j swift

Sylvie didn't value discretion so much that it inhibited her from nosing into Dennis and Jim's love lives. Furthermore, it assumes that either Mac's wife adopted a baby and didn't tell Mac about the parents, or Mac and his wife knowingly adopted Sylvie's baby, but somehow Mac didn't think he was the father? Neither option make sense (this is fun!)

Yes, it was unnecessary for the 1988 takeover storyline, and Sylvie's motive for being a suspect in Kirk's murder makes less sense (if the guy she killed wasn't Iris's father). And, in 1988, Sylvie would have no way of knowing if her dead husband or Mac fathered her baby, because there weren't DNA tests.

The writing credit for the retcon is mysterious In 1978 Sylvie and Mac had scenes outside of Iris's presence, but there was no discussion of an affair. Then (according to AWHP) SEPTEMBER 17 - 21, 1979 - Kirk learned that Sylvie served prison time for murdering Iris's biological father, and Iris was actually born in prison. Before fleeing Bay City in shame, Sylvie threatened to kill Kirk. OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 2, 1979 - Iris's dental records proved she had bitten Kirk before he died. But, Sylvie returned and claimed she was the one who bumped off Kirk. NOVEMBER 12-16, 1979 - Sylvie's business partner supplied her with an alibi. Before departing, Sylvie advised Liz and Jim to admit their attraction for each other. So, it would seem odd that years later, Sylvie would tell Iris about an affair. In 1988, it was never explicit that Iris tried to take over Cory because of the details of her conception, so it was not relevant to the story. And, Harding Lemay's memoir implies a general satisfaction with his writing choices, so it defies logic that he would contradict a prior storyline. Looking back, a lot happened in 1979, and I enjoy the interwoven Kirk and Janice plot, as Iris, Rachel, and Mac were torn apart at all ends, which is a perfect setup for Janice's plan.

Found on ebay How cute is that? They gave out 50 cents so that people would send back their diaries.

@Mona Kane Croft I recall the circumstances of Iris finding out she was adopted, but do you recall how she found out that the adoption had been retconed? Also, around the time that Sandy came to Bay City, Mac promised Jamey that he would be in the will, did that pan out later?

@Paul Raven You inspired me to read an article on the influence of Hill Street Blues on TV. Besides setting the stage for NBC to dominate Thursday night for decades, Stephen Bochco talked about the writing: Bochco: On our scripts, we had double columns of dialogue, ‘cause we scripted everything in the background. EVERYTHING in the background. We realized we had so many characters that the only way to service all those characters was to have multiple storylines. The only way to service multiple storylines was to let them spill over into subsequent episodes. So half the time, things that were going on in the background were in fact the elements of stories and character relationships that would emerge in the foreground two episodes from now. So we scripted everything. We left nothing to chance. Thus, I would agree that multiple characters and stories going back and forth were part of the Bochco-effect on Daytime. But, we also see the overall 1980s trend of trying to incorporate prime time trends. In the 1970s Daytime was distinctive, but by the 1980 they were derivative.

Wouldn't it be great if that's how the universe actually worked? I'd like unlimited capital, freedom for all, and Todd Manning back in Port Charles.

I finished the memoir, which is an accomplishment because the audiobook is over 48 hours long! My recommendation is to buy the audio version because it includes all the songs, and it is entertaining. Basically, she was consumed with self-loathing for 54 years, then she met James Brolin and things got a little better. Also, she hates royal blue, but loves a baked potato.

I've been thinking about the character of Sofia Carlino. Earlier, I remarked upon how Maggie changed with each recasting, but then I recalled that Sofia changed a bit toward the end of her time in Bay City. We all know the old adage of if it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage. Well, I was inspired to watch more of Dahlia Salem's work after I read her wiki and learned that she had debuted on Broadway and acted with Al Pacino and Mercedes Ruehl. I also watched her on the AW reunion with Alan Locher. As it turns out, she is very engaging and charismatic. She's one of those actresses that was saddled with being an ingénue, but has much more to offer. I don't recall what inspired the character's turn, or if she just got fed up with Maggie and then Lila interfering in her romances. But, I feel like I underestimated her when I suggested that whole generation of characters was boring.

I feel like the penny just dropped, and the story is starting to make sense. Chad wants to buy The Spectator in order to fire Everett, at the same time Alex wants to resurrect Brava. So, I assume Chad will fire Everett and then Theresa will hire him? That has to be the reason Titan is suddenly getting back into publishing. Unless, I'm giving everyone too much credit. BTW, I liked the Xander & Everett interaction, Paul Telfer is a charm magnet and really brings out the best in his scene partners. I enjoy the guy friends on DAYS, like Brady & Eric, or EJ & Chad, I think one of DAYS strengths are those types of scenes.

I'm less focused on the identity of the shooter, versus how Austin will survive, and if he'll cooperate with the police. We can rule out Cyrus, because he was deliberately shown in Laura's office. Mason is in prison. Anna just shot someone last week, so I don't think she'd be out there shooting again. And Ava is clearly the red herring. My way overcomplicated theory still comes back to Dante. Only he and Robert knew that Austin wanted to make a plea deal. The assassin was clearly male I feel like he was compromised while he was held prisoner, and he is doing someone else's bidding.

The origin is admittedly heavy-handed IIRC when Amanda was born Iris overheard Mac say something to the effect of how pleased he was to witness the birth of his first biological child. I guess Sandy and Paulina didn't count because he didn't know about them at the time of their birth. Iris confronts Mac, and he proceeds to tell her that she's adopted. Which, of course, makes it especially odd a decade later when he's like, "oopsie, I didn't mean adopted, just that [Iris] was illegitimate and my late wife adopted her". But, you know, these mistakes happen during childbirth. 🙄

There's an interesting correlation to modern soaps and gay storylines. One assumes that most actors playing long term characters don't wish to be written as homophobic, just as P&G 'protected' Iris by not writing her as directly anti-Semitic. Most soap parents go out of their way to demonstrate acceptance of their character's gay kids. But, there's usually some family member or NPC who is delegated the homophobic role, and the moral of the story is all about learning acceptance. But, giving Iris a Jewish mother is less about accepting diversity and more about what it meant to her identity. Which is why I think it was so brilliant. After the struggles that you've described with TPTB, it would seem illogical if Harding Lemay himself wrote the retcon. And wasn't he opposed to retcons in general?

I certainly hope we're not uploading pirated content to this board. @Errol or @Toups is posting an entire episode of another soap that is not the focus of this thread allowed?

I wonder if the length of time spent on a single plot is thought of as a trend from the 1980s? In the ratings thread, folks are always making the correlation between a storyline resolution and its impact on viewership that it lead me to reflect if plots were actually shorter. I know the conventional wisdom is that summer plot lines and the rise of adventure stories shortened the scope of soap plots. And we know for a fact that writers were fired because of the perceived need to pick up the pace. But, if you consider that OLTL's baby switch lasted more than a year, and Asa & Samantha's wedding went on for a month, I don't know if that's true. Of all people, Steve Bond (aka GH Jimmy Lee) warned in his 1990 exit interview from GH that plots were moving too quickly to gauge audience support. So the debate was in the zeitgeist. But, I may be biased by today's whiplash speed in thinking that the plots were not that short.

It has been over a decade since I read Eight Years in Another World (I checked my Amazon purchase and I bought it in 2011), so I didn't remember that detail - thanks @Mona Kane Croft & @Khan Harding Lemay writing a Jewish mother for Iris in 1978-1979 was a bold move! That's pretty inspired. Initially, I thought the idea of exploring Iris's conception (and the later retcon) was unnecessary, but if the plan was based on giving Iris a mother who would destroy her sense of identity, I think it is genius. I cannot imagine a writer taking that kind of risk today.

Speaking of mothers, by modern standards, do you think the character of Sylvie Kosloff was coded as Jewish? Clearly, as a member of the tribe, I am not speaking derisively. However, she was from New York, and she worked in the discount garment business which are two commonly coded devices for characters who were probably Jewish, but they never mentioned it on screen. It would have been an interesting issue if Iris, who identified as an upper crust WASP, had a Jewish mother. I recall much of the story was plot driven, rather than an opportunity for self-reflection on behalf of Iris. But, when I read the synopsis, Sylvie's cultural origins were among my first reactions.

What I wouldn't give for a five-minute Friday montage of all the couples in town But, just to contradict myself for a moment, @Khan & @kalbir should we really think of pop music themes as a 1980s convention or did it occur earlier? When I think of 1970s Y&R they still used orchestral instrumentals and when characters sang, they mostly sang standards. Also, my recollection of OLTL, GL, and AMC were that they used old-fashioned piano and organ music through most of the 70s. Then, around the Luke and Laura period, we started to hear more synth in the background and obviously a heavy use of pop, and that was copied by all the soaps.

Preferences aside, does anyone else feel like Cyrus's connection to Laura is weird? They only found that they are siblings a few years ago; while they were middle-aged adults. But, he's dropping in to her office, and she stops to talk to him in prison. For comparison, I don't recall Laura being that close with Amy after she returned (obviously there were real-life issues that kept them apart, but you know what I mean). I assume they are not trying to reform Cyrus, but it always feels creepy when visits Laura and Carly. Also, minor point, if Carly's going to stay at the diner, she's going to need to start wearing an apron, or at least stopping dressing in business casual attire. Pretty soon, she'll need a loan from Michael to pay her dry cleaning bill.

@Soaplovers Ironically, I was going to quibble with your characterization of questionable parenting choices for Iris and Rachel. Then I made a list including: teen pregnancy, being overbearing regarding their children's romances, being absent during illness, or absences due to prison, and I've come to agree with you. Dennis, Matthew, Amanda, and Jamey adored their mothers. But, Iris and Rachel were not great role models when it came to caregiving. However, unlike Donna, at least they never slept with their children's romantic partners. So, there's that...

Speaking of Pam made my mind wander to Ada's step-children. I don't know if others agree with this interpretation, but it is interesting that Rachel was so possessive of the men in her life, but equally willing to share Ada. For example, I don't recall any jealousy by Rachel of Ada's relationship with Clarice or Nancy. But, she'd rip the eyes out of any women who looked twice at Mac, Steve, or Mitch. I would've assumed that having lived so long as just the two of them, Rachel would have been resentful of others who preoccupied Ada's attention. I guess she had a more mature relationship with her mother than Iris did with her father. Also, in going back to read older posts on this thread about the affectation that VW acquired over time playing Rachel, it struck me that Ada would've never tolerated that tone. I recall Loretta assumed that role for a time, but Rachel needed someone to bring her back to earth sporadically.

Yep, Gerald and Iris just rotting away in prison. Meanwhile, Carl Hutchins regularly escaped justice Somewhere, there's a lost story of Rachel using her wealth to influence the Bay City judicial appointments in order to suit her demands (te he).

I adored the 80s trend of characters and couples having theme songs, and if we were lucky the actual pop star would appear in a guest performance. I still hear Lady in Red every time GH Holly is on-screen, and my secret shame is that I still play Christopher Cross's Think of Laura on Spotify regularly (I know he didn't write it for the show, blah blah blah). I think it's cool that producers updated the organ music of the early years of soaps to pop music in the 1980s.

Great pitch!!

Let me preface this by repeating that I am the worst GH prognosticator in the world (and I don't claim any insider knowledge, like some), BUT, given that Austin was prominently featured in the February, May, August, and now November sweeps, he must be popular enough to think we shouldn't count our chickens before they're hatched... In other words, I don't get the appeal, but someone must. And given that Mason and Charlotte survived getting shot, the GH Trauma unit seems to have a good recent track record (although Austin was in Pautauk, so he might not make it to GH). I assume the next beat of the story is that Austin won't take Robert's plea deal because he knows that even escaping prosecution won't mean that he's safe.