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I'm familiar with the different stages of the show. I have a specific interest in the Farm era because of it.

They have what?? I've always been curious about early Emmerdale.

I didn't know that. Malone would have worked, IMO. I am not a devoted viewer. I always skip and jump around with Dallas bc frankly it only fitfully holds my attention, it's so often repetitive and too two-dimensional at times. But I found Seasons 5 and 6 (Jock's death, the competition between the brothers for Ewing Oil, Clayton and Ellie) to be more compelling than most seasons and I watched a lot more of them as a result. The current season has my attention because of the beautiful new (and apparently short-lived) production style, the new base of operations for divorced Pam and her family and Christopher Atkins in a speedo, but I won't be sticking with it forever. I am just trying to watch a sprinkling of these two seasons so I can sync up the dream season/Season 9 and KL Season 7 soon, since they swap creative heads.

It seems like it was about as big as she wanted it to be at the height of her powers. From then on it seemed like she was more devoted to her husband and children. I do think she could still have it pretty big with the right project (and I feel very certain she would have starred as Kendall on the proposed ABC primetime Pine Valley project, for better or worse). But the question is whether it's a priority for her. I heard good things about her appearance in Do Revenge, so maybe I'll watch that.

Wild seeing Susan having gone gray/blonde, but it looks good on her and she looks well. I'm so glad.

This is the season after that, though I did watch a lot of that season (and enjoyed it and Season 5 more than usual). In this early season I'm in now, Season 7, Mickey Trotter just got euthanized. I believe I talked about Holly Harwood and Lois Chiles a page or two back.

I'm pretty sure Eli was not on the show then; IIRC he was introduced by Claire Labine In '97, two years later. You may be thinking of Paloma.

I don't think she does either. But she seems pretty content with her kids and her life, so whatever.

I had no idea they were connected at all! I'm so glad Kimberly's directing career seems to be going very well. Meanwhile: A very candid Sarah Michelle Gellar cover story. AMC is only mentioned in passing, though to her credit SMG has always repped for it hardcore a la Julianne Moore. @DRW50

I think it was half and half. Yes, Guza definitely wanted to tell crime stories, but his GH back then also very often followed its nose re: heat from primetime or movie synergy (like when he infamously tried to model his revamped version of Jerry Jacks, closer to his original intent for the character, on Daniel Craig in Casino Royale right down to his alias being "Mr. Craig" and having a big torture scene for him). The hospital worked out for them given that synergy. They also really committed to real story for Robin and Patrick, using the hospital constantly, then did Night Shift and so on. Was it all genius work? Hell no, and many of the recurring hospital characters were annoying to me. But it still signaled a sea change in the right direction for the overall show that has stuck since. It's also notable that Guza clearly hated Courtney (almost entirely Frons and Pratt's baby, I think) and marginalized her in C-story with Jax and then killed her off the first chance he got.

It is worth noting that there is some demarcation between 2000-2005 IMO. 2002 but especially 2003-2004 were almost all mob all the time and it felt like it lasted 5-10 years. But when the show tanked on a profound level in '05 (something we've discussed here a lot) with Sonny and Reese, the Michael murders A.J. story, the Nikolas/Courtney affair, etc. they were forced to recalibrate and shift a lot of the show. A ton of stories were hastily rewritten or scrapped, Pratt either quit or was fired around this time, and Guza and co. seized on Steve Burton's suggestion to ask Kimberly McCullough back. This was also when Grey's Anatomy was hitting big. They rehired Kimberly, hired Jason Thompson to be her love interest (since Kimberly allegedly did not want to revisit Jason/Robin, which would have shifted the show even more) and most importantly of all capitalized on the Grey's synergy by refocusing a ton of the show's canvas around the hospital hub and hiring a ton of recurring supporting players like Epiphany, Leyla, Kelly Lee, Nurse Nadine, etc. Elizabeth also went to work at GH around this time, and then they began doing medical crises stories like the monkey virus (not exactly genius work, but a good concept). That was when the hospital finally came back into play for GH again, and despite a strong mob focus from 2005-2012 it's never really stopped being in play since. It became the other integral half of the canvas again.

Oh, they didn't? I had no idea. I was under the impression it was definitely the same actress.

I still remember Angie Costello appearing in the '93 anniversary ep - I'd have to go back and rewatch, but the dialogue with Steve made it seem like she was there for a brief patient arc, whereas apparently she was there for over three years lol.

Whenever I'm bored, exhausted or just can't think enough for more edifying entertainment, I turn on Dallas on FreeVee. I think my reasons for that have been clearly stated before. That being said, some of the characters, rhythms, etc. do really grow on you as I've mentioned. I do think Seasons 5 and 6 were among the more gripping I've seen so far, even if I still couldn't get through a full year of the grinding repetition of the larger show. I am poking around in S7 and S8 now, hoping to sync up KL and Dallas for their creative swap shortly and watch both in tandem. What I will say is that suddenly, in S7 the cinematography and look of the show ramp way, way up from the chintzy, plastic look it's had for years (especially in comparison to Knots). It suddenly looks cinematic, it looks like a more modern film of the later '80s (or a primetime drama from a few years later), there is a lot of amazing use of shadow and warmth; the redesigned Ewing drawing room now looks vast and spacious, not like a set from Three's Company. This is allegedly the work of new cinematographer Bradford May, who makes the show look and feel very different. So of course he was apparently fired before this year was out and they went back to looking cheap.

Babies/pregnancy stories have long been rumored to be the one of the only stories currently gunshy networks will consistently approve for contemporary daytime, at least at ABC, and I absolutely believe it. Agreed, they absolutely do not.

She's Trump scum.

I mean, Alice's death in 2004 was intended to stick. Reilly got overruled.

Genie Francis is 60 years old.

Very intriguing, given RTD's talk of expanding the DW franchise again.

Tinker's Fen and Ana could've been a huge couple IMO. Ana aside, most of what they've tried to do with Black female leads since Hilary (Imani, etc.) are weak imitations IMO. They deliberately sandbagged MM's return AFAIC; they knew a mediocre twin character would not get the traction Hilary had and decided to wait it out, because they were simply not comfortable with a Black female lead on this show today for the same reason GH is clearly uncomfortable with major Black story now. Daytime has regressed a lot in the 21st century and especially the last decade.

Thanks! LOL! She just goes on like this. At least according to the cast she was very kind to them. I still love her in Night of the Iguana, On the Beach and the all-too-relevant-today Seven Days in May (and @DRW50will recall her performance in the very, very strange Technicolor fantasy Pandora and the Flying Dutchman with James Mason, a favorite of Martin Scorsese).

I seem to recall Randolph Mantooth (Halifax) having a lot to say about his time at GH.

I'd love to read that Sentinel article but it defaults to their modern main page when I use the link and I can't find it in the Wayback Machine. I do appreciate the thought! I'd somehow forgotten there's a whole two more seasons of Laura after where I'm at - I kept thinking she was gone in S8 for some reason. It's about to get real interesting creatively regardless. I also wanted to single out the lovely, now-defunct Knots Blogging site, different from Krasker's blog, run by a devoted fan with a lot of funny and often informative recaps. The site can still be accessed via the Wayback Machine but was shut down after its owner's untimely and tragic death. They seem to have had a difficult life, but their work is so appreciated.

GH used to be nothing but Metro Court hotel rooms about 5-6 years ago, and FV's skill at keeping things peppy and cheap or at times using nothing but gray paint on the GH sets has been well-documented. It's gotten a lot better in recent years (in part owing to people like Finola Hughes allegedly insisting on having a home set, the repurposed Chandler mansion from AMC) but I still think some stuff is strictly amateur hour - the painful outdoor flashback material with Liz last year, the regular use of studio stairwells, etc. a la ATWT or GL, the AMC Los Angeles-style park shoots. That being said, yes, it's a huge step up from where it was and it does look better than Y&R now. Never thought I'd say that. Even if the Q mansion has turned into a slightly more low-rent version of the Fresh Prince sets.

Seriously, how can they be that broke as the #1 soap? I know B&B has more money because of a stronger international situation, but the fact that they look at least as skint as GH is rough (and GH looks better in recent years).