Tisy-Lish

Frankly, I've always been a little surprised the Dobsons even did a Hughes 4th of July picnic in their first year as head writers. Obviously, they disliked Chris and Nancy and had been ignoring them for months. Then to write the July 4th episode, they were forced to create an entire hour more-or-less focused on Chris and Nancy. Plus, the set builders had to pull out the Hughes back-yard set, which was very large and only used once or twice a year (that had to be expensive). And then to have James Stenbeck as a guest was just strange -- members of the Hughes family referred to him as a millionaire Danish prince (or something like that). And when James arrived with Barbara, the middle class Hughes and slightly wealthier Stewarts were obviously uncomfortable offering James a hot dog with a side of potato salad. Actually, I felt a bit uncomfortable watching it. Obviously ATWT was changing. And perhaps that was the Dobsons point in doing one last picnic -- to send the message to older viewers (I was only 21 at the time), that this show doesn't belong to you anymore. Well, it certainly didn't belong to me anymore -- even at 21.

Well, Hayley ain't no Janice Frame. That already seems clear.

Does anyone think Haley might poison someone other than Bill, by mistake? She seems a little sloppy with her "poisoning situations" -- like doing it at work with others buzzing around, rather than at home where it's just she and Bill. If this happens, it might be an interesting complication to Hayley's saga. But who might it be? And will the person die, or just get sick? All just speculation, of course...

Yes, I notice Junes sits around a lot talking to other characters, while she's supposed to be on-duty. And she's not some older seasoned server with years of experience. June is a new employee who should be hustling and trying to impress her boss. They could easily fix this with a throw away line like, "Finally, they gave me a ten-minute break." Or, "This place hasn't been busy all morning, so I can sit with you for a minute or two." Or, "I got here a little early today. My shift doesn't start for ten-minutes." You know -- just give her a reason for having time to converse written into the script. It would not be difficult at all.

I don't know the exact year, but James had arrived in Oakdale just a few weeks earlier. I believe he came to the picnic as a guest of Barbara. So if you can identify the year James first appeared, it would have been July 4th of that year.

Wow, then an earlier writer must have been channelling Marland. The Hughes 4th of July picnic had been missing for several years during and after the Dobsons. So this might have been the first attempt to recreate the Hughes picnic post-Dobsons. When the Dobsons came onboard, they wrote only one Hughes 4th of July picnic, with James Stenbeck as a guest. That was freaky, to say the least. And then, we didn't get another Hughes picnic until around 1985. After that, the Hughes picnic continued for at least Marland's eight years as head-writer -- and possibly a year or two beyond that.

Love your comments. Marland's first 4th of July episode in Bob and Kim's backyard was certainly a tribute to Don MacLaughlin. And yes, the cast did protect Don -- as he was featured with members of the family, but he easily handed-off lines to Don Hastings and others, when he seemed to need a break. And each of the other actors picked right-up, and carried on. And later, Chris had rather lengthy poignant scenes with both David Stewart and Andy Dixon, in which MacLaughlin never missed a beat. My goodness, that was a GREAT episode of ATWT.

I was 35 when I finished grad school. And I, like a lot of other people, began my career right out of under-grad. So I, like a lot of other people, was working full time during my entire grad school experience -- driving to the university for night classes for several years. Glad I did it, but that period of my life was exhausting. Anyone who thinks Izaiah is too old for grad school, probably hasn't been to grad school. And I hope they write a nice romance for Eva and Izaiah. They do seem to have some chemistry...

Oh Lord, I hope not! We've had enough legacy cheaters for the first year of the series. Give Vernon another secret, PRETTY PLEASE...

Thank you for the information. That makes my point even stronger (sadly). Which soap opera is going to create a new (hopefully contract) role for a 66 year old actor? It's certainly not impossible, but i think it is unlikely in 2025.

Agreed! And I'd take it a step or two further -- compared to B&B, DAYS, Y&R, and GH, this show looks like a MENSA convention. And I'm happy about that. BTG doesn't write down to the audience. BTG doesn't seem to be written for junior-high girls -- it's written for anyone who enjoys this type of drama. Is BTG perfect? Not by a long-shot. But at least it provides a compelling story five-days a week, written for grown-ass adults.

I'd love to see her on BTG also. But she's pushing 60, so where would she fit into the cast? Maybe a a friend (or enemy) of either Anita or Vernon. Tamara Tunie is 66 and Clifton Davis is 80. I doubt she'd be cast in the orbit of Nicole or Dani, although I suppose that would be possible (despite the age difference). Or maybe an older sister to Bill or Ted? Perhaps one of those ideas could work for her. But to be realistic, how many soaps are creating new characters for 60-ish actors? By the way, I'm 68 myself. And I've always enjoyed older characters on soaps. Back in the day, I loved me some Grandpa Hughes, Papa Bauer, and Kate Martin.

I'm hesitant to make remarks about the appearance of any actor. So, I'll just say this -- I believe Noah's immediate family has already experienced more than enough facial surgery. No need to take poor Noah down the same road. It's redundant.

I completely agree. The "new face" angle is completely unnecessary and makes this plot even more unbelievable. How many different times has Noah been recast? None of the previous recasts required a new facial surgery Noah. Why play this angle now? This head-writer must be a total idiot.

This Haley poisoning Bill plot is giving vibes of Janice Frame poisoning Mac Cory on Another World back in 1979. It would be interesting if both storylines end in similar ways. Janice's final scene was compelling television to say the least.

You and I are in 100 percent agreement. If you've never read Harding Lemay's memoir, Eight Years in Another World, I urge you to do so. If you prefer character driven psychological drama, rather than strongly plotted stories, I think you'd enjoy his book.

I read your hidden content, and I'll attempt to reply vaguely. Damn, you could be successful as soap opera writer! Your suggestion is very akin to Harding Lemay's style of writing -- psychological interior issues causing problems, rather than outside villains drifting in and out of town causing trouble. Plus, Sharon certainly needs some kind of reboot to make her relevant again. Sharon could become Y&R's version of Liz Matthews -- overbearing mother to her children, and meddling in the business of additional characters.

Does anyone know why TPTB are sending all these characters to LA at the same time? And introducing new contract characters while they are there? It is all going to be centered around one storyline set in LA? Or are they all there at the same time by coincidence?? Plus, I'm assuming the new contract characters (at least one or two) will end up moving to Genoa City. So there will need to be some explanation for that. I'd love to hear any speculation.

Well, I don't think she's been referred to in the scripts as a "female impersonator", but an Anita Williams impersonator. But I understand what you mean. But in Vegas, most (if not all) Elvis impersonators are cis men. So who knows??

Yes, that could be okay. As long as the confusion is brief -- like one scene. But are you sure Jackie is a drag queen? Of course it is implied that she might be. But it wasn't mentioned during the wedding, and I don't believe Anita or Vernon have made any reference to her being a drag queen. If Jackie is not a drag queen, but a cis woman, then all bets are off!

Does anyone think the recent interactions between Anita and Jackie Tyree, and now the invitation to Thanksgiving dinner, might be foreshadowing something like a doppelgänger kidnapping? Vaguely similar to Kathryn and Marge years ago on Y&R? I'm sorta hoping they don't go that direction with the impersonator. But we all know, whenever a major soap opera character has a "look-alike", it ultimately results in the doppelgänger (or twin) briefly replacing the original (or at least attempting to). Personally, I don't hate that type of storyline, but I think it is a little too early in the infancy of BTG to resort to that trope. Two or three years from now, I might be ready for it. Any else have an opinion about this?

Today's episode was very engaging and character-driven (and I love character-driven stuff on any soap). It's nice to see the writers step away from the non-stop major plots, slow things the-heck-down, and give the audience a few episodes to take a breath and enjoy interactions between the characters. Great to see BTG maturing in this direction.

Seems we are being sent on another out of town caper. Last time, we went to a villa in France with more than half the cast for three months. And now, we're headed to Los Angeles with a smaller, yet significant number of cast members. Any speculation (not verified spoilers) regarding what we are in for in LA??

I was never a fan of the Dobson's work on ATWT, but I had been crazy about GL while they were in charge in Springfield. Their work on GL was very character driven, while still providing strong plots -- the perfect combination, really. On ATWT, I thought the Dobsons' storylines were acceptable, but I have never understood why they chose to "rip out the core" (to use your words) at ATWT, when on Guiding Light they had used the established "core" in such wonderful ways. For example, why did they get rid of (or minimize -- whatever term is best) Chris and Nancy, when they did not do the same with Bert Bauer, Steve Jackson, Sarah McIntyre, etc. on Guiding Light? There are ways to update and modernize a soap opera without tossing aside profoundly important legacy characters. I enjoyed the way the Dobsons wrote for the second and third generations of ATWT's legacy -- plenty of storylines for Bob, Lisa, Kim, John, Ellen, David, and Tom, Dee, etc. But when Chris and Nancy all but disappeared, many long-term fans just could not see anything positive in that. So anything else the Dobsons did was almost muted by the alienation of so many long-term viewers.

And poor Pat took to drinking, because she mistakenly believed John was screwing her best friend Lenore. Then Bernice was murdered on Pat and John's patio (the body was found by Mary Matthews), and poor Pat was too drunk that afternoon to remember whether or not she had killed Bernice. Pat was a suspect in the murder, but did not go to trial. In the end, a young lawyer from John Randolph's firm, Mark Vendable, admitted to killing Bernice in a fit of rage -- because he had also been screwing Bernice. And didn't Walter Curtain also have an affair with Bernice? Lord that Bernice...