DRW50

Seeing Lisa running the hospital bookstore around 1981 just felt sad. AW brought a bookstore in for Cass and Felicia in 1995 but quickly dumped it. A bookstore would have been a great idea in ATWT's later years. You could even have underused characters like Emma involved, given her writing background.

Wall Street Journal hacks running interference for JD Vance.

I think someone once said Eve's last scene is at a ball with Ross and as they are dancing she tells him about leaving to be with Ben. I get confused about just when she and Ben got back together as I thought they did when he briefly returned in 1982. It's a shame Tom couldn't return in 1990.

I don't think they are. I think they are mostly trying to keep the conservative and shrinking viewer base they have. As shown with GH in the last few years, when they had a popular younger base of teens who weren't part of the norm, they actively worked to minimize them.

I do think there is a subset of viewers who only watch for gun battles, slap fights, women painted in the ugliest possible light, but a lot of younger people never even had the chance to see material like this episode. You see studies claiming that younger people want more focus on friendship and a move away from sleaze. Soaps are just so inert and that makes it very difficult for any new viewers to be involved - if they are it often just seems to be edits based on a couple rather than the show itself. A show needs to have its own identity and a sense of comfort to find and keep viewers. That's something ATWT lacked in its last 15 years (along with all the other soaps).

I appreciate all the polls, as otherwise I'd have to comb through all sorts of Twitter accounts populated with Trump bots, but I'm just not sure I will ever trust them again (and if I do it would mean I'd have to also go along with the polls saying that Taylor Swift endorsing Harris made people less likely to vote for her or the polls being passed around saying Jill Stein is beating Harris in the Muslim vote in various swing states). Every day that Trump dominates the conversation means another day viewers don't know Harris. A lot of people will go with the enemy they know, especially if focus goes on issues that favor the GOP and slant media coverage of the GOP, like immigration or the economy. The whole thing takes me back to 2016, where I would see ads from pro-Hillary groups that were entirely about Trump and I got a sense of dread because I realized just how much he had crowded her out of the conversation. And now with this alleged assassination attempt the focus is even more on him. One of the key attempts Harris had to define herself to people who don't know her has been about everything else. No wonder per a Guardian tweet Trump's people were going around smugly saying how effective the push about Loomer, Springfield, etc. had ended up being. Yes, they are going to say that, but I don't think they were wrong. A clip of Pete Buttigieg saying this was posted a few days ago, but it's worth posting again.

Kathleen seems to have been let go. I am not as sure about O'Rourke. I think someone here mentioned a story once of him running around in relief after getting the news (or something along those lines) so who knows. That's interesting. I thought Mark was off OLTL by that time. Maybe he was still friendly enough with them to make a recommendation. I loved Jerry but his Clint never worked for me.

The first Josie.

Wilson is one of the most generic actors I ever saw on AW - she's closer in spirit to some of the cookie cutter teens they had in the mid-late '90s. She also doesn't remind me of any of the Matthews women. She improves in her last year when they start having her get close to Reuben, but too little, too late. I know many fans have said Kathleen Layman was a much better MJ. I've barely watched Layman's tenure, but there's just a vulnerability I connect with in Sally Spencer - in some ways she reminds me of Gail Brown, just dizzy in a less '30s way. The prostitution story and the reveal are so grimy, just unbridled misogyny as she weeps and weeps before being sent out of town. You're both right that they had so much potential with Cheryl's reaction to Mary's return and gave nothing. On paper, Mary's story should be compelling, but none of it ever is, in spite of Denise Alexander's best efforts. Beyond how smarmy and one-note Reginald is, the whole thing fails due to being history that takes place entirely offcamera. If Kathleen had stayed it might have had more impact, but the show just didn't care about showing how her absence affected Cheryl and MJ. This is where they should have brought Ben back. Maybe he would have a rivalry with Scott, or he would be revealed as a secret drug addict and Mary keeps his secret out of guilt until he overdoses and nearly dies. I agree. I probably would have recast Russ (and I imagine they couldn't afford Elizabeth Ashley long-term - that and she was on Evening Shade). I was so fascinated by Allison Hossack's work as Olivia. She made the character so much more than she could have been.

I remember he was there around the time I started watching. He mostly seemed to exist to be an obstacle for Dylan/Sam. And wearing Hawaiian shirts.

Justin's exit really took the air out of the tires of the Philip paternity reveal. Given that Kobe/Long made Philip a villain by 1984 I wonder if they weren't that interested in the character anyway. I don't know if Tom O'Rourke may have been a bit difficult as Don Stewart supposedly was but Justin could have remained a viable character for years to come. And I really liked Helena. Rose Alaio kept getting hosed in her soap exits... I guess she probably wasn't even mentioned again after her departure.

I wonder just who "everybody" is. Would this include Vanessa Williams? What about Doug Savant given that Matt died? (then again Sydney died twice...)

Thanks. I never knew that was how the Jane character arrived. Jane stays around long enough to be a maid for Alex. I can't remember when she leaves. The abrupt shift shows that Kobe was struggling with her decisions even then.

Chris Rufo (who was laundered by NYT and Washington Post among others) has put out a video he paid 5K for he claims is from Dayton, Ohio. Some who tried to watch it said it was chickens, not cats. And Vance platformed it today. Vance is also a big Tucker Carlson defender. Yet they are now angry over the world he is happy to wade in. These rotting carcasses want to do anything at any time yet shatter at any criticism. I feel like a hypocrite even continuing to follow the whole thing because once again the vilest plans from Trump have paid off for him in taking away attention away from winning issues for Harris and onto the immigration topic that gets the results he wants.

Characters on AW in Scott's era had no inner lives. Even Swajeski, mixed as she may have been, had more complex figures.

There wasn't even a great deal of emphasis on either of them being rich, which was worse. Lemay likely would have focused on wealth and class differences. He didn't get to write what he wanted with Michael Randolph, but he did focus on class differences between Michael's family and his wife Molly Ordway. There could have been a class difference between Scott, who grew up isolated and wealthy, and struggling Cheryl, who was the last of a broken family. Once they decided not to make him Donna's long lost son, the character had no real purpose. He and Cheryl were likeable but completely generic. I'm not surprised they had such non-exits. If not for the strike they probably would have had even less to do as Cheryl at least had a fling with John.

That would have made sense. I remember Philip swearing vengeance on Alan after he drove Alex out of town. The whole situation with Amanda's paternity reveal was very overwrought, but well-acted. Unfortunately it had absolutely zero long term value. I think there was a year or so gap (maybe not that much - 6-7 months?). I could see Gail Kobe wanting to dump anyone who couldn't fit into her Texas vision.

I have only seen the bits on Youtube but I think some of the characters mentioned the comparison in that Marland therapy-speak way. I can also see the comparison to Holly.

Anything I've seen of Chapman is hammy but she may have been better in past years. I do see what you mean about Toby Poser as Rita's daughter. It might have been more interesting if Rita had been the madam, not Amanda. And maybe Rita had the past with Matt. I don't know if the show would have remembered (probably not as it was never mentioned in later years) but when Ed and Vanessa dated, it was made clear he was only interested in her because she reminded him of Rita. I actually did like Kathleen Cullen (although I haven't seen her full run) and I blame the writing for regressing her and making her so passive (by the time she became stronger she was written out), but I think Toby Poser could have made the part work if given the proper chance. The biggest problem is there was just no reason to bring Amanda back. I liked the idea of expanding the Spauldings, but as years have passed, I've realized I did not actually care about the Spauldings as a family. I cared about Alex when Bev played her, and Alan when Chris played him, and yes there were some compelling moments here and there with their ties to Philip (or rarely, with Alan-Michael), but they just weren't compelling as a unit. Laibson/McTavish just dumped them all together. I think it was SOD at the time who named "A. Spaulding" as the worst story of the year and pointed out that every person in the family was written the same way. Amanda chasing after Ross could have been compelling, but it wasn't a fair triangle, because he never had feelings for her on her return and the writing dehumanized her. Liz Keifer even said in print how uncomfortable she was with some of the comments they had her make about Amanda and her hair. That was also the problem with the whole Malibu Madam story. It was treated as a joke and Amanda was treated as a joke. The world that Amanda would describe Matt living in - essentially his cute little ass poolside in Speedos, property of rich housewives only - was more like one of those glossy late '80s miniseries than the reality of him being an escort. It would have been more interesting if he had revealed he'd had sex with men for money and certainly forced Vanessa to ask herself a lot of questions about trusting so much in the power of love and so on. That could have worked, yes, in the time Chris had left on the show. (hopefully she wouldn't have been there when RVV still played Ed)

I think if you couldn't get Lenore there wasn't much reason for the character to return. What was left for her - a secret child with Ed? That could have been compelling but with two actors who had never played out the original Ed/Rita story, I'm not sure. She had an ugly history with Roger but Holly already had that story. Chris Bernau was, sadly, no longer with us.

I can't remember what GL's shortest recasts were, but likely so.

Thanks for all the articles @janea4old @Vee Pete Buttigieg is right that Trump is using the Haitian immigrant smears as a distraction, but it's also a clever way (even if he is too decayed to fully understand that - glad to see CNN finally giving clear evidence of his decline) to keep immigration front and center, as that is one of the biggest factors likely to help him. I saw a clip of Debbie Dingell, wearing my grandmother's couch, talking on CNN about a conversation she had with a Michigan worker after the debate, and how effective Trump's immigration focus had been. She was very clear in saying how close Michigan is and the race as a whole. He has a way of zeroing in on the ugliest facets of this country in a way that tends to drive them to the polls. If he wasn't so addled I am not sure the election would even be as close as it is. At least the Laura Loomer disaster has helped blunt some of his impact, although it's hard to believe he's involved with her as she's so hideously ugly. He's ugly too, but usually the women he pushes himself onto aren't. Funny how the party that loves to go on about mutilation has such literal hatchet jobs on display.

I felt like he was a heel in that storyline rather than a lead - he moved story for other characters. He's played that part for most of his daytime run.

I think they want Ava to be against characters they don't like, but they don't want her to be called out or to lose her few friendships. The way they chose to return Ava to being a pariah wasn't the best idea either, as it was all through Sonny, and through a confusingly told plotline that was seemingly going to just end in a way satisfying no one. Rick Hearst has been in daytime for 35 years, but he's almost never been a lead. The closest he came was his last year on GL.

@vetsoapfan @Paul Raven @slick jones @Soapsuds @DramatistDreamer @Vee @FrenchFan @soapfan770 @wonderwoman1951 @TheyStartedOnSoaps @Contessa Donatella @Mitch64 @adrnyc @Soaplovers @Khan @Mona Kane Croft @SoapDope @Keri @Reverend Ruthledge @Aback @All My Shadows @P.J. @jam6242 A few moments from an episode near the end of 1977. Nothing standout here, other than a reminder of just how long Kim had that haircut, but still, it's nice to be reminded some stuff is still out there (apparently most of the episode was taped over - drat). And it's always nice to see Carol, and a brief glimpse of Michael Nader rocking a '70s ugly shirt that looks like someone painted a building onto it.