Franko

A few tidbits from today's Soaps of Yesterday uploads (thanks again, @will81!) -- Denise Alexander's exit interview includes her (jokingly?) fudging her age by a decade, talking about her overwork and lamenting that Lesley would be killed off. She'd have rather the role been recast or given a not-so closed exit, like running off with a sailor. This reminds me of @vetsoapfan's comments about the foolish idea of Ellie on SFT running off with the cook. My point is, actors don't always know best and (even in spite of how he'd be ruined in the future), I think it'd be hard to accept Rick & Lesley being torn apart so casually. -- "And the arrival of two women in town may shatter the Webbers and the Quartermaines." The first is a no-brainer: Ginny. The second is likely Beatrice, but I actually first thought it was Lorena. -- Lynda Hirsch, reporting on ex-GHers' new gigs, includes some slightly misleading info. about Kin Shriner's role in the TV movie Obsessive Love. She makes it sound like he's the male lead. He's the second male lead: Yvette Mimieux's character was stalking Simon MacCorkindale. -- TIL Janine Turner was engaged to Alec Baldwin. Given their present politics, I'm wondering how long the pairing lasted. All this and the incoming Jimmy MacNichol (slated for anywhere between 6-26 weeks on the show) and imminent departure of John Stamos.

Reading the contemporary articles, I'm also intrigued by the implication that ABC didn't try hard enough when it came to hanging onto Dorothy. I guess they figured they didn't need that many crossover daytime actors.

And if I read the synopsis right, Jenny and Tony's non-wedding/Liza revealing to Jenny that Tad slept with her and Marian happened during the week of Dec. 26-30, 1983. A good time for events (like Luke and Laura leaving GH), given that many people were on Christmas break and could watch. Ha-ha to the idea of Mart Hulswit trying in vain to stay on AMC, @j swift. P.S. Did you see the item about Elaine Stritch joining EDGE as "your" nanny?

I'm glad you addressed this, because yeah, the comment about "consciously chosen" is so very of its time. The path to hell is paved with good intentions ... We talk about the stereotypical uninformed fan in '21 and how the shows aren't doing enough to reflect reality, and then here it is, 38 years earlier. Also, re: Dack Rambo ditching his fans, insert your own Ted Cruz joke. For all my drooling about the menfolk, a Tony & Genie appearance BITD would be well worth the price of admission. D'oh!

Today's Contract News from 1983 is brought to you by the OBC of Cats, taken in by Wayne Northrup and Lynn Herring: -- Suzanne Rogers is staying, thanks to more money and a renewed storyline (eh, not so much on that second part) -- Michael Leon is going from a two-week role to a long-term contract as Pete -- Gloria Loring's also staying (and to her credit, she did get a hot storyline with the jailbreak and Liz getting amnesia) -- After some delay, Deidre Hall is staying (I wonder if Marlena otherwise would have been a Salem Slasher victim)

Interesting tidbit from today's Soaps of Yesterday uploads: there was talk of Elizabeth Taylor making a second appearance on GH in 1983. She ended up passing, completing her run in Private Lives and "has decided to take care of some personal matters" (which we know now was her entering rehab).

Soaps of Yesterday was updated today (paging @j swift!), with some interesting items about AMC: -- Hopefully I'm going to finally be able to pinpoint when exactly Dorothy Lyman last appeared as Opal (apparently in January 1984, according to Lynda Hirsch) and when Jenny and Tony's non-wedding (which I'm positive Opal wasn't at) was. -- I'm wondering if Tony Dow tried out for either Ross Chandler or Mike Roy. -- I knew Darnell Williams was popular, but I didn't know he was receiving "more fan mail than almost any two ABC male soap stars combined." Good for him! -- And yet, Darnell didn't represent AMC at "Soap Madness," a hunk-centric personal appearance. The quintet of guys was Michael E. Knight, Charles Grant, Grant Aleksander, Frank Runyeon and Steve Bond. Are guys allowed to attend? Can anyone make some singles out of a $10? -- Shortly before today's uploads, Beth Maitland talked about her weight. It comes up with Genie Francis and also Tasia Valenza. How nice to know that ABC has arranged for her dietician and that Dottie gets to contemplate having her jaw wired shut. -- There's cautious optimism about the Lynn Carson and Devon storyline (a pity Donna Pescow didn't appear nearly 20 years later for the Bianca storyline, although it would have been a stretch: "Hey, remember the last time we had a lesbian?"), which is more than can be said about the Lars is a Nazi storyline, ended but evidently never to be forgotten. -- TIL Hugh Franklin was married to Madeline L'Engle. The blog's become my new favorite ... wait for it ... wrinkle in time.

Susan's murder was fun to watch play out (via YouTube ~25 years later). What I appreciate is that it had ramifications. Alan and Monica ended up with Jason. Jimmy Lee spent the rest of his time in Port Charles fighting for the Qs acceptance. And while all this was going on, Robert and Holly became a genuine couple. Not a bad last hurrah (she had a few months left, but things quieted down afterward) for Robin Mattson's first run as Heather, either.

I've just bookmarked the site and intend to do a DEEP dive over the weekend. Bless you, @will81!

Feels like a missed opportunity, not exploring the baggage of marrying too young. I want to say Alexis was supposed to be in her late teens when she met Blake. Then again, times were different. (I don't watch the reboot, so I don't know if they attempted to do this with Sheridan 'n' Show.) Sounds like a blast! Thanks for the tip. I'm thinking Adam would skew closer to Fallon (although, really, I think he wanted either of his parents' approval). And now I wish Amanda had hung around, so we'd get a better idea of where she landed. The jury's out whether or not little Krystina having Krystle's genes was better or worse than having Alexis'. Ah, nicely put.

I wonder how soon it became apparent that they were pairing Jack and Jennifer?

Let's see if I can name them all: 1st row, L to R: King Galen of Moldavia, Roger Grimes, Blake Carrington, Congressman Neil McVane 2nd row: Cecil Colby, Jason Colby, Mark Jennings, Dex Dexter 3rd row: Ben Carrington, Sean Rowan, Zach Powers, Rashid Ahmed 4th row: Free space, Gavin Maurier, Andrew Laird, Jeremy Van Dorn To answer your questions: 1. I'm not sure Alexis was really capable of love between two people. I think she was too damaged. Whether it was by nature or nurture is debatable. 2. Oh, certainly, but I don't know if it was so much romantic as it was a need for (early) Blake to control things. Maybe on some level, he thought she'd come back and be under his thumb. "A Love Remembered" (the one where Blake has amnesia) is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. And you're right, Cecil was a stepping stone.

And I just can't see Larry as the villain of the week on Charlie's Angels or Vega$. I've heard about Deidre Hall having primetime appearances included in her contract, but regarding her '80s run, I'm wondering if it was play-or-pay or if she banked what she had coming to her and used it up for a good portion of Our House's run. (Or would that not have been to her advantage?) I mention it because looking at her IMDB page, it looks like she did a few TV movies a couple years apart, one episode of an NBC show (Hot Pursuit) and one episode of an ABC show (Hotel) before Our House.

I feel like the tunnel of love (with boats named after all the men in her life) and the haunted house (with witches and ghouls that resemble the women who did her wrong) would be popular rides at Six Flags Over Erica. Why bother with a rollercoaster? It's not like Erica would meet the height requirement to ride one.

I knew I was missing at least one. For what it's worth, I remember Dorothy Lyman describing Opal as "a white-trash Teri Shields" (or words to that extent) in a PEOPLE profile circa 1983.

There's been more than a few nods to the Kennedys over the decades. Off the top of my head: The Whitneys of EDGE Johnny and Roger Forbes, LOVING Spencer and Grant Harrison, ANOTHER WORLD Linda Fairchild-Rush and Peter Fairchild, CENTRAL PARK WEST (Jackie and JFK Jr.). Speaking of CPW, Gerald McRaney's Adam Block, a media mogul from the south, was clearly Ted Turner.

I believe I read it here that both Susan Lucci and Erika Slezak had it written in that they wouldn't have to work on their children's birthdays and first and last days of school. Not a bad perk and I wonder if it was something only ABC actresses utilized. As for myths, let's go with Jensen Buchanan's fabled helicopter service to the Another World studio.

Not a worry at all. I'm also not as prolific as I used to be.

I fear that @beebs has found DAYS' autumn of 1980 to be just too boring for words ... (Just teasing, luv.)

If I remember correctly, Daisy's true identity was made public during the murder trial. To answer your question about ages, no, Nina was slightly older than Jenny, Liza and Greg. I could be wrong, but I believe Liza and Greg graduated high school in 1983. Or at least Greg did. I vaguely remember a photo of him in cap, gown and a wheelchair. Jenny was a year or two younger?

I still can't believe we had an episode where Mickey and Julie sh*t themselves.

I wouldn't cast her as Julie Chandler. Maybe Cecily Davidson? I'm actually curious how things would have gone if she took a break from vixens and tried her hand as one of the replacement Ninas on AMC or Sallys on AW. Probably not that well.

On the other hand, that was the standard wardrobe for Eric Winter as Rex.

If Gwen's mom is Laura, maybe she thinks she died when Pine Haven Sanitarium burned down in 1994. Or perhaps her mom is Penelope Kent.

That is a depressingly plausible possibility, even if Laura's history has never before included DID.