Tisy-Lish

Nicole has a new assistant?

Are they setting up a possible romance between Julie and the former owner of the bookstore?? Sorry, I've forgotten his name. Just my opinion, but I think it is too soon for a new romance for Julie. There are lots of other plots that could be written for her. But not a romance at this time...

I was watching during the meat locker episodes. I was a sophomore in high school, so this must have taken place during summer break, or possibly Christmas break. And yes, Meg's husband was involved. If I remember correctly, a local public school was suspected of serving horse meat in the cafeteria. So Van and Cal went to investigate -- not sure of their motivation, but perhaps one of them had been working as a newspaper reporter or something. They went into the meat locker and Van somehow recognized all the meat was horse meat. Somebody closed the door on them, so Van and Cal nearly froze to death. Meg's new husband, Jeff Hart, was Rosehill's crooked mayor, and somehow involved in selling horse meat to the school. Although this all sounds rather humorous -- it wasn't played with humor or camp. It was played dead serious, as most soap operas did at that time. It really was a great storyline, and was surrounded by other wonderful plots that Labine provided to the show.

I'd agree the early to mid-1970s were one of the golden ages of Love of Life. The early 70's which featured the love story of Tess and Bill really helped update the show's "old fashioned" reputation. And Claire Labine's head-writing tenure in the mid-70s, although brief, should have won Emmys for best writing. Love of Life was nothing less than splendid, under Labine's pen. Sadly, when Labine left to create Ryan's Hope, Love of Life's golden era ended abruptly and the show never recovered.

LOL. I'm glad somebody finally acknowledged this. And I can't argue with your description -- although I don't feel as strongly about it as you do. I never thought Mac was a good choice for Nancy's second husband. I can't imagine Nancy being attracted to him, after a lifetime with Chris. Mac was too gruff and rough around the edges and too working-class. Plus the actor was not particularly strong on daytime (although he seems fine in all the old primetime shows I've seen him in). He certainly wasn't a strong enough actor to play out the Alzheimers storyline that was intended to go on for seven or eight years. Here's my opinion of Marland's motivation for giving Nancy a second marriage so soon: Mac had been on the show as the police lieutenant since at least the Douglas Cummings storyline, and possibly even earlier. And he was the proper age. Marland was eager to do the Alzheimers plot in which he wanted to involve Nancy. So he just shoved Mac and Nancy together, despite their seeming incompatibility, and started down the road to dementia quite soon after they married. Maybe Marland felt he didn't have enough time to introduce a new (more appropriate) older man to be Nancy's next husband. So in order to kick the Alzheimers plot into high gear, he just chose Mac and moved forward. Although I didn't mind the Alzheimers plot and felt the writing was very good, I truly feel it would have been far more effective and believable with a stronger actor. And the lack of appeal between Nancy and Mac also harmed the plot, in my opinion. It was great to see Nancy finally have a storyline (was this Nancy's first real storyline ever?). But I would have preferred perhaps a retired doctor or retired college professor as Nancy's new beau. All this is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree.

That phrase should be banned from the message board. It is offensive to the entire genre.

Is Donnell really gone for good? That's a mistake. The actor is magic. Keep that kid in town and surround him with a small group of young people around his age. How far away is his university supposed to be? Isn't it somewhere in DC? Why not just let him commute to classes, and live in Fairmont Crest??

OMG, that chokes me up every time I watch that scene.

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.