j swift

I was reading the 1984-1987 weekly summaries on the Another World Homepage and once again I am struck by how the ages of the Love and McKinnon children don't make sense. I know there was a change in writers and actors, yadda yadda yadda, but wasn't someone responsible for maintaining logic? First, in 1985, we have the stupefying scene of Donna telling Peter that she is Marley's mother. Again, I get the dramatic purpose that Donna needed to admit her secret out loud so the audience knew her dilemma. However, Peter was three years younger that Donna, wouldn't he have suspected that Marley needed to come from somewhere other than his mother who had already died when Marley was born? I know Reg kept Donna in the cellar, (which was introduced much earlier in the plot than I remembered, I thought it was first mentioned around the time when Reg was trying to drive Donna crazy with the baby picture, but it was actually originally referenced during the Royal Dunning/David Thatcher murder mystery), but wouldn't Peter have been suspicious about the sudden appearance of a baby in the house when he was a teenager? Then, we have Cheryl and Scott LaSalle's ages, Cheryl turns 18 in the summer of 1986. Scott was older and he was either adopted by the LaSalles or, as originally intended, he was supposed to be the triplet brother to Marley and Victoria who were 20 in 1986. Therefore, wouldn't Reg and Mary/Marissa already escaped Bay City to adopt Scott in South America before Cheryl was born? Later, when the triplet photo was retconned, we find out that although Reg forced Michael to leave town before the twins were born, he allowed his brother John to be present for their birth, and now the birth happened in a secret room at Bay City Memorial Hospital rather than in the secret basement room by Royal Dunning in the Love Mansion. When Donna was introduced she was the CEO/charitable board member/owner of the hospital because her budget cutbacks affected Marley's recovery when she needed her bone marrow transplant which lead to the reveal of Victoria. So, she ran the hospital but had no idea that there was a secret room where she gave birth? Don't even get me started on how Vince McKinnon afforded boarding school for Cheryl. The unsolved mystery of what was happening at the Le Soliel spa and rejuvenation center ( a contrived plot involving Felicia, Kathleen, some guy from Felicia's past who got plastic surgery, an architect who fell in love with Kathleen and Sally, and Cass being charged with murder in a case that dropped because the DA, with no apparent motive, withheld evidence). Or the sudden appearance of multiple nephews related to Mac that had never been referenced before. Finally, an actual question that people can answer - when did they stop calling her Victoria and began referring to her as Vicky? Throughout 1984-1986 she is always referenced as Victoria, even by Jake and Bridget, so who started calling her Vicky?

I also read that he mentored Marlena De Lacroix a.k.a. Connie Passalacqua Hayman. As much as I joke about his bitchy tone, it is remarkable the impact that he had on the genre of soap journalism. Film journalism, pop music fandom, and primetime TV reporting often speak of their respective subjects with reverence, but soap journalism strikes an intriguing balance between sarcasm and promotion. Both Lynda and JMR write with a sense of investment in the ongoing evolution of daytime that seem unique to writing about soaps in particular, and it is easy to find their influence in discussions likes the ones we read on these boards.

Wow, I had no idea JMR died so young. It's one year after what we're reading now, so those must have been his final columns LAT ARCHIVES MAY 29, 1986 12 AM PT Jon-Michael Reed who wrote a column about television soap operas for The Times and 200 other newspapers in the United States and Canada, is dead of the complications of hepatitis. He was 38 and died at a New York City Hospital Friday, a spokesman for United Feature Syndicate, distributor of the column, said Wednesday. Reed was believed the first to regularly chronicle the daily dramas that appeared on American TV screens and each week offered a plot summary of the leading soaps which The Times had published on weekends for the past several years.

Here's news I never knew Reportedly, he was unhappy at AMC, and Hugo Napier was just fired at ATWT, so he substituted in for the role (also the press spells Nick's last name in multiple different ways) More news I never knew Apparently cultural appropriation was not an issue in 1984, so if Tony Geary wanted to look like Bo Derek, he was free to do so, but ultimately Luke showed up with his iconic perm. I'm a bit shocked that a newspaper was willing to print this gossip about the firing to Leslie Graves from Capitol More news about the recasting of Tina However, rude her detractors may have been, they weren't wrong... Also, on the rude front, this odd note about the recasting of Ava on Loving Finally, speaking of rude, someone has taken Queen Lynda to task It was Linda Borgeson (aka AW's Alice #5), but don't be so rude next time RG. I can't believe Lynda printed it, it must have been her nasty, soap illiterate, editor.

I really liked Elaine Welteroth's response to Sharon. Because she noted that the issue not about supporting or defending a friend, it is about the need for public figures to use social media to call out racism. If you like Piers Morgan, call him on the phone, but don't use your status to promote his behaviors. I think Sharon Osbourne and Whoopi Goldberg suffer from the same generational instinct. If they've met someone, and had a pleasant working relationship, then they feel the need to defend or explain their character. However, what they miss is the idea that men like Piers Morgan are cowards and would never offend someone to their face. Thus, as an audience member, I don't care if Sharon or Whoopi like some old fool, I just want to know that they understand the boundaries of social interactions in modern media.

Reading the 1984 recaps got me thinking about how members of this board would react to iconic moments from the period. DAYS - Bo rescuing Hope from her wedding to Larry Welch on his motorcycle to the pop song "Holding Out for a Hero" was so much fun, but 2021 soap fans would commiserate about the fact Doug and Julie couldn't attend the party because they left due a contract dispute. GL - Josh Lewis being motivated to recover from paralysis by Bert Bauer after her amputation was inspirational, but 2021 soap fans would quibble that both of the long term actors who played her sons Mike and Ed were missing from Springfield when Bert returned. ATWT - Betsy and Steve's wedding was a ratings bonanza for the show, but 2021 fans would find fault in how long it took for them to get together, only to be torn apart weeks later when Meg Ryan left the show. It is not that 2021 fans are more opinionated per se, it just made me nostalgic for a time when fans had no more information than what was on screen, and could still be genuinely surprised, moved, or excited by the scenes of the day.

Who was Samantha Marler's mother?

Neither Kelli, nor the character of Tina, are very convincing as "business school" graduates. It is no wonder that Tina's MBA was never referenced in later iterations. I hope we'll read about it on the Tumblr, because the casting was announced in November 1984, so it looks like Kelli only lasted a few weeks. Also in November 1984 Marsha Clarke was fired from GL, so the timing makes it seem like there is some shenanigans going on at OLTL... Either way, Bo's prediction about Tina becoming Asa's second hand to replace Chuck was as likely as Didi O'Neil becoming the endgame for Bo Buchanan. Although it is notable that she was the only O'Neil not to get recast.

The recasting of Tina was an odd journey, considering a few months earlier it was reported that they originally hired Kristen Vigard to play Tina, and then decided to make her Joy O'Neil.

I had no idea Don Stewart and Peter Simon left GL within weeks of each other in 1984 But it is a toss up which was less respectful Mike's final mention in the recaps Or the poor grammar and misspelling of the title of the article announcing their departure

I thought it was humorous in the summaries when Frisco randomly decides to set Tania free, just as Felicia was introduced. From the on screen writing to the off screen publicity they really tried to make Brad Maule into hunk. From his intro (was he screwing his mother's inattentive nurse, or was Frisco doing the deed?) to those stories about romancing his fiance in Europe, there was a constant PR campaign to make us want to like him. Unfortunately, the actor just never gave off a hunky vibe. Although no PR campaign was a forceful as this ad for the new Teen Disco in town. They have free hot dogs and soft drinks!

Reading the plot highlights of 1984 - Lorena Sharpe (Monica's insta-cousin), her spa, the murder of Jimmy Lee's mother, the whiny little orphan Mike and his constantly crying mother Ginny, not to mention the two Grants who were differentiated only by the amount of mousse in their hair, - all make the Aztec Treasure seem worthy of a Pulitzer Prize.

@franko called it Loving is on the move on the ABC daytime schedule (BTW no mention of if the Olympics were disruptive to ABC ratings). The obsession with weight continues, but this time its a guy so it is funny, unlike Laura Malone who have to give up breastfeeding her baby to lose 30 lbs. Of course, the irony of him "starving as an out of work actor" won't come true for a few more months Meanwhile, this little mentioned kiddo could have been the character of Theo on Y&R, and it wouldn't have required a retcon Remember the Alamo? AW is taking Cecile to Majorca for the character's exit. Meanwhile Tony Geary was ready to go to Mexico but had to settle for San Antonio, if I said it once, I've said it a thousand times, Felicia the blonde Aztec Princess would be cancelled by current social media mavens I find myself really into the David Thatcher murder mystery (as well as EON's Logan Swift's murder mystery). Both are great examples of good plotting, (something propels the mystery forward every week, like Donna and her blue ring), it brings together a lot of disparate characters (although one wonders why Rachel Cory decided to go undercover in a dive bar to help Caitlin - were she and Sally even that close?), and the mystery is a useful tool to uncover other secrets around town (like Marley's parentage).

Upon further review Harry Dean Stanton was in the Wim Wenders' film Paris, Texas in 1984, (which won the Palm d'Or in Cannes that year), as well as the iconic film Repo Man. So, one tends to think he was unavailable to play a part on One Life to Live, although he was in the soap parody Young Doctors in Love two years earlier. Thus ends this thread's brief tangent into the life and career of Harry Dean Stanton... BUT, it's a helpful reminder that whether it is 1984 or 2021, you can't believe everything you read.

So, I'm reading the 1984 pre-Olympics synopsis on Tumblr. I recall Sky and Preacher's escape from the baddies in Mexico. However, I hadn't remembered how forced the storyline was that created the need to go to Mexico and the literal cliffhanger. While everyone in Montecello was trying to solve the masterfully setup mystery of who shot Logan, (in a locked room with a closed window), all of the sudden Alicia Van Dine gets caught up in a scheme to steal a chemical from one of Del's cronies. The whole plot was a red herring, which wound up having nothing to do with Logan's murder. Looking back, I would posit a guess that the network had a mandate for Loving, Ryan's Hope and EON to come up with an Olympics cliffhanger. Then, EON wrote the Mexico trip (actually shot in Montauk), in order to not disrupt the planning of the ongoing mystery. The same day a bomb was discovered at Greenberg's Deli on RH, and Jack got in a motorcycle accident after finding out that Dane was his biological father, while Mike and Jim were in a dark room when a shot went off on Loving. The reports at the time were that there was a lot of network arguing about airing the Olympics in daytime. ABC was losing ratings to CBS due to the expansion of Price is Right. There were fears that the audience would sample the other networks and never return. However, ABC sports was heavily invested and needed the commercial income because of the 1980 winter Olympics that were cancelled. The compromise was that LOV, RH, & EON went on a two week hiatus, and AMC, OLTL, and GH produced 40 minute episodes. It is interesting to read the behind the scenes stories while reading the synopsis because it provides so much additional information that I was not privy to at the time (to be fair, I was in middle school when this all aired originally). It is particularly interesting to think about a time when ABC daytime and ABC sports were run like two separate companies, before acquisitions made everything merge into one being. It is amusing to me that production used that footage in the opening montage, (which today looks like it was shot against a green screen to very poor effect), when the actual plot was so inconsequential.

It's not on Stanton's IMDB so I think it's the same editor who headlined the article about Bill & Susan Hayes leaving DAYS with a title about Search for Tomorrow, and confused Loving with Capitol. That editor needed an editor.

Harry Dean Stanton was fired from OLTL? Wikipedia & Soap Central list Arlen Dean Snyder as the first actor in the role, so it may be another case of JMR's newspaper editor getting facts wrong. If it's true, I will remember this the next I feel underappreciated at work; some people just don't recognize talent.

Filed under "soaps had money to burn" file: Perhaps to mark the celebration of the premiere of Santa Barbara ( and their expensive sets) and the fact that ABC soaps were on an abbreviated Olympics schedule DAYS went on remote to New Orleans Whereas AW's remote was in rainy Rye, New York All of which is especially odd when you consider that AW spent the time and money for a remote just when Nancy Fragionne left due to a "snag" in her contract negotiations Also, one hopes that the reporting on Cusi Cram, Beth Maitland, and Laura Malone's weight would not be published in 2021

Poor Kim Delaney got caught in the Stephan Ferris (Ferrara)/Steve Blizzard (Fletcher)/Nana Visitor (Tucker)/Charles Flohe (Grant) name change pandemic of 1984

In today's news from yesterday: Soap fans are full of questions about new guy on Capitol but this fan gets straight to the point JMR has the full story on Laura Malone and her "feud" with Chris Rich. As reported above, Chris and Nancy were "cold" to Laura upon her return from maternity leave, and Chris referred to her replacement as a breath of fresh air. Both deny actively seeking her replacement, but apparently Laura was interviewed on TV after she was let go and expressed her troubles about the backstage life at AW. @will81's scan is too unclear to repost here Speaking of backstage intrigue regarding co-stars, we get this new bit of info regarding the casting of Kimberly Brady Much like PC from Red Bank, NJ, I hope things work out for Meg Ryan But I'm no so sure about Rick Porter's prospects (What are novelty cosmetics?) And I think we all share CC's concern about AW's Sally's insta-kid, but Lynda thinks that rating justify the retcon. Finally, much like the Queen herself, Lynda has begun to refer to herself using the royal "we"

I still don't get why Steve Fletcher would trust someone who changed their last name, but held onto the name Nana. Sorry in advance to any Nana's in the crowd.

Lynda Hirsch did not suffer fools gladly (she just published their letters and publicly mocked them).

That tracks. But what about the crazy kismet of someone referencing the same title 37 years ago, it’s a remarkable coincidence.

July 1984's entries were like deja vu all over again. I have always maintained that Q&A's in the soap press are fake. However 37 years after someone confused soaps with Hemingway in this question Our own @Mitch said this in the Soap You Couldn't Get Into thread Sunset Beach..its just played like a parody..kind of like "The Sun Also Rises," instead of a real soap. The actors were plastic, not sexy! I researched and found that the Carol Burnett Show soap parody was called "As the Stomach Turns" and the SCTV parody was titled "The Days of the Week", so I am unsure of the source of this confusion. And maybe JMR was so snippy about Eileen Fulton's return in this article: Because two weeks earlier he published this comment Finally is it possible that a young Ron Carlavatti was posing as PL from Toluca Lake when he wrote this question to Lynda Hirsch?

When I watch the interview I can't help but think of Martin Short's SCTV character Brock Linahan, which was obviously a satire based on Brian Linahan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJDK71B6xI8