vetsoapfan

Well, I agree that Courtney's portrayal of the evil twin was lacking, but of course, Ellen Holly was bitter and resentful of JC, and had a personal axe to grind.

Jacqueline Courtney was excellent on both soaps (Harding Lemay's petulant assessment aside), and had a certain something, that special IT factor which made her a star. The only "negative" comment I could offer about Courtney's acting comes from her time on OLTL, when she was asked to play an evil twin. Her Maggie Ashley was supposedly British, sported a fabulously fake wig, and wore glasses which kept sliding down her nose and needed to be pushed back up all the time. I don't know if it was the accent, the wardrobe, the direction or WHAT, but Maggie was a caricature rather than an actual character, and poor JC simply could not pull it off. (To be fair, I don't think anyone could have. The evil twin and the storyline itself were just painful.) In general, however, Courtney shone on screen and was quite likeable.

It reminds me of TGL, which became rudderless and aimless after the destruction of the Bauer family. Suddenly, Springfield's history seemed to go back no further than 1983, and with no strong, knowledgeable producers ever in charge throughout the show's last few decades, it never rebounded.

Various people over the years noted that he was very unhappy at the time, but he really did burn a lot of bridges while he was on the soaps. Still, for the most part, his acting was stellar.

I doubt the show will ever bring back any Sugdens who are still alive and out there, somewhere. I thinks fans care more than TPTB. I wonder how many of the current PTB are even well-versed in the Sugdens' history and importance to the show. While I generally don't like recasts of long-serving actors, if I had the choice between Diane being killed off or recast, I'd vote for a recast.

Yep, I could have gotten behind Selby as a recast. I knew as soon as I saw the other three on screen that they were not going to work. Selby was sexy, magnetic and charismatic, however, and I believe he could have clicked.

Actually, Selby would have made a MUCH better and more charismatic replacement for Reinholt than Jontz, McHale or Lucia did. And anyone who came aboard to terrorize the repugnant rapist Todd would gain favor in my book.

I think it was a combination of both his not wanting to be on the show (he said OLTL's writing was "even worse than Another World's," YIKES!) and TPTB's realization that he was more trouble than he was worth. Erika Slezak said that on his last day at the studio, Reinholt ranted and raved his way down the hallways and out the door. She also said he was "crazy" while on the show. but calmed down in later years. When cutting into the soap's anniversary cake that year, the producer at the time "joked" that the cake should have been GR's heart. It looked like there was no love lost on either side. Unfortunately, however, the character of Tony (who should have been a major and influential part of the show) failed badly after Reinholt left. It was a relief when they finally killed him off after three failed recasts.

Tony was more...bombastic when George Reinholt played him (surprise, LOL!), but as @j swift mentioned, the casting of Reinholt and Courtney made it a foregone conclusion that Tony would be romantically paired with Pat, and (back then, at least) ABC did not portray degenerate rapists and murderers as romantic leads, so we knew Tony would end up being a basically-decent character. This limited any potential mystery at the beginning of his time on OLTL as to Tony's true nature and motivations. (Of course, ABC had to pair the two actors together; their chemistry and popularity were too overwhelming to ignore, and I was glad to see Reinholt and Courtney reunited on screen.) Under Reinholt, at least Tony could be impatient and angry at times. After GR left, Tony became pretty bland and lacked depth. Tom Fuccello was cast as Paul Kendall, Pat Ashley's ex-husband, and he and Courtney had significantly more chemistry together than Courtney had with Phillip McHale or (especially) Chip Lucia, the two longer-lasting recast Tonys. I was rooting for Pat and Paul to get back together, and had no interest in or loyalty to the "fake" Tonys. Well, Pat and Tony ended up getting married (under Chip Lucia) and then he died, so one could argue that the characters did "get together" until "death did them part," LOL. But Courtney and Reinholt only got to play the thwarted, star-crossed lovers while GR was there.

Technically, McHale was the third actor to play Tony Lord on OLTL. After Reinholt left, the show had an actor named Jimmy Jontz play the role briefly, when Tony was in the hospital. Apparently he did not work out and was quickly replaced by McHale. While I don't think PMcH was a good fit as Tony either, he was a lot better than the final actor cast in the part: Chip Lucia.

ITA. That entire stretch of episodes is mesmerizing. I would happily listen to the full run of radio eps of TGL than endure any of the soap episodes being produced on television today.

Probably about six months later.

Prinz originally signed on for six months at HTSAM, as she had at AMC originally, but then agreed to extend her stay a few months after that. I don't remember for sure, but she might have remained at HTS for 9 months.

Oh no. I have not had access to this series for many years, but still miss it, even though I know it's been messed up and Dingle-fied. With Diane leaving, there goes one of the few remaining links to the Sugden family. Is only Victoria left, now?

Patricia Bruder (Ellen Stewart), born in 1936, played the mother of John Colenback's Dan Stewart on As the World Turns for years. Colenback, born in 1935, was a year older than Bruder. John Reilly, who also played Dan for a while, was born in 1934. It was all so ridiculous. In the Y&R case, if the show wants Brooks Prentiss to be a new and viable leading man, gratuitously and arbitrarily making him be in his 60s is counter-productive . If Brooks is said to be in his 60s, that would age Leslie to 90+. No thanks.

I hope not, LOL. Linda Grover was just awful.

That's exactly how I feel about the soaps overall. I was fortunate enough to see them in their glory days of the 1960s and (particularly) 1970s, with brilliant writers at the helm, so it spoiled me and I simply cannot accept or even really tolerate the dreck that is being produced nowadays. Going from William J. Bell and Pat Falken Smith to Ron Carvilati? 🤮

Yes. She was given some meaty material, after many years being sidelined, and she hit it out of the park. As much as I loathe the current, apparent story with Doug and Julie on DAYS (I do NOT want to see Doug deteriorate with Alzheimer's), I have no doubt that these beloved vets will work their magic on screen as well.

The previous actresses playing Julie were tepid in comparison to the divine Susan Seaforth. Imagine having a show with Susan Flannery, Denise Alexander and Susan Seaforth as the leading ladies!

And honestly, the competition for ratings was very fierce back then, as so many soaps were just on fire. All the CBS soaps were rockin' it, even The Secret Storm, Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life. Something had to get crowded out.

So, a big shout-out goes to Mike McGavin too! Woohoo!

Eddie seems to have given over the day-to-day running of the AW Homepage to another individual now, but the huge amount of work he did on that site for years and years is astonishing.

True, a variety of soap material has surprised the fan community over the years by popping up unexpectedly. If RTPP videos are ever uncovered, the sleuths here will find out and share the good news. They always do, thankfully. 😛

Eddie Drueding has been a godsend to the AW community for decades, and his remarkable site is a valuable resource. http://www.anotherworldhomepage.com/

As previously noted, fans and collectors have hunted for material from this show for 40+ years, to no avail.