j swift

Courtesy of @will81's Tumblr - The Soaps of Yesterday I have thoughts about this news. (1) It is always curious when soaps hire actors who were troublesome on prior sets. (2) Ms. Vigard has a similar physicality to Andrea Evans (at that time she was being credited as Andrea Evans-Massey), but she never played any of the evil sides of Tina during her time as Morgan which makes the casting choice seem odd. (3) Given the hubbub at the time that the O'Neils were taking over OLTL, it is interesting to read about how little planning went into their creation.

Your answer has arrived - its like Lynda herself was reading your post (ha ha) Opal's final appearance must have been before Lars's death in November 1983 However, tales of her return were greatly exaggerated. Was the rumor started by the guy who played Ralph Purdy?

It couldn't have been Mike because he was already in Pine Valley and was key in discovering that Lars was a Nazi.

My anachronistic quote of the week came from the Jon-Michael Reed article @Franko mentioned about the introduction of a lesbian character on AMC. In 2021, I hope nobody would refer to Lynn's sexuality as something "consciously chosen", although I do miss the term "alternative" lifestyle. I keep trying to decide which writer I prefer. Jon-Michael Reed has a fun bitchy style when reporting the news, and I love his clapbacks in his Q&A articles, but his synopses are too brief. Lynda Hirsch has better weekly summaries, but she is in desperate need of an editor According to both sources, AMC's low point included Lars being killed off on Palmer's boat with an American flag (and fans who needed explanations of Nazi atrocities) while Nina's lover Steve (aka Dack Rambo) was being unceremoniously sent out of Pine Valley. Appearently, Mr. Rambo was supposed to make a stop at a paid fan event event for 10,000 people in Texas but his plans mysteriously changed at the last minute to a direct flight to LA. On a side note: I appreciate that both columns were so relatively spoiler-free that they were still unsure about Luke's future when Laura returned. We get the "would you rather?" of the year - Tony Geary in Atlantic City with special guest Genie Francis or "Soap Madness" on Long Island where Steve Bond is going to debut his new song? Also, I find humor in the prices of everything in the ads. Ladies boots were $59, but a portable VCR was a whopping $649.95!

Why is it 30 years later that I noticed how f#$%ed up it was that Roger Coleridge was romantically linked to his stepsister Maggie? Maybe I didn't think about it at the time, because Maggie didn't grow up with Jill. As I recall, nobody commented on Maggie being Roger's step-sister. However, he must have grown up with Bess in the household. Bess slept with Roger's father and they shared a baby. He was aware of Maggie's relationship with Jill, whom he treasured. So, in hindsight, it is kind of gross that Maggie and Roger grew close enough to have a child together... I'm willing to chalk it up to one of those soap instances where there aren't enough characters in town to avoid people engaging in romances with their extended family (although to be fair RH took place in Manhattan which is an infinite resource of characters).

I read the wiki as a refresher, (I had forgotten that the reboot ever existed), and there was a consistent pattern of actresses who wanted to make as much as Heather Locklear who were quickly killed off. It is amusing that even after the production was sued, and had their business practices exposed, they continued to be petty when it came to actors wanting fair compensation. In hindsight, I always feel for actors in those situations because all too often they can be so associated for their first role, with a seven year contract signed under desperation, then the show becomes a success, and they never work again. Courtney Thorne-Smith was a singular exception to the rule.

I always assumed, although I have no evidence to back this up, that the character's name was influenced by the singularly monikered Regine, who ran a set of very exclusive discotheques back in the day. https://www.mrporter.com/en-us/journal/fashion/when-disco-had-a-dress-code-688280

@Paul Raven @JAS0N47 I hadn't realized the prison movie was post-Days, but she mentions two roles, so it tracks. I'm surprised there isn't more response to the Texas news, because to me it brings up multiple questions: (1) Did P&G make those types of contracts that limited residuals on all of their other soaps (eg EON)? (2) Did P&G plan to syndicate Texas from the outset or were these contracts just incredibly prescient? (3) Wasn't it unlikely that Texas would return to production, given that the producer, writer, and actors had all moved on to other gigs? These are obviously rhetorical and I don't expect anyone really knows the answers, but it really fills in the blanks of the multiple P&G suppositions amongst members of this board. Also, can we all agree that Lynda Hirsch needs a better editor?

Not to be a contrarian, but, I wonder if we can throw Justin a bone for being just as young and easily manipulated as Britney? He was 19 when his solo project was being produced. He didn't write Cry Me a River, nor did he direct or conceptualize the video. It is equally likely that a PR person at his record company came up with the Britney cheated narrative to promote his first solo single. JC Chasez was releasing a solo project the same year, and it is probable that Justin's team felt the need to supplant his record with some sort of drama in order to gain more press. Arguably JC was a better singer and dancer, but Justin won the charm offensive, and was more willing to use his personal life to promote his career. With regard to Janet, he is 100% at fault for the "wardrobe malfunction". However, he could not control the narrative of how the press portrayed the situation. I believe that there is no statement that he could have made at the time that would have turned the tide for Janet because a mixture of racism and sexism fueled the tabloid media.

I would argue that over the course of 9 seasons and 220 episodes, most of the characters were fleshed out enough for fans to be able to analyze their motives; which is part of the fun of re-watching a show. Also, the argument that Blake and Alexis divorced because of her assignation with Roger Grimes denies the (retconned) impact of the kidnapping of Adam on the couple.

Can you imagine the hairspray budget for an Ann Jillian/Gloria Loring movie in 1987? I would bet that even in prison those ladies were perfectly coiffed, but very little eye liner to intone the serious nature of the drama. Primetime roles were a standard contract perk,as you've mentioned in prior posts. However, unlike La Lucci or Deidre Hall, there was no indication that network movies were being developed for them specifically, so there was no guarantee that the soap actor would actually get a part. For that reason I doubt that they were pay or play deals, more likely just allowance for time off. Personally, I would have held out for a better parking space, a spot on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and some free clothes. Here's an interesting note about acting residuals regarding Texas for the many discussions on this board about replaying P&G soaps from the Soaps of Yesterday tumblr.

Although it still doesn't explain why Lewis Oil would relocate from Oklahoma to Michigan. According to facts I googled from Michigan State University, Oklahoma produced 130 times more oil than Michigan between the years of 1859 and 1996. So, changing their headquarters to Springfield made as much sense as OLTL's Buchanan Enterprises having an office in London. However, Michigan is a hub for tech and electronics, which would account for why the Chamberlains choose to relocate to Springfield from Chicago.

I just read that Robert Milli, who played the second Lars Bogart, quit All My Children because he objected to his character who was going to be exposed as a WWII war criminal, with a collection of stolen German art, who later escaped to South America. Which caused a pause in the story right before November sweeps in order to hire another actor. Ironically, he was replaced by Jack Betts, who had just left the role of Louis St. George on Another World, a WWII war criminal with a stolen art collection, and was best known in daytime for playing Dr. Ivan Kipling on One Life to Live, a criminal who escaped to South America. Apparently, Mr. Betts was unconcerned about type casting. As noted in a prior thread about dropped storylines, ABC had to re-edit several storylines due to news events. GH had a terrorism storyline edited after 9/11. Janet on AMC was going to plant a bomb, but those scenes was edited out after the Oklahoma City bombing, and OLTL had to edit out a storyline about a school shooting with actor Jonathan Groff, after the Virginia Tech college shootings occurred during production. https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=3072097&page=1

Thank you for this well researched clarification. It is a helpful reminder that you can't believe everything you read in these soap publications, especially when the journalist never takes the time to include quotes from other sources in the production.

I just read two fun ones in the Soaps of Yesterday Tumblr 1. In his first run on GH, Tony Geary had a clause in his contract that he could leave immediately if Gloria Monty was fired or quit. 2. Days had written the perfect out for Liz Chandler (Gloria Loring) when Liz shot Marie right before Gloria's contract was set to expire. However, it was implied that Gloria's team staged a PR campaign, (including a protest by "fans" at NBC), in order to get a better contract. The new contract allowed for outs for her cabaret act, staring roles in two primetime NBC movies of the week, and a unique clause that I've never heard before, Ms. Loring was allowed to use the DAYS logo in advertisements for her new line of beauty products (hopefully the tagline was not about how the cleansers were as gritty as sands through the hourglass).

From my recent reading of the Tumblr, PFS's writing period was concurrent with a huge turnover in the cast. Morgan Richards, and most of the cast that supported her storylines either left or were let go. Carrie Marler, Hope Bauer, and those associated with Alan Spaulding were written out when he went to jail. Dr. Kelly Nelson almost left for a musical version of The Three Musketeers, a poor out of town try-out doomed the show, and John Wesley Shipp re-signed for a few more years. So, the focus of the plots were being shifted, and critics were concerned that GL became unrecognizable. Also, The Reardons had taken over many of the plots, but once their creator left, many of the family members were backburnered. Browne was there to continue the shift to a new generation. She wrote the marriage of Quint and Nola. Then, Lisa Brown's maternity leave required a lot of unpopular plot devices including a silly kidnapping plot on their honeymoon. Fans had waited so long for Nola and Quint to get together, but once they wed their stories were sidelined to accommodate real life circumstances. So, like all soaps, the failures that were attributed to writing are hindsight reductive. Real life circumstances, contracts, and failed musicals all contributed to a fallow period. It is also important to note that the success of Y&R had an impact on the rest of the CBS lineup. P&G was rightly concerned that the success of Y&R was not being felt throughout the entire lineup and they wanted a taste of the same ratings that Y&R was achieving.

To be fair, Sophia Capwell was in the same potion, and even though she shot her son and blew up an oil rig, she was not a wicked stepmother. I think it is remarkable that despite being Chuck's ex-step-grandmother, Phoebe was still so loyal to him and his love life.

I'm reading the Soaps of Yesterday Tumblr and Jon-Michael Reed's tone is brutal! Poor Susan Hayes was the brunt of this joke.

Can I nominate L. Virginia Browne for the person I most want to see interviewed? These back to back stories from @will81's Tumblr are, in her own words, stunning.

I'm reading @will81 's Tumblr The Soaps of Yesterday and it is filled with facts I did not know heretofore. The timing on this is interesting because a few weeks later they announced the casting of Michael Zaslow as David Rinaldi, Cassie's father. So, either they didn't think Cusi was up for the challenge of that plot, or they needed to age the character to pair her with Rob, or (tragically) she was the wrong size for the part...

As the kids say, "I was today-years-old" when I realized that Phoebe was Dr. Tyler's second wife. Although, this convoluted sentence by Lynda Hirsch didn't make it any easier to understand because if Dr. Tyler was Charles I, then wouldn't Chuck's father be Charles Barton Tyler II, Chuck would be Charles the III, and (if he were actually the father, and the kid's first name wasn't Phillip) Charlie would have been Charles the IVth?

If you are looking for guilty pleasures I recommend following the Carrington_Colby account on Instagram, they repost classic lines and outfits from the show. I think Blake's pathology is evident in his relationship with Krystal; he wanted to be admired. Young Alexis probably enjoyed his assent to power, but Young Blake needed her to educate him on the finer things in life. He didn't know how to staff a mansion or when the champagne was burnt. She reminded him of everything he had yet to understand, so he tried to erase her from his life the first time she did anything to go against his wishes. That's why his secretary became the love of his life, she already knew how to service his needs (so to speak). It is also why he was closer to Fallon, who lived for Blake's approval, than Steven, who wanted an identity that was different from Blake. Alexis versus Krystal really played on the feminist ideals of the time about women not being satisfied with only serving as objects of desire. Krystal, like her namesake, was a pretty thing to be observed, polished, and put away. Whereas Alexis, like the origin of her name, was a defender, a fighter, not content to just be looked at in a pretty dress, she wanted to own the dress factory and design it herself. I don't think that makes her incapable of love, it just makes her less of a romantic heroine than soaps usually exalt. I would further argue that guys like Dex seduced her with the promise of being partners and then tried to control her which ended the relationship. With regard to how Forsythe chose to play the part, Joan Collins mentioned their animosity on Watch What Happens Live. Perhaps they were both too limited as actors to be able to play subtext beyond how they felt about each other in real life?

So, I just saw this image on Instagram, and while I can't name every character off the top of my head, it begs the question: Was Alexis's true love Dex Dexter? I would argue that his betrayal of Alexis by sleeping with her daughter Amanda and cousin Sable disqualified him. But, maybe his independence made him more appealing to her? Furthermore, I would argue that Blake was far more into Alexis than she was into him. Why else would he have kept the mansion exactly as she decorated it with all of her belongings and her art studio intact? I believe Alexis flirted with the idea of loving Blake when he had amnesia, but ultimately decided that he never appreciated her intelligence, so she moved on to other lovers. I think we can all agree that creepy Cecil was never in contention.

This may be too obvious of an answer, but wouldn't they only want to syndicate to those countries that sold P&G products? Bell didn't have a product to sell, but P&G created soaps in order to literally sell soap, so if you couldn't buy Prel in France, why would they want their shows to be syndicated in that market?

Capwell Industries was a very diversified company. They were heavily involved in property development from the Capwell Hotel, to the offshore casino, and the Country Club. They were also involved in oil production, as evidenced by John Perkins job, and later the oil rig that was inadvertently blown up by Sophia, as well as medical science. It seems odd that a company with industry in the title did not actually doing anything industrial, and property development and oil don't seem to mix. Amusingly, if you google Capwell Industries, there is a real company that produces flour, rice, and porridge. I cannot imagine a soap about making porridge.