titan1978

That must have been powerful for longtime fans. You have the history of the issues between them from Beverlee McKinsey’s era, and then also the reality of his death and missing Douglass Watson.

Thanks @Franko

You almost don’t need the whole story for that one, but I think knowing Lucy makes it stand out more in hindsight! I was looking on eBay for a couple of those soap mags that listed the best stories or best moments from soaps, and I remembered back then how I wish I could have seen things like Heather Webber/Diana Taylor and the original LSD moment, or Hello, Barbara, or the Loving Murders. Now I have! The one that I haven’t seen yet that I know exists fully in the vault is the accident with Katherine and Philllip Chancellor. My dream would be Carla Grey’s reveal on OLTL, or Laura killing David Hamilton.

Much like Donna with Carly.

I don’t want Chase to end up off the hook if they hit the sheets because Michael is manipulating things. I don’t mind dark Michael, I just also think stupid hero complex Chase was going there already and I don’t want Michael to get the blame.

We all know many of those big, iconic soap moments. The lucky ones got to see them when they aired, and the buildup. Now thanks to YouTube we can view many of them (before they get pulled down), but it’s often not the same as watching it build daily for months, or even years. Sometimes you see those big moments and they are kind of lackluster without the anticipation. What is your favorite big soap moment that you saw the whole story as it was airing? What is a big soap moment you saw years later on YouTube or somewhere else that was still able to thrill? What was a big soap moment that you saw after it aired and were kind of meh about, one that didn’t hold up? My favorite when it was airing has to be clink/boom. I didn’t know anything was coming until the slow motion started, I was deeply invested in Brenda/Sonny as a teenager, and it was a really great way to keep that separation going. Favorite from YouTube has to be Beverlee McKinsey’s Alexandra Spaulding confronting Roger Thorpe at the Towers. It was so great I spent months watching as much of the Curlee era as I could find. I didn’t really watch GL and those few years have become some of my favorite soap. One that didn’t hold up was Hello, Barbara on ATWT. I think you just had to be there. And it’s not like Marland couldn’t grab me, I also saw the Douglas Cummins reveal after the fact and it was gripping and very creepy.

It’s one of those TV situations where I feel bad for the actor and think the network was short sighted. I loved Switt on MASH, although now those earlier seasons with her character really highlight sexism played for laughs. But the TV movie was successful, she was still a big enough name on CBS at that time, and others leaving MASH hadn’t decimated the show. They should have let her out to do the series, which would have probably made it more solid from day one and given her a great role and her career more longevity. I like Meg Foster, she’s a good actor and I think if the show was airing in more modern times her harder edged portrayal would have been more accepted. She’s intense. But Daly and Gless made a great pair, and I think ultimately the right pair for both of them as actors and the characters. The writing supported Cagney better as growing up wealthy but romanticizing her father’s blue collar life. Gless could also be intense but it came with more layers. As @Soaplovers said, she was ballsy, sexy, and funny. She brought out a competitive edge too. And I think Tyne Daly got to shine more with her co-stars not being favored. Switt might have created a situation where Lacey was more supporting than full equal.

They just don’t give shows that kind of chance anymore, haven’t for a long time. It ended up dominating the Emmy’s, especially best actress for most of its run. Won best drama a couple of times too.

We are basically the same age. My sister was a teenager when I was a few years old, so I was along for the ride on a lot of TV from that era, including early MTV. And I agree, MTM was special and did show that if you had well defined characters with a good mix between them you could always have stories. Part of why Golden Girls and Designing Women worked better in their original versions vs spin offs and replacements was that the characters were so well defined and well suited for the structure of their stories. You needed Dorothy’s more acerbic sarcasm and Suzanne’s ignorance to make the humor work for the show’s points of view. I watched a few Disney shows over the years with my younger family members. And it really struck me how much they were like those bland sitcoms that were prevalent back then, except they were relegated to kid and teen programming instead of primetime network.

I have so much nostalgia for that era of USA for the same reason. It was trashy but it was good trash lol.

That is such a great way to describe that era. Even as a kid I remember watching WKRP reruns and thinking it felt modern enough to be airing then instead of having been cancelled for almost a decade. The 80’s had some great, witty and well made sitcoms that could also pull off depth like Cheers, The Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Designing Women, etc. It also had a lot of middle of the road kind of stuff like Who’s the Boss, Webster, Growing Pains, Full House, etc. And I watched those shows too when they aired, but they don’t hit the same way and they are often really basic.

Wasn’t Cagney and Lacey moved after being cancelled twice? The ratings started to improve before the famous letter writing campaign saved it fully(and Tyne Daly’s Emmy win that season helped)? It moved to Mondays and that third season finally made them a top 10 show.

At this point in my viewing, the permanent sets would likely be: By the 90’s, the only 100% permanent set was the nurses station, elevators, adjoining hallways and the seating area. I assume until Valentini got there the new JFP hospital set was permanent too. Based on bts we have seen it seems like a lot of the sets stay up now, I’m sure to save money from having them moved all the time and easier to film the way they do now. I know they move to the renovated Prospect Studios during the end of Monty’s tenure, either 1986 or 1987, so that ET story must have been at Sunset Gower. We know from Maurice’s State of Mind interview that Genie went to the old GH studio at Prospect to kind of make peace with her turmoil from being so young and under all that pressure, and for being brave to try. I didn’t realize they had been there before, although on a much smaller stage. Many of the actors have said Sunset Gower was not a great place to work. To think it pretty much started with the OG 7th floor nurses station, medicine room, Dr.Hardy’s office, and a patient room.

Linda Gottlieb arrived at OLTL and changed to block taping, eliminating the rep company feeling from all the ABC soaps in her wake. They still had some time to rehearse back then, but they weren’t mostly all there until the episode was in the can anymore once her changes showed they saved money and time. They staggered people in for just their scenes. From what I have read, Monty was especially tough about the show being up to her standards, so the rehearsals were long and so was filming if it wasn’t going right. But those rehearsals are where she made the magic happen, she liked strong ideas and a sense of play, and that’s why they did a lot of ad libs in her time. But now it probably seemed like a huge luxury to take that time. Also shows the pressure considering how close to air date the tapings were. That also gave them time to adjust things that were not working though. Now the DAYS audience has to just accept the show as it is or tune out for a year and hope it’s gotten better. Was that a teleprompter I saw?

I agree. It’s one of the reasons the Valentini era Carly irks me so much. She has countless scenes in her kitchen with Moss and her daughter over the years, and now they have her pouring coffee intermittently at Bobbie’s. Her kids have nearly every second accounted for once they hit teen years (or Michael from conception). She became everyone’s friend, including a deep thawing between her and Sam, and to a lesser extent Liz. It’s insulting as a viewer because this is not Carly. I’m not saying she can’t evolve, because she can. But instead of spreading the wealth and investing in other characters they just lump everything onto a handful of people, especially her. It’s not like Liz is a failed character that the audience never warmed up to. She’s one of the handful of soap actors left that her fans will literally go to war for to keep her on the show. Kelly Monaco’s fans lost interest way sooner than Becky’s would, or Genie’s for that matter. Those folks stayed on Frank’s neck. Even his bff Roger loved working with her. I will harp on this forever I guess. I think the show would have staved off some of their ratings collapses in the 2000’s if they had kept Liason going, and I think the same is true right now for growing their audience. They are wasting viable people like Michael, Liz, Laura, Dante, Lulu (although that is changing), Trina, hell even himbo Cody should be soap hunking it up. I am not even a big fan of Jason/Liz. But I know soaps, and all that romance and angst used to be what they tried for, instead of running away from. But by all means bring Valentin back and pair him with the leading lady. It’s so frustrating because the ingredients are there and it wouldn’t take much, unlike other periods.

I would have used the old trope of her running into him while he was in town with his fiance to tell his family they are expecting. I would have given them some closure, given TJ some agency about how he went along with Molly’s wishes because he loved her since they were kids, but losing the baby really showed him they want different things as adults. He wants a family. I think that combined with her recent medical issues would have been a nice way to also let Molly have some emotions around never having kids. I think she should hold strong to her values, but it would be nice if she got to process the entire decision onscreen when confronted with a what if life with TJ. It’s yet another in a long line of things I question since Frons arrived and started micromanaging ABC Daytime. GH has a plethora of popular characters and they have repeatedly sidelined folks while even now we still see Sonny/Jason/Carly, although mostly just there taking up airtime now. It’s a shame, because Liz remained popular through some terrible story turns, and the audience did respond to her being a single mom to three boys and a nurse. It was relatable. But once FV was forced to get rid of Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (poor Becky had to prop them both!)it’s been mostly crickets. Or mites. All her sons should be onscreen. As a longtime fan of this show, I think it always works best when we have the action/adventure umbrella story, the hospital in focus, and at least a handful of normal folks that have their normal lives and intersect with the other two hubs. Bobbie and the Webbers on GH while Luke/Laura were saving the world and Robert/Anna were WSB’ing. Frank Smith’s 90’s run while also meeting the Ward family, Tony/Bobbie imploding when BJ died. I know I complain a lot about this show and right now it has been watchable and fun for the most part. But a couple of small tweaks and it could be better, possibly even challenging the other soaps for more viewers. Liz and her kids really did work well in that family life setting.

Thanks for the fun video @DRW50 The nostalgia hit alone from the ET theme music was great. I didn’t realize it had always been there! I don’t think I have ever seen or heard Norma Monty before.

Also with Aladdin and Willow talking about taking the kids to Disney, it’s feeling very corporate synergy like the early Disney days! Is Super Soap Weekend and cheesy soap jewelry about to make a return?!? Lol

The biggest offscreen story ever!

Sorry, double post. Has the site been buggy this week for anyone else?

I cannot sit through this. I don’t even dislike this Jordan but she needs lively scene partners. Thanks to the summary by @carolineg which may have been as painful to type as watch so doing the lord’s work, I would also have to sit through Lucas (again, don’t hate him, just not a fun time), and Kristina’s unseen LGBTQ youth center? I can’t do this. PC has so many bad drivers, but I don’t remember as many attached to the same story before!

I am not a huge Housewives person. But I have seen enough that even with them, the Atlanta ladies are still more fun than let’s say Beverly Hills. They can be tearing each other to shreds, but if someone gets a good read in those Atlanta ladies still laugh, even if it burns them too. They can cut up and are serious but don’t take it seriously. Their reunions are more fun to watch because of that. The white ladies of Beverly Hills are deadly serious about everything. I think that’s why Tilly has been such a big hit.

What makes me shake my head is that this genre from very early days on television had a lot of women in power positions running shows. More than other film and tv did! In the 80’s and early 90’s alone we had EP’s like Mary Ellis Bunim, Jackie Babbin, Monty, Gail Kobe, Riche, Francesca James, Jean Dadario-Burke, Gottlieb, Susie Bedsow Horgan, Jill Farren Phelps. Doris Quinlan ran OLTL from the start to the late 70’s, Agnes Nixon was HW and EP, Betty Corday took over Corday productions. GH had women in all levels of production from writers, directors, line and associate producers, etc. The fact that only BTG had women at the top now is just sad, and I think a big reason why they have lost so much audience over the last 20 years.

I like Molly too. Daniel though, I just couldn’t take him anymore! I just don’t see any other choice. And judging by her contract status, they must have decided to part ways.

The FB folks are kind of unhinged. I get supporting your favorite no matter what. But choosing to engage in the conversation while also demanding nobody say anything you don’t like is wild. And I haven’t seen anybody trashing her. It’s not trashing her to look at this legal filing, and if you follow her to also review her posts about stalking, erratic behavior, video clips she shared, and see that there might be serious mental health issues going on. The best thing for her is to get some help. The people attacking Brandon saying he is trying to control her make me sad. Because that absolutely happens in real life, but they are battling it out against someone based on an unreliable narrator. Best to just back off!