Vee

They were pretty involved then, too. But Brian Frons swore by Bob Guza's team, and they had a lot of room to run. The 2004 hotel fire story just before this was goofy and dumb, and a lot of stories in that era were pretty bad. I do not remember '03/'04 with fondness, lol. But a great deal of the dialogue staff had been there since at least Claire Labine's run, and many remained until Guza was fired/quit in 2011 or until Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati took over in 2012. Those writers elevated so much of the daily material despite a lot of bad stories, even as the daily scripts also began getting lazy in this same era. But there was almost always some legitimately intelligent stuff amidst the crap, for many years (like the scorching scenes in early '04 when Carly taunts Sam about being just another Brenda clone to Sonny and Jax). And some good stories too, here and there. It's strange that a lot of the 2000s looks like near-art compared to the last decade. The difference is that when Frank and Ron came in they did give the show a lot of its heart back while completely stripping the quality of the day to day writing (and doing many bad stories of their own).

I cannot believe they have roped Mayor Laura into gaslighting her own deputy for this goofy 'James Patrick Stuart's awkward recurring retainer' storyline. Anna, Billy Joel Cassadine and Lucy hanging out in Wherever is not as kludged together as the OLTL 2.0 deal I mentioned where most of Todd's convoluted evil cartel story arc happened in one hotel room while they tried to work Roger Howarth around the clock with his limited availability, but it's getting there. I could not give two [!@#$%^&*] about anything happening there and I still wish Valentin would die immediately. Camryn Grimes is doing absolutely nothing at Y&R. I would try to poach her for GH as Christina Baldwin. Why not? This show needs stronger young female leads and most of these chicks are not cutting it. Speaking of wasted talent, the younger Davis girls have been consistently slept on. I would really give HP a shot at the title as ADA Molly, I love that role for her. If she comes off silly or too young and can't sell a real story then back on the shelf she can go, but why not try? Is it going to cut into time for Willow, Sasha or Cyborg Jordan? Lexi Ainsworth is still beautiful and somehow looks younger than Hailey Pullos now, but Kristina is stale and I can't see a story for her right now though logically I know you can and should write for her. These characters have had nothing to do for years but still feel played out (then again, so much of the cast is played out but in different ways). It's sad.

The My Date with Sonny scenes scream meeting Maurice's guarantee. Just bizarre. I am waiting for Sonny to buy Dex a suit and/or dress and offer to take him to the island.

There's zero need. Nina has always been crazy at core, and Watros plays crazy like no one else. Let her feud with Lucy over Deception, get insecure over a returned Brenda, go apeshit and leave or die. And the reason she's there is the same reason as so many other failed or tired characters/actors - the show is terrified to cut anyone 'just in case' they might be needed, and worried the complacent audience will revolt if a vet vanishes. Watros, Kirsten Storms, Chad Duell, the Willow/Sasha gestalt, Kelly Monaco, Chase, you name it - they can all go tomorrow, and that's not even half the list.

Watros is very talented and much more watchable than Stafford, but Nina is still a pointless character who I have no investment in.

Yeah, I thought he'd moved in with her. Shame.

I'd forgotten all about this house. Yeah, Carly moved into that after leaving Sonny for Alcazar. What is the 2020 pic from? Does Dante live there? Wow.

Lois Nettleton. She was heartbreaking.

I don't mind it with Sam. That relationship was nasty early on, and they did the work with her and Alexis. Plus I'm not sure Sam ever had much of a family let alone a mother. Her adopted father (played by Melrose's Stanley Kamel, IIRC) was a grifter. IIRC she never called Julian "Dad" and that was appropriate. Carly and Bobbie I also don't mind - I feel they did the work, in addition to Virginia.

Which is why JJ quit again. According to his own interviews, he had expected a romance for Lucky and Elizabeth and got them broken up and him paired with a newbie, and found the rest of his material unrelentingly dark and bleak.

Imagine getting gassed up because they show more than 4 sets!

He was so good in his final appearances, too - as part of Viki's heart transplant story in 2004. There were many dumb things about that story but the performances were rock solid and to Malone's credit he did play Larry still as a trusted and beloved family friend, he wasn't just there to deliver exposition. Michael Storm did talk in the oral history about how it was painful losing his place in the show's institutional memory. I had always wanted OLTL to do a special episode devoted to him: "24 Hours with Larry Wolek," where you see Larry go about his day, doing rounds and check-ups wiping the noses of everyone's kid or grandkid in town, waking up next to an old picture of Meredith, still pining for Karen, etc. Reminding people of the character or educating newer viewers about how important to the foundation of the show he was, the unsung hero of Llanview. At the end of it you could have Anna (since Doris Belack was still alive and working at the time) turn up with a young Wolek for him to take in and drive new story for the family. I always wanted the Woleks back.

We've had this discussion!! Silver Daddy Zander is worth it! I do not actually want an Esme lookalike though.

I don't want her gray or redeemed by way of amnesia. She has to get it back and then go down. She can come in and out for stints like Heather does and like Obrecht should be doing. I don't think Cody would be a serious thing for Liz, but it could run for a bit. I would sooner bring hot daddy Zander back from the dead since Chad Brannon looks amazing now to stir up more drama, and work up to bringing back a Lucky for the real deal for Liz. If JJ is willing to work a deal as he's sometimes hinted at, great; if not, recast finally. I wished Heather would've brought up some of the old days with Rick and Lesley and the Webbers and the supposed 'perfect family.' Of course, if Ron had done it (and he would've) it would've been in the most obvious fan service-y way possible vs. an organic discussion. I wish Laura would've made some mention of Heather being a nightmare since those early days with Jeff, how her mother had taken her in, etc. He doesn't need to be anyone from the past IMO. I would be fine with them saying he's Mac's but not Dominique's, have him recount most of his scurvy ways and focus on being the somewhat duplicitous stable boy and leave it there.

I think in his best days Sonny could be commanding and dangerous. That was a long time ago. I also have wondered about Laura going back to Webber (Viki unexpectedly went back to Viki Lord after decades on OLTL near the end, and it worked). I personally think Laura should and would go back to Spencer given their family name's incredible fame in the town, seemingly for PR reasons for her campaign but also because she still has unfinished business with Luke; Kevin could get upset about it. But they could ultimately split the difference and have her go back to Webber in the end. I think characters like Dex (or Cody) can be used as rent-a-hunks for fluffy sexcapade stories with various women - I would have overworked single mom Liz get her groove back in a fling with Cody - but I don't have a serious investment in them. But a good soap always needs decent eye candy for bedroom scenes. If you can build on them later (and I think you can with Cody despite his wildly unpopular introduction) then who knows. I already talked about the Heather/Esme scenes, but I did want to add how good AP was in them with her abject disgust and revulsion. It made me think about bringing on a sister or lookalike, but those rarely work out as well as the OG character especially when they're 'good.' Still, the show could use a young doctor or med student in her age range. I think Esme needs to remain a villain.

She talks at length about it in the oral history and makes it clear she deliberately opted out of renegotiating her contract ("please don't tell me how much you were going to offer me"), and says she wanted to leave to focus on her life and family with her son grown and raised and her having remarried IIRC. She seems happy enough with her exit.

lol he really does. And yes, he's a typical Frank hire. Passable and hot but not much else.

I believe she decided to go open a bookstore in Seattle with a new love interest - I can't remember who, a known TV character actor I think. Marilyn Chris chose to leave. @janea4oldI'm sure we'd all appreciate more of your recollections. I'd love to know anything you can recall about the twists and turns of the original Carla story and how it played out or ended, and the love triangle with her, Jim Craig and Price Trainor, or anything else. Usually our knowledge doesn't go beyond the premise or people retelling the big reveal scene with Carla and Sadie in the hallway.

It must be from Joe's original return from the dead story, where he met Wanda out of town(?).

Is that Wanda with Joe?

Fun pointless fact of the morning: According to the wiki, the current "Brownstone" set is actually a renovation of the original Webber/Scorpio house dating back to Rick, Lesley, Laura and Alice Grant in the '70s (and later being lived in for years by Mac, Robin, Felicia and her girls). I wonder what became of the original Brownstone set. This has been your pointless trivia for today.

The beat with Heather and Esme where she stumbled over her words as she explained that sometimes wanting to be a mother 'comes later' for some women was brilliant. She played a wealth of Heather's long and sordid history going back to the original Steven Lars/P.J. adoption caper in that sequence (a great deal of which is available to watch on YT with both Mary O'Brien and Robin Mattson in the role and which drives this further home), and you could see it in her face and eyes. It hit much more genuine for me than what Carlivati did with Robin Mattson's Heather early in his run, a trick he would often go to with villains - he'd give you 'odd couple' pairings of unlikely characters, have them voice their anxieties or feelings and then unexpectedly, inexplicably hug and emotionally bond. Robin's Heather had a scene like that with Rafe Kovich Jr. of all people where he bemoaned the loss of his family, and suddenly he and Heather were hugging and bonding. It was totally unearned and I didn't buy any of it. The next scene it was back to Heather's usual psycho hijinks. Pathos doesn't work like that. It has to come from somewhere beyond just a few soppy lines between random acquaintances.