Franko

On 1/3/2024 at 10:12 PM, JAS0N47 said:

Here's the Soap Weekly articles I had already scanned in my files regarding Manhattan Lives:

SOW 2/11/92

 

SOW 2/25/92:

 

SOW 3/3/92:

 

SOW 3/31/92:

 

SOW 5/12/92:

 

SOW 7/14/92:

 

SOW 7/21/92:

 

SOW 1/12/93:

 

SOW 3/23/93:

 

SOW 3/30/93:

 

SOW 4/13/93:

 

SOW 1/4/94:

What a saga this was! Thanks, @JAS0N47!

22 hours ago, Khan said:

Sorry, @Franko.  I couldn't remember which poster had said it before.  Thanks for the reminder, though.

No worries, Khan.

15 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I always thought it would be a wacky Calliope like friend.  Which would work? 

Yeah, that's another problem I have -- just bring back Calliope. If I remember right from her 1992 appearance, she was a New York-based talk show host.

15 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Why take your main star off the main show.  It seems strictly vanity to keep Deidre happy.

Yup, I think this was the consensus we reached, that nobody (maybe not even Deidre) took this seriously, it was all just an example of demonstrating the value of the star.

18 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

That's true. I also wonder what Val did all those years after Gary left and Lucy was being raised by the Ewings. We saw Rusty and Cricket, but she had to have more boyfriends than that. I assume Lucy was born about 1961 with her graduating high school in spring 1979. Gary left shortly after she was born I'm guessing around 1962. So there is a period of 16 years between 1962-1978 that Val was single. I guess we are to assume she pined for Gary all those years. 

Well, there was the time she nearly died in an ice storm ...

18 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

It was also written that J.R. did not marry Sue Ellen till about 1971. So, J.R. was getting up there in age when he decided to settle down with Miss Texas. I think they should have written he had a previous marriage and child like Sid Fairgate on Knots. 

And J.R. had military experience, too.

I've said it before, but I'm still amazed that Gary never conceived any children between Lucy and Bobby & Betsy.

The description of P.T. as similar to Bette Midler in Beaches came from the SOD article describing Manhattan Lives, and ever since I've read it, I've been unable to let it go. I just can't imagine who on the daytime scene would even qualify for such a role, or if they would have cast from outside the actors pool.

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I wonder if there's a listing for just how many soap people were on FoL.

There's a rainy day activity just waiting to happen.

P.S. Thank you for the tag! I'm always delighted when I remember how much plays and musicals performances were a part of this era of the cable networks. It seems to have died out once they were more into making their own TV movies.

4 minutes ago, Khan said:

I think there was a bible written for "Manhattan Lives," because someone (it might have been Sheri Anderson or Gene Palumbo) told the press that their plans for the spinoff included a Trump-inspired family named (IIRC) Waterfield.

Yes, that's right! And Marlena's Bette Midlereque friend, P.T. Barnum.

Reading about Ada's likely platonic marriage to Charley has me thinking about something she would likely have no use for, a "walker." For those who don't know, I'm talking about a male escort (often but not always gay) who accompanies women to social events. I don't know if soaps have ever acknowledged these types of guys, and I think if they did, it would mostly be strictly heterosexual, with escorting in the non-sexual sense (Stu & Jo), or the guy has an especially good chance of being the lady's next husband (Jackson & Erica, David & Dorian). Discuss.

I'll never stop holding out hope that there was an actual bible written for Manhattan Lives (the proposed Deidre Hall-led, New York-set spinoff to Days of Our Lives, on the chance that there's anyone here who has never heard of it), because it would be a lot of fun to compare and contrast that with how things played out on The City.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

I can envision Jo shooting Warren (or any villain) and then blocking it out psychologically, but I am afraid that Jo was the sort who would have confessed to the authorities the minute she remembered, even if it meant exonerating her nemesis, Stephanie, of the crime.  If anything, Stephanie would have accused Jo of delaying her confession in order to make her (Stephanie) suffer; and Jo would have bought Warren's reformed act enough to take him into her home when everyone else had turned their backs on him - which, of course, would play right into Warren's plans.

The longer Warren lived with Jo, however, and the more she extended kindness and friendship toward him, the more conflicted Warren actually would become over his plot to ruin Jo.  For the first time in his life, Warren Carter would realize that even a low-life such as himself has worth, and that would be due to Jo's influence.  But there would be a complication in the form of Warren's continued association with Brett Hamilton, Ringo Altman or another criminal - and maybe a plot to kill Jo and make it look as if she took her own life out of guilt over shooting Warren - that would result in Stu getting injured at Jo's house and Warren finally breaking down and revealing everything before apologizing to Jo and possibly fleeing Henderson for parts unknown, thereby leaving the door open for him to return down the road, played by a different actor (?), and causing (more) trouble for Cagney and Suzi as he wants to get to know Jonah again.

But...back to Jo's hypothetical murder trial.

As I have mentioned upthread, I would have had Jo on trial for killing someone, with her last husband, Martin Tourneur, being the most likely victim.  Courtney Sherman Simon would have returned as Kathy to defend Jo in court, and Millee Taggart would have returned briefly as Janet to lend her support as well.  Obviously, Jo would have been framed by the real culprit (don't ask me who), but Martin himself would have provided Jo with plenty of reasons to shoot him, as he would have become more physically and mentally abusive toward his wife in the weeks and months leading up to his murder.  Then, at the climax of the special "live" broadcast, everyone's jaws would drop as the jury announces their guilty verdict.

I would have used the trial and Jo's subsequent prison stint to bring back some former soap stars in short-term roles.  For example, I would have had someone like Mandel Kramer (ex-Bill Marceau, EON) play the judge presiding over the trial.  (Alternatively, I would have dragged former EP Fred(die) Bartholomew out of acting retirement to play the "honorable judge Fauntleroy").  Someone like Audrey Peters (ex-Vanessa, LOL) or Bethel Leslie (ex-Maggie, THE DOCTORS) would play at the warden at the women's prison outside Henderson, where Jo is incarcerated; and her assistant would be played by someone like Teri Keane (ex-Martha, EON, et al) or Mary K. Wells (ex-Louise, EON).  Jada Rowland (ex-Amy, SS; ex-Carolee, TD) might play the head of a prison gang that gives Jo a hard time behind bars, while Rosemary Prinz (ex-Penny, ATWT, et al) plays Jo's wisecracking cell-mate, who, once released, could become Stu's new, recurring love interest.  (Most of the ladies mentioned are just examples, but I do think RP and Larry Haines would have shared great chemistry if they had been paired together.)

During her unfortunate incarceration, however, Jo would stumble upon a prostitution ring involving several of the younger inmates.  All clues would point to the warden, but Jo, with help on the outside from Stu, would learn that the warden's assistant would be the true ringleader, leading to a climactic showdown between many of the women that results in the warden being injured, the assistant being apprehended and Jo having her sentence commuted by the governor in light of her efforts to expose the ring.

In the meantime, Sunny would be using her journalistic skills to clear Jo's name, drawing the reluctant male A.D.A., who had prosecuted Jo, into her efforts to uncover the identity of Martin's real killer.  Of course, Sunny's efforts would place herself in danger; and rescuing her from the killer (whoever they are) with Hogan's help would prompt the A.D.A. to confess his feelings for Sunny, initiating a triangle between him, Hogan and Sunny.

Finally, when Jo is released from prison, so, too, is another inmate whom Jo has taken under her wing.  Jo moves her into her home and in time helps her to track down the little boy whom she gave birth to while still incarcerated and was forced to give up for adoption.

I love all of this very much. My only fly in the ointment is concern over Rosemary Prinz's avoidance of long-term commitments. (As long as we're dreaming, maybe she decided she loved working with Larry Haines so much that she was willing to keep going.)

8 hours ago, Khan said:

1. The show's producers tapped Beatrice Straight to play on the "Villains" side, merely because they needed a fifth member there and did not know of anyone else who could fill that slot.  (Otherwise, I would hardly label her one scene role on "Network" as villainous, lol.)

Beatrice Straight actually was playing a villain at the time, sort of the poor man's Jane Wyman, on King's Crossing.

9 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

Kim Zimmer did a 2 show arc as a reporter on Babylon 5 & a stand-out episode of Designing Women.

Oh, yes, we can't forget Kim, who was apparently thisclose to being the female lead on Evening Shade.

1 minute ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

LOVED Pacific Palisades! Also ... same time period ... Dana Delaney. Pensacola? No. I'll think of it. 

Pasadena, Donna. (Sounds like I'm singing.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasadena_(TV_series)

Adding Robin Strasser to the list. She definitely made the rounds during her 1987-93 absence from OLTL. On the other hand, almost all of those roles were guest shots. I don't know if she did any pilots.

I thought of two ladies who would certainly attract some onlooker audience members if either had played Sydney. In both cases, it would be playing against type (which might not be a bad thing). Farrah Fawcett (she still had a high Q rating in the '90s, didn't she?) and, making her triumphant return to TV and already New York-based ... Mia Farrow.

(Hey, go big or go home.)

While Lisanne was only on until late October, the impact of her death dragged on for four more months, followed by Nicky finally learning he's Carly & Lawrence's kid.

6 hours ago, Khan said:

I still can't keep it straight in my mind which DAYS hangout begat what, but was Wings the successor to Blondie's, which was, in turn, the successor to Shenanigans?  Or were they all separate hangouts?  And how does Sergio's Doug's Place By the Lake figure into all this?

If I remember correctly ...

Sergio's became original recipe Doug's Place, which was backburned for a while for Doug's Place, the casino era. Doug's Place original then became Blondie's and later, Wings. By the time it was written out, The Penthouse Grille was the new hangout.

The Twilight became Shenanigans, then the original Alice's Restaurant. The Tuscany, successor to the Penthouse Grille, became the country Alice's.

1 hour ago, dc11786 said:

Isabelle Alden was in and out for much of the 1990s (offscreen for a good chunk of 1991 and 1994) and played by three separate actors. She might not have inspired viewer loyalty. Kate may have given her tough love approach with Ally. I could see how early to mid 1990s Lila Quartermaine would enjoy the sage advice she would dispense and acting as a calming port in the storm that was the Q clan. 

Excellent points.

13 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I remember similar polls where GH viewers around that age said Lila Quartermaine was one of their favorite characters.

Not to go too far in another direction, but I wonder how much of that had to do with how Lila was being written-played in that era. Very Mary the Good Fairy.

Makes you wonder what the kids thought of Kate Rescott or Isabelle Alden.

18 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Another idea-have a young woman turn up at some point turning out to be Samantha''s child-giving Marlena a surrogate daughter.

Oh, if only they had considered this before introducing the SORASed Sami ... I will concede that so much of the drama from Sami's storylines has been because she's Marlena's daughter.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Now there (Samantha's long-lost child) was an opportunity to introduce an African-American character with ties to one of the main families on DAYS.  They could have said that Samantha got pregnant by a black man - perhaps, an O.J. Simpson-type, who was a successful professional athlete-turned-actor - but gave up the baby, because of her career, and because she was afraid her family never would accept a half-black grandchild.

Casting ideas? For whatever reason, Phillip Michael Thomas was the first guy who came to mind.

Coming soon:

Friday, March 13 -- Bo (now played by Robert Kelker-Kelly) is back on Days of Our Lives.

Friday, March 20 -- Will is killed on All My Children.

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

I though the new syndicated talk shows of Fall 1991 would have an impact on Santa Barbara. The next big syndicated talk show debut that I can think of would be Ricki Lake in Fall 1993.

There was also Vicki Lawrence's show, which premiered in fall 1992 and was gone by 1994 due to production drama. Whether or not it actually happened, I vaguely remember Vicki and Ricki airing back to back on (the NBC station?) when I was a boy.

Four months into 1991-1992, and so far, Santa Barbara doesn't seem to have a clearances issue. We'll have to see if one develops through 1992.

Ended up watching the two 1981 episodes (interrupted by Reagan's inauguration) where Jennifer reveals in court that she and Alan are Amanda's parents. As excellent of work as Geraldine Court did, my favorite moments were (a) Diane finding out (and this being so soon after Alan and Hope's wedding) and (b-c) Nola's interactions with Morgan (including trying to throw Hillary under the bus for closeness with Kelly) and Kelly (including fangirling over A Summer Place).

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

I always thought B&B clearances went up when they started showing growth, but yes, the clearances are about the same as the beginning of the run.

It might have been posted here that around 1992 or 1993 Lee Bell personally visited every CBS affiliate that was not carrying B&B in an attempt to get them to add B&B to the line up. 

Why does this remind me of those scenes in Coal Miner's Daughter where Loretta and Doo embark on a tour of various country music stations, getting DJs to play her demo and giving impromptu interviews?

You've kind of hit the nail on the head there, Donna. Until I see more of the show to get a better appraisal, I'm inclined to think the concept was interesting, the execution not so much.