titan1978

I was thinking about the habit of daytime. A lot of people have noted that it is a habit, and once broken it is easy to not return. My first soap exposure was through a grandmother. I choose to pay attention and watch for my own entertainment when Frisco pulled the hat off Felicia, at the beginning of their relationship. I am a gay male, and I was attracted to the action storylines on GH and the strong women. I soon watched other soaps that had similar themes (OLTL, DAYS). I also turned for the men, which were usually attractive and often shirtless! As I got older, I started paying more attention to the deeper stories, to the wider scope of themes, and to the beats being played. Even on a plot driven show like GH, the best stories were well plotted and played out like the details mattered. Around 1993 or so was when I became a fan of the genre. I started sampling other shows, even if just for a few months. I started buying soap mags, and absolutely loved when they would do issues devoted to the best soap stories of all time. I watched all of them on the air from that point for at least a few months or years at a time, except B&B (Just cannot get into it). When they started to decline through today- I watch less and less. I tune in now if I am free and hear about stories or scenes online that might be good to watch. I tune in when favorites return, usually for a month or so and quit again. I tune in out of nostalgia, out of love for the genre, out of respect for the actors and characters I loved. But there is no daily habit for me anymore, because the shows are so basic. But there is still something that compels me to check back in from time to time.

Did Robert Newman leave in 1991 before or after JFP arrived? Just interesting that she welcomed him back, but not Zimmer (who had reached out about returning during the time Curlee was still there).

The third one only works well if we already know the threats against them, and already treat them as credible. If the menace is there, some of the details can be forgiven. Laura’s return from the Cassadines was kind of a mix of part 2 and 3, plays well rewatching it because Genie plays the scenes full of fear. She’s scared for herself, she’s scared for Luke, etc, Stavros does seem capable of anything in a soap supervillain kind of way.

Jean was always the epitome of the writer you promote from within to interim HW while the actual talented HW is hired or their stories can air. She keeps the trains running, she does write talk to scenes, but she should never be in the driver’s seat for longer than 4 months. Then back to breakdowns.

It really is rare that these epic returns work out, and I am also glad she didn’t just come back for a Carlivati nonsense drive by, which is all she probabaly would have had time for. It would have made more sense for perhaps Viki to be at an airport and run into her, and have a nice conversation about how they both have overcome a lot, and how much Viki standing by her had helped her in life.

I will so be watching this one. What a great group.

I love Kenney’s Y&R, so much of what I know the show to be happened during his tenure. I also loved him on GH. Was Andrea Evans really a huge “get” at that time? Tina didn’t become iconic until her return stint, when she was dropped into the story about being a Lord.

What a boring time modern fans have had. Nikki was a stripper. On camera. She and Paul were in a cult. Victor had a man in a cage. Vanessa went through years of unhinged behavior, culminating in framing her soon to be daughter-in-law for her murder by throwing herself off the balcony. Affairs galore- my favorite being Kay mailing the cut up photos of Jack and Jill to John. It’s just so boring now. Take a chance! If Bill Bell wasn’t ashamed of soaps, why should anyone else be? If the show had the guts the older version had, maybe one of these young leads might have made gay for pay porn and are desperate to hide it, ending up being blackmailed into escorting.

I loved Broderick as HW. But I remember feeling that both Francesca James and Jean Dadario Burke were not as dynamic as EP. Behr really produced an exceptional era of the show, from the revamped opening to tons of new and classic characters in excellent stories. Her time lured me into the show.

In her infamous exit interview, she said she had complained about how long the day had gotten twice, on behalf of herself and the cast/crew, and wasn’t shy about wishing the current story for Alexandra was over and moved on to another.

Oh no! Kind of heartbreaking, as I am so into GL now. Right? Without him we wouldn’t have seen many of these people together talking about the show. Do I think he is too vanilla and annoying at times? Yes. But I am thankful that we have been able to see some of these folks again.

That was so obvious! 😆

I think the likelihood was stronger before the Bells sold their interest in the show. Now it is up to CBS/Sony what happens. And they already treat these soaps like they have no value. I remember even after Bill Bell stepped down as HW he had an interest in the original version of the show. He talked about updating the older scripts for modern language and times, but the themes, stories and characters were strong enough to start filming again right away. The stories I have read say both DAYS and Y&R have their complete episode libraries intact. I believe Corday mentioned having the episodes digitized few years ago. Does anyone know if Corday still owns his small stake in Y&R?

Interesting to see Monty’s 1991 return to GH. Through the first of the year into her first month or so, the show was still hitting high 6’s and 7’s. Then it collapses as viewers clearly reject the new characters and changes. But by the end of the year the ratings have almost recovered. Riche’s first year is very up and down before settling in, but I don’t think she or the show ever got as high as a 7.0 again.

@Vee, I also loved Antonio’s first run on the show, and really thought he and Andy were a great couple. Sexy doesn’t even begin to cover how hot that period of time was with him on the show. He was also a fantastic actor.

To be a gay actor in a glass closet in the 1980’s through the 1990’s, especially during the HIV/AIDS crisis point time period was absolutely looked down upon in Hollywood. And from what I understand, both he and Bernau were not hiding within their acting community, which means they were not in the closet in Hollywood. I could be wrong about how open they were with colleagues, I imagine a New Yorker may have been more open about it. People really do not remember how bad and limiting it was for LGBTQ folks back then.

I think Gina became a superb actress after leaving OLTL the first time (and I liked her as Kelly!), and she absolutely should be a lead on one of these soaps. I felt when she was cast and also on the show that she was too young. Just something I could not get past with her, especially when we still saw Christine and she was with Jack. As far as being able to produce on daytime as it stands now- I think there is no way to know unless we ever get to see it. I do know when a show hires Gina, more than likely she would put in the work and stay unless the show is done with her. With Sherry it could very easily be one contract and then off on her terms. JFP certainly had that experience with her. Good soap writers compliment the strengths of the actors. It just happens over time. If Sherry has stayed, Blake would have remained capable of anything. With Liz, the impression I get is Blake “grew up”, and became more of a Lucy Coe type in the stories they gave her. Could be catty, sometimes selfish, but mostly a good person who made mistakes, because Liz lacked that edge. What a waste because Fiona is one of those soap stars that I always felt added so much without being over the top or losing a real emotional core. She is so fantastic as Jenna in the stuff I have been watching, early era from the Blackout.

Sherry is so great in that bad girl formula- she is ambitious, sexy, smart, and also vulnerable, angry, desperate and longing for love. Sherry also adds a fantastic sarcasm and biting humor to a lot of her scenes. She really stands out, has specific relationships with many characters and holds her own with characters like Alex, Roger, and Holly. I loved her character on ER. Susan Lewis was my favorite back then. Now that I have seen so much of her Blake, I really am impressed by her talent. Blake and Lewis are so different, and I love them both. I remember reading the rumor that she was in the running for Phylis on Y&R, and they chose Gina. I think that was a real missed opportunity.

It’s funny, as someone that did not watch the show back then, you would think the loss of Reva would be the situation that derails the show. I had never watched GL back then but I knew who Reva and Josh were from soap mags. But my YouTube viewing started in 1990, and the show gets better after she leaves. For me, the insurmountable losses are Mindy, Blake, Alexandra, Maureen and Harley one right on top of another, some with lackluster recasts. As someone that watched OLTL and GH, the JFPisms really start with Maureen’s death and the Buzz invasion. But even with those issues, it seems to me that the show isn’t truly gutted until after JFP is gone. I’ve seen a lot of Marj now as Alexandra when the show was still well written. I really believe her as a businesswoman, but she doesn’t have that special something that Beverlee brought to the table. I loved her on AMC.

I watched a bunch of 1994 episodes. What a difference two years make. Too much Buzz, too much Lucy, Marj as Alexandra, VI is much harder to digest as Nick without Beverlee and Simms. And even though I enjoy Alan-Michael there was too much of him too. Also there are several scenes with awful background music. For everything good (Jenna) there were like three annoying things.

Thank you for sharing @mikelyons

Imagine how she feels. She’s been treated unfairly by CBS, SONY, and Y&R for a long time. And she’s not just advocating for herself. Even something as simple as makeup artists and hairstylists that understand how to work with Black and Brown people- they often have to bring their own people or do it themselves because those are union jobs on productions like these. Changes are needed at every level. Think about this- SAVED BY THE BELL was a more diverse tv show than any of these soaps now- Slater and Lisa were at least in almost every episode, and had varying degrees of being the lead. But at least we saw them all the time. And that show should not be better than a 2020 network daytime drama when it comes to this!

I remember HBS commenting on how stupid Nora had to become to sell those plots. She said it all the time back then, as it was happening! And again later during other stories. I used to love that about her, I felt if she was interviewed by a soap mag it was always a good one to read. Once the dust settled, Sam was the only Rappaport I never grew to enjoy at all. A lot of that was Kale Brown, a lot was his dominance and these two incredible women fighting over him. JFP loves him.

I wonder if Hearst had stayed if they would have gotten to Hope in person eventually? I’m not sure they would have ever really used her beyond stuff with AM, but we might have seen her if he had stayed an important character. I think the loss of CB as Alan Spaulding also hurt her chances of returning later. While I enjoy the first AM, Hearst really makes Alan-Michael take off.

How awful. If anyone deserved the right to burn that house down in character it was Luke. Especially if he did it after Laura was catatonic. Not that I wanted to see it. I really wish Guza’s style on this show wasn’t always designed to break all the toys all the time. We got some absolute good drama out of a lot of it, but at what cost to the foundation of the show.