DRW50

From the July 1976 Afternoon TV Stars. Lorelei Publishing Inc

From the July 1976 Afternoon TV Stars.

Also from this issue:

From the July 1976 Afternoon TV Stars (Lorelei Publishing Co).

From the July 1976 Afternoon TV Stars. Lorelei Publishing Inc.

Someone saw this billboard: http://twitpic.com/303uxo I wonder if the artist is a fan of the Phoenix saga...

Patsy Palmer is also not fond of the Ricky/Bianca relationship. I think Bianca is lucky to have Ricky because she's a very difficult character to write for. I think Ricky is an important part of the fabric of Walford. He's just a regular guy. He has a laugh. He has a drink at the pub. He worries about people. He isn't very bright, but he tries his best. This is the type of character soaps tend to be ashamed of and write off as boring. You tend to either have pond scum, or complete idiot clowns, like the hack job done on poor Garry in his last 3-4 years.

Do you think if P&G had not insisted on the block lineup being rearranged in 1972 or 1973, the struggling shows would have lasted longer? The P&G shows might have too...

That's interesting. I don't know a lot about Chuck and Patti. I wonder if LOL might have thrived at another network, after CBS canceled it.

Do you think there are any other writers out there who could have done what they did? It's interesting though to read a bit about some of the stories the show had in their earlier, simpler years. Some of them surprised me, like the one about the mentally ill man who was accused of raping women, and the fight to clear his name.

I do think that a lot of the soaps from the 50s just sort of died slow deaths, but LOL is the one which always confuses me because they had a big comeback for several years only to fade out again for their last few years. So was it that the show had moved beyond its core audience or did they just make some bad decisions? If someone like Pat Falken Smith had been with the show after the Labine and Mayer had left would they have been in a better position? Or what if they'd moved to another timeslot?

I do get that feeling, and also that she might not have had any idea the show would be such hard work, or that the ratings would be so difficult to build back up. No wonder she wanted out of soaps after that. Thanks for commenting. I'd posted so many articles from around this time (79-80) I thought people might have felt it was repetitive or depressing. I'm glad you read it.

Mark was her father? When did the show move away for good from her being bitchy?

There were so many thankless Marshalls. I think they only kept the character around as long as they did for tokenism, which was a shame. The same was true for his daughter Dana. I think after Brooks, someone played him for a while, and then Dean Irby, very briefly.

She was a bratty child, generally, but she had sweet moments.

I know Linda really enjoyed the story, although some of that was due to her frustration over Felicia being on the backburner for a lot of 1994. What did you think of Felicia and Marshall? I know it was killed because of fears. Did they have any chemistry?

I'd never heard of Michael Catlin. What did you think of him? Jess actually did play the pain and distress of Jill very believably, but she can also be far more. Constance came onto SuBe to wrap up the mystery of Cole's paternity and the starcrossed love of his grandparents or whatever. I always got the feeling that story was supposed to go on longer but tanked with viewers, as did poor Leigh Taylor Young's role. If Constance hadn't got GH I wonder if SuBe would have used her more. I know I've asked this before but did you prefer the Ali stuff with Sloane or did you prefer her before all of that?

I haven't watched yet -- I do love the Wyldes but it's been tough to get back into the show. I have to admit that a part of me is in some way offended by the Jackson story. To cripple someone solely to make us weep for the guy who doesn't love him and who hit him -- come on! To not ever actually show us any of this relationship or develop Jackson, but to constantly make his devastating pain all about how Aaron suffers, is so cynical and depressing and shallow. It's like a modern version of the dying girlfriend of the month on Bonanza, and at least that show had more of an excuse. I'm glad you're posting more Ben, I always look forward to what you have to say.

From the November 8, 1994 Digest. K-III Magazine Co. The last photo is very timely...

From the November 8, 1994 Digest. K-III Magazine Co