DRW50

I never have gotten the Rena Sofer hype as Lois, and I never will, although her makeup looks very good in this episode.

I didn't really have a big problem with Doug Wert, I thought he was cute and a bit charming, but the character bore no resemblance to the more layered man Breen had played and they did nothing with his relationships with Tom and Lisa for a lot of his return. And they pretty much just threw in the towel, as Valente did with so many characters. I feel more time was spent on Lisa searching for Scott than on the amount of time Wert was actually on the show....

I liked the story at the time. I liked Scott too. It's just long-term the story had little impact and Scott was treated as a disposable character, so I was thinking of what other possibilities could have been.

The rapid aging on ATWT in those years was such a mess - when they were talking about Tom being a 15 year old I remembered that he should only be about 6 years old. And a few years later he was around 19 or 20, scarred by Vietnam experiences. They seemed to course-correct by the end of the '70s (killing off Dan, and freezing Tom at the same age for a decade). GL seemed to pump the brakes on their rapid aging a little after Mike and Ed.

Thanks!

The media is rife with "strong father" issues. They would be happy to have Pence in as he ticks their boxes. He also hates many of the same people they have disdain for (women, gays). If they are saying the media is biding their time to get him into office and make him their new hero, I wouldn't be surprised. And once it happens there will be a full-court press, with Chuck Todd and friends gushing all the way as we are put back in our cages and never let out.

I know they did that with Lucinda and Sam but I think it could have had a lot of resonance for Lisa, especially since she had so few family members and Tom was distant at this time.

That sounds like a great idea. It also could have been used to make Scott's heel turn after his recast more logical.

Thanks!

Thanks. That's great you were able to find fan comments from those days. Who was writing Right to Happiness when it ended?

Does anyone know who these women are?

Per Wikipedia it looks like Katherine Babecki (looks like that might have been Irna's daughter, so maybe Irna still had major input over the material at this point). I think Eileen Fulton initially wondered if they were going to bring back Chucky when they told her of the long lost son story. I wonder if that would have made more sense. Lisa really was living the most insane of lives in this period. Within, what, 4-5 years she and Bob split up via affair, she was gang raped, she married and divorced John Eldridge, and then she had an affair and a baby with Michael Shea. I wonder how much of this took place oncamera. (does anyone know what this Dr. Steiner case was about? The medical drama buzzing on ATWT in the '60s and '70s is always so interesting to read about)

On soaps people seem to get phones in all the time.

Please do.

I wonder why they didn't try to transition it - maybe Irna wasn't interested? (was she involved by this time)

I'd never heard this. It's a late episode of Right to Happiness, with Lynn Loring (not that long before she left Search, I think).

Thanks for sharing that. It's difficult to imagine Sunny and Bela as stormy based on the little I've seen. Champagne reception. And this was when the ratings were low and they were on the way out. Imagine that today. They'd be lucky to have Lunchables.

When I started watching ATWT, I do remember some warmth, through Tom and Margo (who hadn't become so miserable and shouty by then), Bob, Emma, Hal, even Lucinda (she was a real harridan but Liz Hubbard gave so much life energy). I do agree it was colder than GL though, and from what I've seen of the show in earlier years it seems very cerebral. Speaking of that, Rob Wargo put up a 1968 episode - audio only. It's the first time I've ever actually heard Claire. The good thing about this is that Barbara Berjer had such a rich voice it doesn't even matter that much if we can't see the images. It's a good quality audio as well. No wonder Ellen hated Lisa and Michael Shea so much, based on this audio. Michael just ran rings around poor Claire. I did laugh when the script was dancing around having Michael call Lisa a big ol' whore.

I saw some people wondering if the script was written when Roseanne was still a part of the show as some felt Darlene's dialogue and behavior was closer to Roseanne. I doubt it, but I did think that material was a bit clunky.

A month late but I saw that Amber from New Jersey's husband went on a lengthy anti-gay screed on Twitter. So many of the people cast for these shows are such trash.

Yes. Unfortunately it's never just Trump - many people will back him up, in his party, in the country, and in the media. I saw more focus on Nancy and Chuck looking dour and sharing a podium than on anything else with the shutdown the last few days. Shiny objects always carry the day.

The way you describe it sounds to me like he will spin it as a win, and his base, along with the media, will agree.

That's been going around a few years now. The FEMA stuff is disgusting, but it also goes beyond Trump - for years Republicans have been looking for an excuse to cut off emergency funding. Now he's given them one. And the media will go right along with them. There's nothing anyone can do to stop this.

Heartbreaking. I think that many in big business want this type of thing to happen. They are likely supporting the shutdown for reasons like this.

I see that the usual look-at-me types, like Ana Marie Cox, are more concerned with Beto O'Rourke getting his teeth cleaned than on anything with our country falling apart. I laughed when some journo said, in all seriousness, it was a "Dukasis tank moment." There will always, always be a "moment" that hacks like this use to attack Democrats with. This is the game they play. I say that as someone who doesn't really care about O'Rourke as I think he mostly just had his brief moment in the sun. They all secretly want Trump to win again anyway, because they like the drama and because not having Republicans in power makes them feel weak and scared.