DRW50

The show seems to have a romance problem, period - the most the younger set gets is Joss' bed romps, and the very twee or sparse material with Cody/Molly or Emma/Gio. I think it's more noticeable with the older women because they are more compelling so you should expect this to be showcased. I saw a lot of complaints about the funeral - why wasn't this person there, why weren't the flashbacks truer to Monica's character, why weren't the kids there, and so on. I can see some of the complaints, especially in the inevitable need to sanitize a character and their history or focus on the wrong element, but overall I thought they got it right. Yes it would have been nice to, as I saw suggested, have Brenda or the Wards and so on there, but that was never happening. I'm glad the kids weren't there. And some of the flashbacks were a fun surprise, especially getting to see a moment with Lucy and Monica. I'm also glad, as someone mentioned earlier in the thread, we got a few mentions of Dawn, presumably for the first time in decades. I'm just, as already mentioned, so grateful Jane Elliot is there, as she just exquisitely translated material that could have been boilerplate. And she allowed for a more nuanced goodbye for Monica than just the manpain and leather jacketed angst we would have had in the peak Q slaughtering years. I never expected Jason and Tracy to be the two heads of the Q family, but it works much better than it ever should have. That is probably a big factor. He's getting older, he has less to prove, the whole badass Sopranos world Frons and Guza enabled is long gone (imagine Guza's reaction to Heart & Home - bullets flying, I would guess). There's also much more natural drama in exploring what's left with Jason and the Quartermaines. I imagine that will wane now with Monica gone, but even though Jason will never be Jason Quartermaine again, I hope they will keep those ties. The regret and years of lost chances are very poignant. I think in some ways it's more poignant now because he is just in the middle of two worlds (the Qs and the waning Sonny/Carly nexus) he's a part of but also not really a part of anymore - people move on but he can't because of so much time he has lost, not just with the Qs, but his kids, the women he loved, what have you. There's also a role for Jake in all this but good luck with that. While so many Bensonhurst people are on the canvas and Ellen Travolta still with us, maybe they should do some type of Bensonhurst-based mystery to help explain her years away and behavior in that time.

The people who took over the show at this time seemed to just want to slaughter anyone and everyone who was being written out.

Thanks. That episode was originally uploaded 14 years ago, but in parts.

That's where I would cut. I keep forgetting MCE is still on that show. And any time I see Jason Thompson he looks very depressed.

I think MTS had more than one protracted battle with Sony over contracts, so you're likely right. MTS is one of the few I'd say should get that level of salary as she's one of the few who ever almost makes me want to see Y&R again.

I think Rory had some advantages Duell didn't, as they let him join the show with a bang, making a move against Willow and Drew that many had wanted to see for months. There's also the freshness of a new hire. With that said, while I didn't mind Duell (admittedly I was not watching on a frequent basis for...well, a very long time), I do think Rory brings more maturity to the part (even though he's almost a decade younger), and makes sense for a new era - Duell, to me, was Carly's son, while Rory is more of his own man, or has the potential to be. Physically he's also a good match for a young Alan, and a young Jason and AJ. There are many paths the show could take with Rory's Michael, if they try. I really hope they try.

Thank you for finding that @YTG

I wrote a lot of that while in a haze, so you're right. Thanks. I'll delete it. At least I got the Keith part right.

On paper, Olivia and Lois are very similar, and even in performance as I think in both cases it was the performer who made the character what it was, but onscreen they aren't as similar as they could be, especially after the Gio reveal. I'd be glad to see Lois on more often, if the show can figure out what to do with her.

Thanks. I never knew of this. Too bad for Kate it didn't go anywhere.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/john-christopher-jones-dead-broadway-actor-1236386977/ RIP John Christopher Jones (who had a brief role on ATWT).

Thanks for the details on why Patti was let go (one of the reasons, anyway). I missed a lot of the GL fan hysteria of these years so your recounting always amuses me. I actually did like Selena and Buzz as a couple but they weren't anything special, and much as I think Patti herself was an interesting presence, I could never imagine sending her and her family gifts. (is that type of thing still done with soap actors now?) I do think that Moniz could have played some of the same ambiguity in the writing that Gina Tognoni did, but I still enjoyed her playing of Dinah as a complete bitch by the end. The only thing that I wish they had added, beyond a stronger Vanessa, was a rivalry with someone who gave as good as they got. International soaps would have had her against a truly malicious figure and she would have been in for a real fight.

An extremely rare episode without Russian dubbing has been made available on Youtube! @dc11786 @Chris B @Paul Raven @slick jones @soapfan770

Marland seemed to believe Lucinda always had to be hungry, always had to be punished for her sins. This probably did work for her, because viewers still sympathized with her even as she behaved horribly, but I do think we missed out on much more time with Lucinda and John as a proper couple. John was the one who really suffered from the breakup. He was left moribund for years. IIRC, he and Lisa Brown wanted to be paired together, so I can't blame Marland there (other than saying yes), but that was just a pairing all about plot, about the reactions of other people, no chemistry, just kind of depressing. And while I am glad Iva got to raise a child (even if the whole "replacement child" aspect is a little gross), John did not need another child. (and by the time MJ was old enough for story, they were no longer using John). Something that most writers loved with John, but Marland seemed hesitant about, was his existence as a finger in the eye to Oakdale establishment. And I think that's what fans enjoyed too. We still got that with Marland, to a point, but there was a certain muzzle on John from about 87/88-93 or so which would have rendered the character a back number without Larry Bryggman.

I thought he did say she reminded him of Tracy. Maybe I misunderstood.

It's always been tough for me to get past the very messy intro for Olivia and the show having her All About Eve-ing Kate (although that wasn't LLC's fault, obviously), that on top of resenting LLC's Loving/The City character for replacing a character I loved (Ava). Still, I have a lot of respect for how LLC makes every little bit of airtime she gets count. I enjoyed her scene with Dante today in the Q kitchen and how they manage to intertwine her still being the Falconeri/Bensonhurst creation while also being there to cook for her Q family. I assume the Qs still have a cook, offcamera, but imagining Edward's reaction to someone who isn't the help doing all the cooking amuses me. Even though Gio had no reason to have an issue with Tracy in the first place, I'm glad we did get that moment today where he said he was proud to be her great-grandson. As always Jane played that moment so beautifully. And the bit where Dante was praising Brook Lynn makes me wonder if they really are going to pursue the story where she falls for him and it causes a lot of havoc in their relationships.

These old dessert ads could always get dirty. I remember some people being shocked a few years ago to see an old ice cream ad where Bernadette Peters was having orgasms over her rocky road or whatever.

Thanks @slick jones Rest in peace to Paula Shaw, one of those actresses familiar to me but I'm not entirely sure from where.

Lois' moments with Brook Lynn were tender without feeling false - the estrangement between them still there. Amanda Setton does some of her best work with Rena Sofer. I never would have thought that Monica's memorial would be some of the best material for Lucy in years. Lynn Herring is so wonderful when she gets the chance. Few manage to blend comedy, drama, and breathless sincerity the way she can.

I thought he was attractive too (presumably the writers did too considering how many women Daryl bagged).

I know this episode is already available but if anyone wanted a recording made at the time, one was uploaded last month.

Someone put this up a month ago. I looked and couldn't find this episode online, although I may have missed it. A few little bits are familiar but that may just be down to usual soap repetition. There's a fun short scene at about 6 minutes where John winds Lisa up over Lucinda dating Ralph Mitchell (or as John describes him to Lisa, "a relative of some ex-husband, some marriage you can't even remember"). Lisa blows her top. This episode (Bob and Kim's vow renewal) is up, in parts, and has been for many years, but the opening, with Andy reading, is new! Going through this I am shocked by the ending, which has various Oakdale couples in bed or on the floor, some just talking, some...not talking. Compare that to soaps now, where most love scenes feel like an afterthought, however few there are. ATWT had a reputation for stodginess for a long time (which is probably one of the reasons for the disastrous choice to turn the show into soft porn in the mid '90s), but as you see here, the show did have a sensuality and sexuality, it just wasn't one they clubbed viewers with. @Soapsuds @rsclassicfanforever @MarlandFan

It's sort of heaven and hell because without Long I'm not sure how long (no pun intended) Vanessa would have stayed on the canvas. Yet I can see where she didn't quite do the best by the character - she was treated as a B-character.

Beverlee and Jordan had some good chemistry around the time of the affair reveal, it could have worked. I'd be interested in a story where instead of revealing the affair with Mindy/Roger to Billy, Alex decides to stay quiet and seduce him, knowing that would really hurt Mindy (and piss Roger off), then maybe she develops feelings for him along the way. There'd also be good material for Vanessa and how that would strain her relationship with Alex - I could see her being the one to tell Billy the full truth, as she feels she has no choice. I know Nadine was involved with Billy at this point in the story but fond as I am of Nadine I know she could have easily been moved out of the plot.