j swift

Another least favorite was this whole campaign from NBC of Daytime Updates - too wacky

I only found this (the original by 10cc, not the remix) but, of course, I am more familiar with this as their theme

The "Love in the Afternoon" promo discussion in the DAYS thread got me thinking about my favorite and least favorite soap ads through the years. FAVORITES Note: I love those cheeky Santa Barbara promos about actors who left their prior shows but I couldn't find an example of one on YT 1. Peggy's White Wedding (Eastenders) I watched the beginnings of Eastenders when it played on my local PBS station but dropped off until years later when I saw this promo 2. Classic ABC promos (voiced by someone I thought was Ernie Anderson) still send chills down my spine 3. Of course, the "love in the afternoon" theme song was great, but I adore this alternate score of "Hooray for Love" Least Favorites What the heck is the "Heat of the Day"? And why would it be desirable? Take your pick, is it the song? the dancing? the hair? Or the sequenced dresses with white pantyhose? Reply with your best and worst, but please no mentions of "Real Greenlee's."

I just noticed two amusing Dane Witherspoon related issues about this post. First, note how much shorter he is than Robin Wright in the upper right corner photo. Then, consider how short their relationship must have been if she brought another date to the premier and Dane was fired four months after the show started, right around the time that this story was published.

It is always interesting to note that Carolyn Crawford is an example of Marland not following his own "rules" about establishing new characters slowly and not centering them on stories immediately. It is also hard not to compare it with Bill Bell's "George Rawlings Murder" which wrapped up with Cassandra finally exiting Y&R in 1991; a few years before Carolyn Crawford. It was also a very long story that lasted more than a year which was not that unusual for CBS fans. However, it had twists and turns that unfolded in real time within the story. I recall the Crawford Murder didn't have a lot of clues, or other classic mystery tropes that would earn such a high stakes ending. I also don't think it helped that the appeal of Darryl, as played by Rex Smith, was not evident by any charm or charisma. So, the fact that Barbara, Margo, Vicki, and Frannie all flung themselves at him defied credulity. Each of those women were in relationships with men who seemed like a better catch. Finally, it's odd that the story affected the history of the show by creating Jennifer's backstory. However, I don't recall any mention of Darryl, or his daughter Carrie, once Jennifer was SORASed. Which, of course, had its own issues...

You can't underestimate the excitement of Ernie Anderson's (the voice of ABC's promos) tone in those vintage ABC promos versus this ponderous montage of men patting the heads of the women they loved. I recently binged the '80s and '90's promos on YT and NBC's were always cheesier and less appealing than CBS or certainly ABC. Remember "it'll excite you" or those odd typefaced promos with the action speed up? Spoiler alert: they don't hold up.

Hmmm, looking back it is odd that CC was single from 1969-1985, then as soon as Sophia returned he started sleeping around? Also, Sophia having four kids and two affairs during an eight-year marriage seems excessive. The six episode arc I think had more to do with JAN's exit to go make his Oscar-worthy-film debut in Hunk. Kirk and Eden, as well as the David Laurant Murder, were the A & B story of the time.

I'm currently watching JAN's Warren's exit story from April 1986. Warren develops a gambling addiction as soon as CC's casino opens. Unfortunately, Dylan Hartley is rigging the casino to make Warren lose. His newspaper goes bankrupt. He decides to steal from the casino by going underwater. He gets shot. Then he realizes that the money from the casino is marked so he can't use it to pay CC. CC demands the cash in person (it is unclear if he knows the casino is rigged). Sophia winds up helping Warren. Warren also has a reprochment with Birck, who heals Warren's wound with tricks he learned in the circus. Then Minx shoots CC with a BB gun, the Lockridge's mortgage the mansion to pay CC and Warren goes off to cure his gambling addiction. The whole arc happens over the course of six episodes. JAN's body is remarkably more buff than when he started so they have him take his shirt off a lot in the story. But, I was left wanting a Sophia/Warren romance. Their chemistry is not mother/son but two desperate people who are not appreciated by their families. I know Warren is younger than her son, but I think a Warren/Sophia tryst would have been hot. BTW, also looking back I am happy they never tried a Mason/Sophia pairing because she practically raised him. How long do you think CC and Sophia were married the first time when she birthed Eden, Kelly, and Ted?

I would hazard to guess that it was during one of the two DC location shoots. Either Trey and Sloan's wedding at the National Mall or the pilot episode, both of which are on youtube.

I like the untold backstory that due to the mob ties in Monticello, and witness protection, everyone gave themselves a new nickname when they came to town. "My ex-girlfriend wore too much make-up, and everyone always said that I sounded like Jim Bakker, so I decided to call myself, Preacher...." "One day I was having my colors analyzed at the mall and I decided to call myself, Winter...." "I began saying things at the same time as everyone else so I called myself, Jynx (buy me a coke), but the buy-me-a-coke was silent..."

I have two more problems with current ad-based streaming services: (1) The idea of on-demand is nice in theory but, sometimes faced with the multiple choices on HBO-GO/Netflix/Hulu/Showtime it feels like a chore to pick something. However, if someone sent me classic soap clips passively every day then I would watch them. (2) The ads repeat themselves. I was watching SNL on the network site and one ad played at every break, in fact, one break it repeated three times. It was like torture to have to listen to the same song over and over without being able to fast forward.

I have a general Roscoe Born question - He famously quit AMC because his character Jim was going to be in a pedophile storyline, but then he played "Terrible" Tom on Y&R who was cast as a pedophile. I know the simple answer is money, but I wonder if anyone recalls if Mr. Born was ever interviewed on the subject?

It would have been funny if her step-brother replied, "One day I noticed that my mother's curtains needed mending, so I attached some fringe, and from that day on I called myself, Draper..." But seriously, I also like that Raven had played with boys like Logan, Kevin, and Elliott, but it wasn't until she lost the support of Geraldine that she left Monticello.

This truly is my favorite minute in soap history and since it hasn't evoked much response in the Best Soap Scenes thread, I thought that I would re-post here. It starts at around the 17-minute mark - After another fight with Logan, Raven has decided to leave Jamey with April while she returns to England to be with her mother. I rewatch this scene for many reasons: (a)The underscore that evolves into the theme gives me chills (b)The layers of Raven trying to be callus so April will keep Jamey away from Logan (c) the sick undertone that Raven is leaving to go seduce her mother's husband in England, who is also Draper's father (d)the idea that the whole story is told in one episode but it sets up issues for the custody hearing that won't happen for another year (e)that she messes up the line a bit but they keep this long take which makes it seem more like theater (f) the fact that a writer finally capitulated that the name Raven is odd and needed to be explained (g)Raven leaving the show isn't even the cliffhanger of the episode

I looked at the dates from the French SB website and it sort of makes sense with this caveat - Lane left at the end of his contract, but he didn't know that the role would be recast; I don't think it was anything more than that. So, I don't think Terry Lester actively pushed him out, but his hiring closed the door on the character. Yeah, so that's the thing, according to the SOD story, Lester's representative called him and told him that this was the last day of his contract and there had been no offers for negotiation. He cleaned out his dressing room, didn't say anything to anyone, and went home. When production called his agent to ask why he was not on set, they were told that his contract had expired. Nobody on staff was prepared so they had to edit those scenes to try to make some transition between the actors. Thus, production had to pay each successive Mason more money than the one before; because of poor planning.

Notably, the next year in 1990, when Terry Lester left the role as Mason, SOD reported rumors that Lane Davies might return. According to SOD, Terry left the role after nobody in production approached his agent about renegotiating when his initial contract ran out. SB responded that they had simply overlooked the date at end of Mr. Lester's contract. The next issue Gordan Thompson's hiring was announced. There were also rumors printed that when Terry was lured from Y&R to SB Lane did not know that he was being pushed out. Which makes me think that SB behind the scenes was messier than any Capwell Dinner Party.

While I agree that the writing and performances of the dinner party are exemplary, upon reflection, Mason's motivation to defend his mother to CC in February 1991 comes out of nowhere. Arguably, Gina had been far worse to Mason in 1990 than CC had ever been by maintaining Sonny and keeping Mason from his wife and children. Also, CC and Mason had a prior reconciliation during Mason's wedding to Julia and Mason knew that Pamela was a mortal threat to Kelly, whom Mason was always protective, so the setup didn't really make sense.

The early 1991 summaries are being posted on Tumblr. As previously mentioned the timeline is nuts. Around November 1990 Robert Barr is shot and Eden goes into a coma. She awakens in time for a Xmas miracle. Then, the first week in February she gets a necklace from Quinn, (pretending to be Robert), which triggers a nightmare when she remembers that a huge diamond was once attached to it, thus beginning the jewel thief angle. Bridgette Dobson proudly said that she never watched SB during her time off of the show. Looking back, that might not have been a good idea because any character growth between CC and his kids during their absence was immediately abandoned upon their return.

I would love to see Kristen's 1989 Most Eligible Bachelor Party, but I can't find it after a search.

It is such a great "I told you so" story because part of the Dobsons' whole fight was around the casting of Pamela. The legend is that they wanted Marj Dusay, but network wanted Shirley Anne Filed (for no apparent reason). So, when they came back in 1991, after the lawsuit, Pamela was already off the canvas and the whole Mason/Sonny story did not get critical acclaim. Then, they wrote the single episode to show the change in direction. It is a testament to their script that it worked because Gordon Thompson had just assumed the role in November so there was very little history played on screen. My only quibble is the ludicrous foreshadowing of Eden's breakdown.

I just read the January 1991 recap and you can't help but notice that it was a herculean task to write around Marcy Walker from 1989-1991. Much like Michael E Knight whose frequent absences from AMC in 1990 made his exit seems convoluted, Marcy Walker obviously wanted out but backstage drama prevented good planning for the series to continue after her exit. She was vital to the 1990 Robert Barr story however, she was in a coma twice in order to facilitate her outs for filming, after being out for months the year before while she was on maternity leave. She came back in winter 1990, they shoot Robert, she goes into her second coma, awakens for Christmas, and then two weeks later is having flashbacks to being a cat burglar. With the exception of some cute family scenes during the holidays, Eden and Cruz didn't share many significant scenes in those two years; given their super couple status. Then, at the beginning of 1991, the Dobson's return after their lawsuit (which I would guess has something to do with the Flame recast/firing). Eden-the-sleepwalking-jewel-thief (with a French partner who had a German accent) was already in place when they returned to write. So, I would argue that it was impossible to turn a metaphorical ship which had gone so far off course. The aforementioned Capwell Dinner party/CC's trial is an amazing episode. However, just like the dining room that was never used again, it didn't move the story forward. Sophia finally gets to yell at Mason for being a brat after Pamela left and then they never speak about it again. I think @pdm1974 may misremember the Cassie part because Minx hired Michael the priest/cop to find Cassie a few years later. Mason and CC don't really resolve anything; including Mason alcoholism. The Capwell Dinner party ended when Pamela once again tried to kill Kelly (because of Jeffrey which is why I think it was before Cassie) and she was sent back to the sanitarium. It is a very entertaining re-watch although the availability of the video on YT is highly variable. If you go back to watch, see if it doesn't bug you that they set the dining table in the rear of the Capwell living room rather than in the center under the skylight as it had been for years. Obviously from a production standpoint not only had they rebuilt the set at that point, but the prior table only sat four people. It always has always been a symbol to be of an Emmy episode, because everyone gets a great monologue (even the recast Mason gets redemption, it explains how Pamela's illness left CC open to Sophia), but just like the table, their words are soon forgotten. BTW, talk about good luck, both Sophia and Pamela were declared dead but really married European royalty?

I remember a large entry hall with the stairs to the upstairs rooms before the living room that often interfered with the actual view of the door. However, for years the opening included images of the Cory's greeting guests as Amanda's debutante ball showed the outside of the front door. An obviously, as one visual sign of the decline, the front door was visible during the final montage of the Cory living room.

That's a great answer and really explains the connection - they were all involved in a lot of bullshit but it was always for the survival of their sisters. It's hard not to think of them as narcissists because they were always focused on winning their part of a love triangle, and yet, obviously they were motivated by trying to maintain their family's care. There's also the interesting contrast that Vicky is beholden to a family that abused her and stole her child while Dorian is maintaining a sister and daughter who only want her to be a better person. However, I prefer the earlier part of their history when their motives were more subtle, and we didn't suffer through David and Addie's marriage.

I wonder how Sally and Vicky's relationship would have been? New Money Vicky and Old Money Sally and ditzy Amanda. Which one would align with Iris? Would Britney's kid come back, looking like Delilah Ralston, trying to steal the guys in town? I imagine that they both would have laughed off Paulina as having no power at all. While Donna and Rachel kept each other up to date with tea served by Louise and Brooks' granddaughter; from their artisinal barn, which had been the stable. It could have been the establishment of a good reboot.

I would argue that Blair was richer at the time, and she was a more reliable resource. The only characteristic shared between Cassie, Blair, Adrianna, Dorina, and Melinda was their brunette hair with blond highlights,