j swift

Shout out to Lynda Hirsh. I still read her weekly, only now she is online https://www.creators.com/read/lynda-hirsch-on-soaps If you've never watched her on midwest morning TV, it is worth the YT search

I agree, what I like about Monica is that she grew-up because of everything that happened to her and nobody had to stop and notice her heroics. I agree again, she needed redemption, but there was never exposition about how she had changed for the better, which I appreciate. It is interesting that unlike their relationships with their long-lost daughters (Dawn and Carly), both Bobbie and Monica were also excellent mother-figures to their almost-daughters (Emily and Terry) and almost-sons (Lucas and Jason). I hope Terry still calls Bobbie on Mother's Day. Totally, it was the dancing in the department store, and the sleeping with a sheet between, and living on a farm, that harkened back to old Clark Gable and Gene Kelly movies and gave them rooting value. It de-intensified their passion and made them more idyllic. Which, of course, opened them to criticism of "romanticizing the rape", but it was very effective at the time. I recall how the whole package of a mystery, with fast scenes, filmed out of the studio (in recognizable parts of LA that we would scream at the TV), using an odd-looking actor with a perm, and contemporary music was so novel that it was part of the appeal. Also, (I really hope it is clear that I am not defending this, just stating the facts), "A Trip Down Soap Lane" podcast has this fascinating scene when Scotty finds out and he asks Laura why she left the disco and then went to the park, cried rape, and told the police she was raped in the park. Which is also an interesting detail given the times.

I recently read a fascinating fact lost to history. Monica and Gail were estranged when she first arrived because Gail thought Monica had an affair with her first husband, when in fact her husband had sexually assaulted Monica. From Soaps in Depth: Gail was horrified to learn that her late husband, Greg, had raped Monica when she was younger. This caused a rift between the two women, but they eventually worked through it.

I was going to add this scene as a classic example of a Leslie/Monica argument. However, what made me laugh was Leslie's dialogue about Heather coming to stay at her house for the holidays as a respite from the asylum, when she says, "I keep forgetting about her amnesia..." You would never guess from their interaction that Monica was once married to Jeff. Which makes me wonder if Monica is younger than Leslie? She married Jeff while they were in med school together, and Jeff is Rick's younger half-brother. It also leads to the perennial question of why anyone would choose RIck over Jeff, or even Alan?

My timing was off because I thought Marland wrote the rape, then left and PFS picked up from there. But I just did a deep dive on her obits and she started in 1979 so that was before the rape. Which makes a difference in how I perceive her work. I also saw that she left in 1981, but I guess it was after the WGA strike that year. There was an article about her re-hiring at Days which stated that she was pilfered along with six members of her writing staff. Can you imagine that meeting? https://newspaperarchive.com/bluefield-daily-telegraph-nov-01-1981-p-337/ I'm with you that flattening Rick would have been the best alternative (although I've always questioned the logic of a skylight in a nursery). But, who wrote those Monica/Leslie scenes when Monica lays into Leslie for her lack of lust? On YT that remains a throughline to their relationship including when Leslie helped birth AJ, and later in the early 80s, so there are a lot of arguments between the two. There is a scene that is frequently referenced when Leslie is pleading with Monica to give up Rick, but Monica talks about how Leslie doesn't fulfill his needs, and I wonder who claims responsibility for those remarkable scenes? BTW- Monica's arc is underrated/amazing. Without any specific redemptive plot, (except for age, breast cancer, and motherhood), she has evolved from a very selfish character to the voice of morality for Jason. That is a leap you only get from a show that's been on as long as GH. So many bitchy characters are punished before they become better humans, but Monica has just evolved that way on her own.

Just for clarification, I was 3-years-old when it premiered, and we only went to nursery school three mornings a week, but it was an emblem in my memory of how boring tv could be for a kid before children's daytime television became a thing. This was right before Sesame Street premiered, and kindergarten was still voluntary, so pre-school kids my age in big cities wound up watching a lot of adult TV. My most visceral memory is the talking heads, which in retrospect, were probably way ahead of their time. To be perfectly honest, I thought SB ran for more than a decade, otherwise, it would have been on my original list. It is my favorite first episode of a soap and I think the use of the time jump in the pilot was very influential for future soaps. I also considered Loving, but it was so variable in its run that I cannot decide which list I would place it on, overall.

there are only two that I don't recognize: the lady in red shooting a rifle and is that Chaz in the black & white shot in the tux? Who are the ladies surrounding him? Also, how does their version of King Tut's tomb look worse in photos than it did on tv?

I wonder which scene was harder to film: Kyle telling LVP what the girls are saying and being kicked out by Ken, OR, Dorit not being supported by her husband in an empty restaurant and having to say she thinks LVP is lying? I hid my eyes when watching both scenes like I was watching a horror film.

Someone in NYC does it every season, there's been a need for updates after the reunion for years from Lu's divorce to Bethanny's boyfriend's death.

My problem with Port Charles was that from serial killers to vampires all of the romantic storylines were in quadrangles. Lucy/Eve/Ian/Kevin (and sometimes Scotty), Karen/Joe/Frank/Courtney, & Alison/Rafe/Caleb/Livvie were just placed in endless permutations without any rooting value as to the outcome. Isn't odd how a 19-year-old soap can look so dated? So many frosted tips, unflattering low-rise pants, and crop-tops; and that was just the men's wardrobe...

‘Bold & The Beautiful’ Producer Colleen Bell Named California Film Commission Boss By Governor https://deadline.com/2019/05/the-bold-and-the-beautiful-colleen-bell-director-california-film-commission-gavin-newsom-1202621617/

I thought Will Ferrell did a great job, his dialogue in the hallway with Kerry Washington made me emotional. I also really liked Marissa Tomei's energy as the always-hopping Edith. However, I thought Jamie Fox was showboating when he went up on his line and I felt like he was not being a team player and allowing others a moment. I got stuck when Wanda Sykes said that The Jefferson's lived in a four-bedroom apartment, during her interview with Florence, because I think it was two bedrooms/four rooms, but she chose not to highlight her mistake. I was really nostalgic for the sets. I still recall when The Jefferson's redecorated their apartment, and how chic I thought it was that there was a cocktail lounge in their lobby, with a doorman, and a dry cleaner that delivered. All in all, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

I like that she's coming back for Tiffany, but I feel like they need to decide what to with Whitey who spends months on the backburner.

GH has had some good years and bad years. GL had good decades and bad decades. But, which soap did you watch from the first episode to the last and truly enjoyed? I'm talking shows that lasted less than 10 years, but you tried to stick with them the whole time. BEST Somerset - (1970-1976) - the first show that I watched from the beginning. I didn't think of the off-tonal shifts while watching (I was very young), but I swear it is what started my fear of clowns and my love of Joel Crothers. It was the first show that I consciously remember ending because we watched NBC soaps, it seemed novel for a soap to end. Capitol (1982-1987) - I loved Slone Denning, I loved her wedding dress, I loved her way of speaking, and I loved how sophisticated she was despite her shut-in harpsichord-playing mother. It was campy in the most fun way because it never intentionally leaned into the turbans, hookers with a heart of gold, and secret foreign princes like some other soaps (cough, cough GH) Rituals (1984-1985)/Dangerous Women (1991) - two attempts at "tea-time" syndicated soaps. I was attracted to the trashy qualities of both shows. Dangerous Women was a reboot of Prisoner Cell Block H which was a late night guilty pleasure for me. Valerie Wildman starred, later she played Dylan's father's girlfriend on 90210 and Nicole's mother on DAYS, but I always remember her running a B&B for ladies to stay right out of prison. WORST Generations (1989-1991) - One of the greatest theme songs of all time. However, it never felt as if anything significant happened in the plot. The one big reveal was that Adam Marshall had impregnated Doreen Jackson who was married to his father's new business partner. The fallout of that reveal was mitigated by recasts and new loves; so there was no payoff after a year of story. For example, her baby was kidnapped (off-screen) and then she got it back (off-screen). There were some other minor mysteries and character development, but it always felt as if it was trying to get off the ground only to reimagine itself halfway through. How to Survive a Marriage (1974-1975), or How do you survive watching people endlessly navel-gazing for thirty minutes? It was soooo boring, no wonder there are very few digital copies, most people probably fell asleep trying to transfer it. I will admit that being in nursery school may have affected my critique, but I just recall how slow it was day after day. Texas (1980-1982) - How do you send Iris Cory to Texas and not let her be a bitch to anyone but Paige? All of the older male cast were as unconvincingly romantic as their hair color. You know there are problems casting men opposite Beverlee McKinsey when Alex Wheeler was shot twice in a year, excusing him from scenes, and Eliot Carrington may, or may not, have killed a village of children in Vietnam (even his PTSD wouldn't excuse him from slapping Iris when he found out he wasn't Dennis's father).

I just always assumed it was money. But, I always assume it is about money. Marcy Walker was on the verge of leaving for at least two years before she bit the bullet, and she was due for a pregnancy leave that year. SB was in a hiring frenzy I would bet they paid more. One year later, when someone in SB production failed to reply to his agent's call about renewing his contract, he left without notice, and Gordon Thompson, his replacement, said that they had to pay him a big salary because they were in the lurch.

Kyle's daughter's friend's maybe-a-thief/subcontractor recognized LVP?!? A. Who makes their construction workers take a lie detector test? B. What subcontractor in LA would recognize LVP? C. Don't Lie Detectors work like psychologists and have confidential waiting rooms? D. If you saw LVP in the building why would anyone guess that she was taking a lie detector test? E. Does John Sessa make his eyelash extensions from actual Vanderpump dogs?

She was the most frequently recurring girlfriend on Seinfeld and was in the iconic Hamptons/shrinkage episode. Assumingly Kassie Wesley (DePaiva) is in the same issue worried about leaving GL. Meanwhile, 30 years later she's had a pretty steady gig as an employed actress.

Melanie Smith (Emily) gave an excellent exit interview to SOD in the 12/27/90 issue. She mentioned her reason for leaving was to go to LA, but she didn't like working with Greg Beecroft (who left to play the failed recast of Duke on GH) and called him unpleasant and uncooperative. She also told a great story about Bette Davis asking for her autograph. I would infer from her exit that there was very little story for Emily at the time after she had just broken another affair with Tonio and Brock. Whether later writers wanted to take Emily in a new direction is yet to be proven. But, the throughline of the character was that she was always impulsively sexual and that is what got her into trouble. https://classicsodnews.tumblr.com/post/181458634097/late-breaking-news-ratings-race-vcr-alert-soap

I might need to start watching in non-HD because James's nails were so dirty that I was distracted for the whole reunion! Also, functionally, this crew doesn't need a reunion. They see each other every day. They don't need a special day to air their grievances and wear a cocktail gown.

There's a discussion on the exec producer thread about the original plan for Jessica and Natalie regarding their parentage. I think Natalie vs. Meghan's long-lost-baby backstory is such an interesting contrast. Paul Rauch took under a year to tell the impossible story of Eterna to explain how Vicky could have had a long-lost child. The audience instantly accepted Meghan and moved on. Cut to another decade and the writers are much more low-key about providing specifics of how Natalie came to be; which then bit the show in the butt because it took years to nail it down. They had the technological advance of the DNA to prove maternity, but it didn't explain how Vicky became Natalie's mother. I would suggest it one of the variables that limited Natalie's appeal to me as a character. Also, I've always hated soap stories where adults meet their rich biological parents and expect an instant attachment. I think there are many long-lost kids of rock stars in real life who would tell a different tale. It is weird and usually reflects poorly on the parental character who neglected a kid for some reason that needs to be justified in the plot so they don't seem like monsters.

In my prior response, I totally forgot that was the Elizabeth Taylor week of shows ("I put a curse on you Luke and Laura..."), so that whole week was probably abnormally inflated. Also, aren't those photos a funny reminder of how the female characters established iconic hair-dos? Monica had her bun-with-tendrils look from 1977 until she met Ned at that spa, once Anna took off her scar she wore that half-up/poof for years and Gail always wore a short perm.

According to the podcast, Marland and Monty disagreed about the direction of Luke and Laura. Falkin-Smith was responsible for so many of the romantic scenes between them, (dancing in the department store, etc..), that I wonder if they would have stayed together under Marland, or if any of the 90's "second-take" on the impact of Laura's rape would have been necessary. Because, in hindsight, she inherited that part of the story and then needed to change course in order to move on so that they could work together to solve mysteries. Certainly, when reviewing the history of the period, one can see that Marland was more concerned with explaining character motivation. Which is why Luke and Laura spend so much time talking about their relationship before the Left-Handed boy adventure than they do for twenty years afterward. Laura goes from a spunky/conflicted/impulsive girl to a damsel-in-distress that Luke puts on a pedestal. Luke gets all of these monologues about how she's too good for him meanwhile, she almost went to reform school two years prior. Even the Alan/Rick/Leslie/Monica story takes a turn under PF-S. It goes from two couples struggling with intimacy and commitment to Alan becoming super-villainous and trying to drop a nursery roof on Rick. By the time Alexandra shows up, it is all plot with no time for explaining motivation or even how she is related to the rest of the family. I am a fan of all of those stories. I think her strength was the ability to use action/adventure as a backdrop for the evolution of a couple's romance, rather than letting a mystery take over the show. If Marland was criticized for carrying on stories too long, then I think her pacing was great. She was able to balance multiple stories and I think she introduced the seasonal summer storyline that was resolved by the time school started in the fall. But it interesting to consider how a synthesis of the two styles could have benefitted the show. I think it is odd that Monty hired her after fighting with Marland, considered that she had a reputation based on suing her bosses at Days.

Thanks for finding that and answering my questions It is an odd choice to use a modern jazz song for a scene about sexual assault at a disco, one would assume that JFP would have gone for something with more synth to it as was popular at the time in movies like Waiting for Mr. Goodbar and Midnight Express. Meanwhile, I contend that the snippets of Christopher Cross's "Think of Laura" that was used as the buildup for Laura's return are better than the whole song. It's a banger that needs to be re-mixed. Those haunting whisper tones were iconic. I recall that Mr. Cross was somehow opposed to the use of his song, or just needed the clarification that it wasn't written expressly for GH, but it is an excellent use of music to set a theme (also it was totally convenient that the local stores on Cassadine Island had so many coats with hoods for Laura to skulk around in). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym64hGGWuRA And General Hospi-tale, the comic rap based on Luke and Laura's Left Handed Statute storyline is my favorite soap-related media of the period (along with Young Doctors in Love which I think is underrated, especially compared to Soap Dish). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8EVkVp86-k

I don't know those numbers but by comparison, 83 million watched to see Who shot JR?, 14.2 million watched Lady Di's wedding to Prince Charles that year, and 20 million watched Betsy marry Steve on ATWT. However, even those numbers may have been underestimated because Nielsen ratings were only counted by households at the time, they did not have the technology to measure individual viewers. So, 30 million households watched, but there may have been 2-4 people in the house at the time. A Trip Down Soap Lane Podcast did an episode this week about the start of Luke and Laura, and I had similar questions. Was there more promotional support once Gloria Monty took over? It went from #8 to #1, but I wonder if anyone took notice before they hit number one? I also wonder how much press the original rape episode got? Because the iconic fact that Herb Alpert's Rise played in the background during the scene seems to be etched in my memory by soap press rather than actually watching the show at the time.

1. When Scotty left Laura while she was on the run with Luke, did he get a proper send-off scene? I recall a scene when Laura returned that she had with Lee to get Scotty to sign the divorce papers, but I don't recall Scotty leaving Port Charles. 2. Wasn't Laura already an adult/over 18 when Rick adopted her after marrying Leslie?