DRW50

She was fired, but yes. I do think they had chemistry, but I can see where people might not. I never thought Reva and Josh were very interesting together but many loved them.

I think that Vigard and JWS had some chemistry, although I put their connection partly down to Vigard's strong presence. Beyond what @Sapounopera mentioned about Marland wanting to recreate Scotty and Laura, I think they may have also had the wedding early because they knew Shipp probably wasn't going to stay around long-term. The whole Kelly and Morgan story was, IIRC, pitched in part as fantasy vs reality - I think Marland talked about the whole image the young heroine has in her head of her first time and the pain of reality. I imagine that was what they would have done with the marriage between Kelly and Morgan too - showing the reality of a marriage compared to the fantasy. They still tried with Cooke but it didn't work because she lacked Vigard's innocence. I think the original plans for Nola were probably for her to remain as somewhat of a schemer, as initially Quint was more of a mysterious figure, not a leading man, and Nola still had some feelings for Kelly. Maybe after they became popular with viewers the show changed course. Either that or Marland's close friendship with Lisa Brown led him to be more reluctant to keep her as a bitch, given the heavy viewer hate she had to deal with and the likelihood that she wasn't going to be able to stay on the show very long. Marland's version of Trish I could see her playing. She was a drug addict, I believe, and was a heavily abused wife. There was a lot of darkness. After that point Trish became an extremely underwritten character and rested on Rebecca Hollen's inherent warmth and classiness.

I always enjoy reading your breakdowns of the episodes, especially those from rarely covered eras. I remember some saying Marland was bad at half-hour soaps, based on his Doctors work, but I agree some we've seen from him have felt well-packed (which is not the case for some other Loving periods, especially a few of the late '80s episodes available). You don't notice repetition of story beats as much. I liked that they used Jim in another story grouping as most of the time I've seen him has just been when he is focused on Shana or on his amnesia. The scene with Ava was better than I had expected - the whole thing reminded me of Delia in the early years of Ryan's Hope.

This also led to the focus group path with JFP claiming she got rid of Maureen because they said she was boring. I don't think GL got as heavily into the mode you're describing until the '00s when they started pandering so much to Gus/Harley, Tammy/Jonathan and Danny/Michelle fans and Bradley Cole fans.

Great to hear your thoughts @I Am A Swede . I think the warm presence of Fredrick Pyne can mask how difficult Matt was and why Dolly later left him. I can definitely see how much Henry mellowed as time passed and he was more of a comedic double act. That never would have been possible if Marian had stayed. Jack is a very prickly character. He remains that all through his time on the show, but it is a better fit in the '70s because the Sugdens were not so depleted and he got more pushback.

Thanks. I was going through all the last pages to remember who to tag but forgot yours.

Considering Kirsten was only on for a year, they could have managed (Y&R did with Lily, and ATWT managed to successfully replace Lucy Deakins), but they just went with a route that had nothing to do with what made the character work or what would impress viewers. I think they decided that Morgan was just the goody goody to Nola's baddie, when it hadn't been so simple. And as was often the case with soaps, they didn't even know what the young demo would want to see. Cooke did get better toward the end, but for the time she was at the center of story, she was bland and forgettable. Even many of the young women cast in horror movies or T&A comedies of the era had more personality.

I'd never heard the story about the rifle. Thanks. He was clearly a very controlled writer as so much of this never bled onto the page (although I do think those last ATWT years seemed to reflect him).

It was a well-produced show. I notice the little details like Stacey's trashed house. (I also couldn't help noticing how many day players or short-term people had lines in this episode, along with real music playing at the party - oh those bigger budgeted days). I do generally like Cabot and Isabelle, but I agree most of the Aldens, at least in the '80s, weren't that compelling. I don't think it helped that Ann and Jack were somewhat blah characters. (Trisha is too but she still works as an ingenue and a contrast to Gwyneth) Lorna and Curtis had more of a spark but they weren't as prominent. Gwyneth is carrying most of the load (and Christine Tudor is great in this episode wrestling with her desire for Dane and power vs her guilt and fondness for Cabot). It seems like the Aldens shifted into a more interesting place with the arrival of Clay/Alex. I agree that there's something compelling seeing Stacey with the college crew - they aged her up too much after this. I haven't seen a lot of Rita Mae but she was one of the best parts of this episode. I liked seeing her struggle with her age and clothes compared to the rest of the girls. In later years when they would have Corinth characters who were meant to be, frankly, white trash, they tended to be more comedic (like Egypt or Norma). Were the other girls with Stacey, Tony and Rita Mae around very often? Roya is always fascinating to watch. I love this dialogue between Ava and Kate because it boils down decades of the character outlines Agnes Nixon put on her soaps. "No, Mama. I want it all." "Baby, nobody gets it all." "I will."

I haven't seen a lot of Eubanks. I've mostly seen Callan White, who is...fine.

You can tell Russia is rattled because one of their main puppets, John Mearsheimer, was out talking about this will doom Ukraine. Another gem from the above mentioned endorsement:

Thanks. I suppose I can see their reasons but it's not as if Court was a huge part of GL. She would have done a decent job as Ann.

I don't doubt she could have, but I'm not sure the show felt the same way, given some of their firing decisions in those years. Speaking of the Ewings, did Clarice and Larry even get oncamera exits? Thanks. Given that Ben and MJ were the first two McKinnons on the canvas it would have been nice if they'd both been there. I do wonder why they didn't just have Sean as Ben's son instead of Kevin's. I know Jake and Kevin were brothers, but it wasn't as if they were close. I can't even remember if they mentioned any of Kevin's messy history when Sean arrived. Probably no time given the show was almost over.

So she turned down the Ann role? I would have liked to have seen Jennifer with some fire in her. I can see the comparisons between the two triangles now that you mention it, even if Morgan just wasn't interesting after the recast.

When did she play Lisa?

Another episode is up! @Kane @dc11786 @Soapsuds @SFK @slick jones @Sapounopera @Manny @FrenchFan @Matt @Vee @SoapDope @Forever8 @te. @NothinButAttitude @Contessa Donatella @Paul Raven @Maxim @Joseph @John @j swift

Some moments of Maeve McGuire as ATWT's Lisa in these partial episodes.

Fuentes had a big trend going on Twitter about firing LaCivita. I still think Trump has some ties to Fuentes and his group no matter how much he tried to distance himself from their dinner together, especially after he said his son had him go on Adin Ross' show.

Thanks. That's one of those episodes which is up elsewhere but hard to find as it's undated. And also hard to watch but the material is so rare you power through anyway. I really enjoy the balance of laughter and drama with Gregg/HBS Tom and Margo before Marland just put them in misery mode.

I didn't know that about Simon. What an awkward situation. You so often hear of soaps doing this, especially back then. I think Jane might have been a good fit if they had brought her in a different way, but having Carrie initially be sweet as pie then she ends up being a murderer and having split personalities - it's a lot for people to deal with as at that time Springfield still seemed like a relatively normal place. She would have been a smart pick for a Spaulding relative, although Jane may not have wanted to play that as she already had on GH. I imagine Kelly/Morgan/Josh would have lasted longer. I do wonder what he would have done with Jennifer. Maybe instead of being written out once Mark and Amanda got together, she would have ended up with Justin or Ross or Mike. She and Mike were a bit of a thing.

Thanks. That sounds about right. You get arrogant vibes from a number of people who were on Remote Control but never a great idea for someone in her easily replaceable position to have the same persona.

If only ABC would have known we'd thrilled over a 4-minute clip 40 years after the episode aired.

What were they? I remember some of the guys on the show telling AV Club that she was the only female they had who seemed to make her role work, but of course they didn't say anything about who she was as a person. Jamie was ridiculous casting as Liza but I could at least understand the choice as she had a history with Chuck Pratt. I am not sure who was checking for Kari Wuhrer in 2005, unless they, like me, enjoyed the last few seasons of Sliders more than most people did.

Nice to see you posting again - there have been a number of new AMC and Loving/The City episodes and clips up you might enjoy.

I could have seen her staying in some capacity as long as Caitlin and Larry were around but it seemed like by the end she was just so defined through the men in her life. Thanks. I had forgotten Ben was mentioned. They should have brought him back around that point - keep Nancy and pair them off.