robbwolff

7 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

The guy on the right looks like someone I knew in real life BITD whose name was David A. Stampley. I don't suppose it's him, is it?

No. It's Christopher Durham.

10 hours ago, Contessa Donatella said:

It's wrong about Bope on DAYS. 

Not to go off-topic, but "Whatever We Imagine" was used for Hope and Bo. A number of popular songs were used for the couple besides "Tonight I Celebrate My Love for You," including Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero."

On 5/4/2024 at 6:06 PM, Maxim said:

Scarlet is getting these creepy phone calls and hearing church music...

Who is Scarlet? I have no recollection of a character by that name.

Johnny Bauer was actually a Mary Ryan Munisteri creation as he arrived around June 1986. Sheri Anderson was responsible for Johnny's dreaded sister Lacey who arrived in June 1987 and was gone by August.

10 hours ago, Althea Davis said:

What month of 1983 does this change happen? I am scared

A few characters are phased out during the L. Virginia Browne/Gene Palumbo stint, which pretty much runs from early December 1982 to early March 1983. Then there's an interim head writing team with Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, and Gary Tomlin for a couple of months that sets the stage for the arrival of Pamela Long Hammer. They wrap up some storylines and introduce Annabelle Sims, who will be a major player. Then the big changes start happening in May 1983. Beginning in May, about 10 contract characters are written out by the end of the year, while 12 new contract characters are introduced. I had only been watching Guiding Light for about a year when the changes started, but some of the decisions made are truly mind boggling. And the departures continue thoughout 1984 and 1985 with another 12 contract characters who were on the canvas in 1982 being written out.

Thanks for sharing this! It was such a joy to watch. I was impressed by the large cast and the set. I actually loved the window backdrop in the courtroom, with palm trees visible right outside the courthouse. And it was fun to watch these vintage commercials too.

Judi Ann Mason was at Generations from the start. Her name appears in the credits for the first episode. And Frank Dandridge appears in the credits for two early May 1989 episodes posted here in recent days.

I believe the singers were Roberta Flack and the late Billy Chinnock, whose song "Somewhere in the Night" had been the final theme song for Search for Tomorrow.

I recall Carolee was raped by the character portrayed by Robert Burton. But wasn't she also raped when she was in NYC, leading to her catatonic state?

16 hours ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

It's interesting they sent Jim to the same place they were planning to do location shooting.  Makes me wonder if Jim's character was to be connected to the location shooting in some way.  Either alive, or perhaps his death was to have had some small part in the larger storyline.  If I'm not mistaken, I believe Hugh Marlowe was already deceased when the character left for Finland. I could be wrong about that.    

I want to say that the reports of the planned Helsinki location shoot took place in early 1982 -- around February. From what I saw on the AW Home Page, Hugh Marlowe last aired as Jim on April 30. Marlowe died on May 2. And then Steve went to open an office in Finland the week of May 10. I suspect that the plan was for Rachel to join Steve in Finland and for them to become closer there.

If I recall correctly, Jim was said to be in Helsinki, Finland at the time of his death. I also recollect that AW had planned to do a location shoot in Finland in 1982, but it was scrapped for some reason.

Even though I've frequented this board for many years, I wasn't completely familiar with the whole Virginia Dwyer story. So I'm personally grateful that this subject came up over the past few days.

Actually, Linda's first role was on OLTL, not ATWT. Gretel Cummings appeared in the late 70s. Then, from 1981 to 1982, she played the role of Cynthia Haines on ATWT.

Kobe was already producing by that time. She was an associate producer on Return to Peyton Place, which aired from 1972 to 1974. I think she was then producing at Days of our Lives and The Edge of Night.

Texas did location shoots on occasion after the first few months. In 1981, there was an action sequence involving Ryan, Joe, Elena, and Peter Parnell at a zoo. In 1982, we saw Reena and Grant in Palm Springs and then the climax of the Hitopah adventure with Brette, Rikki, Joel, Gretchen, Mark, and Ruby.

Thanks for sharing that! From the synopses on the AWHP site, the day Rachel spoke with Iris, she and Matthew decided to go to Northwestern to see what they could learn. A week later, the synopses say Matt came back with Matt's records that showed he didn't graduate from Northwestern. 

3 hours ago, Mona Kane Croft said:

This scene more-or-less revises Mac's original orign story.  This dialogue implies Mac was a self-made businessman, when in his original history, Mac had inherited Cory Publishing and the Cory fortune was, even then, two or three generations old.  Donna Swajeski didn't seem to have much respect for what previous writers had brought to the show.  

I just watched the scene. It's absurd that Rachel had no idea that Mac had gone to Northwestern University for graduate school.

Thanks for sharing this! What a treat to watch this and to see Jada as a child. What really struck me was the announcer inviting the audience to listen to The Secret Storm during the closing credit as opposed to watch it.

I'm thrilled to see a woman back as a head writer. It's been nearly 5 years since a woman has been head writer of a soap.

I've been watching old episodes of Guiding Light lately and there's a June 1982 episode available on YouTube that features Amanda at the mansion on the Wexler estate and Jennifer is living in the cottage on the estate. The house is specifically referred to as a cottage, not a carriage house. In that episode, a shirtless Mark Evans descends the staircase in the cottage and Jennifer reveals to Amanda that they were married in Paris that day. In the same episode, we also see Carrie and Ross in their carriage house as Carrie attempts to flee Springfield. If I remember correctly, Ross and Carrie's carriage house was located next to the Kennedy house as Carrie seduced the Kennedy's teenage son Ron. Perhaps the carriage house was part of the Kennedy's property.

I started watching in April 1982 when Texas was shifted from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 a.m. I recollect that one of the stories at that time involved Alan and Hope moving from their mansion into a smaller house while Floyd Parker, who was embarking on a career as a rock star, moved into the Spaulding mansion. Floyd's career tanked later that year and I believe Alan and Hope reclaimed the mansion.

Murder mystery parties/dinners are extremely popular on the east coast. I've already run three and am writing the script for a fourth -- a murder mystery inspired by The Golden Girls and Schitts Creek. They're sellouts every time and a great way to raise funds for causes.

28 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Interesting.

So that means that AW and Texas shared one production office? As well as the same studio?  

I’m a credits nerd and remembered seeing her name in Texas’ credits. I found some closing credits for Texas from 1980 and she was listed as a production assistant. I believe both Texas and AW taped in the same Brooklyn studio. Eddie Drueding’s site does list her as a secretary for Paul Rauch in 1983. It’s all very curious since by March 1983, Carolyn, her husband Richard, and Gary Tomlin were listed as interim head writers of Guiding Light until. The credits changed that May with Pamela Long Hammer and Richard Culliton being listed as head writers. I remember that the Culliton name stood out to me back then because there was an actor named Patrick Culliton in the movie The Towering Inferno and I had wondered if they were related.

On 12/27/2023 at 12:16 PM, AbcNbc247 said:

L. Virginia Browne came on as head writer and a lot of characters were immediately sent packing. I guess Carolyn Culliton was a casualty as well 

Actually Carolyn was not yet writing for AW in 1980. I don’t think she started writing for the show till 1984. She was a production assistant for Texas in 1980. That said, I really wish Michael Fairman would do an interview with the Cullitons about their work on soaps.

Brown and Esensten revealed months in advance about the direction Holly was going to take. In an interview in early 1998, they indicated that Holly would become obsessed with baby Maureen and kidnap her. Somewhere along the way, they morphed it into the nursery rhyme stalker storyline. 

Had Kobe stayed, I think we would have seen Pam Long return sooner than 1987, which may have spared the show from the disastrous Munisteri/Barrett and Anderson/Manetta regimes. We may have also actually seen the return of Hope Bauer, which Jeff Ryder previewed in SOD.