chrisml

Is it bad that I don't even remember Trevor? I think I hated Georgie's storyline with the therapist so much that I blocked out so much about her character.

It's sad that Tina Sloan knew immediately (as did Nancy Curlee) that getting rid of Ellen Parker was a colossal mistake. That JFP didn't and then has spent decades changing her stories about it says everything about her and her role in daytime (and has also sidestepped McKinsey's accusations of unfair workplace conditions as well in the process). JFP always talks about "drama" but I notice she never talks about heart or emotion. That's what these producers removed from the soaps as they went from soap to soap. They took away the heart; they removed the tentpole characters who meant something from the audiences. They don't think long-term because they are too busy going after short-term fixes. I get it's about all short-term rating increases, but they did not nothing but create damage. I can't speak to GL after Maureen's death because I did not watch daily after that for a long while. I never saw her death. As a child, I saw her walk out the door, and I stopped watching. I kept up with SOD summaries, but it never looked interesting. GL felt like a shell of itself. Perhaps, I'm wrong.

I liked Kathy Brier and Marcie and I don't think she was ever given enough credit for what she did on the show despite the Emmy nomination. It was always some form of "the fat girl" storyline. She deserved better. Brian Frons often made the most sexist comments about her and the women on the show at the time. Just ridiculous.

Mitch, I also remember that story about Rauch planning to bring back Ellen Parker, but I don't remember the source. I know Nancy Curlee had the idea of Roger hiding Maureen so Ellen Parker could come back if the execs changed their minds but that never came to fruition. Actors are often the worst judges of EP's and writers; as long as they get material, they think the people are the greatest. If they're still on the show, they also don't want to burn bridges.

And Dwyer-Dobbin lasted years in the role after the quote/interview so no one at the network or at P&G had problems with anything she said or anything that was done. The more you think about the situation, the more horrendous it becomes. Even in 2025, their inhumanity is shocking.

Contessa, it's no big deal you misremembered the context of MADD's comment. We've all done it in other circumstances. It's odd to me that Claire Labine initially was going to bring Zaslow to OLTL but then that fell through for mysterious reasons (Logan hints his agents nixed the 3 day deal). Shortly after, Labine went to GL knowing full what kind of people worked there on the show and at the network. She can't claim ignorance. She knew what she was walking into. I never thought about it before, but the timing is suspicious to me. Why of all the headwriters in the soap world would P&G bring over the very headwriter who made them look bad in the press over the Zaslow firing?

She gave those remarks directly to Logan. "But Dwyer-Dobbin says, "Roger is a powerful, active, sexual, multicolored villain. That's who we need him to be on the GL canvas. We do not need a wizened little old man. And that's what he would have to play in his condition. It really hurts me to have to say that, but all I can do is wish Michael all the best. My heart truly goes out to him."

What MADD felt free to say in a nationwide magazine was so despicable that you have to wonder what she didn't say and what was being said behind closed doors. It's one of the cruelest things I can remember being done on to an actor. MADD seemed to revel in the cruelty as well. When JFP comes out of a situation as one of the more compassionate ones, you know you're dealing with some sociopaths.

In that interview, Labine wanted to sort of wash her hands of a lot of the criticism of her tenure at GL, but in that interview, she doubles down on the parts of OLTL that people also hated (talking parrot, Elizabeth Rohm who was loathed, etc.). I'm not sure she is reliable on anything related to those two shows. On GL, several of the actors (D'Arbanville comes to mind as being the most vocal) blamed Labine in particular for the problems with the storylines. I'm trying to get the timeline right in my head. When was Zaslow fired by the network? Who was writing the show at the time? Was it Gold with Rauch the EP?

re: Claire Labine Labine's tenure at OLTL was also marked with characters who were too precious and cutesy. Didn't she write Crystal Chappell's character wanting to go to clown school? Mae would have fit in there as well. I don't think Labine ever got GL, but then neither did Rauch so they were a great combo (sigh). For that matter, was there a GL personality to get by that point? The one thing she said in this interview (which I've read before) is that the focus groups are often used to justify what the producers or execs want to do. Why waste money to do something you've always decided? Never made sense to me.

I've read that John Forsythe refused to play any storyline where Blake would cheat or be seen in a negative light so that storlines would need to cater to those demands. Were there any such limitations on KL? Did any of the cast refuse to do certain things? I can only imagine a handful of them had the power to have such demands.

Happy New Year to everyone on the AW message board (and January 2 for those who are ahead of N.A.).

I was watching the Family Feud episode where OLTL competed GH (except for Genie Francis, the GH cast across as a bunch of flakes) and it was interesting to see Ellen Holly interacting Erika Slezak since she later had so much terrible things to say about her. Lee Pattinson was a bit of a dunce. Pretty face, but yeesh.

I was putting Rauch and Lemay in the same grouping because they worked together at the same time on the show. They are also known for not being exactly reliable about their contributions or versions about events on the show. Rauch's behaviour was much more egregious and disgusting, but Lemay could be cruel and dismissive of actors, and this is taking his own version of events as facts. I was also thinking about Ellen Holly tonight when I wrote that post because I was watching a Family Feud episode where OLTL competed against GH on the show for charity. Ellen Holly was on there with Erika Slezak, Lee Patterson, Michael Storm, and a fifth person I can't recall at the moment.

Lemay and Rauch have always struck me as very unreliable in how they recount their time on the soaps. They seem to paper over a lot of the mistakes and bad behavior they engaged in (especially Rauch). Has Swajeski ever spoken about her time on AW? I wouldn't trust her much either, but it would be interesting to get another perspective. Re: Sam. He was written more creepy and aggressive especially once Charles Grant's Evan arrived on the show. It felt like the show was building to a possible abuse storyline, but then RKK left.

Yes, I would agree that Anna Stuart's Donna was written as spineless towards the end of her first run. She regained a backbone on her return. I've always said if they had made Reginald less of a monster and made Mary his Achilles heel the character would have had more staying power and Denise Alexander would not have been stranded in storyline Siberia. They went the easy "moustache twirling" villain route with the character of Reginald. UGH. Sampler did what she could with Donna, but like Gabet, she was set up to fail. Regardless of whose decision it was, I think it was extremely shortsighted to write off Nicole in the way they did. The previous year it was all about Cass and Nicole so as a viewer it felt that all that was for nought. I was initially resistant to the character of Frankie for that reason.

Is this show available anywhere?

Philece Sampler never had a chance because her Donna does not get great storylines or writing. Sampler was wrong for the part, but I do have some affection for her. It's hard to explain. I think the one who really got shafted was Anne Howard. I really liked her Nicole and her relationship with Cass. I hated how Nicole was destroyed by Swajeski. It would have been nice to have Stuart's Donna have a long-term sibling when she returned.

Why would you offend anyone? It's your opinion. We can't all like the same people. I think Going could have risen to the challenge if given the material but it's hard to play the perpetual victim.

I just wanted to make it clear since I can't go back and edit that Joanna Going's point was that actresses after her had to sign three year contracts and she only signed for two. I like Joanna Going as an actress, but the writer's need to make her such a victim made was so unappealing. When she showed backbone (like in the scene with Vicki mentioned above), she had the spark and intelligence of a fantastic heroine. I don't know why soap writers almost always had to dumb down and exploit the female characters.

I remember reading Joanna Going saying in an interview that she was the last soap actress to only be given a 2 year contract and that actresses after her were required to sign for her. Don't know how accurate that is, but she was not going to sign for another year, so don't know why they invested so much time if she was not going to be there long-term. Makes no sense to me. Her character was used to cause so much damage, and for what? Could have used time and story on other characters with much more potential. As DRW50 says, Jamie and Lisa were so dull. Am I misremembering or didn't the show try to pair Lisa and Adam at one point?

I know I'm in the minority. I didn't even like her on OLTL. I gave up on YR before she appeared on there.

Interesting as I couldn't stand Tognoni as Dinah. I'm not sure who I disliked more during their tenure on GL: Pelphrey or Tognoni.

I was always team Vicky but Lisa did get a good shot in there. My problem with Lisa is that she came into the show as such a victim and her backstory was so icky. Plus, her character's story was basically the impetus for the serial killer storyline, and once that was over, her character floundered in the triangle. She was never her own character. Her story was only in relation to the men (Glaser/Jamie).

I didn't follow Beth Ehlers after GL, but did she do much after her comments about JR Martinez during her time on AMC? I remember being so shocked she would even say those things. Some of the GL blind items then made sense to me. GL just seemed like one missed opportunity after another. If TPTB could make the right decision, they would make the wrong one.