BetterForgotten

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Ah, when did Michelle Forbes leave?

Not only the strike, but GL also had a change in EP's during the story - from Joe Willmore to Robert Calhoun.

Definitely.

The Dobson's always had a great knack for writing complex and interesting female characters. This would be evident when they went over to GL soon after.

It was also hugely impacted by the '88 writers strike, I believe. Or it may have started during the strike, something like that.

It will be so good to see Kathryn again.

It's documented from Nancy herself in the 2009 interview Toups, Dan, and I conducted with her. https://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2009/04/an-interview-with-nancy-curlee Toups: How did you come up with three years worth of storylines without feeling burnt out? Curlee: By the end of my time there, frankly, I was burned out. More to do with endless meetings defending our work and pitching and justifying, than with the writing itself. But it is hard, under any circumstances, to maintain that kind of quality. I probably should have relinquished more control of it, in hindsight. I felt very protective of the material and the actors, and had a hard time saying okay, that’s good enough if I didn’t think it really was. Where's your proof contradicting Nancy's own words, @VanessaReardon? She's definitely honest here that at the end of her tenure, it wasn't an environment that promoted creativity. She could have other reasons as well for leaving (like I believe she had gotten pregnant again by this time), but she definitely wasn't happy with the working environment when she left.

The last episode where Nancy Curlee and Stepehen Demorest are listed together as HWs. In early '94, Patrick Mulcahey is now listed as their third Co-HW. Demorest would return again later in '94, but was fired for good by the end of that year. Patrick Mulcahey is listed as HW by himself in the next set of credited episodes, but hated that experience after Curlee/Demorest left. I know Curlee was very unhappy at this point as she felt the show and her work had been "taken away" from her. It is basically a JFP/corporate vanity production at this point with so many of her worst habits that were later noticible at other shows she produced. It's not surprising that the bubbling Bridget/Vanessa custody battle over Peter is the major/central story in Curlee's last credited episode. That's the one story that really felt like her work at this point and the type of complicated material she excelled at. And that beautiful conversation between Blake and Michelle in the Bauer kitchen (20:50 in) where they discuss the situation over Peter is also so thoughtful and a trademark of her work. Curlee may have had a quick HW-ing stint, but who knew that her work would still be remembered/discussed over 25 years later? And who knew that GL would never have a HW that thoughtful again?

I liked quite a bit of what I've seen of Susan Harney's Alice. Obviously, I wasn't alive to see Courtney at her peak, but I thought Harney was able to play both toughness and vulnerability well. What was the main problem with her Alice? Was it simply because she wasn't Jacqueline Courtney?

Did anyone ask Bethany about playing teenage clone Reva first? LOL

Generally, it was hilarious when the P&G soaps cast child actors who couldn't hide their obvious New Yawk accents, when these shows were obviously based in the mid-west.

Hillary will be on an OLTL reunion Alan has scheduled.

Giving jobs to friends or showcasing actors she feels are worthy of attention (when most don’t) often seemed to be a motive for JFP.

Martha tried so hard to be professional as Liz was going off at certain points, lol.

Jessica Collins complained to her about the outcome of that story (and the message it sent out) and they changed it. But it won Jessica an Emmy, so...

I am not making fun of her loving her daughter, her Emmy speeches just blend together and follow the same pattern. That’s why it sticks out whenever she was cut off or told to wrap up.

"I LOVE YOU, COURTNEY PHELPS!" "An hour movie a day, 365 days a year!"

It's the only thing JFP has ever publicly apologized for, to my knowledge.

Fun fact - Peter's real wife, Courtney Simon, wrote the dialogue for Ellen Parker's Emmy reel and regularly cites it as the best work she ever wrote in daytime on her Twitter feed. And Nancy Curlee herself wrote many of the breakdowns for the episodes leading up to Maureen's demise.

Best Emmy reel in the supporting category of the 90's, IMO. Even Kimberlin Brown and her overhyped story on Y&R couldn't compare to this in the end.

Why was P&G so enamored by Gail Kobe’s work on Texas (a failed soap, which did seem to get better by the end granted, but still a failed soap)? Look at the massacre she went on to inflict at GL. It’s amazing that the show lived on for so long after this and even had brief renaissances.

The arrangement of the early 80's theme when Steve returns is beautiful...

Thanks, it seems like P&G never gave her much of a fair chance at either AW or GL then.