vetsoapfan

Were there any mentions or clips of the legendary stars and characters of yore, like John Beradino as Steve Hardy, Emily McLaughlin as Jessie Brewer, Rachel Ames as Audrey Hardy, Denise Alexander as Lesley Webber, etc.? Scotty Baldwin is the longest-running character still on GH; did Kin Shriner make an appearance? TIA.

As always, I appreciate the heads up. Good find! Thanks, @DRW50!

What? Additional rare, classic episodes of TGL, right after the TEON treasure was unearthed? Stuff I am overjoyed to see, which I don't already have in my collection? The soap gods' love is shining down upon us these days! Thanks @BoldRestless and @DRW50!

Way back when, a trader friend sent me three, 2-hour VHS tape of SFT from the summer of 1966. I'm trying to remember the total number of episodes I received. I believe she recorded nine on each tape, so a total of 27. I thought that was a huge amount. I don't recall any trader or fan referencing a whopping 40 episodes from that year (great as that would have been).

Bill Bell was still executive story consultant after Smith left, and into Marcus' tenure. He is the one who created the Trish-mental breakdown story, which Smith said she kept trying to put off for being too over-the-top. The ratings had dropped from in the 9s down to the 8s during BB's and PFS's last year working as a team.. After Smith was fired, she sued the network. Ann Marcus was continuing to use PFS's story (which had been created in coordination with William J. Bell.), but acknowledged in the press that if she did not wish to write what Bell suggested, she would just change things as she saw fit. There was a huge deterioration in the quality of the writing once Marcus took over. Comments in the press were not kind ("Never have I seen a show go downhill so quickly.") The ratings really dropped after PFS was axed and AM was in charge. They fell into the 6s. Thus began a revolving door of headwriters.

Again, ITA 100%. Although the writing for ATWT had wavered between tepid and poor for a solid decade before its demise, and although a plethora of inept production choices had been long been heaped upon the show, the core was still relatively intact and recognizable. ATWT miraculously escaped the enormous damage that had torn apart TGL (and which has destroyed Days of Our Lives). This miracle left Oakdale still salvageable in its final days. A capable producer and writer could have turned ATWT around relatively quickly, whereas I believe it would have taken a complete, extensive and lengthy overhaul to get TGL anywhere near "fighting shape" again.

To be brutally frank, I would say that TGL in its dying days added to the knowledge of how NEVER to produce a soap in this or any era; that canceling it, before steering it right into the toilet where it circled the drain before the inevitable flush, would honor the show's (and the overall genre's) integrity much more appropriately. JMHO.

ITA 100%. After Nancy Curlee left, TGL was severely decimated, and began a crippling downward spiral to its inevitable death. Its cancellation felt, to me, like a mercy killing.

It was disheartening to peruse the two recently-posted cast pictures and realize how many totally irrelevant, pointless characters were taking up space on the TGL's canvas, while so many beloved, essential-to-the-show's core were nowhere to be seen. I really am surprised this soap lasted as long as it did, after being on life-support for YEARS.

And with Jacquie Courtney passing away, I presume her kinescope archives went to her daughter. I wonder if she still has them and has ever had them digitized for safe-keeping.

Over on Facebook, there's a group entitled Vintage Soap Opera Episodes Trade. One of the administrators is a guy named Robert Forester, who announced he had gotten vintage videotapes from Rosemary Prinz (including the AMC pilot) to digitize. He has a list of his stuff for sale. I've never dealt with him (he doesn't send to Canada), but you can always try contacting him through that FB group.

I have no doubt that various actors, directors, etc., have kept copies of their favorite episodes over the years. In interviews, both Jacquie Courtney and Robin Strasser acknowledged having had kinescopes made of highlights from their days on AW. Just recently, the debut episode of AMC from 1970 appeared in soap-trading circles. We've seen footage of Gillian Spencer, Ellen Holly and Lillian Hayman from the early days of OLTL, so that era's material cannot be lost completely. I think the issue now is, getting the people who possess the buried treasure to share it with the rest of us.

I've held a grudge for decades against the unscrupulous "trader" whose unethical behavior originally made me lose out on the chance of getting this TEON treasure. I've longed to get my hands on it for so many years. No matter how many times I come to accept that no other gems from the past will ever be uncovered...they keep on coming!

OMFG!!!! This is a Christmas miracle! I have been looking for this episode for decades. I was in negotiations once to trade for it, but a dishonest individual circumvented the deal and ripped me off. I thought I had missed my chance forever, since I had not seen anyone, anywhere, offer this special broadcast for trade or sale in forever. Thank you sooooooo much for @ing me! Happy Holidays, everyone!

The problem was, however, that Bailey was a dreadful writer.

Locking out the Dobsons and retaining Anne Howard Bailey was just incomprehensible to me.

Shirley Anne Fields was excellent in My Beautiful Laundrette, a wonderful film starring Daniel Day Lewis, which I can highly recommend.

I remember him very well. May he RIP. Thanks for tagging me.

Thanks @DRW50. I love her.

I appreciate all the information about how the TV Guide print magazine has evolved over the years. I would probably still buy it, since it is still being published, except that it has not been sold in Canada for decades. I used to look forward to the Fall Preview issue every year, in which the magazine would preview the score of new television shows coming that season. If it is now including coverage of the soaps, I'd say that it a good idea, considering there are no other paper versions of any actual soap magazines these days.

I'm surprised to see that TV Guide still publishes a print version of its magazine. I thought it was discontinued ages and ages ago. The (inferior and not-missed) Canadian version has been gone for a few decades.

The actress looks vaguely familiar, but her identity is not coming to me. If her name does, I'll let you know.

The clips that people refer to are from a compilation reel of various Jacquie Courtney scenes throughout the year for JC to submit for Emmy consideration. Any scenes being grouped together on such reels should not be assumed to be from a single episode. In fact, from watching all the material available, it's clear that the clips are not only from one day's broadcast. Ultimately, it's not worth rehashing a debate about something which cannot be proven to newer viewers. I would like the truth confirmed for historical accuracy, but with the passing of 50 years, few surviving individuals are left to corroborate the facts. Even printed verification, magazine articles published back in the day, are mostly lost to history. To those who never saw the show live, this will make no difference whatsoever. To those who did, we know what we saw, and again...nothing whatsoever will change. So c'est la vie, as the old saying goes.

I have been told directly that other characters and their scenes being included in the original, pre-revised script "proves" the inclusion of additional actors other than Reinholt and Courtney in that specific episode. The "final scene" (the aftermath of Steve and Alice's reunion), with other characters, took place on the same day in Bay City time, but was broadcast in the NEXT episode, the following day, in real life.

Don't ask me about any of the tedious subjects I endured throughout high school; they are completely wiped from the hard drive of my memory. But when it comes to minutiae of soap opera's halcyon years, certain facts are simply engraved in stone and will remain with me forever. This reminds me: I have (or at least had) an episode of Y&R on audiotape in which Janice Lynde (as Leslie) sings If in its entirety. I also have (or, again, had) an episode of AW from 1973, in which Steve and Alice hashed out their issues after a long, painful separation. Only Jacquie Courtney and George Reinholt appeared that day, since the original script had been revised at the last minute in order to eliminate other actors' involvement. TPTB chose to maximize the lovers' important reunion instead of having it diluted by other actors' scenes being included. Certain fans reject the idea that this episode ended up featuring only Courtney and Reinholt, based on the existence of the original, pre-revised script. Digging up that audiotape may be beneficial for historical accuracy. I've had so many audio and videotapes in storage for decades, going back to at least the early 1970s, I should get off my duff and see what has been saved (after multiple moves), and what is still in playable condition. I know that various tapes disintegrated into dust eons ago, alas.