Vee

I'm a huge cynic about Days and Corday in general, but that video is very sweet, especially watching Susan Seaforth Hayes. That woman really has seen it all. The NBC exec at the end is likely just giving them happy talk til the next crackdown from above her, but she is right: The show was family for people who couldn't see theirs. That is the essence of the genre in hard times and it's something it's mostly lost sight of when it comes to output and quality. I just wish the audience that was so loyal to these surrogate families, and the actors who have seen it all, were better served by the product.

Renewed: I am mildly hooked to this despite myself, much to my shame. Danielle Moné Truitt is great with Meloni, as is Tamara Taylor.

I thought Drew Sr. died in a random holdup on his wedding day to Becky Lee, while buying flowers.

Emma has been fighting long COVID. I hope she's mostly recovered. I remember that weird cameo they did trying to make it look like a surveillance camera, filmed from her home.

@DRW50

Got my second today. Buckling up.

That's very strange, as is the whole Asa grooming her as his successor plotline someone mentioned. The little I've seen of '70s/early '80s Tina was her as a standard teen ingenue, nothing like what she became when she returned.

Andy was no great shakes on her own, but I loved her with Antonio. It was such an odd pairing of types but I adored them as a kid and was heartbroken when he returned single. I haven't watched much of their story in aeons, so I couldn't speak to the quality of it longterm.

You thought she was going to be Serena. And rest assured, I wasn't only talking about you or this forum.

I don't know how anyone seriously thought they were going to give her a major contract role. That is delusional. Kimberly Brown is a lovely and attractive woman but she is not the generic physical type the tacky soaps hire as leads these days. She was always going to have some bit part. Some of y'all are consistently born yesterday.

Yang is a mirage. Wiley all the way, as a once and possibly future-NYer. Meanwhile:

Obviously they should've stuck with Kevin, but yeah, I preferred Whitfield to Peter Parros by far.

I'm somewhat surprised Kelli Maroney didn't click - she went on to a long and storied career as a camp bimbette in 80s horror, and there were definite Tina Lord vibes. Of course, her stint was prior to the second run that made Andrea a star.

I may be alone, but I saw scenes near the end of Ellen Bethea's contract run as Rachel with her and the first Ben Price - not the eternally boring Peter Parros, but Charles Malik Whitfield. I'd had no memory of him whatsoever from the old days, but to me Whitfield had serious sparks with Bethea. Not sure what happened there. I have no idea if she still acts; again, last I saw of her, she was a very vocal Obama booster in 2008-2009 on Facebook before vanishing into the digital ether. I'd like to think Andrea could and would play a more nuanced Tina. When you see her off-camera using her normal, deeper voice in rare interviews she is clearly not the same person she often plays up for TV. I loved Karen Witter in the role, but I think Andrea could have done it. She did have chemistry with Witter's '90s love interest (Cain) when she returned to the show - but I seem to recall them deliberately keeping her from sharing scenes with Tuc Watkins as a gag, since she had the little dog. I don't remember if she ever had any scenes with David after all. I don't think so. I know exactly what I'd do with the Mia Korf situation if OLTL ever returned as a streamer. People would absolutely be talking about the Blair switch in this day and age, you could never have gotten away with that in this century. Obviously you can't undo it and Kassie is beloved in the role, but I would address it in a roundabout way that isn't a racebending joke, and give Korf a recurring role that ties her to the Blair character. That's a decent way to handle it, especially since she was talented. But the best response is to add more key Asian and Asian-American characters to any show's canvas.

The great Laura Innes (Weaver) was so good on the show. She directs a lot now.

I'll take a guess that Kirsten auditioned for the pointless Claudia Reston at OLTL. Claudia didn't appear til very early '06 but was mentioned regularly in '05. Or it could've been Sarah after all. Plans are often fluid.

HBS always said Daphnee Duplaix was the only other Rachel that embodied the integrity Bethea had, and she was right.

Before Malone got the axe, he'd intended to pair Rachel #3 (I think?) with Drew Buchanan as an interracial couple beset by Becky Lee, who would return as Drew's mother but now be a bigot for no apparent good reason to do a story that was already old hat at that point. I believe he also intended to have Rachel kill R.J. in a murder mystery. I'm very glad none of that came off. Allegedly they considered no less than Eileen Davidson for a Gabrielle(!!) recast in 1991 or 1992, something that blows my mind.

Carol was only supposed to be in the pilot and die from her suicide attempt. IIRC, it was Steven Spielberg's (a producer on the show) idea that they have her live and keep her around.

There was an Eddie, yeah. I may be thinking of him and not Javier, who might've been a straight antagonist? I don't know, it was all so long ago. I haven't watched much of that material since I was a kid. I do think the early-mid 90s under Gottlieb, Malone, Horgan, et al was very strong until it wasn't, but I don't know how they would've handled Gabrielle or the full-power Tina being on '90s OLTL. They were both such bigger than life characters, and it was a very grounded, socially conscious show at its best. Karen Witter's Tina adjusted to it for the most part while also changing and maturing a great deal, but Krista Tesreau's was a dreary nonentity. I don't know how Andrea Evans' Tina would've fit in. I know the Gottlieb/Malone regime allegedly considered using Gabrielle early on (she had just left, and they allegedly either toyed with talking to Fiona Hutchison or recasting), but it never happened. The different eras of the show were apples and oranges. 1997 was when they were clearly just coasting on supercouples and past successes in recent years. I felt it even then; they were trying to just cruise. '96 had been a mess with Malone getting burnt out and then being fired, and a slew of bad stories took over. Bo and Nora were considered a supercouple at that time in '97, as were Patrick and Marty, Antonio and Andy, Todd and Blair (who were broken up but remained in orbit of each other). And I personally think they all qualified, so I don't think Téa was ever considered a serious spoiler for Antonio and Andy - I'm pretty sure they knew Kamar and Wendee Pratt were leaving that year. Susan Haskell and Thorsten Kaye also left late in the year, IIRC. It was a strange time. Labine didn't want to be at the show, and then in '98 JFP came in and 'shook things up' and 'energized' the show - irrevocably.

It's been so long, but I feel confident the Angel Square recurring cast (Linda Soto, Javier, etc.) hung in as local talk-tos til at least some of '97. I believe Téa interacted with a number of them, esp since IIRC she was initially brought in as a spoiler for Antonio and Andy and maybe Kevin and Cassie.