j swift

Not quite, Mac didn't live in Bay City when Rachel got pregnant by Steve with Jamie so, Paulina could have been younger or the same age. She would have to be older than Matt or Amanda because they sprouted on screen while Mac lived in Bay City. While I've never tried to imagine Iris's age (because a gentleman wouldn't do such a thing) Sandy and Jamie were played around the same age in the early 1980's when Sandy was introduced. Jamie never grew any older after that; he stayed perennially in his early 30's throughout the 80's and 90's which allowed his original SORASing to catch up with him in a 'Benjamin Button' sort of way. Paulina could have been born in South America at any time between when Mac slept with Sandy's mom in Nevada up until he came to Bay City (BTW I am psuedo-appalled in retrospect that 'Paulina from the Rain Forrest' was always played by a blond actress). Any way, when Mac first dated Rachel he was a very sexual being. He had an impulsive tryst in the back of his limousine and, when Rachel found out, his rather sophisticated defense was that they weren't exclusive sexual partners at the time. Ada even told Rachel that unless she locked Mac down he would see other women. His eye would often wonder while at the Cory Complex. However, there is an interesting thread between all of Mac's illegitimate children, there were illusions that the mothers were all some how involved in the sex industry. Iris's biological mother was a hooker which is why Mac's wife adopted her, Sandy was an escort (and I think his mother was also a hooker), and Paulina's mother wasn't a hooker but that relationship was never portrayed as romantic. So, even though Mac could date anyone he wanted, he also paid for something extra on the side...

This opened a weird can of worms. John Gibson did indeed play Joe Hawk in 1983, he told Jenny that he was a friend of her late husband Peter but really he was spying on David However, from 1991-1992 OLTL had another character named Joe Hawk, who was a friend of Max and was involved in Serenity Springs. Two Joe Hawks?!?

An executive in December 1976, when Somerset was cancelled, would have had amazing psychic abilities to be able to predict that a low rated six year soap opera would have any worth beyond the tape upon which it was produced. Can you imagine trying to tell a P&G ad exec 42 years ago to save videotape because one day everything is going to be digitally shared across a network of tubes and cables? I would suggest that the same people who approved the story of an old woman dressing as a clown to scare her niece were understandably not great at predicting the future.

Just once I want someone to yell at Madge for ripping them off by dipping their hands in dish soap and calling it a manicure. Also, is that Y&R's Nikki Reed's dance partner Cash coming to visit Jenny? John Gibson, the OG Chippendale's dancer who dated Vanna White and died in a plane crash?

I was looking at old SOD's on Tumblr. 3 weeks before Iris's return there's a promo about intrigue in Bay City and they show Rachel open the door. Then, 2 weeks prior the promo was about someone coming to Bay City ( it seems like they are trying to be gender neutral to fake viewers into thinking it might be Steve ) and they show Rachel opening the door. The week after the reveal SOD had an intro article with Carmen Duncan (to show the power of NBC's PR dept, there is no mention of the accent what so ever). I agree that the tie-in of the reveal and a murder trial was vintage AW. What AW fan can't still hear Mac calling out Rachel's name when he learned that Mitch was Matthew's father during her murder trial? Or Walter Curtain and his reveal of the having the scarf/being the killer who freed Lenore? Courtroom reveals were so juicy because they had to tell the truth in front of the whole town (who take days off to attend a trial without a complaint).

Is there any YT video of Pat Ashley and her evil twin Maggie? I would be eager to see Maggie masquerading around Llandview as Pat.

No, (although nobody ever did the math), she was supposedly conceived before Mac became involved with Rachel and was therefore older than Matthew and Amanda. Her parentage was confirmed in the red swan box mystery that was Rachel's first story after Mac passed.

Imagine if they hadn't retconed Iris's parentage then Paulina could have been Iris's sister (from the same biological parents) rather than Mac's daughter. I've always thought it sullied male characters to have long lost kids pop-up all over the country. So, making Paulina into Iris's unknown sister that Mac was trying to find before his death to give Iris a family would have been kinder to his memory. I know Mac was the kind of guy to boff a gal in his limo, but I don't think he would have left a daughter in the rain forest.

Upon reflection I have one tiny quibble with this scene. Reva came to Springfield with a personal maid (and a truckload of turbans), she also grew up in a home with a staff, yet she seems intimidated by the formality of Joseph the butler. I know Reva was becoming domesticated (with a brief foray into royalty) but, she knew how to utilize household help so her interaction with Joseph seems out of character.

Earlier in the season Ramona told us that she rents out the house. All of the furniture looked suitable for that purpose. The dining room was especially a downgrade, she went from a dated (but probably expensive at the time) pine dining room set to a cheap looking modern aluminum set. The kitchen reminded me of a superfluous piece of advice someone one gave me that one should put low end appliances in the kitchen so that the catering staff knows how it works (snobby, but practical). Everything seemed build to withstand multiple users. Bethanny continues to irritate me. She was so proud of her marinara analogy but having to explain yourself to that degree is a sign of a poor communicator. My take on the Carole issue is that she was there for Bethanny during her many emotional interludes and then when Carole is going through a breakup with Adam, Bethanny did not know how to be supportive and her constant derision of the cast became tiresome. She complains about Ramona and then as she enters the jean factory she shouts to the first person she sees, "Are we doing acid?" I think that she abuses her privilege and it is gross considering that she became privileged two seconds ago. Carole entering the Greek lunch with Dorinda made me laugh and laugh. First, they show the meat on a stick and we know instantly that Carole will have nothing to eat at this place. Then, she says to the hostess that she is meeting a woman "with short blond hair" as if Dorinda isn't the only one miked and lit for filming. Then, she orders a greek salad but she gets this huge bowl with meat in it and we knew that she was only going to eat the cherry tomato. I hate to be a Ramona-stan but she handled Sonja with the shoes at the party much better than any other housewife would allow.

Yes but, those final Lillian scenes were amazing. When she talked about giving up her life to please Bradly and then paying penitence for Maureen it was gold. For my experience, having a character express themselves in that way can only come after watching them for years. So, it may have been more a device to get Lillian to grow than to give Buzz a happy ending. Amazing, thank you. That entire arc of a conversation is jaw dropping to watch, and not just because of Reva's mullet. When she waves away the butler I was in stitches. I adored the association of Dylan and Lujack, in that it was totally soapy that two woman would have long lost children and discuss it as if it were totally normal. Shark tank idea - somebody has got to adapt those old fancy landline phones for the iphone. Also, I could watch a loop of soap women pulling off their earrings to talk on the phone; love that move.

Speaking of Beverly McKinsey, as we were on the GL thread, @Faulkner avatar reminded me of what I loved about Iris; all of her morning scenes were in the dining room in a loose caftan, either nagging Mac, Robert, or Brian before they went off to work. I appreciate that before Iris moved to Texas she really had no ambitions in the business field. It was such a specific choice for her to be in a caftan, or a feathery peignoir set, because she lived a life of leisure. We knew Ada didn't wake up like that across Bay City at her place, and Rachel always dressed for breakfast at the Cory Mansion because she was going to sculpt or go to the Cory Complex. Iris was a perfect soap archetype of a rich woman with a penthouse and a closet full of clothes but still unfulfilled by love... Also, I don't think Gail Brown gets the credit she deserves for going toe to toe with Beverly.

@Soaplovers referred to the former GL producer as "Ferren Phelps" in another thread and it reminded me of one of Y&R silliest stories; Andy Richard's ex-wife Ferren Conner ( I recommend the Y&R wiki page on her as a refresher). The fact than an amnesiac patient would name herself Ferren, (a name that I had never heard of before nor since), still makes me smile. I also giggled at all of the technical anachronisms, like that Ferren's husband has to write a letter to try to find her, or the lack of any DNA testing, or that nobody seems to have access to photos of Ferren or a phone when they need it. Access to whatever-they-call-Facebook in Genoa City would have solved this two year story in about two minutes today.

I was just re-reading the return of Amanda Spaulding and I would have shaded the crap out of that character. Ben McFadden love lorn lass, or even Mark Evans side chick, would never have become a Malibu madame. And the whole Alan is her father/brother/uncle/3rd cousin retcon is an awful plot point to keep rehashing. BTW it makes me smile to imagine Ellen Wheeler trying to explain the concept of Peapack to Beverly McKinsey (no, there won't be any fur coats but you'll have your own bush to change behind...)

@DRW50 My favorite role for Marj was when she played Pamela Capwell. It was a unique mix of snobby, vulnerable, insane, and maternal. Alex was vulnerable at times but, during Marj's stay in the role, she mostly just an antagonist. Beverly got all of the plots where Alex had agency, Marj's Alex was mostly just a spanner to avoid for other characters. Also, every Alexandra backstory never fit with Alan's backstory. Over time it was a real pet peeve of mine that the sibling's backstories never seemed to align. So, using Marj as a different character would solve those logic issues.

@GMac I was intrigued by your comment on Marj's Alexandra in the real life thread. It lead me to wondering if Marj would have made a better Trish Lewis? Trish could have served Alex's role as an antagonist for Mindy. They got along before but something could have easily been written to make them in opposition. Trish had built in conflict with Alan, so those Alex stories could have been attributed to Trish. Trish could have had long lost kids or long lost husbands. Also, Andy Norris is a much better ex-husband character than Count Luba-whatever (Nick's father). I felt that character was really underdeveloped given her interesting backstory and Marj could have played her well without the comparison to Beverly. Speaking of "could of, would of, should of" I just read that Jennifer Richards gave birth to a kid with the evil Mark Evans before she left Springfield. In fact, she gave birth, gave the kid to Amanda, left town, then returned and took back Matthew to raise. (1) What happened IRL that caused Jennifer to leave and then come back to Springfield? (2) Wouldn't Matthew Richards have been a great SORAS to come back and take revenge on Alan?

Agreed, GL does not get enough credit for being the most innovative soap and not every experiment goes well. As I recall they were the first to experiment with different openings back in the 80's with their disco theme remix. I associate a change from using organ background music to pop music with Guiding Light; from Morgan & Kelly singing to the Donna Summer song while Roger stalked Rita in the Hall of Mirrors. Obviously the Wednesday bottle episodes, the time jump anniversary special, and the use of integrated commercials were all also first tried on GL.

@robbwolff It still leaves the mystery of why a disco would have a puppet theater? I recall Kelly's tv show but I don't recall him ever doing shows at The Unicorn.

I just finished a re-watch of season 7 (the Chris Atkins season, don't judge). The big takeaway is that they produced 30 episodes that season. I know that they were not meant to be binge watched, but it was way too bloated. I forgot that there was a whole three episode subplot where Peter (Atkins character) and Lucy become models. I appreciate the annual traditions of the Oil Barron's Ball and Ewing Barbecue require their own episodes but I feel like that whole year's plot could have been told in 10 episodes. Also, the amount of episodes does not relate to continuity in story telling. Ray's nephew is euthanized, there's a trial, the Aunt admits her guilt, then for the next 20 episodes nobody mentions the trial again. Yet in three separate episodes, Sue Ellen agrees to meet Peter, he tells he that he loves her and she rejects him; I don't need that much repetition. I was influenced by the blog reviews of Knots Landing that were recently referenced on this board and I can see that there is a structure to the season and it is divided into three sections. However, I would not watch another entire season because I think you can get the whole story by just watching the premiere and the cliffhanger of each season. On a positive note, the costumes that season were amazing! I've never seen women dress up like Sue Ellen to pick up their kid from camp but it was fun to watch. Priscilla Presley wears a beaded gown to the Oil Barron's Ball that was fitted to within an inch of her life. Even Pam's weird curly bob looks great with all of the hats that she wore. The money showed in that production. Everyone had a pool, every episode had amazing crane shots, and the cars were enviable. It was just too long and repetitive to watch all at once.

The Clown Puppet Murders is one of my favorite stories but, upon reflection, why did Elliott Dorn have a puppet theater built into his disco/nightclub?

This is a total shot in the dark but my vague memory is the Diana's became the Falcon Club because we're they both on a yacht?

There's got to be some rabid fan base who are making these reunion clothes because I've never seen dresses like this in a retail store. Imagine walking into Nordstrom and seeing a lace catsuit with an attached skirt? Does every department store in Potomac have a beaded jumpsuit and evening shorts section? Why does every housewife want to look as if Bob Mackie was dressing them as a guest on the Cher Show? Does the nude illusion lace lobby get a kickback for each reunion like Priv?

Isn't it odd that Reva had two long lost children (Dylan & Jonathan) and Josh had none? Josh would jump into another woman's bed every time Reva got lost coming home from the grocery store. So, isn't an odd missed opportunity that he never had a kid outside of his marriage? @Soaplover I agree with you on the class issues between Reva and Josh, their upbringing seemed like much more of an issue for Josh than it was Billy. I also never understood the relationship between Reva and Vanessa. Why wasn't Vanessa as mean to Reva as she was to Nola? Reva came to town to break up Billy and Vanessa but, Vanessa never seemed to hold it against her.

The thing about early Josh and Reva, (before the bridge) is that Josh's responses to Reva's actions always seemed over the top given her misdeed. For example, when she came to town (remember those days of turbans, funny personal maids, a masseur and those faux-victorian phones?) she told the Lewis' that she was there because her divorce with Billy had never been finalized. Later, Josh finds out that Reva was paid to come to town to break up Billy and Vanessa, he freaks out and leaves Reva. Meanwhile, a year earlier, he was messing with Morgan's marriage and running around in a speedo but nobody called him the Slut of Springfield. That whole period was so reminiscent of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; it was reflected in Reva's clothes, the summer heat, and drapes that fluttered in the wind during love scenes. There were also allusions to Body Heat; the film that KZ never let us forget. The production staff at the time expected that their audience would appreciate and recognize those literary and film references. I know I've been hard on Josh in recent comments because I am reading the SOD synopses of that period. However, drunk Phillip hit on Reva and Josh didn't defend her and that's why she yelled in the fountain. Josh also put up with a lot of craziness from Tangie, Sonni, Terri DeMarco, and Annie Dutton that he never tolerated in Reva. I just think, like many supercouples, Reva tolerated a lot more of Josh's foibles than he did for her.

@victoria foxton I find it amusing that we've seen Anna's taste when she lived in her cottage with Casey the Alien, and we saw how Rick and Ginny decorated the house, so we can only assume that those ugly curtains and decor were Robert's taste. Did all of Sean Donnally's stolen Egyptian art wind up in Leslie Webber's living room?