DRW50

Ruth Warrick interview starting at about 40 minutes. I love how the first half is her talking about Citizen Kane and the second half is her blasting George Bush, basically saying he needs to GTFO, and then "joking" that if she gets run over on the way home people will know why.

This must be the oldest surviving footage of Jacquie Courtney in her first run as Alice. Considering how fed-up Courtney was by this point I have to respect how professional she still is even here. I must say that everyone seems so casual knowing that Mary Matthews died not too long before this. I don't expect weeping and wailing, but aside from Pat mentioning Jim possibly moving in, there is little grief or reflection. I wonder if this is down to Lemay's issues with character and actress. I really do enjoy the way Marianne and Michael snap at each other in these clips. Very believable. I can see why both were recast for more serious stories, but these types of moments are what make soaps seem more real. I do wonder how Munker would have done with the story of Pat killing her boyfriend - it doesn't seem out of her range. Sometimes I forget that Michael and Marianne were only born onscreen five years before these clips. That Irna rapid aging strikes again. I wonder if that is another reason they didn't have the longevity they could have - even Matt and Amanda had longer periods as kids than that.

@Alan Thanks! She does still sound the same. You may want to put this in the soap stars where are they now thread.

In some ways I think that shift is what kept AW on for its last 15 years, but when I see these clips I remember they only got that way because of how degraded and bland the show's family units were by the early '80s. By the '80s the main family unit left wasp probably the Corys, but even with likeable performers, they were still a rich family who didn't have the more believable bonds and history we might have had with an extended Matthews history.

Thanks. That helps explain about Roberts. I can definitely see Johnston having more of a core appeal. I didn't realize until now that Brown played in The Ritz after this - presumably his character was gay. Ironic... He's another Michael who has few credits post-AW. @Paul Raven You'd think some future writer would have seen that there was so much potential in bringing back Pat and her kids. I guess the further they could go with AW history was bringing back direct ties to the Frames. And Iris. And even those were likely only due to Lemay's brief return.

Glad to hear there is some Miss Susan around and someone is buying the AMC or ATWT episodes he has. I can't afford any of that so I'm just happy if it's around rather than rotting away.

Hopefully they won't get lost and we can see them someday.

He's on AW through December of 1975 - so about six months. I'd forgotten about all that. Thanks. Munker lasted for two and a half years so I wonder just what he decided she wasn't strong enough for. I sometimes wonder if he didn't care for younger actors that had charisma as the glimpses I saw of the replacement Marianne (Adrienne Wallace) seemed much more earnest but not overly memorable, similar to Susan Harney. It seemed like the show never knew what to do with Ted anyway, but it's insane to me to fire the Eric Roberts of that era, who was charisma and fire galore. I wish we could see some of his work on the show. Maybe we will someday. I can definitely see why they wouldn't necessarily want this Michael to play a deeper story, although he works well with the family and seems very believable to me.

I felt like he worked well enough as the core of the character. Groome had more energy but the life had mostly been taken out of Pat by that point anyway. I can imagine it was tough for viewers, but if the show had made any real effort, he could have lasted longer.

I know it's been said Jacquie Courtney had some, and Laurie Heineman said she bought an episode, but I assume all of that is long gone. Anything we get is such a shock and a treasure.

That's Christopher J. Brown as Michael in the clips, right? Is that the first time we've ever seen him in resurfaced footage? He seems OK to me, although if they had planned to give Michael more story, I suppose I can understand the recast. This is the first I've seen of most of these actors of this era (not counting Pat/John/Liz). Nice to see Stephen Yates. Weird to think Marianne was later involved with Jamie Frame, but not while he was in the part. It's funny to think I brought this period for the Randolphs up not that long ago and we were talking about it. Almost feels like we willed the videos into existence. If only it was that easy.

@TheyStartedOnSoaps What a wonderful find! Thank you!

Morgan Fairchild being very gracious after Sandra Bernhard apologized for being cold toward her on the Roseanne set (and both mentioning how unpleasant the set was in general - not a big surprise, sadly). https://deadline.com/2024/06/morgan-fairchild-reacts-sandra-bernhard-apology-roseanne-set-difficult-1235981082/

I don't think Loving ever had a good intro, although I do like the songs. The City's has a unique feel, at least, but is one of the most harshly dated soap openings of all time, along with the last AW opening and the final EON and Search openings.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I have not seen enough to give a real opinion of the 50s-70s but of what I've seen I do think Marland was the strongest writer. The only thing I really miss from his vision is more of a spark of life, the type of firecracker Lisa was in her early years, or Margo was in her early years. He did try, with Meg, and later Tess, Marcy, etc. but these women were often so far on the outside (and if they moved inside, like Meg, they lost most of their edge). The Dobsons and whoever replaced them made a lot of mistakes and seemed to just drain the show even further of depth and identity (more location shooting wasn't worth the sacrifices made), but Margaret Colin and Justin Deas do give some of the juice that the very very earnest material surrounding them needed. I think the very dreary younger set was the show's biggest issue, beyond the clump of older characters they had run out of story for - while going through that 1978 episode I genuinely had a hard time telling Sandy apart from Annie, even though Sandy should have been about 20 years older. (also - nothing against Kelly Wood, but something about Mary just irrationally annoys me) I will also give credit to Susan Bedsow Horgan and the others who put so much in place before Marland arrived.

Always better when Haz and Terese/Paul/Toadie/Mel aren't the focus. I think this was one of the show's best weeks since its return, even better because this was just an ordinary week, no big stunts. Almost the entire cast had storyline, which meant less of the padding and isolation that has hurt a lot of the revival. Leo's business struggles had ripple effects for so many people. Holly is still just a plot device, but this was probably the best use of her so far in that role, helped by getting to see her with Karl and by the character acknowledging how crazy her actions were. It was great to see Krista finally get to have some manipulative, scheming moments, after so often just suffering or being in support. Majella Davis is one of the best hires the new show has made and so often she's taken for granted. Depressing as that dungeon-like Eirini Rising set is, the brief Harold scenes add a certain depth to the show for me due to the focus on his ageing and readjustment. There was a lot of focus on letting go, getting older, and regrets through the whole week, with Aaron, Susan, Vic, Harold, Karl, all of which came across as thoughtful and not melodramatic. This also served as a balance to the younger set of JJ, Nell and Dex, giving the show a real multi-generational sense. There were some nice friendship moments too, which Neighbours is generally good at, but I noticed more than usual this week - Haz and Harold, Haz and JJ, Wendy and Terese. This was probably Haz's best week since the first few weeks of the revival. I was also glad to finally see movement in the Jane/Mike story. Jane sitting alone in the dress shop struggling through sorrow and doubt on what was meant to be one of the happiest days of her life was some of the best work Annie Jones has done on the show.

I was thinking more of when Pam Long was there, as Vanessa and Holly were later writers (I'm not sure about Maureen). By the time we got to the '90s I never felt like the show was trying to make him happen, I think he was mostly used as a stopgap for other pairings (Billy/Vanessa, Roger/Holly), but maybe if I disliked him, I would feel differently. Frank I think there was a case for keeping as he always had family around and was a popular figure in the late '80s to mid '90s. I guess he was also very cheap. Tina Sloan has less of a case but I guess she was too (there was a rumor, no idea if it was true, that she was not paid much because she didn't need the money and just wanted to work).

Another case of the shockingly decrepit and rapidly decaying Trump cutting ads for Democrats. (not that this will matter to the selfish people in swing states who vote for proven grifters and trash like Stein and West). https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-reveals-favorite-opponents-1916249

Maeve isn't one of those characters I can see staying around too long even if Leslie hadn't wanted to leave. The Fletcher pairing feels more like an attempt at keeping her around as at this point Fletcher had more ties to the canvas than she did. I can see Fletcher/Alex as an attempt at keeping Fletcher around.

I agree (although he's one of those guys who benefited with age). With other "recurring regular" Michael Cumpsty.

I don't really let things like this on soaps bother me, but given that Ross was often Philip's father figure, and Ross was best friends with Rick's father, knowing they all slept with the same woman is...something.

What did you think of the show in the late '70s? Do you think there were any real mistakes they made or did the show just inevitably lose steam after twenty years?

Until reading the review I had no idea Tom Verica was ever on the show. Verica is one of those actors who floated around TV (my main memory of him was him looking good in his underwear on Central Park West) before hitting it big with Shondaland. He now directs some of her shows.

Thanks @soapfan770 . That may also be why I never saw Kelley's charms. I remember her joining Sisters but by that point I was DONE with that show due to the wrecking ball done to Georgie and her family. I agree with you about Debi Mazar - I know she's mentioned some roles she turned down that could have helped her, but I think that while she's a striking presence, she never was going to be a lot beyond what she was. Yes, the lesbian kiss was such an obvious stunt, and the show wasted Amanda Donohoe so badly - she truly lit up the screen at times. I can't even remember if she had an exit. Or what Abby's exit was either. I do remember liking Conchata more than Tucker did. A few years before she passed she was interviewed by AV Club and seemed hurt by being fired, and then having to go to the Emmys as a nominee after being fired.