chrisml

@Xanthe Thank you once again for all of the information. I don't think I've ever encountered Ben in any of the episodes I've seen of the show. The actor was cute and charming so of course they got rid of him. I also will never understand the obsession with the character of Jake. I concede Tom Eplin is a good actor, but I would have been perfectly happy to lose the character especially after 1990.

@Xanthe thank you for sending me that episode. Leaving aside the Kathleen of it all, who was Ben? I assume he played little part in t he storylines because I don't remember hearing about him. He seemed attractive enough. AW never seemed to know what to do with handsome men on the show of that age group (Hank Cheyne is a prime example of that). From what little I've seen, I liked Julie Osburn, and I especially enjoyed her interactions with her family (both MJs) and I wish we had gotten more of that on her return. I think that's what I missed. She was pretty much on an island. Why not bring back Cecile for Kathleen's return to tie it back to history? It felt as if Swajeski came up with a "Kathleen is alive!" storyline, but didn't have a plan beyond that. Connecting her to Jake and Carl on her return also did not work for me. I'm up to the points where Dr. Benson will be exiting full time. Poor Dr. Benson. Christine Andreas was such a powerhouse. I wish Swajeski had not gone the predictable "the shrink is the real psycho" storyline because Andreas was that good.

In watching recent 1991 episodes, I was just thinking how much was/will be lost shortly and how it really ruined the show for me: Anna Holbrook, Dack Rambo, Cali Timmins, Allison Hossack, Anne Heche, etc. The Taylor Benson story ended which I really liked because I thought Christine Andreas was fantastic. I would have found a way to keep her on as an antagonist. I also liked Joy Bell as Caroline, but they never did much with her. I don't remember Kathleen's first tenure on AW, but her 1991 return just doesn't work for me because the writers can't decide who Kathleen is and they are writing Cass as an unfeeling idiot. Although, they did bring back Mary, MJ and Vince very briefly and I wanted more of them. I adore(d) those performers.

I found the problem with the Labine era was that the show lost some humour when the Labines came on and it could be dull. They also didn't seem to understand some of the characters. As others have said, it looks fantastic in comparison to the next regime but I just remember boredom being the primary response.

re: Daniel Markel as Sam to be fair, the writing just was not very good. I don't think he ever got a chance because the show never seemed to have a plan for the character. Why bring him back if there's not a long-term story in place? That's always the problem with Swajeski's stories. I'm waiting for the end of the Taylor Benson saga and then I'm going to bail. The writing quality has gone down and I know there are terrible (for me) recasts on the horizon who harm the show for me: Evans, Pinter, Buchanan, Green, etc. I had bailed long before this the first time, but I tried to give the show a chance on a rewatch, but it's rough.The show was really firing on all cylinders, and then in the aftermath of Jake's shooting and Kathleen's return, it collapses.

I think certain stories kept GL viewers' interest post OJ's trial: Annie's machinations and Brett/Marian for example, but I think viewers kept watching out of loyalty until the show slapped them in the face once too often. The same thing happened with Another World.

I may be misremembering, but didn't the writers not want to tell the clone story? IT was foisted on them and it probably explains why it was so inconsistent and why it felt as if they didn't care much about it, but it was the pet project of Rauch and the network.

@Maxim I remember really liking Luna because the character and actress was so different from what we normally get on a soap opera. I haven't revisited her material so I wonder if I would have the same reaction now in 2025. I also remember that I enjoyed Suede (although I thought the name was silly). I can see what you're talking about with a strong woman always having to be rescued. Women on soaps always seem to lose brain cells and physical strength after a certain point. What is that about? Why do soaps hate strong women? The Dorian/Viki scenes remind me just how much I preferred Elaine Princi as Dorian. I didn't see Robin Strasser in her heyday. I only saw her when she returned, and I found her unwatchable quite often.

Didn't Constance McCashin indicate that she didn't care for Ted S. during her interview with Kim Lankford? Or maybe it was both of them. 2025 has felt like 5 years so my memory of the interview is quite distant now.

Thanks for the information. I had no idea she had even been on AW. It was nice to see her on AW. Ii've always liked her as an actress.

I had no idea that Laura Bonarrigo Koffman was on AW before her time on AW. She was on AW in 1991 shortly before she started her tenure on OLTL. I don't think her role lasted very long.

I guess my point is they were purposely being disrespectful out of animosity towards Ritchie (which is why I think he never got over that storyline) . And I don't blame Gottlieb if he's throwing a chair at Slezak and acting a drunken fool which they admit he was doing. I can't imagine having to work with someone that volatile and unpredictable no matter how talented. I see your point about the good v. bad homophobe thing. Clint Ritchie was extremely attractive and talented. I don't want to take that away from him. I think the problem is that often bad behaviour was overlooked and sanctioned. I think it's telling that Woods made it clear that Ritchie knew he could go back to drinking once Gottlieb left because he wouldn't face any consequences.

I really don't fault them all that much for the writing with Clint/Viki/Sloan because Clint Ritchie was a nightmare bts the scenes. That's why he had to agree to stop drinking to stay on the show during Gottlieb's tenure. I'm sure the writing just reflected Gottlieb's frustration with him. As for Gottleb's contempt for the genre, I can imagine she might have that attitude if "Eterna," and the cowboy storyline were the big stories she was made aware of before taking over the show. I have seen very little of Rauch's tenure of the show, but from what I've read, it seemed to be taken as campy and over the top--the very stuff you'd see in Soapdish for ex. Soap critics I've read were constantly slamming OLTL's storylines, so I always found it odd they were so up in arms about Gottleb's attitude.

The Gottlieb opening theme is terrible in terms of visuals relating to the show. I loathed it. I did like the visuals over the closing credits. The music itself is gorgeous. I don't remember anyone liking the change at the time. It was another thing they could use to attack Gottlieb.

Ellen Parker even said she was fired to pay for Justin Deas.

I don't understand how the character of Buzz lasted so long. He started off with that terrible accent which he quickly dropped. He took over the show and then became watchable. A while back, I posted Michael Logan's columns at the time where he was calling out how GL was unwatchable and that Deas was one of the reasons why. This was also during the time when JFP was coming up with fires/natural disasters every few months as some new ratings ploy to make things dramatic. He couldn't have been cheap if they had to fire Parker to pay for him, so why keep him on? He wasn't worth all the trouble. His over the top acting might play well in Emmy reels but it doesn't make viewers want to stick around longterm. Writers seemed to like him and his character though so viewers go stuck with him. A shame as I thought he was an albatross.

It was fun. Browne was not brightest tool at time when it came to Password, but the week was fun to watch. It was nice to see the four soap stars play. It would have been interesting to see Felicia and Michael as a couple. They did have a nice rapport there.

In "Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild," Samuel Garza Bernstein says Cesar Romero's health was the main factor on his job not lasting longer (although he does indicate most of the guest stars didn't last long either).

Linda Dano and Kale Brown play Super Password against Peggy McCay and John Aniston:

It wouldn't surprise me to find out if AW producers had vendettas against characters especially after the way Rauch and Lemay acted against Jacqueline Courtney until she died. However, I think Taylor Miller just was not well received and the execs panicked and killed her off. They had the brilliant Sharon Gabet, and look what they did with her. It's insanity that they wasted her. Of all the shows, AW is the one show I wish I could go back and talk some sense into the execs and make them redo some of their idiotic decisions.

I remember thinking Malone's OLTL was quite witty and sophisticated, but I also haven't rewatched the show as a whole in a while. The parts of OLTL I've rewatched were not comedic so I don't know if I'm just romanticising a time of OLTL that I mostly adored. I always thought Gottlieb could have been an excellent team at SB. From what I saw, I don't remember him being particularly amusing at AW.

Robert Tyler/Bary Kaufman was such a beautiful man. One of the most beautiful men (for me) in daytime.

I'm not sure Pamela K. Long would have been a great fit for the show. Until JFP, the show usually had a lightness and a sense of humor that I don't think Long would have been capable of achieving that lightness/humor under JFP or on her own. In terms of family dynamics, she would have been quite good but she had JFP as a barrier. Clint Richie was complimentary of Pamela Long and her take on the show. As for Kale Browne, I like him as an actor and a personality. I don't blame him for what happened on OLTL. I blame JFP. He could have made it work. Catharine Hickland was fantastic under somewhat similar material, but the writers did Browne and Sam no favors. It also didn't help that they had to lobotomize Nora to prop up Sam and the damage was long lasting as happened with most of JFP's decisions.