Nicholas Blair

I am Team Beard on the Chase question, though he is still a fine-looking man without it. If Alexis and Harmony were a couple, their smash name would be Alimony, one of the best ever. In Monday's episode I couldn't believe how much Brando and Sasha seemed like a favorite couple with actual chemistry. The fact that the blue-eyed, nicely bearded Brando was shirtless had nothing to do with it.

The other day Eden McCoy was wearing so much eyeshadow that it completely overshadowed (no pun intended) the scene between Joss and Carly. What were they thinking? Speaking of makeup, on B&B the other day Sean Kanan badly needed some greenstick to tone done his ruddy complexion or rosacea, whichever it is. Usually the makeup artists do a great job. Loved today's (Monday's) scene between Chase and Finn. So Chase is a sweet sensitive guy as well as being drop dead gorgeous. That combination would work for a lot of people. As for Drew's scene with Nina, it seemed over the top as written. It's like with Jason's death, Carly posted an ad for a new biotch, and Drew couldn't wait to apply.

A friend has a new niece named Mabel, and another friend named his daughter Millie. When I was growing up, no female under the age of 60 was named Emma or Hannah, now the trendiest of names. There's hope for Gertrude and Sophronia yet!

Agreed on all counts.

I thought Y&R needlessly got rid of three wonderful villain/troublemaker characters over the years. Marla Adams as Dina Mergeron should always have been welcome to stir up trouble in Genoa City. I was glad she was brought back, but very disappointed that it was for an Alzheimer's story. Then there was Margaret Mason as Eve Howard, another favorite who could have remained to stir up trouble for Victor, Nikki, the Abbotts, any available or unavailable man, and any woman who wanted him. I also liked Diana Barton as Mari Jo Mason and would have welcomed more of her misadventures. Another couple of Y&R topics mentioned by others recently: Roberta Leighton as Casey Reed (another actress and character I liked) was paired with Tom Ligon as Lucas Prentiss. She called him "Sailor" and he called her "Doc," IIRC. As for Victoria Mallory, she was pretty, sweet, and conventionally feminine as Leslie, rather than the socially awkward but musically gifted Leslie of Janice Lynde. Though I didn't see a lot of VM's work, I thought her version was less specific and less original than Janice Lynde's creation. VM might have been better cast as Chris. Janice was extremely popular, as the magazine polls of the time indicate.

Chooklyn is so much cooler! I'm already hoping for Carly and Drew so we can go for either Drewly or Cardrew. And if Hat Man and Epiphany get real, who could resist Hatpiphany?

Joan Copeland also starred on Broadway as Noah's wife opposite Danny Kaye in Richard Rodgers' Two by Two. Her best movie role is probably in Middle of the Night. Astonishingly, in The Goddess she plays a character with a Southern accent.

The first actor Lemay paired with Susan Harney was Ted Shackelford, the original Ray Gordon. Considering how well Shackelford did on Knots Landing and how long he played a leading man on that show, I believe that Lemay simply did not know how to write for him. In general, Lemay did not know how to write the kind of long romantic story that is one of the staples of soap opera. His stories, like Mac and Rachel, were about immediate attraction and quick marriage, then problems afterward.

Catching up on some of these good posts: Paul, MF's Jennifer was bitchy from the outset on SFT. What beautiful pictures of Irene Dailey, and Anna Holbrook looks fabulous. IIRC, Sally was Alice's adopted daughter. This was the adoption story Jacquie Courtney refused to play and was fired. (Of course there was much else going on that had led up to this crisis.) The story was played out with Susan Harney, and a piddly little story it turned out to be. After Steve's death, Alice wanted to adopt a child which just happened to be the granddaughter of Rachel's housekeeper, Beatrice (Jacqueline Brookes). Rachel was backing Beatrice, of course, and it looked like maybe there were be a custody trial, then everyone decided to be reasonable adults, and I think Jacqueline Brookes left not long afterward. I did not know that Tracy Brooks Swope and Barbara Baxley were ever on AW! April-September 1982 was about the time I was making a major move, and soap viewing fell by the wayside. I loved Tracy Brooks Swope on WTHI, and had always loved Barbara Baxley's distinctive low-pitched voice which brought her so many commercial voiceovers during the years.

Was the current storyline of GH altered by the impending exit of Steve Burton? Surely everyone was expecting Sonny to return after Jason and Carly were married and/or cavorting in bed when Sonny showed up. If that was the initial plan, it was smart to short circuit it if they knew that SBu might be making a sudden exit. The interrupted wedding was lame, but it made Jason's exit much simpler.

Though they were never on the same show, Jacqueline Schultz and Julia Duffy would have made a convincing pair of sisters.

You have to feel sorry for David Knapp, because Desmond, while never getting to be a villain or a schemer, never got to be a hero or romantic lead either. Desmond was rich, he was rather good-looking without much sex appeal, and he was dull. The actor simply played the part straightforwardly as it was written without figuring out a way to make either the character or himself interesting in spite of the script.

Is it correct that Lee Patterson left the show in the late 70s because he was unhappy with Joseph Stuart? Is anyone familiar with the circumstances? Thanks.

They never explained the name change. For Richer, For Poorer was a much better title for the show Lemay had created because he was always interested in that subject. Lovers & Friends suggested a kind of urban sophistication. Rhett simply became Bill with no explanation. The offscreen death of Richard Cushing was used as a reason for the softening of Edith Cushing's character (mentioned once by one of the characters), as Nancy Marchand had moved on (to Lou Grant, IIRC) and Laurinda Barrett, another fine actress, had replaced her. Albert Stratton was also new to the cast, younger and better-looking than his predecessor, and in the interim his character had fallen back off the wagon. According to Lemay's memoir, the audience was not interested in the original Rhett and Megan, who had been intended as the lead romantic couple, and that is why they were replaced. I don't know if Bill and NuMegan were any more popular as a couple, for the revised show didn't last that long. I definitely preferred Patricia Estrin, the original Megan, to the more doll-like Darlene Parks. I liked both David Ramsey (Rhett) and Tom Happer (Bill). Ultimately, the show is most remembered for the discovery of Rod Arrants, Christine Jones, and Richard Backus, all very good and probably the reason I kept watching the show.

IMDB has Ken Harvey exiting SFT in 1974, so I think this must have been 1973 or 1974.

Denise Alexander had been one of the main stars of DAYS, but after she left, Bennye Gettys was a reasonably good replacement Susan, better than any of the replacement Lauras turned out to be.

Judith Searle (Edith Mercer, Somerset) is a writer and lecturer on the Enneagram, a system of personality types.

When Tommy Lee Jones was Dr. Mark Toland on OLTL, he was known as Tom Lee Jones.

I'm sort of liking Chase and Brooklyn together because "Chooklyn" is such a cool smash name. Are Sasha and Brando "Brasha" or "Sando" or do we care? I do not see any chemistry between Jason and Britt. I do not give a Jitt about Brason.

Susan Seaforth also had fantastic chemistry with Jed Allan.

I can't recall if Micki Grant sang when she played Peggy Nolan. She wrote a musical IRL, so she could have sung. I'm pretty sure James Preston did not sing. Other black actors I don't recall singing would include Ellen Holly, Frances Foster, Peter DeAnda, Herb Davis, and Al Freeman, Jr. on OLTL; Reuben Greene on LOL; and Olivia Cole on GL. Stickney is exaggerating.

When Eileen Letchworth (Margo Flax) wanted to take time off from AMC to have a face lift, Agnes Nixon wrote the face lift into the show.

Please put do not put this thought out there in the universe, LOL, especially if it involves the actor (or to be technically correct, non-actor) who was (thank you!) killed off.

Today's episode had excellent scenes between Sonny and Nina. First-rate work by CW and a performance by MB that wasn't phoned in. Strong chemistry here. I don't know where this is leading, whether Sonny wants to sleep with her or if he is setting her up. He did say "Nina has to pay" soon after he returned to PC, but it's unclear if that is now the goal.

So many good examples already. Phyllis, Victor Newman, and Michael Baldwin on Y&R were all supposed to be short-term characters. Another obvious one: on OLTL Todd Manning was brought on as a short-term rapist-villain, not at all expected to become the "hero" of the show. Clarice (Gail Brown) on AW was supposed to be on for one or two shows, blowing bubble gum at Iris' swanky party, but the audience wanted more, so she became a regular for a few years. Not bad for a day player! Carolee Campbell began on TD as a non-contract player in the background at the nurses' station, then her character got a name, then she became one of the central actors on the show, to the extent that when Carolee Campbell left the show years later, her role was recast with a major star.