DRW50

Isn't Jake going? I wonder if the actor wants to leave, as you'd think with Jason back and with Charlotte back they would want him around. This was one of those strike stories, wasn't it? From the dates it did seem like they dumped her even pre-Mulcahey. I know they are fully out of ideas for Valentin but bringing her back seems desperate.

Good for her. When I saw this quote it made me furious. It sums up so much of DC Dems. I think many prefer Trump deep down.

Due to some of the tapes that were lost, Ariana's AW material has jumped ahead to around the time Pat and John were splitting up over his affair with Barbara Weaver. Not 1977 - around spring 1976, I guess (someone will know closer to the right date). Such natural performances in this from the supporting characters (Marianne's soon to be ex, Daryll, and Michael's girlfriend, Glenda), which is something I am often surprised by on soaps as the years go by. It's too bad the show couldn't keep a few around.

I was glad to see them touch on Laura and Val again briefly, as that had been an early friendship for Val, and one that always felt more natural to me than Karen/Val.

I think we did mostly just through nostalgia and blind hope. I couldn't hang on but I always held out hope, and came back to say goodbye to each show for their last year - it almost felt like visiting a loved one in their last months. You wanted to honor them if you could. Of any soaps on now, Neighbours, Shortland Street, and Home & Away, while far from perfect, have enough of the basic ingredients to where I am able to watch (although SS can't seem to stop telling depressing storylines).

It's probably one of the best soap promos I've seen - gets everything right to entice a new viewer. Makes me sad to think of how ABC later lost the plot.

I tried to hang on for the same reasons you mention (along with Crossroads I think it was the closest to American soaps) but have not been able to for a long while now - probably around 2017 or 2018. You are right about the mistakes Emmerdale made compared to American soaps. Another is bringing Carl King's son back solely to abuse and terrorize his wife. Who wants to see that? And yes it's been about 10-15 years since the show had competent production. Like Corrie, ITV is just letting the soap slowly die for cash.

That sounds right. I think this also led into Jack and Joe being upset when she announced she was remarrying.

@dc11786 Enjoyed the rundown of the early episodes. I do like AL, but I have the same problem you do, especially early on, of actually getting through the show. As time passes the stories do start to feel more encompassing and I am more involved with the characters, even if casting issues get in the way a number of times. I remember much preferring the first Lori to the second. @Paul Raven Thanks for that article. I feel for the people behind the scenes who were essentially cleansed for not being born again (isn't this around the time an actress was allegedly let go for being Jewish?). Yet I don't believe the show itself ever delves heavily into hardcore fundamentalism. I remember reading in Chris Schemering's book of a press release mentioning homosexuality, abortion - the latter is touched on but not heavily, while the former is never brought up (although I wonder about Terry's son Peter). I wonder if the backlash to the miracle healing story made them wary. I can see Winsor's influence in the mother character (who feels more than a little contrived to me but then I have not seen much of her) and the good sister/bad sister central element. The show's choice of converting various bad characters (other than sister from hell Nancy) makes me wonder of the internal issues with the show, although they were fairly realistic about this (some characters struggle with sticking to their new faith). A few months ago, I was watching this laughably terrible film on Youtube that might be what we would get if a Christian soap was around today (or some might be even worse), as it was about a Jewish family who move to a new neighborhood and befriend a Christian family. The son of the Christian family is very drawn to evangelism and befriends and converts the son in the Jewish family. The father goes berserk and sends him away to their relatives. The Jewish son embraces his gifts as a faith healer and heals various crippled and paralyzed members of the family...and converts many of the Jews in his family and in their old neighborhood. The film then ends with his father finally seeing the light and they all become, essentially, Jews for Jesus...and then on top of that, the Christian son calls out his father for being too concerned with being a mainline Christian rather than being in a denomination that encourages laying of hands. So the Christian family move into embracing faith healing even though they know they will be shunned by their church. The whole thing is a howler, and apparently the guy who made it made a number of films with this Charismatic theme (one of them I watched called Bridging the Chasm gave me GL Peapack vibes).

I could see the Dorian/David aspects too (hopefully without recreating that under-the-table scene).

Thanks. Yes, after Sarah died and Jack went on trial for her murder, they lost what little they had left. Robert tried to keep the farm for them by pushing Jack to allow cell towers on the land, or something, but Viv and others raised hell and it didn't happen.

I'd imagine that's a big reason. There was also a huge boon for actors in the '50s and '60s on TV that had started to fade by the time she joined AW. I would guess she is one of the older actors Richard Bekins mentioned who told him to leave the show while he still could.

I tend to blame Blyth (RIP) for a lot of where the show is now, to be honest, as he removed much of the heart and identity, but he did turn things around when he arrived. The last competent producer the show had was probably Kate Oates in 2013 before she let all the praise go to her head. Compared to some of the stories Robert had had a few years earlier, like leaving Katie to die and hiring a hitman to kill Chastity, etc. I don't think the exit he got was that horrible as he was just angry on his sister's behalf and it was a heated moment, but the whole thing was depressing and ugly. They should recast and bring him back but I don't know if they will. I don't know if it makes you feel any better or worse, but the family farm that Moira is running is one that Andy bought in 2003 or 2004. The original farm, IIRC, Jack had to sell in 2001 due to debts and being unable to run it anymore. Either that or it was lost in the early '90s due to rot and that farm was another farm. @I Am A Swede will know better than I do.

I definitely don't think they would be a compelling couple, but I could see it being some compelling story around them for a short term, as you would probably have the Deception group divided in their loyalties between Sasha or Cody, and Sonny too if the show remembers she was his sister-in-law, and he might be wary of Michael clearly using and discarding her. And she used to be involved with Chase too, I think, or they were friends, so if Chase is protective of her that might cause more issues with the Quartermaines. They have all these people living there who have such messy histories, even if that's not because of nuanced writing and more just pick-a-pair scripts. Oddly I could have seen Ron maybe going for Cody/Tracy, although it probably would have been heinously done.

@dc11786 What a detailed rundown of the current show. I always appreciate how you offer suggestions and analyses to plots that often just aren't what they could be (on old soaps or now). Your rundown reinforced for me that there are a few genuinely decent or possibly even good stories on the show right now even with the myriad issues. Meanwhile, there are others I just do not care about and never will (like Sonny or Sonny/Natalia or whatever is going on with Ava) that tend to get much of the fan focus, often very negative (the other being the stuff with Gio/Trina/Joss/Dax that is as you mentioned severely underwritten and marred by casting issues and agendas). As you and others have said, the Heather story would make more sense if it involved something beyond Laura fighting for her and B-characters (that's how the show sees them) half-arguing against her before mostly backing down. Beyond Sasha, who should be involved, there's also Jason and Drew. She killed Britt, someone Jason cared about, and she is Susan Moore's cousin - I'm sure that would be a campaign issue for Drew now that he's running for Congress. I never thought the show would pull the trigger on a Cody/Tracy pairing, even if Mulcahey had stayed, but it would definitely add a lot of layers if Sasha does end up being drawn to Michael again. And it would be a first for Tracy - I guess there was Paul, but no matter how attractive he was meant to be he was just a cardboard cutout. It's more like the type of fling Monica used to have, if only Leslie was able to get to react to that part of the story.

In 2019, Robert was sent to prison after killing his sister's rapist. He cut off all contact with Aaron and divorced him. The Bartons left are Moira (who is married to Cain), her son with Cain, and Matty, who used to be Moira's daughter Hannah but transitioned (and is now played by a trans actor). Matty is married to Amy (I don't know if you remember her - she was the ward of Val and Eric). Moira still runs and owns what was the Sugden farm.

He changed his last name after processing that his father sexually abused him. (which was a retcon, although I guess there have been worse on this show)

Thanks for posting about it. I think I knew him best for HSB, where he played a paranoid right wing military fanatic, very typical of the era, and sadly, more common than ever today. There was one episode which ended with him putting a gun to his head, IIRC, which was very startling. As it turned out the next week, the bullets had been removed from the gun by his colleagues without him knowing it.

https://deadline.com/2024/07/james-b-sikking-dies-90-hill-street-blues-doogie-howser-md-actor-1236010148/ Already mentioned elsewhere but I thought I'd put it in here too. I think I've just seen one episode of his time on GH (if that). That whole story arc seems very depressing and repetitive, but he did look striking with a beard.

Is Teri Keane the mother in this ad?

Shannen Doherty Dead: Brenda on 'Beverly Hills 90210' (variety.com) What a tough woman she was, all the way to the end. And Brenda will be forever iconic. I didn't even watch 90210 very often and yet I knew her too.

Shannen Doherty Dead: Brenda on 'Beverly Hills 90210' (variety.com) Shannen fought such a hard battle. Sorry to hear she's gone but she will always be remembered, especially for Brenda Walsh.

@Janet Marlowe That sounds hilarious. It was such a fun surprise when AMC brought Letty Jean back for an episode or two in 1997. I can still hear David Canary saying, "Letty Jean."

Very convenient. So much about this is not adding up to me.