TVFAN1144

At least it is great to catch up on classic stars like this. It also helps a lot when he brings in surprise guests. Maybe Don Hastings Eileen Fulton or Rosemary Prinz

What is the reason if any that the remaining 4 soaps have survived

I agree. There's a lot to be said for the 30 minute format

A decision that turned sour which was one of the initial “nails in the coffin “ that helped with the series downhill spiral

Notice how most of the fantasy stories involve Reva? Certain characters seem to inspire writers to do crazy things. Louise Sorell on Days seemed to get blessed with off the wall storylines as well

One of the most intriguing plot twists was when Walter Curtain (played by legendary soap actor Val Dufour) defended his wife Lenore for the murder of Wayne Addison when he was really the murderer. Not sure who wrote this and if Susan Sullivan was playing Lenore

They sort had a daughter figure with Hillary and Bert treated Peggy like a daughter. If only they would have kept these characters on canvas

I wonder since Don Stewart nixed being paired with Lillian and Alexandria was when they later decided for Lillian to have a dalliance with Ed

Fat balding aged. This could have logically been attributed to the character’s past alcohol issues. Although would probably not have had any romantic prospects (Maureen, Vanessa, Claire,Lillian) Also why did Don Stewart leave?

On the interview with Alan Locher it sounds like Mart Hulswit was not kept on because of his participation in the actors guild and campaigning for actors issues. But it would have been good to have him back as well as Mike.

Loved Donald May and the Adam Drake character

Well then he was off the show shortly after either by his choice or the show’s. I loved his character But the unique thing about daytime is that it is supposed to be an ensemble effort. Good or bad no one is irreplaceable. So if actors start to get demanding they are plotting their own demise. I don’t know if Donald May was like that or not. And even though painful the show (and others with similar situations) survived. Joel Corruthers was basically the replacement And lord knows in the current cost cutting climate the attitude seems to be they are lucky to have a contract that continues to the next day

I didn’t follow this show much after the 80s but I read a synopsis of the Donna character. She was quite the cougar it seems with Mathew Corey and Jake?

Reginald was certainly a diabolical character. But I thought this was a good period with the introduction of the Loves McKinnons and I love Denise Alexander

There is no argument that Irna Phillips created a masterpiece and her writing and vision for the show was brilliant. And there's no doubt that Doug Marland was another high point for the show. I also liked the time period in the 70s before and after ATWT went to an hour written by Robert Sonderberg and Edith Sommer. They did great work on The Guiding Light with the introduction of the Norris family, a great murder trial, and iconic characters like Roger Thorpe and Holly. On ATWT, unlike the later writing, every character connected to the Hughes and Stewart families had an active storyline. Lisa had a romance and marriage to Grant Coleman and had battles with her scheming nemeses Joyce. They even entered the rivalry with Ellen when Ellen sympathized with Joyce over her adoption issue with Teddy Ellison. Great to have Lisa center stage and not be a glorified hotel clerk like she was in the last episode. We had Natalie who helped to break up Tom and Carol, marry Tom and get involved with Jay. Kim married John to give her baby a name and this probably was her atonement for her affair with Bob. There were some things they had to repair after Irna's last stint. Not sure what Bob's storyline was, but am sure involved Jennifer and Kim. Probably in a stupor about how he could have been so dumb as to sleep with his sister in law. Ellen was involved with her daughters Annie and Dee. Annie with her marriage to Beau and an interfering mother in law. Dee was a funny wholesome girl next door at this time who pretty much lived in her sister's shadow. This was before she overnight became Oakdale's sex symbol killing men in bed, being sought after by Brad Pornstache, Svengali John, and James. Even if the plot was slow or nonexistent, it was fun to watch the characters much like Irna's writing. I realize there had to be updates due to more contemporary shows that had made inroads to ATWTs ratings and later writers introduced more action oriented plots and fast paced scenes. Also I feel there were compromises to beloved characters (Kim running around with a Greek restaurant owner, Bob marrying a mafia princess). This was at the expense of traditional viewers like me.

He also played Reginald Love 1986

Maybe she is having a meltdown because she lost to Alice

I don’t remember Vic

Good article. Expanding to an hour was good for spending more time in Bay City and Harding Lemay pulled it off by good writing of expanded dialogue. However I think the hour long soaps eventually became a detriment to the genre with added characters and wasted time that took away from the original focus and core families (Matthews, Bauers, Hughes)

I wonder how much they had to pay Joan Collins for her “5 minute stint”

What was the cheap opening where it was a string of screen shots?

Here’s a montage of all the theme songs I always thought the one from 1993 to 1999 with the nature scenes was kind of nice And yes the last one was a sorry attempt at nothing

That would have been good if they could have recreated this. It could have been iconic DOOL and Y&R have been extremely successful at this using the same theme song in various recreations and have been used in different movies (Mr Mom and 9 to 5 come to mind). Although I don’t think DOOL uses those familiar 4 note opening chords anymore which I find strange

Hated this Star Wars type theme. I always wondered why the theme song opening with video images on the globe didn’t last long

Thank you so much for this clip. I would rush home from school and turn this on and discuss with classmates the next day (which was probably too intense for 5th grade) Loved the Lee Randolph story. Never will get the scene out of my mind when Lefty Burns made and gave Lee LSD Barbara Rodell was a great actress. She played mousey roles until she landed psychotic Joyce Coleman on As the World Turns I saw in an interview once where Ann Wedgeworth did not have fond memories of her time on soaps