vetsoapfan

Actually, that probably is Fran Carlon; good catch. I do not remember Meredith very well, but it could be her too. Thank you so much!

That's the thing: I had never seen Emmerdale Farm until after the Dingles arrived, so emotionally, they were part of the canvas, like a wart of the backside of life, LOL. If I had had to witness and endure the Sugdens being slaughtered first-hand, I'm sure the growth of the Dingles would have infuriated me more. On TGL, I watched in horror during the 1980s as we lost Bert Bauer (through no fault of TPTB, but still...), Bill Bauer, Mike Bauer, Hope Bauer, Hilary Bauer, and even the "real" Ed Bauer when the role was recast with what I considered to be a jarring and miscast actor. When the Shaynes arrived and took a lion's share of the focus, I regarded them as an infection invading the host. It was dreadful.

I may be biased because TGL was *my* show. I had had a decades-long relationship with the citizens of Springfield before the Shaynes descended upon the town and took over, overshadowing all that could have been good in the 1980s. However, for Emmerdale purists, I can see the Dingles being the same sort of overwhelming irritant.

No one, I repeat: NO ONE, has ever been more abrasive to me than that screeching MEva Shayme, her drooling half-wit father, her off-key mama Minnie Pearl, her gay porn-star-esque brother cRusty, and her loudmouthed sister Crassie. I only give Roxie a break because she had the good graces to leave town and stay gone. Between the Dingles and the Shaynes, it's a toss-up as to who is more irritating.

I am a firm believer that soaps should preserve and nurture their original core families; the families who usually made the shows popular to begin with. It was shockingly short-sighted and stupid for Emmerdale to kill off so many Sugdens over the years. The Dingles might have been tolerable, IN LOW NUMBERS, had they not seemed to take over and infect the entire town. I liken their effect on Emmerdale to the vile Shaynes on The Guiding Light, who invaded Springfield in the 1980s, seemed to breed like rabbits, and infested the entire series. Unfortunately, at this point I don't think TPTB have the desire or even the ability to replenish the Sugdens, with so many of them dead.

Yes, Jerry Lacey played Simon Gibley on ATWT in 1971, after his run on DS and before his role on LofL. Peter Galman played Tom from 1969 to 1973. He and Gregg Marx were my favorite actors in the role. I wish I could remember the two actresses in the photo whom I couldn't identify. It is frustrating how vague memories can skirt around the very edges of your mind, but when you try to grab hold of them, they drift further away. Maybe someone like zanereed will drop by this thread and help out.

The front row has Grandpa Hughes, Nancy and Chris Hughes, and Judge Lowell Above them: Tom Hughes, Lisa Miller, Penny Hughes (a poorly-received recast Phoebe Dorin), Carol Hughes Next up: Alma Miller, ????, David Stewart, and Susan Stewart Top row: ????, Simon Gibley, John Dixon, Ellie Bradley

I, for one, revere Calhoun and am grateful for the fine work he did on ATWT and TGL. We needed more EPs like him and fewer like JFP.

So, Holly returned in 1988 and then Roger popped up in 1989? I was trying to remember for sure. I know I was tentatively hopeful about the show returning to its roots when I first saw Holly again, and then spastic with joy when Roger appeared. I just wish we had had Mart Hulswit playing Ed Bauer at the time. Then the show really would have felt like itself again. After the mass slaughter of characters, I had a hard time stomaching what was passing for TGL throughout 1985, 86, and 87.

Didn't Erika Slezak mention in an interview that she, herself, added that line in the script, because the new writers did not mention Kevin's kidnapping at all?

I originally thought that was Joe Roberts. I'm glad you were here to clarify.

Nobody ever mentioned the coincidence about both babies being named Megan, but by the time Jessica Tuck's character was introduced, I doubt TPTB in charge of the show even knew about Cathy Craig, let alone her daughter. Writers like Pat Falken Smith, Douglas Marland, Claire Labine and a few others were wont to study shows' history and weave it into current storylines, but most writers never seem to bother. While watching TGL in 1984 (I think), I cringed when Kelly Nelson asked Ed Bauer, "Do you remember Steve Jackson, the surgeon?" and Ed replied, "Yes, he was on staff here at Cedars." Um...Steve Jackson had also been Ed's FATHER-IN-LAW, and was Rick's maternal GRANDFATHER, so this dialogue between the men just showed that the writers had no idea about the show's history. On AW, someone once asked Jamie how he and Sally were related. He said that, "She's my cousin or something." Nooooooooooooo. Your stepmother's daughter is not your cousin, Jamie. Mistakes like that are simply annoying.

ITA. The series was seriously crippled by 1984, and limped through the 1980s on life support. It rebounded with the return of Roger and Holly, and much better writing, in 1989, and then had its last hurrah for the next few years. After they stupidly killed the heart of the show (Maureen Bauer) and Nancy Curlee left, TGL 's fate was sealed. Still, TGL was TGL from 1937 to 1983, and then again from about 1989 to 1994, so we had a good, long ride. How the show staggered along for its final 15 years, I'll never understand.

Okay, this is just weird.

Yes, that's Aunt Meta.

Perhaps as a person with various documented quirks, Phillips could be annoying. But the brilliance of her writing and her understanding of the medium were undeniable. Lemay did not go into detail about Slesar's work. He only said that he had been watching several soaps before taking over as head writer on AW, including Slesar's SOMERSET, and all those soaps were dreadful and/or ludicrous. I think Slesar actually deserves much more credit than he receives. He was one of the only scribes who could do it all: write compelling and three-dimensional characters, give us emotional and memorable romantic drama, AND tell some of the best suspense/mystery stories on TV. We were lucky to have had him on TEON for so long. His replacement was beyond horrible. I was initially impressed with Long's style on TGL, but became livid and when she and Gail Kobe slaughtered 2/3 of the cast and started telling lowbrow stories about talking computers, The Dreaming Death, etc. And I LOOOOOOOOOATHED Reva, so the 1980s ended up being hard for me as a TGL fan.

You too! I just wanted to make sure you knew that my disagreement did not equate to disrespect. You know, I have an acquaintance who loathes THE WIZARD OF OZ. He claims that it is a "radical, atheist" film designed to lure children away from God. If I can deal with that, contrary opinions about AW will not bother me, LOL. So keep your opinions coming. I may strenuously disagree, but it's all good.

Even today, decades after his tenure on AW, Lemay's interviews are in circulation. Reading his comments about other writers and actors is quite telling. He has been very snide and catty about even the most revered writers of the industry. As a novice soap opera scribe, he was once asked what he had learned from some of the legendary writers of the genre and he replied, "What NOT to do." Henry Slesar would have been one of the writers whose work Lemay mocked in his book. Slesar was writing both THE EDGE OF NIGHT and SOMERSET in 1971. The brilliant William J. Bell and Pat Falken Smith were at the helm of DAYS that same year, yet their show was another one Lemay trashed to the executives when he was in talks to take over the reigns of AW. Please don't take anyone expressing different points of view as a personal affront, or that folks don't want to hear your views about what you watched as a child. I have vivid memories of soaps from before I was in kindergarten too, LOL. I am only responding to you because I am interested, not because I want to complain that you don't agree with me. Disagreement is normal. Conversations can be lively and even heated at times (we soap devotees are a passionate bunch), but of course your thoughts are welcome. If we all sat across saying, "Why yes, you are perfectly right...I agree with you 100%....our beliefs are perfectly in sync...." it would be soooooooooo tedious, LOL. When Lemay first took over AW, and he worked with the characters and framework created by Irna Phillips and then embellished by Agnes Nixon, it was great. As he expanded the show's focus by bringing some of his own memorable characters into the mix, it was even better. But once he decimated the Matthews family, AW lost its focus and began deteriorating. By the late 1970s the show was a mess and never fully recovered.

His own autobiographies and interviews paint a picture of his personality, I must say.

Not to be contrary or start any friction, but to be honest, I have had many a debate with folks who took Lemay's side in this; folks who "weren't there" (so to speak), to watch, analyze, or judge material and performances for themselves, but who nevertheless developed negative opinions of actors and other writers based on Lemay's one-sided account of events. I always ask, why do they assume his personal opinions were fair or accurate? I did not find Lemay's petulant, disdainful, often ludicrous cattiness to be charming. Indeed, despite his outstanding and undeniable talent, I found him to be quite unpleasant, quite hypocritical, and not always honest if it did not suit his agenda to be. His M.O. seemed to be denigrate everyone else in sight in order to elevate himself.

True, but it was hard not to feel that Rachel deserved it, LOL.

Do you mean the Soaps & Serials novelizations? I personally thought they were dreadful, and their inaccuracies drove me crazy. If I had been your teacher, I would have banned them too, LOL! I watched AW religiously throughout the Alice/Steven/Rachel triangle. If I missed more than five episodes between 1968 and 1975, I would be surprised. I don't think it ruffles feathers to offer opinions, although I do admit it irks me when someone offers an opinion and states it's a fact which must never be questioned. Actress Joan Bennett was the "name" star of Dark Shadows from 1966 to 1971, and an internet fan once wrote that JB loved her time playing the role of Elizabeth Stoddard; supposedly it had been the highlight of her professional career. Not only was this improbable even on the surface (Bennett had been in several Hollywood motion pictures, and daytime soaps are exhausting work and do not pay very well), but in her own autobiography, Bennett had made it clear she had not enjoyed her time on the show. The fan became livid at being contradicted, and several sarcastic and huffy replies ensued. I tried patiently explaining that his OPINION about Bennett's experience on DS did not override what she had stated IN HER OWN WORDS, but to no avail. That sort of interaction with touchy, obstinate fans is annoying. Offering a different point of view is not. BTW, I was team Russ and Alice all the way. Rachel is lucky that I was not there when she was at her worst, tormenting the Matthews family. She would have been dead meat. Dead meat, I tell you. There were three times in particular when I would have literally smacked her into oblivion, LOL!

ITA. Steven caused so much damage by being ambivalent and playing into both women's insecurities. Rachel had reasons for being the way she was, but some of her actions were immoral and gratuitously vicious. Some of the things she did to Russ and Alice were monstrous. Alice wanted nothing to do with Rachel, and went out of her way to dismiss her after Russ and Rachel divorced, but I did not blame her. I held nothing but scorn for Rachel at the time too.

Earlier in this thread, you wrote, "My first tv memories are of the special 60-minute wedding episode with the crane shot from the roof of Steve's house (that Robert Delany had designed) to the backyard wedding with Alice being upstaged by Iris's organza hat." If your first memories of AW are May 3, 1974, doesn't that mean you came in AFTER the early years of the Alice/Steven/Rachel storyline, which ran from 1968-75? Color me confused.

Sam Groom's Russ was "dull" to you? Or were you referring to David Bailey's tepid interpretation of the character? Alice was a "wimp"? Meaning the character in general, or thge portrayal by some of the weaker actresses in the role?