GLATWT88

If they're going to show earlier 30-min episodes, which they probably won't. They could consider showing two consecutive episodes to fill the hour timeslot. Of course these would have to be edited for time, but so are the hour episodes that don't fit into the current run time. I like the idea others have mentioned of having better introductions to the episodes and even including some pop up tidbits to make following the story easier or just some interesting facts.

I went from 1977 yesterday to watching an episode from 1983 today. Amazing how I went from only recognizing one actor in 1977 to recognizing several cast members and characters in the 1983 episode that were still on when I was watching in the 2000s. 

The episode was from December 19, 1983. Beth (played by Judi Evans at the time) runs off with Phillip after her abusive stepfather and mother show up at school with a police officer to take her to court. Seems like her stepdad got a job in Canada and intends to bring her with them. Phillip and/or Rick smash a window in the classroom and Phillip and Beth run off. We learned a bit about the abusive father situation through a flashback. Wow, Grant Aleksandr was cute...didn't realize that until now (imo of course). Reva is attempting to get money from Billy and Josh walks in at one point. Billy leaves after Josh tells him about his upset daughter who went to talk to Alan about what just happened at school - seems like she isn't feeling Beth much because she likes Phillip also. Pretty funny moment when Billy is consoling and scolding his daughter at the country club for talking to Alan, some woman (I wish I knew the character but I didn't catch a name) wants to intervene because Mindy is making a scene at the country club when an older man tells her not to that Billy should control his own daughter to which she replies something like I don't think Billy can control any of his women.

I tried to look for the next episode hoping it would be available but the closest was the December 23rd episode and Beth and Phillip have arrived in NYC. The recording was in bad condition so I didn't bother.

Does anyone know details about how this storyline is resolved? 

Also, when did Billy and Reva characters drop those heavy accents? I was taken aback for a little bit when I heard Reva open her mouth because I don't recall her having that accent in the 2000s episodes.

12 minutes ago, mikelyons said:

I've met & interacted with a ton of Y&R and B&B actors, writers, and producers from the 2003-2005 period. 

Eric Braeden, Melody Thomas Scott, Katherine Kelly Lang, Victoria Rowell, Michelle Stafford, Christian Le Blanc, Lauralee Bell, Doug Davidson, Jess Walton, Antonio Sabato, Jr. (swoon!... Well, back in 2005...), Bryton, Don Diamont, Ronn Moss, Ashley Jones, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Jeanne Cooper... Joshua Morrow was a real hunk in person back then. Nice ass, too. Although, we were in the rest room at the same time once and he didn't wash his hands...  

They are all nice, professional people. I missed meeting Shemar Moore by ONE DAY, someone on this site met him.  

 

I'd love to meet Susan Lucci, Kelly Ripa, and basically anyone on AMC from 1990-1995. I saw Kate Collins at the opening of a play her husband directed and stared at her with soap fan shock as I told my then-boyfriend, "That's Kate Collins!!! She played Natalie AND Janet!!!"

 

The only person I've met and interacted with who I didn't like is Susan Flannery. No thanks.

 

 Oh no! Really? Not Mrs. Susan Flannery...I've been watching old seasons of Dallas and she was in several episodes of season 4 (I believe it's 4  anyway). Unfortunate, you didn't have a good experience and I hope it was a bad day and not her actual demeanor at all times.

20 minutes ago, Vizion said:

Yikes at B&B's numbers though....

Honestly, I don't think they're bad at all considering it's repeats. The problem is can they maintain these numbers until they actually return. Why are they only counting two days? I would like to see if older repeats are performing better than these newer ones. 

3 hours ago, BoldRestless said:

LOL 2/9/05 is  when Devon is stuck in the lion cage.

 

6/29/05 is Lily and Daniel on the run.

I remember these. I was watching YR at the time. I also remember today's episode, I may have been watching BB a bit at the time and decided to see what was happening on YR.

1 hour ago, Michele Soap Writer said:

I wasn't watching Y&R in 2012 so its nice to see a "classic" I have never seen before. However, seeing Victor and Sharon together makes me vomit. Could there have ever been a more pairing that should have never been? Makes me cringe even more than Victor and Ashley

 

The Sharon/Nikki fight was funny but it was very fake looking. They could have done a better job to make it look real. Nikki was hardly fighting back and Sharon's slaps you could tell she wasn't actually hitting Nikki

The fight was horrible. If you're going to have a fight in 2012 it needs to be more animated. Sharon looked like she wasn't reacting half the time and Nikki was so delicate with those blows it didn't translate well on screen. Sharon could have been laughing and telling Nikki her granny claws feel like a infant's touch with her debilitating arthritis. But seriously, there was nothing cute about that fight.

2 hours ago, AdamNewmanFan said:

Green screen las vegas

Dead! But so accurate. At least BB can still afford a crappy green screen with images of Vegas. DAYS is having extras (probably an assistant's daughter working for food) running around in a beret so we believe they're in Paris somewhere.

6 hours ago, Aback said:

 

If you search a few pages back, some posters were discussing how GL became unrecognizable by the early 80s. It was very interesting

Thank you, I definitely will. 

8 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

GL always had the Bauers as the main family and other families seemed to come and go over the years. ATWT had the Lowell/Stewarts so Betsy, Dani ,Emily kept that family and continuity going.

GL wrote off Meta in the 70's and she never had any children to carry on her lineage. And Bill was killed off, resurrected and killed off gain. Then Mike, Hope and Hilary were also written out in the 80's.

Ed was recast, so when Charita passed there was only nu Ed and Rick to carry on the family.

Had Charita lived and Mart Huswit stayed, there would have been more continuity.

 

GL had the Norris family in the 70's. Barbara Berger continued acting into the 90's and could have stayed at GL. Her grandaughter Emily could have come on, Andy  return with a child Ken return etc so the possibilities were there but writers were more interested in new characters.

 

It took ATWT a lot longer to drop long running characters eg John, Ellen etc and it got to the point where Bob, Nancy etc were so entrenched.

 

I guess it was just a different set of circumstances eg ATWT could have dropped Kim in the 80's or Lisa later on but they had children on the show so more involvement.

 

 

Very insightful. I appreciate it.

I found myself watching a few episode from 1977, as I was up late and had nothing to watch. Then I ended up on some wikipedia rabbit hole. I noticed not many characters from the 70s or earlier "survived" into the last decade of the show and if they did, they weren't played by their original actor. I think Ed and Meta Bauer were the only two characters pre-1970 that existed on the show in the 2000s. I know actor replacements are common on soaps, but P&G sister show ATWT had a few long running characters played by the same actors that lasted from the 50s and 60s. This isn't true for GL. I also noticed that GLs longest running actor was Charita Bauer who lasted 34 years which is a very long time, but considering GL was on close to 60 years, I thought there may have been someone who would have been on longer. ATWT has a few 40+ and BB has several cast members who will soon surpass Charita's run.

I'm curious if GL had some sort of revamp or major change that may have led to few early characters continuing on, especially characters from the 70s.  

Honestly, I would plan something gimmicky for the return. If you're gone for this long, you need to let viewers who have tuned out know you're back. I don't expect any soap to attract new viewers, but none of the four are in a position to lose any more viewers. I think something like a primetime episode with a big shocker or reveal followed by a week of live shows in daytime would be a great way to bring back viewers and attract a few curious eyes. Promotion would also be very important and that's why something gimmicky would be an added bonus...nowadays with so many options to choose from, audiences aren't tuning in for any basic return. 

Also, if we do get a second wave in the fall and a third in early 2021, soaps need to maximize filming time when they return later this year so that they have episodes in the bank if production get shut down again. Writers should be planning stories and working out a way to maximize filming so that little time is wasted.

18 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Or the show should write stories that they can tell with the budget they have.  There was excitement to be had for a story like this, without a train station in Paris.

 

Even though Tomlin’s runs were not my favorite, with some tweaks and stories for the vets, I think what he did was smart for the type of show they are capable of producing.  I just wish he had used more of the canvas.

I was being a bit extra when I mocked today's set. All things considered, it's not terrible for a DAYS set - there was some effort. However, you're absolutely right, I don't understand why they feel the need to tell stories the budget can't really accommodate. Why spend money on a train station set that will hardly be used or worse - used way beyond what's necessary because you already spent the money on it - when you can spend a little more on other sets that are actually necessary and could look somewhat decent. 

When I worked at the airport, I saw Cameron Mathison and he didn't seem very pleasant. 

5 minutes ago, Chris B said:

That’s more a B&B problem. Y&R can do a wedding that’s interesting, but I watched B&B’s wedding week and it’s the typical boring ass wedding you expect. Ridge and Brooke’s first wedding spent a segment just of characters taking photos. I couldn’t believe how drama free it was lol. 

Haha...I noticed that too. Stephanie's expressions in those photos slightly saved it.

1 minute ago, Chris B said:

Oh I'd absolutely show Neil and Dru's Japanese wedding. That wasn't boring IMO. I hope the overall choices are strong. I can't wait to see what they'll air for that. 

 

It's a shame they can't do a week for Olivia because I'd love to see the episode where she confronts Keesha again. 

I can get down with that. I meant more so when someone has a wedding for the 5th time in someone's living room these days.

11 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

The train station is tiny. With only a couple of extra's who disappear. Then randomly reappear. One of the extra's even has a beret. So we know that's France.

That beret was so french! I automatically felt like I was in Paris...I was transported, girl. I was all the way there, chile. 

Honestly, the production values do take away from the viewers' interest in the show. When it's visually so lackluster and cheap, you're not instantly drawn in...these shows need a budget or a sugar daddy or something because the money is tight.

7 minutes ago, kalbir said:

I guess we'll know by the end of the week which other Neil episodes will air. I doubt we'll see Neil and Dru's 1993 and 2003 weddings but I think we might see KSJ's last episode.

I have to agree with whoever mentioned it last time... no to the weddings. Unless something shocking happens or it's extravagant and over the top visually, it's quite slow for a standalone episode. You need to be invested in the characters love story and their shared experience to really get the most out of it...otherwise it's just a bunch of slow dragging scenes that mean nothing because you don't have the context. 

1 hour ago, Fevuh said:

Decided to watch The Real today but how funny - before I changed the channel I see today's episode is Victor back from the dead from 1993.  How many times has he come back from the dead.

Everytime EB decides to speak up or shout like he did today...I'm like "Oh he is alive" and get surprised each time. 

55 minutes ago, asafi said:

I think soaps are written so bad this days... see no future. 

Watching classic episodes of Y&R of early late 80's and early 90's- the show was so good back then!!!! amazing stories, great acting, interesting and deep characters.. compared to the awful plots of today. maybe it's time to say goodbye to Y&R, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL AND GUIDING LIGHT? 

I wish Guiding Light was still on :))

36 minutes ago, BillBauer said:

I’ve always found it strange how Y&R has always pretended like its first ten years never happened. 

What do you mean? I don't know YR all that well. They did air an episode from '81 recently.

13 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

As this drags on , showing random episodes is probably not the way to retain/attract viewers.

surely they could edit together themed scenes over a week with some talkovers by actors

eg Nick Sharon - their story from the beginning

Victor/Nikki, Paul/Christine etc

Maybe get Janice Lynde and Jaime Lyn Bauer to present Lorie/Leslie story

I think viewers would be more invested. Heavily promote as a daytime event,which it would be as some of this stuff has never been scene since first showing.

If only the execs at these networks cared as much about soaps as we do. I don't think they really care much for promoting daytime soaps either, unfortunately. They're hoping to keep viewers entertained with repeats with minimal effort. Repeats of any genre do not produce better numbers than new episodes (well only in rare occasion). Their hope is that viewers will return after a long break like they do primetime shows, unfortunately soap operas are a unique format that rely on viewer connection to characters and a daily habit of tuning in. Since what is happening is new to soaps, I'm sure no one is sure what to expect when these shows return later this year or whenever it happens. All I know is that it will require some major effort on the writers to create something big and appealing to lure viewers back in and the networks to promote the return of these shows. I guess only time will tell. 

4 hours ago, Pine Charles said:

LOL!!

I love it!!

 

But, seriously - did AMC have a hurricane in ‘97 (or ever)??

I’m thinking that’s a typo, as I have zero recollection of a hurricane on the show.

There was the iconic tornado of ‘94 (and a crappy CGI one a decade or so later), but I don’t remember a hurricane. 

Based on summaries from 1997, I was able to find a mention of a hurricane during episodes of the first week of September. It seems like the hurricane continued into the next week.

Looking through these episodes, you really see the huge budget differences between soaps then and now. I mean all those sets, the family having dinner at a restaurant with extras, it just feels so much richer in quality.

1 hour ago, reallyhateskateonlost said:

If it's from a few years ago, they need stop saying it's classic.

TVInsider listed the episodes for the first week and all the episodes are from either 2014 or 2015. I thought since it was 3 weeks worth of episodes, they were going to do one from each year there was a Nurses Ball. Looks like they'll probably just focus on the past 6 years and do multiple episodes each week. Week 1: 2014 and 2015, Week 2: 2016 and 2017, Week 3: 2018 and 2019. I'm speculating here but since they're starting off with 2014 and 2015, I'm wondering if they'd even consider going further back. 

1 hour ago, reallyhateskateonlost said:

If it's from a few years ago, they need stop saying it's classic.

They don't seem interested in going too far back...even the Friday episodes have all been recent. 

1 hour ago, titan1978 said:

They axed her, and fans went ballistic.  It was also clear that the show stalled out right around the same time as I recall, because they had to switch gears away from things they had been building to.  Classic interference.  The network and Frank got a lot of heat.  More than anticipated, not helped by Frank having done it to her twice (first time when she came back for the 50th, and they were building to a Deception story with Laura and Lucy that evaporated).

Oh gross. I've heard stories in the past that Genie hasn't always been treated so nicely over at GH. 

4 hours ago, soapfan770 said:

Thanks so much @FrenchFan for sharing these, much appreciated!!!!

 

The child actor T.J. Hargrave  who played TJ Werner on GL later passed away as victim in the 9/11 attacks. 

I was just reading the summary for GL and wondered how the story played out on screen. Sad about TJ. How did you find out about his passing? Just curious. 

Thanks @FrenchFan for all the work you put into writing these up for all of us. I definitely appreciate it. 

2 hours ago, Dion said:

@DRW50Laura has a fair bit to do with Lulu, Valentin, Nikolas and lately Cyrus (I'd like to think that after almost losing her for good in 2018, GH has finally learnt it's lesson where Genie Francis is concerned), but Kevin's only on like twice a month (and Lucy even less).

Why did they almost lose her in 2018? 

35 minutes ago, Pine Charles said:

There was a hurricane on AMC??

HurriKane Erica...sorry bad joke. 

1 hour ago, Marco Dane said:

The sad thing is I can hire someone on Fiverr to make a better opening for GH than ABC can...

Ugh that opening is so tragic. Why would they even replace what they had if they were going to use something so cheap and amateurish looking. It's actually embarrassing.