Tisy-Lish

LOL. Yes, Lemay loved to fire women he thought were divas, but he was a bigger diva than any of those he had fired. I too loved Lemay's AW. When he stuck to writing, everything was great (well, most things were great). But he was given too much power over the cast -- hiring, firing, recasts, etc. When you fire the show's matriarch (NBC's version of Nancy Hughes), and the number one young female romantic lead in all of daytime (Jacquie Courtney) -- Mr Lemay, you have far too much power. Please just write, and let Paul Rauch be the executive producer.

There are three important "need to be seen" sets missing from BTG. Many of us have posted complaints here on the forum. Here is an easy way to fix this mess inexpensively without the need to "build" three new sets: Missing set: Naomi's law office -- Since Naomi and her father have mended-fences, I suggest Naomi quit her current law firm and go to work for Bill. That will give Naomi a great professional setting in which to conduct the practice of law. Missing set: Martin's congressional office -- Currently we have a member of the US House of Representatives who, in over a year, has never been seen in a professional setting. Let's fix that. All Representative Richardson really needs is an office. So just find a corner of an existing set, redress it minimally, add a desk and a couple of chairs, and that can be Martin's office. In the future Martin's office can always be expanded into a full set -- depending on need. Missing set: The free clinic -- this place seems to be all talk and no set. Honestly we don't need much to show us the clinic. And certainly we don't need a complete set like Garland Medical Center. Actually, something as simple as a hallway could be enough - at least for now. Doctors and visitors would meet up, with patients on gurneys being pushed along down the hallway. So just redress the hallway outside Bill Hamilton's office and use that to represent the clinic. And if they need to show a patient in a room, just use one of the room sets from Garland. I understand my suggestions provide only minimal solutions to these three set needs. But aren't they better than nothing? Seeing something is better than just talking about places the viewers never see, right??

Lots of long-term AW fans probably know this but -- Harding Lemay did not like the way Jacquie Courtney played emotion. And to be honest, Lemay did not like Courtney's acting style in general. So he and Rauch recast Alice with a more stoic actress and wrote Alice as a more stoic character. In her four-years playing Alice, Susan Harney was given very little emotional material to play. But on those rare occasions, Harney's emotion came across as forced and artificial. The scenes surrounding John Randolph's death provide the most obvious example of that. This is just my opinion, of course. When Harney played Alice, I accepted her in the role, and I certainly didn't hate her version of Alice. Even as a teenager I realized that all actors have strengths and weaknesses.

Yes, it was Jane Rose. Thank you. I guess my memory is incorrect about the timing of Ms Rose's appearance. Not sure how I connected her to owning the cabin in the 1979 episode. But I do remember seeing her as Mrs Hewitt -- whenever it was.

Well, Harney was not good in emotional scenes, while showing emotion was Courtney's strength. So had Courtney been playing Alice in 1979, she probably could have won an Emmy with this episode. I've always felt Harney was rather embarrassing in her reaction to John's death. She was just wailing uncontrollably. Courtney would have played that emotion in a much more subdued way. Just my opinion.

Thank you. Interesting. March 6, 1979 was my 20th birthday. Sorta sad that legacy character, John Randolph died on that day. I assume Harney had already given her notice and was on her way out. Alice was never again so important to the fabric of AW -- even when Steve Frame returned around 1982, and even when Jacquie Courtney returned in 1984. After 1979, Alice would come and go several times -- but always as a supporting character, never as a female romantic lead.

Does anyone remember the approximate date of John Randolph's death, when AW did that location shoot with the burning cabin out in the wilderness? And was there ever any mention in the soap press regarding how much TPTB spent to burn a real cabin and shoot on location? Didn't Susan Harney (Alice) leave AW shortly after this episode? One more thing -- wasn't an older actress from the sitcom "Phyllis" cast as Alice's head-nurse and the owner of the cabin? I seem to remember she had one scene with Susan Harney, before Alice drove up to the cabin.

Thank you. This interview is very important to soap opera history. I hope is does not disappear.

It is WAY WAY too soon for another medical storyline -- especially with Anita's husband. Why in the world would anyone think this is a good idea?? If tptb want to go in this direction with Vernon, they need to wait at least 18-months.

Very cool. Thanks!

That's interesting. Sadly, I missed today's episode of BTG. Would you mind sharing the context of the "Barbara Ryan Originals" mention? And which character mentioned it? Was it a long conversation about BRO? I assume it was just a throw away line. But who knows??

Well, don't forget -- Iris was raised in Manhattan (aside from the time she spent in boarding schools in Europe). Mac's family was from Manhattan, and that is where Cory Publishing's original headquarters was located. So if Iris had relocated to Manhattan in 1980 she would not have been new in town -- she would have been returning home. That might have been a good concept for a believable new soap opera. I think it might have been successful if it were a 30-minute soap.

This is why I always enjoyed that little group of have-nots who occasionally gathered for breakfast at Orphie Jean's during the first year of the show. Those folks seemed real and believable. So I was always hoping that group would expand to include a few other have-nots. Maybe the maitre d at the Country Club, maybe Rowena (the Dupree's cook), maybe the personal trainer at the Country Club (forget his name), and June the formerly homeless woman now a server at Orphie Jean's. I think this sort of "chosen family" of working class folks would blend into the fiber of BTG more effectively than introducing an entirely new working class biological family.

I really like Darlene too. And the actress is wonderful, in my opinion. Just wondering -- have Darlene and Elon had any scenes together yet? If so, I must have missed them. It will be interesting to see what kind of dynamic those two have.

If Darlene is the wife of the Chief of Police for Washington DC, then she is not working class. If Elon is Chief for a small municipality, then it's more believable they'd be working class or middle class.

Agreed. How does this list of names mean anything? I think TPTB should have hired a mystery writer as a story consultant for this plasma smuggling plot. A mystery writer could help fill some of the plot holes and make the entire plot a bit less vaguely written. It is not unusual for soap operas to hire story consultants, and often they are even uncredited (although some have been credited). Story consultants do not take-over the writing of a particular plot, they typically make suggestions up-front. And later, they look over scripts before taping to add detail and authenticity. Since they are contracted for a short length of time, they are no threat to any of the show's contract writers. So we have a list of lab employees which includes Grayson's name. Is that supposed to be shocking?

Are they going to be able to pull off a believable debutante cotillion on camera with a soap opera budget? Or will it take place off camera? Will the event be cancelled at the last minute because of some plot point? Any speculation about how the cotillion will be handled?

The unexpected (and probably far too brief) returns of Malcom and Stephanie to Y&R this week have given us, by far, the most interesting and compelling group of episodes in a decade. These episodes have reminded me of the Bill Bell era, when Y&R was so much more than just a show about three billionaire families on a merry-go-round of "who is CEO of which company?". I have actually enjoyed Y&R this week.

Someone mentioned a few weeks ago, that the police station is actually in DC. Do others agree that is true? So is Elon the Chief of Police for Washington DC? If so, the Hawthorn family is certainly not working-class. At the very least, they should be upper middle-class. Of course, Elon and his wife might come from working-class families, and might hold on to some working-class traditions. But if Elon really is Chief of Police for the entire District, the three sons were not raised working-class. And the Hawthorns could probably afford (or almost afford) to live in Fairmont Crest. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this. But I think it has been implied that the Hawthorns are working-class. Perhaps I am wrong about that.

I'd be totally okay with that, as long as it was a good recast. I feel the same way about Malcom.

I'm kinda happy they are beefing-up the Winters family. But problem is -- they are all in the same generation. I think they need to add a couple of Winters elders, even if they must recast. Aunt Mimi could always return, preferably permanently. Or at least Malcom or Olivia permanently (even as recasts). If the entire on-screen Winters family is of the same generation, TPTB are losing a lot of storyline potential. Successful soap opera families are most often multi-generational.

Thank you for responding, your comments are helpful. I wish I remembered more detail, but I don't think I would have imagined this unknown actress. I suppose I could be wrong about the holiday (perhaps it could have been the Christmas Eve episode), but I really think it was Thanksgiving Eve. I could also be wrong about the year, but I seem to remember Janice in the episode, so that should narrow it down. This question has been bugging me for over 30-years. LOL.

Does anyone remember Patricia Bruder being replaced by another actress temporarily around Thanksgiving the same year Janice was on the show? I remember tuning in the episode before Thanksgiving day and the Hughes were preparing the Thanksgiving meal in their kitchen. There was a strange middle-aged blonde woman sitting at the table chatting, but her name was not mentioned in the dialogue. Everyone in the scene was treating her like a well-known friend, so I had to assume she was playing Ellen Stuart. Does anyone else remember this? Or is this episode possibly in someone's collection?