vetsoapfan

Oh, that's cool. I love hearing references to long-gone past characters on soaps, since once they are off the canvas, they are rarely mentioned again. When Susan Harney was playing Alice, there was a scene between her and Aunt Liz in Alice's living room, in which Aunt Liz said that she had recently received a letter from Missy. Alice replied, "I'm glad she's writing to you again." I appreciated the fact that Harding Lemay alluded to the previously-strained relationship between Liz and Missy, and that Missy was even referred to at all. I was hoping it might lead somehow (i.e., Missy and Ricky returning to Bay City) but no such luck.

At least, when the Brooks sisters returned to Genoa City in 1984 to attend the Newman wedding, Trish Stewart was chosen to reprise Chris. I was hoping to see Janice Lynde as Leslie, too, but no such luck.😕 Speaking of that wedding, it was rather random and far-fetched that Nikki and Victor would even invite all the Brooks girls (along with Maestro Fausch, no less🙄) to attend. It's not like they were all close. I was thrilled when William Gray Espy and James Houghton returned as Snapper and Greg for the show's 30th anniversary celebration, though. It was just soooo disappointing to see David Hasselhoff and Wings Hauser (the worst of all the Greg recasts🤢) chosen to play out Liz Foster's death story. Yes, Lee Crawford's return was a dud and fizzled out, but I was happy to see her, anyway. It would have been so much more meaningful and effective, had she had the chance to be reunited with Espy and Stewart. (The boy who played Chuckie was quite good, BTW, and the show blundered by never bringing back either that character or Brooks Prentiss as adults.)

I do personally feel that Hallick and Lynde made poor decisions when they left Y&R; Brad and Leslie were the roles of a lifetime for them. Alas, people have dreams (and illusions) of grandeur, and often believe in their own publicity. Stewart's work on Y&R was top-notch. Her performances during Chris Brooks' rape storylines were gripping. Those first several years of the show were amazingly good.

Probably it improved in 1983 under new head writer Peggy O'Shea, and then was at its best-written in 1984-86 under Henry Slesar. But as I say, it was never a show I was devoted to. I gave it a chance at first, but when it never ignited real interest in me, it became just a time-filler to semi-pay attention to between favorite soaps.

The original cast members of Y&R were so glorious and memorable. It was hard to watch as so many of them left. Most of their replacements (David Hasselhoff, Brian Kerwin, Wings Hauer, Howard McGillin, Patricia Everly, Victoria Mallory, Lynn Topping, Bond Gideon) failed to hit the mark alas. Some of them were adequate, but failed to live up to the spark of the originals. Deborah Adair was okay and Jess Walton was quite good, but they were completely different sorts of actresses than Brenda Dickson, so after BD departed, Jill felt like a totally different character.

To be honest, I never paid attention to--or even noticed--Kimberly Beck's teeth

Thanks. Trish Stewart was exquisite; so lovely and magnetic. I wish I knew whatever became of her. She just sort of faded away. As far as I know, she has no social media presence at all.

I wouldn't classify it as "painfully" mediocre; "regularly mediocre" would suffice in my opinion. It didn't make me cringe. It just didn't make me feel invested in the characters and plots. I'd probably give the first year ** stars out of four.

Yes, I remember Janet from the earliest days of the show. I think she only appeared for a few seasons before being written out when she left Bay City for a job opportunity. As @Paul Raven mentioned, she was briefly engaged to Ernest Gregory, played by Mark Lenard (later of Star Trek fame, where he played Spock's father). I don't recall Janet being anything like Liz. Aunt Liz was a shrew back in the 1960s! If Janet was ever referred to after she left, I missed it. She and Granny both seemed to disappear into oblivion. (Although, after Uncle Dru was written out, he was mentioned as having sent a postcard to Jim and Mary.) Pat was believed sterile after her abortion, but surgery corrected the problem and she successfully bore the twins, Michael and Marianne. Alice had been pregnant and miscarried, but doctors assured her she would still be able to conceive. A few years later, she withdrew from Steve because her of inability to have children. This glaring inconsistency was never explained. Why was she suddenly barren? Jacqueline Courtney said that the question drove her crazy, but her husband (a doctor) was able to come up with a plausible explanation which allowed her to justify the situation in her mind.

HA! That just goes to show that if a mystery remains unsolved, questions about it will reapper eventually.

I began watching Capitol upon its debut, because I am always curious to see how new soaps launch themselves, and if they will capture my interest. There were some charismatic and talented actors whom I liked, some who were so-so, and some who were pretty weak. At first, the writing was adequate but not particularly captivating. Things did improve somewhat as TPTB tinkered with the cast and the writers, but ultimately, Capitol never really wormed its way into my heart. It was okay. I basically watched it because it was sandwiched between other shows I enjoyed, I and just kept the TV on while Capitol played, as I waited for my favorites to begin.

That's a good question. I do not remember a single scene between Moore and Harney, either. Hmmm.🤔

Yes, I remember Peggy Nolan being on the show for many years, the introduction of Linda, Gloria and Zack, and then how everyone in the family group dwindled away except for Linda, whose appearances became infrequent. I recall Linda and Alice sitting in the hospital cafeteria one day in 1972-ish. Linda told Alice that she and Zack had become engaged, and Alice said she wanted to throw a party for them. Nothing ever became of the Zack-Linda engagement, and I believe he faded away without fanfare. Nothing ever became of Gloria, either. I think she only appeared in 1972.

IIRC, at the time, Moore said in the press that AW "just stopped writing me into the show." TPTB were so incompetent and disorganized at the time, I don't think anyone there had a clear plan of what they were doing. I don't recall Linda and Quinn ever interacting, but after 45 years, the memory can be hazy.

Yes, I saw Vera Moore on a quiz show once, in which contestants competed against each other to be the first to guess the profession of the guest. She was working in cosmetics by then. As soon as I saw her, I exclaimed, "That's Linda Metcalf from Another World!!!" I thought she was a lovely and talented performer. The soap was dumb to let her go. But then again, AW had fired so many beloved actors/major characters, nothing surprised me by then. Moore ended up in a better position anyway, I'd say.

I agree. I like Ted Bessell, and thought he and Mary were pleasant enough together, but his character always felt extraneous and shoe-horned in. Yep, they went on to have bigger roles and success elsewhere. Place, Marshall and Bessell were all well cast for the MTM roles, but their characters were not really necessary. The six principles (Mary, Mr. Grant, Ted, Murray, Georgette and Sue Ann) were enough. I found it dark, drab and ordinary too. Her first apartment, however, had had such warmth and flair. There has been so much praise for the Chuckles episode over the decades. I, too, find it overrated. It's good, I believe, but not a significant standout compared to so many other fine episodes. Mary's problem with sleeping pills (the ep you mentioned, in which she sits down in the tub only to have Mr. Grant, Murray and Ted all barge into the bathroom) was funnier, IMHO. The Ted/Georgette wedding was great too. And the series finale always guts me. The first time I watched it, it made me ugly cry. Strange reaction to a sitcom, I know. I sobbed throughout a particular episode of Oz, but a comedy show? Hmmm.🙄

I cut the cable cord in 2011 to save money, and I have never looked back. When you realize that a plethora of TV series and movies are available for free on the internet, discarding cable is not painful at all. I do have subscriptions to Netflix and Crave (a Canadian streamer) as an add-on member to my sister's account. I find that the amount of choices I choose to watch is overwhelming. I'll only go back to cable if I win a fortune. They were okay, but didn't really catch on very well. I might have grown to like them if their characters had appeared more frequently, but even TPTB didn't seem invested in them and those ladies were quickly dispatched.

St. Elsewhere may be available on Hulu, but it is geo-blocked in Canada, alas. I agree that TMTMS had a shift in focus and tone after Rhoda and Phyllis departed. I missed them a lot, but the quality of the scripts, directing and acting continued to impress me throughout all seven seasons. I probably preferred the first few years the most, but loved all 137 episodes of the show. My one quibble? I was disappointed when Mary Richards vacated her first apartment. I adored and coveted it beyond reason. I wanted to live there soooooo much! She should at least sublet it to me!🤣

I absolutely loathed St Elsewhere's final scene and what it did to the show's landscape and integrity as a whole. The writers started to veer towards sophomoric camp in the final seasons, which tarnished the show's rich legacy. But, in the earlier years, when it was good, it was great. Peyton Place started to lose its way towards the end as well. I guess many long-running shows do. Among my favorites, the only series which remained excellent throughout every season was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Having it on DVD is a blessing.

The Youtube uploader originally shared all 514 episodes of PP many years ago, in their 23-minute (without commercials) entirety. They were all deleted for copyright reasons. He uploaded them again, and the same thing happened: every single one got axed. Incredibly, he tried yet again for a third time (I would not have had the patience), but cut each episode into two parts (for example Peyton Place #1, part A and Peyton Place #1, part B), with each half of an ep lasting 11-ish minutes. So far, so good (knock on wood); the entire series has now remained up, available and untouched for years. From what I remember, the quality is adequate. Not HD, of course, but acceptable enough to watch. It's free and it's there, so we are lucky to have the show in any condition we can get. Enjoy! Remember to watch the two follow up TV movies: Murder in Peyton Place from 1977 and Peyton Place: The Next generation from 1985. Both feature various cast members from the original series like Dorothy Malone, Ed Nelson, Tim O'Connor, Christopher Connolly (all of whom appear in both films), and Barbara Parkins, James Douglas, Patricia Morrow, Ruth Warrick and Evelyn Scott, who join them in the second reunion venture PP:TNG IMHO, the second film is superior.

Two of my other favorite TV series, St. Elsewhere and Family, also stalled after having their debut seasons commercially released on DVD. I'm in Canada, and neither of these dramas seem to be streaming anywhere. It's so frustrating; such high-quality and respected classics deserves to be available in their entirety. God knows, a lot of total crap is manufactured and released every day. The Mary Tyler Moore Show also stalled after the first three (I think) seasons came out, and no more DVD boxsets were released for YEARS. Luckily, the studio finally relented and did put out the rest, albeit in bare-bones versions (i.e., no special features at all). And China Beach remained unreleased for many years (copyright music issues), too, until Time-Life decided to get it released. So along with the many losses, there are some wins for viewers I doubt there is much hope for additional releases on Peyton Place, but at least all 514 episodes and the two follow-up television movies are available on youtube.

Linda had been one of Alice's best friends and even attended Alice's second wedding to Steven Frame. Why would Linda suddenly start calling Russ "Dr. Matthews" after almost a decade? Curious. Did the writers not do their homework or was Linda trying to be professional because she and Russ were at work? (The writers did not do their homework, I wager.) She was very likeable too. And she had a pre-established family which could have been built upon. Linda had a sister named Peggy Harris Nolan, who had been featured on the show from 1965-1973, as well as a brother and their mother Gloria. Since we had known various members of Linda's family for so long, I would have liked to see them focused on and used effectively.

BTW, I've looked it up. Russ was off the canvas from June 9, 1978 to October 15, 1979. This is the break towards the end of Lemay's run to which you referred, I imagine. So while he was not seen for 16 months, he did appear in both '78 and '79. Did you remember that Vera Moore played Alice's friend Linda Metcalf for nine years, from the summer of 1972 to the fall of 1981? Linda is not a character usually talked about by internet fans; she seems to be forgotten by many people, but it surprises me that she lasted into the '80s. I think she must have just faded away without explanation. I don't recall her having an official write-off storyline. Do you?

I apologize for making an editing error and omitting Ada from my most recent post. Duh. I had acknowledged her tenure originally, and then somehow managed to delete her from my later message. At 25 years on the show, Ada would rank higher than Alice, Pat or Russ in terms of longevity. To revise and correct, the ranking should be: Rachel, Aunt Liz, Ada, Alice, Pat, Russ, Jim. Yes, you are right: Russ was indeed written off at various times, but if a character appeared at all in any given year, even for a few episodes here or there, I counted that year among their total number. It really does gratify me that the seven top-appearing characters were all created during the Irna Phillips and Agnes Nixon years.😊

Alice Matthews, as played by five different actresses**, was seen in 1964-1979, 1981-1982, 1984-1985, and 1989: a total of 21 years. Pat, played by two actresses, appeared from 1964-1982, and also in 1989. In total, 19 years. With four actors in the role, Russ appeared in 1964-1981, 1989, and then finally in 1992. His total would also be 19 years. This makes Rachel, Aunt Liz, Ada, Alice, Pat and Russ the Top Six. Jim Matthews, also played by four different actors, was on the canvas from 1964-82, serving AW for 18 years. Cass Winthrop (1982-1999): 17 years. Mac Cory (1973-1989): 16 years Felicia Gallant (1983-1999): 16 years. Donna Love (1983-1989): 16 years. John Randolph (1964-1979): 15 years. ** Well, one actresses and five imposters, ROTF!