DRW50

This happened repeatedly with Lesli in the '00s - I thought she did a decent job replacing Colleen Dion on B&B, and Colleen was one of my favorites when I watched B&B. She never really found a foothold on any soap after her ATWT exit.

I never knew Chuckie was mentioned by that point. I wish that was available. Probably why I was struggling to come up with some memories for GL.

Heather Rattray for life! Hensley's comments are interesting as to me he had little chemistry with Martha Byrne when she returned in 1993. Some would return when he did in late 1996 but I don't really think they ever clicked onscreen the same way they did in her first run.

Nothing against Jacqueline Schultz, who was there during extremely dull years, but beyond a certain ethereal presence I thought she was window dressing. The bits I've seen of Dawson are a little better to me, but it wouldn't have mattered as Dee was somehow both overused and inert. I thought Sheri was OK, if a little brittle, but I agree that Brooke Alexander had a unique presence and wry humor which helped make the character work. I am still not sure if Sam would have returned if not for the regime change, but what a horrible exit for her and for Kirk.

Kassie had originally started playing Eve in 2014 and would be off and on for the next decade, so that was a year or two pre-Ron (he did bring her back repeatedly). I wasn't watching on a regular basis. I thought she did good work when Eve's daughter was murdered but I do think it's hard to replace Charlotte Ross in her signature role.

When did they ever go away? I see the painfully underrated Chris Parnell, who missed an SNL episode or two making that pilot (he was fired [for the second time] that same season). He'd later have one-season sitcoms Big Lake and Happy Together, was on the first season of grown-ish, and may be best known for Rick and Morty and recurring on 30 Rock. The show was by Paula Pell, who left the SNL staff the previous season (complete with various cast holding up "we'll miss you Paula" esque signs) and promptly returned. She would later star oncamera in AP Bio, Girls 5 Eva, and her biggest solo part, a Quibi mystery parody called Maplewood Murders. Sharon Gless, beyond her US work, also had a well-received recurring role on UK medical soap Casualty.

I love Crystal Gayle, but it sounds like someone was a big fan of her work on the One from the Heart soundtrack. Marlo's not wrong, although I'm sorry for the fans that the show never got a proper ending. Some shows just belong in their place and time, as many, many revivals prove.

An I Love Lucy comic strip. I never knew there was one. April 16th, 1954 as seen in the Standard-Star Post by @forgottencomics.bsky.social — Bluesky

Maura West had to do this on ATWT and Kassie de Paiva had to do this on OLTL, which disgusted me. I remember the OLTL scenes being especially ugly and then they had her come back not long after giving birth to have more traumatic scenes and have her character go back into a coma.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks @Maxim That was such an interesting scene, as I think a great deal of what Sloan is saying is genuine, but part is also a knife-twist. Beyond the Brooke comparison, it reminds me of something Dorian might do. I wish the show had explored Sloan/Dorian a little more.

I'm sure they are, I just don't enjoy this format, I generally don't enjoy them in their other roles, and I'd need someone I have a connection with to care about sitting through it.

I think Crystal Gayle's guest stint on AW was shorter than that theme song.

Locher is still rough and makes it about himself but I still watch him sometimes because of the guests, and I just don't know if I have enough room in my life to sit through a lot of Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart.

@dc11786 I appreciate you writing about the material with Lee as that sounds most interesting to me but what I didn't remember. At the time I mainly remember Frank in his true sleaze era (which Jay Pickett did a great job with) and some of the build of Chris/Julie. These parts were compelling and made good use of performances. The stuff with Scott, Eve, Lucy and Kevin I found to be extremely alienating. I thought DV was miscast (too young to be Scott's father, lacking charisma, on and on) and I can't think of a worse way to bring him on than a rape story with Lucy that they tried to half-dress as romance.

The only reason seemed to be playing out drama with Daisy and Harley (with Daisy frozen in time). I am not sure why '00s soaps tried so hard with Gaskill. I just found Scott agonizing at the time. Something actively repulsed me in his scenes. I'm not speaking of him as a person, but he was so unsuited, if anyone but Jordan could ever play Billy. I can only assume someone at AMC was a big fan of his on AW as they seemed to just redo the exact same storyline.

Y&R - Shari Shattuck as Ashley. I think the only reason she stayed as long as she did (3 years!) is because of the huge malaise Y&R was under for much of that time and because they were waiting to get Eileen back. Y&R - Sarah Aldrich as Victoria. I don't know if she could have made the part work if they hadn't gotten Heather Tom back. ATWT - As @P.J. mentioned in the other thread, Glynnis O'Connor as Margo. This may be another case where Ellen Dolan being available made the choice easier, but she's the only Margo viewers didn't support. ATWT - Jason Kincaid as Tom Hughes. From the little available of him, he's not awful, but he's an odd choice for a leading man. AMC - Gwyn Gillis as Ann Tyler. She did play the part for 3-4 years, but they also chose to kill the character off... B&B - Ingo Rademacher as Thorne Forrester. GL - Michael Dietz and Michael Dempsey as Alan-Michael Spaulding. Bryan Gaskill as Dylan Lewis. Geoffrey Scott as Billy Lewis, Ann Hamilton and Barbara Crampton as Mindy Lewis (I thought Scott in particular was horribly wrong). Search for Tomorrow - Louan Gideon as Liza Sentell.

Sharon also had a short-lived body swap comedy by of all people Stephen Bochco. Turnabout (TV series) - Wikipedia You can find the first episode and a TV-movie compiling 4 of the episodes.

Graeme Wood on X: "TV📺28/11/86 BBC1 4.30:A Day in the Life 4.55:Newsround 5.10:Grange Hill 5.35:Masterteam 6.0:News 7.0:Wogan 7.35:Blankety Blank 8.10:Dynasty 9.0:News 9.30:By Royal Command 10.35:Snooker https://t.co/JF7RkyUigw" / X

It took me a few years to accept Liz, as Sherry had such a sultry, jagged edge and had such great chemistry with Michael Zaslow, Jerry ver Dorn and Maureen Garrett. Blake's relationships with Roger and Holly were never as interesting to me post-Sherry, although a big part of that is the severe decline in the writing. Liz did have her own chemistry with Jerry, and she had a certain humor which helped her, along with playing the insecurity integral to Blake. Around 1995 or 1996 I was able to care more about her Blake, after she did what she could with some very dubious stories, even if I still missed Sherry. I think if Glynis had been given more time she might have won viewers over (especially if they'd known how much Ellen Dolan would end up phoning in her final run), but she came into the show at just about the worst time. I think what helped Beth Chamberlin in her first run was that Beth had been "dead" for three years and had mostly existed in that time as Philip's fragile love (any other layers she'd had long gone). Kimberley I think may have benefited from the other Musketeers slowly being phased out.

I'm so glad you were there for him. Kudos for even being able to watch these moments. Not to change the subject too much, but the part where Sloan gave Viki a photo of herself in younger years to reconnect with happier times - it's interesting as that is his idea of Viki, rather than the reality. Viki was never happier. I suppose Viki and Sloan have such a passionate relationship because they can make each other what they need them to be, not having any awareness of who they actually were.

@dc11786 Very glad to see your analyses again. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. I watched 1998 closely at the time and I'd tend to agree with you, especially about how Eve was much more interesting with Chris or Julie than in what they gave her. The attempt to turn her into a heroine soured me on the character, and I don't think it suited Julie Pinson, to say the least.

Thanks @Maxim Amazing how much Mia looks like Elaine Princi in those scenes. Blair listing out every lie she told all seems a bit rushed but I prefer it to a story dragging out the beats. You almost feel sorry for Asa as he cared about Blair in his own Asa way, but Asa's idea of "caring" is extremely damaging. I'm not a big fan of the whole trope of mwa-ha-haing as someone is trying to get their pills, but Mia does a great job and I did enjoy the last moment where she gave him her birth control. I'm sure Phil Carey crawling all over the floor made some blooper reels. I appreciate all the time and effort on your part but if you ever need to step away from so much dark material, as plenty more is on the way, I'm sure we will all understand.

The Bridges cast looks much more interesting than the show probably was. Jose Ferrer, Nick Surovy, Nancy Cartwright, Roddy McDowall.

That dastardly Peter Taylor...