DRW50

Thanks. I didn't realize Larkin and Adam were there. Not sure why they even killed off Ryder. I guess Larkin was done with GL by this point. I do wonder how fans at the end even felt about Patti, especially her just coming in and taking stories of established characters. Patti hadn't been important to the show for a decade or more.

The pilot episode of what would eventually be the CW's Hidden Palms.

Thanks. Funny how that commercial - the umpteenth parody of soap that by this time was many many years out of date (and was never that accurate) lets Schutlz give more life than ATWT ever did.

I liked the material they gave Val - helping someone learn how to read, and just smaller-scale stories similar to her earlier seasons.

Which couple?

I agree they may not have felt like established Bauers, especially Trudy, but I think bringing one or both in could have eventually established some balance, and Meta had such a rich past while Trudy was a blank canvas. A foster care story given to one of them instead of India with Dorie might have made sense and provided a young female voice to the Bauers they wouldn't have again until Michelle, by which point they were fully depleted. The show wouldn't have been in a place where Maureen was relied on as a matriarch when she wasn't even 40 years old.

Thank you. That was very moving. The family wasn't the same without Eric, even if only appeared occasionally in those last years.

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