Franko

I totally agree. Even potentially strong friendships, like with Tony, fell by the wayside. Last night, I watched the German dub of the attic collapse and followup episodes. Something I was not at all expecting: after Tracy has a moment in A.J.'s nursery, she and Laura have it out before hugging it out. Somehow I'd never imagined those two sharing a scene BITD. I think it's a good sign of a healthy soap when there can be characters like Amy, who don't necessarily add anything story-wise, but are invaluable in fleshing out the canvas.

Yup, sorry, I mean't back with the summaries (I knew you were still here). One other point of interest with the guest list: Melanie Vincz, who played Corinne, the general's girlfriend, went on to play the adult version of D.J. in that episode of Full House where the guys imagined themselves as henpecked senior citizens. And I love Tiffany and Laura's upcoming first scene. Sharon Wyatt somehow knew how to play affected just right.

Yay, you're back! That particular guest is Nigel Penny-Smith (Bernard Fox, channeling his likable bumbler character "Col. Crittenden" from Hogan's Heroes). Fox would later reprise his Bewitched character, Dr. Bombay, on Passions.

Oh, I don't doubt that. I just found it telling that by July 1980, the writers included a qualifier when Monica described it. Not only that, but Alan had his fling with a nurse prior to Sean and Monica, then Monica had her fling with Ned about a year before Alan and Lucy hooked up. I guess Alan and Monica were a bit like a volcano. Dormant did not exactly mean peaceful. Side note: when I was reading the summaries from the mid '80s, I was surprised at how Monica's bond with her long lost cousin, Lorena (Jimmy Lee's rebound girl and eventually Derek Barrington's wife) was undone. Monica ended up being closer to Celia (and even then ...) than Lorena.

It helps that Stuart and Leslie had such excellent chemistry, plus Alan & Monica had relatively long periods where they weren't having affairs/at each other's throats (snarking, on the other hand ...), but yeah, watching their early scenes, you wouldn't automatically assume this is a couple that'd make it to their fifth anniversary, let alone their 20th. I guess it was circa 1982, when the Susan/Alan/Monica/Rick/Lesley entanglements were mostly over, that A&M began their slow transition to tentpole couple. Notice the line about Alan "practically" having to rape Monica. Clearly the show was trying to keep any leading character with futures away from being considered out-and-out rapists. And finally, it's appropriate we're talking about A&M, since it's approximately 40 years since A.J.'s paternity was set straight.

I'm getting such a kick out of Erica before she was ERICA.

Close ... Spencer Treat Clark played Steven, Vicky's eldest son. You're thinking of Kirkland, though. He was the one Paulina ran into. I wouldn't mind seeing a three faces of Vicky/Marley chat. Ellen, Anne and Jensen.

I think Andrea was considered a "get" thanks to being on an ABC show (even though she had some time off). You're right, though, she didn't blossom into an A-1 star until '85-'90. If she returned to Y&R in 1990 (which obviously wasn't going to happen), it'd be a big deal.

If it had been a year later, he could have been up for A.J. or the Ned recast.

Much appreciated, Toups! By the way, gang, I found an episode guide for the early years: http://passionsepisodeguide.tripod.com/id8.html Rereading some summaries reminded me of another quirk I wasn't fond of: the "it was all a dream" fakeout. I disliked it for a couple reasons. A, it felt like cheating for a dream to be going on in real time alongside the rest of the episode. For example, in one early episode Sheridan's supposedly having a moment with Luis while at the same time, there's Gwen/Ethan/Theresa drama at the Lobster Shack. Gwen stops by the cottage ... and wakes Sheridan up. B, it was commonly (always?) used to tease advancement for a couple.

It'd be interesting to find out exactly how many days were depicted during PASSIONS' run. I swear there was a time where one night seemed to last a month's worth of episodes.

Yup. He hung around late into the final season, leaving with just a handful of episodes left.

One of my favorite memories (although I suspect I'm exaggerating it) was when Pilar overheard Ivy and Rebecca talking trash about Theresa, declared "You bitches!" and got into a mini cat fight with them both. So, we have Pilar (maid), Grace (innkeeper), Eve (doctor) and Beth (barista). Tabitha wouldn't have to work for a living, but maybe it would have been interesting in the early years, to keep up appearances, if she had some sort of seemingly altruistic job like volunteering. It would be a good way of keeping tabs on residents.

This, very much this! Very few of the women worked. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think Grace ran a bed and breakfast at the start of the show, and Beth (pre-insanity) was either a barista or manager of the coffeehouse. Everyone else was a generic socialite or a teenager.

Without a doubt. Something that jumps out at me from Hidden Passions and the two-part tie-in article that ran in TV Guide: despite generations worth of turmoil, Luis & Sheridan would inevitably be drawn to each other. I know Joan Bennett once filmed a fan video in character as Elizabeth, saying Victoria Winters was the long lost Collins child. Maybe that could be a gimmick for a Passions fan event/virtual reunion -- the long-awaited reunion of Luis & Sheridan (or their future selves).

Poor Joann/Joanne. I'm interested in seeing how this storyline is described. (I recall one soap book saying she not only grief-ate not only a (macaroni) casserole, but a sheet cake.) Also, I was surprised to discover Kay Heberle was only 25. Maybe it's because her storyline involved Katherine, but I was picturing an older woman.

I am smirking at the idea of Rauch ending up having been a producer on all three 2 p.m. EST soaps.

Sounds like Christine's doing her best "Bill Murray in Caddyshack" impression. It's even funnier when you consider she had won the Tony a few months earlier.

Reading summaries from later in 1993, I see that Cass mentioned his estranged mother. It was the lead-in to Morgan's introduction, but I feel slightly cheated we didn't get an appearance from Claudia Winthrop. I compiled some names, but I'm sure I'm missing plenty. Who would you choose? Mary Stuart Audrey Peters Tudi Wiggins Lori March Rosemary Prinz Ann Flood Lois Kibbee Bethel Leslie Doris Belack Alice Hirson Helen Gallagher Diana Van der Vlis Millette Alexander

Was the cover of "Every Breath You Take" from an episode of Solid Gold? I think I'm hearing Marilyn McCoo. (Around this time, there was a Tom and Margo scene where she's watching TV. The audio was from a Lily Tomlin album.)

Well, smell him!

1. My God, you're brilliant! 2. and 4. Think of the possibilities if Ridge was written as having absolutely no boundaries when it came to sex?

Is Ann Williams at the start of this commercial?

The actresses who played Kay tend to blur together for me. Taylor Gina Deanna Heidi I remember Kay spending much of the first year enviously watching Miguel and Charity. It seemed like every month Tabitha had a new way to attempt killing Charity (usually involving fire), so early Kay was just mostly there for the teen angst stuff. She'd tell her problems to Simone, fight with Jessica and dodge Reese's affections.

Slowly but surely, the Seattle pieces are falling together. I think that'll be my new goal, determining when Search stopped airing in that market. Slight tangent: I think it was foolish in the long run to slot sitcom reruns in the half-hour after Guiding Light. I can understand why CBS didn't move Match Game from 3:30 to 3, since it supposedly helped by having a big after school audience, but would Tattletales have suffered moving from 4 to 3? Were the ratings that good for the All in the Family/M*A*S*H/One Day at a Time reruns? I dunno, I just feel like interrupting the soaps-games lineup with reruns ended up isolating the games (and eventually Love of Life).