DRW50

Thanks so much @dc11786

Did Michelle ever know?

@Vee Thanks for the tag, and for all your reviews thus far, which have reminded me of just what a special addition Sheehan was to the show (easy to forget at times after how bad his end run was). Sheehan was such a bright leading man, with a twinkle in his eye and a toothpaste smile, yet with glimpses of strength and darkness underneath. He would have been a perfect balance to the likes of Jimmy Stewart or a good film noir lead in '40s or '50s works. He was a real breath of fresh air when he showed up on Knots, given the heavy stories at the time, and the deeply toxic Val/Gary relationship. He made me smile and made me care about a character who could often exhaust me. He brought a purity back that was essential to her and to the show. I'll always see him as Val's best partner. (and for his later years, I did love the scene where he puts Liliemae in a headlock)

Thanks for the dates @Franko @soapfan770

Probably. Not to be ageist but I wonder if any newer writers on soaps even know how to do that type of stuff. @Xanthe Yes there are a number of moments reading synopses, like one where I could swear Mac implies to Iris that he was only with her mother because she was pregnant with Iris, that make the retcon dubious to me. Clearly Lemay regretted it. I get the short-term idea, sending Iris on a tizzy, making her question her whole existence, but probably not worth it, especially as the show seemed to give up on Sylvie quickly.

I never knew there was an Alex dream episode. Must have been a lot of fun for the cast to get to do something different. I wonder if this was before or after Santa Barbara's dream episodes of that period.

Very true. It's a shame they never followed up more with lgbt issues but compared to other soaps which never even had gay characters at the time, and did not for many more years, it's notable.

That makes sense. Like Carole, Gwen also seemed to have a difficult relationship with her mother (who seems like a complete horror). Dorothy Lyman is such a different actress to Jeanne Lange but maybe she is more suited to Leon Russom.

Thanks @slick jones Last year I saw One Way Passage for the first time. Frank McHugh was wonderful, especially the final scene, which he made gut-wrenching.

I could see it ending up like The Bradys.

That's odd to imagine. I guess it felt more natural when they began feuding again in the early '80s, although I'm sorry it had to be over men again. I might have had Rachel become a mentor to Sally, which would upset Alice. I don't mind the stumbles either, it just reminded me of what you mentioned of his having problems with his lines even though Lemay blamed Dwyer. I agree we need those types of family moments much more often. At least GH has had some with Lois lately, from a few clips I've seen.

That year on a fishing boat did wonders.

Thanks @dc11786 . Given Ted Turner's big profile in the '80s and love of media I'm surprised more of an effort wasn't made to get the show publicity. At times I'm surprised the show lasted as long as it did.

He probably should have read a few pages.

That's true in a way, but they have been given so much fodder due to those who are loudly boycotting Democrats due to Gaza and have said they will happily support Trump to send a message. It's a perfect storm. And now the party is so busy being torn apart over whether to support Biden or not that they can't even present a unified front.

Oof at that acting from Sandy...

There are many ways they could write a believable backlash to Blaze being outed as there are so many different attacks female queer artists face - that they are lying for clout, that they stayed in the closet as long as they could for their own selfish gain, that they are taking the spotlight from "real" queer artists who don't have a big campaign behind them. Given our increased homophobic climate, if they wanted to say she was dropped after being outed, I wouldn't be that shocked, but the story is so muddled - are we meant to feel sorrier for her, or her mother? Blaze and Natalia just aren't compelling enough to base an entire storyline around. I imagine that's why the show brought characters like Sonny and Ava in, but it still isn't worth investing in.

They also have forms of government that make these moments easier for them. Sadly, in the US, the vocal "left" is heavily populated by Trump supporters and sympathizers. Many like Brie Brie, Cornel West, Jimmy Dore, Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Jill Stein, etc. would gladly vote for Trump over any Democrat (and likely Bernie too).

Happy 49th. Some of the best soap moments of all time and some of the best actors. I'm grateful I got to watch those first 6 years on Soapnet.

Thanks for finding that @dc11786 ! Sorry if this was already mentioned, but was there any reason why the show didn't seem to get much if any coverage in SOD? (even Rituals got recaps, and IIRC some interviews) Is it the same reason Another Life got little coverage in SOD or Daytime TV - they weren't seen as fitting the proper criteria?

Carol is one of those characters I wish I could see much more of as it's difficult to get a read on her when she just pops up to be unpleasant at Frame Enterprises. In terms of her motivations and romantic relationships, at times she seems to be written more as a male character than the traditional female character on soaps. I wonder what plans Lemay would have had for her if Jeanne Lange had wanted to stay, as he singled her out as one of the cast members he was most upset to lose. Thanks for mentioning more of the Paley clips as I don't think I've watched those yet.

How long have EJ and Eric had the same hairstyle?

Thanks @Paul Raven that's a nice recommendation. (insert rant about what the loss of New York soaps has done)

@slick jones Thank you. I didn't know Jeryl Scott had been on GH. I thought she was great on Walking Dead in a very underwritten part. I was watching a Lights Out episode (The Veil) with a ton of speaking parts but only the main two actors were credited (Lee J Cobb and Arlene Francis). I always wonder if there are soap actors of the day, radio or TV, who are in those types of shows and I just don't know them.

Maureen and Maeve were almost too good - it was easy to underrate them. We were lucky to have them in daytime as long as we did, and especially lucky for the gems they were given in the late '80s and early/mid '90s.