Planet Soap

Meant to attach to previous post. The local ABC affiliate in Rochester New York, doing a behind-the-scenes report on Luke and Laura's 1993 return to GH which was shot there. It's tremendous the scope and budget that soaps had back then!

Tony is receiving the most mainstream press of any soap opera in death I've ever seen. It really speaks to how much of a cultural impact Luke and Laura had that they're still talked about 44 years later. if you know nothing else about soaps, you know Erika Kane and Luke & Laura. ABC NBC CBS

My favorite shot from all of the Faces of the Heart openings. Luke & Laura at the end of the September 2002 intro.

Before I started reading these threads a few years ago, I had no idea Luke and Laura were THE source of action/adventure in soaps. I thought they were just a symptom. I don't resent that soaps evolved from a discussion based stage play to being more active, I would've appreciate more balance. EVERY soap didn't need to do action adventure. I wonder if that also began the trend of soaps going toward the melodramatic storylines rather than being grounded in reality? if so, I don't mind soaps going for a larger than life stories. There's countless dramas on television. soap is doing serialization and covering social topics is no longer groundbreaking as most TV show shows do it. In this content saturated era, I don't mind larger than life stories being soap's niche to stand out. Just don't get too extreme like a a gorilla and devil possession...And remember the budget constraints so those plots don't end up looking cheap and ridiculous. Meanwhile, Y&R remains #1 having steered away from action adventure plots, stayes grounded in reality, and continues to maintain character driven plots with heavy dialogue.

exactly. How do you kill off the biggest male lead in the shows history in such a anticlimactic fashion as a random cable car accident. They could've said Helena or saving Lucky or something.

Given the news with Rob Reiner today I certainly did not expect to hear Tony Gerry passing away. This shortly after the anniversary of Luke and Laura's wedding too! Anthony was perhaps the biggest actor in all of soaps, and he was a part of the most famous pairing in soaps. I grew up on JFP era GH, and only knew Luke as the comically cynical gambler and drunk. Laura was the woman in the rocking chair. I had no idea until I watched the 50th anniversary marathon that Luke was a leading man back in the day, then a well balanced family man/shaky business in the 90s. A certain light disappeared from the character after Laura went into catatonia. The character was further degraded when they claimed he ran over Jake. In my mind, the last scene of GH would've been Luke and Laura getting remarried after they did all the healing work from their traumatic years together. Sadly, that will not happen. But at least the character of Bobbie was still alive to mourn Luke when he was killed off. What I will always wonder is why the actor resented the pairing and the version of the role that made him a household name. RIP.

she would fit with the Luna types on the Bold and the Beautiful. It's weird seeing Jason chase a woman, and act jealous. he's just been the stoic "gentleman" for the last few years. it's interesting when they give Jason more emotions than just bodyguard problems solver. I don't know why they are writing Britt so terribly. it's almost pathetic seeing Jason constantly come after her even consider cosigning a car for her, etc.

I jumped to click on the youtube video when I saw Esme. Good scenes even though she was just a hallucination. Lol at Sonny holding the small dog. Dante was being a total penis per usual to Gio. Ric however was right. Gio and Emma made everyone in Sonny's house an accomplice. Gio, Emma, Rocco and Charlotte need to stop being the do gooder Good Samaritan gang and lay low during their legal troubles.

Lol I'd love to see Grace again being that Donna is just occupying space on B&B. They should've said this was a Cousin or brother of Matt Clark since we saw Matt kill himself on screen in 2001. Are they going to say that Matt underwent facial reconstruction surgery a second time?? Speaking of David Kimball, bring him back as a twin or look-alike cousin lol. It would be nice to see Mary Jo released from the sanitarium. Griffith couldn't write that effectively though.

Justin Hartley and Mark Grossman as Adam Y&R seemed to slip into their roles easily. IMO Groaaman channels Michel Muney's darkness and mysteriousness. Did you all accept them? How quickly were GH'S Laura Wright and Tamara Braun accepted as Carly?

I never thought Brenda Epperson resembled Eileen Davidson. I always thought she looked like Nina Arveson (Cassandra). Even though Danny and Christine's wedding have been played heavily, it was nice seeing classic Y&R airing at real time.

Exactly. Sarah made Carly iconic. The phycology and toxic female traits she brought to Carly was masterful. I'm surpised voters recived Laura's exchange with Dalton well. It came off as Karen-ish even if it was well deserved. Sidwell is not that interesting of a villain to be involved in EVERYthing. Drew is better television. He should have ran for mayor and won to cause trouble long term. But, being Mayor helps keep Laura in the canvas.

On that same note, it's astounding to have mobster Sonny in the same office with Mayor Laura chatting it up about their mutual grandson. Think about the reaction if John Gotti and Mayor Eric Adams had a friendship😭?? I guess the Logic behind Sonny & Jason acceptance is like when i saw a documentary where FBI agents said they'd rather deal with the mafia than terrorists or cartels---they're the "lesser of 3 evils". Anyway I'm about 30 years late on this convo.

Dante could've talked to Geo like he was an older brother who put his little brother in a awkward position. Instead Dante put malicious intent on Gio, making it seem like he doesn't care about Rocco. What a self righteous prick further alienating his son. Speak up BrookLynn! Caught my mom defending Sonny and Jason and I was like whew, you've fallen for GH's warped logic.

Yup! I agree with that earlier list especially 1990-93 being a second gold age. I would say 1994-1997 and 2002-2005 were bronze. 1998-2001 was silver and solid. Spermgate, Victor & Diane's divorce, Matt Clark 2.0, Phyllis, the return of Kay vs Jill were highlights for me. there's a new channel posting YNR episodes, enjoy the channel while it still exists. Why was Nikki so up in arms about Jack planning a hostile takeover of Newman Enterprises? She says Jack is trying to take away a company Victor spent his entire life building --- as if that's not what Victor did to John by taking over Jabot. John was very respectful to Victor despite Victor repeatedly emasculating him by taking his company and messing around with his daughter.

Late to the game but it's refreshing to see Hayley be a calculating villain and not some dumb husband stealer questioning why no one likes her. Bill deserves it, but it will be great to see Hayley get what's coming to her.

IDK why the Qs are so quick to forgive Ronnie. Tracy was right about everything, Her message would probably be more received if she weren't nasty to Ronnie without properly getting to know her. YES! Saw him too.

Of all the veterans that reappeared in 2013, I think Anna has had the most consistent screen time. For a veteran character that was on and off the show for 20 years it's remarkable to see her be one of the female leads these days. This in comparison to Felicia or Bobbie (RIP) who they seemed to stop writing for by the early 2000s.

It's always interesting to me how quickly Victor and Nikki's first marriage collapsed. It's amazing that for the majority of their 40 years on the show they were not married. This! I can't begin to tell you how popular Y&R is in black Caribbean households. It's a shame that soaps remain majority white --especially compared to prime time tv -- when a good bit of their audience is people of color. Not sure if this was posted anywhere, but this was one of my favorite background cues from Y&R. It sucks that the classic cues were removed in 2013. The dim lighting, luxurious sets, and mysterious background music were what made this my favorite soap.

That is an idea. Instead of Drew miraculously turning evil, AJ actually had a motive to be nasty to the Quartermaines. He was the black sheep for years. I can't see him betraying Michael with Willow after everything he went through to get his son though.

Agreed. They've jumped through hoops to bring back characters from the dead like Jake and Nathan. But Emily AJ and Alan ....perhaps even Georgie couldn't have been resurrected? I like Nathan but someone like AJ re-returning could have a bigger impact on the canvas especially where Sonny, Ava, Carly, Michael, and Monica's estate are concerned.

Yes, I loved seeing the vets. I especially loved seeing Erica Slazak again. I wish more sops vets like Don Hastings, Kim Sullivan, Elizabeth Hubbard, Eileen Fulton popped up on other soaps when ATWT ended. We needed more clips of Alan and Monica fighting. I also wish we could've had Leslie write a letter and flashback to their time, especially the scene of when Leslie slapped Monica after AJ's paternity reveal. A little bit of Nikki Smith was coming out in Erika's performance

Loved seeing the bonds finally developed between Jason and Tracy. It's needed with so few OG Qs left. I loved the flashback scenes. I wish we got more extended scenes of Monica and Alan's classic arguing and not just quick blips. Jason finly asking to remember his childhood was good, loved the history with Susan Moore and Scitt Baldwin. It's easy to forget Scott knew Jasin as a baby then tried to procecute him for years.

IMO, outside her her one note days as a foil to Sabrina, I did not find Britt interesting, and was surprised she lasted THAT long. With the unexpected Jason pairing it make the Britt interesting again. And again, it was refreshing to see Jason with not Sam or Elizabeth. I could have accepted the Carly marriage plot had it been written better. Steve yes. His weight loss since the late 2010's is good. Maurice eeeh.

In terms of aging he doesn't look near 60, and he certainly aged better than Sonny. At least they kept the fight realistic with Jason legitimately struggling against that agent. I like having the Jason and Britt coupling m back, because it was his first romantic pairing outside of Sam and Elizabeth in two decades. It was actually interesting and unexpected. Unfortunately it got cut short by that stupid Carly plot, and the two actors exiting the show. If written properly, Jason could be an interesting character. He just has to be more than an emotionless and wise mob enforcer all the time.