soapfave06

I was never the biggest GL fan but Kimberly Simms just has it, if I pick an episode up, it’s usually from that era or the last 70s. A huge disappoint to see they could have kept KS as Mindy and of course BM as Alex. It’s amazing how fast these shows will let go of talent, especially women, but are so eager to hire a “big name” that has no impact.

Wow, what a packed month! The Meg climax seems chilling, was definitely not expecting some axe throwing. Peggy Nelson officially introduced for the big Audrey plot and Phil realizing he is in the clear! While the stories don’t move at warp speed it does seem you miss a day, you miss a lot.

It is mind boggling how swiftly the ratings changed or perhaps how much they destroyed the shows Ryan’s Hope and Another World were performing rather well before heading to the doldrums of the ratings and SEARCH is in the middle of the rankings, at the bottom in two short years. The Doctors was even ahead of DAYS!

Thanks for sharing; interested to see where the Meg breakdown story goes and I like the slow build up of Diana uncovering Phil’s past.

Thanking you for sharing more episode descriptions, I would really love to see more Amy and Valerie scenes. I read more of Owen/Ian in the recap thread provided, it seems Owen tumbled down a flight of stairs to his death, perhaps in a fight with Valerie. It’s interesting how sometimes you get great details in these summaries but then portions seem to be missing. I am very intrigued by this show.

Awesome, the beginning of the baby story for Tom/Steve/Audrey. Did the show have a rather large cast at this time for a 30 minute soap?

Thanks for sharing, that seems pretty controversial, even more so than Marie/Tommy on DAYS.

I hadn’t read up on the show in a long time and with so little to watch, it’s hard to remember, but Amy almost fell in love with her almost half-brother? Also, wasn’t there a storyline about twins or something with Valerie?

Wow, such an invaluable information, I hope I get this for OLTL one day, but love reading in such detail the history of GH. Thank you!

I remember being pretty excited for this but it all went with a whimper, the casting I thought was great under his tenure though. So much wasted potential in the next generation of Ana, Fen, Hilary, Noah, etc. I was really hoping they would phase out the ridiculous corporate wars and focus on the next generation with Sharon/Mariah at the forefront but Sharon has seen nada and we have the same dialogue and repeated stories that go nowhere. I ultimately think the problem is CBS/Sony, I don’t think anyone could properly turn the show around or had free reign since maybe MAB, I assume she was free to do as she pleased, but since then, I’m not sure anyone did. This got me thinking back to JFP and the terrible casting then, JH was great as Adam, to give her credit but I shudder at still being stuck with MO as Abby. I also appreciate Y&R for maintaining most of the vets but this is the only show that would not hurt my feelings if Jack, Victor and unless they recast Victoria all disappeared, among others. But Y&R and B&B seem to be able to maintain a ratings just playing the same actors in the same BS.

This is awesome, thanks for sharing!!

How far ahead do they film? I wasn’t too excited given JG history but this really could’ve provided some actual suspenseful story for months and months, especially since Cameron actually served time and has spent 19 years consumed by the need for revenge.

That’s unfortunate, at least we know the show tried. I would rather not see a recast, all they can do is move on. The closest we could have gotten was Olivia with Nate, Malcolm and Mamie, we know VR is never stepping foot back and frankly she has nothing to come back to.

I’ll happily accept any ideas you have in your head, seriously, I would happily read them all! Haha Daniel had such a clean slate, I love the idea of him with chemistry magnet Kassie/Blair, and taking the mantle from Todd as well defined gray character. And actually, the scene Katrina was in was with Ed, they had such great friendship chemistry and I can’t think of a better way to honor that era.

I watched a few episodes from 1983 on YT and the characters are just so immaculate, though the show moves at such an odd pace. In one episode, there is a hunt for a cash prize that begins and ends in one episode, even with half the cast present. In another, so many revelations come out regarding Bo/Delila/Asa come out at break neck speed and even that episode began with Clint getting his butt kicked by Asa’s goons. It is a shame they couldn’t find a way to keep a few of the late 70s-early 80s golden era characters: Katrina, Brad, Marco, Ed, Carla, Sadie. Brad and Marco at least made it half way through the Rauch era, but of course never were the same. I thought Brad and Tina had great chemistry they could play off of. Katrina would have been great supporting character for a community feel, and of course the ties to Jenny and Brad. Ellen Holly and Al Freeman as Carla and Ed have such a great theatrical, old Hollywood feel to their acting, they should have been a writers dream. I think Carla would better serve as a successor to Dr. Will Vernon as a psychiatrist than a judge, and Llanview had plenty of crazies in the 80s. I would also say they excelled at casting Ava Hadad as Cassie, had they even remotely tried to cast a good Danny Wolek and Josh Hall, they could have had a charismatic, legacy centered youth set to build from in the early 80s as AMC was killing it with Greg/Jenny and Angie/Jesse with Liza mixed in. I love the late-80s utter camp, but the entire reliance on Viki/Clint/Cord/Tina and later Sarah/Megan, really hurt the show for a good two years when it dried up/the actors left and they completely failed to write in a single new family in that time. Now with that said, Viki and Clint not being at the center of most of these episodes is shocking, Rauch did make a great choice to revamp with Viki/Clint as the focal point. In some episode they are almost supporting players.

I can’t wait to see this, looks fun!

That time of DAYS was pretty great and for the most part, character driven. If they had given John/Marlena some better material and not destroyed Jennifer and Nicole at the altar of Daniel, I don’t think I would have had complaints. Nick/Gabi/Will/Sonny could have lasted years, Sami/Gabi/Kate teaming up to dispose of Nick’s body was awesome, but for some reason I remember it all falling apart and losing interest with his return and murder. But from Fall 2012-Fall 2013, added with the return of Kristen, it was pretty on fire. I think Banus could command a scene, wish they did more with Gabi in contrast to Sonny and Will and versus Sami, and then when she finally had a great pairing with Stefan, they killed him off and did the Jake debacle. And I must admit, I did love the story of the heart transplant and Gabi controlling Julie’s heart lol

I wish soaps would introduce characters like this more often, gives time to test the chemistry and where they fit best in the canvas and the see the strengths of the actor. I don’t know if she exactly counts but Tina on OLTL was brought in as Viki's ward, seemed to just cause trouble here and there with no successful pairing or long term story until leaving, returning in 1984 searching for her father and catapulting to the front burner. I wonder who dug into the history books and decided to go there?

Oh my, what could’ve been. It’s simple, heartfelt, covers all the tracks and honors history. Thank you for sharing that!

OLTL had so much turnover I think it made it difficult to bring back almost anyone, and comparing even just RC’s stint on One Life to that of GH and DAYS, where almost everyone has or had returned and Marlena has been the center of DAYS, unlike Viki on OLTL during his time. And even the returns they did do missed so much-what a failed opportunity to get Tina, Dorian and Viki in one room together. Alex had decent returns, I guess. Pamela was killed. Poor Marty (enough said). Pre-1983 was forgotten altogether.

That’s a great assessment, I really wish they would have delved into the psychology of Viki with Natalie and Jessica-with Natalie being messy and wanting acceptance like Tina or Karen, and Jessica being so similar to Viki but wanting her own identity and not to live in the shadow of her mother, could have led to years of character driven story, instead Jessica and Natalie became damsels in distress. I would have loved to have continued to see Natalie causing hell, intentionally and incidental, for Jessica and Viki for years. Putting Jessica with Antonio and Natalie and John…just., no. Makes no sense. And in my dream world, once that saga dried up, a gay CJ and a troublemaking Sarah would have returned with Tina and Cord on recurring, preferably both played by half Mexican/half white actors, to honor Cords roots.

I’m not sure if Erin Torpey would have stayed anyway, but another example of decimating the core, that’s a nice balance and a great example (Natalie/Jessica to Karen/Jenny) I also like the contrast of Viki/Tina with the red head and the blond sister. I can’t recall how GT wrote heroines in general across the soaps. I so loved the Hulu revival, I thought the casting for Matthew for excellent and Kelley SHINED as Dani and her relationship with Tea, I just loved it, and yes I thought Matthew/Destiny/Danielle could have driven story for a long while and it would have been worthwhile with Matthew from a core family and Destiny and Danielle as diverse leads. I think I gave up on the show around Spring 2010 after the lesbian wedding fiasco and ousting many diverse characters, on top of the utter waste of Tika Sumpter as Layla, I was tired. I never could get into Langston and Markko after the initial story but they didn’t try much, I would have liked to have seen Starr keep her scheming side as a troublemaker, I think that botched that foursome for me the most. Ugh, I’ll never be able to forget that 🤮

Great review, I appreciate your feedback as it was a complete turnaround after being critically acclaimed, critically boring and then critically depressing. Speaking of the Natalie/Jessica switcheroo, I was reviewing old SOD postings on twitter and it appears OLTL was a steady #2 in the late summer/early fall of 1986, so I would presume this to be the Mitch climax, Dorian on trial for his murder and baby Jessica being kidnapped, I reckon it was a good idea to revisit that but I had not realized Jessica ended up marginalized, I would love to see the initial ET Jessica and Natalie feud. Also, very funny and accurate comments on Matthew, OLTL really tried with the teen scene and despite being a teen at the time, I just…couldn’t with any of those actors, save for Kelley Missal as Dani.

Thanks for sharing, when I was reviewing the ratings, I did see a huge boost for February 2000, so that makes sense and a huge missed opportunity to not reset the show back to the proper couplings after all that hell. I did quite enjoy Nora and Bo reuniting in 2009 when I was watching but there wasn’t much story for either even with them apart. I appreciate your detailed recap, if you don’t mind, how did that era contrast in fan response to the more cartoonish Tomlin era?

I wasn’t watching them but had read about Hugo before, never realizing Dorian teamed up with a killer and helped him kidnap Viki In just a few short months Dorian did that and caused Jessica to miscarry I wonder how much stronger the ratings could have been if they avoided this nonsense I very much enjoy reading your thoughts on OLTL!