DRW50

I don't think it would make a difference. I remember some fans used to send death threats out to actors during the Liz/Jason/Sam years. And of course Laura got those types of threats when she was at GL.

The bad blood between Genie and GH or ABC over her extended maternity leave helped to disenfranchise the character, followed by Guza and Tony Geary's clear contempt for her (and need to turn her rape into her rapist's pity parties and her son berating her) created a hole for her that she never got out of. Then we have Geary's contempt for any Lucky not named JJ, plus JJ's depressing return that pleased no one and kept him away from the show for good, plus JMB's lousy turn as Lulu followed by a poorly received recast, followed by all the tragedies with Tyler Christopher... Pretty much everything went against Laura and her relevance on the canvas. I have to admit I've never cared about Laura, and I don't think Genie Francis is that fantastic, and even I would agree she's been disrespected in so many ways when you think of what she did for GH. The only reason she is there is lip service. I won't claim the treatment of Tracy is top-tier (especially the degradation of her when she was married to Luke) and is likely going to decline with Mulcahey's departure, but still, if you were a viewer in 1980 and someone showed you Tracy's relevance vs Laura's in 2024, you'd be shocked. (once you get past the shock of someone from 2024 being in your house to talk to you about a soap)

Tom was just a terrible, bizarre character who never should have lasted as long as he did, although he was OK in his last few months. My main memory of him is when he was jogging in green short-shorts.

Jill could at least be more honest with her. One of the reasons the Faith and Jill rivalry is hard for me to watch is because Faith says the vilest things to Jill and Jill mostly just takes it. The whole thing feels dishonest to me in that Faith made so many stupid choices, lashed out when those choices blew up in her face, and was still presented as a victim.

This features Henrietta Moore (First Love), among others. A neat little use of the 15 minute format (I wish more shows would take this step now) with good leads. I wonder if Joe Mantell meant to play his scenes with as much longing and yeaning as we get in that later scene. Some of that aspect feels very "today."

Thanks @Paul Raven . I don't remember him fumbling his lines very often.

Thanks to @Contessa Donatella At the Another World 60th, Barbara Rodell mentioned that after she left ATWT for the last time, she was offered, and turned down, a chance to be a temp recast for a pregnant actress on OLTL. Presumably, that would be Viki, which was taken over in that period by Christine Jones.

Thanks to @Contessa Donatella At the Another World 60th, Barbara Rodell mentioned that after she left ATWT for the last time, she was offered, and turned down, a chance to be a temp recast for a pregnant actress on OLTL. Presumably, that would be Viki, which was taken over in that period by Christine Jones.

I'll just mention it and then give you credit.

Thanks @Contessa Donatella for sharing those stories. You'd think people would be more respectful of an 80 year old woman than to run up to her like they're meeting the Beatles. Very sad about David Forsyth. You may want to add the Barbara Rodell info about OLTL to the Temporary Replacement or They Almost Became threads. If you don't want to I will.

This is a Soapnet backstage piece from 2002.

I think it was easy to overlook because of the optics of her having to sell the hotel to Carly, Willow's latest judgment, etc. but she did have some lovely character beats that Cynthia Watros clearly enjoyed playing. I was always a little hot and cold on Cynthia at GL but she's done good work with the rare shreds of decency she got here.

I would have Brook Lynn and Chase become foster parents, maybe tie them to Ward House (was that ever brought back - I can't remember) and use that to bring back Keesha or other relatives. And it would fill the house with more characters, as Monica is rarely there and we're lucky to even have Tracy back. Maybe Tracy could form a bond with one of the children who reminds her of herself at that age. I'm sure Frank would love to cast more child actors on the show, so it could be a win/win. I wonder how all the Nina fans who were upset over the Drew stuff feel. I actually do get why they were upset with her losing and losing and losing, but it did seem like her story was leading somewhere for her. Now that doesn't seem likely.

Thanks @slick jones . I had no idea he wrote for Bright Promise. Or that he was originally meant to do Coach.

Rest in peace, Barbra Fuller. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/barbra-fuller-dead-republic-pictures-one-mans-family-1235903503/

Rest in peace, Barbra Fuller. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/barbra-fuller-dead-republic-pictures-one-mans-family-1235903503/

Mary gets pregnant soon after she marries Jack, which was written in due to Kate's real life pregnancy. Sam Cromwell was likely directly affected by this, as he was clearly meant to be in a triangle with Jack and Mary. He wasn't that bad. I do wonder about Nell's story as to me it felt like a natural conclusion - if anything I felt like they extended her run a little. I think that Ed could have stayed longer with a different actor. Latimore had no real presence. I definitely think Nick and Reenie were budget purges. And maybe that Latina nurse - or did she want to leave the show? She got more writeups in the soap magazines than in the episodes. Nancy was one of my favorites on Dark Shadows but I don't think she's worked in any other soap roles I've seen her in (I have not seen her Doctors work). She seems very artificial and fragile, which suited her more on DS. The only time KMG worked for me was when they wrote Faith as bitter and resentful, which they never fully allowed because I guess they just couldn't accept that level of nuance in the character. Instead, we just had excessive airtime spent on this unpleasant and dull person we were meant to feel sorry for at all times...and of course many reminders of how wicked and rotten Delia was. I don't think Faith ever worked. It's telling that even Catherine Hicks did not care for the writing, because that was the one time I think Faith connected - mainly because Labine and Mayer just wrote her to Hicks' spunky strengths and threw away any of what they had tried before with the character.

@Ben @Forever8 @LondonScribe

Dabney was such a charismatic actor, so often making it impossible to stop watching the many horrible men he played. There's no one around like him now.

I did watch yesterday (there were a number of OLTL alum involved). You could see how much Erika was struggling. Kudos to her for still being willing to appear.

That's fair. It's very dull to hear someone say, "Oh you were wrong about material you enjoyed," and I definitely don't mean to come across that way. I do remember how in the '00s the show managed a number of very strong scenes.