DRW50

I know it would play into the homophobe = gay trope, but I just think it would be very funny. And Natasha + Natalia - it all fits.

She should hook up with Natalia.

As Kevin's ex Marie was short term, the only other option would have been Shannon. I think keeping the feud between them going longer and allowing Shannon to remain a more secretive, complex character would have benefited her, rather than going from hijinks to misery as she lost more and more of her own voice. I do think the decision with Barbara made sense in the long term, and he gave her more layers than he gave most of his other vixens (maybe because they were good friends).

That likely is when the antipathy began. I was barely bothering at that point. I have a vague memory of a scene where he was carrying Alexis out of a room... The main problem with Chloe was trying to replace Brenda in Jax's life. She was perfectly pleasant, but it was an impossible task for the viewers who loved Brenda. I think it made sense to go with someone who was very different to Brenda, but the pairing also underscored that Jax just wasn't very compelling without a strong scene partner. I was not really into Jax/Brenda either, but I can admit now that Vanessa did a lot of heavy lifting. Tava Smiley couldn't. I think NLG could have, but the show wasn't going to go there, for whatever deeply sad reason. The story also seemed to go on and on with an underwhelming conclusion, because in a story like that, when you have mixed marrieds, you expect more tension and maybe a surprise ending. Otherwise why are you telling the story? They never had a story where Sonny married Lois and Ned married Brenda. I don't know if it is the writers' fault, or anyone's fault, per se, about Ned post-Lois. I do think the decision to focus on his self-imposed martyrdom to the Quartermaines and being a sanctimonious ass was extremely tiresome. As I also had little interest in seeing Wally Kurth rock out, there was little of value for me with the character. I think Ned just wasn't an interesting character most of the time and it was only the Lois period that truly clicked with a lot of fans.

Under Malone she was just there to party. Then she became a supervillain under Tomlin. I thought Tess was cartoonish under Ron, especially when they brought in the very silly Bess element, but I haven't gone back to watch.

If it was going to happen, Billy might be the best choice.

Thank you @Paul Raven I am always hoping one of the Holloway era's episodes pops up. Thank you for all the articles you've been sharing recently.

I think Stephen was wonderful in his first year or so as Stefan - smoldering, easy chemistry with everyone, and a genuinely mysterious figure. The Stefan/Katherine nonsense took most of his edge away, and even though Guza created the character, I don't think he ever found him again after returning to the show. I lost count of how many times they retconned Nik's paternity, Helena overshadowed Stefan, and he felt emasculated. The complete tedium of Stefan/"Lasha" did not help, but it was beyond that - the Cassadines in general seemed to lose the sense of dread they brought to the canvas in 1996, and it never has returned. That's one of the reasons I don't care that much about a revival. The only one in the long term who kept that menace was Constance Towers, often in spite of the show's best efforts (like Luke humiliating Helena by showing her nude portrait). Ned and Alexis weren't unpopular with fans, but I mainly remember a great deal of apathy surrounding them, and with most material surrounding Ned post-Lois. I felt like they became a default pairing. That's one of the reasons Jax/Alexis were so much more vibrant to me early on, before it became obvious, like with Jason/Carly, the pairing would never happen, and there were some misogynist reasons as to why (allegedly). DAYS is right up there too. (not getting into canceled soaps - if we were, Loving would be in the mix too)

Thanks for mentioning this. I hadn't thought about it in many years but this sounds familiar.

It was also after my time. I remember reading about the change for years before I saw those episodes, what I have seen of them, as it is treated as a seminal moment. I just found myself not enjoying the story much at all when I got to see some of the surviving material. I think the Tom/Margo portions are what bother me most as I don't believe them. I think they were too strong to fall into those traps.

With yet another name (Charles R. Cooper). Did he ever say why he changed his name so many times? I actually thought Jerry worked well enough in this after a rough start. She brings a sweet quality to the role. Where I think they go wrong is it takes so long for Dinah (who is also very good) to start genuinely being kind to her instead of resenting her and trying to steal her offcamera boyfriend. (I wonder if they were holding out for Mick to appear in the part) Still, I thought it was a decent pilot and I'm sorry it didn't get picked up. Dinah got Empty Nest a few years later but I thought they wasted her talents. Thanks @Franko. I never would have heard of a number of these pilots without you.

A number of the actors seemed to have good experiences (Randolph Mantooth in particular), but I remember a lot of the early cast apparently having some horror stories on those videos that have been long taken off Youtube. I remember Agnes Nixon having to do damage control with the story and sending comments to Marlena de la Croix or others in the soap press insisting the story was essentially about a lesson Erica would have to learn. The groundwork, with Erica having a miscarriage, then immediately afterward learning that Dimitri was having a baby with his sister-in-law (a woman she loathed and who always saw herself as better than Erica), had some believability for me. I remember being impressed by Susan's work in the miscarriage scenes, which all felt very raw. And she ultimately did the right thing and went to jail. I think the biggest mistake was, after the Bianca anorexia story, trying to go back to the old Erica stories with Mike Roy's return and her cheating on Jack with him. It was a jarring shift, and considering the talent involved, not at all well done, which meant they had regressed Erica for nothing. They took most of her layers to give to the other alters. The character just became more and more grotesque, other than when they had the vision of her help Tess give birth to a stillborn baby, or whatever the [!@#$%^&*] that was.

Thanks for replying as I didn't know if I'd worded my comment/criticism that well. I agree in the long run it did work as a push for Barbara, and the show mostly got the balance right for her until Sheffer. (sorry for anyone I didn't tag about the episode as I was half-asleep - and I know that era isn't to everyone's taste but I didn't know if any were trying to complete all of the Marland years)

Someone has uploaded a December 1992 episode I can't find elsewhere on Youtube. @Soapsuds @DramatistDreamer @Paul Raven @slick jones @P.J. @jam6242 @Vee @soapfan770 @adrnyc @SoapDope @FrenchFan @Franko @vetsoapfan @Mitch64 @Reverend Ruthledge @Mona Kane Croft @dc11786 @wonderwoman1951 @Soaplovers @VelekaCarruthers @Brolden @Liberty City @NothinButAttitude

Sadly, we learned how much of a different that makes to a racist public.

The show's obsession with Todd snuffed out much of the rest of her family. Just another reason that character, along with Viki's sexual abuse story, cast such a pall on OLTL's last years. Much as I loved Jessica Tuck's work, Ghost Megan should not have been the most compelling member of the family 20 years after her death.

I think the backstory was compelling (even if it mostly seemed to be used for Helena taunting her over and over), but that whole period was so fly by night (the 1997 period), and still very early in NLG's run, so I can see why she never felt that Alexis was a character.

Wasn't Richard Bekins in there briefly too?

I forgot about that. I don't believe Erica would have gone there (among other reasons because he was boring and likely bad in bed). Then by the end they had Michael Nouri, which would have made much more sense twenty years earlier.

That makes sense. I wish Erica had left a decade earlier (or the show had ended a decade earlier) so it wouldn't have felt so depleted. Clearly we weren't big fans of Erica's lost/last decade...

I also recommend this if you try to watch the Doctor Who specials. Nice to see Debbi.

I did like Terence on the show but I agree a Robert Hays type would have been a more natural fit. That was such a good little show, even if I think they would have needed a big cast upheaval (mainly at the soap) if they had gotten another season. Here's a bts visit with It Had to Be You, which appropriately seems to have been dropped in a vat of acid. The clip of Faye finding out and calling the network is or was on Youtube too.

This seemed to happen again and again with Erica. When Nixon became more involved in the show again Erica lost her beauty and had to wear a mask, which I just thought was kind of hilarious rather than making me feel emotionally invested. And of course Erica ended her run on the show planning to conquer Hollywood...in her 60s. The general fear of ever allowing Erica to age made for any number of painful choices, including her feuding with women 30 years her junior. Another Nixon choice that led to diminishing returns was trying to recreate Greg and Jenny over and over...and trying to recreate a class system that just felt very dated and false by the last attempt (with Scott and Becca - although I know they tried one last time on the revival with wretched RSW and that girl who lived with Francesca James). But at least it gave us Greenlee, the butchest homophobe ever on soaps. Yay.