Vee

The show in '90 is much, much more entertaining and engaging than the '89 episodes I've struggled through so far. I'd heard Jorn Winther's name before but you can tell he commanded some loyalty from AMC stars, among others to juice up this cast while moving better story.

It's not unusual for the trades to get ahold of this information, however tragic. I prefer to preserve my ire for attention seekers who, for example, leak the private details of a dying hospice patient to social media before the family's statement and without their permission in order to get more views on Soap Twitter.

I am watching it now thanks to your lovely past discussions and it is much more impressive work than anything I've seen from '89. Thanks again! Monique seems terminally boring and the late Addabbo is sadly merely comical to me. Did Jason leave her or something by the end? I wonder what they intended for Rebecca who seemed poised to be the other central matriarch early on. I do find Pat Crowley quite boring. How long was Barbara Rhoades there? Linda Gibboney seems instantly more impressive in other eps I've seen, though I still question the need for the entire Jessica and family thread.

Very sad.

I do think Emily definitely got shrill at times in those years, but I don't think it was all she did. She still could be very loving with her parents and A.J. She never lost me.

I remember that piece by Amber. The reunion with Becky was so touching to me.

OLTL is not freely available online to the end, I know that for a fact because we're all waiting on the end of '91. The tape trading circuit is not the same thing. And it's still very rare for these shows to be fully collected like that in this country.

If she's well enough. I hope so, as she's appeared a fair amount over the last 5-10 years or so. (They went so far as to give Lesley that Italian lover.) I just remember that unfortunate and silly series of scenes in the Carlivati era in 2013 where Denise could clearly barely stand unassisted and they had geriatric Lesley sneaking into the hospital in a lab coat trying to peek at Luke's test results and getting caught by Monica. I get the intention (however goofy) but they didn't need to do that kind of camp with Denise also clinging to the set for dear life. So I hope she's still able. Agreed.

I think Amber will always be The Emily to most fans and is obviously much more famous. Not dissimilar to Jonathan as Lucky, really. Natalia has only appeared maybe once or twice as the ghost (not counting Nikolas' hallucinations), and while I had less issues with her tenure than other people her stories were often unpopular. I wouldn't begrudge Natalia appearing but my choice would be Amber, who had the deep onscreen relationship with Leslie.

I remember this promo from when I was a kid. Good times. I should amend this - I would never ask nor expect Amber Tamblyn to return full time as Emily, her career and profile are too big for that now. But I would still ask her to appear in a tribute to Leslie regardless in some role, either as Emily's 'ghost' or a ringer character, like what they did so well with B.J./Brighton Hertford last year. You could still bring Emily back alive down the road with another actor, and any ghost appearance can be shrugged off the same as Ghost Jesse, etc. on AMC.

I feel two ways about that option. I feel relatively confident he is dogmeat now, whereas Mulcahey had reshaped him a somewhat more decent and less skeevy power broker/lothario. You're right that Drew could continue regardless of going full heel, but the issue is that GH in the 2020s doesn't know how to keep those kind of darker characters long-term unless they are guest stars playing cartoon villains who Frank Valentini suddenly becomes enamored of and doesn't want to lose.

What exactly happened with Jason Craig in the long run? I know he was Jessica's lost son or something. His reactions re: his flashbacks to his father's(?) death are hysterical. The whole setup with wooden Jessica, her friend's family, the surfer brother, etc. is so bizarre. I have no idea why they thought any of this was compelling, and the Whitmores are equally lame (except Kelly Rutherford, and her opening story sucks). I feel bad for the great Gail Ramsey a.k.a. GH's infamous Susan Moore. To go from that to this. Don't get me started on Wally the ice cream guy's rap. Mostly though this show only comes alive with me, or feels remotely inspired, when the Black families are onscreen, which is probably appropriate. I decided to dive back into sampling the show more in honor of Michele Val Jean before Beyond the Gates premieres.

Sean Kanan can always come back someday. Far worse bridges have been burnt in daytime. But I hesitate to use either his ghost or Emily's, because I would not intend to keep them dead. I do think Denise is important if she's able to appear. And I would ask Amber, not Natalia.

What we've learned in the digital age is that when it comes to 'lost' media there's often always more. It's just a question of who has it.

And hilariously, double-checked that both Gloria and her sister Norma were dead before unloading about all this in 2013 during a dishy 50th anniversary interview with herself and other longtime vets. I'll never get over that. I agree the writing for Tracy's initial brief return in 2003 (to intro Scott Clifton's Dillon and de-Q Skye, IIRC) was shallower, as I've rewatched it not long ago. As I said a few days ago that whole era, particularly '03-'04 when Frons and Pratt were ascendant, was very crass writing-wise. But what I will say for that return is that as a younger viewer my memories of Tracy were few and far between; I knew the legend as a fan, but she'd left just before I started watching GH in '93 as they began promoting the return of Luke and Laura. I had only seen bits and pieces of her in '96 or on The City (which I'd lost interest in by the time she turned up), and beyond that I'd only ever seen the occasional famous episode with her on WOST (withholding Edward's pills, etc.) or wherever else. So when Jane turned up in '03, for a bored viewer growing very disenchanted with the show's decline she was like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. She was instantly a very, very formidable presence, and the dialogue did sharpen up for her at least to try to keep up with her. Those scenes where she dresses down the whole family, shallow though they may be, stuck with me and I knew instantly they'd be idiots to let her only do this brief stint of a few days and leave when the show was getting so lousy. I was right, because IIRC Jane was back on contract either later in the year or early in '04, and she stayed. The writing hasn't always served her or the family well, particularly in those years, or allowed all the dimension it once had for those characters, but she was instantly dynamite.

To her credit, Barbara Rhoades seems to have barely aged between the beginning of Generations in the 1989 pilot episode I recently rewatched for the first time in decades (with the kooky if a bit overlong soap within a soap opening) and her brief, bizarre OLTL stint as supervillain Irene Manning in 2012. To her detriment however, IMO she's a dreadful actor on both soaps - the only time she convinces and amuses is in the spoofy soap Jessica plays her TV character on. I can't even really follow in various episodes why Jessica Gardner comes back to town, how other people know her or why she keeps hanging around. The recast seems much stronger as an actress though in later stuff. The early voice-over narration is bizarre, and am I to understand they kept using it for awhile? Woof. The early episodes in May or August seem equally staid. I am going to skip ahead and check out 1990 with more Doreen, Debbi Morgan, etc. Pat Crowley is Sominex to watch - I don't understand how they intended to seemingly pivot part of the show on her character of Rebecca, particularly if they supposedly dumped her so early (late '89?).

If anyone gets a clear copy of the new promo it's much appreciated.

Yes, but that's typical soap opera behavior. The blocked one is trashing the show because he came out of a decade of SON cryosleep to obsess over it and now is angry it is not matching the elaborate soap he invented in his head.

I sure can't as I cut the cord long ago even though I work from home, so Paramount it is.

Nah, Courtney I was good with killing lol. Georgie and Emily were too far.

Most of the recent cast tributes are in the Memoriam thread, but here Kyle writes for the Times about David in more detail. @DRW50

Very true. It was (sometimes) an equal opportunity body count, whereas FV often struggles to get rid of anyone. That said I don't think Guza ever had much use for Courtney, who he inherited from JFP. I think he tolerated her presence for Frons and Chuck Pratt until the arrival of Kelly Monaco and Jason/Sam taking off meant he no longer had to.

I did too, but I liked the first Sage better than Katie Stuart. She had a unique look. It was a waste. That (and Kristina I, I guess) was definitely the precursor to the Guza II regime killing off any young woman in range.

Looks like the full segment.

I dunno why both my TV and my live feed are like 2 mins behind. Jane Pauley is still running down the upcoming segments lol.