Vee

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?

I would again pop in just to say that 24 (which I know you mentioned) is what put Smart back on the TV map as the drunken, tortured First Lady opposite Gregory Itzin. She was a viral success there, before virality. It's funny what shows do that.

I believed for many years (and still do) that the Llantano Mountain 'quarry' locale from the 2000s where young folks used to go to make out was the remaining ruins and rubble of Eterna, lol. So I can relate. I thought Jason and Lee Ann were just living above Wanda's but I can't recall offhand, I need to get back to November.

You can even tie that off in a line of dialogue if you want. My angle was always simply that the CIA or whoever had Tomas posing as Lorenzo at one point. End of story.

Agreed, and I think Viki is bracingly in her element there when she finally returns in the fall. I love the stuff at Halloween with Luna and Lee Ann, two women notably not from urban Llanview, just hanging out drinking and being pals. I don't think Blair and Viki ever worked together again after how things go very poorly for them at the Banner early on, though they did become fond in-laws. One of their last scenes on the show together (ever, in 2013) is the two of them bonding over Todd's latest departure and Viki comforting Blair. I like to think Blair is still running the Sun today, her renewed Melador business from GH aside. (Can she do both as a journalist? Food for thought. I would not get rid of Melador though as that passion of hers has been there since these very first days with Mia Korf, making her own jewelry in the boardinghouse.) I just think the past lives stuff is a fun and rightly brief romp, and shows just how versatile Loprieno (and Witter) were. It's some of Malone's later attempts at florid fantasy, particularly in the 2000s, that have a much rougher track record.

Alec and Brenda would be a must for me. But there's no way Alec doesn't turn out gay lol. Which I think VM would actually approve of given her own son who I know she's so proud of. He would be just Early Brenda II, but gay. Lila Rae I can see being another houseguest of the Qs (a la Brenda herself) who then ends up raising hell in various spheres because of her own personality and blood connections. Maybe Skye also stops by and makes her own trouble, who knows. I would probably bring Lorenzo back in some way eventually, but probably not for too long.

Always nice to see them.

What happened with Martin has to come back. A bunch of them know Joey Armstrong killed a man to keep that secret. Sooner or later it's gonna blow.

I wish they would invoke the Rick trauma or David Hamilton when dealing with this, because that has to be where Laura's mind goes in this situation. But I do think she would handle it better given that history. Genie can overact at times, but I think she is usually on point these days. But I also rate some of her more 'big' moments much higher than some folks. I loved her very extreme reactions to undead Stavros in 2013 because I thought that was exactly how Laura would react to the return of a zombie rapist, and I loved her howling when she put him back in the deep freeze after she thought he'd killed Lulu (the ending shot for that episode on just her wild eyes through the cryogenic glass was amazing). And I thought she should've won an Emmy for Laura's breakdown in '02. Those scenes with the delusional Laura and Luke's horrific 'wedding' in the attic were amazing.

I would welcome Lila Rae for the Alcazar drama among other things. I'm not sure what age range she'd find into now though (you could age her down if need be). But I'm not sure anyone left remembers she exists. I do wonder if the Ted King rumors a couple years ago had any truth. I did want to note a great bit last week, when Lulu tearily told Carly she and Dante had made a mistake years ago re: Michael's murder trial. First, they wisely played that history going back like 15 years without doing a Carlivati and explicitly saying in dialogue what storyline they were referring to in the text. People who have watched long enough knew what she was talking about. Alexa was excellent but the look in Laura Wright's eyes was amazing - both a very faint glimmer of that old rage and a lot of old weariness and hurt. It reminded me instantly of that era in 2010, when a deranged Carly made getting revenge on Lulu and Dante her mission in life. Then she said nothing and just hugged Lulu, and it was just very well done.

I think they are starting to build on Chelsea and Madison re: her mother. They were sort of an instant lesbian couple til just a few weeks ago, and now they at least have my interest. I also think RhonniRose has more skill for comedy, and they need to lean into that. As well as build out the ChelseaKat business and assemble recurring players and a work environment and more active stories about business. Naomi I could dump any time unless she sleeps with her hot brother-in-law for some drama (and Jacob I could do the same unless he sleeps with Kat).

The episodes posted in some spaces online are out of sequence. I had to do some digging to find the right chronological order, but it does exist. I don't remember how long Eddie and Quincey hang around but I think the last time I saw the original Banner on OLTL was maybe in 1999 or 2000. It finally returned in a way in 2013, but was relegated to Viki's office (with Destiny working in the mailroom). I always loved the Banner city room and seeing people there. The kinky torture scenes with German dominatrix Ilsa are very horny Malone, and I am pretty sure are a deliberate gag per the famous sexploitation films "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" lol. I loved the silly Tina past lives stuff but that's because I thought Karen Witter, JL, etc. all played the hell of it. It's way better than some of Malone's later fantasy bits. I also loved Megan playing the straight woman to it all.

I don't know about that. Malone came in mere weeks after Jason, we don't know if he had any actual hand in his creation (onscreen credits aside, you could see Malone's hand in things in late August-early September even before his first credited day) and I do think he wrote for him carefully and well for a long time. But he was infatuated with Howarth and Todd, as was virtually the entire industry at that time.

I don't know if he was scheduled or they just approached him; I can't recall the exact item. It seemed like a done deal in their article the way they were writing about it (in either late '91 or very early '92), but obviously it didn't occur. Then both GA and Marco turned up on GH during its transitional period in '92/'93. Very strange. The Andrew and Marty thing was really kind of a redo of Andrew and Megan but with an even more transgressive element; her youth and role as his wayward young parishioner, etc. They played with the will they/won't they temptation between them a few times in the early '90s, Including a period where the show was cutting some steamy promos for them in either '93 or '94 when Andrew and Cassie were in a rough patch. I don't remember the details but I think it went so far as maybe an emotional affair that nearly turned very physical. I think maybe they made out or were half-dressed together a few times. I had forgotten about that whole sequence of events completely til I saw one of those promos again a few years ago. I think it was an unpopular story, one I will see in full again someday. Part of the reason they kept playing with the Andrew thing is bc I think they were fully committed to Susan Haskell (and rightly so) but struggled to find a man to match her talent (who wasn't married or too taboo, like Krimmer's Andrew) until they finally found Thorsten Kaye to play Patrick. The Kevins were never an option for a variety of reasons, mostly the endless recasts but I do wish they'd tried harder to test them in '92, something they explicitly said they were going to do at the time in the soap press. Joey Thrower was not really an option but by the time they had Kirk Geiger he was set for Ellen Bethea's Rachel. I think Kevin and Marty has always been another road not taken, and it's a temptation I'd still consider today. As for Andrew and Marty, I almost entertained the idea of them ending up together older and wiser in what were some of Bob Krimmer's last scenes on the show - when Marty was amnesiac in late 2008, found her way to St. James and reintroduced herself to an aged, somewhat fascinated Andrew. He told her all about the story of her life, and that was their last set of scenes. Susan and Krimmer were still excellent together. But today I like to think Andrew and Cassie just settled down again. (Malone trying to xerox the Andrew/Marty dynamic for the wooden Jen Rappaport and young priest-in-training Joey in 2003 though, right down to Andrew and Nora telling them repeatedly how much Jen reminded them of Marty Saybrooke - don't get me started, woof.)

Tomas. Sooner or later it's happening. I also frankly think both Ashley and Derek are on the wane. And I don't think Hayley will be around in a year. I also think we'll likely get Who Killed Joey before 2027.

I haven't watched much of '94 since it first aired when I was a kid (and with the exception of revisiting the rape trial saga I am slowly going from '91 chronologically - I started watching in '93, and will also revisit '94-'95) so I couldn't say for sure. I do think they lost focus on Jason with Roger Howarth and Todd taking off like a rocket, and so Jason became a B or C-player. If things had been different who knows. I wish they'd tried Jason and Marty for real, for instance. Mark Brettschneider was one of the 'interesting faces' Gottlieb asked people to send her, experience notwithstanding, and she found their roles and places over time. I do wish we'd been able to see Jason again once more. If the show was still around I'd have him make a little appearance, with people like Kevin and Rachel, Chris Mc Kenna's Joey and Marty back on the canvas. It would be a nice reflection of the last time (other than 2013) that the show underwent a dramatic revamp. I do think the question of what would become of Megan had they convinced JT to stay is very interesting - I think Andrew, or Cain or both would've been very much in the picture, as Joe Lando was never coming back full time. I also love Andrew and Megan and always have when glimpsing this era. (Incidentally, the mags spoiled Gerald Anthony appearing as Marco during Megan's death saga but he never turned up.)

Jason and Todd do clash, but Jason becomes redundant with the new focus on Todd and the loss of Lee Ann (who they initially planned to recast with AMC's Sydney Penny, apparently). I find Jason (particularly in this period) to be the sort of benign prototype for Todd, in a lot of ways. He does get a very sweet sendoff in summer '94 though. Cain is targeting Megan because he is hoping to run the same scam he attempted with equally rich heiress Tina in the summer. (Back when he was Hudson King and presumably first brought in by Rauch.) I wrote about this fall '91 period in here a lot over the last year, but it is interesting how far they go with Megan being tempted by him; Jessica Tuck and Christopher Cousins have real heat. Equally interesting is how they pivot in a week or so's time from Heinrich/Cain to Andrew having that same role in her life after Cain gets outed and briefly flees town. The men swap roles very fast, and Megan and Andrew quickly become BFF.

I actually think he has chemistry with most of his partners, from Griggs and Bleeth to Elaine Princi (and later Robin Strasser and Susan Haskell). And yeah, the matching scar bit with Stephanie was a clear sign at the time.

I have always wanted to get Tichina Arnold (or Tisha) back on a soap but no way they'd do it now. Maybe in their leaner years, but fortunately for them those are not today.

Still insane to me that with Anna gone Zombie Nathan is back on the job. "You died in front of us, have been gone seven years, your parents are superterrorists and we have no fúcking idea how you are alive again. Welcome back to the duty roster." Meanwhile poor Alexa Havins continues to be dressed like a Chinese communist functionary opposite BLQ. I see you, Frank!