DRW50

The image of Kim firing back at Susan while in domestic bliss is such a great contrast, especially to Susan, whom we are reminded has no real home or life, crashing into the Hughes house for a fight. I've always thought your idea for Sabrina as not putting up with the expectations of Oakdale would have been fun. I can imagine her saying "oh piss off" to Barbara. Tonio is one of the worst husbands in the history of soap, so I appreciated getting to see her snap at him. Finn Carter always did well with those grittier moments of Sierra. One of the reasons I had no real use for the fights Kim and Susan had in the Sheffer era is because they lost any awareness of what made Kim so strong as a character. She could spar with people, but she kept her dignity. She never let them see her struggle, and if we did, then we knew it was a moment where we should be concerned for her. As has already been mentioned, the show had so many underrated rivalries for a long time. I think because many of the actresses in the cast were able to demonstrate vulnerability alongside fire. I wish more of that 56-81 period could pop up (I suppose we will get a bit more with Ariana Muenker's clips, and hopefully something earlier will show up again while we're still on this planet...).

@DramatistDreamer @Mitch64 @Soapsuds @soapfan770 @Paul Raven @slick jones @MarlandFan @j swift @Forever8 @Khan @FrenchFan @OzFrog @All My Shadows @Vee @vetsoapfan @Reverend Ruthledge @Matt @jam6242 @P.J. @Liberty City @Xanthe A very rare (partial) February 1987 episode has been uploaded, possibly most notable for an absolutely vicious Susan/Kim confrontation. They wrote Susan very differently in her brief return compared to when she became a permanent cast member again, and that may never be more apparent than it is here where she gleefully trashes Kim (and Bob in absentia) as hypocrites. My favorite part is when Susan says she did a lot of things but never slept with her sister's husband, to which Kim replies, without missing a beat, "Only because you didn't have a sister."

Barbara Berjer later appeared on AW and GL at the same time, briefly, so it was possible. If they had asked Lisa I wonder if she might have returned. (speaking of Barbara, do any of you know if they mentioned Holly moving to Europe to be with her in the mid '00s or her dying in 2006 or is that more Soapcentral fancruft?)

I think the biggest problem is just how his voice sounds, from his age, but he can't really do anything about that.

I heard about this pathetic article but had no idea who wrote it. https://www.theroot.com/forbes-removes-ridiculous-article-that-asked-if-trump-s-1851593439 I don't care for Isaac Chotiner and his lazy "gotcha" interviews but kudos to him for calling out just how awful moments like this are. Not that I expect better from a longtime registered Republican at NBC.

Trump is so mentally decayed I am not sure. This was heavily pushed by Trump's son, who shares Vance's hatred of America as well as his lack of chin. In past years Trump might have had the instincts to see that an incredibly unattractive (I'm sorry, I'm going to say it), smarmy, dead-eyed, extremely uncharismatic figure who was dragged over the line in a Senate race built for him would not be the best choice. But Trump's backers, like Peter Thiel, have built Vance from the ground up and know there's a strong chance he will be President and do the decimating of this country that they so crave. The Beltway has already gushed over how well Vance will do in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. I have my doubts. Everything about Vance stinks of the type of man many of those people know would spit on their corpses. He wrote a book explicitly detailing how much he hates them and that any suffering they go through is their own fault. He trashed his own family for profit and clout. Any votes Trump wins will be in spite of him. This is just naked agenda-making from the so called "nerdy new right" that those at Politico and Axios want to name their children after. One thing I will credit scumbags and hatemongers like Matt Walsh for is they don't play the GOP games - they stick by their opinions. The Democrats who are wringing their hands or like Jared Golden saying maybe Trump winning won't be so bad should consider the same. Amber Rose, a dubious grifter of the highest order, being put on national TV for the most cynical attempt at getting the black vote should have been more called out than it was.

This is very nicely made by the fan, but the scene itself is also touching. Kudos to Guy Pearce for being willing to return for brief appearances and allowing the Jane and Mike love story to wrap up with dignity. @Vee I know you are not on current episodes, but you may enjoy watching this scene.

I know the actor who played Cam wanted to leave but then he was barely used and was just fodder for the flop of Joss/Dex. The lack of interest in bringing the character back says it all. That's a shame as long scenes are what soaps excel at, or should excel at, compared to other genres. Felicia and Cody would certainly be "soapy," but I think it would destroy what is left of her (even if I didn't need her to reunite with Mac). You're probably right. It's kind of funny because as much as we hear about how Korte loves Carly - and I'm sure it's true - the character is in a huge corner, maybe more than ever. At least they don't seem to be putting her back with Drew.

That's such a no-brainer you'd think they would continue, but if Korte only wants Jason/Carly I guess they might deemphasize his kids for a while.

That's one of the reasons I was sad they changed it, although at least it lasted for a very long time.

The loathsome Tlaib, yes. I do think AOC has mostly moved away from that group in the last few years - she is still part of a little club with them and campaigns with them but is probably the most "normie" of the set, along with Ayanna Presley (if she's still part of that group). The dead end left hates AOC and sees her as the great Satan.

Have they done much with Danny either? I know they had the scenes where he wore Jason's jacket and fought with Jake. I know some fans think Korte hates Liz so you may be right. I would think if he's going it's the actor's choice, but then you never know with soaps, they often make the wrong decisions. At least we are, presumably, past the days they would just recast him with a 25 year old underwear model, as P&G loved to do.

I saw someone on Twitter claiming that the actress who plays Charlotte had to leave because of health reasons plus schooling and that's why she's back. No idea if that's true but I guess it would be one explanation. I don't see Jake being gone for too long as he's old enough to play out story with Jason and they will want to take advantage of that while Burton is still around. I do wonder if they are recasting.

Isn't Jake going? I wonder if the actor wants to leave, as you'd think with Jason back and with Charlotte back they would want him around. This was one of those strike stories, wasn't it? From the dates it did seem like they dumped her even pre-Mulcahey. I know they are fully out of ideas for Valentin but bringing her back seems desperate.

Good for her. When I saw this quote it made me furious. It sums up so much of DC Dems. I think many prefer Trump deep down.

Due to some of the tapes that were lost, Ariana's AW material has jumped ahead to around the time Pat and John were splitting up over his affair with Barbara Weaver. Not 1977 - around spring 1976, I guess (someone will know closer to the right date). Such natural performances in this from the supporting characters (Marianne's soon to be ex, Daryll, and Michael's girlfriend, Glenda), which is something I am often surprised by on soaps as the years go by. It's too bad the show couldn't keep a few around.

I was glad to see them touch on Laura and Val again briefly, as that had been an early friendship for Val, and one that always felt more natural to me than Karen/Val.

I think we did mostly just through nostalgia and blind hope. I couldn't hang on but I always held out hope, and came back to say goodbye to each show for their last year - it almost felt like visiting a loved one in their last months. You wanted to honor them if you could. Of any soaps on now, Neighbours, Shortland Street, and Home & Away, while far from perfect, have enough of the basic ingredients to where I am able to watch (although SS can't seem to stop telling depressing storylines).

It's probably one of the best soap promos I've seen - gets everything right to entice a new viewer. Makes me sad to think of how ABC later lost the plot.

I tried to hang on for the same reasons you mention (along with Crossroads I think it was the closest to American soaps) but have not been able to for a long while now - probably around 2017 or 2018. You are right about the mistakes Emmerdale made compared to American soaps. Another is bringing Carl King's son back solely to abuse and terrorize his wife. Who wants to see that? And yes it's been about 10-15 years since the show had competent production. Like Corrie, ITV is just letting the soap slowly die for cash.

That sounds right. I think this also led into Jack and Joe being upset when she announced she was remarrying.

@dc11786 Enjoyed the rundown of the early episodes. I do like AL, but I have the same problem you do, especially early on, of actually getting through the show. As time passes the stories do start to feel more encompassing and I am more involved with the characters, even if casting issues get in the way a number of times. I remember much preferring the first Lori to the second. @Paul Raven Thanks for that article. I feel for the people behind the scenes who were essentially cleansed for not being born again (isn't this around the time an actress was allegedly let go for being Jewish?). Yet I don't believe the show itself ever delves heavily into hardcore fundamentalism. I remember reading in Chris Schemering's book of a press release mentioning homosexuality, abortion - the latter is touched on but not heavily, while the former is never brought up (although I wonder about Terry's son Peter). I wonder if the backlash to the miracle healing story made them wary. I can see Winsor's influence in the mother character (who feels more than a little contrived to me but then I have not seen much of her) and the good sister/bad sister central element. The show's choice of converting various bad characters (other than sister from hell Nancy) makes me wonder of the internal issues with the show, although they were fairly realistic about this (some characters struggle with sticking to their new faith). A few months ago, I was watching this laughably terrible film on Youtube that might be what we would get if a Christian soap was around today (or some might be even worse), as it was about a Jewish family who move to a new neighborhood and befriend a Christian family. The son of the Christian family is very drawn to evangelism and befriends and converts the son in the Jewish family. The father goes berserk and sends him away to their relatives. The Jewish son embraces his gifts as a faith healer and heals various crippled and paralyzed members of the family...and converts many of the Jews in his family and in their old neighborhood. The film then ends with his father finally seeing the light and they all become, essentially, Jews for Jesus...and then on top of that, the Christian son calls out his father for being too concerned with being a mainline Christian rather than being in a denomination that encourages laying of hands. So the Christian family move into embracing faith healing even though they know they will be shunned by their church. The whole thing is a howler, and apparently the guy who made it made a number of films with this Charismatic theme (one of them I watched called Bridging the Chasm gave me GL Peapack vibes).

I could see the Dorian/David aspects too (hopefully without recreating that under-the-table scene).

Thanks. Yes, after Sarah died and Jack went on trial for her murder, they lost what little they had left. Robert tried to keep the farm for them by pushing Jack to allow cell towers on the land, or something, but Viv and others raised hell and it didn't happen.

I'd imagine that's a big reason. There was also a huge boon for actors in the '50s and '60s on TV that had started to fade by the time she joined AW. I would guess she is one of the older actors Richard Bekins mentioned who told him to leave the show while he still could.