DRW50

Oddly, I found an ad in a commercial bloc today that has a different version of the Ann portion. I suppose that's more common than I realized.

Thanks for the tag @Vee (I have to admit I've only ever watched a tiny bit of Mod Squad) Michael Cole was a severe alcoholic in these years, IIRC, so I'm not surprised he didn't last long. From what Randolph Mantooth said, this was also a terrible period backstage.

https://deadline.com/2024/12/mark-withers-dies-77-dynasty-stranger-things-1236196878/ He played Steven's ex-lover, whose death ushered Alexis into the show.

Rest in peace, Mark Withers. https://deadline.com/2024/12/mark-withers-dies-77-dynasty-stranger-things-1236196878/ @slick jones Thanks again for all this. I love the photo of Thom Christopher and Chris Meloni. Craig Stepp was on AW in 1989, not 1987.

To me he's just smug and unlikeable onscreen. I've never cared for his work. As I don't think he's hot either, he does nothing for me.

I forgot Tamara Braun was still on the show. Ava must really have a fan somewhere to have lasted this long given how confused and aimless her arc has been.

Anthony played a somewhat similar character on Loving (the only difference is that character was always an outsider). He did fine, he had the same grounded qualities as Bernau but lacked the spark. He was never really suited to anti-hero roles, but he certainly would have been better than the Alan recasts. Speaking of Loving, he probably would have been too young, but James Horan could have worked. Dennis Parlato also could have worked, although he was still at Loving when they brought Alan back. Neither of them would have been as good as Bernau of course. I wonder how old they are meant to be when GL starts on TV. Lyle Sudrow and Charita Bauer were both around 30.

Thanks for the clip. The thumbnail does a great deal of the work. Thom did his best with that awful story...it speaks volumes of where "Cartini" were as talent at that point that Carlo was obsessed with Talla here and then when she was killed months later, we, IIRC, didn't hear a peep about him.

This clip is probably already around but at about 20 minutes Chevy Chase shows a short clip of Tom Selleck as Jed Sanders and Tom then briefly talks about the show. (trigger warning for Chevy Chase)

A week or two ago I was trying to remember if he'd already passed. Thom was one of the most purely charismatic performers I've ever seen. This meant that he often powered writing which wasn't there on all of his soaps. Even on Loving, tormenting poor Chris Marcantel while wearing a dyed wig he stole from Sylvester and Tweety's owner. Even on GL, where they finally had to make him a baddie to justify writing him out but you still sympathized with him. And in his many poorly scripted moments as Carlo and Mortimer. Even throwing the most transparent "we're in the '90s now, please stop turning us off while we're turning you on," S&M moments with Alex, Thom and Tonja Walker steamed it up and made all the nonsense worth watching. Nice to see he and the actor who played Johnny Dee kept in touch. I hadn't thought of Anthony Crivello in a long time - glad he's doing OK.

I think if they write Billie as something less silly than her being a cop, as happened with Rinna the last time she was in the part, she could make it work, but I agree there's no need for her. I'd still take her over Julie Pinson. Krista was the Billie I liked most, but that doesn't seem likely.

I used to rag on Dominic for looking older than his age when he first started on GH, but I think he looks decent for 45. It helps that his hair has drastically improved.

The scene I remember hearing about but have never found is Nancy Barrett, Dennis Patrick, and Grayson Hall, all from Dark Shadows, meeting on One Life to Live and asking where they know each other from.

That's also how I got back into EE. I don't have any real connection to the Slaters these days, aside from Kat (and that doesn't mean I care about her stories, including having her son beat the hell out of her so she can reunite Alfie for the fifteenth time, once the most offcamera story in the history of soap was over. I share @Skylover 's view of how hollow and cold EE is these days. The stories do nothing for me and there are no characters, just plot points. I would rather watch a test pattern than Cindy's return, anything with the Panesars, the wretched Reiss, or Linda's drunken loops.

Thanks for sharing. This is a nice treat. I think they have pretty much given up. I hope the material shows up someday.

Many years ago, I remember seeing the script for the episode - it may have been in one of the GL books - and the main focus seemed to be on Rick kicking his pill addiction because of wanting to do right by Bert's memory. I'm sure that was moving for some viewers but that shouldn't have been the best the show could come up with for a character who had existed even on the radio version of GL. Van Vleet has a big eulogy at Hillary's funeral and it's hollow there too. He was a good fit for Chuck Tyler but was much more of a glossy ABC soap type than suited for Ed Bauer. An early example of how P&G's ABC-ification hurt them.

@jam6242 Thanks so much for finding and sharing that. What fun. Mrs. Olsen sure was around a long time.

There are a few cases where I am glad the show kept the character alive - after all the tragedy Sally Spectra suffered and how much joy and fun she provided B&B, I was happy the show just let her live a good life away from LA - but never Bert Bauer. She was home to many viewers, and they would want to say goodbye. It seemed like Long ended up going through the motions with the Bauers when she came back. I wish she had brought Meta on - Johnny's cancer would have been a good reason. Maybe she thought Sarah served as a matriarch, but wonderful as Audrey Peters was, Sarah was an isolated character.

Sounds great.

Less than a decade later, EE would kill Mark off because they felt it was not "realistic" that he was still alive. I'm glad GH didn't do that with Robin, although I know that may have been a plan in the early '10s. The show truly did take a huge risk at the time, especially with their ratings struggles. I remember someone writing a letter in SPW saying Robin could be cured via a crystal and Casey the alien.

Thanks for reading it. That was one of my main takeaways with the 1979/1980 material, which probably isn't even seen as his best. Just compare the inner life and complexity of a character like Deborah to later "lady supercop" figures like Harley or Josie.

Thanks! Love Jerry.

There are some instances where soaps wait until the family is ready (the real life family), but I do think this sounds more like passing the buck. And the service was terrible - not anywhere near as much effort as would later be made for HB or even Henry. The lack of respect for a woman who helped make GL a beloved institution for generations was shocking and shows just how little respect that era had. Even the last years of GL had more respect.

I do wonder how much is down to personality in cases like Erika Slezak. She still had a good run under Gottlieb but that wasn't enough. A number of men on the show at the time had very unpleasant reactions toward Gottlieb, including allegedly throwing furniture around, but some of the reactions from Erika and others in the industry (IIRC Marlena de Lacroix used to call her Linda "Dirty Dancing" Gottlieb) makes me wonder if they just did not get along with her.

I think it will happen as it's just too easy to write him as a baddie to prop Sonny, Kristina, Alexis, or even Ava. I do hope they keep him around in some capacity as Rick is very good and he lit a fire under parts of a moribund show.