Mona Kane Croft

Jumped the shark, I guess. Sad, for such a preciously great drama.

Well Sonny definitely casts a huge shadow on the show. And certainly medical-drama has been in the rear view mirror since around 1981.

I loved Lemay's work on AW because he wrote the characters like real people. So yes he was really a great soap writer. When we watched an episode it was like checking in on friends. Lemay's AW was all about the interior lives of the characters. But most of Lemay's plots were weak to say the least. He was great at writing character driven stuff. Not so good with identifiable plots. Lemay's AW was more about characters in situations, rather than identifiable plots. And I agree his relentless anger toward Jacquie Courtney and Virginia Dwyer was a bit pathological. Frankly he seemed intent on destroying their careers. As the old song says, "Ya' take the good, ya' take the bad..."

So what's up with Julie and the bookstore? Is this just a way to give Julie a job? Or is this going to lead to a big story line for our favorite Horton Julie?

John Driscoll was def the best Chance. The others were artificially alpha-male and it was a bit much and silly at times. No need to kill the character. Actually a very bad decision long term.

Definitely not the General Hospital of Steve Hardy and Jessie Brewer. Now the stars of the show are unlikable women and mobster men. And the doctors and nurses are minor characters. Jeeze-Louise!!!

Well that would be great. But soap studios are normally small and urban with no back lots or large property. So sadly I think your proposal is not likely to come to fruition.

I'm not doubting her word. I'm just expressing my personal opinion about the writing at the time. The only "evidence" I have to back it up is the writing, which I do believe was pushing Alex in the direction of being a neurotically motivated woman -- which Alex had not been in the past -- even during her most morally ambiguous moments. Jeeze-Louise, must you misunderstand everything?? Even when I openly say, it is "just my opinion", that's not good enough. An opinion is just an opinion. Nothing says you are obligated to accept or agree with it. I feel as if I have to walk on egg shells, carefully monitoring every word I type to avoid setting you off. I don't mind if people disagree with me or my opinions, but I don't state everything as fact -- I state it as my personal opinion. Please don't attack people just because you don't share (or perhaps understand) their opinions. My opinion only.

Sorry, I'm not sure. I just found it browsing. Maybe on Mitch's channel? But I really didn't notice. Sorry about that. This episode is definitely worth finding . . .

I think the writers were morphing Alex into BM's previous character, Iris. By making Alex more neurotic toward the men in her life -- sons, husbands, love interests, etc., and using those neurosis as her main motivations. BM may have felt that Alex was becoming as difficult to play as Iris had been on Another World. And this would have been more challenging to sustain for the actress. Just my opinion.

Although bringing back Janet would have been a great idea maybe 7 or 8 years earlier, it was perhaps too late in the game for Janet's return -- because literally, only Liz would even have remembered who she was. Plus, Denise was too young to play Janet, as Janet was a contemporary of Liz, Jim, and Mary. And I think Janet left before even Ada started on the show.

OMG! I just watched the July 4, 1985 episode of ATWT on YouTube. If you haven't seen it, go right now and watch it! Chris and Nancy are back, and it's the Hughes 4th of July picnic (the first shown in an episode after several years absence). So many great scenes between the Hughes and Stewart families. And wonderful moments with Chris Hughes (Don MacLaughlin) who is obviously failing in health, but still strong enough to perform in a way that will bring tears to your eyes. Watch all the way until the final scene with the fireworks. If you love the Hughes family, you will cry. Susan Bledsoe Horgan was the head-writer, I believe. But it seems like a Marland episode. ATWT was definitely itself again during this episode. And we get mentions of the name Mary Ellen Walters. Some of you know what that forebodes later in the Marland era.

I think Missy Matthews would have been a better choice for a return than Susan. Susan had been played by four different actors over the years, and the character was never very interesting. Missy, on the other hand, was a more dynamic character with an established background and lots of drama to explore with Liz and with Missy's son Ricky. And I think Missy was a good fit for Alexander's acting style. Although I'd love for Pam Davis to return, I don't think Alexander was the right actor for that role. I'd have cast Sharon Gabet as Pam.

Well, that's my point actually. She comes across as boring and uninspired for several reasons. But one of the major reasons is the audience doesn't know enough about her to care. If we found out she'd been abused by her father, been divorced three times, lost two children to a mysterious disease, and had a doppelgänger -- we might give a care. Obviously my examples are in jest, but I think I do have a point. As it stands, she has no past. And neither does her boring boyfriend, nor the doctor who gambles.

We really need to learn a little about Ashely's background and what makes her tick, if we are expected to care about her. The same with her boring boyfriend. And without a background and motivation, the poor actors have no subtext to play. Can you imagine playing a role on a soap, and having no subtext to play?? The writers need to let the audience into those characters' heads, so we understand their motivations and begin to empathize with them on some level. I feel similarly about the doctor with the gambling addiction (sorry, I'm bad with names). We know almost nothing about the man, except he has a cheating wife. We need to know more about him, other than the cheating wife and the gambling problem. What makes him tick?

I saw something online with a photo last night, it indicated he will appear on B&B as a doctor. Not sure it's reliable, but it was posted on FB (not posted by Jon). Didn't he appear on B&B a few times several years ago? No idea who he played then, but I have a vague memory of it.

The Contessa is correct.

Irene Dailey's Liz did mention Ricky and Missy several times during her first couple of years on AW. There was even a situation in which Mary Matthews flew to Arizona (or was it California?) to take care of Ricky, when Missy was ill. Missy didn't want Liz to know she was ill, because she didn't want Liz to upset Ricky with her meddling, so she called Mary. And the entire Matthews clan kept Mary's visit secret from Liz. And then later, around 1978, when Susan Matthews returned -- there was so much conversation about Bill that fans began to believe he was going to somehow return to the show. But after Harding Lemay left as head-writer, I don't recall Liz ever mentioning Missy or Ricky again, but perhaps she did. However the ignorance of later writers does not negate Liz's history with Bill, Missy, and Ricky. I do see your point about social media connections and video calls between family members in 2025. So an imposter plot today would need to cover a lot of those bases to be believable. But when I made my original comment, I was really thinking of this storyline occurring before AW was cancelled in 1999. So most of those more modern details would not have been an issue with believability.

And still -- who the Hell is Dumas? Are they really going to introduce a new middle-aged business titan to the show? Or is he/she someone we already know? Could she/he actually be Tucker McCall? Jill Abbott? Drucilla Winters? Aunt Mamie? Esther Valentine?

Funny. But I had the idea first. LOL And is Doug3 an imposter, or just a criminal? I only watch DOOL during special occasions.

How about a Ricky Matthews impersonator taking advantage of Liz? Until Pat comes to Bay City for a visit, and recognizes that this guy is not Ricky -- whom she had seen just a few months earlier while visiting Missy in California. Now Pat must break Liz's heart by telling her the grandson she adores is an imposter.

Yes, I think it must have been some kind of misunderstanding. Surely she was on-contract. But in both interviews, she used the word contract, and said she never had one. I remember thinking she was wrong at the time. But I can't imagine how she got herself confused about that issue two different times.

Are either of these scenes available on YouTube?

I remember reading in two separate interviews in the late-80s or early-90s, Helen Wagner stated that she never had a contract. I found that hard to believe, but that's what she said. I'm still not sure I believe. But she did say it.

Paul Raven, you should have been AW's head-writer. But here's a hint from my idea of Marland mining history for a retcon undead baby/child: baby clothes...