Marissa Gallant

8 minutes ago, Wendy said:

Arguably, I think the show tried with the Lockridges, Duvalls, Donnellys, DiNapolis, and later with the Walkers. But either the writing was subpar [first three] or the characters were a drag [Walkers]. Either way, the result was the same. The other families did a fade (save for the Walkers, who stayed 'til the bitter end!).

I loved the Capwells, especially Mason and Kelly. But I do agree that the show should have learned to budget time and stories for non-Capwells much better than it did.

I don't think the Lockridges could survive the absence of Augusta. The writing was there for them. But don't forget, they WERE the Dobsons. And I think that it was also a bit of an f you by writing them out.

The Duvalls were skeezy. And not missed. 

7 minutes ago, Wendy said:

I agree that Mary would never have cheated on Mason. But Mason was his own worst enemy, especially when he was drinking and/or in conflict with C.C. I can envision him cheating on Mary if just to punish himself for something. He had that darkness.

I do believe he would have deeply regretted doing so as he did love Mary as much as he was able, and Mary would get story reacting, but since the show basically did that later with Julia/Mason, with Julia strong enough to cut him loose (if for a while), I think it would have also did Mary a disservice as I think she would have forgave him, and the show probably would have just did variations of that for years on end, diminishing the pairing and the individual couples.

So the problem of lack of story for Mary would have still remained.

I disagree. I think Mason always longed for what he had with Mary. It would have taken more than a fight with CC. Now, we also know he really wanted to be a dad. So MAJOR conflict could have come from the baby was Mark's. Then something goes wrong in birth, and has a hysterectomy. Mason can never have his "own" child.

14 minutes ago, j swift said:

Thanks @Wendy

I was also thinking about the lack of balance, in terms of the focus on the Capwells at the expense of every other family in town and I would propose that it was due to the fact that they had too  By the time you add a love interest for each kid, and a person to serve as a spoiler to true love, that's 12 characters, not including CC, Sophia and their spoilers.

Not many one hour soaps could balance more than 14 characters, leaving very little room for other families or settings.  Coupled with the huge expense of the Capwell living room, which meant that most of the interactions had to take place somewhere within that set, there wasn't a lot of literal room left.

It may have been poor planning, (Yet, I've come to believe that SB was never able to successfully expand because they were stuck with too many Capwells.

Well, no spoilers for CC and Sophia and that problem would have been solved.

But seriously, a slower speed would have allowed it. Days certainly had 14 character between the Bradys, the Horton and DiMeras. Another World also had 14 between McKinnons, Loves, Hudsons, Frames and Corys, and my beloved Felicia and Wallingford.

But since SB felt the need to move at breakneck speed, and to have many plot driven events compared to character driven, it didn't take the time for other families. 

I agree with the assessment of Mary. There was very little possibility of conflict with her character. Even after the who's the daddy played out, there just wasn't any. She wouldn't have cheated on Mason and he wouldn't have cheated on her. She eventually would have wound up in the green room with Amy. (And often Sophia) waiting for tptb to give her a storyline. 

Here's the problem with second viewing. I don't know how I would have felt about Mason and Mary if I didn't know about the giant C in their future. It's hard to invest myself in heartbreak. But watching the scenes where Mary tells Mason about the baby, and seeing his pure joy are really hard when you know. He has clearly wanted a child since the beginning of the show, and it ends like that? Total suckage

1 hour ago, Lex S said:

That's kind of you! I figured, with your new job, you would have slowed down anyway! 

I'm about where Robin Mattson takes over, so still quite a ways away

Also, GH fans over here - how many times did Robin Mattson return as Heather Webber?

Well, the new job is. Odd. They thought they had a huge backlog which I fixed in 7 business days. So, now it's about a half day of mundane and half trying to stay busy. Everyone there watches tv on their phones. Everyone. 

That said, I'm enjoying the McKinnons on AW. Same story, played much differently. And during down times I write. Which the new supervisor literally tells me to do. It's beyond weird.

Can't answer your GH questions. 

4 minutes ago, Neil Johnson said:

Do they have many AW episodes pre-1979 on the Youtube channel?   

A few, but I don't know that I would say many. 

18 hours ago, Joseph said:

https://soaps.sheknows.com/soaps/news/572630/soaps-best-recasts-all-time-ranked/ 

Found this by accident but couldn't help wanting to share it with you

Doesn't even list Jed Allan as CC Capwell and is therefore this list knows nothing, Jon Snow 

Aw, she was so under utilized on this show. I'm obsessing over the McKinnons right now to give Lex a chance to catch up with me. 

So, I've been doing one episode a day. 

1 hour ago, Beach Climber said:

 Had they kept her, what direction could they have gone with her character?

She was so earnest andgood which doesn’t always make for an interesting soap character and I could see Lane getting bored with the happy relationship and family story since he later did with Mason/Julia. 

There would have been another long, loooonnnnggg custody battle. 

There was a lot more to it than Lane got bored. Lane was always upset that they fired Harley and has been vocal about it. But there was also the break up between Lane and Nancy.

2 hours ago, Xanthe said:

Wasn't Mary McKinnon's "death" also from falling off a boat? 

Yep.

Okay, I need to know if the writers have ever BEEN in a kitchen? I'm at Gina's Cookies. She's making cookies in the living room of the Lockridge house. Uhm what? They couldn't throw together a kitchen? Who mixes cookies in the living room? This is just weird.

When I was a teenager, the courtroom scenes bored the socks out of me. It didn't matter which show. It didn't even matter that it was Mason. I decided that maybe being a lawyer wasn't for me. Now, thirty years later, I am rewatching courtroom scenes. And: I'm still bored. And I still think being a lawyer isn't for me. 

I would love to see some of them rebooted or continued. However, when I see the horrible job the "they" are doing with the shows left on the air, I lean towards, "No. Just let me keep my good memories and YouTube videos."

I think this is the right topic for something I read in a Judith McConnell interview. She was talking about her love life and mentioned that she once made live 60 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. My biggest question isn't who- that's none of my business. But HOW? Are we talking in a sub, underwater hotel or while scuba diving? If scuba, then I guess congratulations on her self control?  I'm pretty certain that I would drown. 

Gina Capwell 

But Vivian Alamain or Augusta Lockridge. Although I think Augusta has more layers. Yes Has- Long live the Lockridges. 

Yes, Erica Kane, but NBC had some bitches too. And those are my top 3.

On 8/17/2021 at 1:05 AM, SFK said:

Felicia Gallant

 

I don't see a resemblance between Alexis and Felicia. I guess I don't know Alexis well enough. Felicia is over the top, has odd fashion sense, but is warm, caring and loving. 

1 hour ago, Soaplovers said:

Well Harley jane Kozak did ask the producer if her departure would be memorable and the answer was 'oh yeah'.

My mom quit watching when Mary was killed off...only coming back to see Kelly's Princess Bride inspired wedding to Jeffrey and staying until she had enough of the Sonny/Mason story.

She did check out how Eden would be written off..and she told me 'the show is toast now that Eden is gone'.

I stayed through Mary's death. I liked her, but wasn't overly attached. I had a difficult time staying through CC and Sophia breaking up, but I managed. Sonny drove me away. I went back a couple of times. But I never stayed. I was there for CC hiring Michael Feinstein for New Year's (and promptly wore out his Isn't It Romantic cassette). And Mason and Julia's awesome wedding. I kind of remember a few Keith and Gina moments. But I tend to agree with your mom.

Recycled plots: 1984, Sophia had an affair, fell off a boat, got amnesia and an inscrupulous man took her away from her children. 1986-Another World, Marissa LaSalle is actually Mary McKinnon who had an affair, got amnesia and an inscrupulous man took her away from her children. 

You know what plot was never, EVER stolen by another show? Yeah, that's right. A GIANT C FALLS OVER AND KILLS SOMEONE!

I just started the Who Is Marissa LaSalle videos today. Such a great storyline. And what an incredible job Ellen Wheeler does with the twins. They don't even completely look alike

Unfortunately, Judith McConnell's movies are not as awesome as Judith Anderson's. Lol! Be careful who you Google. 

I really must say again how impressive Louise Sorel is in her scenes. The scenes where they are losing the house are phenomenal. And her subtle softening during Sophia's illness is very well done. Actually that whole storyline has great acting. Especially as CC is realizing something is happening to her, but she hasn't told him yet. 

That said, Sophia is having her Stupid Soap Opera Woman moment NOT letting her family about it.

6 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Now that there are a few new people in here, I was going to say, before I forget, that if you haven't seen The Furies you may want to check it out. Dame Judith Anderson plays Barbara Stanwyck's stepmother (Stanwyck has severely dangerous daddy issues) - she isn't in it much, but every second she gives is superb. 

My husband and I watched that last weekend. My money was always on Barbara Stanwyck. But Dame Judith was great. 

1 hour ago, j swift said:

We were discussing this recently, but I didn't get a chance to go back and watch the scene, so please remind me of some of the details.

1) Had Dylan been menacing Kelly prior to that evening?

2) Were Kelly's loved ones aware that Dylan was a threat?

3) Did Nick know that Dylan had nefarious intentions or did he think Kelly was to blame?

4)Was the audience aware of the fact that the murder was on video prior to Gina getting the tape?

5)Was there a plausible reason that the SBPD would not believe it was self-defense?

I'm trying to figure why Kelly needed to go on the run (except for the fact that Robin needed to be written out to film Princess Bride) when it was clear that she was not culpable in the crime?

1) yes, Dylan menaced Kelly for a while. He refused to take no for an answer and was quite delusional himself. He broke into her apartment several times and Justin chased him off.

2) CC, Nick, Mason, Sam and Sophia all told him to stay away from Kelly. But "our love is real and you are all twisting her mind."

3) Nick knew and felt no sympathy over Dylans death.

4 and 5) The SBPD and the audience knew the room was being taped. When Cruz moved Gina out, stopping the recorder was not the top priority. He was not certain if the tapes had stopped. No one on the force knew. Kind of a everyone thought someone else stopped it. The audience knew that Gina found Kelly, thought that Dylans gun belonged to Kelly and took the gun. Gina knew Kelly was bonkers. Gina remembered the tape, knew it would show Gina picking up the gun  and took the tape. Hailey knew Gina put a very important tape in a locker, but even though precious Aunt Gina stole Hayley's inheritance, Aunt Gina does no wrong and Hayley's kept her mouth shut.

The DA went over zealous. No one else thought Kelly was guilty. But Kelly kept saying she killed Peter, askimg why Joe wasn't visiting her, so the judge ordered her to the hospital. The hospital had a bad, bad doctor. By the time Kelly escaped, Keith was the DA, and hell bent on arresting Kelly. And that's how they wrote her out. 

25 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

The best part was Kelly seeing a vision of the first psycho in her life, Peter Flint, after Dylan fell out that window!!

Yeah, they really let Robin Wright play that "I've done lost my mind" angle. There is some truly awesome stuff!

Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes- contribution- the first Soap Opera Super Couple.

May of 1986 was quite a busy time for the Capwells. Sophia was having her tumor removed, Eden filed for divorce, Kelly was killing pyscho Dylan, Mark was raping Mary. ALL on the same day! Golly, no wonder there wasn't time for anything else to happen in town.