Vee

Dr. Nicole has always said weird shít lol. That's just one more thing that's always needed a tune-up since the beginning. I don't think Hayley is any more or less outrageous than Leslie, the only difference is Hayley's plans are totally lethal and have a built-in shelf life.

Wasn't Lauralee one of the Bells who tried to bring the hammer down on MAB's run? Or the Lathams, or both?

Yeah, their stories weren't always the greatest (except at Loving) but B&E always stood up for the Black canvas. Their brief AMC run had maybe 5-7 Black contract players, not all of them related lol. I vaguely remember finding Vicky Spaulding stiff as hell myself. I always wanted to bring the character back with a good recast. Terrell Tilford has always been comical. I tried to support him as Rachel's love interest at OLTL in 2009 but he became best known for a memeable moment at the hospital - 'a brain is not a foot!'

Paige seems very polarizing but I get the sense people either loved her (and her with Greg) or hated her. I am very curious to get to that era and judge for myself. I know Devane critiqued the relationship in an interview a few years ago and said he found it juvenile or something.

I think the day to day writing is superior now vs. February, actually. Though it's still got plenty of room for improvement.

Never mind - misread about Barcroft.

It was so long ago, but what I remember is that a lot of fans never got over JER's shabby treatment of Matt Ashford (which continued for decades, lol) and kept demanding him back in the '90s. But at some point Mark Valley was so hot that enough people came around lol. I was not around for J&J's heyday but I was never really interested in Jack without MA either. He just had it. I still don't think he's gotten a really fair shake since after being killed like half a dozen times, but I may be alone in that. Steve Wilder OTOH, forget it.

I think it was just a combination of 1) A lot of experimenting, first with chemistry tests or tone (the past lives romp) and with other less successful things (the sort of novella-esque Eber domestic violence story, which I think likely only runs about a month total). Gottlieb has said she would bring in new people early on and only then decide who they could be with or where they would go. I think that's evident with Jason Webb in particular, as well as possibly Luna (who has a few dates with Jon Russell) though they certainly jump right on introducing a Luna and Max angle quickly, as you'll see. But I think at one point Blair and Max were endgame, and that is a topic for down the road. The other key factor I think was 2) The focus on a lot of new, ambitious objectives: Bedding in Luna, introducing Blair and Andrew, setting up the beginnings of Megan's fate or maybe chem-testing her with several men in case they could convince JT to stay - I don't know when it was finalized, but they had been hinting at Megan being ill as early as late August, at Hunter Guthrie and Andy Harrison's wedding as Gottlieb wrote those two out. Slowly unveiling Cain, which still isn't finished. Getting ready to write out Cord, as John Loprieno must've given his notice well before now yet they are still toying with him and Blair. And of course there was bringing back James DePaiva's Max to massive fanfare (and by most contemporary accounts around August of '91, they actually had not initially planned to bring Max back until someone hit on the idea of reaching out to JDP). I just think they tried a lot very quickly, and a lot of it worked in October due to an excellent dialogue staff, actors and a fresh production team and style. Next comes Gottlieb burning down Llanfair to remodel it, which I said not long ago I felt was beautifully shot with unique, daring camerawork. The lovely scenes afterward, in the wrecked drawing room, got Erika an Emmy IIRC.

October is a whirlwind, as it adds Blair and then wraps with Max's big return which I actually really liked, OTT reintro and all. Early November lags a bit because they have the Eber domestic abuse saga that is fortunately wrapping up quick, but Blair's introduction is amazing for me too. I think I know what they're doing with Cain's background and Asa's secret, and it's kind of crazy how many times the show did this both before and long after this (including the fact that it may be a xerox of Max's own past).

She was, but I think the same.

Maybe the three key Margo Hugheses on ATWT? There was a fourth like Bransford who didn't go over well, but the others were very distinctive and to my understanding popular. Vicky Hudson on AW might be the same, though I have never cared much for Jensen Buchanan lol.

Natalia does seem to have carved out a wonderful life for herself. She was never my Emily but she did work hard in difficult times and she's still beautiful.

'It's a pity about Paul and that jet engine.' No, I find it a shame how it's been handled too.

I told you that stuff was hilarious! I love Megan sort of drolly handling the situation like the Ghostbusters trying to handle the possessed Rick Moranis. IIRC Viki sees the real Heinrich Kaiser in the paper and then confronts Cain. I loved that scene too. If you do need help figuring out the airdates let us know. They don't get cleared up again in many spaces online til November. A lot happens in those last 2 weeks of October lol

Teen Adriana arrived in town in the summer of 2003 for an insta-pairing with the (terrible, allegedly messy BTS) River Carpenter recast and sporting a thick accent. Both Dorian and the Vegas did not like them together for various reasons - I think Adriana was a convent girl and River was a 'rebel' - and the Vegas had her whisked off to another convent or boarding school by fall. Fumero arrived in January of '04 when River ran off to find her and bust her out of the school, which is where the recast first appeared. At that time Dorian and the returned David were desperate to secure Aunt Betsy Cramer's (Lois Smith!) inheritance in a silly subplot. They did so by presenting Adriana as Dorian's new long-lost daughter, a Cramer heir Betsy could approve of. This also accomplished the task of Dorian being able to keep River and Adriana apart. Almost immediately the show took note of Fumero and Strasser's chemistry together as well as the very positive audience response to their new relationship, and decided Dorian's 'hoax' would turn out to actually be true. This also led to the Santi umbrella story, but oh well.

Melissa Fumero as Adriana on OLTL. The original actress (Amanda Cortinas) was marginal at best, and Fumero immediately had major chemistry with Robin Strasser which made them change the story.

I like how, for his entire run on the show, Nathan's most consistent character trait remains his love for constantly saying "I'm Detective Nathan West" over and over. Full title and name. Deep characterization. He did it the other day calling up Jason on the phone and I was reminded, hey, Jason only came back to the show shortly before this himbo got murked. I just wish Jason had been like ‘the dead guy?’ Two more very important observations: Sidwell has redecorated Wyndemere to look like an off-season boutique hotel. Where is the AirBNB link? Even though Sidwell is the worst kind of host and never leaves. I hope they put a dummy or mannequin with a big red clown wig behind Diane’s desk at this tiny office soon. Think about it, Frank.

The resemblance between Tomas and the Alcazars was never explained. Just another Ron tease when they thought they had control of OLTL indefinitely, to keep stringing out the Todd and Blair love triangle thread. On OLTL Tomas left the Delgado family decades before and went into the spy world, which is how he resurfaced in 2011 as part of the Two Todds mess. He also was involved with a shady evil spy group on OLTL, not just the CIA. There is plenty of room in those interim years for him to have posed as one or both of the Alcazars for various secret missions or spy nonsense. Me, I just always figured the Delgados and Alcazars were distant relations in some classic soap opera fashion lol. It's not that big a deal. You never need mention it again as that dangling plot was so silly, but I would probably have Lorenzo toss off a line like 'your intelligence agencies even sent a man to impersonate me for their own ends' lol.

Michael B. Jordan talks AMC.

The legacy of the Irna product promo era shines on. ☺️ @DRW50 take note. (I would've edited this into the above but it literally wouldn't give me space)

Per AMC's Kelly Ripa on the Soapy podcast: Chris Goutman was her son's professor at NYU. Small world.

Crazy as hell that they paid Mark twice as much as her as soon as he arrived on the show. He was nobody and she was a young lead going on what, five years. I appreciate how candid Kelly remains about this stuff. It reminds me of when she dogwalked ABC over that Michael Strahan fiasco. This podcast has shaped up to be very solid work with a series of strong discussions. Take note, Locher. Chris Goutman was her son's college professor at NYU!

A new challenger emerges.

Temporary pacemaker?? I'm no doctor, but they take those out?