Vee

Maybe I misinterpreted it? Bobbie and Ruby have the conversation literally the day after the engagement. I have no clue if Tony and Bobbie were officially involved before this or if Tony just floored her with the proposal. Ruby does tell her friendship trumps sex, and that passion will come later. I would assume that if they hadn't done the deed before it was settled in the ensuing month surrounding the wedding and honeymoon - I am watching that stuff now.

@DRW50 will be surprised to note that Melissa Hayden from GL can be spotted as "Mouse" in fall '89 episodes. I had no idea she was on the show, I think Mouse was a recurring player.

He's busy.

Damian is pretty dead too. I would bring on a Smith kid someday, but I see no reason to resurrect either of those.

That's crazy as hell. I hope they fix that today.

It was, and they've never said much. IIRC Luke and Laura raised Sly as Lucky's brother for a couple years. He was a family fixture. Then he faded out around '96 or '97 and I think they probably said he went to live with Paul and Jenny. I don't know if he got an onscreen exit, I doubt it. He did have regular interaction with Lucky, Emily, etc. right to the end. I think he was gone before the Webber sisters arrived. I would happily have Julia appear if Brenda and Alec returned. I don't know if I'd make her a contract player again though, be it Crytsal Carson or anyone else. My initial idea for Sly 20+ years ago was for him to return as a young man bitter about the Spencers' perceived abandonment of him. He would return to town seemingly eager to return to the family fold but he would actually be Helena's mole for the Cassadines and her latest scheme. Then he would reconnect with the family, get close to Carly and Lucky and of course recant his ways after disaster struck. I had no idea who I'd put him with. Today I'd just be happy to see him for an appropriate arc, short and to remind Laura, Lucky, etc. of the good times. I suppose a fling with Liz or someone else could work. Josh Kelly could've easily played Sly in much the same role Cody has now tbqh.

He was quite good, but I don't think Glenn Harris acts anymore. I would just recast for an arc, with Laura and the family. (You know I once had him pegged as a short-term love interest for Sasha to write her out lol, but that moment has passed) I do think RC had intended to have both Sly and Jenny appear for the original Fluke saga in 2014-15. Those were the rumors at the time, anyway. These came out well before the rewrite. And IIRC Ned or someone actually spoke to Jenny on the phone, or maybe it was Julia.

I don't think so. As we've noted, they tried everything under the sun with Bill in almost 3 years. He kept rapidly changing, and his many incarnations were something Geary talked about at length in period interviews. It didn't work because the character onscreen just didn't. I do wish the Fluke story had been Bill as originally intended. It would've been less messy for Luke overall, and allowed Geary to re-delineate them again and come to terms with the differences between the men. But Carlivati had to have his shock twist. As it is today, I'd still bring back Sly Eckert for an arc or something. Eckert's Bakery is also still alive, and regularly mentioned or featured onscreen by characters who enjoy their baked goods (their takeout box was shown again just a few days ago).

Weirdly, yesterday's show is not on Paramount yet.

Speaking of intimacy: I was poking around in fall '89 and was startled to see Bobbie and Ruby sit down the day after Tony's proposal and have Bobbie express qualms about the marriage as she basically says they've never been physically intimate together, just 'best friends.' Did Tony just spring this on her without them being officially romantically involved before then?

I think at times their relationship was very close and intimate - in another part of the E! interview he says his bond with Genie is 'more intimate than sex,' and he goes on and on in other print interviews in the '90s and early 2000s about the the trust between them, how everything she does is gold and elevates him, etc. He was rhapsodic for praise with her personally and how good she was for him as an actor all the way up to the mid-late 2000s. And at other times (including some of those times) I think their BTS relationship was very difficult, cold and remote. I think it waxed and waned a lot and was probably codependent or toxic sometimes, especially when they were both younger. I think that's the nature of the beast in daytime, and in the era they came up in. Especially a tempestuous, often ego-driven gay or bisexual man in that swinging/closeted era vs. a very young girl with her own issues, struggles and faults. I think Guza is also more nuanced than we often give him credit for. All of his flaws and faults are very real and not exaggerated. But he did come up at GH in its glory years under Monty, and he did work on many soaps and did good work. I do think he resented being stuck at GH by the 2000s, and I think it often showed in the work product. But I don't think he ever truly hated soaps or GH. They have been in his blood a long time (and I think one of the most nuanced and character-driven albeit dark threads on Beyond the Gates this past year is very likely his work). I think Guza hated what had been left of his career in middle age, and gradually took it out on GH.

No, I think he's right. Others in here have discussed before the what-ifs re: Monty casting someone, anyone else (like Stephen Nichols). Her alleged inspiration was Eastenders which she thought was the wave of the future for the '90s, getting away from big '80s excess to more grounded people. She had a good point, but she botched the idea spectacularly.

The fan on the street reaction still cracks me up. I will again say, I think Tony sold LNL's return 100% at the same time as this discussion (and he is equally fulsome about them in those same E! interviews in other clips) and for many years in public and onscreen. But I think the Bill stuff festered, especially come the mid-2000s. He was also never horribly insulting or dismissive re: Claire Labine, as he could be about Culliton or Carlivati (who he enthusiastically compliments in the Fluke reveal article before roasting him a few months later in the exit interview).

It wasn't necessarily always a huge issue until the Carlivati era, where he began actively playing against their plans for Luke (addressing his alcoholism, reuniting Luke and Laura). But no one made Guza II put all that dialogue in other actors' mouths dissing Luke and Laura; that was the writing team. I will say I think Tony and Jonathan did a beautiful job rewriting their last scenes, which were probably typically functional RC hackwork, in 2015. The final scenes were just way above the level of the rest of the dialogue on the show at that point. The legacy of Tony and Luke has always been complicated, good and bad. (Also, Erika Slezak was known to rewrite elements of her scenes on the fly in the mornings with permission from OLTL brass, and would also massage her scene partners' dialogue for them. She and her costars like Jerry VerDorn, Mark Derwin, etc. have talked about it in a complimentary way.)

One of the scenes they clip briefly here with Sly and Bill, where Sly challenges his father's nihilistic worldview, I remember being really excellent. I think it was from September or October of '93 and I was fairly convinced it was Labine, but I don't think her name was on the show at the time so I may be wrong about it. (Or it was her tinkering before her official first date)

More of the post-Bill interview. Tony does admit "I was not cast well as Bill Eckert."

I can understand some of it, given all that came with it and all he wanted to do as an actor. And for many many years, he was the loyal keeper of the flame in the mags re: Luke and Laura and their family. It was only in the mid-2000s when his tone really changed in print and his behavior with it. He has talked about clashing with Riche and Labine, etc. (as have both of them, I think) but in those actual years, onscreen or in the press, I can only ever remember him being a devoted hype man for the stories. I'll tag @dc11786 as they've had so many wonderful thoughts on this era, and I'd be curious on their take re: Geary's response in the video on the last page.

I didn't want to bump the Geary thread for this, but as we've discussed this stuff a lot of late this infamous clip from E!'s Pure Soap in '93 has returned online, in which Tony is still visibly pissed following the airing of Bill Eckert's demise. (I won't timestamp it because there's fan reaction and the scene itself in the video, but they start discussing it at 3:20) Worth noting to how sharp some of them are. Including the fan who wants him to die on an ELQ ship, as Bill first appeared when one sank.

Voila: His prior interview with Logan a few months before re: the Fluke/DID reveal has him all in on the DID and Luke being a serial killer, BTW. And praising Ron for it lol.

Can't wait to see it, somewhere, somehow. 🍵

I miss that haze! It's overly lit these days but was worse in 2015.

They did, and it was terrible right down to Frank returning from the dead. Which Tony also roasted in his exit interview. The only highlight were the scenes back home in PC between Luke and Lucky, where by their own admission Tony and JJ tossed out the script and rewrote it all. You could tell, because it was lightyears better than any dialogue on the show in a number of years.

There was never a real Denise.

Per Luke's terrible final episode: I still don't think Laura ever actually opened or read that letter. I may be wrong. It always seemed to me like Carlivati's final FU to Geary, who had prevented him from reuniting LNL; in that letter, I suspected, Luke would have put his true feelings for Laura. I'd still use that letter or others like it today lol.

Anywhere to watch it outside of Canada in HQ? I know @Darn might be into it too. HNY btw.