DRW50

First I've heard of it. I have avoided these since the Otalia GL one had such painful audio but I always loved Duncan and Shannon. I wish Tamara Tunie could be there too but then she's probably very busy.

That would have meant Tudor was 17 when she started on the show. That just isn't possible.

Watching the partial 1992 episode, I'm reminded again of what a fun, hot, bitchy character Evan was, especially before he got lumbered with that waste of space Rosanna. I will never understand the decision to fire him. Otherwise the best part of the episode is getting to see Nancy in more stern mode. Marland generally wrote her as being warmer and not going all over the canvas judging everyone like the old days, so moments like this, and her reaction to the Adam paternity lies, are very special indeed. It was also a way for him to show viewers when something was clearly a bad idea, which is needed since, as the very clever dialogue between Andy and Lisa reminds us, Oakdale was drowning in paternity lies in these years.

I agree about Brian and also about Dusty (I guess he would have left no matter what but I do wonder what might have been). Holden was a played out character, which is one of the reasons Marland did the brain damage story in the first place. He just spent those last few years chasing after Lily and looking foolish. I think Hensley's general charm as an actor increased as he got older, making Holden more tolerable to me, but he was never a very compelling character once they moved past his bad boy days.

Don't forget about brain dead Holden. I find a great deal of '92 to be fascinating and sort of see it as a second wind for Marland's run, but it was the worst time for him to die (not that was ever a good time), as he left the show in such a bleak place - it would have taken a great deal of careful work to slowly move back into a more positive era. That never really happened and by the nadir of '96, the show was just grimy and sour and trashy, which is mostly where they'd stay until the end. Marcy could have been a fun character. I remember when she came back in '94, briefly, Michael Logan was happy as he said she could add some kind of life to the show. Didn't really happen. I liked Wlcek's Linc but he was too wasted on angst and paternity drama and so on. The fling with Lily was hot though.

@Brolden if it helps with your dates, part of April 8, 1992 is here. (thanks to @YRfan23 for knowing the proper date)

Most likely no one is making money off them.

I don't really care for the way Marland rewrote the Stenbecks at this point but that is a fun moment.

Much as I love and miss AW, I do agree it was a miracle they made it through 20 years of low ratings. The serial killer story in 1987, disgusting as it is to me, seems to have goosed their numbers at a crucial period.

Finished that 1990 episode @Soapsuds linked to. Such a clear turning point in storyline, as the Lombard saga that had run for almost two years was almost over and we were in the earliest stages of the Crawford saga and Lucinda losing Walsh. Yet there is little blatant setup on display, other than a closeup of Connor smirking. They did such a good job of setting up a 2 year story of Lucinda losing everything. I will say that for Marland ATWT standards, the Daryl material is very in your face from early on. Right from the time we first see him we learn of his past with Margo, and that he's Barbara's baby daddy (those melodramatic flashbacks, with CZ doing her best old school movie star fluttering, are really something - and that headscarf!), they are already setting up the connection with Frannie. That mustache makes him look skeevy too. I think Rex Smith did a lot of good work in the part and probably played it about as well as anyone could, but Daryl is such a dirty dick pig right from the getgo. It's so jarring. (Margo spilling ALL of Daryl and Carolyn's business that way made me laugh) Good to see such a well done shirtless scene for Michael David Morrison. RIP. Holden is as insufferable as ever in these years, although he managed to squeeze out some tears in that solo scene. I wonder if the echoes of baby cries was an accident (it doesn't feel very much like something ATWT did in this period) or deliberate. It's a very effective way of telling us what should be a happy event is actually a hell. Kirk being so sanctimonious isn't a good look. I never could remember what Frank Wendall looked like. Julie always had a need for pretty boys (just another reason her pairing with the recast Caleb fell so flat).

A part of me wonders if he's worried about legal action, as he was in PR. It's a real contrast to the Loving chat, where it seemed nobody involved gave a [!@#$%^&*] about decorum with backstage tales.

I think GL was better at casting. The show itself still looks a bit drab, even if they were able to more effectively use a club atmosphere (funnily enough ATWT had a disco set in the late '70s but, if the one clip available is any indication, it stuck out in that era like a sore thumb). If you compare Lisa Brown or Kristen Vigard to the dull, dull ladies of Oakdale in that time frame - night and day. And they cast men who were actually handsome and charismatic. ATWT had creepy uncle Brad, the guy who tries to drug your drink and take photos of you. ATWT had a good production overhaul in '85, noticeably improving the look and style of the show, but it was the casting improvement that really helped the show.

I never really know who to blame for early '80s ATWT as I never know who came and went. I find the show boring in those years but a part of that is down to the poor casting and drab production design.

They're all gone, although there was talk of a revival. Not sure if that will happen now.

@dc11786 The quad isn't in the first episode. In the second we see them and then Steffi tells Clay that Deborah told her something about her past that really upset her. I'd love to see the other episodes if you have those. You may be right about Alex's plan and I misunderstood what was going on. The whole thing confused me. I can see the gothic appeal of Curtis' story, especially under Nixon's pen. I think if he'd had a happier ending (that wasn't down to Nixon, of course) I might not have as hard a time, so that is on me, not the show I suppose. Thanks for the extra info about Shana. I didn't realize she was an active lawyer when she returned to Corinth. I guess she just went in and out. As you said, it's a shame they dropped most of her ties to the Aldens in that stint.

Thank you @AdelaideCate007 and @dc11786 . I'd never seen Ava's penthouse before, or forgotten what it looked like. A beautiful set. The best material in these for me was probably the Clay/Steffi/Jeremy/Gwyneth contrast - Gwyn talking about the naive girl she had been while we saw Clay with another naive girl. Having Clay try to resist until he realized Gwyn had moved on was something I hadn't expected - I'm so used to just assuming later Clay was a perv. Christine Tudor does so much with her speech - she lights up the screen. I know that most of the Aldens chose to leave by the time Loving was ending, but they are much more vibrant than one would expect on paper for a family that supposedly had to go in order to bring a new lease on life. I don't have a ton of interest in Cooper scheming to win Ally back, but Cat Hickland is so luminous as Tess, just fascinating to watch, and she and Michael Weatherly have an intense spark. I find the Curtis madness stories so depressing and a bit grimy and sleazy, so I'm not sorry we got little of that in these three. Thom Christopher is fun as Dante though. Probably not the right word. Chris Marcantel is hard to take your eyes off of - everyone in this triangle is charismatic and attractive. I wish they had gone another way. The weakest material in these for me is the Ava/Alex/Egypt stuff. I can see why Linda Cook was disappointed with the way she was portrayed this time around. Beyond Egypt's characterization it all feels like idiot plotting anyway - would Alex not be able to guess that there was an order for Ava to stay in city limits? Would he not ask Ava to tell him everything that the detectives said to her? And while I get they were trying to figure out how to use Shana, the idea of her being the best lawyer in Corinth made me laugh, given that she'd only been back a few years and had spent much of that time in corporate fare (maybe he was just trying to butter Shana up).

I quit this show very early on as it felt like torture porn to me. Apparently it was little better behind the scenes. (the stream of controversial actor departures should have tipped me off). https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/california-authorities-bring-suit-criminal-minds-team-unchecked-sexual-harassment-1295960 California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing wants to make a stand against sexual harassment in Hollywood. This past week, the agency took the bold step of filing suit against the various studios behind CBS' Criminal Minds as well as the executive producers of the series, which had its final episode in February. The complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court discusses alleged sexual touching by Gregory St. Johns, who acted as a director of photography on the show. He's been the subject of court action already, but what makes this particular legal action so extraordinary is that California authorities have decided to go after The Walt Disney Company, ABC Signature Studios, CBS Studios and various individuals for what happened. "With the aid of defendants, St. Johns created an unchecked intimidating, hostile, and offensive work environment on the set of Criminal Minds," states the complaint. "Protected by the executive production team — including showrunner Erica Messer, executive producer Harry Bring, executive producer John Breen Frazier, director Glenn Kershaw, and unit production manager Stacey Beneville — St. Johns continued his unlawful conduct for years. Defendants’ executive team not only had actual and constructive knowledge of St. Johns’ abusive conduct, they condoned it. No necessary steps to prevent sex-based harassment and discrimination were taken over the years, nor were appropriate corrective actions. Instead, the executives fired anyone who resisted or who tacitly evaded St. Johns’ advances or abuse."

He's still very prominent among the online left - he was big with the Bernie people. Many of them are desperate for fame and have no morals or scruples (they are still trying to get attention from Joe Rogan, were pushing Tara Reade, Obamagate, etc.) so they will just ignore this.

https://www.theringer.com/music/2020/5/26/21269642/the-story-of-how-saturday-night-lives-stevie-nicks-fajita-roundup-sketch-got-made For Stevie Nicks' birthday, a look back at Stevie Nicks Fajita Roundup, with comments from the co-writer, and Lucy Lawless. @Vee

Not that it ever seems to matter, but there's a detailed Shaun King expose out. https://www.thedailybeast.com/shaun-king-keeps-raising-money-and-questions-about-where-it-goes-3

Thanks for sharing that article. I laughed at marrying a rock star being mentioned as a contemporary, social issue. I would love to know what plans there were for Kurt. The character never made sense. Having to bring in dead wife flashbacks for a new character is never the best sign. The most positive spin I can make is that someone at Y&R wanted to pay a kindness to Linda Dona for the yeoman's work she had to do at GH.