DRW50

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.

Likely so. I don't know if any soap hollowed itself out in those years the way GL did. It's the end result of bringing in so many teams who did not actually care about the show or have any history with it.

He did have a lot of presence, but I agree he was very intense. That was an odd period for new male hires. I remember the heavy sexual chemistry Hart and the Rob Layne around then had, culminating in them grappling on a hotel room bed.

I didn't think he seemed that much younger than Kim, even though I knew he was, as he didn't play that young to me. I do think he was dull. What I wonder about is why they didn't do more with that guy who rescued her on the island, Bill Bullimer (?). They dropped his possible relationship with her and also didn't go anywhere with his possible interest in Cassie. He was OK, even if the main talk he got was about his chest.

Most of them happened before. I would say the Selina story, the changes in Blake, the Bauer kitchen shootout, etc. were similar to past plots or character beats of theirs.

I think she was sabotaged from day one - I've said this before but I've rarely if ever seen one fired actor after another going to the press and blaming the new headwriter the way they did with her. Beyond that, I just think, similar to her OLTL run, she couldn't make the current show work or didn't have a producer who was able to actually work with her. The same cringey comedy that had managed to mostly work on GH and then became a struggle on OLTL was even more of a struggle on GL, because you couldn't just give Blake Lucy Coe's old lines - GL had many complicated characters. And in contrast to some of the attempts at comedy, there were pieces of abject misery I just couldn't get through, whether it be a shootout in the Bauer kitchen, Tony beating up Selina, or Cassie being locked up in a tower and then having a late term miscarriage via a car crash while on the run.

I'd totally forgotten. There's also mention that Brian Kerwin and Robert Hays tested. I agree the role was a lot of nothing.

Great find. Looking through the They Almost Became thread I see mention that DAYS originally wanted older actors for Roman. I also see a post saying Wayne was offered the role of Chris Stamp on AMC, but he declined.

This must have been around when Mike was on DAYS.

The same people who are outraged over this did not say a word over Trump pardons of the scum of the earth. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/23/trump-pardons-blackwater-contractors-jailed-for-massacre-of-iraq-civilians

https://bsky.app/profile/abetterlizard.bsky.social/post/3lcb7j57fzs2m I can't embed Bluesky, but it's a video of Deidre and Wayne at his ranch.

I did wonder what was going on when Harold had to miss a story that was clearly meant to be for him (the gas leak). Gino took it instead. I was amazed, and grateful, that he even came back for the revival. I hope he will have the sendoff he deserves. Apparently, some of the papers are saying he has terminal cancer. Heartbreaking. What a legend.

Thanks. I thought she played the mother but couldn't remember in what period.

I don't think it hurt a lot at the time - I'd say his 1996 departure hurt more.

Tom Nielson too, even if he was lucky to last that long.

Lucy Beale...later to be another iconic soap name. Thanks for the extra info. I know this has already been talked about before and I've forgotten it but were Sarah or Vanessa/Meg's father ever on in the show's earlier years? How much influence did she have on her daughters' lives when she did become a presence?

I suppose you could count Mama Bauer in GL's revamp, although I am not sure how long she was on the show.

I know this has been said, but I still feel like a number of story choices made on the show in her run scream Labine, more than any other writer (or Rauch for that matter).

I feel so bad for Lynn, and their family, and so many at DAYS who loved him. And for fans. DAYS had some of the most passionate fans, and as much as the show tried to replace or move past Wayne, he was a big part of that fan devotion. I don't think Wayne ever found another part that showcased him the way that first Roman run did. Even his return to Dynasty was just another waste (along with so many castings in those years). Yet that work he did for a few years four decades ago continues to generate love and fondness for him.

Thank you. I remember some of this. I guess the bugs were part of the whole story where Laura faked her death, which at least had a bit of drama in a moribund period with Bobbie slapping her. @carolineg Thanks for the further info about the breakdown story. I blame the writing more than anything else (wasn't there some scene of her swinging some tripod around...), but Vanessa was right to cut it short. @dc11786 I always enjoy reading your writeups about these years of GH. I don't have the emotional connection to the show that many do (I think I came to GH too late in its run for that sense) so you help me cover the bases in a more analytical way. That sounds right (still wish they'd done more with Lesley's return...or, frankly, anything). I don't think he has much else to do until he stars chasing after Sarah Webber. In 1997 he's written more than ever as Luke Jr.

I don't remember much about that story (admittedly most SS details slip my mind). I wonder how viewers felt about it. Did it have any lasting value? You're right...that is an eerie coincidence. Someone on the Youtube video mentioned that a few letters Ellen wrote to Helen Keller, or at least the letters Helen wrote back to her, are on the site for Helen. The conversation you have in the post above mine about how even Winsor wanted to start phasing out the Ames family does make me wonder if viewers would have accepted this if the rest of the show had been in a stronger place, or if viewers weren't as upset as we assume and other factors were at play in the show ending. I still wonder why they never tried one more time with some of the characters like Jerry Ames. (is 1968 accurate as his last appearance?) I would ask if that's one of the reasons Jean didn't last very long as Susan but then she was still playing a teenager on ATWT in the late '50s. A week, or even a few days, would make more sense than one episode.

This stars Ellen Cobb Hill, who would later appear in the first episode of SS as the soon-to-be-deceased Ellen Ames. She looks a bit young for the part here - I wonder how she looked on SS.

@Franko Thanks for sharing those old clips. Another of those wondrous soap moments where a character (Cord) who never had a hint of musical talent before or since kills it.

Thank you for the reminder. I remember reading through that book, and maybe even typing out those story projections...but it seems like so long ago now. It's a shame the plans for Meg never went through, although then they wouldn't have had Tudi Wiggins. I wonder who they might have cast.