DramatistDreamer

He really does!! There was a post that Venus sent out about Grigor that Prakash Amritraj read out on the Tennis Channel (it went viral, which is the only reason I saw it) was hilarious and deliberately provocative, I think. I also think they all have a good laugh about these social media exchanges. If Andy Roddick were still single, they’d probably be doing the same with him.

From a writing perspective, I don’t think Marland wanted to risk viewers finding a way to fall for the character. He obviously wasn’t meant to be long term and soap fans had a unsavory habit of falling for characters who had committed heinous acts, especially if they were good looking, and sometimes in cases where the character wasn’t even conventionally good looking. Marland may have wanted to ensure that there were no letters, no phone calls, no requests for meetings with the executives at P&G, requesting that he write a way for the character to stick around. Also, they obviously had plans to bring back Anthony Hererra’s James Stenbeck back to the canvas at some point so, having two bad guys on the canvas would have been too much. And as attractive as the first Tad was, no writer, no matter how skilled is going to keep him on the canvas with Anthony Herrera available. I guess they could have “disappeared” Tad for awhile and brought him back but I think Marland must have decided that a murder mystery would have been more entertaining.

Yes, when I rewatched those episodes as an adult about a decade ago, it was so very clear that Tad was Trump. From the real estate business that had been handed down to him to the nasty attitude and lascivious behavior to the sexual assault and predatory conduct, even the styling of Larry Pine’s version was full-on Trumpian. My guess is, that made it much easier to kill off the character.

Although I thought Larry Pine was hilariously venal, I did find the original actor intriguing, maybe because the contrast of this good looking, somewhat charismatic guy who was an otherwise awful human being. I was interested in what his arc would be and honestly, I could see how Iva and Denise could be attracted to a Tad Channing that looked like him. With Larry Pine’s Tad being so obviously evil, I had a hard time figuring out what on earth Iva (even with low-esteem issues) and Denise (hungry for opportunity) could ever have seen in Tad. Maybe Lisa Brown wanted a clearer contrast to her GL character, Nola who had been known for being edgy. Brown was a known B’way performer and may have had other opportunities and honestly, I can see her being bored with portraying any character too similar to the last one she played the last time they worked together so, perhaps that character shift got her to stay on the show?

That sounds like so much fun! By the time I got to college in the 90s, daytime soaps no longer inspired that type of enthusiasm. It was all about the sleazy talk shows by then. This is pretty much how today’s soap operas are written. Marland belonged to that school of writing that composed story projections that went out at least a year or more. From the accounts of actors who worked with him, he wrote out the story projections nearly two years out. From what I can glean, he left room for flexibility, so that he could make adjustments here and there, which is what one should do, you want to leave room to explore the unforeseen possibilities that crop up. When you put out something off the cuff, it’s hard to explain, let alone backtrack if it goes awry. I have been in screenwriting workshops where writers got trapped that way and had to scrap their entire idea. When you’re in the midst of writing a continuing story, good luck with that!

That was a humdinger of an episode, wasn’t it @Soapsuds? I think I did set the VCR to record the episode but I also remember walking really fast after getting off the school bus, (which was a block away from my house) so that could catch whatever I could in real time of the episode (probably the last few minutes). Then, in the evening I could watch from the beginning.

On this day in 1986, it was the apex of a veritable sweeps week with this episode.

That would be like 3 years worth of storylines on today’s Y&R.🙃

I just recently watched the PBS documentary called “The War On Disco” which was very interesting but could have gone further in exploring the aspect that the sale of Rock music was declining from other factors beside the popularity of disco music. In other shows that discussed the 1970s rockers also expressed a lack of regard for “glam rock” and “soft rock”, which a number of traditional rock musicians thought of as pale imitations of the genre, yet threre were never any attempt to steamroll over a Debbie Boone or Anne Murray album, or the soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I think the interlocutors let the disco haters who caused the melee at the Comiskey Park off the hook too easily, but perhaps that is for a different documentary.

For me, the most memorable episodes surrounding the passage of patriarch Chris Hughes weren’t about the funeral itself but the episodes before (when the Hughes family and extended family and friends were learning about his passing) and the aftermath, after the funeral when we see how loved ones are dealing with the grief after the funeral service, which is often not something that many dramas would dramatize. It was likely done without Rosemary Prinz and Julianne Moore due to scheduling issues that probably couldn’t have been rearranged to cover what was an unforeseen event but I think the writing made it work as Frannie’s scenes with Casey in the vehicle (I too wondered why, there wasn’t a deeper exploration of a romantic relationship between Frannie and Casey- Marland had a better sense of how to pace stories than most but this was one of those that I think was too rushed, they should have lingered a bit longer). Penny wailing “Mom!” and just repeating “Mom…Mom…” as she fell into Nancy Hughes’ arms will never not strike me in an emotional way. David Stewart embracing Bob with the gentle greeting of “Friend” was just so touching to me. There was a scene of Margo lovingly and sympathetically looking at Tom as he mulls over the fact that their unborn child will never get to know his great grandfather, Margo tries to soothe Tom by reminding him that, at least, they were able to give Chris the news that they had reconciled which she knew made him happy. Sometimes ATWT could be a little too subtle for its own good but this was a time when those small moments painted a poignant and realistic picture of what grief and its immediate aftermath tends to look like. Also, I think the missing episodes do a disservice to the continuity, particularly in years like 1986 and 1987, when there were so many stories, many of which overlapped and interlocked with one another.

Thus joining the ranks, alongside Scott and Fen.

The daytime drama community has suffered a number of losses in recent years and its a certain kind of sadness that comes with the recognition that many recent losses have been of actors who have gone at relatively young ages. For sure, it will be cold comfort to GH and Days fans that at least these shows are still airing when they can pay homage to Tyler Christopher, hopefully both shows will take the time to give a fitting tribute. May he RIP.

That clip of the guy commenting on the athletic exploits of Monfils is hilarious. I have seen different videos of mainly Black guys marveling at Monfils’ acrobatics. They all express utter shock at never having seen him before. It kind of speaks to the poor job that tennis’ executives are doing at broadening the reach of the sport’s visibility. Speaking of doing a poor job, for years, I have been expressing my frustration with Simon. It may be a bit crass to say but, the pandemic and the Peng Shuai situation gave him cover for the past three years as both took the focus on his systematic failures. It gives me no joy to say that I haven’t watch a single match since the U.S. Open. I grew up as a fan of tennis and by the late 80s, I became a hardcore fan. Now, I barely keep up with the sport. Personally, I think the management of both tours are failing the sport. There needs to be wholesale change at the top of both Tours’ executive ranks, they are selling the sport way short, all for a cash grab.

Their big fat Greek wedding will always be stunning. They did have chemistry and the actors promoted the hell out of that pairing, regardless of how each actor now looks upon their time on the show. I do think the promotion of the supercouple should have faded with the end of the decade (1980s).

Since the days of Irna Phillips, P&G was known for being very actively involved in stories and characterizations on their shows. Both the showrunner and the executives were known to have bumped heads numerous times and in the end, P&G mostly got their own way. Although his reunion videos are not always known for being of the highest quality, several uploads provided insight as a few former ATWT actors talked about the battles between writers and the brass at P&G and/or CBS Daytime for content in scripts that the higher ups considered to be objectionable. Scott Bryce once described it as being akin to being called into the principal’s office. Creativity by committee tends to yield insipid results.

Yes, I did hear Lauren mention Fen but figured she must’ve mentioned Scott while my attention drifted, lol. Oh that’s weird that she wouldn’t mention her first born. I know the character has been a mess in the previous appearances but that is a big oversight.

^^ Congratulations to Belinda. Now, at least I won’t have to watch her on court tantrums. A win-win.

A postscript to his biography: Apparently, Diaz has a daytime/soap opera connection. His widow Shawn Callaghan Diaz was a set decorator for the program Captain Kangaroo and the daytime dramas As The World Turns and Guiding Light.

Reading this article, I couldn’t shake my head enough times. This is just beyond a few miscues. This is all out negligence. https://www.yahoo.com/news/signs-were-why-did-no-130935199.html

I don’t often watch this show anymore but I enjoyed this episode, for the most part. I wonder if LLB was pondering her parents legacy as well their physical absences. Emotionally, I think there was more going on there than what was just on the screen or in the script. The CBS website would be a good opportunity to add some extras because yes, it’s odd that the show couldn’t find a clip of a scene with her mother Jessica to tie into the episode, especially when she was talking about the concept of family and questioning her life choices. Honestly, from the looks of those clips, it really makes it seem like Paul was the standby after things fell apart with Danny.

Oh, okay. Thanks for clarifying that. I was curious.

Did Lauralee make her debut during Sweeps? Was there a sweeps back then?

The back and forth bothers me more with each passing year. I am convinced that half the flu cases that happen in the fall stem from people struggling to adapt to the time difference.

The ever vivacious Marisa Tomei (Marcy Thompson, ATWT) wearing her haute couture Halloween costume discusses her new movie with Peter Dinklage and Anne Hathaway.

Giving this thread a bump as it’s that time of year again. This weekend.