DRW50

I haven't seen Jerry on Texas! but he has always seemed a little cold and manic to me, the opposite of Billy. I agree that I can't see Marland making the Billy I loved. Billy was a very layered character and that isn't something I can say about most of Marland's new characters - although I give Jordan a lot of the credit. If you ever want to see Jerry in a different setting, here's an infomercial he did with a L'Oreal lady.

I suppose with Mike they would have kept going if James Kiberd had wanted to stay (I assume he wanted to leave), but they did fail Doug, not doing much with him even with two actors. Curtis and Rick...yes, so many missteps. Overall, given how unstable Loving was, I think they often did right by Trisha and Noelle Beck, probably more than just about any other character. Even with Stacey, I feel like they never entirely knew where to take her and Lauren Marie Taylor was the guiding force.

A lengthy piece on the show that I hadn't seen elsewhere. From a presentation at a convention. The photos are long gone but the writeup is still there, complete with some great quotes from Jeremy Sims. They give Sims a lot of credit for his work on the show and how he could play just about anything, which based on the glimpses I've seen, I'd tend to agree with. I didn't realize until recently that the whole thing had originally been filmed as a pilot several years earlier and then they recast multiple roles. I also didn't know the woman who came up with the show was the sister of the infamous Neighbours producer Susan Bower. https://jblum.livejournal.com/248295.html

Nice that Greg is working on daytime again after DAYS kept writing him out.

I agree that they really should play more of Liesl being bewildered and shaken by both her children returning. That could even play into the likelihood of Nathan not being Nathan, if she can "feel" something is wrong but doesn't trust her instincts anymore. Regarding Ronnie, if she does turn out to be a con artist, then her kissing up to Sonny would at least have a more believable edge to it. Now I'm imagining Niki Smith meeting Sonny - the horror...

After I watched the Shana and Jim wedding I realized that was the happiest I've ever seen Shana. Susan Keith is a fascinating actress in that she always added a lot of neurosis to Shana even in happy moments, but she felt free here. It makes me all the sadder about what happened with Jim and their baby (although at least Shana was able to start over). I winced at the predictions of long lives for them. I wonder if the show had the wedding in "Italy" as a nod to their large Italian fanbase. That Cabot and Isabelle clip is one I watched a few times over because I haven't paid enough attention to that era to realize Isabelle thought so highly of Shana (especially given Shana's origins), and because in those few moments you get a good summary of why it was difficult for the show to recast Isabelle - Celeste Holm was a better actress, and Pat Barry a more spirited one, but Augusta really brings together a certain combination of dignity with a common touch, frailty with strength. This Jeff reminds me of an Elvis impersonator. I wonder if he was auditioned around the same time as Todd. Egypt questioning Trisha about her upbringing and then trapping "Clay" in the same questions was an interesting scene, and I appreciated getting to hear a little more about Trisha's upbringing. Randolph Mantooth and Linda Cook had a good antagonistic chemistry - I am never sure how it will shift when the show starts to make them lovers again before Mantooth leaves. I also appreciated getting to see such early Ava material for Lisa Peluso (Roya's final scene as Ava is also in there). I wonder how long the play up some of the naiver aspects of Ava under Lisa that Roya had. She plays those in a rawer way - the moment where she threw herself into the ocean and Alex thought she had killed herself was powerful, rough. The Rick and Stacey scenes annoy me because it's clear they never really wanted that relationship to be anything more than an obstacle - they have decent chemistry, Ron Nummi has a good body they're happy to show us, but the scenes are all about his insecurity and resentment, and repeatedly throwing JJ into scenes with them just so we will know they will never be. Not sure what to think of that filler-seeming song Jack is singing to that lady I don't know much about. Perry Stephens does have a lovely voice. I think I might have been more interested in seeing a real quad where Jack and Stacey and Rick and that woman became genuine couples and we would see all four struggling with jealousy and whether to be "good" or "bad," especially as Stacey was at one time the other woman with Jack before he cheated on her. I wonder if the pre-strike plans would have had Lily in this story or if they had already washed their hands of her and the strike was just dragging her along until she left.

Yes.

Damian Scheller.

I do not like it. It's softcore material. It's also so generic. OLTL had many unique openings. Even their most generic openings up to that time felt special to the show. The second is actually my favorite OLTL opening, even though this video will blow out your eardrums:

Thanks @Kane I was looking at a little of that earlier. I wish we had more strike material but I'm just glad for any new '80s Loving. I always associate Lisa with the "good" version of Alex so seeing her still with the more wicked Alex/Clay is interesting.

Marcy on B&B would have been like Heather Tom on B&B - depressing and wrong.

I wonder how much of an FOJ Marj was. Marj was never at Santa Barbara for that long, and I'm not sure how much she overlapped with Jill. I also can't say JFP did her any favors at GL - she was thrown to the wolves almost immediately.

I generally feel the same about Buzz. I found him unbearable in his first 2-3 years on the show. After that he tones down.

Thanks @YTG I think I first saw Elain on AW.

Thanks. I remember there being big budget issues around then too so even if she hadn't quit it all seems likely to be reaching the same end.

Whatever short-term ratings increase they had didn't seem to be worth the tradeoff for them, given JFP's firing. But I'm glad someone enjoyed that storyline.

The show's choice to try to equate Sharlene and Michael sleeping together with John cheating on Sharlene with Felicia and destroying his home still bugs me. I assume they got much more backlash from viewers over the Felicia/John "romance" than they had expected so this was the end result.

Thanks @Maxim. Some wonderful dialogue in that clip, especially Clint's dig about Sloan's "sherry hour." And I am always here for a well-placed use of "a tinker's damn." I don't often agree with the show's claims over the years that Clint was a young Asa, but I can see it by the end of this segment.

Thanks. I think I saw a clip or two but not much else. I think she chose Buzz over Frank? I don't know.

Isn't he paired with Olivia for a while? Oddly I think some people felt that was one of her better pairings.

I can't stand Sonny but I'm not too shocked or upset Ronnie is meeting him. He's seen as one of the biggest names on the show so it's inevitable when they bring in a daytime icon they would have them interact. Erika also said her husband loves Sonny (one of the only soap characters he has any interest in), so I guess she enjoyed it.

@I Am A Swede I just went and rewatched A Woman of No Importance for the first time in probably 15 years. Thank you for reminding me of it. Absolutely harrowing, with Patricia's understated work a big reason why. All those little details which add up to wreck you by the end. Some of the most intelligent writing and acting.

Probably down to her voice being different. Sorry to dump all those clips.

Yes. I think I saw that one years ago but need to rewatch. Thanks for all the fun clips you shared. Here's an interview Patricia did on Terry Wogan. Patricia Routledge interview and sings I Want to Sing in Opera on Wogan - 24 November 1989

Patricia was wonderful as Hyacinth, but this is how I remember her best. Just a moving, heart-wrenching performance, with subject matter that feels timelier now than ever.