titan1978

I am so glad Jane decided retirement was not for her, and FV agreed to bring her back on her terms (no more stuffy suits, and her natural hair).

It sucks because he was playing easy charm so well, and it was working. I have to be honest, I was kind of dreading Michael’s children (and us) being put through a custody war. I was close to dropping the show for awhile because I had my fill of it when the show revolved around fighting for baby Michael for a decade. But the inclusion of Tracy has made it actually watchable. Add to that Drew being pure scum and I was actually entertained. Hats off to Cynthia Watros- her clear disappointment at Willow running to Drew when she was solving the problem, and General attitude towards him is great. If Nina has to be here, this is a great way to utilize her.

I agree. I like to see them when they are posted, but it’s not my place to demand how anybody grieves. The tributes are lovely to see here (especially those on Twitter since I personally will not support Musk), but we should have zero expectations or demands. Those in LA are also in a unique experience because the fires are still very real and ever changing. I lived through a wildfire that took out entire blocks less than a mile from my house, and was even closer to where I worked. We were in the be ready to leave at a moments notice alert for over a week. It was exhausting living on high alert and fearful. This fire has been so much worse! Celebrities owe us nothing unless they choose to share it. Chronically online people really do need to detox from their devices.

One of my favorite Monica stories was her affair with Sean (when he was still shady) and together they swindled the family money away from them. It lead to the Q family living above Kelly’s, and eventually Lila’s pickle relish recipe. It was highly entertaining, and Leslie got to play sexy, vengeful, and then also show her regrets and guilt about helping Sean. Even in that scene with Lesley Webber, it’s heightened but neither of them are over the top. Monica comes across as vicious, but not histrionic like a modern version would be played. I know as a longtime viewer of the show I will miss Monica’s often cynical and sarcastic point of view.

When Willow was a teacher and Stafford still played Nina she was pretty good at giving it back. And Stafford is not subtle. Willow would make a better bitch than ingenue.

Yes I did mean Trina/Spencer!

They did use the cheap version of the formula with Spencer/Esme. The whole Cassadine adventure, the prolonged period of tension between them/keeping them apart, Esme, the banter. And while I believe they improvised the run into each other’s arms, that is about as supercouple as it gets. The biggest difference was due to IMO racism and the stupid FV schedule.

They were the constant frontburner characters for my first 15 years or so watching, and they were beloved for a reason. Robert, Frisco, Anna, etc came and went. But those three were always there, more than holding down the fort. Each one of them still vital when the show stopped caring about them. Stuart Damon alone had years left as Alan with plenty to do. I am happy I got to watch them, some of the best in daytime!

Agreed! Also true.

Judging by the peachy pink color of the hospital walls it was sometime between late 1992 and early 1997, Riche’s first hospital set makeover.

Once upon a time you would have Amy Vining in the background eating it up, and Dr. Hardy rushing in to break it up and reminding them it was hospital!

It’s hard to define. In the 80’s and 90’s, a supercouple for the most part was subjected to a specific formula, which was mostly designed by Sheri Anderson when she worked under Pat Falken Smith at GH during Scotty/Laura/Luke through the Ice Princess. I do think Alice/Steve on Another World and Doug/Julie were prototype supercouples before the formula is set up though. There is something larger than life about the romance. They have to overcome obstacles in order to finally be together, an element of danger/adventure/both, and a lavish wedding. It also almost always burns them for another romantic pairing that lasts, they are seen as a true love. Time invested in their story is a huge part. In more modern storytelling a supercouple is more like Steve/Alice and Doug/Julie. I consider GH’s Robin/Patrick a modern supercouple, but not Carly/Jax for example. A character like Bobbie on GH was in many popular pairings, but none of them hit supercouple IMO. Jake maybe came closest. I think most couples on soaps, even popular ones are not supercouples. The term has become kind of a catch all.

One of the blessings of YouTube is how much classic stuff we can watch. And that confrontation between Monica and Lesley about Rick is iconic. I am so happy that I have now seen most of the entire storyline. LC was visceral in those scenes. And because of the shady nature of the Quartermaines in the 70’s and 80’s, she got to play a character that was complex and wasn’t always a good person within those dynamics. But she was rootable and always worth watching. They all were. It was part of their charm.

Damn. I hope she is at peace, somewhere riding her beloved horses, which she had not been able to do for a long time. I remember a Michael Logan interview with Jane, Tony, and Kin where I first learned her on set nickname, Lester, which I found endearing for some reason and it stuck with me. As @DRW50 mentioned, Leslie had easy and great chemistry with nearly everybody. As rivals with Leslie Webber and Tracy, romantic with several men, and maternal with her onscreen children. I think she and Stuart as Monica and Alan are one of the most important couples in daytime history. Luke and Laura get all the credit, and they certainly were a cultural phenom, but Rick/Leslie/Monica/Alan was a story engine that drove the show up in the ratings in the classic soap sense. She was a pivotal recast! Those first Quartermaines- David Lewis, Stuart, Jane, Anna Lee and Leslie were something special.

The news is just awful, glad you are safe.

Someone in critical condition at the hospital and everyone fighting about it reminds me so much of the Guza years. Willow/Joss was straight out of the Guza playbook, minus a slap to seal the deal of course! Drew and Willow are just disgusting. The problem is everyone is against them, where do they possibly go from here? Nina is not enough to hang a future for Willow on. And now they made Michael a martyr. Who is going to want to watch these people? I will give the show credit though- the explosion looked good, and the aftermath has been watchable. Steve and Laura are acting circles around MB though.

I just do not get the thinking on GH by TPTB. They have done nothing to make Willow or Drew rootable at all. Zero. And they also don’t push Drew so far into scumbag that he remotely fun to watch. And now this fire for Michael. How would anyone watching want to see these two people together?

One of the most memorable was on DAYS when Marlena was revealed as the Desecrator. I was kind of shocked at the time and had to keep watching.

That would seem to me to be the nature of how they put episodes together, and how little care they are putting in attention to detail. They shoot out of order, based on a master schedule, not on a specific episode or even episodes from the same week. Sometimes things were filmed that show up weeks later, sometimes stuff just shot gets dropped in. Then the episodes are put together out of a bunch of filmed scenes. Sometimes it has a flow if they are telling a major story across several days a week. But often it is disjointed because of how they put the show together. Catching up on a few episodes, shocked to see Laura actually dressed in something flattering and stylish! All this Charlotte story is doing is making me grossed out. The background of how she came to be has always bothered me, propping Valentine bothers me, people accepting him as her “father” when she was created by a violation of Lulu bothers me. Now that the actor is older, the Papa and clear mental instability she has been subjected to, by the Cassadines, is unpleasant to watch. If the show wants me to vomit while watching they can keep trying to make Drew and Willow a couple too. Yuck.

Well those scenes they taped of their backstory and wedding were really good! Another example IMO of PFS being Monty’s best Head Writer at GH.

Back when soaps could still never air material, and recast and reshoot.

I think the New York soaps really owns the quiet powerhouse. Maureen Garrett really kept a steady hand on Holly through some not very grounded situations.

Holly arrived in 1982, ran a con involving Luke, and then when Geary took an extended leave they paired a pregnant Holly with Robert. She eventually lost the baby and they fell in love. Luke returns, friction at first but he ends up accepting them, wins the mayoral race, and Laura returns. Robert and Holly were a solid and popular couple for at least two years when Finola was hired as Anna, and the backstory began.

For me she falls into the category of excellent actors that started going over the top at some point and just stayed there. The show did her no favors. But the Susan Flannery of Bill Bell’s B&B and what i have seen on DAYS is as you describe and incredible. But the version of her last few years often went over the top to me, a caricature of her former glory. But I am also not a good judge because I don’t watch B&B regularly, never have. But I have watched quite a few episodes on their YouTube account of the earlier period and she is incredible, she can be so warm and then also quite cold and calculating, but not hysterical.

I also thought of both of them shortly after my post! Tricia Cast and Hays, both great. Bryggman’s John Dixon too, even in scenes with Hubbard chewing the stage up he came across as genuine and grounded and equal to her. Hays had that same kind of city gal weariness in her reactions to nonsense that Julia Barr served on AMC. I think the show made a huge mistake by not centering her more in its last decade.