DRW50

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.

Thanks! I was going to praise them for devoting the entire episode to this story and the reactions of various families, but of course San Cristobel is dropped in from a great height. I remember Kim ZImmer saying you could tell when she was not happy on the show based on whether she experimented with her hair. I am not sure if that is the case here or if it's just the rough early '00s styling. Poor Liz Keifer also looks terrible. This is also that period they seemed to be writing her like Lucy Coe.

I didn't ever see the chemistry between Billy and Sarah, but what annoyed me the most was characters saying over and over they were just like Alan and Monica. That's not a way to get me invested in a pairing, and it always felt desperate and lazy to me. I do think they should have tried to make a firmer commitment - at the time they just kept stalling out because some of them likely wanted to do Jason/Carly but it was clear Steve or whoever else weren't going to go there.

@prefab1 I don't know if you remember the day, but doesn't Daisy/Susan's home get raided by the feds at the end of this story?

I do think MBE is a good actress, which is probably how she managed to make Kayla, not an overly well-written character, connect with viewers. There's a certain mix of warmth and cynicism in her work that worked for Katherine, even if I don't know if Katherine ever really fit on the canvas (of all her stories having her force her way into the Q family may have been the best idea, but the family has so much going on at the time she feels surplus). I'd have to rewatch but at the time I was really missing some key conversations between Bobbie and Carly to help me to the next step of their relationship; I felt like the show mostly had Carly there to move the plot along for Jason, Jason/Robin, what have you, then tried to throw her into the pairing with AJ.

Even at the time I thought that was a silly story (admittedly I was already fed up with that period of the show anyway). I can only assume it was something the government asked them to do. Wes Ramsey got a lot of praise at the time, and many comparisons to Michael Zaslow. He was no Zaslow, but still, I was sad to hear in later years he just became known for playing a character despised by GH fans. (what was he called on here - Parking Lot Pete?)

Bobbie was always a polarizing character for fans, but it was still degrading to see her dumped for Katherine solely because MBE and SN were loved at DAYS. Katherine was never liked by GH viewers, especially not at this time. The talk about love scenes and Felicia/Tom in the current GH thread reminded me of how often the show would try to use "hot" moments to prop up pairings that weren't really that interesting. Miguel/Brenda had a few. Bobbie also had them with Jerry and Roy. I actually liked the Bobbie/Jerry pairing, but they made the relationship all about sex in a way that felt tawdry (like the sex tape at the Nurses' Ball). And Roy just bored me to tears, even when they had him half-dressed with Jackie for a "hot" SOD cover. I wasn't as surprised as I should have been that Bobbie was in a vulnerable position when JFP arrived. All I really wanted at the time was to have a believable development in her relationship with Carly, and I never got it. I remember some kind of hospital shutdown via hacking that Stefan was behind, and then Lucky nearly drowning in quicksand...didn't Nik save him? This was the only Brenda story in that period I was interested in, although I remember why you didn't care for it so I'm not really intending to disagree. I just wasn't into Brenda/Jax and his many declarations of love, and I got the feeling they cut the breakdown story short because they sensed it wasn't working.

I wonder if it is down to later writers and producers not knowing the history. Vanessa also seems to have started over as a character when she met Bruce. And LoL seemed to jump into the "youth" craze before any other soaps, hyper focusing on Bill and Tess.

@Soaplovers Thanks. Those Paley interviews are so invaluable as they are full of details I never would have known otherwise. That was very reckless career behavior, even if Bonnie wanted off the show, but from what she said in her book that was a somewhat reckless period of their lives anyway.

I swear I remember a scene from earlier this year where they were passionately kissing at the police station. So clearly they were willing to do something. This isn't me praising them - that's small potatoes compared to some past scorching soap moments - but it does make me think they aren't completely against any form of intimacy. And it does make me blame the direction choices a little more for just how lifeless the bedroom scenes are.

This has some April 1997 episodes, including a Daytime to Remember from 1983 which is already on Youtube but the audio is not great on the Youtube upload. I don't think the "new" April 1997 episodes are on Youtube right now. Fox and ABC; Soap Operas, News and Sitcoms (April 18, 1997) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Thanks. Hadn't seen that channel.

I may have already posted this before but I found it in some old scans and decided to post it again. A TV Guide profile on Henry Slesar.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a62875397/homelessness-in-america/ A former journalist writes about his day-to-day experiences while homeless.