BetterForgotten

I think even towards the last year or two of Marland's stint, things were slowly deteriorating. It just got expedited when he left us as no one knew how to tell a damn coherent story. A series of really unusual blunders were made by people who didn't understand the show. All of the P&G soaps were experiencing a rough patch during this time, and hiring people like MADD to oversee them didn't end up being the most intelligent decision. I think Ed Trach's retirement at P&G marked an end of an era for those soaps - they just weren't managed effectively after he left. Granted, I do think he favored ATWT/GL over AW, but that may have been because P&G had a stronger relationship with CBS than NBC.

She also accused DAYS of only being interested in her “celebrity” and nothing else. I believe it was Shelley Curtis who convinced Genie to take the role (as they worked on GH together). They would work together again when Genie returned to GH in 1993.

Though it broke the record for highest jump on the Hot 100 (#100 last week to #2 this week), it was blocked from the #1 spot by Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' which tops the Hot 100 for a fifth consecutive week and is breaking streaming records.

I see Wendy Riche posted this pic of her with Shelley Curtis Litvack, Julian Hanan Carruthers, and Francesca James back in February.

Hogan's first year or so - I get it it, it was something different and the show had more energy than it had for a while. It wasn't classic ATWT though. I think the wheels quickly fell off after that first year (before Jean came along) and it was just one big muddled mess held together by some decent actors and scriptwriters. Hogan's always been offensive and lazy trash, in the Bob Guza mold.

Genie of course ended up hating her time and character on DAYS, but the shade at GH in this print ad is hilarious looking back...

Slightly off topic, but this had to be the worst MET Gala ever - the theme was ‘camp’ but people seem to forget that camp happens naturally and often by accident when someone is trying to be taken seriously. What an awful concept for something like this.

Outside of popular supercouples, does anyone feel like DAYS was overlooked in the 80's? GH got all the credit and the ratings for pioneering the action/adventure stories, and Santa Barbra got all the awards for essentially piggybacking off the GH/DAYS formula with its own satirical twist and witty dialogue (and music montages).

It some ways, the Dobsons style seemed like the perfect mix of Bell and Nixon's - they could do dark and psychosexual stories like Bell, but they also excelled at comedic and community-centered storylines like Nixon. I forgot about this, but Sara A. Bibel talked about meeting Bridget and Jerry on the Y&R set in the interview she did with Toups a few years back: The Dobsons. “Santa Barbara” was a huge influence on me as a writer. It was such a witty, original show that trusted its audience was intelligent enough to handle sophisticated dialogue and satire. It also was incredibly romantic, creating supercouples that fans still remember. I had the privilege of meeting them one day when they visited “Y&R.” They were smart but incredibly down to earth. It’s a memory I’ll always cherish.

Mary-Ellis Bunim became SB's first longterm EP (outside of Bridget and Jerry themselves), and she met the Dobson's at ATWT (during the second of their two stints there). Talk about a group of eccentric people... To me, it sounds like Bumin was the JFP of her time and obviously she later co-created The Real World and was a pioneer in reality television.

It seems they did at least keep up with the industry for a few years, even after retiring to Georgia. I remember hearing Bridget and Jerry visited the Y&R set shortly after Bill had died (when Jack Smith was HW/EP) and meeting with Lee Phillip Bell. It was just a casual visit, but nice to hear as they had been out of the industry for a decade by then.

Alden had an unhealthy obsession with Victor, and that's plagued the show ever since. While you can argue Bell may have had a similar obsession, all roads didn't lead back to Victor during his tenure. With Alden, it often felt that way.

But at least they couldn't lock her out of the Emmy's! Speaking of the Dobson's, did anyone know Jerry published his first novel last year? I stumbled upon this article/interview with him from last June

How would one describe Bridget and Jerry's stint at GH? Obviously, it got the attention of P&G, but I've not heard a ton about how it was received. Clearly, it seems, they hated working there. GL seemed to be the best fit for them and their best work (I'm including SB here). SB ultimately seemed like a show that dominated by it's staff writers and eventually Jill Phelps - no one has ever claimed it be a soap that ever had an era that was consistently amazing in terms of storyline content.

Didn't Bridget and Jerry write for GH first and that's what got the attention of P&G and they were later hired for GL? The Dobson's wrote for GL from 1975 - 1979, GL regularly out-rated GH during most of this time. It wasn't until the 1978-1979 season that GH became a major ratings success and that was obviously due to Monty/Marland. GH was the #1 show during most of the years SB was on, and I don't think SB ever really eroded GH's ratings. GH just seemed to lost viewers gradually throughout the 80's, while Y&R kept consistent and grew, and eventually stole the #1 spot by the end of that decade.

Another new song was just uploaded to her YouTube channel - 'I Rise'

Her forte really is as a singer/songwriter. I find her extremely awkward as a pop star.

MTV: WHY MADONNA’S LEGACY OF REINVENTION IS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER

MTV Live AND MTV Classic are both doing a 24 hour video marathon of Madonna videos right now, leading up to the 4pm premiere of the Medellin video tomorrow.

Some of the promos from MTV are pretty good. MTV is what is it these days, but it's good to know they will always have respect and reverence for her and how she (and Michael Jackson) basically made the network a success in the first place. She really did put the 'M' in MTV when it mattered to pop music.

The video will premiere as part of a global special on MTV next Wednesday. Kind of reminds me of the golden days of MTV, when Madonna was the undisputed queen of the network. Madonna to World Premiere "Medellin" in Global MTV Special

Letitia Dean just celebrated filming her 2000th episode. Here's Jon Sen and Kate Oates giving her flowers.

10 years ago today we learnt of GL's cancellation. some thought it was an April Fool's joke...

I know she's ashamed of her pop music career, especially since her career as an actress took off in the UK, but damnit if these aren't guilty pleasures.