DRW50

Regarding Marland and Philip, I think he missed a trick by not having Philip involved in Carrie's story. They could have had her "bad" alter find out about his paternity and nearly tell him, then had her end up in a coma after being knocked out, with various suspects (taking her back to the "Who Killed Diane?" story where she was the killer). They could have had Jackie do it and send Jackie away for a time to get a real actress in the part. Carrie then could have left Springfield in shame and fear of blurting out the truth someday.

Whenever I think of Barbara I think of the Guiding Plight where even Bert could barely tolerate her. They didn't really make an effort with TJ - if Kevin Bacon had stayed, possibly, but he was a B-player even then. Chris Marcantel was adorable, but they could have found a proper recast when he left. Instead, there was that old-looking guy who was barely on. The casting across the show was iffy at that point anyway. I think bad casting also killed Andy, along with lazy writing.

Oh right it was Pelphrey. Thanks. I have some vague memory of a mind controlled Paul too but maybe I just hallucinated that while fast forwarding.

I forgot all that. What was her name - Jane? Between that and sleeping with Ryan and the showgirl they really were out of ideas for Erica in those last years...

Very true. And if they wanted to keep the late '80s GL spirit going, he could have hired junta fighters to try to kill Philip and Meredith for cheating on Rick.

Kreizman wasn't HW at ATWT that long. I mainly remember a story where Paul Ryan had a chip in his head (wasn't that Paul?). His GL run was very polarizing. I didn't watch most of it. If you like mind control, intrigue, or bad boys who want to sleep with their cousins, he's for you. Admittedly, that does describe DAYS...

That does seem unfortunate, especially as Schnabel worked regularly through the '80s. Rick could have used a grandfather figure, especially with Bert gone. The character didn't seem well-used at all in Michael's first run once the original Four Musketeers story was over.

There really wasn't much to Barbara either - she was mostly just an exasperated and clueless mother figure. I wish they'd kept using her in the mid '90s when Holly and Blake needed her. I think the biggest loss of that group was Sara, although Marland did manage to keep her around.

You must have had a heart palpation. I would say I miss Gregory but I think that's mostly because of his exit story.

I didn't really mind that. I'd take it over Ron Raines doing a cod Japanese accent for months, no matter how much better the show looked.

Peter was the first Ed I ever saw. I enjoyed his work in the role, but he never was suited for a patriarchal role - his Ed was much more pensive and broken. He seems more like a followup to what I've seen of Gentry's Ed. Hulswit was very warm and natural. He would have likely been out of sorts for what GL became and what the Bauers became, but maybe the Bauers wouldn't have been decimated. Or maybe that was inevitable. I remember Michael Logan mentioning all the fun times and stories with Marland that he couldn't share. Between that and the anecdote about Marland and the toilet at his home with a photo of someone's face in it, I think he was mostly very good at keeping his true self out of the press. Some of his interviews during GL seemed to be the exception. I imagine that experience ending in such an ugly way, combined with his experiences with A New Day in Eden and tangling with Agnes Nixon at Loving, humbled him a great deal. Whatever happened, I vastly prefer his work at ATWT to his work at GL.

@alwaysAMC wrote a lot about the book while reading through it last year. I still think those last years were some of Zimmer's better work in her second run...but I can see why she would prefer the years when Rauch deified her. Thanks. All I remember of Marie is the still of her in her artist studio that popped up in articles on GL's history.

Thanks for such a detailed response. South Africa doesn't seem to be very sentimental about their soapies as pretty much all are gone now.

How long did DAYS run in South Africa?

I wish I'd seen that Faison first as my first viewing was in 1998, when, after a lot of hype and anticipation, he sniffed flowers and bored the hell out of me for months on end. I have never gotten past that tedium.

Thanks to everyone for the answers. I don't remember much of anything about Juan but had a vague memory of him going with Miguel.

Not since they broke up Drew and Carly.

Thanks for letting us know @jam6242 I wish more of Meredith was available and that the character hadn't been forgotten in later years.

Miguel is the Cher of Port Charles. I can't remember if Juan went to live with Miguel.

I wasn't watching for most of the period Setton's Brook Lynn behaved this way (I just remember the mess of the character in the late '00s and I wasn't that involved even then). It sounds like an alien compared to how she is these days - she is written more like a heroine from a '50s or '60s soap. There's definitely more they could do with how suffocating the Qs can be to those who marry in the family. Monica had that problem and Monica was much stronger as a person than Chase has ever been.

Thanks. That's who I was thinking of. Agnes did that and also liked to have the earth mothers/long-suffering mothers.

That's a great idea. If they hadn't memory holed that entire period, they could bring it up.

Sorry for not tagging you - I always end up forgetting someone. I always enjoy your thoughts on old ATWT and LoL material which is found. You're right. I do find Laura fascinating - maybe more here than in the other available episodes of her as she seems to be in full ice-cold mother mode (Irna really had some mother issues). I think some other woman replaces Laura as the ice-cold rich mother in the late '50s. It is very realistic that, IIRC, Laura is never happy with anyone Dick gets involved with. I imagine whoever he gets with after he leaves LA (the show was still in LA all through the '50s right?) would get that same bitterly frosty shoulder.

I've never been attracted to Cameron, although I get his appeal. I think the only reason he wants Willow is because she is a status symbol (the wife of the nephew who is the paragon of not one, but two families, which Drew had a close view of when he was dating Carly), and because she worshiped him. She made him feel special and good at a time no one else did. He's not chasing her, he's chasing the high. I think Chase is the same. He can feel righteous and noble while helping her. While he's with Brook Lynn and the Qs, he feels inferior.

Crazy to say that in an interview. DAYS should always be building and building, not on pause, especially when you don't have a cast strong enough for that approach to work.