robbwolff

And I think you're right: I vaguely recollect the name Theresa Regina being used at some point. I didn't realize that Joanna had been used for the name of Lloyd's wife at one point. That's now the second character named Joanne whose name was changed. Sometime in 1983, Billy Lewis' ex-wives were referenced as Dina and Joanna. When ex-wife #2 arrived, she was known as Reva.

I trust Jason's word about Days waiting for news of a renewal. His knowledge about the show is pretty amazing. Also, I'm not sure about NBC having to telling Carlivati about its plans so that he could write an ending. That surely didn't happen with Port Charles in 2003. The show completed production at the end of its six-month taping schedule. ABC cancelled the show later, in June 2003, so Brown and Esensten never had the chance to write an ending.

The quote about bringing back Mike and Hope was in Soap Opera Digest and was part of an article about Jeff Ryder's plans for the show. It was around early April 1986, so right after Bert passed away. He also discussed plans to introduce Sarah and Rusty Shayne. Of course, Ryder was gone from Guiding Light by May 1986. Here's the article:

I really enjoyed it. I was surprised to not only hear the original theme song from the Retro reruns, but also to see Robert Mandan guest starring in the premiere. The sets were pretty impressive. I found it challenging caring for the characters. I didn't know them so I wasn't invested in their stories. What really bothered me was a line toward the end of the episode involving Mandan's character asking the doctors about he and his wife having a child. The doctor's response -- in light of the events in this episode -- made me cringe.

Did they actually say Kincaid was too old to play Tom? If so, that's absurd. He was younger than his predecessors C. David Colson, Justin Deas, and Tom Tammi.

I had lost interest in GL by the time Charita passed way, but my mom was still a big fan. I recall reading an article in one of mom's soap magazines around the summer of 1985 where there was talk of possibly recasting the role of Bert. I think they even dropped the names of a few actresses who were being considered. A year after they allowed Bert to die, there were talks with Mary Stuart about joining GL as Hannah Bauer. This was when Sheri Anderson was head writer. Years later, Mary talked about that in a soap mag interview. I'm not sure who Hannah was supposed to be. Perhaps she was meant to be the mother of Johnny, Lacey, and Todd (who was slated to be played by Frank Dicopolous until Pam Long dropped Todd and created Frank Cooper).

It is so long ago that it's hard to remember the details. I do remember the bust being laughable, but don't recall is Liz was aware that the bones were that of Maria. Walter Gantz wasn't around long at all -- less than three weeks. Lee Sheldon sped through story way too quickly. Poor Nicole was murdered around the second week of June and Miles was bedding Chris a few months later.

That was really ludicrous. Her name was Maria and she was a patient at Greenhaven Sanitarium where Laurie Karr and Liz Corell were also institutionalized. Dr. Prentice, who was in charge of Greenhaven, accidentally killed Maria in a struggle. One of the guys at the sanitarium, Benedict, protected Dr. Prentice by burying Maria and then drugging Laurie Karr so that Laurie wouldn't reveal that Dr. Prentice had killed Maria. There was another guy involved in the mess -- Timothy -- but I don't recall his connection to Greenhaven. I always felt 1984 was a frustrating year -- so many new characters added for these stories only to be dropped as soon as the story was over.

Edge's Mexico trip wasn't taped in Montauk. It was taped in Los Cabos, Mexico. As for Alicia's involvement with the plastics formula, the storyline had been going on since late March. Julianne Moore was even featured as Carmen Engler early in the storyline. A lot of people forget that Edge ended with a second Olympics cliffhanger: the arrival of Marcia Cross as Liz Correll, who showed up in Derek Mallory's office with human bones. I thought it was a brilliant way to introduce a new intriguing character and mystery.

Thanks for sharing this, Paul! I lived in East Brunswick and remember when Edge came to town in 1978. Years later, probably around 1985, my old elementary school (Chittick) had a silent auction, including the final script from Edge, signed by the entire cast.

I first started watching GL in April 1982 and remember a lot of the details during that period.

This is not accurate. Pat Falken Smith was there for only about 2 months in the fall of 1982. There wasn’t much turnover at all during her brief tenure. Pat was replaced by L. Virginia Browne and Gene Palumbo around December 1982. They were gone by late March or early April. This is the period when a few characters were jettisoned: Sara, Tim, Jennifer, Gracie, and perhaps some others. Browne/Palumbo kept Morgan and moved her into Phillip and Rick’s orbit until the character was abruptly phased out in May 1983. Next came interim writers Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, and Gary Tomlin, who were there around April/May. I think they introduced Annabelle Sims. Pam Long and Richard Culliton arrived in May; this is when the massive cast changes happened. Hope was gone by November/December 1983. Alan departed around April 1984. Long/Culliton wrote Quint and Nola’s wedding. I don’t remember a kidnapping story during their honeymoon. Their honeymoon involved an inn and the tale of star-crossed lovers, John and Nora, who had died a century earlier. Lisa Brown gave birth the following year. Quint and Nola then had that very unpopular story with the child Jonathan Brooks. As for Browne, I always take what she said with a grain of salt. In one article, she claimed that Guiding Light continued to use her bible for another 9 or so months after she was fired as head writer. I’m not sure how true that is, but she also claimed that she was credited on screen during those 9 months. Not true at all. Her name was gone from the credits by early spring 1983.

They were looking to identify the child actor who played Tabitha on Bewitched. Serena was mentioned in the segment when the panelists asked who played the role of Serena.

Since Jody dated Nancy’s nephew Kelly, we could assume that Laurie’s name came up. Or Nicole could have mentioned Laurie to Jody at some point.

It really isn't bizarre at all. I know a number of instances where people have changed their surnames like this. My husband's nephew did. He assumed his mother's maiden name because he wanted no ties with his mentally and physically abusive father.

A good number of my family are anti-maskers and believe that COVID is a hoax. They've been mocking masks for months despite the fact that we lost our cousin Mike to COVID in April. Mike started showing symptoms and was gone in less than 24 hours. Now, they're finally beginning to take it seriously after it really hit home this week: My aunt's longtime boyfriend and his sister both died from COVID within hours of each other.

I believe the Dekkers were originally slated to be Mexican American but that was dropped. I also recollect that Striker and Vicky had two sons in addition to their daughters Reena and Samantha. Of course, Sam became a cousin and the sons were dropped.

My jaw dropped when he didn’t know who Nick Nicholson was. And he didn’t know about Another Life. Marcia’s memory for details is incredible.

Thanks for sharing this news! Last night, I got to relive some of my favorite Ruby and Lurlene moments!!

Well, it’s definitely him. The photo was one of dozens on him on Getty Images, including color photos of him with Lisa Denton and other Loving cast members like James Kiberd and Bryan Cranston.

Are you sure? I thought Rick was Heather's father. I saw summaries online where Rick is referenced as kidnapping his daughter, Heather.

It was quite a scandal! It was all over the New Jersey radio stations at the time. She was on his show for a while, too. Here's a photo of Lisa and Imus with Tom Ligon on Loving.

Denton was also embroiled in quite a scandal at the time as she hooked up with the much older Don Imus. The longtime ATWT fans in New Jersey were aghast that the new Betsy was involved with the controversial radio personality.

Screw whoever it was that made those comments to you. You, sir, are one of the most honorable people on these boards and you bring a treasure trove of knowledge and insight to every discussion. Whoever made those comments to you is pathetic.

Not sure who wrote the promo but this was the Corinne Jacker era. I shudder at the memory of that abysmal year.