j swift

I re-read the GL anniversary book today. The change from the 70's to the 80's on that show was extreme; suddenly everyone was from Tulsa rather than Europe. 1. Dr Sara McIntyre (sp?) is totally one of those female characters that they don't write anymore. A mature women who other female characters look to for advice but with a totally f'ed up private life. AW's Pat, AMC's Anne, and ever Jesse Brewer come to mind; women who were bright and competent but kept impulsively falling for bad guys. Sara married two different guys while on vacation (both tried to kill her) but everyone in town still went to her for marital advice. 2. Justin Marler - cad or victim? Today I learned that Justin had dated Sara (before Phillip was born) but jilted her for Jackie who was better for his career; which makes him a bit of cad. Then, when I considered how often he played second fiddle to Mike and Alan I felt bad for him. I wonder if his character changed to suit different writers? 3. I liked the liberation of Elizabeth Spaulding, Jackie Marler and Trish Lewis. However, Elizabeth and Hope both had (70's term) "drinking problems" that turned into full hysteria and required hospitalization? 4. The wealth of the 70's seemed both more attainable and at the same time more exclusive. Alan and Elizabeth are as rich doctors like Justin or Ed. Their homes seem suburban not mansions. They have household staff but it doesn't seems as stuffy as the Chamberlains. At same time, Elizabeth never interacts with poor characters which is convenient for the plot because they can conspire about her in her absence. 5. Hindsight is 20/20 but I don't see how a fan from 1977 who loved stories about Mike and Sara stayed with the show once they were completely sidelined. Both had firmly established roots but they just left once they got an out of town job offer and were spoken of again, (OK I'm sure someone talked about Mike but Sara disappeared completely).

I read the KZ book when it was published. I recall she acknowledged that the clone story was criticized but she appreciated the screen time; as being on screen seems the most important thing to her throughout the book. She was also very sweet when discussing her marriage. The oddest part, for me, is that she bookends the memoir with her DUI arrest. She is honest about drinking and eating more toward the end of the series because she was very unhappy but then she goes to great pains to deny that she was an addict. I thought it would end with a revelation about her drinking but she seems incapable of that degree of insight. So, it is this odd mix of honesty without insight which makes for a subpar book.

It's interesting that you mention that because I trying to recall if Erica ever mentioned being close to Opal's daughter Jenny? Opal is the kind of friend who will dress up to go shopping in Manhattan with you and your kidnapped baby; and that's what Erica needed. Let's face it, her cat fights with Barbara, Brooke and even Tara were much more fun to watch.

Two types of soap history stories that I adore: short-term or multiply recast roles and writer's strike stories. Both issues test the strength of the genre and it is so fun to hear how they resolved.

At this point Justine and DOOL's Princess Gina storylines get conflated but, didn't they get facelifts to look like their younger doppelgängers? How anyone pays for a facelift, or a new mansion, after being locked in an asylum in Europe for a couple of decades I'll never figure out. On another note; I was wondering if Rhonda Lewin ever played Marley or if she only played Vicky during her short tenure? I enjoyed Ellen Wheeler's Marley but I was always annoyed by Anne Heche's take on the character. Heche's Marley was mostly about the wig and speaking in a higher register; there was never any depth given to her. Also, her Vicky-as-Marley tricks never fooled me.

I disliked Travis/Erica because of how it differed from Sky/Raven. Sky and Raven were a team. Two scallywags who stuck together through mystery and mayhem. Other women or men never had a chance to try to seduce them because there were in love with each other. It was an Agnes Nixon trope that selfish people change through the love of a good partner; but I think it is poppycock. Erica needed someone who loved her for her strengths, not someone who tried to strengthen her. Jack, Nick, and Adam loved the ideal of Erica more that the real thing. Travis, Phil, Jeff and Tom tried to remodel her after their own ex-loves. Mike and Jeremy were just adventurous flings. I don't think any of them were "end game" lovers. Erica's relationships with women changed over time. After years of bitchy cat fights from Tara to Brooke, Erica found friends like Opel and was very loyal. I never understood why they played Phoebe's forgiveness of Erica off stage once Mona died. Suddenly, Phoebe allowed Erica into the country club without a fuss after years of excluding her. However, I can't think of a single guy who really had a lasting effect on Erica's personality. BTW the Erica kidnapping story reminded my of a SOW article about a remote in NYC of Erica shopping for the baby. As I recall, even the charm of baby shopping in spring in NYC did not change their negative opinion about the story. You have to hand it to SOW that they never held back their critiques.

I have a question about Dana/Adam. Their wedding generated press, they had a big build up, and then Dana left without much hoo-ha. What happened? Was there a change at the top?

Dallas was a family show at the time, given its time slot of 9:00 on Fridays, it was watched by all members of the family. At the time it was my father's dream to own a compound where his kids and spouses lived together throughout their lives. However, looking back, it didn't seem very practical. Did Momma, JR, Lucy and Bobby all have en suite bedrooms? What about closet space for Pam and Sue Ellen? In the pilot, they all seem to have their own spaces that are connected to the main house but by the series everyone lived in the same main house. BTW, I also like the original characterization of Miss Ellie as a bit of a Lady McBeth. She was hassling Sue Ellen to get pregnant in order to solidify her marriage to JR and she was not always kind and sunny. But my favorite was Marylee (sp?) the widowed member of the cartel who was always trying to seduce men by the pool. Does anyone remember what happened to her after the Casey Denault stuff?

There's a lot of discussion about producers or writers ruining shows but, for a network executive to approve a story and then fire the team responsible for producing that story can only undermine the whole show. My point about Donna leaving the Love siblings in the 70's for Carl stands. Vicky always had abandonment issues with Donna but Marley never had feelings about being left alone with Peter and Nicole for her teen years? At least Vicky had Bridget. Thanks for the specificity on the Harrison mansions; I adore remembrances of the sets and all of the times that a new production team thought that a new gathering place would completely revamp the show. I didn't recall the Harrison's being from Boston because I confused it with Dack Rambo's Grant who was running for office when he was introduced so I just assumed that Grant had longer familial ties to Bay City. BTW, in hindsight it would have been great if Rachel's half sister or Steve's Aussie daughter had been Ryan's mother. Given all the recasts, those were well conceived characters who were hampered by the inadequacy of the actors and would have served the story well in the 90's.

Justine gets my award for the worst ret-con of all time; on any soap. No amount of exposition could ever solve all of the logical problems with the story; so they just never explained the loopholes. Carl had an affair with Justine Harrison which produced Ryan. Ryan was the same age as Vicky Love who was 18 was she and Carl were introduced in 1983/1984; which means she was born in 1965. For 27 years nobody mentioned Rachel's similarity to Justine? Rachel was famous in town from her murder trial to her huge weddings; wouldn't one person mention that her doppelgänger lived next door at the Harrison mansion? Historically, long lost twins on soaps grew up in separate towns; not next door to each other. Did Mac Cory, Reg Love, or Michael Hudson know Spencer and Justine when they lived next door? Were they all invited to Lenore Moore's society wedding that Rachel was so desperate to attend when she was married to Russ? Also, doesn't the affair with Justine mean that Carl was in Bay City in the 1960's? If Carl was around in 1965 why didn't recognize him was in 1983? Weren't Justine and Donna pregnant at the same time? Why did Carl wait 20 years to get revenge on Mac? Why was Carl so focused on Mac if Spencer was really his rival? Which leads to one more bit of timeline exposition that never made sense. Donna Love married to Carl in Europe from approximately 1979-1982 and was a loving stepmom to his son Perry. During that period did Nicole, Peter and Marley Love live in the Love mansion by themselves? If the twins were so important to Donna why did she leave when Marley was a teen? Carl must have been very special to Donna but later writers seems to have forgotten that they were involved. It's that weird thing that soap people have pictures of their families but nobody seems to look at them until people return from the dead.

I found a new YT source. Search Santa Bárbara for the first 100 ep in English with Spanish subs : at least its something

I was thinking about Clay Alden today because I was trying to recall how the whole Clay/Alex story worked out by the end of the show. I forgot about the recasts of both characters and was wondering if anyone had any insights about the recasting. I know that Loving was a show that favored a recasting throughout it's history but I was wondering about these two. Did Clay come back because the actor playing Alex wanted to leave? Thus the disappearance of Alex to South America? I saw an interview with Randolph Mantooth where he mentioned working everyday and I wondered if the original intention was to get rid of the character? Was Larkin Malloy a good Clay recast? Did the character's personality change with any of the recastings? Did the recastings coincide with the recast of the Clay's parents?

From this guy's perspective the worst central character was Jennifer Munson. From the odd circumstances of her conception to the totally unnecessarily SORASing; she seemed age inappropriate with everyone of her mates. The worst was Craig being de-SORASed to fit the plot. Craig was older than Frannie who was married to Daryl Crawford, Jennifer's father. Considering that the Crawford murder plot was critically unpopular, Jennifer seemed like an odd choice to age, let alone build the whole show around, just a few years later. This really blew my mind. What if I actually don't remember watching any of the soaps, I just remember the magazines?

I have a hazy memory of the episode surrounding Lily's 18th birthday. I was never a ATWT fan but I kept up by reading the magazines at the time. I was amused that the episode had Lily visiting Craig, John and Iva, all of whom remembered that it was her birthday and, had a gift. Lily, much like Y&R's Cricket, was such a popular teen that even the adults in town knew her business. Speaking of wealth in the 80's, it created odd details like that every man (no matter what age or job) had a tuxedo for every wedding, a costume for every masquerade ball and, a different suit for each day when they were wrongfully accused of murder.

I just rewatched the Mariel Hemingway episode of SNL which she hosted around the premiere of CPW. It struck me that today neither CBS nor NBC would allow the cross promotion. The jokes about CPW make it seem like the show will be around forever. Lastly, although Mariel was the star but she wasn't the funniest in the cast; maybe hosting should have left to other castmates. It is difficult for me to even compare the two versions of CPW. The second half was moved around without much promotion during midsummer and I stopped paying attention. It is interesting that the show was attempting to be so contemporary that everything seems instantly dated. The Tom Ford for Gucci wardrobe, the low riding pants, the Upper West Side, publishing in New York and the re-boot that focused on an older cast; all seem amusing through a 2018 lens.

That is some fun soapy writing to have Rick come back for the Franny/Sabrina tale. I appreciate when long lost kids have some story that makes sense rather than just showing up and expecting an instant relationship with relatives that they've met in their 30's (e.g. Lisa and Scott).

I was surprised to read in vintage soap recap from Tumblr dated July 20-24, 1981 that Barbara had a brother named Rick and James Steinbeck had a brother named Lars when he was first married to Barbara. What happened to those characters? I remember the whole thing about the Steinbeck heir and Gunner but, did James have a brother in Europe the whole time? And did Barbara (and Jennifer) forget that she had brother? I am amused by soap opera law wherein illegitimate heirs become instantly wealthy when their lineage is discovered despite wills and trusts. There are at least two illegitimate heirs of Prince Albert of Monaco who wish that law worked in real life.

Did Erica's brother Mark Dalton ever meet Silver Kane; in either of her iterations? Also, did Ellen wind up with Ross or Mark?

Yes but, I can think of multiple times when people around Dorian faked pregnancies, brain injuries, and paternity tests with no medical inquiry from Dr. Lord. She seemed to have no expertise when it came to reading lab reports about either David or Blair. Also, I don't recall that she ever mentioned being in Med School during her affair with David Renaldi or even when discussing why she didn't raise Cassie. BTW it drives me nuts that writers re-used names like David within one character's history. Think of how many guys named John, Charles, or Paul moved to Landview over the years.

There are multiple times in the 80's and 90's when Landview-ites seem to have forgotten that Dorian was a doctor. Nobody ever asks for her medical expertise, she never delivers a baby under emergency circumstances, and she never seems to want to keep up with her medical knowledge. I have hazy memories of Dorian on the hospital board. However, I wonder why after her careers as a diplomat, talk show host and, newspaper publisher, Dorian never sought to get her license back?

Forgive my coming late to the party but I just realized that Stephen Meadows and Denny Albee are two different people. With the soap hopping discussion I was wondering why nobody brought up that an actor had been on EON, OLTL and SB, then I figured out that they are two different people.

Debbi Morgan did her share of hopping. All My Children/Loving and The City as Angie, Generations as Chantal 2.0, Port Charles as Dr. Ellen Burgess, Young and the Restless as Harmony and 14 episodes of B&B as an attorney. I wonder if she holds the record for appearing on the most final episodes of a soap?

I just watched the latest ep uploaded and now the Capwells have two maids (Rosa and Hayley) while the Lockridges still only employ a driver. I doubt Minx and Augusta know where the kitchen is located but I keep wondering who cleans the place up? Also, once Brick knew that he was Lionel's son did he still get paid as a driver?

Yes but, I love the Lockridges and I would miss them in a 20 minute version. Speaking of which, Nicolas Coster is in an amusing new commercial on UK tv. His character (with a British accent) tries a diet soda for the first time it makes him ponder what else he has missed. So, in montage he calls an old love, gets a tattoo, and attends a EDM concert. He still looks great. Also, to be fair, we are watching the finale of the big Channing murder and the lead up to Eden's first wedding; so it makes sense that the episodes are Capwell-centric.

I am fine with Capwell-centric episodes but the Lockridge kids have gone missing since the tunnel collapse. It is particularly remarkable that Laken provides no comfort during her mother's blindness. I guess that seeing someone's daughter confronted with her mother's trauma would have robbed SB from playing the humor in the story? Also, why do the Lockridges prioritize having a chauffeur over household staff? We never see a maid or a chef but they always employ a driver. I continue to remark on how much story happens in such a short period of time. The tunnel collapse and the opening of Eden's club happen within days of each other. They are solving Channing's murder, Gina finds out about Santana being Brandon's biological mother, and Lionel got a job as a bet with Minx. The later of which seems to never be mentioned again. It is never boring and the heightened melodrama of Gina#1 adds some neurotic tension.