DRW50

DS tends to go in cycles, but this time it's even more pronounced because a few Corrie fans are stirring the pot, spending a lot of time going on about Eastenders not being very good. But to be fair to them, Walford Web also has a lot of complaints about the show at the moment. I haven't really seen Eastenders as being what it should be in a number of years, so I'm still enjoying the show more than I did when Santer was around, and the ratings are holding up, so there's that. I do think a lot of people are so into the idea that death is what a show needs -- there was a lot of heavy focus at DS on the pub fire, and a lot of anger when no one died (I thought that was a brave choice). Now Corrie is killing off a few characters, so, even if it's being done clumsily, has been telegraphed for months, and for no real reason other than shock value, that means Corrie gets the hype.

I wonder if she knows that the guy who plays Gary was badly beaten a few years ago and had, I think, heavy facial injuries. The list of the 50 moments was good, and I'm glad they focused on the lighter stuff too, especially since that seems to be gone from soaps now. I think that Elsie's one night stand's wife actually destroyed Elsie's whole house, not just her clothes. That was one of my favorite scenes. I really loved Elsie.

According to the ratings thread at Digital Spy, over 13 million watched the Corrie stunt, with a peak of over 14 million, 46% share.

I know. I was shocked. The face is still the same but the Emmylou Harris type hair is a big change. There's a color photo of her on the cover, a small one - I'll try to put that up sometime. I wonder what her wardrobe was on WTHI. Her clothes on Ryan's Hope were so horribly unflattering and then it got even worse when Kimberly arrived.

I don't really think this is what the characters would do ( ), but I guess it's fitting for the current storytelling. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/3263416/Tyrone-to-give-Sal-a-thorough-servicing.html

This is really interesting stuff. So when did Winsor leave? I forgot. When did the ratings start to slide and not come back up? How long was the stuff with Laurie and Hugh before the story with the priest started?

Two episodes. Sylph, Kim Crowther is another who, while a terrible producer, I think got some extra criticism based on gender. Collinson has continued many of her worst stories and made some of the stories somehow even worse , yet he is praised for them. James F - someone posted the crash on Youtube. I actually don't think the effects look bad. The only change I would have made is to just end on someone unconscious, and not Ken or Stape looking into space. I expected one of them to start singing.

He seems very popular at Digital Spy's soap forums, and the ratings are up somewhat, so I guess he's doing fine. I think generally the male producers also get a little more leeway. Not always (like with Kirkwood right now in Eastenders) but Lucy Allan, Anita Turner, and Louise Berridge got some tough reactions from the boards and some of the press.

Emmerdale usually does better when they have a half hour or so head start against Eastenders.

I hope some of you will review the big stunt episodes they are doing this week to tell me if they're worth getting through. I'm going to need a positive review to sit through Grampa Nick. Interview with the effects supervisor. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s3/coronation-street/interviews/a291575/danny-hargreaves-sfx-supervisor-corrie.html I think he came from Doctor Who, as did the director, Graeme Harper, and of course Collinson. BBC has less of a budget so they must be like kids in a candy store.

Thanks. I've heard some of those stories but didn't realize Weiss was behind them. I guess that makes sense, as his time at WTHI seemed to have some risque stories (did he come up with the priesthood and the artificial insemination stories at Secret Storm). It's too bad this didn't help the ratings for The Doctors. Perhaps by then a lot of people had left and weren't coming back.

From the July 1976 Daytime TV (Sterling's Magazines Inc). This is the article on pilots that I thought was in the Digest. Is Janice's pilot available? I've seen some of the one Tom Hallick was in.

From the November 26, 1991 Soap Opera Weekly (K-III Magazines). I have a tough time scanning Weeklys so apologies for the quality. I decided to crop around the words on the first page and just type that up. If you can't see the second page clearly I can type that up too, let me know.

From the June 1971 Daytime TV (Sterling House Inc).

From the May 1981 Rona Barrett's Daytimers (Laufer Publishing Company).

Reading through a 1971 Daytime TV, they said that Lee Lawson temporarily replaced Zina Bethune as Barbara on LOL, in 1970, when Zina was ill.

I hope the article I typed up helped you some then. I'd like to know more about him too. I would say he seems ahead of his time, but considering most of the producers in daytime haven't been great, perhaps not. I do wonder how he might have been on, say, SFT in the early 80s, if he could have turned them around. All of his shows seem to have a very unique character. What unique stories did he do at The Doctors?

Interview with Stefan Booth. I find him much more charming and attractive when he's talking to the interview than I do in the beefcake shots...

All of this is really interesting. The Ames family sounds so complex, as so many of the "boring" 50s soap families were. If Secret Storm had continued to focus on them the show might still be around.

Thanks for finding this. I guess Chase and Maggie must have been hard to cast. I like Samantha Eggar and she seems OK there but I'm not sorry they recast her. Jane Wyman doesn't look as bad with the wig as I had expected but I still don't like it. I wonder why the pilot jumped so far ahead into the story? The show also seems a little more gothic. I cringed when Vicky called Angela "Angie." I hate those opening credits. I know they weren't going to have a big number for the pilot, but it seems like the start of a religious program.

He leaves about 2-3 months into the color episodes I think. I really like his goodbye scene with David -- one of the few times David Henesy didn't annoy me.