vetsoapfan

It was his best performance!😉 BTW, I am reading the Oral History book by Tom Lisanti, and enjoying it thoroughly. I thought RH was excellent in its early years and in its final one (IMHO, it came to an end much better than most other soaps did), but a lot of its middle era was a mess. Now that I am reading about how incompetent, foolish and combative so many of TPTB were at the time, I am not surprised! The egregious and destructive mistakes heaped on the show by Claire Labine and Pat Falken Smith boggle the mind.

For the time, that was a huge deal. The soaps had not yet started to go overboard with the cartoonish, campy slap fests and lily-pond dunks that came later. Soap mags printed several letter from viewers/readers who said how shocked they were that "good" Alice went after Rachel physically (lunging at her and throwing copper pots).

Maybe I was subconsciously comparing Granger's line deliveries on ATWT to OLTL, where he stumbled and "went up" so often (like Hugh Marlow in the later years on AW). His scenes on ATWT were significantly less marred by his forgetting the dialogue. Another actress who would get confused, mangle up dialogue, and then save herself was Joan Bennet on Dark Shadows. I know performers have often say that memorization is like a muscle, which strengthens over time, but I still marvel at performers' ability to retain pages and pages of dialogue, particularly when they appear on three, four, or five episodes a week. I could not do it, either, which is why I tend to be forgiving of soap actors who stumble. I figure, I know people in real life who stammer and take pauses while speaking, so in a sense, mangled speech is not unbelievable.

I don't recall him fumbling his lines very much on ATWT, either, but it had much more of a problem when he appeared on OLTL.

Wow, 102. We should all be so lucky. May she RIP.

I've long felt that novelist Jonathan Kellerman, who has had a hugely successful series (the Alex Deleware books) would be a good fit for a crime-oriented soap a la The Edge of Night. He's very prolific, writes engaging and compelling stories, and is good at characterization. God knows, soaps need talented new blood. I'd rather see a soap newbie try and fail, than a regurgitated, recycled hack fail for the 10th freaking time.

Oh, I had completely forgotten about him. I wouldn't be opposed to giving him another shot at the GH universe, particularly considering other "writers" who could be foisted on us.

Yes, although I am struggling to come up with any names (besides Nancy Curlee, Kay Alden and Lorraine Broderick) who have had strong success in the past (if not 100%, but overall).

The problem remains: ARE THERE any writers still out there who even have formidable reputations any more? All the greats have either passed away or are retired.

The weaker a show is, overall, the more glaring the weakest links in the cast are. If they don't have the writing and directing to support them, wooden actors flounder out in the open. At least Hensley was surround by some fine actors to prop him up. And at its height, ATWT never had as many dud characters on screen as GH does now.

So do I. Daytime TV is awash with executives who don't seem to understand soaps, and who micro-manage the genre out of sheer ignorance, making the same destructive choices their predecessors have made for four decades. Add the inexplicable habit of recycling "talent" that has failed before at other shows...and we have a recipe for disaster. I'll give credit where credit is due: Bobbie's farewell episodes were handled much better than I thought they would be. Ditto. She may not be Ron Carlivati bad, Chuck Pratt bad, Dena Higley bad, but being "less bad" than notoriously awful writers doesn't mean she's good, either.

He really was. Ideally, I'd like to see him as "lead script writer" at a soap with a strong, capable head writer at the helm. If PM could write two-three scripts a week and edit the others, that would be great. The mob garbage has been overplayed and beaten into the ground for 20+ years, as you say. It's tedious and creatively bankrupt. The criminal element on the show needs to be laid to rest. The GH cast is top-heavy and bogged down with a huge number of irrelevant and/or burned out characters who need to be pruned away, pronto. I've entertained myself more than once by taking cast lists of the various soaps and crossing out the names of all the characters whom I feel could/should be shown the door. ITA, but when I voice this opinion, I'm always told that I'm dreaming in Technicolor, and might as well dream about having Henry Cavill, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Theo James, Tom Ellis and Jamie Dornan as my personal pool boys...because that's about as probable, LOL That's the problem: we speak out and clamor for quality material because we DON'T WANT hordes of more viewers to stop watching.

I'm also having memory flashbacks to the early 1980s, when Pat Falken Smith returned to DAYS with so much fanfare, and also succeeded Douglas Marland on TGL. Back then, I was younger and more trusting that TPTB were not TOTAL imbeciles, LOL, but the swiftness with which PFS disappeared from both those shows indicates that the "suits" have not learned a thing about hanging on to quality writers in the last 40 years. The same dumb decisions and moves are still being made. People keep telling me that soap fans should never criticize or voice displeasure about the status of any daytime drama, because the genre is in such a precarious position that criticism and audience dissatisfaction may encourage the networks to cancel the few remaining shows. Comments should be glowing and positive.🙄 But realistically, the majority of reasonable viewers are not going to passively accept (and, worse, praise) utter tripe because it's better than nothing and it's all we can expect nowadays. If even ONE of the remaining four soaps were well-written or in decent shape, but they are all basically subpar. We have nothing to sing about. A lot may be riding on The Gates to succeed and rejuvenate the dimming genre.

I had a brief glimmer of hope when Kay Alden returned to Y&R, even though she was saddled with Sally Sussman Morina, whom I consider a mediocre writer. I hoped Alden's influence could result in at least some positive changes and help make Y&R...Y&R again. Now history has repeated itself. I was gratified to see Patrick Mulcahey coming aboard GH, even though I wished it had not been alongside Elizabeth Korte. I'd like to see Nancy Curlee take a shot at headwriting duties instead, with Mulcahey writing as many GH scripts as he wants. A Curlee-Mulcahey team would have my full support (with a change in executive producers of course). But once again, failed mediocrity is rewarded with important positions at a dwindling soap, leaving discouraged viewers to see this latest idiotic decision as yet another nail in the coffin of yet another troubled soap. Can I have Curlee, Mulcahey and maybe Lorraine Broderick as a team on The Gates?

Melinda Fee never showed any nuance or subtle shades on either TGL or DAYS, IMHO. I found her a let-down after Victoria Wyndham and Barbara Stranger. I agree. Stewart seemed relaxed in the clip but that interviewer creeped me out.

Of the two principle actresses who played the role (there were a couple of short-term fill-ins, as I recall), Victoria Wyndham was more nuanced and subtle. Melinda Fee struck me as too sledge-hammery.

I lived through the fashions of the 1960s and 1970s, but as bizarre as some of the styles looked in those days, nothing was worse than the hairdos of the 1980s, LOL!

In 1972, Mike was married to Charlotte Waring while he was defending Leslie on charges of murdering Stanley Norris. Their union ended bitterly, however, because of Charlotte's insecurity and treachery (she was jealous of Leslie and even tried to sabotage Mike's defense strategy by leaking his legal plans to the D.A.) A low-life former associate of Charlotte's named Flip Malone kidnapped her and ultimately tried to kill her. Mike, forever the hero, had come to rescue her. He jumped between Charlotte and the gun and got shot in the chest. Trying to escape, Flip sped off and died in a car crash. Although she wanted to reconcile with Mike, Charlotte could not win him back. Their marriage was permanently over. Mike recovered from being shot and subsequently married Leslie.

@DRW50, what a nifty find! Thanks for sharing!

I'm keeping my fingers, my toes, and even my eyes crossed, LOL. I'd love to be excited about a soap again, and find it a quality, mature, well-written production.

The Luke and Laura/Rapist as Romantic Lead, and The Ice Princess/Sci-Fi crap really precipitated the erosion of the soaps. The networks were so hell-bent on trying to cash in on GH's enormous popularity at the time, they either didn't understand or didn't care how they were butchering the integrity of the daytime TV. I wish The Gates had superstar writers at the helm, with a proven track record of success, but who's left? Almost all of the great scribes have passed away. I'd probably aim for a Nancy Curlee-led team and try to re-create the glory that was TGL in the early 1990s. (I know, I am dreaming in Technicolor!)

His writing choices on soaps never seemed too bright, LOL.

The Guiding Light.

The fact that almost no one stays dead anymore after they've been "killed off" is a main reason why soaps have lost their emotional impact over the last several decades. DAYS is probably guiltiest of this gimmicky practice, with a huge number of characters coming back from the grave (hello, Marlena Evans and Melaswen), but all the shows have fallen prey to this cheap plot device. How emotionally affected can we become when we know the deceased characters in question will just pop back up eventually? Yawn. Yep. Certain characters have long outlived their usefulness on their shows. TPTB may be loathe to eliminate them for various reasons, but all series need to change and grow over time. I'm not advocating instantaneous mass slaughter, of course, just occasional pruning. The problem with rumors is that we will never know how much fact is mixed in with simple speculation. The rumors I read had nothing to do with Rauch firing Sorel from anywhere, but rather that bad blood had developed between them on a personal level. This has been my point/criticism for decades. Not all new, outside talent is successful on soaps, but some first-time producers and writers have breathed new life into faltering shows and been a breath of fresh air. Michael Malone, during his first stint as headwriter on OLTL, faltered a bit at first, but grew to be quite effective in telling memorable stories. Overall, I find Carlivati to be a low-brow hack who dumbs down all the shows he's written. I will give him kudos for using vets, however, even when the stories he gives them are dumb.

Originally, I read reports that Patterson chose to leave. Later, it was reported/rumored that producer Joe Stuart fired him. Since Patterson continued working on soaps after departing OLTL the first time, and then returned after Stuart was gone, I can see the rumors about him being fired as potentially true, but after all these years, we may never have a definitive answer. I will say that Patterson's second character on te show was basically a bust. Killing Joe Riley was a terrible mistake. Right. Without any potential comeuppance possible, no matter what the most corrupt characters do, the plots become redundant and tedious. Let's have characters with multi layers and shades or grey, sure, but let's have some well-deserved punishment for unforgiveable crimes when punishment is clearly warranted. I agree. There's a major difference between complicated "bad boys" and outright monsters. Once the line is crossed, even if TPTB regret their stupid storyline choices, the monsters have to pay. Yes, there were rumors about Rauch and MK and also PR and Louise Sorel. I understand the concept of hiring executives with a history of being able to write and produce soaps, but only if their past work was SUCCESSFUL. Daytime TV keeps rehiring producers and writers who have repeatedly FAILED in their previously soap jobs. It's unfathomable and infuriating. I'd rather see a newbie given a chance, than have Chuck Pratt, Chris Goutman, Dena Highley or Jean Passanante foisted on another poor soap opera! Dorian was not well served under many regimes who just didn't know how to use her effectively. I watched MTM live when it was broadcast by CBS from 1970-77, and Saturdays become must-see TV. I never get tired of rewatching episodes.