Xanthe

What other than chemistry elevates any couple? I don't think you can make a "supercouple" on storyline alone, or even acting range. Trying to think of other RL couples. Sandy and Cecile weren't a supercouple, were they?

I don't remember seeing it play out on the air, but I read the storyline in the Kate Lowe Kerrigan novelizations. The AWHP includes info on some of the Character Guide entries for medical history. One might have to cross reference with the synopses to confirm whether it occurred during Lemay's tenure but in some cases it might jog one's memory. I was reading the synopses for 1972 and there were references to Pat's being in hospital ... was that because of her alcoholism? The synopsis seems spotty but it also sounds like she was suspected of murdering Bernice with whom John had been having an affair.

Dennis' heart condition brought him into Alice's and then Russ' orbit.

I enjoyed Charles Keating so even though papering over Carl's crimes in order for Rachel to fall in love with him was a bad idea I tolerated it. I rolled my eyes somewhat harder at the creation of Justine as Rachel's doppelganger. Maybe it would have been a slightly better idea to write a storyline in which Carl's law-abiding doppelganger (let's call him Charles) was paired with Rachel. (Or instead of declaring Carl redeemed, Rachel simply crosses over to the dark side.) Yeah, but I'm not going to draw the line at Carl having his henchwoman killed when he also murdered Daphne Grimaldi with his bare hands and was somehow behind Ross killing Julia (as well as some minor characters) and attempting to kill Sally (injuring Aunt Liz and almost killing both Liz and Kevin), Catlin (killing the police officers driving the vehicle), and Larry (injuring Clarice). Plus of course all of his attacks on Mac and Rachel.

Who herself had murdered David Thatcher and Royal Dunning, and attempted to murder Mark Singleton (shot and then pulled the plug on him), as well as her lover Peter and Cass, Cecile and Kathleen. She was not a mere innocent victim.

According to the AWHP, David was blackmailing Royal Dunning. However Cecile borrowed money from Carl to give David so David could marry Sally -- I take it Cecile's interest was in keeping Sally unavailable to Peter. (David also killed elderly Uncle Kevin for money, and tried to burn his house down for money, and planned to marry Sally because Uncle Kevin had left his money in trust to Kevin with Sally as the trustee). The synopses also mention that Royal Dunning confessed to David's murder before he himself was murdered, but also that Sally had seen a woman's ring (suspiciously like one Donna was shown wearing) with a large gemstone when David was murdered. The ring ultimately pointed to Emily as the culprit, but it still seems strange that in addition to Emily, Ross went around trying to kill Sally in case she remembered anything, and Catlin who had been found guilty and sentenced to death (and of course he actually killed Julia, which he had to follow the teen group to NYC to do), plus Herb Harris hypnotized Sally to keep her from figuring anything out and also to shoot Catlin. Carl's interests seemed to have something to do with horses, but I can't see the connection from the horses to the deaths of David and Royal. Was it just that Emily was working for Carl so when she killed David and Royal from motives of her own he had to deploy resources to cover up her crime? It feels like there is a gap.

The sniveling desperation for father's approval was why I was toying with the thought that Mark Pinter could have been a Peter recast. Did Dack Rambo also snivel? I enjoyed him in the role and was disappointed to lose both him and Cali Timmins as Paulina. The soap suicide thread caused me to take note of the fact that Peter's girlfriend Emily, apparently pregnant with his baby, died after Carl first provided with her an opportunity for a suicide attempt and then just had her poisoned. It was obviously a relief when Emily was caught for all her murders and Catlin was cleared, but I remain confused as to Carl's interest in killing Royal Dunning, David Thatcher, and probably some other people I can't think of. Emily's motive in going along with the murders seemed to be some sentimental attachment to babies, but why did Carl care (and why did it lead to Majorca)?

On Another World, when Emily Benson was in custody for the murders of various people associated with a black market baby adoption ring, Carl Hutchins made sure that she was provided with a sharp implement she could use in a suicide attempt. The suicide attempt failed but while she was recovering in the hospital he had her killed by poison. Emily's motives for the murders seemed to cover both the idea that she was not altogether emotionally stable but also that she was working for Carl somehow, so the suicide attempt seemed more organized crime-y than mental health related.

John Hutton's Peter was a pretty good guy -- he was exasperated with Donna's snobbery, had no ulterior motives or underhanded schemes. After he broke his engagement to Sally he got engaged to Cecile, and after Cecile he dated Emily Benson. Christopher Holder's Peter was not so much a cad as he became manipulative and scheming, specifically with a view to breaking up Sally and Catlin. But I don't think he had much else to do and when Marcus Smythe took over Brittany seduced Peter and tricked him into believing he was the father of Catlin's baby. You can sweep a lot under the rug with the passage of time/the right recast. Of course there are a lot of storylines 1985-1988 that I would unpick and redo differently, given the chance.

I had forgotten that they hinted at some mystery in Peggy Lazarus' past. All I remember is that she and Peter started an affair if not during her prosecution of Brittany really inappropriately close to it. Both Peggy and Peter were gone by the end of 1987. I was just thinking that some of the characteristics of Grant Harrison (at least as Mark Pinter played him) had overlap with Peter Love and I was just starting to wonder whether I would have preferred Mark Pinter as Peter when I realised that obviously Peter could not marry Vicky. I do think it is a shame that Peter wasn't around ever again.

Absolutely. What purpose does a triplet serve that Scott couldn't provide as Mary and Reginald's adoptive son? Or that wasn't already covered by Marley and Victoria being raised apart? I think I have said before that I might not have minded a triplet storyline that was misdirection and a cover for some more interesting reveal. Tangentially, since Hank Cheyne who played Scott is married to Missy Hughes who played Sara, re-reading the synopses for 1986 reminded me that they tried to create some kind of story for Sara but nothing seemed to get traction. She was the estranged daughter of Rose Livingston who appeared ready to console Mac if Rachel strayed to Mitch. She chased Chad Rollo while he pined for MJ. She probably would have been more suitable for Scott than the 18 year old Cheryl.

Kathleen Layman's MJ didn't have the baggage of Sally Spencer's MJ's shameful past as a prostitute. She was college-educated and slightly neurotic. DePriest forgot about her college education and busted her from detective down to uniformed officer so that even though she was still Adam's partner at work and he was new to the department she was subordinate to him. I have a hard time blaming Sally Spencer for all of those indignities piled on the character. But why was Donna loyal to her father? To me it was one of the few good things about the return of Reginald from the dead, that it once and for all made it absolutely plain that he had abused Donna's loyalty and trust by driving Michael out of her life, forcing her to pretend Marley was her sister, and giving away Victoria. Donna's snobbery was based on the idea of family loyalty that he had brought her up with and it was tragically, horribly false and damaging. It made sense for Donna to readjust her loyalties when she reckoned with how misplaced they had been.

I would have been very surprised if DePriest was capable of introducing the triplet storyline without trying to create a romantic relationship between Scott and Vicky. Maybe she avoided it because they were dropping Rhonda Lewin. They could have created a Donna/Michael/John triangle without the ugly backstory -- all they needed was for Michael to neglect Donna somehow and her spend too much time with John. Or they could have done something with Nicole and John instead. At best she had a lot of internalized misogyny and just accepted the idea that women are weak and are either virgins or whores.

God, don't get me started. Sometimes I think DePriest's attitude to sexuality was more messed up than the Sin Stalker's. For one thing somehow the rape put Donna in the wrong and John was allowed to insist that his point of view in which she had wanted him was the correct one. For another it somehow was supposed to make John's relationship to Donna more significant because it made him her "first" lover instead of Michael, and there was also a huge significance placed on the possibility that John could be Marley and Victoria's father (including the mysterious photo that Reginald had showed Donna which turned out to be of John and apparently two infants as if that could be evidence of paternity).

Reginald's henchwoman Gomez was making sure that Donna was drugged and confused and the performance conveyed both physical and mental weakness. I don't know when Anna Stuart decided to leave and whether she left because she wasn't enjoying her storyline or whether DePriest didn't know how to write the character out without making her feeble. I was surprised that Lau was not a more appealing romantic hero because I had heard that Greg and Jenny on AMC had been so popular. But after Bekins and Yates he seemed uncharismatic and stodgy. Of course I also blame DePriest for making him a doctor. Joanna Going was charismatic but Lisa was saddled with a past rape and psychic powers.

According to the ibdb, Ford had no Broadway credits after she joined AW. Of course Broadway is not the only theatre and Lemay mentions Beverlee McKinsey and Constance Ford performing in a play of his, probably in 1973: But he had already admired Ford, the above was more about putting Iris and Ada together.

Donna (like Felicia) was created by Robert Soderberg. DePriest came in not long after Michael had been introduced and IMO weakened the character a lot even though she brought her to the forefront as a kind of heroine/damsel to the point where it seemed like Reginald's treatment of Donna was the reason for Michael's conflict with Reginald and Donna was just the object. DePriest created drips like Cheryl and Dawn and Lisa. I am not sure whether she should get any credit for Anne Heche's Vicky -- as I recall Vicky spent an inordinate amount of time fretting over whether Donna and John were having an affair under DePriest's watch. I'm not sure any of Vicky's really interesting storylines started until afterward. Of course I don't think DePriest did anything interesting with Felicia either. Even John Hudson, who may be the only character she created who lasted for any length of time, had a lousy introduction and was redeemed later (not in the sense that he became a better person, but in the sense that later writers did a better job of making him interesting).

I adore the introduction of the Loves and McKinnons before the Margaret DePriest era. MJ really resonated with me, and the introduction of Kathleen and her integration into the Cass/Felicia/Wally milieu layered on top of that fit so perfectly. On the Love side, Peter's introduction as an eligible bachelor with his snobbish sister Donna interfering in his love life was handled really brilliantly as well. Marley falling for Ben was serviceable (and secondary to the reveal that she was Donna's daughter) but replaced by the much stronger Victoria/Jake/Marley triangle. However although I liked Denise Alexander and Robert Hogan as Vince and Mary, I disliked the concept of bringing Reginald and Mary back from the dead and found that era just wasn't very good at complex characterization. I want Vic to seem different from Reginald not because Reginald was a bad man but because he was a simplistic moustache-twirling villain.

Thank you! With the suggestion I am now able to make out the flame of Vic's literal torch for Lenore. He also played Reginald Love 1986 I don't remember Vic but we discussed John Considine's friendship with Nicolas Coster a bit last year so I am aware he existed. I hope the character's manner was entirely unlike Reginald's.

I can recognize Steve in the illustration, assumed it must be Alice kissing him, and eventually figured out that in the foreground Ada must be standing over the supine Rachel. I presume the couple on the right would be Jim and Mary Matthews, but am less certain who the other characters would be. Lenore and Robert maybe? Or Pat and ???

I was surprised to recognize a very young Cady McClain as Peter O'Toole's daughter in My Favourite Year.

Based on their dates of birth in Wikipedia, Courtney would have been 28 when she left the role in 1975 and Fairchild 25. Not an insurmountable difference in terms of age, although of course manner and performance can make a big difference in how big the difference seems.

Replied in the AW thread.

I have brought this over from the recasts thread. I only know Morgan Fairchild by appearance. Does she always play a vixen? In a Bay City with both Rachel and Iris, would you see her main storyline linked to them or would she focus on other things?

Barbara Van Arkdale was played by Carla Borelli, who had also played Reena on Texas.