DRW50

Bringing back Morgan/Jennifer/Amanda sometime in the late '80s or early '90s might have been interesting too. Perhaps a much more forceful Morgan, returning with Josh's child. Jennifer possibly with a terminal illness, falling in love with the wrong man one last time (maybe Daniel St. John). Amanda might end up torn between Ross and Roger.

I think there was a place for Sara and a proper recast of Tim, maybe with a wife and child. And Adam too, I suppose - Sara and Adam as frequent recurring figures, possibly, especially once Roger and Holly came back.

I hadn't heard that. GL certainly had more absurd retcons involving the Bauers. And it might have brought some drama when Danny and Cassie were almost paired.

Cornel West is going around claiming Kamala Harris offered him a position to drop out, which he nobly refused to do. Such bullshit, but a reminder of how tied the GOP operatives who support RFK are to him (and Stein) too.

There might have been a few - as others have said, I think there was an opening to bring back Meta much earlier, or Trudy, and I also think Justin (Tom O'Rourke) or Elizabeth or Peggy and her son should have been brought back - but I think there was a certain spirit to GL which was unique to it and so many who ran the show in those years didn't understand. ATWT had a stillness while GL had a certain rawness. Yet for much of 84-87 or so they just try to be as slick as possible.

I think he was right, in that I don't believe the path to improving ATWT would have worked for GL, but the problem is he was not a good writer or a good fit for the show either.

I have a vague memory of her being mentioned by Dinah in the Moniz era but I may be wrong. I probably am. And then India mentioned her (didn't she go broke paying for her care or something). They should have brought her back, even if she probably would have ended up marrying Alan or some other horror story.

It won't to most of us, but it's the margins I'm concerned over.

The media will push it as a huge event. This is also hand-in-hand with the very well-coordinated moment from dead end left cult leaders/grifters like Hasan Piker are going on about how Kamala Harris is to the right of George W Bush, feigning outrage over her talking about a lethal military, etc. They want her to lose support from the left. Many of those who are upset were never voting for her anyway, and most of RFK Jr's ever-decreasing amount of supporters were always voting for Trump, but there will be a boost for Trump and loss for Harris on the margins, which could be decisive. Some of the discussion of the mirage of positive polling for Harris (and before her, Biden and Hillary) also makes me wary. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/22/democrat-pollsters-kamala-harris-00176065

Their being rigged is just what they want. I just hope no one falls for them.

I couldn't stand Tom. He wasn't as bad on his brief return but he just felt so late '80s "antihero" in the most generic ways, grafted onto the show. He also led to some of my least favorite KL moments of all time - Mack shouting DIRTYCOPDIRTYCOPDIRTYCOP 500 times. I'll tell you where to keep your dirty cop. I agree Galina was better as Mary Frances. I think the story of her murder and what it did to Greg was very strong, but she could have been something. She never clicked as Kate. I actually think Claudia worked well in her first season, but for me the character was done after she set her son up and led to his death. The attempts at creating sympathy for her the next season and having Karen go to bat for her - honestly, [!@#$%^&*] that [!@#$%^&*]. Karen never would have done that. Kathleen Noone is a wonderful actress but the character should have been written out in early season 13. If they were going to keep her they should have done something better with her than what we got. I might have brought Michael back and had Claudia fixate on him to make up for her own dead son. Thank you so much for the Paula exit clip! That was a very, very strong scene. You can tell TPTB liked Melinda Culea, even if they didn't keep her - you don't give someone final moments like those if you don't. I think what impresses me most is that when she eviscerates Anne they don't have Anne look devastated - Anne still leaves the mask on. Very true to life, and another example of how intelligent Knots was compared to many other shows. And a reminder of why I was still watching even in some of those shakier years. I had forgotten how much I liked the whole Sumner Group setup. It wasn't as good as Lotus Point, but still feels very sleek and a believable jump into a new era.

I wonder if this is one of the reasons a lot of fans didn't come back even when GL did improve. This is probably a moment a number of longtime fans would struggle to forgive. ATWT and GL rejected their roots around the same time (egged on by P&G), but ATWT managed to reclaim some of them around the mid-80s. I remember a Daytime TV article from the early '70s where Eileen Fulton and Don Stewart had a "date" set up for them due to winning a popularity poll. And then they left ATWT and GL around the same time (maybe a year apart). ATWT welcomed Eileen back with open arms, while Don only returned for a few days almost 15 years later. ATWT did make some firing mistakes but did keep many core vets to the end, even some that were "difficult," like Liz Hubbard, whereas GL often seemed happy to just cut or take for granted (like not getting Jerry ver Dorn could find a better offer after being put on recurring). The irony is GL did so much more to bring back and respect vets for its final year, where Goutman barely gave a [!@#$%^&*]. I should try to watch some of her early scenes with Grant. This period of GL isn't one I tend to rush into watching. I do remember how great their 1990 scenes were - so tender on her part.

I saw one of the clips with Alexis mentioning her sister, Kristina. I don't know how often that character is mentioned but it was nice to see that history used. For such a forced and at the time pointless addition, her death generated story that still carries on now.

I thought John Bolger had good chemistry with India so I am not sure why they didn't keep them together. Putting him in the direction of a Beth Bolger had no history with wasn't worth the time. They clearly wanted India to stay because they kept finding reasons for her to still be in when she really could have been written out in '84 or '85, but they never seemed to know what to do with her. I still don't know what went on that led them to drop her 1999 return, which had some solid moments.

https://meidasnews.com/news/bring-back-trump-cnn-undecided-voter-panelist-has-pro-trump-social-media-history

Thank you @rsclassicfanforever

I think they are, just not in the traditional way. Young people, some of them anyway, go down hours and hours of rabbit holes on tiktok or Youtube. Just as religion has been replaced for many by causes or by worshipping celebrities, soaps have been replaced by a four hour video about the Star Wars hotel. I will always believe there is a play in American culture for soaps in some format. They just have to figure out that format. My own belief is going back to the 15 minute format might be a good idea. Of any of the primetime soaps of years past, Knots may be the one that could most succeed today because it wasn't tied to one character or moment. A found family element, along with a focus on buying or renting a home in a period where many can't do so, could generate interest, along with compelling characters and plots.

Others here have watched more than I have, but I do think Long is a better basic writer than any who take over after her in the '80s. I think the show she wrote by 1984 and especially 1985 was already very alien to what GL had once been, but as others have said, that may be down to Gail Kobe, as her writing felt more in tune with GL when she returned. There are some positives - Chris Bernau's return, and the Dinah story, which was very important for Vanessa as a character (and likely helped keep JvD on the show in some lean years). Charita Bauer also died at only 62. When you think of Helen Wagner, her compatriot, she lived to 91 and was still working until very near the end. That hurt GL a great deal.

@Vee That's hilarious. Pete remains very good at breaking down gotcha questions - that remains his best gift to the party. The media will never stop painting the picture that Republicans can say whatever they want and if Democrats don't take the high road, they are hypocrites and bad people. That Politico guy seems terrified.

Now that I think that was Angela Shapiro, not Frons. Sorry. You're right - the Nurses Ball stuff is a good idea for a good cause. Interesting. Makes sense for her not to want to be there full time, especially with all the hate she'd get. I do wonder if there would be more emphasis on Jason/Sam if Kelly weren't in the part.

If you can't read the last tweet, it's some backtracking from yet another cosplay activist who tweeted about how Chicago was "ready" for Kamala Harris and then played victim when some people took it as a real threat. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/gaza-protest-dnc-kamala-harris-b2600519.html They will look for any reason to help Trump get elected. Any excuse. They should just go ahead and endorse him. I don't believe most of this is ever about helping anyone in Gaza. I think he'll leave that to JD Vance. As soon as I saw it I knew what would happen. I wish that people would just try to keep their kids out of the public eye. I still remember how horribly Chelsea Clinton was treated.

She is a genuinely bad person and I will never watch anything she is involved in.

I think it did well for a while as they kept making product (isn't that where they sold the infamous Todd Manning doll?), but this feels very out of date. Is Brian Frons back? I do think that very low priced items might not be a bad idea. I wonder how Lynn Herring and Jane Elliot feel about this considering they were around in the rating heights of soaps.