vetsoapfan

There was something almost quietly noble about Russ Matthews when Sam Groom played him. The character was sweet and charming, but never boring. I was really annoyed when Goutman brought Groom back for AW's finale, but in an anonymous, throw-away part. I loathe the trend on soaps of women falling in love/marrying with their rapists, their kidnappers, their would-be murderers. I never would have permitted the Rachel/Carl pairing if I had been in charge, but I would have pushed for a Rachel/Russ reunion after Mac died. Iris having a cow at the thought would have been an added bonus! That's the way I like my soaps: slow-moving with long, extended scenes based on character delineation. That style is long gone, alas.

I grew up listening to old-time radio dramas, which obviously did not have corresponding video to watch, so these AW episodes with distorted pictures don't bother me in the least. As long as the sound is good, I can recognize all the voices and just treat the vintage eps as if they were made for radio.

Perfect! But in my heart of hearts, I think any new, major story for Russ would have worked so much better if Sam Groom had returned to the role. Having SG, Jacquie Courtney and Beverly Penberthy back would have made me orgasmic, LOL! Right, this was secretly recorded at the Paley Center, where they forbid any recording, and will kick you out for doing it. Over the years, I'd heard some fans complain about the video quality of these "secretly recorded" episodes (there are other eps, including from the 1960s), but really: I'd rather see vintage material in poor quality than not seeing any of it at all.

She did, but then Al Gore stole the credit, LOL!

I could have accepted that.

Right. Balance is important. Not all of us drool over the antiheroes, rapists, mobsters and murderers that soaps have become obsessed with, LOL. "Basic good guys" like Frank Cooper or Larry Wolek or Russ Matthews are important too. I saw (or rather, endured) the new Halloween Kills this week. As always while watching movies like this, I kept shaking my head in disbelief and wondering, "WHY are these people sooooooooo stupid?" Finding a decent romantic partner for Frank was another problem in the long run. That's why I was fine with him being a friendly, supportive background player, but I never wanted him to be a lead.

In its early days, SOD was actually a classy publication with well-written articles. That has not lasted throughout the decades, alas.

I believe the pecular myth that a certain actress from Y&R was/is transgender can also be laid to rest. 🙄

To me, Jacqueline Courtney was the one true, definitive Alice, but I've always felt that Tribbey was the most acceptable (least objectionable?) of all the replacements. I'd rate the actresses: JACQUELINE COURTNEY Vanna Tribbey (C+) Susan Harney (C) Wesley Pfenning (D-) Linda Borgenson (BOMB)

At least if Mary Ryan had to die under any actress, Goulet was less atrocious than Tolan. (Damning her with faint praise, I know.)

When Frank first showed up in Springfield, I thought he was a hunk and a half, and looked sexy as heck in that tight blue T-shirt he used to wear. Woof. But, honestly, while FD was not a great actor, the character did come across as a kind of dumb-but friendly lug, which was not so bad. I preferred Frank over Buzz and Lucy, and usually over Harley.

I thought Iris was a more complicated, explosive character, but Alex was more humane. If I have to choose one, I'd go with BM as Iris.

There were so many valid, important reasons for Mike Bauer to return to the canvas. I would have preferred to get Stewart back, but always felt Jed Allen would have made an affable, attractive Mike too. If Beverlee McKinsey had stuck around, I would have paired Mike with Alex, but a Mike/Vanessa pair might have worked well. I did not warm up to Vanessa being with Billy, either, but preferred the two of them together over her and Matt Reardon.

I'm not sorry to have missed that completely, LOL.

After AW, she did do one episode of the police show TJ Hooker, but that's about it as far as I can see.

I truly think she would have worked in the long run, had viewers been given the chance to warm up to her. Of the three replacement Marys, Carney was by far the best.

And he would have been such a vast improvement over many of the awful writers who controlled GH in the 1980s after Pat Falken Smith departed. Yes, that was the most tasteless, arrogant and putrid (LOL) moment for me.

The thought had never occured to me, but now that you have brought it up: the electric McKinsey and the charismatic Espy might have been quite an interesting pair. I agree that attempting to replace Reinholt was a major blunder, but AT LEAST David Canary was a good actor in his own right. How Linda Borgenson ever got an acting job is beyond me. You are right: those reveal scenes were horrendous.

I forget: did we ever find out if she was Bruce Sterling's biological daughter? I thought Mary Carny was attractive, a competent actress, and showed potential. Too bad TPTB axed her so quickly in favor of the painfully bad Kathleen Tolan. Speaking of Ryan's Hope, my unpopular opinion is that Johnny Ryan was a pompous, unlikeable and boorish windbag, and Maeve could be a cold fish.

There's no denying that David Canary was a powerful actor, but pairing him with Linda Borgenson was like pairing Laurence Olivier with a Swiffer Duster. That, combined with the atrocious writing and lack of attention to history, doomed the story to fail. With a gifted scribe who knew the characters' pasts, and performers like Jacqueline Courtney, Victoria Wyndham and Canary, the idea might have been feasible, but I guess we will never know. The show had been under 5.0 in the early 1980s, but rose to 5.1 in the mid-1980s. Santa Barbara and SFT's ratings were even worse, however, so that probably did help stave off cancellation for a bit. Yes, although the bulk of the audience was on team Mac (even if many viewers wanted to have sex with Mitch more, LOL!) They certainly had more appeal than Canary's Steve and pod-Alice!

Gordon Russell wrote the show into 1980, but left in the spring, as I recall. Sam Hall, who had been Russell's co-headwriter for a few years, took over the reigns with Peggy O'Shea. I preferred the Russell/Hall team, but O'Shea was fine too, and I was satisfied with the show under her and Hall combined. A few years later, when she wrote the show by herself, it was noticeably weaker (but Paul Rauch was producing then, so I was not surprised and did not totally blame O'Shea for OLTL's downwards spiral). (When O'Shea wrote for Search for Tomorrow, Mary Stuart said she was the best writer that the show had ever had.)

Nobody in charge understood the show or the audience or what viewers wanted to see (a problem rampant on daytime TV for decades now).

True, but Rauch made the ending even more putrid than it needed to be. The show was still on a high that year, although I'd say that 1979 was the zenith..

The ratings were anemic before the attempt to renew the Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle, and did not improve at all during its run. It was reported at the time that the idea was to rebuild Steve and Alice as a pair, but Linda Borgenson had no chemistry with anyone, and David Canary was a better actor with potential, so TPTB switched courses and veered Steve towards Rachel. That idea was a failure too, because "old-time" Steve and Alice fans did not buy it, and Rachel fans only wanted her with Mac, so the show finally cut its losses and killed Steve off yet again.

Rauch ultimately decimated (or further decimated) the once-great AW, OLTL and TGL, and his work on Texas, SB and Lovers & Friends was a failure as well. IMHO, he was a destructive producer who reputation was undeserved.