Vee

The Beltway dare not call it a trend when Dems win in off-year races.

We've all been wrong before! Let's let it alone.

Oh that's right. I associated him with EPing in my mind, but I'm barely up on Search to begin with.

I was referring to her first '80s exit, but I knew only some of that and not some of the other stuff. It is great to read. I'll have to read up in that thread on what she got up to. I wonder if she did the flood.

I knew they famously did it with Marland and the Dobsons in the early '80s, but I had no idea it was policy. Or that she worked on Search!

LOLLL not mimicking the Hong Chau delivery.

I always do a lot of research and reading through the back thread via searches on a lot of stuff I'm curious about, but I wanted to get a fresh take from anyone as well: What was the reason for Pam Long's exit and return in the mid-late '80s? She brought in Harley and the Coopers when she returned, right? What was the deal with Sonni/Solita saga in her choices vs. the strike for example, and when did it become a division of labor creative situation with Curlee/Demorest, et al at the show? I know Curlee officially became co-HW in either '89 or '90 but I also know she was instrumental in pushing for the returns of Roger and Holly well before that. Any information on the creative choices surrounding this whole era, the transition from the last (like when they had Larkin Malloy on and Josh was gone), or any stories or characters at all is always welcome.

I was under the impression you were saying the grandma clause was entirely an urban myth and rumor. That's not true; Eileen is on video saying she had it written in after watching what happened to Barbara Berjer (among others, like Patricia Bruder's Ellen, etc. - the insanely accelerated life cycle of Irna Phillips soap heroines and their rapidly-aged children in particular is a whole other topic unto itself). By the time she returned in the '80s it was gone from her new contract, yes, but it did exist for some time and it did ensure she did not become a grandmother or matron like those other vital women over 25-30.

On the other hand:

@DRW50

The Dobsons stuff has always been intricate and fascinating to me for many years, but it grows moreso the deeper I go in this binge. I also have too many questions: How much of the Amanda/Lucille, etc. story did they write, and why did they leave? Did P&G just want to shake up creative teams at their two very long-running soaps? Or were Jennifer and Morgan entirely a Marland thing, as I suspect? Or the Spaulding twist with Jennifer? Marland seems to have inherited an embarrassment of riches with Alan/Jackie/Justin/Elizabeth/Mike, etc., Alan/Hope, the Stapleton sisters, etc. But it's telling how much he flushed and changed up/reinvented for his own vision, however brief, as well. I wonder what the process behind all of that was; I only know a little bit about the BTS details. I always found Amanda's gothic storyline fascinating in this period, and I associated the mysterious and beautiful Ritournelle opening card and music with that stuff. Ben was always such a hunk, and even Eve is cute and sweet. They built a lot of sturdy and complex female characters in their run, even if some ran out of usefulness. I just stumbled upon the debuts of both Ross (advocating against laws for martial rape - what an era) and Elvera Roussel's Hope. I wonder why they brought Peggy, the former long-running teen heroine, back to just seemingly hang out at the nurses station.

I'm 10 episodes out from Season 7 atm (and I will be watching the Dallas dream season concurrently, out of curiosity to see the creative team swap at both shows) and it would have to be the Westfork ranch, yes. I'd be very curious to see it in HD, it's gorgeous enough on bootleg TV eps.

A wonderful NYT interview with the cast (archived here).

Seems likely! But I hope it's just Lore lol. They are already talking up a continuation of this 'story' with some other series so I suspect there may be a Titan show with Seven/Raffi, etc.

Oh, that's too bad. I liked her.

I don't think they are right, really. I think a larger audience is there if they write for them and seek them out. Now, in terms of network-bound non-streaming TV survival? Maybe yes, I don't know; I don't tend to believe that personally given how the non-white, non-conservative audience has hung in for decades despite years of mistreatment, but it's possible. I think networks decided in the late '90s/early 2000s at the latest they were most comfortable writing for rural whites and have geared content towards it despite the numbers, which is why you see what happened at Y&R. It could well be red state nuts are the largest bloc left for this provider, but that's not the future for soaps IMO - streaming is and that demands writing for a wider modern audience. And soaps need to start writing for it if they want to get there. I do think Yellowstone is the successor to Dallas in many ways, and I don't mean that disparagingly despite Yellowstone's complex reputation. It's fine. I was a bitch.

It's 'hear, hear.' But thanks for not just posting 'same' for the 500th time.

I get that. We're all gonna get there eventually. Unfortunately, GH and most remaining soaps seem to be explicitly modeling their show and content largely for what they perceive as their biggest senior audience - racist GOP voters. They know they have a sizeable Black, etc. and LGBT audience, but in the lean, lean times of the 2010s-onward they have decided to try to preserve what they believe is their biggest audience bloc: Older whites who are conservative and prefer relatively chaste or moralizing stories about babies, families, etc. and more fantastical soap stunts. I don't agree with those motives or that that's their biggest remaining audience, but that's the thinking as far as I see it. I think Ron still tries at DAYS sometimes, but I think once again he's been given too much power and too little oversight, plus there's very little budget. Taste and good ideas rarely win out there, just the excess on a shoestring. It's amazing to me that GH now often looks better than it did in his and Frank's joint tenure.

For me right now, the feeling is frustration. The show has somehow crawled out of the hole of being completely boring or unwatchable on the daily in the Passanante/Altman twilight years; it has many engaging actors, a few promising couples and even a couple potentially decent stories. I think it has fits and starts of real improvement that make me see a future for GH again. A lot of it is better lately, both production and potential-wise, than it's been in many years. And it's better than Y&R. But FV's personal choices and I suspect network oversight are still choking most of the life out of it. I'm watching for the moment out of boredom, but I tune out the at least 60-70% lame stuff. I'm not holding my breath on sex or a committed romance. I think they will slow-walk Spencer and Trina for as long as humanly possible, semi-hoping one of them will leave. I think they are very conflicted about this being their new star couple and very frightened of it. GH never used to be that way.

I'm glad it's happened, but I'll be more invested if the show actually leans in hard on the pairing now. Not just doing the minimum out of fear of the senior audience and only showing them intimate once in a blue moon.

I remember this scene. It was great, but hits differently with the wealth of late '70s/early '80s material now available where Bobbie was an absolute hellraiser and made Laura's life agony.

I like how she clearly has no idea who some of the more serious documentary, etc. or local nominees are but just hurls vague rah-rah platitudes at them anyway. From the hilarious Guardian piece: Also: "Good luck to you, Katy Brand!"

The full verse is, somehow, even worse:

Nine months til the next one!