DRW50

Oh yes. We could spend an eternity talking about this. And now I've seen that more shows are starting lengthy recaps put into the mouths of the characters because of the "second screen syndrome" due to people only half-watching as they are on their phone or whatever. The people who used to mock soaps for endless recaps never knew soaps were just trailblazers - in this case, for something that I never especially wanted to see blazed into a trail.

This is what people voted for. I hope all those idiots who claim to be on the left and insisted JD Vance was their antitrust king are choking.

Thanks @Maxim !

Seems to be another guy who was harassing Carol (poor Carol really had nothing but misery with Jay). I laughed because, while Kelly Wood looks lovely (she looks better here than a few years later where at one point she's styled like Heidi), most of what I've seen of Mary makes me sleepy. This is probably her best episode of any I've watched with her - the 79/80 stuff is a complete dirge. I'd say the same of pretty much anything in Oakdale in this era - at least a few years later you might enjoy hanging out with Karen, Margo or Ariel. By this time unless you can get Lisa to stop wringing her hands about Grant and Joyce, your best bet is to drive to Springfield and try to hang out with Rita.

There is so much respect for the audience's intelligence in this era of GL. Nearly every character has an inner life, you can understand them, and even the characters who aren't painted as complex are still treated with dignity. It's something GL would never have so consistently after this time, and I don't know how often the Dobsons ever managed this again either. And I agree that the Diane conversation feels so modern. I'm never not impressed by how smart the show is and how little they care about going along with ideas of what a soap is meant to be. The Dobsons did some tropes, of course, but overall, so much of the show is fresh and confident.

Is this James Houghton?

That channel also has two full or partial episodes I know I've seen parts of in clip form but I'm not sure if I've seen in episodic form. Guiding Light - (1979?) (Holly returns from trial) Guiding Light (1979?) (Amanda and Ben) - YouTube The second episode has an excellent scene with Diane and Ann Jeffers at around 8 minutes. Such complex and honest writing about the pressures on women in society and in the workforce - something that GL would jettison as the '80s began (for all the businesswomen on GL in the early '80s, how often does it all feel like just actors on sets holding files?) but I can hear traces of with Curlee later on. Sofia Landon is just superb. Truly one of the most original actresses in GL's history. Before Diane starts browbeating her, I could swear Ann was flirting with her. That would have been an interesting story. They have more chemistry than Otalia did.

Part of the September 26, 1978 episode. Some of this has been around - not sure if as much as we have here, but maybe I am wrong. Any Sara/Dean Blackford fans, this is your episode. And Elizabeth with the shortest haircut I can remember on her. (she and Jackie really went through the hairstyles) Guiding Light - (September 26,1978) The channel has put up a number of 1979 episodes - again not entirely sure how much is already around.

This episode has been online for many years, but I can't remember if I've seen this version that has commercials. As The World Turns - (September 26,1978)

Thanks. I think that story would have failed even with her as all non-Nina love interests did with him, so no wonder she left.

2001/2002 mainly.

I thought PAS had a very thoughtful charisma. I thought he was a good-looking guy but not in the type of soap way that often leaves me cold (overdeveloped body, generic shirtless scenes, or a Ken doll look like the flop Bill recast at this time). I never really would have been going wild over him, but I did think he generated chemistry with Joie Lenz (and Laura Wright). I agree this would not have been likely with Budig. In all the soap work I've seen her in, I saw her have chemistry with one - count 'em, one - man (J Eddie Peck). Obviously, this is just my opinion, and I know many loved her with any number of partners...but that was not on GL either.

About 17 minutes in there's a Soap Talk segment asking viewers about whether Liza and Tad have changed. There is then a clip of Liza/Marian and another with Tad/Dottie/Alfred. One lady said Tad was getting better and Liza was getting worse but most of the others felt both were getting nicer (and a few felt they were getting duller). We then get a bit of Marcy Walker and MEK meeting people during the trip with the Soap Talk lady. When did Marcy leave AMC in 1984? I thought she was out the door by this point. I still wonder what plans may have gone through with Liza if Marcy hadn't left. My guess is she probably would have lost her way and been written out within a few years, based on how aimless AMC was in the mid '80s, but you never know. KSTP-TV Good Company, July 26, 1984

Thanks. I guess I wasn't clear enough with my description.

I don't know if Twitter videos ever work now if you aren't on it, but I thought this was a fun recent video with some of the cast. Salina🦋|| All of my ships are going Canon🤭 on X: "Actually obsessed with them😂😜 #GH https://t.co/UxU0cV6mfK" / X Sorry to not attribute. This is from Kelly Thiebauld's Instagram.

That version of Diana - so hardened - could have worked for me. I think Diana was probably going to go even if Starrett had stayed, but I think she might have at least had a stronger end run. She is third or fourth string by the end in that whole story.

And your recaps are a big reason the thread is entertaining (and covers so many eras).

I would have been tempted to dump Mack and try to rework a new era for Gary and Val but it probably would have been too much. If only the show had had a stronger cast beyond the originals in those last years (I love Kathleen Noone, but can you imagine a show led by Claudia). I tend to think Nicolette would have left for new things but considering her work post-Knots ended up being softcore HBO movies, maybe not. I might have had Joan play it as bad, but somehow the public appreciates her anyway, because of her sincerity. She would not keep the gig long-term but might start to finally move on from her old life and demons (and moving away with Gary and the twins when JVA chose to leave in season 13). Ben Johnson would have been a great choice. Maybe do the old terminal illness reunion storyline.

Thanks @Maxim I agree it doesn't make a great deal of sense for Cassie to fight so hard for Blair. I suppose the idea is that she's the good Cramer trying to bring the family together, which is preferable to the times she comes across as sanctimonious. Elaine Princi gives a beautiful performance, especially the end when she asks Cassie, like a child, if this means Cassie isn't choosing Blair over her. I always had mixed feelings about Laura Koffman's Cassie, and I'm reminded why here. I don't think she plays the scenes right. She's very shallow - her line readings at the end are more like something a mother says at the end of a sitcom episode.

I don't think he would have either, as I imagine there would have been a large pay cut. I doubt Nicolette would have so they could have just left together.

You're right. She became ossified very early on. I still think we could have seen her father, or something completely random for her. I know this sounds dumb but given how horrible her late '80s/early '90s stories became anyway, I might say she could have had a story where she became a standup comic and used her insane life in comedy for therapeutic reasons.

I know it's a soap but I still don't know how Heather was meant to be having children. Wouldn't she have been about 60?

Probably tough to survive in the Monty years. I've only seen Mary O'Brien in the infamous LSD scenes, but I think her work there is excellent. It's Brooke Bundy and her constant jitters that tend to annoy me when I try to watch her scenes.

Depends on the period. For me that stops about 1996.

That's mainly what I remember her for, which wasn't about her and likely just done to trash Nick as a character. You're right about Billie post-Lisa. I think Krista had her moments, like the heroin withdrawal, but the character was lost both times. There's a general apathy and distance about Julie Pinson's work outside of her early days on PC that tends to annoy me, even when she was repeatedly cast as snappy characters.