DRW50

I'm still hoping for the ski lift episode too. I never knew there was a bible for Reva or that Pam Long didn't want to cast Kim. No wonder they didn't get along. L&F would be interesting. I almost forgot about From These Roots. I don't think anything of that has ever appeared.

Anything I've seen of Cindy is wonderful, to the point where I can see why viewers couldn't really accept Jackie without her. Such layered acting for an extremely difficult character as so much of what Jackie felt was on the inside and no one could know. I'd definitely love more AMC/OLTL...more than a glimpse of Gillian Spencer would be nice too. I didn't remember that an actual pilot for 13 Bourbon Street had been filmed.

Skimming through that episode and I'm reminded again of how much Shell Danielson looked like Lynn Herring at certain angles. I wonder if that was intentional. I love this GH opening but it feels extremely out of place by early 1993.

The nuance in those scenes surprised me. I assume Matt was being phased out and Paul was the man she was meant to be with, but both are decent figures, and you can see her connection with both. It was very refreshing compared to the usual angsty triangles, where later on you'd get a punch-up. That and the Meg and Evans material, like when she calls him out on being old-fashioned and he admits it, make me see the intelligence in the writing that you mention. I have been saying for years we need 15 minute shows again and I don't know why we aren't getting any. If Tiktok survives, some company would be a fool not to put up a soap. It's what the short attention span generation, with reports of them only being able to watch short videos and not reading, would need. And it makes sense, as 15 minute soaps can still be artforms. The other thing with this show compared to later soaps is that the "good" characters actually are good. In recent decades you have "good" characters committing cold blooded murder and this somehow being framed as righteous.

I forgot (partly because what survives is not very exciting, ironically) that I hope more of the "adult" Showtime soaps, A New Day in Eden and Loving Friends and Perfect Couples, show up, especially if there are any in uncensored form. Great choices. I'd definitely want to see more of this, especially more of the Carrie buildup. I'd also like to see the very last of Cindy Pickett as Jackie.

That's a lovely story. Glad to hear something of Miss Susan survived.

Sorry - I just meant bad quality (visuals, sound, etc.). That's a nice story for AMC. I hope some of the episodes Rosemary Prinz had digitized may show up someday for all to see.

You're reminding me of how strong that first season or two were. Given the times I was especially impressed with how they handled the gay storyline.

That would be a great idea. Even a few full episodes a year would be something.

Great choices. I remember seeing that DAYS episode somewhere there or elsewhere - Julie and Doug in Victorian era comedy mode contrasted with Mary biting the dust. I do hope a few more of those Doctors episodes pop up. At least there's a shot. I'd love that. And that Calliope show if it ever got that far along. I hoped it might be a common topic. I wasn't even sure whether to put it in this section or not but decided to as the current soaps (three of them anyway) have so much "lost" material. There's such a huge lost media collection out there for many forms of entertainment, but beyond the tape trading circuit, not a ton for soaps. I do hope there's just a lot we aren't hearing about and someone has been taking care of treasures and surprised we might get someday. So much is gone or presumed gone that even finding a baked copy of a random Brighter Day episode is a cause for joy.

I suppose it helps that there was about a year of reforming Craig before his arrival, although he then made Craig even more of a good guy.

We all know most soap episodes from before the last few decades are gone, but every year there is usually one gem or another which pops up. 2024 had a number of them, from the 1991 OLTL changeover period, to a number of early/mid '80s Loving and Capitol episodes, to precious glimpses at Harding Lemay-era AW, to a few scattered glimpses at 78-80 ATWT and 1980 GL, to a few more gaps filled in on Marland's ATWT run, to a few early GH episodes, a few Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow episodes, to the steady stream of original 80-83 Edge of Night airings, etc. And of course the number of scripts - many from Y&R, and glimpses of Where the Heart Is, Secret Storm, ATWT, GL, Search, etc. This isn't about what is likely to be found, it's what you want to see again, what you may hope to somehow manifest in 2025, so if you have a need to remind us that this stuff isn't around...we get it. There are a lot of things I could say - I'd take any scene or episode from any soap from the '50s to the late '70s - so I am just going to focus on what I specifically want to see. - any fragment of Dumont's Faraway Hill - anything from Where the Heart Is - more of the Labine-era Love of Life - anything of Somerset beyond the few scraps we have - more 1982 material from Ryan's Hope (we currently have one episode and promos) - more Dobsons-era GL and more radio era GL episodes - any "lost" radio soaps - more of Edith (Ruth Warrick) on ATWT - anything of Another Life's pre-syndication episodes. I know they were reportedly very poor, but I still want to see them. - I still want to see more '80s Loving...not exactly soap greatness, but I have a soft spot for Loving, I always have, I always will - more '60s or '70s AW - anything of early Kim on ATWT, especially her relationship with Bob - more of that odd period of 79-82 Y&R - while Archive is still around I wish articles and soap magazines of the '60s through the early '80s could show up there - I have a lot of scans, but some are on dying or dead computers, and there's so much I could never afford to buy

I don't think it was ever specifically said she was dying but that was a huge shadow over the character and what led her to kill herself. Jennifer Hetrick was also a beautiful lady, but she had a more haunted look, whereas Erin was always very all-American.

Based on some of my past Fairman readings, this had a good balance of positive and negative, even if it's a bit generous to some Bell soap cast members. I appreciate that he praised Finn's exit without wanting Finn back, as SOD or someone did. I am happy to agree Michael Easton did a very good job in his final days on the show but let Finn stay gone. I get the feeling he isn't a Drew fan...

Sorry, I forgot about the original pill story. I was thinking of when she and Alan had a fender bender - he was on pills at the time and as she had hurt her neck, gave her pills too to keep everything a secret. Then it was never mentioned again.

Scott always tapped into the emotions more than Robert did - even when Craig is bad he's an overwrought mess, while Josh as a baddie is slick and smarmy. I think it would have changed paths for both characters very quickly - Josh might have reformer more quickly while Craig may not have ever reformed. So much of what helped Scott as Craig early on was his connection with the other actors in the Montgomery family too.

I didn't even remember that Tony was possibly a suspect until some of these posts, so I can't imagine he was ever really in contention of being Liz's rapist. That period did have some clearly dropped stories, like Emily's pill habit, but that one is new to me.

http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/audition.html Robin Strasser mentions having auditioned for Dark Shadows and ATWT before being cast as Rachel. Does anyone know if she has ever spoken about who she auditioned to play? I would have said Angelique but she would have started on AW around February 1967 which was a half a year before Angelique's debut. I suppose she tried for Maggie, Laura, Victoria or Carolyn?

@victorlord75 I'm with you all the way on the Guza era...I do get why people miss that period, of course. I also really liked Jennifer Hetrick's work as Veronica, and I thought it was one of Brenda's stronger stories in that time period. I do think a lot of the criticisms of the story are valid, especially as it was Brenda's exit storyline for several years.

@dc11786 I wonder if it could have been Brenda's mother, Veronica? She is in the right age range and the character was dying.

The worst family in EE history, no matter how much the show tries, and tries, and tries.

Helen Gallagher is remembered in the segment that starts around ten minutes in.

Rather than trying over and over with some characters who just feel lifeless to me (like Belle and Shawn), I would say bring back Nathan (and he could easily be recast), with appearances from Melissa, but I suppose they aren't tied enough to anyone on the canvas now. @JAS0N47 Thank you for those story details. Another reminder of how different '70s DAYS was to '80s - it's so hard to imagine Mike berating his grandparents, let alone the image of them intruding on him as he and Linda are half-dressed. And the image of Brooke telling Alice and Tom all about their grandson not being able to perform is eye-popping.

I remember hearing that too (intending to never have the rapist caught). I think they may have said they changed their minds because of fans. You're right that they would probably avoid much of anything with the character. I do wonder what might be if they tried.

Happy New Year, everyone. I'm glad we all still have this place and keep finding ways to laugh or think in this dark world and finding new discoveries. I'm very glad to know you.