titan1978

Well, he didn’t cancel them so he’s not quite as bad. But he is close!

I really wish the early writing teams on the show had given Jessie a family tie that survived. On both the show and in real life she was a tragic person. It’s funny to meet these characters long after their heyday, and yet still love them and find them vital. Lee Baldwin did not have a single story that I can remember where he was the lead when I was watching. Same with Gail. But I loved them! I wish I could see more of the old school GH. For folks that watched back then- when Peter and Diana were killed off, were you upset, or had the recast of Diana changed things so much that it wasn’t the same anymore to begin with? I like Brooke Bundy btw, but she seems very different as Diana.

I’ve seen the Doberman scene several times. Palmer can be so nasty!

Thanks for all the feedback about Cliff and Nina. I loved Palmer and have watched everything I could find of him being menacing. And Nina is just a stunning lady. But I am immune to the charms of PB.

As Vee pointed out- Twin Parks was incredibly popular, has one of the strongest pilots I’ve ever seen, and created a cultural phenomenon. They should be so lucky. I have spent decades waiting for a show to fulfill the promise and sneaking dread that first season of Twin Peaks did. Which is not to say I want Pine Valley to be Twin Peaks. It’s going to be a fine line to walk- to not be so concerned with continuity that they are just strip mining the past for quick nods (like Ron Carlivati does), but it still needs to hit that AMC tone.

The Edge of a Night would be my first choice, although I would do a total reboot focused on the crime element. First season featuring a long-standing mystery about the wealthy Whitney family. Monticello itself would also play a part, a history of macabre crimes. You could easily do a mystery each season, with overlap in characters, setup of other mysteries as crossover. I would even just update that classic 1981 era theme. OLTL would also be easy to bring back, but that one I would not reboot. Victoria Lord and her son Kevin are trying to keep the integrity and vitality of the Banner while dealing with their community, their families, their rivals (The Sun, now owned by Tina Roberts who has leaned more into her shrewd, cunning side), and the current media landscape. I would also heavily feature Angel Square, and a current generation of the Grey family. As much as I loved them, Nora and Bo’s kids (especially Rachel) would be more involved in the show than they were.

And maybe I jumped to conclusions, so apologies for assuming! Lucci certainly had a good agent, and really put the Emmy controversy to good use for her personal brand, making her way more famous in popular culture than she ever was before that time. Unlike a lot of her peers that had similar deals, Lucci had the work ethic and ambition to take advantage of those opportunities.

Outside of SMG, I have never heard anyone speak badly about Lucci. Maybe you meant Erica Kane the character? I have heard plenty about Ruth though.

I know Cliff and Nina were popular. I find PB absolutely insufferable on Y&R, and have felt that way since the very early 1990’s. Was he as annoying on AMC?

I thought it was really special that she returned when the show was ending. Not just for fans or to acknowledge the importance of the show to her career. She also did it to tell those folks how important they had been in her life, as she commented at the time. Just a kind human on top of not being ashamed of her employment on a soap, if not thrilled with her younger self’s craft at that point. Chelsea Lately was the first time I had ever seen Robin Wright not slam her past on a soap. She was a guest and they had become friendly, and Chelsea told the audience how much she loved Santa Barbara and how she had told Robin that repeatedly. I remember her being much kinder about it than I had seen in the past, and I wonder if it was because Handler was a fan, not just looking to make fun of someone like what usually happens on talk shows when a soap clip is played. Chelsea even brought it up again while promoting Wright’s new project on her Instagram, that she had loved her since her days as Kelly and now they are friends. It was sweet.

GH is the only one I could leave, even for a couple of years at a time, and still tune in again and pick up the habit. Your example of AMC was pretty much when I stopped watching it too. I also would pick it up when their was a new HW or I heard people talking about a good story, but it just felt hollow in a way that even JFP and Guza’s GH did not. Plenty of classic characters still on the show and being used, unlike GH at that time. But something felt off in Pine Valley and it was sad to watch so I didn’t. Angie and Jesse cured a lot of that, and made it at least watchable when they came back, kind of breathed new life into it. But I can’t say even they would have been enough at that time for me to watch for years again, because everything else was not enjoyable. I felt the same way about OLTL when Dena was the head writer. It just stopped being a good show for me at that point, and even though I watched a lot of the Carlivati era, I was never a consistent, daily viewer again. I watched a lot of these shows in shallow periods. But once it’s all characters I don’t recognize or care about, it’s easy to walk away.

Bold and the Beautiful. I’ve tried to get into it several times since the early 1990’s when Sheila arrived. I found a lot of hammy acting, bad acting, and it just wasn’t my thing. Susan Flannery could be excellent, Darlene as well. But McCook and Ronn Moss have no appeal for me, and KKL, especially back then, has the most flat line readings compared to her co-stars. Once Brad took total control it was even harder to get into.

Those images have popped up several times over the years. Unless there was a new one I am unaware of.

Thanks @Frankoand @will81! Can’t wait to spend time looking at it!

By many accounts Bill Bell was much more collaborative and supportive than Irna was. Almost all the DAYS actors loved him, and many of the Y&R folks seemed to have a lot of affection for him. Even years later most actors don’t talk about him like the ones that worked under Irna! From everything I have heard Gloria Monty was a much more demanding boss than Bell. He certainly accepted input from people like Victoria Rowell. By all accounts Y&R is a tough show to work on- not just the excellence required (those days are long gone), but the talent and backstage have been filled with drama almost the whole time. Bell and Conboy clashed, the top stars have several instances of fighting or not speaking to each other, etc.

I agree Alicia did an incredible job. When I saw they were recasting Kendall I was really skeptical. But she nailed it, I didn’t spend a lot of time comparing them. However, Sarah played the nasty side with so much more visceral rage. Her Kendall was a nightmare for Erica. She showed us how broken and sad Kendall was too. SMG also was on a much stronger written era, a better overall version of All My Children. I also know network execs. The role is SMG’s if she wants it and agrees to their deal. I would be shocked beyond belief if she isn’t approached before anyone else for the role. Even if Kendall isn’t going to be a lead character, I would think she gets the call before anyone else. The question remains though- how does Susan Lucci feel about that?

What is Soaps of Yesterday? I’m blanking on it, and I would love to see this stuff being referenced!

Oh that is very sad.

I saw an interview with Genie where she said that Ceara and the incest story were presented to her in a meeting with Agnes, who had the story mapped out. It was one of the reasons she agreed to it after her stint on DAYS- that it was Nixon herself, that they had a specific character and a story ready.

I didn’t notice it all that much, but I wasn’t really looking for it. I love that scene in Tootsie though when Dorothy grabs the actor and forces him to look at her instead of the teleprompter 😆 I just read an interview with Mary O’Brien (ex-Heather, GH) where the interviewer talked about using them. He is referring to Brooke Bundy in his question. GB: Brooke also said everyone relied on the teleprompter for phone scenes. MO: Yes, the guy holding the teleprompter was usually crouched below (the camera). And it's funny because when I started the show, I couldn't read it! I realized I needed glasses for the phone scenes. I wound up getting contact lenses. But other than the phone scenes, I decided early on I'd better not get into the habit of relying on the teleprompter.

How cool! I thought he was so handsome when I was a kid, and I loved him with Delilah.

The stories might have been ridiculous and the characters did become idiots, but people forget Reilly featured THE characters on the show. Some newbie nobody wasn’t possessed, Marlena was. And all the stories were rooted in romance and love- having it, losing it, wanting it. People also forget there was an evolution- they wanted the ratings of his last 18 months, but he had laid the groundwork of those stories for years. The show didn’t just become crazy for sweeps one year like everyone else tried and failed at. There was a long period of time between the experiment of Carly being buried alive and then the possession, and then the Secret Room. I didn’t think about it this way back then, not until Curlee complimented it in the interview Toups did with her, but Reilly was great at structure. The plots dragged on, but he kept the interest up with those mini-stories he would tell around the larger plots to build excitement. Back to ATWT- when Riche left GH, I hoped she would go back to daytime on another soap, and I though she would fit well on ATWT. I’m not sure why, it just seems like it would have benefited from her and she would have made a good fit.

People forget it wasn’t just cable that was drawing away the soaps audiences- the decline happened as the TV talk explosion happened. Which was truly the reality TV of its day. I know everyone I knew when I was a teenager watched Ricki Lake, and only a few also or only watched soaps. I think the issues almost always had to do with the quality of the shows declining. I think several things happened all at once. The shows got really expensive- the biggest stars were making more money. Everything explodes in luxury in the early 1990’s- I watched six soaps across all three networks and they were lush in the early 1990’s. I do think they had to up the production values at the time because they needed to stay current, but I think it added to their issues when the audience eroded. The shows stopped being strongly writer driven and became much more under the creative control of the producer/network/production company. Which was happening in prime time too- NBC’s must see tv period is full of instances of those shows dealing with empowered network people that used to leave them alone all of a sudden thinking they were part of the creative decisions on the shows. This was happening on the highest viewed shows in the country at that point, daytime was not going to escape this. The networks and production companies got rattled when OJ took away their audience, and panicked. They started chasing a demo at all costs, and drove out a lot of the talent that didn’t want to fight all the time about every story approval, or be forced to change gears mid-point, or have focus groups tell them who should be used in story. As early as 1998 or so it seemed like growing talent from within (especially writers) was no longer happening, in some instances because they saw how horrible it was dealing with the network. When things had settled down, they were not at their earlier numbers, but still had solid numbers. But everyone, network, soap media, everyone seemed to think all of a sudden they should be back at their all time highs, and because they were not it was over. Enter hack writers, serial killers, shocking storylines and killing off/firing vets.

I always love it when actors don’t trash their soap experiences. How awesome that she paid respect to both how hard she worked and also the benefits of the format for talent just starting out and props to folks that made it their living. I know some people legitimately had terrible soaps experiences. It just seemed for a long time it was always maligned, or never spoken about like it was shameful.

Sometimes I think her throaty voice covered up the times she went over the top compared to others, because she never sounds shrill. But in her defense, it was rare I felt this way, and Tracy is not a quiet character. What amazes me is when they get it so right. I can’t think of a single scene in the BJ’s heart storyline that I felt anyone went too far. Even folks like Tony, Frisco, and Felicia, who were not challenged by grounded dramatic material very often, really did good work. The scene with Felicia and Bobbie, when she realizes it was BJ’s heart that saved Maxie, could have gone way off the rails. But both of them had dramatic reactions to each other that didn’t go over the top.