DRW50

emanating from the tribe. At 43, Lee is still fertile fantasy material. But he is not as I remembered him. In fact, if a third party hadn't introduced us, I might have walked right on by. Funny how people age, while memories of them don't. It was hard for me to make the connection - this man was newspaperman Joe Riley on One Life to Life, not private eye Dave Thorne on Surfside Six. I suppose I might have felt relieved because this meant I would be free of debilitating symptoms of adolescent lovesickness. But I didn't. I was disappointed that I was unable to recapture that silly, crazy, lovely once-familiar feeling. I'd seen him on One Life to Live and therefore knew otherwise, but I'd gone to meet Lee expecting him to look as he did back in his Hollywood days, and my pajama party days, anyway. Don't get the wrong idea. Lee happens to be more stunning now than ever. Like fine wines, most men seem to improve with age, and Lee is living proof. The years had not changed his basic feelings about marriage one iota, however. To my surprise, I discovered that Lee is still what is referred to as an eligible bachelor, although he isn't all that eligible because he's not too keen on the institution. When I asked Lee if he thought he might get married one day, he tried to dismiss the subject with a joke. "Why should I get married, when I walk with a stoop naturally," he cracked. Lee then noticed my no compendre expression and explained, "You know, the burdens of marriage..." Lee was a bit evasive. "marriage in whose eyes? The church? The state? Who's gonna tell me? I think committment is a very personal thing. I'm too much of a free thinker to be told how I should make my commitments." A little research turned up these remarks, made 11 years ago to a TV Radio Mirror reporter: "I like women and I date a lot - but casually. I don't like to be tied down." Then a little further on in the story, "Sure, I'd like to be married someday. I'm no nut who wants to live alone forever. Lots of times, I think I'd like to get married right now." Still further on, Lee used a subject-changing tactic that he was to use 11 years later with me. "Besides, the community property laws in this state (California) scare the devil out of me!" he joked. Eleven years ago, Lee might have called himself marriage shy, a term which sounds like an infectious disease. And with the aid of hindsight, it seems he felt compelled to sound amenable to the idea of marriage - in the future, mind you. Today he calls himself a free-thinker and doesn't feel the necessity to reassure the whole world that, yes, don't worry, he'll get married one day. Interesting. I happen to think Lee would still be described as marriage shy were it not for the fact that kids today, by refusing to have their disdain for the statistically not very successful institution dubbed a hang-up, have vindicated the older hold-outs from other generations. Lee was simply ahead of his time. For a free-thinker, however, he has some mighty old-fashioned ideas about permissiveness in the media. "I think all this sex that is bombarding us is revolting and terribly damaging," he proclaimed. "I think we fantasize enough, we don't have to be encouraged to do it more. And I'll tell you that when I take a lady to the movies or to the theatre I don't like to see nudity because I would like to be able to stimulate my mate myself. I don't want her stimulated by someone she sees on screen or on stage. Then I'm just a plaything. I think all this permissiveness brings sex down to a very cheap level. People will soon start thinking of sex as just a commonplace function and it will lose a lot of its beauty. "And I'd never act in a play or film that involves nudity. No way. I've been offered about eight things over the last few years that I've refused to do for that reason. I'd take my shirt off, but I won't take my pants off. I know everyone seems to be doing it these days, but that's exactly what I object to. If some people want to see even real hard-core pornography, let them. However, there has to be some freedom of choice. What I object to is being bombarded with this everywhere I turn. When I'm getting into a cab with a lady, I dont't want her to have to see a bus go by with a half-naked lady on the side advertising soda pop. This permissiveness in the media seems to be everywhere we turn." These do not sound like the words of a free-thinker, do they? But on second thought, Lee's attitude isn't exactly calculated to win him friends in the entertainment industry. And that industry is supposedly based on giving the public what it wants, so Lee's opinion on this matter would seem to be a minority one. Sounds like free thinking to me, after all. Lee always says what he feels, even if that means putting himself in a less than glorious light. By this point in the interview, I already knew that. And yet, when he said, "I see myself as a puppet, not as an actor. An actor is someone like Paul Scofield, or George C. Scott," I had to object. But while I played the adoring fan to Lee's humble hero, it became apparent that no amount of protests on my part would convince this fine actor, who had starred on the London stage for many years and in over 25 films in Europe, that he was anything but a tool, albeit a finely honed one, but just a tool nonetheless. "I'm simply a yeoman," said Lee, refusing to boast. "And the secret of my success? I had the ability to hang on a little bit longer than some people." And the secret of Lee's happiness is his ability to derive satisfaction from whatever he does. But the important word here is "does." Lee is a doer. "I don't read, watch television or go to movies," he insisted. "There's time for that when I'm dying off. Right now I don't want to live my life vicariously. And I never want to become involved in one thing to the exclusion of everything else. I love to act, but believe me when I say I'm enjoying talking to you just as much as I would enjoy doing a scene from a fine play." Before I could swoon, Lee then ticked off a list of activities he would also equally enjoy engaging in - sculpting, playing polo, flying his own plane and collecting antiques, to name a few. Lee's ability to enjoy a wide variety of endeavors, in fact, is really the very reason he is an actor today. It was while working for the BBC as a technical designer after he'd completed his studies in fine arts at the Ontario College of Art that Lee literally stumbled into an acting career. As a favor, he'd gone to pick up a check for one of the actors at his agent's office. The next day, the agent called and suggested he try out for a part in Death of a Salesman. Lee had never studied acting and had never even thought about becoming an actor, but it wasn't necessary for the agent to say, "Try it, you'll like it," to convince Lee to audition. It was a new experience, and Lee liked new experiences. So, he tried it and he liked it and the rest is, as they say, history. - Rose Linder

Thanks for the explanation, Paul Raven. September 1972 TV Dawn to Dusk.

So are we not going to meet their son? It will be kind of harrowing if their son is dead or also very badly screwed up, and so is their granddaughter. The show does need some new teens, as long as they're written properly, aren't faking an accent, and aren't way too old. And if they can act. She looks like Caroline Rhea in that photo. I hope they give her better hair after a while.

July 1956 TV Radio Mirror.

(she's in the early clips of Enough is Enough). 1980 episode: I forgot to say how much I loved that Helena/Justin scene. How far did that go? Rose Alaio was just a wonderful and charismatic actress. I'm sorry no soap used her long-term.

Some clipsets with Cindy Pickett.

I like the early 70's too, but they're seen as being a slump period, as a lot of the vets were ill or leaving. Still I think it's good until somewhere around 1974, which is still very watchable, but gets into some stuff I don't really want to see on Corrie like the story with Annie being terrorized in her home.

You know about the 1980 episode on Youtube and the ClassicGL clips with Cindy, right?

January 1989 Digest. ATWT review, by Robert Rorke. Repetition and the domination of one character over all others have brought the Emmy-award winning soap As the World Turns down from its previous standard of excellence. Although some of this year's story twists have jolted us, others made no impact or seemed rehashed. The show has always distinguished itself with multi-generational stories that got everyone involved, but now there are simply too many characters milling about with nothing to do except recap the plot and delay the action. Still, for all its plodding, the show made great improvements in 1988 in the area of romance, delivering one vital new couple, one compelling triangle and a most amusing and complicated quadrangle. We also met one of the best new characters on daytime. THE ULTIMATE RED HERRING 1988 got off to a bad start when a great story - the murder of James Stenbeck - turned into the ultimate red herring. After months and months of suspense, interrogation and a trial for Barbara Ryan, the story climaxed with a resounding thud. James Stenbeck wasn't murdered; he had escaped and was at large. Saving Stenbeck's hide cheated the audience, and his once-thrilling visits to Oakdale are now too predictable. We know exactly what he's going to do, which women he's going to call (Barbara, Lucinda, Emily) and how he's going to torment them. Stenbeck may be back, but it's no big deal. The audience has been Stenbecked to death. Another blunder was the lengthy and ultra-convoluted ghost story in which Duncan McKechnie and Shannon O'Hara tried to exorcize the angry spirit of Margaret, the wife of Duncan's ancestor Angus. This plot involved a portrait that cried real tears, various special effects, seances and other residue from Dark Shadows. Almost impossible to watch, the story was intended to cement the romance between Duncan and Shannon because Margaret had cursed all women born to or married to McKechnies and it didn't even accomplish that much. Duncan and Shannon were once a spirited couple, but now they seem terminally adrift, and Shannon has lost her greatest quality - her sense of humor. FATAL ATTRACTION As the World Turns gained lost ground when they did a Fatal Attraction story involving Dr. Bob Hughes and an emotionally disturbed mother of two named Laura Simmons. Although identical to the terrific Douglas Cummings story of 1985, in which an emotionally disturbed Cummings became fixated with Kim Hughes to the point of kidnapping and murder, the Laura story succeeded on its own. Carolyn Ann Clark gave a solid performance as poor Laura, whose sweet exterior could explode into murderous rage at the slightest provocation, and Don Hastings dropped his medical savior faire and showed us a side of Doctor Bob we've never seen - terrified. Two sensitive and new characters were also highlighted at this time: Laura's brother, Beau Farrel, and his lover, Pamela Wagner. Although Beau initially seemed to be another product of that mysterious/disturbed/new-young-man-in-town mold used to introduce nearly all young men on this show, Maffin's energy and intensity made the character distinct. Unfortunately, he hasn't had a story line of late. This is an ironic development because once ATWT had a dearth of young male characters. Now there are plenty, to say the least, and the old king of that hill, Craig Montgomery, has returned but his place in the story structure seems less than assured. Formerly, all females in Oakdale flocked to him; Craig's life was a series of visits, making sure they were all right. But now Craig's acolytes are gone. Betsy had a nice sendoff with Seth; his wife, Sierra, is presumed dead; his mother, Lyla, has her own life with husband Casey; and sister Margo is too busy covering up the parentage of her son to hang out with baby brother. Craig's awkward re-entry into the Oakdale orbit underscores the fact that even a brief absence from a soap can alter the character dynamics so drastically that some may not fit in anymore. Hillary Bailey Smith, who also took a brief sabbatical, fares much better. The dynamics between the couples Tom and Margo, and Hal and Barbara are truly amusing as the actors try their best to breathe new life into one of the oldest soap plots - whose baby is it, anyway? While Hal remains cheerfully oblivious (and so attached) to Margo's son - it's his - Tom's biting the bullet and Margo is on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Watching the dressed-to-kill Zenk go to pieces as soon as down-to-earth Margo even mentions the word motherhood is one of the delights of the show. In recent years, Barbara has run the gamut from doormat to she-devil, but is infinitely more entertaining to watch as Margo's patsy than as Stenbeck's football. LILY VS. MEG: THE FORCED AND THE GENUINE That aforementioned quadrangle worked much better than its more youthful counterpart, the Dusty/Lily/Holden/Emily story. Holden and Lily were already plucking at our nerves when they broke up. Hensley strained for the soulful and came up with the merely sullen. Talented Martha Byrne got saddled with some of the most monotonous soul-searching daytime has ever seen. "Are you being honest with me? Can we ever really trust our feelings? Can we face the truth? What is the truth?" These are just some of the profound utterances that fall daily from Lily's lips and the men of Oakdale hang on her every word. In fact, they all fall in love with her. Last summer we were treated to endless loud slugfests as Holden and brother Caleb fought over who was going to talk to, look at, and dream about Lily. Transient mental case Spence Davies was also smitten with her. The entire Snyder family revolves around her. It's enough. When one character is made the central figure in a cast of more than forty actors, it is difficult to maintain dramatic balance and you risk alienating the audience. Someone who managed not to get smooshed (like the character of Pam Wagner) by the Lily Monopoly was Meg. Out of the ho-hum affair between Tonio Reyes and the promiscuous Emily Stewart came the stormiest and most compelling triangle ATWT has had in years. Meg learned of her husband's infidelity with Emily and ended up making love with her cousin Josh, also known as Rod Landry. This shocking twist led to a series of secret trysts that climaxed mightily in a brutal and superbly choreographed fight between Tonio and Rod, and Meg's tragic miscarriage (she was carrying her lover's child). The three players have been excellent. Peter Bonyton has turned Tonio into a first-rate scoundrel. William Fichtner continues to amaze as he makes sympathetic one of the most difficult roles on soaps - that of a man who has been almost universally reviled because of a rape he committed as a teenager. And Jennifer Ashe has made Meg the foremost heroine of the show by earning the audience's sympathy through her genuine predicament instead of demanding it by bending your ear, like Lily. Ashe's performance should earn her an Emmy nomination. A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS The other absolute hit of the year was the introduction of the wily and intriguing Kirk Anderson. Wiggin's charisma sets him apart from the other young actors on the show. His argumentative romance with Iva has rescued Lisa Brown from lamenting the sorrows of young Lily and he fits perfectly into the crazed orbit of Lucinda's Walsh Enterprises. He's quick and funny - and boy, in Oakdale these days, that's a relief. ATWT used to be regularly amusing, but with characters like Lilith McKechnie stalking around and offing people, and the aforementioned Spence and Laura, now it's more like the Lunatic of the Month Club. The Laura Simmons story was great, but we've just had another wacko whose name begins with the letter L and who used the same weapon as Laura, and it also begins with the letter L - a letter opener. Are there no kitchen knives in Oakdale? There was also one shot of Botsford giving her one expression of steely-eyed menace that we saw at least three times a week. Another reason the show may seem so Gothically dreary is that, after the ghost story disaster, it's become clear that the Castle McKechnie is an aberration. The stories that take place there now don't fit in anymore with Oakdale life as we know it; the people who live there are not well-integrated with the various eavesdropping families of the show. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? The show wins high marks for its inventive direction and for its attention to psychological subtlety. For instance, Lucinda was furious with Craig for sleeping with Emily while Sierra (her daughter and his wife) was still missing. But after she scolded him, she had a subliminal flash of the erotic night she had with Craig several years ago. It rang true. So has the entire story concerning Andy Dixon's alcoholism. Scott DeFrietas has played an awkward, insecure teenager so convincingly that he doesn't seem to be acting. On another front, the historical revelation that Hank Eliot is gay was handled with sensitivity and dignity, though it seems prudish that his lover won't be seen. It's impossible with a cast this large to give everyone a story and yet Doug Marland usually gets around to everyone. He even gave great-grandmother Nancy Hughes, series-original Helen Wagner, a love story. But some of the show's major characters were relegated to the sidelines for large chunks of time. It is inexplicable that actors as talented as Larry Bryggman and Elizabeth Hubbard should have so little to do. ATWT is just not as entertaining or interesting when they're not around. Now that the show has improved its romantic profile, it's time to recover the lost humor and distribute the stories evenly among the characters who are truly engaging.

When did he pass away Is he saying ABC treated actors better or worse? I always thought it was a stupid decision to fire Tom O'Rourke. And don't even bother with that recast...

The 60's are their real golden age. I have a soft spot for 1960-1963, as this was before the very bad decision to dump wonderful characters like Martha Longhurst and Harry and Concepta Hewitt. After this many fans would say 1975-1983 or so. More recently, the early 90's are considered slow but had some iconic characters like Raquel, and much more quiet, character-driven humor and drama. The late 90's were more action packed and sensationalistic. Then 2003-2004 is considered fantastic.

My mother decided not to watch. She said it would be too sad and she would just remember the better years. I didn't really blame her - she didn't miss much anyway.

I wonder if the horrible "J-Cup" story is why she's going. That and middle-aged Amy. Too bad, as she and David really sparked. Not something very common on Emmerdale these days. A major charity has trashed the disgusting and offensive Jackson story. http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s12/emmerdale/news/a323200/emmerdale-assisted-suicide-plot-blasted-by-charity.html

Robin would agree with you about her AMC character. I don't know if there was any strong reaction to Nancy. I think by that time people may have been worn out with Tara. I guess it was her choice to leave? I know Mary Lynn Blanks replaced her.

February 1977 Soaps and Serials.

Catherine played Faith as more of the all-American type, a sorority sister, upbeat, but also decisive and strong. Basically, nothing like Faith. safe posted the text of this some months ago. I'm posting this mostly for the photos. Daily TV Serials, February 1977.

I never knew that about the criticism they got over Scott (where did you see that?). I'd forgotten about Bill Bauer's death. That's a good catch! I always thought his death seemed nonsensical and sudden, just from reading about it. This helps explain why.

I can never remember about the Marcys. I thought the one who came back after Linc died was the recast. I don't remember them that well - this one has a pinup cheesecake type of appeal. Yes the music was way off in that first scene when she met Scott. I was shocked. It seems like the production values really started falling on ATWT in the early 90's, even compared to GL and AW. Looking at it now I can see why fans might have been annoyed, and it all seems a little slipshod (and that grandmother gets on my nerves). It kind of seems like actors reading dialogue. But it's so nice to see Eileen Fulton acting! She really could give a performance when she had the opportunity. I also thought the music in the scene where she tells Scott the truth was so much better than in that first scene.

I don't think Branson had the ass to be in that family...

Those are great. Weekly had some wonderful covers in the 90's.

She sort of reminds me of the fascinating and bizarre Nicole from Big Brother 2. That and Diane Ladd. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother2/houseguests/bios/nicole.shtml Oh, now I know. Rose Alaio: http://ryansbaronline.tripod.com/Wanda/Unknown1980/jackrose1.jpg

I think generally it was Duhamel who made Leo shine, along with some good one-liners. I did like his relationships with Vanessa and David too. But generally he worked because he was so different from most of the younger leading men AMC has tried to churn out in the last 15 years - no creepy arm-grabbing mouthbreather stuff.