DRW50

@FrenchFan Thanks. I guess this is not long after Penny left. I don't remember if I'd seen anything about her looking after this Jimmy child. Or Bob's vision loss storyline. Everything with Lisa still struggling to fit into the Hughes family and their still trying to learn how to accept her, along with Ellen's inability to have a strong relationship with Dan, provide the type of continuity that kept viewers tied to the show for many years. And that's the type of material we don't get on soaps now. I wish I could see some of this, especially the episode set entirely at night. The bonding between Bob and Grandpa Hughes also has the type of sincerity and heart you don't get very much in later years. I wonder if they did much with Paul's return from Vietnam. Weird to see this contrasted with Tom still being a young teenager, as within a few years Tom would be a grown man, broken by Vietnam. Reading this ATWT's take on Vietnam seems to be straight down the line patriotic, compared to the nuance of early AMC, but I still wish we could see to compare.

JPL stunk on most of his OLTL run, and being with the writer who caused the strongest stench doesn't seem like a recipe for a change. But then Ron isn't with the show for now, so we'll hope for the best.

That's very well said. I hadn't thought about the Gina comparison, but I see it. I guess that type of nuanced work was just not going to happen as the '80s went along.

@vetsoapfan tagging you as Janice Lynde is attending this AW 60th event. Such a drab character she had to play, but I'm glad she is still involved. I wish much more of Barbara Rodell's time on the show was available. It's forever a shame what was lost. Susan Keith was so wonderful as Cecile that it's hard at times to even see Nancy's take as the same character, although Nancy was a wonderful comedienne.

Sometimes I still forget that a soap actor has an existence after they stop appearing on the show. I had no idea of Melanie's various losses, or that she left ATWT because her mother was dying. The interview was very heavy at times, but she was very inspirational, and she and Locher have a good rapport. I'm glad to know she is still close with various cast. Colleen was in the chat briefly too.

A part of me wishes they'd tried a Hal/Lucinda pairing in the '90s or '00s, although I know he never could have taken it. Still, imagine Barbara's face...

I do feel like the show lost most interest in Lily herself as Heather's time in the role progressed. The changes in 1992 made sense to me and I thought Heather played them well, but it's strange to see the material here that would have been more suited to her (although Martha likely had more chemistry with Paolo than Heather would have). By the time of the Jef pairing I thought they'd made Emily so exhausting, but I did like them together. Other than Hal, that was the last Emily pairing I cared anything about.

There are several 1981-1982 episodes here, and a clip of Christmas Eve 1980. Might want to see them while they're still up. https://www.dailymotion.com/carlton-eastport/videos

My favorite part of that partial episode was Lisa digging at Holden for taking Aaron from Iva. Loved it. Not as dull as some of the 1993 episodes I've seen, probably helped by certain characters not being on. Still those traces of Marland's ATWT, like everyone hearing about the trial even if they weren't involved. I'm reminded of why I never really warmed to Martha's Lily when she returned - she just wasn't suited to play the more mature, business-involved Lily, which is probably why she was regressed by the next year. Always glad to see Janice, so smooth...other than her hatred for Lily, which she never could hide. Nice, restrained performance from Liz Hubbard, and a reminder of the heart Lucinda could have. This isn't long before they had Emily go off the rails again. KMH was...fine here, but as always back then I couldn't help missing Melanie Smith (who is being interviewed on Locher Room today - hope I will be able to watch).

Not sure if this episode is already up in another form, but: They also have closings from a 1999 and 1997 episode.

I still wish we knew whether NBC kept any of it.

Jean LeClerc and Nancy Stafford, among others. We also won't be seeing any of Ivie, the singer at Luke Dancy's club who declares her love for him at the end of the show - that was one of the things I was hoping to see the development of (if there was any). As @Chris B mentioned, we also won't see Althea's return, which is a real shame.

Is there any way NBC might still have kept some copies (not that we will be seeing them)? There used to be some 1981/1982 episodes online...not sure if they still are.

https://people.com/andrea-evans-death-one-life-to-live-costar-john-loprieno-pays-tribute-exclusive-7558872

Watching some old clips to make myself feel a bit better after today's heartbreaking news. I know this type of scene was an affront to everything Agnes Nixon and many others had wanted OLTL to be, but I still laugh and laugh every time I watch it. Bless Erika Slezak for just...going for it. And Barbara Luna is her own delight as always.

Thanks @JAS0N47 @slick jones Great to see Ketty acting again.

"I take thee...Cord." My first real glimpse of Andrea was that OLTL weddings VHS tape I watched over and over in the mid '90s. A good portion of it, rightfully so, was devoted to the insane Tina spectacles of the peak Rauch era. An era that would never have been possible without Andrea. No matter how many bad things Tina did, Andrea found the heart of the character. You believed she did care about other people - Cord, Viki, Gabrielle, her kid - even if she often wanted to put herself first. Her work holds up exceptionally well too. If you showed somebody new to soaps the Tina material from back then, gross and stupid as a lot of it could be, they would probably still be fascinated by her. I don't think you can understand just what a difficult job Andrea had in making Tina so beloved unless you look at so many other failed attempts at the same character over the years, or even on the same show. Andrea was a delight to watch. She lit up the screen. She had such a presence. In many ways I might compare her to Judy Holliday, another very intelligent actress who never quite got her due. I'm glad Andrea at least got to return at the end to give Tina a happy ending. It's been a tough few years for soap fans, but much as all of these losses hurt, this one really makes me sad.

@Vee You're right about BMH. He had a very soulful quality when given the chance, which is what Joey should have been. Instead we often just got Joey as a loser, a cuck, over "edgy" Tim Gibbs Kevin, or Todd, or whoever else. Tom Degnan was fine enough but clearly never there for any real reason. It was painful seeing the show try to throw Gina Tognoni at various men when Gina did what she did best at OLTL - have no chemistry with them. She and Degnan were adequate together, and that's the best to hope for in this situation. Didn't they even have Jen drive through a plate glass window like Marty? Any time I think of Bree Williamson as Jess I shudder.

@slick jones Thanks as always for putting this together. I didn't know he was on GL - can't remember how many Santa Claus roles they would have had (probably quite a few).

I was going to say you can't ruin [!@#$%^&*], but then I remembered Ron trashing the Nancy/Craig relationship to prop him up.