DRW50

For any clapperboard fans, you briefly get one at the start of this episode.

I think the biggest failure was being unable to sustain the momentum they were building up in 1983 and early 1984. I'm not sure about the ratings, but to me there was something that had the potential to be special in that time period, and afterward they never really get it back, even in periods that are generally decent (late '80s/early '90s).

I've gone on about this a lot to some people, but I do weep at what PBS has had to become compared to what they were in the '70s and '80s, and even to the '90s. And instead of the diversity, education and reality they provided, we are now just left with tiktok.

Thanks @slick jones . What a find.

At the end of this clip and start of the next, Johnny Carson comes up with some crazy sitcom ideas and tries to get the audience to laugh when he wants them to laugh.

Thanks for letting us know. I'd love if they ran Alive from Off Center.

That's the problem with this type of story. If I know it's going to basically be filed under the lengthy pile of "poor Ste suffers," stories, without having much other impact, I'm not going to care. I didn't have the enthusiasm to feel sorry for a racist/white nationalist. The choice to kill off Harry in part so we'd feel bad for Ste because they were about to reunite felt especially cheap to me, given the grimy origins of that relationship (rutting in Harry's classroom).

I couldn't get past that turning into yet another "poor Ste" storyline.

I remember watching these - those Xtra Normal videos were a craze at the time and the only thing you could do about Frons grinding ABC Daytime into the dust was laugh. Yours are great time capsules but also genuinely funny (like the Kathleen Tolan bit).

It's a savvy move for the show, as Chrishell seems to be much more in line with a potential new Neighbours audience than Mischa "I love the '00s" Barton (I say that having been fine with her run on the show). Neighbours has a lot of problems at present with its core which I hope they can address, but if you're going to do all the guest stars, she's one I can understand. Having "Yas" as a name reminds me of this Succession meme which is stuck in my head.

Thanks!

Thanks @slick jones . Always appreciate the articles and captures. Gene Peterson looks a lot like William Holden in that top cap.

Such a moving story. Thank you for sharing it. The power that soaps once had...

And we see what's happened to Red Lobster.

RIP Elizabeth MacRae (who had more soap credits than I realized). Elizabeth MacRae Dies: 'General Hospital' & 'Gomer Pyle: USMC' Actor Was 88 (deadline.com)

RIP Elizabeth MacRae (Meg Baldwin). Elizabeth MacRae Dies: 'General Hospital' & 'Gomer Pyle: USMC' Actor Was 88 (deadline.com)

I think so, yes. IIRC Claire was living there at the time so Ed and Maureen could keep an eye on her.

The material that Jessica did get in her time on the show is somewhat remarkable considering the conservatism of P&G, yet you do still wonder what could have been. (not even getting into her second run, where she may have been more leading, but I think most of her material was extremely degrading) Yesterday I was thinking about how much I miss the Hughes family Memorial Day barbecues. The holidays are when I miss P&G soaps most of all.

Does anyone know if that's a beauty shot or was it a scene from the episode? Beauty shots are such an underrated part of the daytime soap experience. I'm sorry they didn't keep them for a longer period.

Al Ruddy Dead: Oscar-Winning 'Godfather', 'Million Dollar Baby' Producer Was 94 (deadline.com)

@Manny My advice would be if you do watch, skip any social issue plotlines. They are uniformly terrible and one of the main reasons I barely watch the show in recent years. The show turned gay domestic violence into true love.

I am enjoying some of the stories, but I don't really know about as of late - Maeve/Thaddeus is reminiscent of some of the bad comedy they used to give Damo and also clearly filler until she reunites with Viliami (again...), and Phil/Ihaia are so dull and incredibly unpleasant. Most of the strongest stories, aside from Chris' breakdown, feel like they have been wrapped up. Boyd's story in particular felt incomplete to me. I feel like the show swings from being extremely dark (so many characters have lost children in just a few years) to empty, not much in between.

Thanks as always @slick jones . Love the Rita photos, and glad you got a cap out of that Juliet Jones video.

I know Dr. Quinn was hot at the time and I appreciate the attempt to help GL, but that sure wasn't the way to do it.

What do you all think of the books? I have a few. I don't think I've ever fully read one, although I've read parts. I wonder how the tone changes in them as the years go by. I read one from the late '00s or early '10s where a big rich man takes over a lot of Cabot Cove and really pushes buttons when he takes over the 4th of July celebrations, complete with his nepo baby daughter wanting to be heavily involved in the patriotic play, and Jessica noting with polite disdain that the band the guy brought in to play has <gasp> long hair </gasp>.