titan1978

I think Kay Alden’s early years, before Jack Smith became her co-hw were the best Y&R had been since the early 90’s. But I am a huge Jill and Katherine fan, so making them major players again always works for me. The show had slightly modernized, the pace was quicker, but it was still very much Y&R.

What do we think of the pairing of Malone and Gottlieb at Y&R? That Victor Lord storyline- first the book, revisiting Dorian’s culpability, and then all Viki’s alters really fits the gothic tone Y&R often dipped into. I would think Gottlieb (or was it Bedsow-Horgan that liked the dark orchestral music) would have certainly kept the music cues going, and the lush filming style. I agree that Marland would have possibly worked too. I wish Martha Byrne would just tell her version of events when it comes to working with Goutman. When he first got there with Hogan, they gave her a second character to play! The whole show felt very Lily/Rose focused to me. Then they killed Rose off and it seemed all downhill from there. I cannot imagine Carlivati on any other soap. I think he did great things at both OLTL and GH, but both often went off the rails and felt very shallow. I keep thinking how strong all the generations of characters would have been with Alden at All My Children. Especially creating a younger set of compelling characters, which is part of the DNA of that show since Tara/Erica/Chuck/Phil days.

I think if she had arrived with Wendy it would not have worked. For Labine to work, we needed characters like Anna and Robert to be gone. Luke and Laura were larger than life, but unlike Robert and Anna their foundations were rooted in much more grounded substance, which suits her. The action became grounded. But again, Frank Smith was a blast from the past that worked. That period of time Riche was with Levinson really shaped a tone that Labine could run with. I didn’t enjoy her OLTL run overall, and for some reason I also find her misplaced on AMC. But I could imagine her work on Another World pretty easily.

Looking at the 70’s and 80’a ratings threads and seeing all those soaps got me thinking about moving talent around. I think Bob Guza would have been excellent as HW for Edge of Night (if it had been airing when he made it to the top spot). I also think of all the soaps back then the only one I can really see Gloria Monty at instead of GH is Edge. Likewise I wonder what Henry Sleasar would have been able to do with GH once we got to the WSB/Anna as police chief era. When the rumors came up back in the day I was really excited to see Wendy Riche as EP of As The World Turns, but it didn’t happen. Bill Bell turning Bold over to James Reilly might have been a real treat instead of what Brad has done. Not supernatural Jim, but his camp would fit well. He would have given Darlene Connolly fantastic material. Kay Alden’s rumored almost All My Children run could have been fun I think. She had the skills to pull off grounded material and still play larger than life characters, which is what you need to keep Erica front and center. As much as I loved Claire Labine I’m not certain where to put her. For some reason her style seems like it would have been fabulous on Another World with the characters/actors from the early 90’s.

Seeing GH with a share of 40, 39, and 39 for three weeks is incredible. Once again thank you so much to @JAS0N47your DAYS records are fascinating for all the soaps in these threads.

Jake was my favorite pairing with Bobbie. Especially after Brock. IIRC The audience knew Duke survived the explosion, and then had to watch Anna and Robin grieve him being dead. He was incredibly popular paired with Anna. Beecroft was nowhere near as charismatic as Ian. He was starting to win the audience over but I don’t think anyone bought him as Duke that well until Anna was crying over his dead body. All of a sudden he had some supporters. I’ve always heard he was difficult to work with on both GL and GH. And that second death lead us to exploring Anna’s time as a double agent, introduced Faison (who was awesome back then), and also Casey the Alien (not so awesome).

I had to edit my post because it kind of seemed to me upon re-reading that I was wishing the show would force her to loose weight, which is the last thing I would want or advocate for. They just have a history of saying things to actors about their weight before the current team. And I think @carolinegis correct that KS is playing a part in her styling. What I wish is that their wardrobe person take a chance and buy some more fashionable clothes in larger sizes and see if KS would pick any of them! I sympathize with her and Genie- I know what it is like to struggle with weight issues. And then they have the added bonus of “fans” and sometimes executives commenting about every pound. It is easier to try to hide it rather than finding flattering clothes.

I like her lip gloss. And I also like her hair color. But that’s about it. The issue for me is the show thankfully not forcing her to loose weight (which is welcome behavior compared to how they have treated actors in the past) but not styling her appropriately. There are so many cute and stylish clothes available in larger sizes now. Way more than ever before. Even if she wanted flowing clothing that is more shapeless there are better options than what the show is dressing her in.

KM has been sidelined since she deliberately tanked her reunion with Steve’s Jason because she wanted to act all day with her real life partner. Up to that point, while not as prominent as before, she was still in the mix. It’s a waste of Dante, a waste of high $ contract, and of screen time. Limited though it may be. They can’t be hanging on to her because of Dancing with the Stars after all this time! And I feel crazy for harping on this- what the hell is up with Lesley Charleson? I completely understand if she is done/ready to retire- good for her! But if the intention is to see Monica again can they comment on something?

The only time I was even remotely interested in Kenny and Ginger was during the Ciji storyline.

This was also a network and time when Maurice and Steve basically got to do what they wanted/objected to stories etc and to a lesser extent, so did Tony. If I was her and saw how the male talent was treated I would also want my voice to be heard. And yet from the outside we see how those women were treated. Jackie was sidelined, they wouldn’t meet Vanessa’s terms. Or Genie’s. And NLG was often ignored. Tried to fire Becky. SJB’s issues. I have no doubt things were terrible. When it comes to soaps and misogyny there would never be a better triangle than Frons/Guza/JFP.

It does read underwhelming, especially as integral and horrible as he had been.

If I had been watching from day 1 up until Phil was murdered I would have been rooting for Jessie to have done it!

The Ranch. Or the beach house where Gary and Abby lived before the Ranch.

Look at Diana putting the pieces together!

As rough as the Riche transition was, I personally enjoyed Ryan/Felicia/Mac, the younger set, and Scotty/Lucy/Dom more than anything during Monty’s second run. And I was a fan of Anna/Robert being paired and Faison. But Riche got in a groove and it just got better with Labine.

I don’t recall him naming Suver in later years, but he did say more than once that the original Endgame was written with his writing partner, who also wrote the return story. So they must be the same person. While the ratings had stabilized by the end of Monty’s second run, her support at the show was pretty much gone. Losing FH and TR at roughly the same time was by all accounts the final nail. Both let it be known that she had driven them out. I believe Tristan said in an interview that after the then recent passing of her husband, she just wasn’t the same. Genie refused to return, and back then Tony refused to play Luke without Laura. Imagine that compared to the end of his run! So Bill came to be. I think the younger set is what saved Riche, buying her time to be paired with a stronger writer, ABC’s suggestion of Labine. They dominated story and Antionio Sabato Jr was everywhere with his shirt off.

I need him to keep that energy when he visits. If the only repercussion she suffers is that she lost Cam as a true friend then at least we have that. I’m not saying they have to be at odds, just distant. And she should feel the responsibility for that. He should not be her biggest supporter. I wonder if this is how people felt when Karen Wexler was the center point of the teen characters in the 90’s. If you didn’t like Karen (I did), all that attention and multiple men fighting over her was annoying to watch? That’s how I feel about Joss now- Eden does a decent job. But I can’t stand Joss and I do enjoy the rest of the young set. But the show wants me to be invested in her more than the others. And I never will be.

This makes me so sad. I hope he can get himself back in recovery and get healthy.

They totally used Luke to buy time with Sonny. This was back when Luke was still a rootable character. Sonny was the short term character that within two years had his own little corner of the show- Stone, Brenda, Mike and the mob. First he was partnered with Luke, then he and Brenda took off. This doesn’t even include how important Robin and especially Stone became in establishing Sonny for the audience as not just a slimeball. I loved Karen and Brenda equally before CS left the show. They let Vanessa play volatile, but also vulnerable, which helped Brenda in the long run. I also felt that using Ruby helped her too- Ruby clearly had a soft spot for Brenda.

If anything he didn’t hit her hard enough. What happened with Lynne Moody and those characters was a travesty. I thought they fit in well and I enjoyed all the actors.

Billy just wasn’t right for me as AJ. SK had the chemistry with everyone thing that Billy did not- both Carly’s he played against, Jason, the rest of the Q family. Even Liz. Billy would have made a better offspring of Celia and Jimmy Lee Holt if they wanted him in the Q fold.

It’s pretty well set up for Portia to not want her daughter with Spencer. He has been in prison, his family is full of super-villains, his obsession with Esme’s baby, his stalking history. He would need to overcome a lot.

They did try to replace Kimberly McCullough once, Finola put her foot down. I believe it was under Joseph Hardy’s run as EP, before Monty came back for her second and rightfully short second run as EP. I cannot get over how badly managed this sweeps has been. The A story all but wrapped up when it should have run the entire month, or at least most of it. The climax of sweeps should have been Obrecht making it back to donate just in time. All the business stories on GH are very nebulous. I have a much clearer understanding of companies like Jabot, Newman, Spaulding and Lewis than I ever had of ELQ.

I just watched a really rough set of scenes from 1979, with Laura upset she might be pregnant and Luke hoping she was and that it was his. The end of the clip had Luke admitting to Bobbie that he had raped Laura. And then YouTube auto played an episode of L/L on the run from the same year. Now openly flirting and falling in love. What a wild trajectory, that would not be accepted today obviously. Watching the two scenes back to back was interesting.