titan1978

Of all the soaps I watched, Jabot was the best defined business, and had clear roles for everyone involved and real dramatic stakes that played out as major storylines. I knew what Jill’s job was, Ashley in the lab, and the dynamics at Newman with Victor, Jack, Neil, Ryan, etc, and how it relates to Jabot. I don’t think any soap has ever told a business story as successful as Victor’s takeover of Jabot, followed by the family getting it back a decade + later.

Her second stint with Monty also really was another excellent period on the show. She created Anna and Robin. We all know the script and direction of the plot were an outline to Monty, as she often had the actors improvising and adding dimension, sometimes ignoring the scripts altogether. That had to be hard for writers like PFS and Marland. Not so much probably for Norma Monty.

GL and GH aired in the same time slot when I was a younger, and GH was my show. So back then I didn’t watch GL. As a fan of the genre though I bought the GL coffee table book back then, and knew by reputation about characters like Roger, Holly, and Alexandra before I had seen the book. After all my watching this summer, the Curlee HW era up to the Blackout is some pretty amazing soap opera. And while there are some bright spots and certainly some well produced material after that, it’s just not the same. I am biased, Sherry Stringfield played one of my absolute favorite characters on ER, so I already love her Blake. But without Bev as Alex and also KS as Mindy, that whole corner of the show is not as interesting for me with the recasts.

I can’t. Because it’s all so over the top, and what I have seen from all three is more nuanced work, and characters that had more agency beyond what man they were with. Yes they were all in relationships, but the women on JFP shows are so secondary to the men and so lacking in other motivations.

The ratings had already been climbing before Luke even arrived on the show, and according to Denise Alexander, the show went to number one on the back of the Monica/Rick/Lesley storyline. AJ was born in December of 1979, and the rape was a couple of months before that. Alexander said they got them to number one, and then the Luke & Laura thing just kept it going higher. Monty’s first year the show shot to 3rd place from the bottom of the pack.

I loved Marj as Vanessa on AMC. My feelings about her are not meant as a slight, I think she was very watchable. As others have said, this was a tough recast to pull off. She kind of plays her as exasperated and almost looney at times, and it’s like she got no background at all. I think the actor should interpret the role but still they need to hold on to the essence of the character. But that is also the fault of the writers, directors, and producers. Even Zaslow is having a rough go, he’s one of those people I usually think is flawless. But the seams are showing there too. I wonder what Constance Towers could have done with Alexandra? After Helena on GH, I feel she could have pulled off scenes with Roger and Mindy quite well as a colder, more calculating version of Bev’s Alex without going full out like Marj did.

I agree! It’s hard to watch. The writing was not as strong as it had been, and everyone is over the top. It’s also a room filled with recasts that for me, just don’t quite work as well. Blake, Mindy, and Alexandra just don’t have the same shine that they did. Compare this to the Country Club scenes with Alexandra and Roger, and the episodes just after. Subtle, character based writing and performances. Even when Beverlee could have gone into histrionics she played layers.

As someone that had only seen Holmes and Dolan’s versions until YouTube, I now understand why they were such major characters. I did enjoy Dolan’s dry, sarcastic portrayal, but Holmes was just a bore. Nothing like the more iconic duos before them.

The Liza affair was a great story for all three, but soon after the show was so destabilized after Broderick left that even if the show was still good compared to what it became, characters like Brooke, Erica, Tad, and Dixie really suffered. I mean Erica stole a child! And so many relationships that went nowhere!

Great episode. Has anyone ever been luckier than Lily? Torn between Holden and Dusty. When I was her age that would have been my dream! As a grown ass man now though- Holden is a man, and Lily is such a girl still. It’s creepy. I know things were different back then but still. I hope there are scenes of Lisa letting Barbara have it once the truth comes out, especially after making her feel so guilty. Barbara works so well as entitled and leaning in to her nasty side. That was also a great scene with Lisa, Chris and Nancy.

To me, what happened to him was closer what happened to Hope on DAYS. Just there and in bad stories and pairings for a long time, playing in name and audience history of better days. GH never stopped investing in Luke. He had a storyline or was in a major story for most of the time he was on the show. I may not have liked what they did with him, but he was considered a lead the entire time and was a major character right up until he retired. I don’t think AMC treated Tad quite as well.

As a viewer, my favorite Luke is the one you described. From their return up to Nikolas. I loved him owning the club, devoted to Laura and while unconventional, still a caring father to Lucky. He had interactions with the entire cast through his relationships and the club. I know Geary didn’t like what Labine was writing for him. I think Laura suffered more under Labine than Luke did. She becomes very one dimensional as their run goes on, and the first year of Guza’s run does wonders for her character with Damien Smith’s murder, Lulu’s illness, and the return of the Cassadines.

It’s been years since I have seen an actor tank a pairing like Kelly Monaco has since Burton returned and they got rid of her man BM. But it does remind me how Steve used to play against having feelings for Sarah Brown’s Carly, even in interviews, when the show was clearly writing it that way. This show is a mess. Everybody is with the wrong partner. It reminds me of something I read that Labine said about GH when she took it over. There were a couple families and a bunch of other characters just kind of left over and still there. That’s what this is to me. Just random people onscreen way too much.

It’s pretty incredible how many years Tad was just there. Nobody seemed to know what to do with him or how to write for him for a really long time. I’m surprised Frons didn’t tell them to kill him off like all the GH vets.

I just can’t believe it lasted until 1996! It seemed really dated by that point to me.

With DAYS and Y&R, it’s never say never for me. Because we know they have their libraries intact. I feel like Corday has even said he knows there is value there, he just has to figure out a way to capitalize on it. After The Doctors showed up on Retro TV, I have hope that more soaps will be available somewhere in my lifetime. Just a question of when. But then again, I’m hopeful that HBOMAX will eventually stream Knots Landing, as they own the show (Lorimar became Warner’s). So maybe I’m delusional.

What I remember with Malone and Tina was she was just an idiot. The casting did not help the situation, Krista was not a good fit. Both Andrea Evans and Karen Witter played her as scheming, sexy, and at times selfish. Malone’s Tina was a mess.

This pod person Sam makes no sense to me. Why did they all have so many kids?!?

Do Brooke and Erica count from AMC? Or were they more outright enemies? It seemed to me they were connected even if they hated each other, always at the same events too. Laura and Bobbie on GH, especially in the 90’s, would vacillate between having nice interactions to almost yelling at each other. I loved that Labine had Bobbie questioning their parenting style with Lucky and always taking Luke’s side if he and Laura were on the outs. Because that’s how Bobbie would be! Tracy and Monica are always great. Monica and Lesley are fun too, although after the affair story is over they were almost a little too cordial for my taste. The way Lesley says Monica always makes me laugh a little- sort of mild annoyance.

And when Denise wanted the same things, in her case an extended vacation before signing her new deal and to hold onto her contract clause that they could not work her over her guarantee more than a handful of times a year, they decided to kill Lesley off. And although I liked Rick, I would much rather have had Lesley remain in the show. She probably would have still been there for longer than he was anyway, as she was a stronger character!

I know Guza got a lot wrong, but someone not mentioned yet was Felicia. First he had her become cynical and darker after Kevin was revealed as her stalker, and enter into whatever it was she was doing with Tom. Then later she has an affair with Luke of all people and falls in love with him. No. Just no. Malone and Tina on OLTL is so accurate! As was Reilly and Jack. Sean and Tiffany really went through the wringer in their last couple of years!

At this point, I don’t want Laura with Scotty or Luke. I would love for her to have an invested relationship with a new man. I just don’t see anything lasting with Kevin. But the current writing team does not seem to be able to accomplish that. They have three leading ladies in the same age range with no good prospects- Laura, Alexis, and Anna. For me, there is no denying that at one point Luke and Laura really did have a connection that was fun to watch. I rewatched their return storyline and then skipped to the Damien Smith murder and watched through the return of the Cassadines this summer. They really do have great chemistry, she makes Luke tolerable. I also understand part of how Tony feels- she kept leaving the show and that does impact him. I’m not saying she didn’t have her reasons! On the other hand, I think the stories that revolved around her or both of them equally are better than the ones where she is supporting to Luke. I love Jane and Tracy, but I also never got Luke and Tracy either. It was fun at first when it was a scam, but those two as actually in love was questionable.

Even though this was not the greatest period on the show, it’s still very watchable and interesting. GH went through so many strange periods in the 1980’s for a show that was consistently in the upper tier of soap ratings. Other shows fell much harder during rough patches, but until a few months in to Monty’s second stint, the show had high ratings. That is audience loyalty. GH must have had incredibly loyal viewers before Monty’s return and Eckert invasion drove them away. Shows like DAYS and GL did not maintain those high rankings and numbers during their rough patches in the same 10 year period.

I loved Brenda’s Ashley, but Davidson’s has that extra spark, especially in regards to her family dynamics. Her Ashley has enough bite to take on either version of Jack, Nikki or Victor. And she was always so great in scenes with Dina, because the betrayal was always right there. Brenda’s was softer, possibly more mature and did not really have that mean side that Eileen’s could sometimes bring out. I did love her in the role too though!

I think that would have been an interesting pairing from what I have seen. Her GL is all big emotion and not very tight structurally, while his ATWT is very meticulous and thought out but lacks some of that heat. At least that is how it looks to a viewer like me, who watched after the fact and in spurts on YouTube.