Soaplovers

I think I recall the Dobson's inheriting this story and stating this wasn't how they would have written Eden out.. but had to write what was already started.. and decided to fix it as much as they could (this scene is probably the Dobson's making sense of the mess they inherited.. and it made sense since Eden always had unresolved issues with Sophia.. even was hypnotized to forget seeing Sophia alive when in Europe)

So basically the opposite of what he's been doing for the first months of the Doctors.. where he slowed the pace down to a glacier, characters were talking, little to no action... and the female characters regressed. At least it proves it's possible to learn from your mistakes after your first time attempting to write a show.

The late 70s and early 80s for Y & R sound interesting to me... while the show went back to the basics by the mid 80s (with Bill Bell admitting he was trying to follow the trends of soaps during that period).. some of those gothic esque stories sounded interesting to me... Suzanne Lynch, Vanessa Prentiss, even the Robert/Angela Lawrence stories sounded interesting to watch. Was it Bill Bell or Kay Alden that did the Joshua and Veronica Landers story? It seemed interesting, but than it veered off into just having Victor/Nikki remarry on a whim that really led to nothing really interesting (other than Diane's woman scorned story).

It seems like Bell and Agnes Nixon did the gothic element...but were able to make it relatable and not over the top. Reilly and Ron C should have taken notes.

Just from watching the 1968 episode, Susan was more interesting than Amy... who was kind of a drip. Why the show opted to write Susan in the early 70s and focus on drippy Amy I'll never understand

It seems when Jennifer Runyon left the role of Sally.. that her function got transfered to Cecile since when she quit.. Sally was flirting with Cass and casually dating Peter while Donna looked down on her. Even though the brief replacement and than Mary Page Keller played being with Peter.. she was eventually moved out of that orbit while Cecile was placed in that orbit.

Didn't she also play a brief role on Passions in between her two OLTL stints that required her to be over the top? I wonder if it was a combination of that plus her feeling she had to camp it up in order to adjust to 'modern day' soap acting that led to the change in how she played Dorian? Her Dorian in the 80s, and than her Dorian from 93 to 2000 was a lot more subdued/subtle.. more like a snake that is friendly, but would strike if crossed. And Robin Strasser is capable of playing subtle roles (She had a good chance to show that in the mini series Baby M in particular).

In watching today's episodes, I think that any young couple wanting to get married should be shown all the episodes featuring Penny/Jerry as newlyweds and than tell them that is not how you should do things when married. Both Penny and Jerry were right and were also wrong. Jerry was too stubborn to accept help, and Penny was not forceful enough at the start of the marriage to voice her displeasure at the apartment they were living in, etc. On the other hand, Jerry should have listened to Penny's wish for a slightly nicer apartment and the two could have looked for a place that made both of them happy instead of Jerry drawing a line in the sand to stay in the apartment (that he is hardly at due to work and school) and Penny drawing a line by signing a 3 month lease for an apartment without telling Jerry. I guess this is being written to explain Julia Duffy's upcoming departure, but I've been watching the show the last few months and couldn't find any indication/evidence that a big story was in the cards for Penny (supposedly Marland was upset that Duffy opted to quit when he had big plans for her).. other than one or two scenes of Penny interacting with MJ's brother Darren. And in today's episodes, MJ's brother went back home because things didn't work out for him in town.. and I have to wonder if perhaps Marland was planning to use MJ's brother with Penny/Jerry.. and when Duffy opted to quit, Marland just wrote Darren out quickly.

Man, I wouldn't do well on these shows because I just do my own thing and don't really care if people like me or not. I think I would do well if I joined this type of show in the early years, but nowadays.. I would be like 'i'm a one and done' person.

Irna would have charity rhomer'd them.

I've always wondered if the show could have been salvaged with a change of writers? Sometimes the creator isny always 5he best person to run a show.

No, Jason is such a creep.... and I was proud of Nola for not wanting to be his side dish while he was married in name only to Doreen. Virginia has always been a character to irk people, but I think she's supposed to. @Khan I do think Marland was hired to slow the pace down and return the show to a more traditional element (someone shared an article on Twitter from summer 1976 where the viewers of the doctors were more conservative and didn't like the quickened pace.. and the more sexualized tone that Depriest brought to the show). The problem was that Marland dragged the two stories out to where people stopped caring, and the two stories were fashioned to be faster paced. He should have ended one of them in time for November, while getting some other stories on the fire.

The original after season 5 was all about being poor and struggling with their bills... The first four seasons there were jokes here there.. but they had a comfortable blue collar existence so it wasn't a big focus for the family. I do think putting Darlene into the Roseanne role in the last episode was ill advised because Darlene isn't really like Roseanne at all (despite the show making her dark and harsh in the later part of the original show). Darlene is more laid back, and dead pan in her delivery than Roseanne ever was. I've actually thought Becky was more like Roseanne in terms of attitude and acting more from emotion than common sense. The biggest example was Becky marrying Mark out of fear of him moving away thus throwing her future away vs Darlene marrying David because of the financial benefits of the two being married thus being able to focus on school, work, and having a plan for their unexpected bundle of joy.

I read how the Ann/Carolee/Steve story ended.. and I'm on the fence.. it will depend on how it is executed. Marland also learned with the Wendy character to not change a character to fit a plot.. but to fit the plot to the character (I.e. Eleanor/Luke/Wendy story).

Ah but you forget the season 3 curse..more damaging than the 2nd season lol. Heather on oc (gaslighting shannon), and Heather on NY...hmmm must be the name And lets not forget Teresa in season 3 of NJ where her jealousy of melissa was so obvious anyone could have seen it.

What a wonderful final scene...a resolution to the louie/Katie song and dance. I do wish the show had shown her new romance and had leave town happy, content and wise with her new love.

You guys do know that this is 1985 and that Marie's Cyndi Lauper/Madonna get up was kind of in during this era along with the 80s theme music so I don't think it was out of date for the time, but I can see how it could be out of date in 2019 With that said, the start of Marland's reign at least had a spirit/fun that is gone by 87/88 where it becomes too dark, too serious, and kind of boring. Stories/plots can be tightly woven and spun, but if there's a coldness and lack of fun.. people aren't going to watch.

I was thinking about the whole March 25 1985 episode where Rachel/Alice were interacting... and Rachel without her memory reminded me of the more aggressive/harsh persona from the 1974 episode (where Rachel came demanding Alice vacate the house Steve built for her). I think having Rachel being more vengeful/aggressive after getting amnesia would have been interesting to explore since she didn't recall who Mac was, the person to help her evolve into the woman she was by 1985 would have been interesting to have explored. The twist being that Alice wasn't the same young ingenure anymore, but a confident doctor that wouldn't let Rachel bulldoze her (which was more fitting of the 1967-1971 era.. where Alice was sarcastic, confident and would put Rachel in her place). I wouldn't have Rachel/Alice fighting over Mac... but I would have had it be over Jamie. Jamie could have been confused and disillusioned with his mother not acting like his mother.. and would turn to Alice for advice/guidance.. while Alice would look at Jamie as the son she never had with Steve (thus bringing up the whole miscarriage and Rachel's cruel reminders that she had given Steve the son that Alice couldn't). I could have seen this new element spanning a long time.. and we could also have Rachel gradually regaining her memory.. and slowly start to reconcile the young nasty Rachel, the mature Rachel, and the Rachel she was when she had amnesia. I do recall the first months of Harney playing Alice.. that Rachel/Alice weren't close.. or even interacting with one another much. There was a mention of a library/building built in Steve's honor that Rachel opted not to attend because she didn't want to things harder on Alice.. and I think I recall when Sally's grandmother came around wanting custody.. that Rachel sided with her/Ray over Alice.. but other than that.. no clear mention that the two crossed paths. I also could buy Alice being more cool/aloof after losing Steve and never getting close to another man again due to not wanting to experience the pain of losing another man she loved. Alice always did retreat and become almost cool/aloof whenever love/intimacy came into her life (in my opinion due to all the drama surrounding Pat and her bf, the abortion, and Pat killing the guy... I'm sure that deep down Alice closed herself off of love/emotion in response to seeing all the stuff Pat went through... which explained why Alice was slow to warm to Steve and why Rachel was able to get Steve into bed).

Not sure if posted before.. but here is a link from when the show celebrated their 9000th episode, along with a brief interview with Pam Long detailing her plans. http://articles.latimes.com/1986-06-26/entertainment/ca-21528_1_love-story NEW YORK — When you're the longest-running daytime soap opera on television, you just have to kick up your heels every now and then, and that's what the cast and crew of "Search for Tomorrow," which premiered on Sept. 3, 1951, did last week. To celebrate the taping of the show's 9,000th episode, there was a champagne reception at the Manhattan studio where the soap is taped daily. In September, "Search for Tomorrow" will be celebrating its 35th anniversary--and another celebration bash is anxiously awaited. In the meantime, what's in store for the show's story lines? New executive story consultant Pamela K. Long (she joined the show last month) has lots of ideas that she hopes will keep the audience glued to their couches. "I intend to utilize all of our existing characters," said Long. "We're not bringing on anybody new right away and we don't have any big plans to get rid of anybody. I like the current characters. In my mind, Jo and Stu (played by Mary Stuart and Larry Haines) are the backbone of the show. Their friendship has endured since the show debuted. "The McCleary brothers, Cagney (Matthew Ashford), Quinn (Jeffrey Meek) and Hogan (David Forsyth), really sparked my imagination and made me want to get involved with 'Search for Tomorrow.' I think the McClearys and their women are the lifeblood of the show because their connections cross through all the story lines." Known for her Gothic-style stories from her previous writing work on "Guiding Light" and "Texas," Long said she has a different style in mind for "Search for Tomorrow." "I intend to bring a reality to my storytelling on 'SFT,' which is a result of my own personal growth. I'm not interested in wild, outlandish, fantasy-type stories. People and their relationships are more fascinating to me." Some of the story lines she will be developing over the next few months, along with that of the McCleary brothers, will include a torrid love triangle between Patti (Jacqueline Schultz), Liza (Louan Gideon) and Hogan; there will be a hot new love story between Quinn and Evie (who is now played by Joanna Going) which Long hopes "will rival the love story of Bo and Hope Brady (Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso) on 'Days of Our Lives."' Also in the works is a steamy love story between Sunny (Marcia McCabe) and Bela (Lee Godart) that will exemplify the light and dark forces of love. Comments "Search for Tomorrow" executive producer David Lawrence, who joined the show last March: "I'm very happy to have joined a company that's achieved such an amazing record. I look forward to building onto the show's achievements. "We took a long, hard look at our show to determine what we had that's really unique," Lawrence continued. "In addition to all the values that have kept the show on the air for nearly 35 years, it seems apparent that a major strength is the fact that we have the three attractive, charismatic McCleary brothers, and so for a period of time we will be focusing our major stories on their strengths and conflicts. We've also created a new opening for the show, which now includes clips of all of our performers."

That's the theme music from Friday the 13th part 3

I actually liked her wardrobe in the 84/85 return.. and I think it was done to age the character because Sally had been aged.. if that makes sense. Plus, didn't JC have that short haircut when she was on OLTL? Her wardrobe and hair were much better in her 1989 visits..imho. It is a shame that she retired, because I would have loved to have seen audiences reactions when she had the short dark hair that we saw during that Soaps 50th anniversary special that aired in the mid 90s.

@vetsoapfan I knew something was up with how Courtney was dismissed a few months after Swyer/Reinholt had been dismisssed....and that explanation answers it. I could see why she had an issue with what Lemay was planning to do. The Alice of 1969 who dumped Steve after finding out he was the father of Rachel's unborn baby, and worked her through nursing school and had a life/career of her own.. wouldn't be so fragile. I agreed with her instincts (the same as mine) that Alice wouldn't fall apart because she had Sally and had to be a strong influence for her. Did Alice act all weak and fragile when Harney took over? I seem to recall her Alice was colder and not as warm/sarcastic as Courtney's Alice. I guess we can all say that we are blessed to have her year return in the mid 80s to show that she was a good actress and was playing a stronger/confident Alice again. I even thought she had good acting instincts with how under-stated she was during the Rachel Amnesia story where she was trying to remain professional.

I think the show would have been fine if Courtney hadn't been fired.. She had started as a teenager and had grown into an adult that had been handed some hard knocks, and by 1975.. she would have dealt with the loss of both her mother and husband within a short amount of time.. and her trying to make a way for herself and her newly adopted daughter Sally would have been a wonderful story to have seen unfold. Alice wouldn't have a breakdown, but keep things going for the sake of Sally.. and I think the audience would have enjoyed the journey the character went on trying to forge a new start and identity outside of Steve.. and outside of her former tense relationship with Rachel. It's a shame because I think Alice and Rachel could have both existed in their own stories.. and interacted at functions where both were cordial/friendly with a hint of tension existing still between them. The show kind of played on that from 1984/5 where they had their own stories/lives.. and would cross paths and be friendly.. yet there was always a tension that existed between them.

@vetsoapfan I think in his own way, Lemay had to admit he was wrong about firing Jacqueline Courtney... but couldn't outright say he was wrong except to say that she wasn't a strong actress.. but was a charismatic actress.. and that Susan Harney was a strong actress, but lacked charisma. I do know that my mom (and my grandfather especially) were die hard AW fans.. and Alice/Steve/Rachel.. later Rachel/Iris/Mac were memorable stories. I often think it was odd the timing in which they fired Courtney because she lasted a few months longer than the other two actors fired.. and in fact, was given some interesting/meaty material to act... being a mother to a suddenly orphaned child and becoming a widow all around the same time. I bet had Courtney stayed around, Alice would have had the same focus and attention at Mac/Rachel/Iris had.. in fact.. i could have envisioned a Ray/Olive/Alice situation to rival that of Mac/Rachel/Iris. And her brief return in 1984-85 showed how strong and likable she was as an actress plus her brief visits in 1989. Speaking of which, still think it was a mistake to fire BP as Pat in early 1982 when she still had a lot of potential as a character.. even her brief return in 1989 showed that the character had some fire in her still. Shame really.

I'm just surprised at how out of date Marland's 1977 Doctor's is vs Lakin's 1967 version. It seems too conservative and by the numbers, but I guess that could be on account of the fact that he was working on a Proctor and Gamble soap that was more conservative than The Doctors was (I can't believe that a matter of months earlier that there was an episode where Paul was giving a speech to Stacy about how women are the true pillars of strength, but never are given the credit for it.. and you contrasted this speech that he gave to manipulate Stacy to do his bidding with Mike/Toni/Maggie where Mike was falling apart while Maggie/Toni were the pillar of strengths telling him to grow up).... and now we are stuck with Steve basically given no blame while Ann/Carolee will be made to suffer (still loved that final episode where Carolee gave Steve hell and that she had nothing to be sorry for because she sadly turned out to be correct about him and Ann).