Franko

Monty 2.0 is now very much a thing, and the audience ain't feelin' it.

"Yeah ... about that ..." -- The City

Delia and Bob's long-lost kin? Or a fresh off the boat branch of the Ryans? Jumping slightly ahead in the timeline, I'm imagining one of the immigrants giving a soliloquy about how they should have known America wasn't going to be the answer to every prayer when they couldn't even see the Statue of Liberty's face (a tie-in to the 1984-86 renovation before its centennial).

Not only that, but there was also @j swift's favorite, Cousin Joey Eckert, who apparently wasn't even memorable enough to make the summaries. Yeah, it seems clear that the orders to retool the retooling came near-instantly. They wanted to make it 1980 again by science or magic, and couldn't figure out why it wasn't happening.

Gloria's second run lasted from Monday, Dec. 3, 1990-Friday, Jan. 24, 1992. Several years ago, I chronicled what I think is the definitive list of the three casting waves during that time. I'll pull it up again. Okay, here's what I had gathered in 2018 thanks to the curlyqgrl summaries. First Wave: Out: Katherine Delafield (Edie Lehman, 11/26/90) Shep Casey (Bradley Lockerman, 12/21/90) Rita Lloyd (Kim Terry, 1/10/91) Lucy Coe (temporarily, for Lynn Herring's maternity leave, 1/29/91) Broxton (actor name?, 2/1/91 it appears) Simone Hardy (Stephanie Williams, 2/12/91) Carla Greco (Laura Harring, 2/14/91?) Frankie Greco (Robert Fontaine Jr., no clue on date, but presumably around this time) Cheryl Stansbury (Jennifer Anglin, 2/14/91?) Colton Shore (Scott Thompson Baker, 2/26/91) Charlene Simpson (Maree Cheatham, 2/26/91) Dawn Winthrop (Jennifer Guthrie, 2/27/91) Eric Jackson/"Edge Jerome" (Mark St. James, no date given, but presumably late February-early March) Nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin, 3/1/91; not a writing decision, but notable) Decker Moss (Michael Watson, no date given, but presumably early March) Larry Ashton (Hugo Napier, 3/22/91; back for a few days in July) In/Back: Jenny Eckert (Cheryl Richardson, 2/13/91) Mac Scorpio (John J. York, 2/18/91) Bill Eckert (Tony Geary, 2/19/91) Fred Eckert (William Boyett, 2/20/91) Angela Eckert (Carol Lawrence, 2/20/91) Sly Eckert (Glenn Walker Harris Jr., 2/20/91) Finian O'Toole (Arte Johnson, 2/22/91?) Harlan Barrett (Michael Cole, 3/7/91) Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring, 3/12/91) Paul Hornsby (Paul Satterfield, 3/18/91) Second Wave Out: Fred Eckert (William Boyett, 5/31/91) Angela Eckert (Carol Lawrence, 6/5/91; back for Jenny and Ned's wedding in February 1992) Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner, 6/11/91) Ned Ashton (Kurt McKinney, 8/30/91) In/Back Nancy Eckert (Linda Dona, 5/28/91) Dominique Taub (Tawny Fere Ellis, 6/4/91) Leopold Taub (Chip Lucia, 6/6/91) Connor Olivera (Michael Lynch, 6/24/91) Simone Hardy (Stephanie Williams, 6/25/91) Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 6/26/91) A.J. Quartermaine (Gerald Hopkins, 6/26/91) Nurse Sheila something-or-other (actress name?, 6/26/91 it appears) Julia Barrett (Crystal Carson, 6/27/91) Susan Hornsby (Irina Cashen, 8/21/91) Third Wave: Out: Nancy Eckert (Linda Dona, 10/14/91 -- whodunnit storyline for another month) Felicia Jones (Kristina Wagner, 11/5/91; back in May 1992) Dominique Taub (Tawny Fere Ellis, 11/14/91) Finian O'Toole (Arte Johnson, 11/21/91?) Harlan Barrett (Michael Cole, 11/22/91) Leopold Taub (Chip Lucia, 12/5/91) Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 12/5/91) Anna Devane (Finola Hughes, 12/17/91) Susan Hornsby (Irina Cashen, 12/27/91) Anna Devane (Camilla Moore, 1/20/92) Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 2/25/92) Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers, 2/25/92) David Langton (Jeff Pomerantz, 3/23/92) Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring, 3/27/92) In/Back: Ned Ashton (Wally Kurth, 9/9/91) Dr. Eric Simpson (Brandon Hooper, 9/18/91) Edward Quartermaine (David Lewis, 11/26/91) Dominique Taub (Shell Davidson, 12/3/91) Jason Quartermaine (Steve Burton, 12/19/91) Anna Devane (Camilla Moore, 12/20/91) David Langton (Jeff Pomerantz, 1/13/92) Holly Sutton (Emma Samms, 1/16/92) Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 1/17/92) Nikki Langton (Camille Cooper, 1/30/92)

She was actually already back. Until I saw the Classic Soap Opera Digest News Tumblr, I didn't know this, but Gloria's first day was Monday, Dec. 3, 1990. That being said, we can think of February 1991 as the launch of the "new" era, with the introduction of the Eckerts and some of the largest activity of the first wave of cast departures.

Days again -- Jack (Matthew Ashford) disguised as a woman.

Steve Olson, Days. I'm still wondering just what went wrong in 1972 to abandon him and opt for SORASing Mike Horton and David Banning, which would cause a massive ripple effect and imbalance. Devaluing Steve had the largest effect, but we can't also forget his female contemporary, Sandy Horton.

Oh, I've got one ... Taylor's disguises once she arrived back in L.A. in early '95.

I agree with this. I also don't think that a replacement character has to necessarily come immediately after who they're succeeding. For example, Megan Hathaway and Renee on Days (both surprise DiMera daughters). What's interesting is when the replacement doesn't catch on, and the OG comes back. On GH, Tracy-Alexandra-Tracy.

Plus Curt and Leora Sanders on AMC in 1981 and that one couple with Craig Wasson as the husband on OLTL in 1991.

Even though I like the theme, you've hit several nails on the head.

Yup, they were clearly ready to move. I posted the cancellation announcement article on the NBC Daytime thread. It seems the network was intending to move further into the news and infotainment field. Yup, to the best of my knowledge, there was no significant new syndicated talk show in 1990-91. As it turns out, there was actually a fifth debut in fall 1991: Chuck Woolery also had his own show.

Los Angeles Times, Thursday, Nov. 22, 1990 NBC has axed “Generations,” the first daytime soap opera to feature a black family on an ongoing basis, and CBS has canceled “The Hogan Family,” a long-running comedy series that until this season had been seen on NBC. Those announcements were among a list of mid-season changes revealed Wednesday by the two networks. They included the unveiling of a daytime news program anchored by Faith Daniels for NBC and a new Nell Carter sitcom for CBS. NBC said that “Generations,” the story of two affluent Chicago families, one black and one white, will have its last broadcast Jan. 25. The soap opera, which began in 1989, won critical acclaim for featuring black performers in dramatic roles, but has suffered low ratings. The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People immediately urged NBC to keep the show on the air. “We’re very saddened; ‘Generations’ was a breakthrough show,” Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the NAACP’s Beverly Hills-Hollywood chapter, said through a spokeswoman. She urged “Generations” viewers to write NBC asking that the decision be rescinded. In Los Angeles, as in many other cities, the half-hour “Generations” aired against the second half of CBS’ popular “The Young and the Restless.” So far this season, “Generations” is attracting only 8% of the available viewers, compared with “Y&R;’s” 31%. NBC ranks third behind CBS and ABC in overall daytime ratings. Sally Sussman, the creator, executive producer and head writer of “Generations,” said that the difficult time slot and lack of support from NBC’s affiliated stations ensured the show’s demise. “To be perfectly honest, as soon as the show went on the air, they were talking about canceling it,” she said in an interview. Although the show has been canceled, Sussman said, 300 episodes have already been sold into syndication in France, and TV stations here and abroad have expressed interest in continuing it. “You don’t have to be on the network to be successful,” she said. Brandon Tartikoff, chairman of the NBC Entertainment Group, said in a prepared statement that NBC Productions is exploring the viability of continuing to produce “Generations” for syndication. Jorn Winther, senior executive producer of “Generations,” said that the show’s poor ratings performance will make the networks wary of new soaps featuring black core characters. “I can’t imagine it (a show like ‘Generations’) will happen again in my lifetime--I’m 57,” he said. “I don’t think I’m going to see an integrated show again.” As the daytime audience dwindles, NBC hopes to bring viewers back to daytime by introducing four new information series, and has another two in development. The first is “A Closer Look,” a “woman-oriented” mid-day half-hour anchored by Daniels, to debut Jan. 28. Also to be introduced in the “near future,” NBC said, are “A.M. Assignment,” featuring an all-female news team assigned to “in-depth feature stories”; “Women’s Diaries,” a “real-life soap” about ordinary people and their problems, and “Trialwatch,” a “magazine” show using actual footage from courtroom trials. Trialwatch made it to air. To the best of my knowledge, unless they had trial runs, A.M. Assignment and Women's Diaries never made it to air.

Jumping ahead a little, NBC announced Generations' cancellation on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 1990.

According to the Daytime Royalty summaries ... Friday, Oct. 12, 1990, included Patch being caught in the explosion meant for Bo (and knowing that it was arranged by Lawrence). The week of Oct. 15-19 was dominated by whether or not Patch would die. Stephen Nichols' last episode of his original run was Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Interesting. I wonder if the writers kept that idea in mind when they had Anne attempt to avoid her own (albeit brief) poverty experience.

That would be my guess. Bear in mind, NBC's official lineup included Classic Concentration reruns from 1991-93. That seems like such a waste to me -- either keep the show running, or use its space for an original program.

Thank you, Jason! I'm guessing that Win, Lose or Draw was filler until Marsha Warfield's show debuted in March. I'm wondering if it was reruns of the network run, or if WNBC was briefly airing the syndicated version. For the 1990-91 season, WNBC's 3 p.m. timeslot went to The Joan Rivers Show, which previously aired at 9 a.m. on WCBS. Joan was the lead-in to Donahue. Also of note, WNBC, WCBS and WABC came to play at 4 p.m. in those days, with Donahue vs. Geraldo vs. Oprah. Geraldo lost -- by spring 1991, WCBS was airing Matlock reruns in that timeslot.

Question -- When in 1990 did WNBC in New York change the soap lineup to Generations at 11:30, Santa Barbara at 12 and Days of Our Lives and Another World in pattern? I ask because I see that it had already happened by mid-May. https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/retro-new-york-city-wednesday-may-16-1990.749281/

I promise I won't get too far into fanfiction, but I wish there would have been a 25th reunion in 2006 rather than the '91 reunion. In my version, Dex (having spent 17 years recovering from paralysis) returns to Denver to get to know his and Sable's son. The boy (anyone got a name in mind?) is in a love triangle with Amanda Carrington (credit where it's due, I'm taking this point from the legendary JamesFromLondon) and Lauren Colby (or if we must, Krystina Carrington, for the sisters fighting over a man of it all).

Would it be too much if the Loving resolution on General Hospital also included psychiatrist Dr. Heather Forbes and her fiance, Sandy Masters? (Credit where it's due, I'm expanding on an idea Kane had. "What a shame the show didn’t last long enough for (a new) teen scene to come to fruition and the inevitable fireworks of Stacey’s daughter dating Ava’s son.")

According to On This Day, Nov. 18, 1991, was a Monday. Events included "Muslim Shi'ites release hostages Terry Waite & Thomas Sutherland." (I initially assumed the newsbreak had something to do with the dissolving Soviet Union.)

Let's go with Charity's posession. She wasn't a marquee heroine like Marlena, but it was fun to see the cloying Little Miss Sunshine cut loose.

Steven absolutely should have been bi, but that obviously wasn't going to fly on 1980s TV. I feel like the closest we would have gotten was a winking joke about Fallon's up for anything period before marrying Jeff, something along the lines of her hooking up with the players and a cheerleader or two of Blake's football team. It was the Magnum episode with Special Guest Star Frank Sinatra.