vetsoapfan

Right. Aside from Millie Taggart's and Carolyn Cullitin's all-too-brief tenure at the show, TGL was abysmally written during its final 15 years or so. There are only so many chances even the die-hard fans will give any soap before we come to accept the inevitable.

I always dreaded seeing DePriest's name in the closing credits of any show. UGH. She was a dreadful writer.

TGL had been beautifully written for decades, but after Agnes Nixon left in 1966, we had a revolving door of scribes come aboard, some of whom were...not so good. We had the likes of James Lipton, Gabrielle Upton, and Robert Cenedella at the helm, whose work was significantly weaker than fans of the show were used to. I think it was Cenedella and Lipton that gave us the dud Victoria Jackson story. While the show was never BAD in the 1970s (it only really fell apart in 1983-4), some storylines from that era are better left forgotten. Many gay actors and actresses have had great on-screen chemistry with members of the opposite sex, just like many straight actors and actresses have had excellent chemistry with members of the same sex. George Reinholt and Jacqueline Courtney, Tony Geary and Genie Francis...heck, even Rock Hudson and Doris Day (LOL) show that gays and straights play well together. And heterosexuals Grant Aleksander and Michael O'Leary had better on-screen chemistry with each other than either actor ever had with any female co-stars.

Hulswit was great as Ed: warm, sweet and cuddly at times, but capable of deep fury at others. Peter Simon was a good actor, but his version of Ed was morose, internal and pallid. The actor was miscast from the get-go. Ed Bauer became far less interesting with the change in actors. He went from a viable romantic lead and patriarch figure to a nondescript supporting player. I think Ellen Parker's charming Maureen saved him to a degree, but then TIIC went and killed her off. There was no chemistry between Simon and Maureen Garret as Holly. I wanted Ed Bauer on canvas, just because he was...Ed Bauer, but after Hulswit left, the show never really used the character as well as the character deserved. What a waste!

I recorded many different soaps, and yes, including OLTL.

Marcus had really helped revitalize SFT when she became that show's headwriter, so I hoped she would help raise the ratings for LoL in the same way. LoL had been plagued by atrocious writing for years, however, and I think many viewers had just become fed up and did not want to give the show any more chances.

I have no recollection of Tudi appearing on ATWT, and her name is not listed among the show's cast members in any of the history books I have. ATWT is not listed on her imdb page, either, so I wonder if the magazine made a mistake when referring to Wiggins as a former player on the program.

Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing the original wedding ceremony between them either, although I was a regular viewer back then.

I think the writers in 1981 were Michele Poteet Lisanti and Gary Tomlin. although Nina Laemmle had been there just before them and really screwed up the show, so perhaps the damage David Johnson was referring to came from her. Kellam Chandler was one of the nine mostly-dud characters Laemmle introduced (she axed 13 others) and the story with Kellam raping Marlena happened under Laemmle, as did Mary's marriage to Alex. As boring as Poteet-Lisant and Tomlin were, Laemmle's material was boring, stupid, and destructive to the entire show. She was by far the worst writer ever to work on Days up until that point (Reilly was years in the future), and she had the nerve and the audacity to announce that the show had before "dull and repetitious" before she arrived. HA!

Ultimately, Ellen Demming was my favorite Meta, probably because I "knew" her the longest, but Jone Allison was indeed very effective in the role. It's too bad that she did not have a longer career. Paul Kinkaid's resentment alone, over Bill's abandoning his mom Simone and returning to the Bauers, could have provided the TGL with explosive, long-range drama. In any case, a show should never kill off a legacy character like Bill Bauer, one who had been there from the beginning (of the TV version anyway) unless THERE IS NO CHOICE. The way and the reason TGL killed Bill in 1983 was abhorrent.

Charlotte was gone by then. Kit lasted until 1974, but I don't know if she was still there during the specific month this promo was assembled. The video quality is too blurry, and I cannot make out the face of the woman in the hospital bed. Wilson Frost was a minor character who only lasted about a year. He was romantically interested in Sarah, but left Springfield when things did not work out between them. Those scenes were devastating in their power. I could sense where it was all heading, but as I was watching the story unfold, I kept thinking, "Surely TPTB would not be STOOPID enough to kill off the matriarch of the Bauer family; a character universally beloved by the audience and one of the few Bauers left on canvas!" But of course, that's exactly what happened. We got some poignant, mesmerizing and epic moments that month, but the show was dealt a crippling blow, long-term.

--Bert Bauer --Ed and Mike Bauer --Holly Norris --Ed Bauer --Peggy Fletcher --Leslie and Steve Jackson --Mike Bauer --Dr. Wilson Frost and Saran McIntyre --Janet Norris --Ken Norris --Adam Thorpe and Barbara Norris --Ed Bauer --Leslie and Mike Bauer --Sarah McIntyre And no, Joe Werner was not in the promo.

Back then, there were automatic timers you could buy; little devices used to turn your house lights on when you were out of town, to discourage would-be burglars. You just plugged your lights into the device and they would be on between, say, 8:00 PM and midnight every night. I bought a couple of those timers for my bedroom and plugged both an audio tape recorder and a small, portable TV into them. The television and recorder would both come on at the designated time, and tape the desired shows. I was thrilled when 120-minute tapes became available, because that meant a full hour on each side, and I could get two 30-minute episodes on one cassette. Pathetically (LOL), I set up another system like that in the living room, with another timer, another audio tape recorder, and my principle TV. This allowed me to record two MORE, 30-minute shows. At the end of the day, I would have four shows to listen to while I made and ate supper, did the housework, had a bath, etc. It was wonderful! The only limitations to my system was that I had to record programs which were back-to-back to each other and on the same network, because obviously I could not use the timers to change channels. A next-door neighbor of mine, also a soap fiend, thought my idea of taping the soaps like this was INGENIOUS. She ran out and bought a timer of her own. We coordinated between ourselves who would record which programs. For example, I would tape CBS soaps on one cassette and NBC titles on my second cassette, and she would record shows from ABC at her house. We could then share our material with each other, and therefore have access to even MORE daily episodes. We usually exchanged tapes on the weekend and listened to them then. We earmarked certain cassettes with important episodes on them, to preserve and not erase. I realize that my going to all this trouble just to keep up with my favorite soaps sounds nuts, but...back then, soaps were actually GOOD, and worth the effort. I don't even bother video recording today's dreck.

It does not help that I am technology-illiterate. Really, really, really. I only figured out six months ago, after being a computer user for 25 years, how to save material to my download folder and transfer it to a flashdrive. I still can't burn a CD or DVD, or upload anything to my computer from other sources.. Not only am I helpless, I am resigned to the fact that I am hopeless, LOL.

THE GUIDING LIGHT: --Rev. Ruthledge opened his church in Five Points, in 1918 --Meta Bauer was born in 1919 --Rev. Ruthledge died overseas in 1946 --Bill and Bertha Miller Bauer married on December 9, 1949 --Meta Bauer White's son Chuckie died tragically on September 20, 1950 --Meta killed her husband Ted on September 22, 1950 --Mike Bauer was born in March, 1952 --Ed Bauer was born on December 31, 1954 --Papa Bauer turned 65 on March 14, 1957 --Hope Bauer was born in September, 1963 --Frederick "Rick" Bauer was born in August, 1970 --Papa Bauer died in February, 1973

When Y&R created Mackenzie Browning, I thought they should have made her Brock and Lorie's grandchild; the daughter of Brock's and Lorie's love-child. At least then the show would have mined some its actual history.

I personally enjoy listening old-time radio dramas, so I don't mind the soap episodes that exist in audio-only versions. I figure, audio-only is better than nothing! I've got many old soaps from the 1960s and '70s on audio. I just wish I had the ability to transfer them to another format and save them. I'm afraid to listen to them because I don't want my ancient tapes to disintegrate (some already have).

Wikipedia can be wildly unreliable, but this article is interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_television_broadcast#United_States And speaking of lost soap episodes, this is cool too.

Yes, Lorie and Brock had had a relationship before they both returned to Genoa City, but we were led to believe it was primarily based on sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll more than anything else. Lorie had always been a scamp, but the virtuous Brock had apparently had some wild oats to sow as well. It was weird, in 1976, when Brock asked Peggy to marry him, following her rape by Ron Becker.

I believe ABC started continuously saving their soaps in 1978, but some random eps from earlier years (like the 1976 DTR one) had escaped erasure.

Right. We can assume that Katherine knew Leslie and Lorie at least nominally, but I doubt she ever ever interacted with Chris, Peggy, or Jennifer Brooks at all.

I think Lisa Brown carried Michael Tylo, actually. On his own, or with anyone else, I doubt he would have made many sparks. Had I been writing the show at the time, I would have written off Iva pretty quickly, much faster than I ever would have written off Kirk. Indeed, I probably would have kept him around indefinitely and not written him out at all. The show needed charismatic leading men.

To my knowledge, Peggy and Mrs. C never shared a single scene. And Katherine only sat in the audience while Leslie was playing the piano.

Leslie Brooks gave Jill piano lessons too, when Brenda Dickson played Jill.

No, even back then, all the characters were isolated into their own personal little groups, although Katherine did go to see one of Leslie's shows.