Franko

Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it! (No, I'm just kidding. It's a dramatically sound/can be played reason.)

I love it, Titus! Thanks!

Given what a curse I think he became to GH, I was amused to find Sonny's first episode was Friday, Aug. 13, 1993. (Also, 1993 is just as much of a revolving door year as 1991 was, just in slower motion.)

I still need to find some old school Seattle listings, but in the meantime, here's how mid-September 1992 looked for the stations in my home, Grand Rapids, Michigan. The soaps aired in pattern, so this is more to compare syndication offerings. WWMT 3 (CBS, Kalamazoo) 9 a.m.: Sally Jessy Raphael 10 a.m.: The New Family Feud Challenge 11 a.m.: The Price Is Right 12 p.m.: Local news 12:30 p.m.: The Young and the Restless 1:30 p.m.: The Bold and the Beautiful 2 p.m.: As the World Turns 3 p.m.: Guiding Light 4 p.m.: Oprah Winfrey 5 p.m.: Donahue 6 p.m.: Local and network news 7 p.m.: Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! WOOD 8 (NBC) 9 a.m.: Jenny Jones 10 a.m.: Highway to Heaven 11 a.m.: Infatuation (?) 12 p.m.: Local news, followed by CNN news 1 p.m.: Days of Our Lives 2 p.m.: Another World 3 p.m.: Santa Barbara (I vaguely recall Vicki Lawrence and Ricki Lake's shows eventually airing on WOOD for a while -- by fall '93?) 4 p.m.: Maury Povich 5 p.m.: Local and network news 7 p.m.: Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition (Also of note, WOOD slotted Whoopi Goldberg's talk show between Leno and Letterman.) WZZM 13/WOTV 41 (ABC) 9 a.m.: Regis & Kathie Lee (13), The People's Court (41) 10 a.m.: Geraldo (13), Newhart and I Dream of Jeannie (41) 11 a.m.: Joan Rivers (13), The Home Show (41) 12 p.m.: Local news (13), Home conclusion (41) 12:30 p.m.: Loving 1 p.m.: All My Children 2 p.m.: One Life to Live 3 p.m.: General Hospital 4 p.m.: Growing Pains and Head of the Class (13), Heathcliff (41) 5 p.m. The Cosby Show and Night Court (13), The Jetsons and Saved by the Bell (41) 6 p.m.: Local and network news 7 p.m.: A Current Affair and You Bet Your Life (13), Love Connection (41) WXMI 17, our FOX station, aired Montel Williams at 12 p.m., Jane Whitney at 1 p.m. and Arsenio Hall at 10 p.m.

There were a handful of presumed dead characters who turned out to be alive. Off the top of my head, Val, Gary, Paige (during that period when it seemed like she was an impostor) and Karen's stalker Jeff. Of them all, Val was the only one who got to be dead in-universe (unlike Paige, who was "dead" to her grandparents) for a decent amount of time.

No lie, I'm pretty sure the BJ's heart episodes were how I first learned what death was. I'm up to August 1991 in my summaries reading. By this point, any attempt at 86ing the Qs for the Eckerts (at least the blue collar version) has ended. The summaries are a bit exhausting to read because you can just tell rewrites were coming at the speed of light. Frisco is obsessed with getting back onto the PCPD! Oh, but now he abandons Felicia because something from his past is threatening her and Maxi (I looked ahead; this plot element never gets resolved). Tracy is being pursued by Harlan! Oh, now she's being pursued by Paul! Mac/Jenny has now become Mac/Dominique (man, has it become Mac/Dominique) and Jenny/Paul/Tracy (and eventually Ned; I guess he fell into place when Wally was hired Nope, Ned becomes/solidifies himself as one of the players right as August begins) In addition to being bothered by Alan vs. Tracy when he "died" two years prior, Edward was now also dealing with a cartel including Faison, Harlan and Leopold Taub And such on and such on. I see that on Friday, Aug. 23, there was a scene where Robert got drunk and called Bill Eckert "Luke." I'll bet it was fun to act and watch, but I also feel a bit of desperation from TPTB. "Okay, audience. You want this as much as we do, but our hands are tied."

Michael Lindsay-Hogg had directed Geraldine on Broadway in Agnes of God the year before. I don't know if either's involvement clinched the deal for the other, or if it was just a coincidence. And by all means, YES.

I just verified today that the show was preempted on Thursday, May 21, 1981, the day of the Daytime Emmys.

Slightly OT topic about the '82 Emmys: Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin) apparently had a lucrative side hustle as the go-to composer for daytime. He also contributed the legendary "Stories of Our Lives" opening from '88.

Lemay would NEVER have gone for it, but a "Who Shot Rachel?" storyline with Aunt Liz, Alice and Iris among the prime suspects wouldn't have been a bad way to generate publicity/build the audience amid the one-hour expansion in '75.

Does Geraldine Whitney (EON) fit your archetype, @j swift?

Here you are, @j swift. http://www.angelfire.com/tv/curlyqgrl/gh/eps/ghepsmenu.html

Jackie definitely became so single-minded, @victoria foxton. Robert and Holly probably had grounds to successfully sue her for libel more than once. I don't know if Jackie had a final episode per se, but she faded out during the Two Grants story, briefly being dated by Bad Grant.

Over the past few weeks, I've been amusing myself reading the summaries from 1981 onward. I'm up to June 1989. Rewinding back to 1983, what do we think of Jackie being such a woman scorned over Robert & Holly getting together? I'm team Holly, but it seems like if the show wanted to keep Demi (or she wanted to stay), she'd have been aces as a first class villainess.

Ditto. JC and BD were selling every facet of this humiliating experience. It's more unique than, say, if the scene had been played for laughs.

Oh, if only my life had this kind of forced civility and blatant pot-stirring ...

Agreed. I don't want to assume, but it also seems the most likely scenario.

Speaking of OT, let's try to solve that Queen ABC puzzle. The other women who appeared at the 1996 event, according to Wikipedia, are: Kelly Ripa Eva La Rue (who didn't appear at another one for six years) Robin Strasser (one and done) Gina Tognoni (one and done) Erin Torpey Kassie DePaiva (who, like Susan, appears to have gone to all of them) Lynn Herring (one and done) Vanessa Marcil Jacklyn Zeman Sarah Brown ETA: Interestingly, it looks like ABC never had anybody from The City or Port Charles attend these things.

Yes!

Thanks! The Loving Murders uploads really spoiled me. In addition to some amazing work by Christine (and Lisa Peluso), I got a glimpse of one of the great WTF moments, Cabot dressed as a pineapple. My wish list at the moment includes Mike Donovan's visit to Washington D.C. and the Heaven dream. As an across-the-board-wish, I want to see stuff from the '88 writers strike, but with a show like Loving, it's maybe not likely easy to notice OTT changes or filler.

The clips are nice. I just wish there wasn't the new (?) and overpowering music. It took me a moment to remember where I heard the underscoring for Luke's scene.

What, no half-hearted attempt at promoting Texas and The Doctors? "I was two hours early today. Thank goodness I'm into tantric!"

Did Larry Haines ever talk at length about his working relationship with Mary? He'd be the one whose stories I'd want to hear.

Next batch of uploads are posted. If my calculations are correct, the show returned from repeats on Friday, Oct. 13 (part #66). As of right now, we're up to Part #68/Tuesday, Oct. 17.

I wonder what the overlap of viewers watching in March '81 was with the viewers watching in November '63.