DRW50

Thanks. I didn't know this was up. Glad to see another glimpse of this period of the show. @Vee Another for the list of jarring music on soaps. I do love that we got a lengthy montage, with Marisa Tomei underplaying and Cris Leblanc gritting his teeth, to show Kirk taking a car trip. If anyone needed an example of ATWT trying to ape ABC and NBC soaps... At least we know Kirk is a safe driver, making sure to pull over when in distress.

At least they remembered Britt should do something positive...

Thanks. I didn't know she was dating Logan in real life. As is often the case, they had little onscreen chemistry. I don't know why the show keeps killing off new characters. I also don't know why they are redoing a story that wasn't very good from a few years ago (Harry Warner pushing someone and it was seen as an accident). Also not thrilled with them turning a domestic abuse story into another psycho killer story. I do enjoy some parts of the show now but so often it's just the above or yet more of Esther's love life and pity parties and being rude to people as we're reminded how amazing she is. What did you think of Libby? Brooke Freeman also appeared for a bit this year, bedding Drew. (sadly no mention of her with lovely Boyd, who has not been on this year) Bleh.

Thanks. Given that everyone in Bay City was getting shot at the time, kudos to them for their inclusivity in letting him get shot too.

I don't believe this will affect midterm votes. What affects them is the media supports Republicans, the GOP rigs and suppresses votes, and much of the public are full of bigotry and cruelty, more interested in the people they don't like suffering and dying than anything that benefits them.

Thanks. I saw some of the interview but not everything. I'm not sure he would have either and I doubt AW would have (I don't know if AW ever even a gay character in a support or guest part had, unless you count Liberace). By that point P&G clearly had no interest in bringing Jamie back anyway, even though he should have been hugely important to Rachel's life. We never even got to know how he felt about her with Carl.

They did give Drew an out as he thought Ned was faking. This doesn't really make sense, as Ned would not do that type of thing, but they tried... Drew is incredibly hateful, which is draining to watch, but on the positive side, at least we aren't asked to feel sorry for him, like you know who one, two and three.

I was wondering, those of you who watched EON before the period that is more widely available (mostly 1979 on, with some pit stops starting from 1975), what made the years before that time interesting or special for you? Are there any characters or storylines you feel deserve more attention and you want to document for future generations?

I remember seeing some of Laurie's return on Youtube. They aren't on now, but that EON channel has been steadily uploading 1984 so it shouldn't be too much longer.

That reminds me of when someone wrote to Soap Opera Weekly in 1995 suggesting Richard Bekins return as a gay Jamie. They may have just been going on Bekins himself (although I don't actually know his sexuality), but it meant that I was surprised when I went back and saw just how much skirt Jamie got, especially when Bekins was in the role.

Thanks. What stands out most is when Krystle walks away - they don't just let the moment stand as some badass girl power, which is what you'd often get (and today with a tedious "needle drop"). You can see how tortured Krystle is by the world she now has to live in. That Dynasty probably wouldn't have lasted more than a year or two, but you do wonder what might have been. They really made such a mess with Joseph as time passed.

The choices were basically to keep holding out or Republicans would abolish the filibuster, which terrifies leadership as it's their only leverage. The question is what is going to stop Republicans would nuking the filibuster. For now they are hesitant because that means they would be fully beholden to Trump, but I'm not sure how much longer that will last. This does make Democrats look weak, especially since I wouldn't be surprised if Trump still tries to stop SNAP payments (the "vote on health care" is a joke - ask Lisa Murkowski about the promises she got for voting for the budget earlier this year), but I'm not shocked. I'm more surprised they held out as long as they did, as some of these names, like Durbin, are always beholden to the Beltway fantasy. As for Martha Byrne, I have my doubts that her support for Trump is based just on her husband, but whatever. I never liked her as Lily anyway, my Lily was Heather Rattray, and I will never have to see her on anything again. Good luck to her in joining ICE or any other future plans she has that won't involve being paid for acting.

Thanks. Sometimes I forget early Dynasty had (fairly) complex character work. Linda Evans does so well at playing that fragility in Krystal without being too weak. Harford does a lot with her mute role.

I tend to think of the show as being on the conservative side, especially with having any real intimacy along these lines. I still remember when the show's idea of gay men being intimate was watching Golden Girls together.

I hesitate to link to TMZ, so I will just link to her gofundme. Sally Kirkland (DAYS, Valley of the Dolls) is apparently in hospice, struggling with dementia and a number of other ailments. https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-sally-kirklands-urgent-medical-care A quasi-parody with Sally as herself, Sallywood, is premiering on Amazon Prime tomorrow.

I would agree if this wasn't GH, and this wasn't the GH fanbase. I was surprised they even did as much as they did with Lucas in terms of intimacy.

https://deadline.com/2025/11/betty-harford-dead-dynasty-the-paper-chase-actress-1236612229/

Thanks for taking the time to watch.

I think what helped Evie was that Janet Grey was, while not the best actress, very earnest and able to be vulnerable onscreen. You believed in her relationships with other people. She was a good outlet for flawed characters like Rita and Ross. I'd guess she is also one of those characters the show just forgot to write out. I should try to watch more of what's available of Ross becoming greyer due to her. Thanks for the info on the father. Logan Stafford is a great soap name. Wasted on non-characters. The crazy thing is if you tell the whole Jennifer/Mark/Amanda story to someone who has never seen GL they'd probably say it sounds juicy. Then you just get a big plop onscreen.

Thanks so much as always!

@DeeVee @P.J. @Mitch64 Thank you as that whole story is incredibly convoluted to me. And was any of it worth the time spent? Geraldine Court was a beautiful, elegant, intelligent actress, but Jennifer was so dull. Amanda was also made very dull under Marland. And Morgan was too after the recast. Chet seemed to be the energy vampire of the family. Wasn't there a grandfather on the show too? This does help explain why Alan and Jennifer seemed to have no real feelings for each other in present day. I suppose that is more realistic, but it also feels like a lost opportunity, especially when you remember how much material the show had gotten out of Alan and the women around him under the Dobsons. I've said this before, but I still think the story should have been Ben and Jennifer falling in love, rather than Mark, if Stephen Yates had been willing to stay. Chet, in the few times I've seen him, was more flaming than JFP's January 1995 stunt. Given the dreariness around him they should have just gone hogwild - have him make a pass at Ben, have him tell Amanda that Ben was much hotter than Mark and she has no taste. Hell, reveal that he slept with Mark too, because it's not as if Mark seemed to have any ethics anyway, until they very belatedly tried to make viewers feel sorry for him. At least Chet helps explain where Toby's Amanda came from. I could see him flying into Springfield, shouting, "GET YOUR ROOTS DONE!!!" to Marj's Alex, who promptly gasps and has Hawk throw him off the property.

Thanks @vetsoapfan (and @Tisy-Lish in the other thread). I appreciate such detailed responses into a world I'm never going to get to see. I wish I could see some of Prager as Laurie Ann. She is a big "what if" as she was a cast member on SNL that is never actually ever on air during the episode she was there, and her sketches in dress rehearsal were cut and all she did that made it onto the air was a short film which aired a season later...where she stands there while Tom Davis pushes a button. I remember someone here saying a long time ago that Linda Cook's favorite soap role was Egypt. From the little I've seen of her as Laurie, I can understand why, although I did think she was touching in the brief appearances where Laurie Ann returned in the final episodes. I'm still surprised they remembered her, even if Timmy was still forgotten. That one is left for the EON fics, I suppose.

There's so little talk about Shortland Street online compared to a decade ago, as shown on this channel and how much they used to do for the show. Still, I did find an interview with the current producer, Oliver Driver, that has almost no views.

I think Jason at his peak was a little too pretty, but I could have seen Sonny having that appeal at certain points. I think Maurice just lost that along the way, whereas Eric Braeden didn't (his work has declined but his charisma is still there).