Scrapple

Some good ATWT recasts:

I know Julianne Moore is well-loved for her Emmy-winning Frannie Hughes, but I really like her replacement Mary Ellen Stuart, who had a real natural quality and blended in with her castmates well.

I never cared for Shawn Christian's Mike Kasnoff, so it'll be no surprise that I preferred Mark Collier. Neither will ever win an Oscar, but Collier never hammed it up, played the role as it should be...underplayed.

Of the adult Paul Ryans, Scott Holroyd was unquestionably the best. He nailed the blance of playing the Son of Satan with a conscience. How they could replace him with that scenery-chewing one-note Howarth is beyond me. 

Nicolas Coster played 2 characters on ATWT, both involved with Lisa (years apart).

It must have galled Runyeon to see his role become the one of troublemaker, while former villain Bryce was heading for leading man.  After all , for two solid years, ATWT literally centered around only 2 stories, Betsy/Steve and the Stenbeck heir tale. Suddenly Frank went from "star" to ensemble player.

How stupid was ATWT to end Steve/Betsy the way they did? The biggest couple on the show since Penny/Jeff and they just let them peter out by sending Steve to Greece and (eventually) prison, and putting nuBetsy with Josh? What a huge disappointment. Of course, the problem was that Runyeon and Frost had ZERO chemistry. They should have just let Steve and Betsy ride off into the sunset after the big wedding.

Did anyone see the recent news about Finn Carter (Sierra) being arrested on felony charges? Her mugshot was a shocker. I wish I had the technical abilities to post those type of things , but I don't. So sorry for Finn, who I LOVED during the Craig/Sierra days.

Maybe I'm blind, but I never would have picked out Christopher Durham or David O'Brien. 

I never thought about it, but you are right, vetsoapfan. There was very little "overlap" of stories. Everything was about one storyline until it ended, then another one began...unusual for a soap.

The first time-travel (Victoria's trip to the past) will always be my favorite storyline.

Actually, they did do a "Dr. Bob as a perve to a young girl" storyline. But fortunately ,it was all in the girl's (Marissa Tomei) mind. 

Was Miranda ever mentioned again after she left?

The clips featuring Alan White were bad, but I'm so glad they were posted, because it made me watch other clips on the same show, namely the Trial Of Barbara Ryan, when Babs was tried for her spa kidnapping of Emily, Carly and Rose. There were some great scenes in that trial, especially when Hal was asked on the stand whether he thought Barbara should go to jail for the rest of her life - and he was forced to choose between Barbara and Emily. But the best scene is the last, when Carly confronts Barbara after she is set free on a technicality. Without histrionics, Maura sticks the knife in, but good.

And then there's the Ridiculous Name Hall Of Fame: Ridge, Thorne, Storm, etc

The Eighties spinning globe intro to ATWT was my favorite. It was a perfect hook from the intro scenes.The intros after that were a hodgepodge  that ranged from pretty-but-boring to meaningless fanfare. Eight pages of this thread and nobody posted Dark Shadows? (I would, but I don't know how!)

Just curious if Kathryn Hays or Eileen Fulton were ever Emmy-nominated. To me, KH's performance when Kim discovered Bob's affair is among the finest I've ever seen. If she wasn't recognized while we got years of nominations for Susan Lucci's scenery-chewing, it would be a disgrace.

As for Fulton, I certainly don't think she was great actress, or even a very good one. But during the stretch of time from Eduardo's death through the malpractice suit to John's humiliation of her, she was wonderful. It's like she put away all those annoying little tics of hers, and and rose to the occasion.

Dark Shadows

I think they should have let Steve and Betsy ride off into the sunset, happily, when Ryan decided to leave. Same thing with Duncan and Shannon. 

Frost was a very good actress, much better than Ryan, but she had ZERO chemistry with Frank Runyeon. Ryan did have a quality that made you watch her on camera. I don't think the writers knew what to do with an intelligent Betsy.

The whole "As The World Turns Around Lily" phenomenon also happened with Katie and Gwen.

I have to disagree. Although some of their storylines were goofy, Duncan had undeniable chemistry with Shannon. He and Jess just seemed like best friends.

3 hours ago, Mitch said:

Speaking of Dolan said that BH and SH had an impression of Wagner that would crack her up..I would have loved to have seen that!

I remember on one special episode (either Christmas or an anniversary), there is a scene of Ben Hendrickson (with his back to the camera) doing some sort of impression to a large group of the cast. The cast just roared laughing, but you couldn't see what he was doing.  

Conversely, what was the best musical moment from the show (guest singers like Whitney Houston don't count)?

Shannon was one of my favorite characters. I loved her with Duncan (much better than the boring Brian). As much as I loved Jessica, there was absolutely no heat between she and the Scotsman.  I still remember the scene of Shannon and Margo confronting Barbara in the ladies room. 

TMC aired both Dark Shadows movies last night. The first "House Of Dark Shadows" was very good. The second , "Night Of Dark Shadows"...not so much. "House" kind of put the whole Barnabas saga in a nutshell, with better special effects and no bloopers. "Night" had no Barnabas, only Quentin as a lead, and a ponderous pace. It was interesting to see "Introducing Kate Jackson" in the credits, though.

I loved Ariel and her involvement with Dusty's father. Who was her rival for Burke, I've forgotten?

There is NO comparison between the two actors. Bryce took Craig from the villain -you-love-to-hate days (Betsy) to the show's male lead (Sierra). But he always made his Craig multi-layered and complicated. Block's Craig, while entertaining, was a cartoon.