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After finishing this season of Mexican Dynasties on Bravo, I wanted to see Fernando Allendes' early work, so I just binged the whole series and I recommend it. The voodoo turn in season 2 is totally nutty. The reveal of Michael's sister really surprised me. However, even in a binge watch, I lost track of the actual parentage of every character vs who they thought were their parents. By the time Lane's long-lost-father showed up, but he might not have been her biological father, it blew my mind. When the whole town starts talking about Titus and Tyronne, I kept having to remind myself that Tyronne was Michael. Horrible things befall Woody/Skipper and his hair just keeps getting blonder. And one of the soapiest moments in history is when his sister (who may not be biologically related) Constance takes physical therapy in the family pool, in a french-cut bathing suit, despite being paralyzed from the waist down. Barbara Rush and Howard Duff give my favorite performances, but it is easy to see that CBS did not want those two to carry the show because the promos focus on Constance and Lane. Titus was so much scarier than JR because the stakes were higher. He tries to kill multiple characters, he raped at least two women, and he is the legal system in that town. Barbara's hairstylist should also be singled out because that was a herculean amount of teasing. I think my biggest criticism as a modern viewer is that the minority characters are given the cringiest of parts to play. It goes without saying that Esther Rolle as a voodoo priestess, (with a constant bongo underscore), stretches the boundaries of good taste. Fernando's Julio is a physical therapist who can bill for housecalls but still lives in the poorest part of town. And his sister is only there to be a victim of Titus's bigotry. Needless to say, I don't think it is going to get a reboot any time soon, but it was a fun binge.

Genie is great during this period. But it really highlights how her other soap roles were not a good fit for her talents. SOD reported that when she signed on to DAYS as Diana, Genie was hungry to get back on screen. However, from her later interview with Oprah, it appears that every time she got cast on another soap they unsuccessfully tried to play her against type. Diana, Ceara, and Genvieve started as conniving women but they all wound up as passive victims. It seems easier to lure Genie into a new role by saying that the character will be diametrically opposed to Laura, but maybe that's what she is best at playing? On the other hand, I don't think it helped that on DAYS and AMC she was trying to fill a void left by the absence of a more popular character, like Marlena. She was definitely John Black and Jeremy Hunter's rebound romance.

@watson71 posted a fascinating article from the period right before Alan Potter retired as EP in the writer's thread. There's so much to unpack from that article. Who knew Kyra Sedgwick has a brother (he played Hunter who turned out to be a racist who was mean to Tomasina)? Why was this newspaper reporter so dismissive of Laura Malone's rights not to be discriminated against because she gained 15 lbs during her pregnancy (two weight puns in one article seems disrespectful)? Why didn't Chris Rich let them quote him as he was the obvious source of the story? If Chris, Nancy, and Laura were a "constant threesome", where was the father of Laura's baby? I went back to the Another World homepage for the 1984 summaries. I was surprised to read it was Wallingford who made Cecile disappear in the tunnel of love! That was during the David Thatcher murder investigation when Cecile was trying to cover the fact that she had paid off David to distract Sally from Peter Love, but Carl had hired Nurse Emily Benson to knock off David (I always confuse her with the Dr that caused problems for Sharlene and John). However, in November Cecile reappeared in time for sweeps, after Kathleen McKinnon had been impersonating her, and then left to marry the King of Tanquir. Meanwhile, Blaine and Sandy keep getting into fights about reporter's ethics (which is a sudden turn for a former male escort/photographer and his dude rancher/disco manager wife) while working for Carl at KBAY, until they exit the following March. As for Ms. Malone, Blaine was also pregnant at the beginning of 1984, so it is odd that her weight was such an issue for production. In the reading of the synopsis, there was no need for a substitute Blaine during Ms. Malone's maternity leave. Sandy has to go undercover and distance himself from Blaine, for her safety, when investigating Carl, so that could account for her time off without the need to hire another actress. On the other hand, I could understand Chris Rich's concern because that summer saw the ascendance of The Love's of Bay City, as well as the introduction of Caitlin Ewing, who would naturally take screen time away from Sandy. It also makes sense that show wouldn't want to recast Cecile if they were hoping to keep Chris. I'm left with the question of who raised Kevin Thatcher after he was orphaned? I hope not Britney since she was definitely going to jail for shooting Peter, Caitlin was too unreliable to care for a small boy, and Grandma Alice didn't seem to take much interest in him.

Here's my essential SB question: After a review of the first 12 months of the show, do you think the Dobsons knew who killed Channing when they first pitched the story? Or do you think the killer's identity evolved/changed due to the popularity of the cast?

As much as I appreciate Hogan Sheffer, I wonder how his pairing with MAB effected her ability to tell stories. MAB seemed like a 4th gen writer who had long term appreciation of the show. The beginning of her tenure felt like someone was trying to button-up all of the loose holes around Genoa City. In some ways, it was satisfying to find answers to longtime questions such as what happened to Victor's sperm sample. However, too many other details were established that were less than satisfying, such as exploring Jill's paternity. My recollection is that there was a shift when Hogan joined in the second year of her tenure which I no longer found appealing. BTW I always think it is funny that the Clear Springs story was so clearly inspired by the building of The Grove shopping center next door to CBS. Even down to the parking garages which were cause for concern when the mall first opened. I think of writers in terms of generations, the first gen are the creators, the second gen were trained by the first but wanted to rebel against them, third gen were typically people from outside the field to give the show a fresh perspective and fourth gen are people who grew with soaps on TV and are nostalgic for the genre.

After her parent's rejection of her work, then feeling constrained by P&G, and then being locked out of her own creation, returning and being fired again, but having the subsequent team using her content to submit for the Emmy, I think she would have taken the podium by any means necessary. BTW, I love the detail that in addition to trying to get on stage first, Bridget and JFP are sort of wearing the same black dress with white collar detail, which makes for an awesome "who wore it best" contest.

The other mystery that remains is that New World sued the Dobsons for $25 million and The Dobsons countersued New World for $125 million. The Dobsons won the lawsuit and returned to SB, but the financial resolution has never been disclosed. It must have been a lot because they've been retired for 24 years with only passion-projects on their resume... The LA Times did a story on the lawsuit and noted how their prior relationship with P&G affected the way their contract was written with New World. They were so displeased with the amount of perceived interference P&G had done at ATWT that they limited New World's ability to make changes at SB. Which is why when the casting of Pamela became the straw that broke the camel's back they were able to sue and ultimately win. One imagines nobody has had a similar contract since those two left daytime.

P&G hiring The Dobsons at GL without prior consideration or consultation with the Hursley's was described as not being the beginning of their estrangement, but it was the final nail in the coffin. Contrary to popular belief, Bridget was alone at GH as an associate writer, although her sister worked with her for a short amount of time, her husband was still teaching at Stanford (the same university that had her father on faculty). When her contract ended and she met with P&G execs who offered her GL. It expanded to an hour, she needed more writers so she hired Jerry. The SB blog interview has tons of facts I never knew I did not just want a job (at GH, after graduating from Stanford and then Harvard Business School). I was obsessed. I was adamant. I was furious. I was outrageous. I pleaded. I begged. I threatened. I had trained for this. They stonewalled me. No. No job. We'll hire your sister. Which they did. Why not me? “Because you're a party girl.” and “Because you'll never meet the deadlines.” My parents never liked my work, I think, they just liked the ratings the show was getting. How do I know they didn't like my work? I never received one word of compliment He was head of Procter and Gamble Productions. He said, "Of course, Bridget. We've been following your work on GH and think it's wonderful. Do you want to be a headwriter? Or do you prefer to stay an associate writer?" My new contract was set the next week. And then, at the end of that same week, I received a phone call: My mother had terrible cancer and was to be hospitalized for an indefinite length of time. And then another phone call from the Vice President in Charge of Daytime Television at ABC-TV: "Bridget, you can't leave the show. If you leave the show, I'm going to walk into that hospital and fire your mother and your father. I swear to you I will do it." I had to stay on GH. It would kill my parents to be forcibly removed from the show, their creation, their baby. I remained for two more years with GH, this time as headwriter with no assistance from my parents. At the end of this jail sentence, I went dancing off to NY to start writing for Guiding Light. To be fair, The Dobsons later had major beef with P&G as well as New World when they did SB. So, they could have been the instigating thread through all of these battles. However, I am fascinated by how it inspired their writing. Another twist, in 2014 Frank Jr's son Duncan guested on GH, even though Frank Jr had almost no relationship with his father.

I went deep on the connection between the Hursleys of GH and the Dobsons of SB (and others) because I am interested in the number of married soap writers and multigenerational soap families. Bridget was Doris and Frank's daughter from her second marriage and his third. Since Frank had already been married twice before, there was a scandal about Doris (his student)'s mother helping him acquire a professorship to secure the marriage Later they created GH. Bridget grew up and married Jerome and they worked first on Guiding Light which was scheduled opposite GH, just as later SB would be scheduled against GH. The legend is that they rarely spoke, and Frank Sr. never had a relationship with his son Frank Jr from his first marriage. Correct me if I wrong, but while GH always won the ratings battle, it lost viewership during the Dobson's time both at GL and SB But, I want to know what characters were inspired by their own story? Bridget about her mother Doris from the SB blog: " They never watched any of my shows. When they were asked why not, they said, 'Because we want to be proud of Bridget. That's why we don't watch.'" Can you imagine such a cruel comment coming from any of either of their characters? Could this be the inspiration for why Pamela and Sofia were absent from their young children's lives? SB had recurrent themes of how parenthood changed characters for the better such as Julia, Gina, and Caroline. Most of the women in SB could be divided into Good Moms (Gina, Julia, Eden) and Bad Moms (Pamela, Santana, and Victoria) and themes of motherhood and abandonment were intrinsic to the story Was the lack of children on GH for early female characters like Lucile, Jessie, Audrey, and Gail reflective of the Hursley's lack of interest in telling stories about parenting? Obviously, Audrey and Gail became mothers later but there are a remarkably large number of women in the early GH cannon who never raised young children. And from a Michigan Today article about the family: Bridget Dobson retired from TV in 1995, but the plot still thickens. In 2011 she and her half-sisters from Doris Hursley’s first marriage sued ABC, alleging the Hursleys’ estate had been cheated out of royalties generated by “General Hospital.” The plaintiffs are cited as the Hursley heirs. Frank Hursley Jr. (from his first marriage) passed away in 2008; his heirs are not included as part of Frank Sr.’s estate or the litigation. https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2013/07/29/a8670/ It is a cliche that truth is crazier than fiction, but the history between these two couples really caught my interest. I would love to know if anyone has any further sources on their relationship.

The RHOBH aftershow on YT has more info puppy-gate. However, an essential detail seems glossed over. Dorit explains that the woman to whom she gave Lucy L-A-J had a dog car seat and a dog carriage that she regularly took to the dog beach. But, when the woman's mother got sick out of town, the woman couldn't care for the dog and dropped it at a shelter. However, why would an experienced dog owner not just kennel the dog or ask a friend to dog sit? In fact, I can instantly think of at least three alternatives to taking a dog to a shelter, which feels like it would be humiliating for a dog owner. To be fair, given these assumptions, nobody including Dorit could have predicted where Lucy L-A-J would wind up. In the end, I agree with LVP that Dorit is using the Radar drama to deflect from the fact that what she did was wrong and LVP told her so the first time that Dorit told her the news. Also, Erika's rejoinder that she knew the details of the adoption since last summer negates the validity of the scene in the first episode where Dorit seems to tell the story to Erika for the first time. It does explain why Erika always seems nonplussed about information because it is probably the third time that she's heard it.

To be fair, Teddy threw a party in her home and never spoke (although I assume she'll be speaking too much next week from the preview).

These videos are great and so well done. I find watching or re-watching old episodes on YT tedious and I am rarely able to get through a whole episode without fast-forwarding, mostly because of either the pacing or the lack of anticipation of already knowing the outcome of every cliffhanger. It reminds me of hearing a comedian repeat their jokes when you already know the punchline. However, the idea of repackaging old episodes into clips is very appealing. I have enjoyed the yearly summaries on the channel. I appreciate the choice of background music, it has the time-era-appropriate amount of synth. I also appreciate that the non-HD quality of some of the video is offset by the addition of text information and the underscoring. It's just superb what people can do with these old videos to transform it into something that can still be entertaining.

The ending of RHONY was heartbreaking to watch. However, the rest of the hour was an infomercial for some movie, skinnygirl, online shopping, responsible drinking, a circus, and a Halloween pop-up store. Remember in the 90s when you would see Cher sitting on a sofa and think she was giving an interview, but she was actually trying to sell shampoo? That's what this felt like.

Swearing on children aside, I think the logic that LVP wouldn't tell one story to Radar and then contradict it to TMZ holds up. If she is as astute at working the tabloids as Rinna suggests, she wouldn't risk her relationship with Radar by contradicting them to TMZ. Occam's Razor states that one should not make more assumptions than the minimum needed. The idea that LVP sold a story to get back at Dorit, (not for the dog, but for an aside she made last year), and then retracted it to look like a hero is based on a whole lot of assumptions. One of them being that LVP would want/need to look like a hero for rescuing a dog twice from a kill shelter. Now for my conspiracy theory of the week: India decriminalized LGBTQ relationships on September 6th, 2018 which was cause for celebration at Pump on this week's episode, but Boy George played the Greek on October 3rd, 2018 which was shown on last week's episode. I'm not trying to rush the maestro Nik Alaine, but I don't think it took him more than a month to get that party together. Also, do you think Nik's wife that we met last week in LVP's kitchen misses shopping at Kyle's store so that she could say, "I'm Elaine Alaine at Kyle by Alene Too."? https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/09/12/how-india-decriminalised-homosexuality https://www.jambase.com/show/boy-george-greek-theatre-los-angeles-20181003

You'd think that a jail sentence, an MS diagnosis, and a dead grandchild would elicit a phone call from her sister, or at least an email or text.

In the recast thread, @KMan101 suggested Roberta Leighton as Dr. Sandy Horton, which naturally reminded me of her time as Dr. Casey Reed, Nikki's sister. Has anyone addressed where Casey has been for the past decade or so? The character was made justifiably redundant by Dr. Olivia Winters, but she always popped in when Nikki was in need. I could understand why Victor's brother Matt doesn't visit (although he was referenced more recently than Casey) because they didn't grow up together, nor did they get along that well when they lived in the same city. However, in the family lineage of related characters that are lost somewhere in the universe are Dr. Casey and any of her possible kids.

Great list, well done Watson71 - I listed 10 events that signaled new eras of AW storytelling, some good, some not so good 1. Amanda Cory's Winter Debutante Ball - creating the iconic opening sequence shots of Iris, Rachel, and Amanda in white gowns 2. Victoria Hudson returns with faux baby Kirkland which eventually pushed Grant Harrison to the brink of insanity 3. Clarice Hobson gives birth to Robert Delaney's son Cory solidifying Iris as the HBIC 4. The KBAY Telethon and the final appearance of Lindsay Lohan as Ali Fowler 5. Cass Winthrop loses money to Tony the Tuna and has live in drag as Krystal Lake, changes Cass from a semi-villainous jerk to a romantic lead, and make his friendship with Felicia part of the cannon 6. Sharlene Frame's return from the dead sets up the SORASed Maggie and Tomas story, another try at a new generation of Corys 7. Perry Hutchins dies in the hayloft beginning his father Carl's vendetta 8. Vince McKinnon recognizes Marissa Love as his presumed-dead wife Mary. 9. Morgan Winthrop moves into the Bayview Court beginning the ill-fated "ER/Friends-era" of AW, along with another new opening sequence 10. Walter Curtain kills Wayne Addison with his wife Lenore's scarf.

Totally agreed, it was well established that Bobbie brought Luke to Port Charles to help her land Scotty. At the time, it appeared as if Luke had never been to Port Charles. And when Bobbie later had marital difficulties with Jake over her trying to rescue Melissa (Amy Dolenz) from teenaged prostitution in Miami it was referenced that Ruby's "business" had been in Florida, before Scotty had to rescue them. However, in 1991 when the ill-fated Eckert family appeared as Spencer cousins (although the parentage of cousin Joey Mosconi was never confirmed), it was established that they were longtime residents of Port Charles. The Eckert Bakery was down the street from Rose's Diner (no mention of if Port Charles's Little Italy section was near the once popular Chinatown section where Jade lived) and for about one week they tried to make it the new gathering place for characters to meet for coffee. Then it fell down (with the ratings) in the summer of '91 when Port Charles, (a tiny seaside village in upstate New York), was hit with the first of two earthquakes that have shaken the town (to be fair, they had to incorporate the '94 earthquake because the actual Northridge quake damaged the sets). BTW, everyone always wants to bring back old Quartermaines, but what about poor Cousin Joey? He's out there somewhere with his Aunt Angela and his younger cousin Sly.

Leslie Charleston was re-cast as Monica in 1977, and I think Monica and Alan were already married when Tracy, Lila, and Edward debuted in the summer of 1978. One reason there has never been a flashback to Alan and Monica's wedding is that the bride had a different face at the time of her wedding. However, the origins of the Quartermaine Estate seem to have been re-written over time. A 1978 weekly summary on Tumblr and Soap Central both report that Lila and Edward followed Alan from Southhampton to Port Charles and bought their estate. However, by 1980, during the Dr's separation, it was established that Alan gave Monica the deed to the house as a wedding gift, so the estate would have to be owned by the family prior to 1977. I think the carriage house was introduced with Susan around 1981, and then inherited by Heather, and passed onto Celia once she married Grant. I also know that the mansion got a re-do in 1990, right before Gloria Monty returned, and the entry was redesigned. If I were re-writing, I would suggest that their summer estate was in Southhampton (like Palmer Courtland) and they spent the rest of their time in Port Charles The answer, of course, is that there were several head writer changes between 1977 and 1980. However, ever since Susan Moore's murder it has been in the cannon that the Quartermaines are longtime residents. As evidenced by (a) Lila's ex-husband Crane Tolliver came to Port Charles expecting to find Lila, which would not make sense if she grew up somewhere else, (b) when Tracey brought Mitch home there was some dialogue about redecorating her childhood bedroom, (c) ELQ was always headquartered in Port Charles because it was established as an import business before it became a shipping/manufacturing/makeup/medical supply/music and pickle company, and (d) they have a family crypt on the estate which is not something you bring with you when you move.

That's it, I knew there was some angelic moment - thank you Paige really got the stuffing kicked out her in Houston. She was an early victim of resting-b-face because her bark was much worse than her bite. Her only crime was social climbing and in return, her porn past was outed, her fiancee and his father both went a little nuts over her, and then she drank and caused a fire.

Thank you, I'm always impressed by the depth of your soap knowledge. I recall dialogue when Celia first moved to Port Charles that they specified she was a second cousin. I guess writers were setting the groundwork to pardon Celia and Jimmy Lee of any inappropriate familial intimacy. BTW, even if I had a mansion I don't think I would want my second cousin to move in for more than a year.

How were Celia Quartermaine and Alexandra Quartermaine related? Are they cousins, because I thought Edward only had one brother? Weren't there also relatives from Lila's side of the family that came through Port Charles?

It may have been what turned CC from Paul Burke to Jed Allen as well...

The tunnel withstood two earthquakes and fires in both homes. I think the Capridge spring (which rejuvenated Minx from Dame Judith Anderson to Janis Wells) was at ground level above the tunnel, on the dividing line between the two estates.

I was trying to count the number of stories that used the Capwell-Lockridge tunnel as a plot device. I think of: (1) Channing's Murder, (2) the 4 orphans used it, (3&4) the forged art in the tunnel was used twice in stories (once when JAN left as Warren, and later when Gina tries to con CC). It's remarkable that different writers all used the same device.