DRW50

At the time I was in disbelief that the only real airtime Shari Headley got was as a slave in Civil War Springfield. I do think Lucky Gold genuinely wanted to integrate the cast, and I appreciated his efforts with Remy and Christina in the last year. I'm not watching LMAD. I'm not really boycotting, I just don't care about seeing it. If I hear good buzz I might give it a try.

I think the show brought them in as a sop. There were no actual plans to give black characters major story, but they were brought in to some fanfare to help stave off criticisms of racism. Then when the actors got sick of it and left, Rauch could just say that this was their choice.

I don't even remember that much about Kevin Mambo. I did like his friendship with Dinah, back before WM ate the show. The last time I remember seeing Hamp was in late 1995. I think we saw him when Marcus was working at Towers and got into a fight with someone, which set up the story where he was framed for Cutter's murder. At the time I didn't quite realize just how easily you could interpret the black stories during McTavish/Laibson as racist. Not only did you have the trash with Gilly's exit, but you also had Dahlia's drug-addicted prostitute mother (the actress was FABULOUS, I wish they'd kept her around), and Griffin arranging to be shot to help his cause. Even Geoffrey Ewing was angry about that. It's just ugly propaganda and really destroyed Griffin. The sad thing is that was one of the last times they wrote for black characters on GL, with a few blips here and there excluded. I guess that's one of the reasons I liked Remy and Christina. I was happy that they were just a regular part of the community.

Thanks, I'd forgotten about Griffin, and the comfort with Vivian. I thought it was odd that Rauch did almost nothing with Petronia Paley, given that he brought her into AW, but then, that was the exception, not the rule, for how he treated blacks on his soaps. The exit story for Gilly is one of the most despicable of all time in soaps, if you ask me. I was so offended. It was so sleazy. Seeing a similar story on Y&R this year only brought that back. I really thought Vicky had so much potential. Ruth did too.

Does anyone remember the exits Dahlia and Marcus had? Ruth, Vicky Spaulding, and David Grant never had exits, right?

LOLFanme has put up more episodes. They're all very interesting. They include the 1983 Christmas show, which is a mixture of family, friendship, some spiritual talk (they even mention Hanukkah, which tends to be ignored on soaps more often than not), and singing. Some of the songs are that cheesy stuff where someone's voice suddenly starts booming in their living room (like what used to happen with Karen on Knots Landing when she sang at Christmas), but others are more stripped down and fun to listen to.

Thank you for keeping us updated. I always appreciate how hard you fight for GL and ATWT and AW.

That's interesting, that the devil story was one of her favorites. I'd heard some didn't care for it. Is this one of the ads? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCrrpfSlQDo

Why was there such a long gap between the time Ceara died and the time Laura returned to GH? And when did Genie leave AMC? Did she just sit on the ABC payroll for a year waiting to work again? I often felt like her heart wasn't quite in her GH work when she returned. Was she better as Ceara?

Thanks. I thought I knew most of the characters, but obviously not! So are Ollian ever going to get a story on VL?

Who is Mike? I don't know that character. I do wish we'd seen more Roman/Axel.

I saw a few clips of the Carnation Killer story -- that was the story that was supposedly designed to write some of the bad blonde actresses off the show, right? What did you think of it? I saw a clip of Gina's sister, Summer. The actress seemed AWFUL, but do you think the character should have died? Was she ever mentioned after her death? This was pre Robin Mattson, right?

That's sad. Did they ever say why they didn't bring Tom back as Justin instead of the bad Chris Pennock recast? I loved Rita on ATWT as Connor and Evan's snooty mother Edwina.

Louie Batley gets a break in America...for her ugly outfit. (some spoilers) http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2009/09/fuglyoaks.html

Can anyone tell me what you thought of Virginia Vestoff when she filled in for Liz Hubbard on the Doctors? How long was she there? I loved loved loved loved loved Virginia on Dark Shadows and to this day I'm still upset that her only other soap work is unavailable.

Thank you for all the details. Was Lotty married to Curtis Alden? I was watching some of a 1989 episode on Youtube and Jack was charming Stacey on a train trip. Did he play Jack all along? Why did he leave? Perry Stephens seemed good from the little I saw. He reminds me of Simon Baker. Too bad Stacey didn't get to have a happy ending with him instead of dating Buck and getting killed. You never hear a lot about Stacey considering she was on the show from the start almost to the finish. That's funny about Grainger and Wikipedia. Who was Trisha's brother Rick?

OK. I haven't seen the recent episodes but I'm trying to keep up when I can. Rosie Webster started sleeping with factory boss Luke Morgan, not realizing that he really just wanted the money she'd gotten from the man who kidnapped her, John Stape (John gave it to her as a way to make amends). The one he really wants is Michelle. Rosie and Michelle got into a catfight over him. Michelle won. But Luke is on his way out and Michelle is getting a new love interest. John Stape is in prison but has been regularly visited by the love of his life, Fiz Brown. Fiz agreed to marry him, to the disgust of her family, but is now having second thoughts. Peter Barlow and his little son Simon found Leanne working as a waitress. They convinced her to return to Weatherfield and try again with Peter. I'm not sure if she knows he was in love with Michelle (aren't they all!) while she was away. Sean fell for a hunk named Leon. Leon had eyes for Jason. Through a confusing series of events, Sean convinced Leon that Jason was gay, but not available. Jason ended up entering, and winning, Mr. Gay Weatherfield, not knowing it was a gay thing. He has decided to enter the bigger competition because he wants the prize money. Jason and Leon now know the truth. I'm not sure if Leon has forgiven Sean. Emily became very close to Norris' brother, Ramsay. Everyone loved Ramsay, everyone but Norris, who was disgusted by the way people fawned over Ramsay and saw him as a saint. Ramsay suddenly died and Emily was heartbroken. Emily said everyone always pities the dead, but not the living who have to pick up the pieces time and time again. She said she's tired of picking up the pieces. Kevin and Molly are having an affair. Molly becomes very angry and insecure whenever Kevin is around his wife Sally. Becky and Steve married, but Becky was arrested on her wedding day after her old cop nemesis, Hooch, found stuff on her. The charges were dropped, but her old boyfriend is back in the picture and will probably be causing trouble. Maria and Tony are together and are raising baby Liam, but Carla is on her way back to town very soon.

Eric lost the factory due to money problems. It's now owned by two South Asian brothers. Their wild sister is also in town. Eric and Val now own half of the B&B, running it with poor Terry Woods. Speaking of Wyldes, the Wylde family is the big rich family on the show now, they moved into Home Farm after buying it from the Kings, who lost everything. The head of the family is Mark Wylde, his wife is Natasha. Their children are stuck up but insecure Nathan, wild child Maisie, and then Will, who is only about 9 or 10. He's friends with Belle Dingle. There's a huge secret hanging over Mark's head, as his real name is Daniel Lamb. He abandoned his wife, Faye Lamb, over 25 years ago, because he was tired of being poor. He did not know she was pregnant. Faye saw his photo in a magazine earlier this year and began stalking him. He brushed her off, and Natasha upon learning the truth threatened to send her to prison, then finally bribed her to stay away. Instead, Faye moved to Emmerdale with their son, Ryan. She is now sort of involved with Cain Dingle, who hates Mark. Mark told Natasha a few months ago about Faye and Ryan, but no one else knows. Ryan doesn't know either. He just thinks Mark is some married man his mother hooked up with. Meanwhile, Debbie, after being released from prison after the murder she helped cover up, got custody of Sarah, her daughter with Andy Sugden. She lives with her father, Cain. Cain is upset because she's dating a man named Michael who Cain does not trust. Recently Michael told Debbie that he was supposed to marry another woman, but he's truly in love with Debbie. Viv returned from prison, to a mixed reception from Bob. Bob had just slept with Gennie Walker, daughter of his business partner Brenda. Viv still doesn't know. Bob's son Jamie began dating Gennie, which made Bob nervous and jealous. Jamie soon learned the truth and washed his hands of Gennie and his father. Carl King was in a loveless marriage with Lexi King -- loveless on his part. Lexi was obsessed with him and wanted his child. She had an ecoptic pregnancy and learned she would struggle to bear a child. She wanted to do IVF but Carl didn't want to have a child with her. Nicola, who had gotten together with Jimmy and was near the end of her own pregnancy, told Carl to be a man and be honest with Lexi, who deserved better. Carl did tell Lexi, and she got so angry at Nicola that she accidentally caused her to fall down the stairs. Nicola went into labor and had a healthy little girl. She forgave Lexi, but Carl was nasty to Lexi. Lexi ended up going to the roof with the baby. She gave the baby back, but nearly jumped. Carl caught her before she fell. She finally decided to wash her hands of Carl once and for all. Carl then got involved with his old flame Chastity Dingle, even though she was living with the vet, Paddy Kirk, who adored her. When Carl told Paddy the truth, he threw Chastity out and humiliated her in front of everyone at the pub. Chas is now living with Carl, Jimmy, and Nicola, in a tense situation. Chastity's son Aaron, a teenage thug, is still living with Paddy (who dotes on him), as he despises Carl and sees Chas as a slapper. There's a new farming family, the Bartons. They moved into Andy Sugden's farm. After Jack died and Andy lost custody of little Sarah, he had a mental breakdown and let the farm fall into total disrepair. John Barton, his wife Moira, and their teenage son and teen daughters all live there now. Andy helps out. There was some drama as Moira incorrectly assumed he was interested in one of her daughters, but that was sorted.

What time frame do you want a recap of? Do you mean the past few years, or the past few months?

Did you see some of the past few years? The show has had some ups and downs, but it's OK. I think 2006 and 2007 were their best years, of what I've seen. I haven't really seen anything before 2005, minus a few clips. I do miss some of the humor and the students they had in 2005. I also miss Jessica Harris. The current students, most of the current younger characters, don't do anything for me.

Elliot, Zak, Archie, and Kris found money stuffed in a roof or something. Archie was then kidnapped and demands for the money were made. But I think this was a ploy and Archie was working to try to get all the money for himself. Newt is off his meds again and is a major suspect in the beating of Gaz, who is the nemesis of Theresa/Lauren/Anita/Newt. Steph is dating Fernando but Gilly is in love with her. Rhys was dating Zak's sister, Hayley, but her true feelings are for his brother Josh. Cindy is trying to marry Tony for his money. Darren for some reason managed to get Hannah to marry him. Sarah's girlfriend Lydia believes she still has feelings for Zoe. Ravi was put in a coma after Ash hit him, Ash hit him even though he knew Ravi had an aneurysm. When Anita lashed out at him, he spitefully told her what the family had hidden all her life -- she had been adopted.

How long were Teri and Luke on the show? I didn't think Luke was aroudn that long. Were they any good? It's a shame they made Gifford a lunatic. I thought he was a great character in those clips he had when Casey arrived. Do you think they made the right decision? I had no idea Mary Ryan Munisteri wrote for the show. I take it she wasn't around long? She wrote for RH for years. I think her headwriting stint there wasn't a success. So this Granger woman wasn't any good? I agree with you about Laura Wright. I always liked her as Ally, when I watched Loving/The City, and I liked her on her GL run, most of the time. I think what I miss in her later work is that she used to have vulnerability along with the toughness, and some warmth. Most of that is gone now, it's just the toughness.

I agree with you about the degrading writing for women on GL at that time. I still get angry at the memory of Marah ripping off her clothes and daring Tony to go through with his rape attempt. I hated the Cassie money problems story, I thought it was contrived, as was the feud with Reva, but I did think she and PAS had good chemistry. So Casey and Steffi were involved? I didn't know that. What do you think has happened to Amelia Heinle over the years? Didn't she seem better on Loving? Or was she just fresher? Can you tell me more about Casey's father, Gifford? I don't know that much about him. Did he come back when Casey was killed? Do you think the show did a very good job of adding new characters in the late 80s, or were most of them not that good?

I found Rauch's GL to be entertaining, at least more often than not (I didn't think the Lucky Gold stories were entertaining, aside from Lorelei, and minus the increased airtime for the wonderful Meta, the Labine year annoyed me more than anything else), but I do think he dumbed the women down. There was a lot of very insulting material for women, especially when B&E were there. The women existed just to fight over men or to have babies. I really hated what they did with Beth. The story which made me see red was when she chased after Matt and kept telling Vanessa she was old and unattractive. Rauch was obviously not hiding his Maeve Kinkead hate. What was done to Vanessa in those years was just sad. Then again, Laibson and McTavish also thoroughly weakened and marginalized Vanessa, and they had no bad blood with Maeve, so what can I say. I will say that I thought Rauch did a better job of giving Wendy Moniz material than Laibson/McTavish did. Wendy was not a heroine, she wasn't even that believable as an antiheroine, so making her a crazy b!tch was the way to go. I still laugh at the memory of Dinah unknowingly hitting on her uncle or Dinah running around town wearing a napkin on her face to hide her scar. I don't accept that as being what Dinah should have been, but I preferred her in that role compared to the Dinah who was supposed to be our heroine even though she gave Roger electroshock therapy. I also thought that the early Cassie, very tough and bitter but with a good heart, was much better than the one who gave her tiara to the poor. I think the biggest failure with GL in terms of women, in their later years, was what they did to Marah. Not just the Lindsey McKeon recast, but the writing for her. The memory of her showing her "strength", or whatever Rauch and Taggart called it, by ripping off her clothes and demanding Tony go through with his rape attempt ::shudder::

I don't want to generalize, but I do wonder if women have a very different reaction to Rita than men. I think Barbara Norris was supposed to represent a lot of the female viewer reaction to Rita -- expecting the worst of Rita, treating her with thinly veiled disgust. Did you ever see Lenore's Moonlighting episode? She was in one of the very early episodes. Something about weapon systems or something. She fired a big laser gun and she had big hair and rolled around on the floor with Bruce Willis and it was a hot mess. I can see why she left daytime but I wish she'd stayed, she was perfect for soaps. GL at that time seemed to have such complex female characters. I would love to sink my teeth into Amanda, Rita, Jackie, Holly. With the exception of the Rauch years and some of the Conboy period, I think GL was consistently the soap that had complex, dynamic women. Even when GL was in the pits, I don't think they went quite as far into the woman-hating that most soaps did, with a few exceptions. Even at the end, Reva, Dinah, they were complex women. I think that's what I miss about GL the most, as strong, complex women are what got me hooked on soaps.