Franko

Highlights of July 1984 include: -- The aftermath of the clusterfcuk that was the '84 Daytime Emmys. In light of reports that Judi Evans also received the cold shoulder from her costars for winning one so soon, I felt oogy reading Jon-Michael Reed questioning her win. -- Christopher Rich and Nancy Frangione preparing to depart AW. I dunno, I don't think it would have been so bad had Sandy transitioned into more of a tentpole character. It might even have eased some of the upheaval in the wake of Douglass Watson's death. -- Eileen Fulton's back! J-MR gives a little shade to her stage endeavors: "She popped up, hither and yon, in just about any vehicle that gave her star billing. But she never forgot to remind the press and the public that she was the original Lisa on 'World Turns.'" -- Jimmy McNichol Update: He's now staying on GH until at least the end of 1984. -- Kim Fields showing up to sing about Michael Jackson on AMC and Jermaine Jackson and Whitney Houston on ATWT. -- Something I didn't know: Scrabble was an immediate hit. I guess it helped having Wheel of Fortune as a lead-in and not being in the 12 p.m. death slot. -- Once again, it's time to ask the "exciting" question, Is Dorothy Lyman Coming Back to AMC? (Yet again, no.) -- All this, and Dame Judith Anderson clutching her pearls in defense of the soaps.

And he wasn't. I forgot Scotty.

Speaking of Norman Lear, I keep forgetting that he apparently had some (minimal) early involvement with Who's the Boss? (as the Soaps Of Yesterday blog recently reminded me). I think the case was WTB? was originally an Embassy show, which meant the columnists were cool with associating Norman's name with it. ETA: I've never watched "Perfect Strangers" all the way through, but it seems to have had a reverse. Starting out for adults/families, then softening for kid appeal. I have watched "Mr. Belvedere" all the way through and that definitely evolved from family show with a slight edge (like Wesley thinking Heather's birth control was a handheld game) to adopting more of the "TGIF ethos."

And if I remember correctly, Martha died during the Port Charles hurricane or thereabouts. Nancy, Tracy, Martha and Augusta and Phil's kid ... talk about four missed opportunities. Tommy Hardy didn't need to be the only legacy character on late '80s GH.

I could be wrong, but I think "Strokes" started out fairly popular (then again, when everything else on NBC was in the basement ...) Anyway, I agree with your distinction between the first and second waves. I always think of the second wave as being dominated by Miller-Boyett's shows, but you'd also get a show or two like "Blossom." (Somewhere to the left, closer to the "adult shows," would be a "Wonder Years" or a "Doogie Howser") Seems like the kid-favoring shows fell out of favor at the basic networks, moving onto Nickelodeon and Disney. After all these years, TV must be onto, like, the seventh wave? And to not stray too far from the topic, I got a kick out of Soleil and Cherie on TODAY last week, even if Soleil was tripling down on being excited/adorable after all these years.

Well, I'll be darned. I had no idea Robin Mattson read for the role of Patsy in Terms of Endearment. (If James L. Brooks had made Broadcast News at the time, I could see Robin playing Joan Cusack's role, Blair.) Elsewhere on ABC, Jon-Michael Reed is claiming GH "took action too late" in becoming an ensemble show again. "It is just now paying the long-overdue price of loading emphasis on two characters who are no longer visible. (Need we mention Luke and Laura?)" Then why the hell did you, Jonny Boy? Oof, feels kinda foolish (to me, anyway) that Grant Show dropped out of college in his last semester at UCLA to join Ryan's Hope. Oh, well, at least it wasn't Edge ... And then again, everybody's favorite Venus/beach bimbo/ex-Catholic schoolgirl Eileen Davidson is a college dropout and things turned out just fine for her. We're up to the Rauch era beginning on OLTL, Santa Barbara debuting on NBC ... I guess the next biggie will be Loving scoring Ryan's Hope's old timeslot.

The entire post is dead-on, but these two points are especially true.

It feels like AW had a target on its back from the moment it was clear the 90-minute expansion was a flop. Also, seems like NBC rather quickly had buyer's remorse over Search.

Also, nice to know that Susan Seaforth Hayes got the last word, literally and figuratively, when Doug and Julie left DOOL in 1984. Even if the dialogue is toeing the thin, thin line between touching and cheesy. "Let's go upstairs and cut a slice of heaven." "I remember the first time, and it's been heaven for me ever since." (And who knew the Hayes never had a fan club? 'Night, y'all!)

Fabulous! Marcy and Steven Spielberg together?! Who knew?

Here you go, @titan1978. It's @will81's new blog. https://thesoapsofyesterday-blog-blog.tumblr.com/archive

In development as of February 1984, reported on by Jon-Michael Reed: NBC: -- a project from John Conboy -- a project from Bridget and Jerome Dobson (Santa Barbara, obviously) -- a project from Henry Slesar (all were talked about as possible replacements for Search for Tomorrow or Another World) CBS, both from Paul Rauch: -- a show set in Detroit and concerning the auto industry, with headwriter Fred Mustard Stewart (Grosse Pointe?) -- "The Barons," by Barbara Bauer, about a family in what we'd now call the 1 percent (in the wings if one of the network's shows fail or they expand the soap lineup) ABC: -- a possible GH spinoff, talked about as a possible replacement for EDGE

The Dorothy Lyman drama continues over on Soaps of Yesterday, with it being revealed that while she speaks warmly of her AMC experience, she stopped watching the show as of February 1984. Not even making an exception for Greg and Jenny's wedding. (You'd swear one of these columnists is going to one day write, "She's moved on, people! Leave her alone! She's got that Carol Burnett-NBC money now!")

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.