Franko

Okay, I'm going to be mean, but HBS in full mug gives me a Scott Thompson vibe.

7 minutes ago, Jdee43 said:

Can anyone shed light on what the NBC execs were thinking when they brought over Search for Tomorrow in March 1982?

If I remember right, NBC was willing to put Search back at 12:30 p.m. EST, which P&G wanted and CBS refused. I'm now wondering what would have happened if NBC/P&G dared to try DOOL directly against Y&R, AW directly against ATWT and Search directly against Capitol.

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

I guess you are right.  Although Somerset was on its last legs at that point anyway. NBC could have said we'll take Edge to replace Somerset or just cancel Somerset  .

Maybe Somerset could have moved to 12.30 to accommodate Edge but that would not have helped Somerset to be up against 2 other soaps.

Not a bad idea. I wonder if P&G would have cared if Somerset went up against Search for Tomorrow?

Revisiting Sue Ellen's first drunk scene and I'm struck by how easily it could have been played for cringe comedy. It comes awfully close. I'd actually say that the reactions from these ladies that we'll never see again helps ground the moment. The lady in yellow feels so sad for Sue Ellen.

At this point in 1995, Loving had less than 70 episodes left. With thanks as always to @Kane, let's check in on Frankie, Charles and Angie's episode counts!

Frankie -- 75 confirmed episodes in 1993-94; 54 confirmed to date in 1995

Charles -- 106 confirmed episodes in 1993-94; 80 confirmed to date in 1995

Angie -- 125 confirmed episodes in 1993-94; 77 confirmed to date in 1995

28 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I've never let GL or ATWT go, and in these moments it's like they've nevet let me go either. 

Eloquent words, indeed. Thank you for the tag.

9 hours ago, j swift said:

It is interesting that at the beginning of the Loving Murders, Clay, Steffi, and Jeremy were all out of town at the same time.  Looking back, I wonder if that was to absolve them as suspects, or if it was a production issue prior to firing certain actors (like making an employee take their PTO prior to a layoff)?

In hindsight, it is a little odd that the show had Jeremy not around for Stacey's funeral. It took place off-camera, they couldn't just pretend that he was there?

8 hours ago, Kane said:

My plan is to finish 1995, take a short break, and then recap the rest of the Loving episodes I have (I have the last 10-ish weeks of 1991 and most of 1992). After that I might recap what I have of The City, but to be honest I don't have very many episodes of it. Thanks for the plug, glad you're enjoying the murders discussion.

Exciting! I hope you'll also consider doing a recap of the introduction TV movie.

8 hours ago, Kane said:

Celeste Holm hated it, too.

Celeste Holm may have been a pill -- at least, according to Sam Staggs, who spent a lot of All About 'All About Eve' trashing her for being dismissive or condescending -- but she was a pill with integrity.

On 7/19/2023 at 7:49 PM, Kane said:

Christine Tudor and Dennis Parlato had chemistry for days and the dynamic they created between Gwyneth and Clay was so interesting. They were possessive of each other, but at the same time each seemed largely unbothered by the idea of the other sleeping with someone else (Gwyneth used Clay to honeytrap Tess, after all). If it weren't for the fact that this was an American soap, I'd say that they could have been used to explore a nonmonogamous relationship.

3 hours ago, dc11786 said:

The way you described Gwyn and Clay is perfect. I've always assumed that this is basically how Gwyn and Clay lived when they were in Paris. Clay and Gwyn both openly carrying on with others while also maintaining some strong feelings between each other, but never able to fully commit to being only with the other person. I thought that would explain why Curtis was the way he was.  

It's all so Fosse/Verdon! And while I doubt it was intentional, Bob *and* Clay both died of heart attacks. (Of course, Gwen Verdon wasn't going around killing people in her circle ... that we know of.)

15 minutes ago, dc11786 said:

The bigger issue is the foundations of "The City" weren't strong. Lemay mentioned the family/generational element, but I would go even a step farther. Almost everyone was starting at the bottom. A majority of the characters were in brand new (romantic) relationships and new careers. Nick intrigues me because he is a reviving his career. Sydney has been in her position of power for a bit. Mostly everyone else is just stepping into a brand new world. I don't think that's the best way to establish the show. 

An excellent point. Let's put it this way: it would be like if everybody moved into Melrose Place on the first episode.

Ally's parents are Kate's son John and his ex-wife Bonnie. The Rescott children also include Ava, Carly and Sherrie, and Louise, who I don't immediately recall at the moment. That leaves three others who somehow never made it to the show over an 11-year period.

No matter how many times I see it, the cliffhanger of Buck finding Stacey unresponsive on her bed is a nail-biter.

8 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

He got the GL job because he had been asked to go to New York to audition for Saturday Night Live. Someone at P&G heard of this and asked him to audition for Simon.

I think it was Al Franken that said you could never do a sketch about a Senate committee with SNL's 1985-86 cast. Shawn certainly wouldn't have helped in that regard. On the other hand, he couldn't have been any worse of a live TV performer than Anthony Michael Hall.

Also, it says something that Simon got a full-blown montage on his last episode. Simon. With Alex remembering the twists and turns of his storyline (including the clip where Beverlee makes a sound I can't properly describe).

47 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

So instead just give the title of the video?

Don't even do that, either. Simply put, it's best just to say that you were watching a show from a period of time, but don't give an indication how.

I just about fainted when I realized the music is the same in this actual AMC promo and this SNL parody commercial.

Not a new upload, but new to me. My apologies if it's been discussed in full.

Not as flashy as most of these, but iconic in its own way.

"Good morning, dear." -- Nancy Hughes

One more from Knots.

"Well, I'm not saying we're having an affair. And I'm not saying we're not. I am saying I can have him any time I want him. ... Does that answer your question, Val?"

(Clearly I have a thing for moments that get a gal slapped.)

(I love this entire argument, but I'll stick to the juciest portion. You cannot think of this exchange without the emphasis and the difference in Leslie and Denise's vocal registers.)

"He is mine, Lesley. He is my body and soul!" -- Dr. Monica Quartermaine

"What does that mean, you own him?! All you ever talk about is wanting, what about love, Monica? Or is that a world that you don't even know?" -- Dr. Lesley Webber

"What do you know about it? ... You know, Rick had never felt anything for you, Lesley."

"That's not true."

"He thought you were dull! He thought you were dull and respectable!"

"(vehemently shaking her head no) That's a lie!"

"... We would lie in bed while we were making love and we'd laugh about you. Making the kind of love that you poor fool are incapable of. And it's called passion!"

*Lesley slaps Monica*

10 hours ago, SoapDope said:

I would have loved to have seen Susan Dey on Dallas. She is one those actresses that draws you in no matter what she's playing. She could have played Jamie hard as nails that took now crap from anyone. I couldn't picture her with Cliff though. 

Maybe Dey's Jamie could have been paired with Mark. 

If nothing else, Dey as Jamie would at least have held her own in conflict scenes. This screengrab will never not make me laugh.

Also, it was too late to salvage Jack and Jamie by the time Steve Forrest showed up, but I'm wondering if he should have been Jason Ewing instead of Ben/Wes/not Jock.

3 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

Jack was originally suppose to replace Bobby as the good guy. I thought he worked better as a mysterious out for himself guy in the first season he appeared. After that season he didn't have much of a personality. I was more interested in how tight his pants were.  His front side and backside looked very good in those jeans. I wondered how he could walk in them since they were so tight on.

It says something that they had three almost Bobbys in one season: Jack, Matt Cantrell and, of course, Mark Graison.

The timeline doesn't quite work, but I've become fond of trying to imagine the insanity of Santa Barbara under the leadership of Bridget & Jerome Dobson ... and Gloria Monty.

You need at least one self-identified outsider. They don't have to be from the wrong side of the tracks, but by design, intent or circumstance, they should feel out of sync if not isolated from others in their circle.

10 minutes ago, Vee said:

I had no idea on that one. How long was he gone in '88?

For a long time, I was under the impression that Jake's last episode was Thursday, Dec. 31, 1987, when he decided to leave Bobbie. He is in the Monday, Jan. 4, 1988 episode, when she's dealing with the fallout of his leaving (and the hospital's swamped with patients!). I get the impression, but I could be wrong, that from there up until the big return in November, Jake functioned as an offscreen character and mostly during the winter. Things like "Jake sends Bobbie a letter, which Scotty sees first," or "Jake and Bobbie are unable to talk on the phone."

As for The Facts of Life, Sam was in the finale two-parter, alongside Kathleen Freeman as Blair's new secretary and Meredith Scott Lynn, Mayim Bialik (in the Tootie role), Seth Green (Eastland would have gone coed) and Juliette Lewis among the students. It's like watching the original Good Morning, Miss Bliss pilot, where Hayley Mills' classroom would have included Jaleel White, Brian Austin Green and Jonathan Brandis.