Tisy-Lish

Possibly, but Rod Arrants would have been difficult to replace -- and especially difficult when the Corringtons were no longer writing the show. Many of the characters created by the Corringtons had that back-story of Southern gothic stuff. And very few other writers in daytime would have understood how to continue that writing style. So with both a different actor and different head writers, I'm afraid most of Travis's identity would have been washed away by a recast. Just my opinion.

Was Robert Reed the final actor to play Lloyd? What year was Lloyd written off SFT permanently?

Near the beginning of today's special episode, did anyone else notice when Clifton Davis referred to Fairmont Crest as a town? I never thought Fairmont Crest was the name of the town -- I thought it was the name of the gated community, which was probably in the suburbs of an unnamed town/city in the greater DC area. Do you think Clifton Davis just misspoke? Or are tptb going to start promoting Fairmont Crest as the name of the entire town/city?

Perhaps the Corringtons could have returned after they left TEXAS. They seemed to have a good deal of success while they were head writers at SFT.

Actors: Mary Stuart, Helen Wagner, Susan Lucci, Don Hastings. Writers: Irna Phillips, Agnes Nixon, Doug Marland, Bill Bell

I think the move to NY coincided with the show going to 30 mins. Was this when Jean McBride left? So Van moving to NY was like a new show. Only her parents were back in Barrowsville and they might have been dropped at this time. I'd really have to check dates and storylines to be sure. If you are correct, then Love of Life actually had three different locations, not just two as is reported in many soap opera history books. I had always assumed that when Van moved to New York, it was similar to when Erica Kane moved to New York on All My Children in the early 1980s -- there were lots of scenes of Erica's activities in NYC, while the rest of the show carried on in Pine Valley. But if all of the action on LOL transferred to NYC when Van moved there, and the show was 100 percent taking place in New York, that would make New York an official full-time location for the show. There may be no way to verify this, unless someone is still alive who was a fan and happens to remember. I doubt scripts are archived and available for review.

So, since Joey is clearly involved in the plasma smuggling ring, are we to assume he is the Impaler? Is the Impaler mystery over now??

I think the police officers outside were waiting for Jacob to open the door and leave it ajar. Wasn't that the agreed upon signal to move in and make arrests? But when they heard gun shots, they stormed in without waiting on the signal. Am I correct about this?

Any speculation on why Nicole left the Cotillion early? I know the scripted reason (to help a patient), but what does her leaving early contribute to the plot? Do they need to have her back at Garland for another reason?? And, who was the character with the gun that Derek tried to stop at the end of the episode? Is this a character anyone recognizes? Is this person supposed to be the Impaler?

Today's episode of BTG was the best episode of a soap opera I have seen in years. Although I have not been a huge fan of the plasma smuggling plot (I thought the concept was good, but the writing missed too many important beats, details were too few, and most of the plot has been overly simplified), the wrap-up of the storyline had me glued to my chair yesterday, and especially today. The show pulled off the Cotillion better than I ever expected. And that type of "event" is not easy to do on a soap opera in 2026, mostly because of budget restrictions. Since the Cotillion was not a high-stakes plot, it was brilliant to pair it with the dénouement of the plasma story which is very high-stakes. Taking the audience back and forth between one event which was mostly celebratory and another which was dark and threatening really worked for me. Great episode today, in my opinion.

I loved Lemay -- he's one of my favorite soap opera writers. But I also acknowledge he was very flawed, especially in his attitudes toward actors. I also adored Connie Ford, Virginia Dwyer, and Jacquie Courtney. Paul Rauch saw that Lemay was successful as head writer, and then gave Lemay too much authority over the entire show, including hiring and firing of actors. Big mistake on Rauch's part.

So why was it okay for Connie Ford to look directly at the camera and read the teleprompter episode after episode, but not okay for Jacquie Courtney or Virginia Dwyer to discreetly look down to read crib notes??? I was watching AW every day during the 1970s, and I can tell you -- Connie Ford's dependence on the teleprompter was far more noticeable than any crib notes that Courtney and Dwyer supposedly ever used.

What they are doing is slowly ruining an otherwise wonderful character. What a shame.

I also like Mona and adore the actress who plays her. And you're also right, we need to see Mona much more often, as we did in the show's first year. I've noticed we no longer see the little breakfast meetings of the have-nots at Orphie Jean's, which included Mona. I don't think we're seen those characters together since December or January, and we used to see them gathered around the table at least once a month -- perhaps more. Regarding the religious stuff -- I have no problem with Mona being a woman of faith but, these days, she is laying it on way too thick to be believable. In the real world, a person that obsessed with religion would have no friends, no romantic life, and likely would have driven away her family too. They are turning Mona into a joke, and it smacks of anti-religious sentiment. The writers need to tone-down Mona's religious rhetoric quickly. Why can't she just be a normal woman of faith?

First, I have never before read that Pat had a hysterectomy after her abortion. She was told by doctors, in vague terms, that she would not be able to bear children. But after corrective surgery around 1970, she did give birth to twins. Nothing particularly unbelievable about that. And regarding Michael Ryan's youthful appearance on AW in the mid-1970s -- this may be an unexplained reference to John Randolph's deliberately aged appearance (with make-up and gray tinted hair) during most of the 1960s, when John was said to be significantly older than Pat, with a daughter (Lee Randolph) just slightly younger than Pat. Soon after Lee died, attempts to age Michael Ryan with make-up were halted, and all references to John being older than Pat were dropped. By the time the twins were born, John and Pat were played as contemporaries and the previous age difference was never mentioned again.

Matt flew from Las Vegas to Genoa City without his wallet and without knowing his own name. Think about that for a moment. . .

Of course. Or how about redressing the hallway outside of Bill's office to represent the clinic?? They could have nurses and others in scrubs pushing gurneys, while necessary characters have conversations in the hallway. I have a feeling the clinic may be a very short lived institution, possibly disappearing after the plasma storyline. And if that is correct, I can understand why tptb didn't create an entire new set. But still, the clinic needs to be seen and represented on camera.

Has anyone identified the earliest television soap opera to use orchestrated background music (rather than organ music)? I was very surprised to notice the 1951 episode of Hawkins Falls featured orchestrated background cues. And 1951 was pretty early for daytime television. Did any TV soaps use orchestrated music earlier than Hawkins Falls? And another question -- did any radio soap operas use orchestrated background music? I'm assuming the answer will be no.

I'm very surprised to learn that Ben Jerrod was taped in Hollywood. Especially since most of Michael Ryan's daytime career was in New York. I do remember he did a couple of films in Hollywood -- probably before Ben Jerrod.

Thank you, Mike. Although I didn't know for sure, I'm not surprised Cenedella created Tall Boys. Always enjoy your comments.

Lynette was the person that defrauded Lia??? Damn, I missed that. So yes, I was missing something BIG. Was the Lynette/Lia connection exposed on today's episode, or earlier? I remember today they mentioned the name of a woman responsible for the bank frauds, but I didn't pay attention to the name, so did not make the connection to Lynette. Damn...

Is Lynette connected to the plasma plot? If so, that went right over my head. And if she is not connected to the plasma plot, what does Lynette's fate have anything to do with the writing for Lia?? Maybe I'm missing something...

Tall Boys, as one of the upscale restaurants in Bay City, dates back to (at least) early in the Lemay era. And it may have gone back even further than Lemay. Another upscale restaurant during the same time was L'Auberge. I do not recall El Diable at all. But if it existed in 1977, then I certainly have forgotten it.

At least the writers have finally given Lia a motive for her involvement with the plasma ring. As we know, she is Chief of Staff, so she is both a successful and respected physician and a high level administrator. Until today, I found it difficult to believe someone with such a successful professional career would risk everything on a two-bit plasma smuggling scheme. Now, it makes a little more sense. I only wish the actor would stop telegraphing guilt in every scene. As Chief of Staff, she does have actual duties and responsibilities, and it would be nice to see her occasionally attending to those. Plus she is probably a fairly nice person who's caught in a difficult and unexpected financial situation, and she has chosen an illegal path to regain her retirement fund as she approaches the end of her career. It is really unnecessary for her to be played like an evil mustache-twirling villain who does nothing but harass Grayson and Ashley. Why not let her play some subtext in the form of conflict over her choices?