BetterForgotten

I wonder if that's why Beverlee McKinsey wasn't in these episodes (though it was explained why Alex wasn't at the wedding), she hated traveling to that Brooklyn studio and admitted that's partly why she didn't return to AW after Texas (that, and she felt they had ruined Iris on Texas). That iconic studio was later home to ATWT after AW ended. Sadly, it was torn down in 2014 - so that history is sadly no more.

On the flip slide, Long and Kobe did bring Beverlee McKinsey/Alexandra to the show. It must have been wonderful for soap fans to see lightening strike twice with Ms. McKinsey after she iconically played Iris for so long.

I generally consider Pam Long's second HW stint her best stint, but I wonder how much of that is due to the influence of Robert Calhoun, Nancy Curlee and Trent Jones (her Co-HWs for much of that second stint).

I still hold Roger and Holly's returns to GL as the best character returns on a soap opera I've ever seen since my time watching soaps. Talk about breathing new life into a show (at least for a few years anyway).

The resurgent DAYS in the 90's (thanks to Reilly) made it easy for NBC to cancel AW. AW didn't benefit from the influx of younger viewers checking out DAYS, which lead NBC to believe DAYS and AW were no longer compatible shows. And to be frank, they really weren't any longer at DAYS had significantly deviated from its original formula, and AW was still very much a traditional P&G soap (and when NBC tried to force the supernatural crap on it, it bombed).

30 years ago today Roger Thorpe was unmasked and revealed to be alive to the citizens of Springfield! Holly (Maureen Garrett) lets out a bone-chilling scream I won't ever forget! I probably consider this the unofficial start of 'my era' of GL. Thank you, Michael Zaslow for sharing your talent with us in the limited time you had on earth. You and Roger Thorpe brought so much joy and entertainment to my young soap-viewing life. Truly unforgettable. Gone, but never forgotten.

I do think Brenda Epperson was able to turn Ashley into a more conventional soap heroine, but she didn't have the same 'Ice Princess' quality Eileen's Ashley had and that was an important element of the character.

I was talking more so about the mid to end point of Monty's tenure. A lot of the press articles from the mid to late 80's often criticized the show for catering to the lowest common denominator and for the heavily plot-driven writing. Gordon Russell was supposed to be transferred over to GH from OLTL before his death - Monty and Russell would have been an interesting combination. Too bad we never got to see that happen. Likewise, Nancy Curlee was supposed to replace the Labine's in 1996, but she backed out when she got pregnant again, and we got Guza instead...

I have to say that Wendy Riche/Claire Labine/Guza really "de-sexualized" Laura - Genie was dressed so damn matronly in the 90's, you'd think she was well into her 50's at some points. I guess the weight gain after her real-life pregnancies made this easier on them to do so.

Frankly, it seemed strange that the audience even accepted Luke & Laura regardless of the rape - did the 15 year age difference between Geary and Francis not bother people in a more conservative era? Or did Genie always read as "older" even though she was a teenager?

Holly felt a ton of guilt and shame over connecting with Roger sexually again though, it wasn't like she slept with him and all was forgiven over night. It took years for them to even get that to that point again, and when it finally happened, she had a hard time accepting it for months afterward. The rape was always thrown in Roger's face - whether it be by Holly, Ed, Alexandra, or Ross and that never really stopped. GL, during its best years, always reminded us that Roger and Holly were deeply messed up people and it was wrong (yet strangely delicious) for them to feel the attraction they always felt for one another. The annoying thing with Luke was that the show had to pretend it never happened, so it never allowed to become an integral part of Luke's character. Even after the revisitation, they never really incorporated it into the character, other than to destroy Luke & Laura (to appease Geary).

At least with Roger and Jack, their behavior was never brushed aside and what they did was very integral to what their characters were about. They were never really forgiven for anything, and in Roger's case, he was always the town pariah, even when his intentions were good. He never became the hero of the universe like Luke.

Well, thought GH was very popular during that time it was never really praised for great writing. I guess a lot of it doesn’t really hold up in 2019 either if we look past nostalgia. It was generally very plot heavy. Monty seemed to love employing her sister Norma to write the show - maybe because she knew how much control she would have in that dynamic.

Yes, throughout 1993 a lot of JFP’s worst tendencies were starting to overtake the show. By mid-1994, GL had become totally unwatchable IMO. It was so sad to see and sit through and also tough as CBS soap viewer since ATWT was also starting to plummet during that time.

Very little from that era feels dated upon rewatching it too. I know strong dialogue was very important to Nancy Curlee and Stephen Demorest - Nancy once said she looked for scriptwriters who avoided cliches and that definitely was apparent for much of that time. In some ways, Nancy Curlee has become the Harper Lee of daytime soaps - only one HWing stint, but one was very memorable where viewers who follow writers are often left to wonder what else she could have done in the medium had she stayed or went on to write for other shows. She’s arguably the last great “storyteller” American daytime soaps produced. Also the only HW I think that came close to the late Doug Marland’s storytelling sensibilities.

Based on this, maybe they'll do Good Times and Maude next, lol.

Marla’s intro definitely had the longest round of applause of the night, if i’m correct....

Patsy Palmer is coming back as Bianca for a short stint later this year.

Of course, Lauralee famously had this response, Was SB even interested in keeping TL? It never felt like he really caught on as Mason..

"Dwindling?" Really? I know he was upset over Bell's nepotism with trying to make Cricket happen, but was Jack really starving for screentime as character? From what I've seen of Lester as Mason, it didn't seem like that role was the best fit for him.. I wonder how he felt when Bergman joined and started winning Emmy's for the role he had originated...

Pat Falken Smith intrigues me - she first gained success at DAYS, but she was largely following Bill Bell's outlines during her first stint there and her writing style was very much in Bell's vein. Flash forward to GH, where she and Monty took a vastly different approach (albeit, with some of the classic/traditional soap troupes) and she would later bring much of that same style back to DAYS with her at a later stint. We just won't talk about her stint at RH, a soap that was seemingly all wrong for her... If one were to describe PFS's writing style, how would it it be described based on where she first gained notoriety (DAYS) to the peak of her career (GH) and everything else in between? I do know before he died, Gordon Russell was supposed to transfer over to GH from OLTL. I wonder how he and Monty would have faired working together...

It's still deeply sad to think that a GL episode from the early 90's (during a Republican presidency no less) is still a hell of a lot more contemporary than any daytime soap on the air right now. Though the ABC soaps got all the credit for being "young, hip, and contemporary" - I think Nancy Curlee and company wrote a very contemporary soap during their era, within a very traditional structure and foundation.

JFP didn't kill off Alan, that was all Guza and approved by Frons. JFP was just the messenger who broke the news to Stuart. At that point, JFP had very little creative input on stories - Guza pretty much had free reign. That wasn't like when JFP fired Ellen Parker at GL to free up budget to hire Justin Deas.