vetsoapfan

Yikes, we cannot start as late as 1982; we would miss the GLORIOUS first decade of the show, when Bill Bell's talent was at its zenith. 1973-77 were the show's very best years of all time, IMHO! :) I love archive.org. I've found all sorts of wonderful treats there that I have never been able to find anywhere else. When the Soaps & Serials novelizations first came out, I eagerly started to devour them, but was really disappointed with the mediocre writing, and how the authors played fast and loose with the soaps' history. I remember thinking while reading the books, "Well THAT is not how it happened! THAT is wrong!" It drove me crazy. I realize that the writers probably had to churn out the S&S novels very quickly, and probably did not have access to all the original scripts to make the books accurate, but as a reader, I found them unsatisfying.

OMG! Thank you soooooooooooo much! This clip was amazing; what a treat! How adorable were Strasser and Courtney? I loved OLTL back then, long before Paul Rauch dismantled its core and turned it into an unfortunate, low-brow sci-fi mess.

I've completely given up hope on getting official DVD releases of either St. E or Family, so even if your station is not airing all the eps from seasons 3-5, record the ones that do air. You could probably sell or trade them on the internet and make some cash or get some other rare gems in trade, in return. Family has always been on the list of my Top 10 television series. I adored the entire, stellar cast. A network would probably balk at hiring realistic-looking actresses like Thompson and McNichol today; they would want lithe, generic and beautiful model types. I doubt many networks would allow for slow, leisurely character-driven episodes to air, either, without demanding that car crashes, fires, kidnappings, etc. be dumped into into the mix. I had such a crush on Jeff Maitland back in the day. I hated myself for finding such a bad boy appealing (in real life, if my husband cheated on me he'd be dead, LOL), but that character was so sexy! Writer David Jacobs did some of his best work on this show.

Browsing through their list of material, I'm pretty sure an actual subscription would be worth it. I love me my British dramas! I think there's a higher ratio of stuff I'd want to watch on BritBox than on Netflix. As long as the current American soaps are so disappointing, we have to find quality entertainment elsewhere. Thanks again for sharing the info about this site! If you need a kidney, let me know. :) On most American soaps too. the fact that degenerates like Sonny, Jason, and Franco are "romantic leads" on general Hospital turns my stomach. Luke too. Vomit. In my day, murderers and rapists were not considered Dream Dates!

Good grief, how did I not even know this service existed?!? I think I'll wait until just after the holidays, when I know I'll have lots more free time. Then I'll start a free subscription and watch U/D until my eyes bleed! Thanks, YRBB!

There are only two series which I would KILL to see again, and (preferably) have quality copies of: St. Elsewhere (seasons 2-6) and Family (seasons 3-5). Family might even be more of a holy grail than St. E, because I know that St. E has been broadcast in syndication, so it must be available somewhere. Family has never played much anywhere, and no die-hard fans whom I've ever contacted over the years have the later seasons. Boy do I envy you! Make sure to record the eps. If you don't, you'll probably kick yourself in later years, for missing the opportunity to do so! Let us know what the prints look like. --Larry Wilcox --John Schneider --Martin Milner --Don Johnson --David Soul --Kevin Tighe --Kent McCord --Pete Duel --Neither McRaney nor Parker (can I substitute Ted Wass?) --Jared Paladecki

I adored U/D sooooo much when I saw it in the 1970s. I wish I could watch it again. I don't have the funds to buy the boxset, and alas, cannot find it online. :( I am tired of criminal behavior going unpunished on soaps. In the good old days, TPTB knew the difference between right and wrong.

There was a year during Hogie's run as headwriter when ATWT practically ignored Christmas. I was livid. One thing that everyone always associated Oakdale with was family togetherness and celebrations during major holidays. Sheffer concentrated one some stupid story or another, but all I wanted to see was the Hughes family laughing, singing, and listening to Dr. Bob's speech in the Hughes living room. TPTB underestimate how much the Horton living room, the Chancellor living room, the Bauer kitchen, the Hughes kitchen, Ryan's bar, etc., mean or meant to the audience. When the idiots at TGL had a mob shoot out in the Bauer kitchen, I went insane. It was like defecating on the altar at church. UGH. I am grateful to DAYS for sparing the Horton house. I saw it during Julie's 50th anniversary recently, and it was lovely. I care more about that set than I do about 95% of the characters, LOL.

Yes, this is the episode that I had hoped would be uploaded to youtube again. Certain soaps have not seemed to care very much about their own histories, veteran players, and traditions for a long time. Vets gets discarded without a thought, traditions go unacknowledged, anniversaries are not celebrated the way they should be. It's a shame, because viewers love the history, the vets, the traditions and the anniversaries. If DAYS ever stops letting us see the trimming of the Horton family tree at Christmas, viewers might revolt. Seriously, LOL. That's great, thanks. The soap history books I have maintain he left in 1979, but I suppose that meant when he was taken off contract.

I thought he left in 1979, not 1983. Hmmm. Neither Jo nor Stu ever mentioned the fact that they were step-siblings, thanks to their widowed parents marrying each other. I wonder if any of the series' later writers ever researched the history enough to know that bit of trivia. You are right: great clips. If used well, I love flashbacks so much!

The entire series is available for free on youtube.

Dennis Cole was SO not Lance Prentiss. Victoria Mallory was not as good as Janice Lynde in the role of Leslie, but at least she sang like and angel. :) If Ashley Abbott is gone forever, let's have Jaime Lyn Bauer return as Lorie Brooks.

Being attacked by violent thugs is an unfortunate part of real life for some individuals. Vampires, clones, devil possession, flying to heaven on a space ship, jumping into paintings, mad scientists freezing the world, etc., are not. The determination of clueless PTB to foist painfully stupid fantasy material onto soaps is what destroyed the genre and left it in the tattered state it's in today.

Gag. Retch. Hurl. Vomit. San Cristocrap and everything/everyone even slightly associated with it, really dimmed the Light.

Biting my tongue here.

My name is German. It's Getta. Getta Grippe. I trust this soothes you.

Oh, the fun I could have with THAT projectile comment. But I shall refrain. I'm kind like that. 😎

Ahhh, so "FiresofLove" is an actual surname. Who knew? 😉

Do you get a tingly feeling when posting stuff like that?

Unfortunately, so many of AMC's and OLTL's best years and storylines are lost forever, and will never be seen again. The Phil/Tara romance on AMC was golden, as was the story about Clara passing for white on OLTL. At least we still have access to Karen Wolek on the witness stand, but Ruth Martin's devastating anti-war speech? Sadie's confrontation with her daughter about living a lie? Gone. *Gets depressed along with Eric*

I do not believe Ellen formally adopted Paul, but if anyone remembers otherwise, please let us know. :)

Not to be picky, but being the son of Paul Stewart made Lord Cushing Ellen's STEP grandson, because Paul's parents were David Stewart and his first wife Betty. (Not trying to be snarky, just wanted to clarify.)

The show tried to get an actress who resembled Prinz, and they colored Phoebe Dorin's hair to make her look more Penny-ish, but the recasting was not well received. Prinz was a HUGE daytime superstar, one of the most popular actresses in soaps, and her imprint on the role was indelible. I thought Dorin was a capable actress, but she lacked that indefinable "something" which Prinz had in spades. I was not surprised, when she left the show after a brief tenure. Some actors simply cannot be replaced, period.

Grandpa Hughes a bore???? Pffft!!!! Drop dead, MdeL! I loved Grandpa Hughes. And Judge Lowell too, for that matter. I would say they started referring to Grandpa having a lady friend in 1975, maybe 1974. It would only get the occasional mention at first, but enough so that we, the audience, knew what was coming. We never actually saw Irma. She was always upstairs or in the other room or "coming shortly." It got to be aggravating, because I wanted to SEE the woman who had captured Grandpa's heart. I wanted to check her out for myself, before I decided if she was good enough for him. But the Hughes family never criticized her, so I had to accept their positive assessment. Grandpa and Irma were not married very long before we heard about his death. The scene that makes me tear up to this day was when Chris told Nancy about his dad's passing. He thanked her profusely for being so kind to Grandpa "all these years," and Nancy replied simply, "Of course, dear. You see, he was MY father too." I sobbed for 30 minutes, LOL. I adored those vintage characters and relationships!

UGH! The editing of vintage episodes always makes me nuts. When CBS last aired a rerun of Victor's and Victor's first wedding from 1984, the ONLY reason I wanted to record it was to get a quality copy of the Brooks sisters' reunion scenes. And they were all sliced out, to make room for more commercials. It was sooooo annoying.