DRW50

This seems to be the video that Joe and Judith footage may have originally been from (minus the watermark). There's a lot more of the cast here. Another World - 1960s setside home movies (no audio)

Thanks @Maxim . Nice to see you're back. I enjoyed the scene with Marty and Dorian. Susan Haskell and Robin both toned down their performances a tad. They were both spitting venom but weren't wrong. Reminds me of that "we see each other" meme from Real Housewives. At first, I thought Cassie was drunk. That would have been a fitting story for her. Once again, she seems to be childlike in her reactions to Dorian. Herb was one of Dorian's great loves and was one of the only people who saw her for all she was, so that's likely the reason she didn't want to see him when he was ill. Your insights into the dynamics between Jason and Dorian are compelling. More interesting than what the show tended to do with them. It seems like Mortimer has been there forever even just from your reviews. A great example as to why you shouldn't bring an actor back just because you killed off their last character. Malone seemed to like the idea of CJ being corrupted or ruined by Cain and Tina. This is implied by him again a decade later (this isn't really a spoiler as the show never does anything with CJ).

I'd think they might have used Rachel to help introduce her to viewers (similar to how they randomly used Rachel to help tie Joe Carlino into Bay City), but you never know. That reminds me of them also saying Rachel went to school with Michael Hudson.

I wonder if that's for another role, although a number of men are growing their hair out now (don't tell Pete Hegseth).

I've seen some of the show, but otherwise, I can go by fan comments to see how they interpret the show, or articles about the show. I never said all fans see it one way. I specified some people in my posts. I think the idea that a lot of people, even people who love the show, don't see it that way is not likely. Saying a number of people watch the show because they want to see men having (simulated) sex does not damn the show or the people who make it and I don't feel bad for my opinion. And that's all I have left to say about that.

That is how many see the show, whatever other goals the show has. Romance is lovely, but the shows or films that mostly just focus on a more low-key romance element for gay men without the rest never get the same response. They tend to get a very nasty response. EE tends to treat lesbianism in the same dreary and tortured way they treat romance between gay men - most of the time you will get a kiss or two if you are lucky. To be honest modern EE actually feels less progressive than GH sexually, crazy as that sounds. Kristina and Joss both seem like such stilted characters, anything might help them. If not for the Gio pairing I would have said pair Joss with Emma, but no way the show would ever go there with two women viewers watched grow up onscreen (albeit with different actors).

Having sex on a restaurant floor...

I think he left Y&R to join the military. Not sure since then.

How many times has Josh Griffith brought Ray Wise back? I love Ray Wise too, but why don't we use that creative effort in trying to find some of his Love of Life work instead?

Thanks @NothinButAttitude !

Not to be crude - well, I'll be crude - but all this version of Beth cared about was if there was a dick involved. If Nick/Santa Claus had appeared during her run, she would have slept with him too.

Mindy was a poorly used part in those years no matter who played her, Garland would have been much better. Witter too. Crampton was likely only hired because of her Y&R success. Another example of how little JFP actually cared about GL.

Sad we have to have such low expectations, and not likely to be proven wrong. Good luck with yet another pairing she will tank.

I think they wanted to clear up loose ends with Corriedale here, and the complaints are another factor. I think it got over a hundred Ofcom complaints, which an increasingly gunshy ITV may listen to. I saw someone say they tried to watch Emmerdale for the first time due to the crossover and it was so miserable they couldn't finish. I'm not surprised. The show has not been this bleak in a very long time, if ever. And the "comic relief" is a violent thug guest character (Kev) and the woeful Kerry, who is also a killer.

duplicate

I thought Porte was bad, and just an odd screen presence, when he was on Y&R, but he fits the DAYS atmosphere. Or DAYS of Ron and onward, anyway. I do feel bad for him just existing as Leo fodder.

I know many of their fans also hated Gio. I don't think they are the reason why the show never did that pairing, but I do think many weren't going to want to see her in a new relationship. Many at the show clearly wanted to minimize her anyway and it's easier to minimize someone when you know some (not all) of their fans are attached to the pairing rather than the character.

Cameron Mathison is having the time of his life. That was a good promo, other than the Valentin/Carly waste.

I think she would have been better off trying her own soap, which I know she wanted at one time. Santa Barbara probably wouldn't have worked out but the show was in such dire straits by then and she couldn't have been much worse than what they had. Curlee was very producer-dependent so I'm not sure what would have happened with her at GH.

I try to be that way but it's more difficult with shows now because the two have become more and more intertwined to the point where some have these "choose your own adventure" endings to avoid alienating anyone, where actors have to beg viewers to leave their family or friends alone and steadily retreat from social media, or what have you. It was a good thing for GH to have the injection of more vocal and passionate fans that Sprina brought, and I don't think they ever went to extremes, but the genre is so tired and fearful now and I think a vocal fan response is just too much for them.

I'm sure that may be intent, and that is probably true for some fans, but I have just seen this happen before, especially the patterns of the obsessive fans who within about a year will probably be sending myriad threats to the cast and producers and calling everyone involved homophobic. These shows just end up being minefields, which is one of the reasons I think soaps have pulled back (not the only reason but probably one of them).

I think a lot of the response to Heated Rivalry is about viewers fetishizing gay men, rather than romance, but I agree shows like that or Bridgerton show the audience can still be there. I'm not sure how many of them go near soaps, but when they try they are promptly minimized and run off, like Sprina. One of the problems is many fan groups are toxic and abusive beyond belief, which has long been true for soaps, but seems to be at even more of a fever pitch now (I read about some Love Island fans and I think they were putting hexes on contestants or thinking of hiring a hit man to kill one of them). Soap producers may just not want the hassle.

Abigail Spencer (ex-AMC) is the female lead on Best Medicine, FOX's remake of the British show Doc Martin.

She was cast as Maggie, mother of teenager Jessica (Maitland Ward). She probably was too young but it didn't really matter.

@alwaysAMC Glad you are still doing your detailed reviews. They are still bringing back memories for me. I did not remember Meta popping up so often in the Ben story. I guess this is the point when they are trying to redeem him somewhat. I do think Hunt Block made the transition work but they had taken him very far earlier in the year so I can see why many didn't buy it. I don't know if the show ever quite finds a good story for Brittany Snow in her time as Daisy/Susan, but I remember thinking immediately that she had a real star quality. The casting director at that time was able to find many gems. I do remember being touched by Jenna's goodbye scenes/dreams, especially with Vanessa. That was nicer than most of her second run. Beth being put into Spaulding with zero training and acting cracked out for a year was nonsense, but that's what soaps were becoming by this point. Spaulding did have a lot of potential at this time with Alex back and so many characters moving in, but it doesn't quite come to plan. I felt like B&E were trying to write Alex a little more like how she should have been written. I totally get why Marj left, she 100% made the right choice, but I do wonder what might have been. It's interesting you mention Mindy's exit as being low-key because while it was it was also one of the only exits of that era I appreciated. IIRC, she left because she didn't want to testify against Rick for his role in Eve's death. Those were some of the only Barbara Crampton Mindy scenes I appreciated. The Annie material reads worse than it plays. Signy Coleman's hard edge made me more involved. Looking back, beyond the impossible task of replacing Cynthia Watros, I think she was a little bit too hard for GL, which was a very vibrant show.