DRW50

1 hour ago, titan1978 said:

For me it was the year after Lucky died. She has even said they just flat out gave up writing for her after she wallowed in misery for months, which was realistic for Laura at that point but like everything Guza did, he didn’t have a way back from the edge. They wanted to keep stretching out Luke and Laura reuniting, so they did the Felicia story and Luke looking for Lucky without telling her.

I know others don’t agree, but I felt the show was not very good all around in 1999 through the end of Wendy’s tenure. I thought there were several forgettable and miscast characters- JY’s Lucky, Nikolas, Jerry, Roy, Chloe, Juan and Hannah being many examples. Bobbie was sidelined twice by terrible pairings, Felicia was almost destroyed, and when Sonny came back he ate the show up in a way he hadn’t before. Then they paired him with Carly.

Oh I've already said a few too many times lately how dull the show was for me in 99/00. I stopped watching regularly around that point.

I have to admit I did like Jerry.

The Lucky "death" makes sense as well. I mostly remember her being put into that dull, dull pairing with Stefan that you could tell no one at the show gave a damn about.

1 minute ago, Vee said:

I don't agree at all that Laura is not prominent these last few years - she is mayor and has been central in a ton of key story in the last few years, shockingly so. We all discussed it that positive evolution for her prominence just last year during the February sweeps period as one of the few consistent bright spots of the show in recent years. It's only the last few months she's been on a lot less. I find her pairing with Kevin boring as hell myself but it's been reasonably popular.

She's been around, helped by Spencer's presence, but I do think the core of the character has not been there in a very long time - probably since that fateful maternity leave (not that I am blaming a maternity leave, more how the whole thing ended up playing out backstage, allegedly).

Thanks @Soapsuds

And how could I forget that badass guitar riff.

Here's to you, Chris Goutman.

15 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

Today GH released new key art, a new banner & individual cast photos. In the group shots, & the banner photo for the background it shows panels where each is a scene from the show. It reminded me SO of the ATWT opening globe where there were 1000s of scenes from the show. Such a good background & such a good good memory. 

We should all flush a toilet in honor of that opening.

7 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I just read some wild threads on Twitter, and is this what fans really think? That Laura Wright has both the unlimited power and uses it to sideline every fan favorite except herself? Maybe I am naive, but she does not come across this way to me at all.

She seems like a hardworking actress that doesn’t take sh!t from online fans and goes to work and does her job, no matter the script or the costar. And let me be clear- I am not a LW stan. I appreciate her work, but if Sarah wanted back on as Carly I would gladly say welcome back lady!

The fans are truly wilding out, the show and network would be wise to make some statements sooner rather than later.

I don't think it would make a difference. I remember some fans used to send death threats out to actors during the Liz/Jason/Sam years. 

And of course Laura got those types of threats when she was at GL.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Frank is still butt-hurt that he was forced to give Genie a contract.  That's why he had the writers give her a thankless job (as PC's mayor) and stick her with boring-ass Kevin (whom everyone knows belongs with Lucy!) instead of creating a brand-new love interest for her.

The bad blood between Genie and GH or ABC over her extended maternity leave helped to disenfranchise the character, followed by Guza and Tony Geary's clear contempt for her (and need to turn her rape into her rapist's pity parties and her son berating her) created a hole for her that she never got out of. Then we have Geary's contempt for any Lucky not named JJ, plus JJ's depressing return that pleased no one and kept him away from the show for good, plus JMB's lousy turn as Lulu followed by a poorly received recast, followed by all the tragedies with Tyler Christopher...

Pretty much everything went against Laura and her relevance on the canvas.

I have to admit I've never cared about Laura, and I don't think Genie Francis is that fantastic, and even I would agree she's been disrespected in so many ways when you think of what she did for GH.

The only reason she is there is lip service. 

I won't claim the treatment of Tracy is top-tier (especially the degradation of her when she was married to Luke) and is likely going to decline with Mulcahey's departure, but still, if you were a viewer in 1980 and someone showed you Tracy's relevance vs Laura's in 2024, you'd be shocked. (once you get past the shock of someone from 2024 being in your house to talk to you about a soap)

Tom was just a terrible, bizarre character who never should have lasted as long as he did, although he was OK in his last few months. My main memory of him is when he was jogging in green short-shorts.

1 hour ago, j swift said:

To me, the best Faith recast was Cali Timmons.  Because Maggie felt like the sibling rival that Jill needed as an antagonist all along.  Even as a kid, I knew Frank was never going to pick Faith, but Maggie had a real shot at turning his head because she was a firecracker.  

Jill could at least be more honest with her. One of the reasons the Faith and Jill rivalry is hard for me to watch is because Faith says the vilest things to Jill and Jill mostly just takes it. The whole thing feels dishonest to me in that Faith made so many stupid choices, lashed out when those choices blew up in her face, and was still presented as a victim. 

This features Henrietta Moore (First Love), among others. A neat little use of the 15 minute format (I wish more shows would take this step now) with good leads. I wonder if Joe Mantell meant to play his scenes with as much longing and yeaning as we get in that later scene. Some of that aspect feels very "today."

Thanks @Paul Raven . I don't remember him fumbling his lines very often.

Thanks to @Contessa Donatella

At the Another World 60th, Barbara Rodell mentioned that after she left ATWT for the last time, she was offered, and turned down, a chance to be a temp recast for a pregnant actress on OLTL. 

Presumably, that would be Viki, which was taken over in that period by Christine Jones. 

Thanks to @Contessa Donatella

At the Another World 60th, Barbara Rodell mentioned that after she left ATWT for the last time, she was offered, and turned down, a chance to be a temp recast for a pregnant actress on OLTL. 

Presumably, that would be Viki, which was taken over in that period by Christine Jones. 

19 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

I'm not familiar with those threads. Tell me the right one's name & I'll be glad to pop it there, too.

And, yes, the more I think about it I'm getting angry at the very idea of rushing toward Linda!!!! 

I am very sad about DavidF!! 

I'll just mention it and then give you credit.

Thanks @Contessa Donatella for sharing those stories. You'd think people would be more respectful of an 80 year old woman than to run up to her like they're meeting the Beatles. 

Very sad about David Forsyth. 

You may want to add the Barbara Rodell info about OLTL to the Temporary Replacement or They Almost Became threads. If you don't want to I will.

This is a Soapnet backstage piece from 2002.

Just now, Vee said:

Most of those fans were all about her and Sonny. Frankly I don't think Nina has ever been better or more interesting than the last few months. It wasn't just about daily humiliation, but growth.

I think it was easy to overlook because of the optics of her having to sell the hotel to Carly, Willow's latest judgment, etc. but she did have some lovely character beats that Cynthia Watros clearly enjoyed playing. I was always a little hot and cold on Cynthia at GL but she's done good work with the rare shreds of decency she got here. 

I would have Brook Lynn and Chase become foster parents, maybe tie them to Ward House (was that ever brought back - I can't remember) and use that to bring back Keesha or other relatives. And it would fill the house with more characters, as Monica is rarely there and we're lucky to even have Tracy back. Maybe Tracy could form a bond with one of the children who reminds her of herself at that age. 

I'm sure Frank would love to cast more child actors on the show, so it could be a win/win. 

I wonder how all the Nina fans who were upset over the Drew stuff feel. I actually do get why they were upset with her losing and losing and losing, but it did seem like her story was leading somewhere for her. Now that doesn't seem likely.

Thanks @slick jones . I had no idea he wrote for Bright Promise. Or that he was originally meant to do Coach. 

Rest in peace, Barbra Fuller.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/barbra-fuller-dead-republic-pictures-one-mans-family-1235903503/

Rest in peace, Barbra Fuller.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/barbra-fuller-dead-republic-pictures-one-mans-family-1235903503/

49 minutes ago, dc11786 said:

@Sapounopera I think there was a cast cull in early 1976 because the cast size was deemed too large. I don't remember who that was. I think the Bucky / Reenie romance and the Sam Cromwell character were part of the purge. Diana van der Vlis was supposed I'll and asked to be let out of her contract. Frank Latimore wasn't working in the role of Ed, in my opinion.

Kate Mulgrew became pregnant during her time on the show, but I cannot remember when that was or if that was in the first year or the second. I think there were some temporary Marys when Mulgrew was pregnant. 

Mary gets pregnant soon after she marries Jack, which was written in due to Kate's real life pregnancy. Sam Cromwell was likely directly affected by this, as he was clearly meant to be in a triangle with Jack and Mary. He wasn't that bad. 

I do wonder about Nell's story as to me it felt like a natural conclusion - if anything I felt like they extended her run a little. 

I think that Ed could have stayed longer with a different actor. Latimore had no real presence.

I definitely think Nick and Reenie were budget purges. And maybe that Latina nurse - or did she want to leave the show? She got more writeups in the soap magazines than in the episodes. 

40 minutes ago, Chris 2 said:

Nancy Barrett is so jarring as Faith. She’s too old for the role, for one thing. And then the whole sunny attitude - “Here am I, all better, and blonde and vivacious.” Weird.

Nancy was one of my favorites on Dark Shadows but I don't think she's worked in any other soap roles I've seen her in (I have not seen her Doctors work). She seems very artificial and fragile, which suited her more on DS.

31 minutes ago, Khan said:

I still can't believe it took so many recasts to make Faith work even a little; and even when they DID have a successful recast with Karen Morris-Gowdy, her Faith was so different from what Faith was originally, she might as well have been an entirely new character.

The only time KMG worked for me was when they wrote Faith as bitter and resentful, which they never fully allowed because I guess they just couldn't accept that level of nuance in the character. Instead, we just had excessive airtime spent on this unpleasant and dull person we were meant to feel sorry for at all times...and of course many reminders of how wicked and rotten Delia was.

I don't think Faith ever worked. It's telling that even Catherine Hicks did not care for the writing, because that was the one time I think Faith connected - mainly because Labine and Mayer just wrote her to Hicks' spunky strengths and threw away any of what they had tried before with the character.

@Ben @Forever8 @LondonScribe