto Michael. I don't remember her ever looking that way on AW. I thought Nicole/Cass were dull, although they never really had a major story. I liked them better with the comic stuff. AH's Nicole had so many stories which were never developed (her past relationship with the guy who tried to rape Amanda; her relationship with her father; and most of all, getting together too quickly with the double of a man who had used and abused her).

Those 80's promos are great (especially like the "G" promo). Who was the woman claiming to be John's wife?

The second half of this is a classic Natalie promo.

August 1977 Digest.

June 1977 Digest.

May 1977 Digest.

I think Julie usually chose only limited runs, but I'm not sure. I do wish some other show, or AW, had gotten her for longer, as she was such a strong actress, and such a unique type of beauty. She just always seemed so HUMAN, yet without the fake "quirkiness". I think Alice Barrett is a good actress but there was always too much writer agenda for me with regards to her character, and too much faux-hipness. I mostly enjoyed her with Ryan. I haven't seen that much of Miller or Holder, but I think the problem with casting Taylor Miller in this role is that she's not a dynamic enough actress to make up for the lack of conflict in Sally. Nina had all kinds of outside conflict based on Palmer, and Daisy. Sally's conflict was random stuff about Catlin's jealousy of her career, and then the Brittany mess. From what Taylor Miller said, the entire story she was supposed to have when she joined was pretty much dropped. She was stranded. The same happened to Brittany, from what Sharon Gabet said. I never understood why Sally had to be killed off. They must have known Thomas Ian Griffith was leaving. Why not just let him leave early and then have Sally and Catlin leave town happily? Then to not have Alice, and the only way Alice is shown grieving is 3 years later, for one episode, is pretty bad IMO. I thought Smythe got a bad deal, as Peter was a completely pathetic toady and just as he was becoming more interesting, Smythe was let go. I wanted to see him without the caricature known as Reginald. Anne Howard...again, she had a non-character. I wish we'd seen more of her with Anna Stuart's Donna, as they could have been a contrast. I think she was ill-suited to a role that didn't have more built-in layers. Why do you think they so abruptly fired Laurie Landry, the Nicole before her? Of all the families who came into AW in the late 70's and early 80's and weren't popular, do you think any should have had a fairer chance to succeed, or had potential? Did Rose Perrini have any stories of her own? I've seen a bit of her, mostly worrying over Angie or getting a seamstress job. Did they just get rid of her once Maeve Kinkead left?

I was reading an SOD from around summer 1986. Sharon Farrell (Nina's mother on Y&R, and also on Rituals for a while as Mary Beth Evans' mother) said she'd been cast in a regular role on DAYS, but the story was canceled and she never made it on the air. Do any of you know what this story or character would have been?

SOD criticized the story for John being so stupid. I got the idea of the Sharly stuff, I just didn't really think it fit well. It was very hesitant. She was with Grant, yet never had sex with him. She hung around bars but didn't go back to prostitution. What did you think of the Taylor Benson story? I mostly just got a good laugh out of the bad acting from Taylor.

I would have just had her leave town. I guess AW was probably on the way out no matter what, but that did seem to be the last straw for many fans. I loved Cass/Lila and I liked that Cass got to have more of an edge again (I never really "got" Cass/Frankie or why Cass needed to become so dour) but that was two years after Frankie died. It was a miracle that Cass didn't go around the time when Sharlene, Michael, John, and Carl did. It would have been nice to have seen Kathleen again. Even if she didn't stay then they could have tied up loose ends, and had some fun times. I also would have liked to have seen her reaction to Lila. Or Cecile. I know some fans hated the writing for Cecile in her last stint. What did you think?

Media darling Michelle Bachmann is returning to her roots, and going even more extreme. Not only has she signed a pledge that says homosexuality is a choice, the pledge also says that blacks were better off during slavery than they are now. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/07/michele-bachmann-signs-anti-gay-pact-that-says-times-were-better-for-black-kids-during-slavery.html Never mind that many black families were forcibly split into pieces during slavery. http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2011/07/michelle-bachmann-signs-pledge-that-says-black-children-better-off-during-slavery/ I wonder if our "liberal" media will have anything to say about this racist and patronizing garbage.

Yes, I meant your mother. I'm glad she liked it. I can imagine that the scenes Sharlene had with Rachel around the time Josie and Matt were first getting together were great viewing for loyal fans like your mother who'd seen all those moments. I was a bit put off at how quickly they made Jason such a monster, just for the murder mystery. I wasn't a fan of the character but it felt cheap to me. There was a fair amount of criticism of the DID story...Soap Opera Digest panned it twice. I didn't think it was that bad, but I thought it went on a little too long and I thought it smacked of, "We don't know what to do with this character."

The cast expanded, yes. The show had to burn through more story, yet also had to stall for time. This led to a lot of padding. I don't think the move was well-received. It didn't help that the headwriter Harding Lemay left early in the 90 minute format. I have not seen any full 90 minute episodes, just some surviving bits - the only full one I've seen is the first, when John Randolph was killed. It was full of padding, mostly with Iris and Vivien. This is the type of scene you might see in a 90 minute episode. Louise: I wonder if Mrs. Cory would allow Cook to give Miss Amanda an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert. Brooks: Mrs. Cory has never been strict about dessert before. Louise: Yes, but Mrs. Cory is becoming more concerned about Miss Amanda's well-being, since she learned Mr. Cory gave Mrs. Bancroft an extra scoop of ice cream when she was Miss Amanda's age. <doorbell> Louise: Mrs. Bancroft. Iris: <breathily> Hello, Louise. What a lovely early spring day. May I speak with Mrs. Cory? Louise: Mrs. Cory does not want to see visitors. Iris: Any visitor or just this particular visitor? Louise: I did not ask Mrs. Cory for specifics. Iris: I told Mrs. Cory that I would be dropping in. Louise: Mrs. Cory did not tell me of these plans. Iris: Well I suppose it slipped her mind. Mrs. Cory has been...absentminded as of late. All the stress, you know. Louise: As I said, Mrs. Bancroft... Iris: I did tell her. Louise: I can only go by what Mrs. Cory relayed to me, Mrs. Bancroft. Iris: So I may not see her? Louise: I... Iris: Oh, very well. <sighs> Give my best wishes to Mrs Cory. I'm sure she could use them.

Did she see Sharlene when she returned in 1988?

Do you remember the actor who replaced Sam Groom? I can't remember his name but he'd been one of those actors who had posed for a lot of muscle magazines in the 50's or 60's.

The other rumor was that Margaret DePriest, then headwriter, encouraged Frankie's murder because she wanted Cass to go back to the Cass she'd written for the last time (more of a playboy). While I totally agree with her on that front, brutally murdering his wife wasn't quite the way to go about it. And, if not for Linda Dano, Cass probably would have been long gone by the time of the finale.

I've heard about the vampire story but never seen it. I wish they'd just tried the story. It can't have been any worse than the trash JFP put out. Supposedly JFP needed to free up money to hire Robert Kelker Kelly. She did a focus group to see reactions to Donna and Paulina. Paulina was more popular with the focus group. JFP began tailoring the story to murder Donna. Fans realized what was going on and complained. JFP then decided to kill Frankie instead.

The problem is it's this vicious cycle. Republicans want cuts and more cuts and even more cuts. Democrats huff and puff, but usually go along to get along. Then everyone is shocked when cutting without anything else - even the stimulus plans that were constantly being cut down were not going to be enough - doesn't get a result. When we live in a society where the worker is stigmatized and seen as an idiot at best and a greedy pig at worst, then jobs won't improve. Even big Republicans like David Brooks are dubious. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/opinion/05brooks.html The question eventually becomes - how many people in power actually want most Americans to be poor or get poorer? How much easier is this for them and their plans?

I do too. I think she does own them, yes. I hope this might be a chance to at least have some Loving characters show up. I'd love to see Ava again. [/delusional]