vetsoapfan

You put that very well.

You are correct. Susan Sullivan was definitely playing Lenore by the time Walter Curtin died. The scene with Lenore being so traumatized by the whole Walter debacle that she went berserk and tore apart her living room was chilling!

That is an excellent point: some soaps in the 1990s still warranted patience and continued checking in. I think I finally gave up completely on the genre with the cancellations of TGL, ATWT, and AMC. I no longer had FOMO about the remaining shows. I was too burned out to care.

Actually, I too continue to watch certain primetime shows looooong after they have started to bore me, but not soaps anymore. I loathed the awful ninth season of Little House on the Prairie, but sensed the show was on its last legs and had a strange compulsion to stick with it until the bitter end. The tenth "season" (comprising of just three 2-hour movies) was weak as well, but I was glad that I saw the series finale because it ended up being semi-decent.

Since only the first two seasons were ever released on DVD, I never saw the last year. I was heartbroken, but eventually gave up waiting for the series to ever turn up streaming anywhere. Thank you for this news; I never would have known, otherwise!

Do you dislike missing an episode because you find the soaps so compelling, or just out of habit? This is actually a serious question (I'm not being snarky), because even back in the golden 1970s, if one particular show (i.e. Somerset, which had wild swings in quality from great to atrocious) was going through a dreary period, I still hated to miss episodes. I never knew when a positive change for the better would suddenly take place. Back then, weak stretches on soaps were quickly rectified. When writer Roy Winsor assumed the reigns of Somerset, Rick Edelstein came aboard How to Survive a Marriage, and Claire Labine took over Love of Life, the surge is quality was immediate and exhilarating. I was afraid of missing the turnarounds!

The 1970s gave us the halcyon years of most soaps, IMHO; so many of the shows were on fire and impossible to miss! I wonder how many fans feel as invested in daytime TV today, considering the genre's decimated state. Does anyone even care if they miss an episode these days?🤔

By the end of the 1970s, I had splurged on two VCRs, so between those and an audio-only tape recorder I had used before the advent of Beta and VHS, I could record everything I wanted at home, and did not need to listen to the CBC soap broadcasts on the radio anymore. But I really appreciated the ability to do so before I bought my VCRs. VCRs really made soap fans' dreams come true!

It was a travesty. It still makes me mad to think about. TPTB clearly had no respect for the character, the actress, the history of the show or the fans, to dish out those episodes. Epic failure.

With all the garbage TGL foisted on us in 1986, I will always contend that the most egregious was how the show handled the passing and service for the late Bert Bauer.

Yes, I remember watching TEON and AMC on the CBC. Luckily for soap fans, the audio of CBC television was available on radio (in the 1970s, anyway), and if we had to be out of the house, we could listen to those soaps while we were away. One poster on Facebook argues with people endlessly, when anyone writes that Y&R has preserved its archives. He says he worked as an extra or something on the show back in the day, and has inside confirmation that all the tapes from the beginning have been wiped. As for the tons of flashbacks that have been used over the decades, he claims those are just individual scenes which TPTB saved, because they knew they would need to re-air them them 10, 25, 50 years later. This makes no sense, but it's pointless to argue with someone who needs to be right to feel important. As for AMC, TEON, or any other soap, I guess we are never going to know for sure about what has survived, until we see it for ourselves (like in the surprising case of The Doctors).

It wouldn't shock me. "Lost" Dr. Who episodes turned up in a Nigerian TV station years ago. Who would have predicted that? I'm hoping, just not holding my breath

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall, listening in, when Lemay had his training period with Irna Phillips, LOL.

ABC archives starting from 1977 would be great. It's a safe bet that they kept material from at least 1979 onwards, anyway. The famous courtroom scenes from OLTL (Karen Wolek on the witness stand) exist. I remember an ABC researcher once, when talking about finding footage for a GH anniversary special, saying he really had to dig around to find the lovely scene of Laura and Scotty under the Christmas tree, which was probably 1977 or 1978 (I don't remember for sure). In the end, if Nixon said it was 1977, I'd believe that that is when the tapes started being saved. The Doctors should be added to your list too, fortunately. So with DAYS, Y&R, B&B, RsH, DS and TDrs, we are lucky to have almost-complete archives in existence of several soaps. And even with all the others, having tapes from the late 1970s is a treat, even though the genre would soon implode in the 1980s. When preparing to air Ryan's Hope on SoapNet, Claire Labine said they had missing episodes from their collection, and ended up getting copies from Ireland (where the show had also been broadcast). I wonder if any other countries kept archives of soaps they broadcast; archives that P&G in the USA wiped. AW was hugely popular in Canada. I guess we have to continue hoping that more stuff will be brought out by private collectors.

What the heck is this?🤔 https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/news/special-collections/the-edge-of-night%3A-a-drama-in-six-parts--how-cooperative-extension-service-booklets-connect-nc-state-a-soap-opera-and-dc-comics

Fingers crossed. Well, I don't want to give anything away (Bryce's journey is best told by himself), but...there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyone who has ever spent time on social media knows it's so true, LOL!

If you like/appreciate the actor, your heart will melt during this interview.

ITA, after the AIDS quilt/Billy Douglas era, the show never again regained or lived up to its past glory.

While Alan Locher as an interviewer generally makes my teeth ache, I thoroughly enjoyed his recent episode with Scott Bryce. Locher (fortunately) let Bryce lead the conversation and do most of the talking. It was a poignant segment, with SB openly discussing his recent health woes (as well as his work on ATWT, of course). He looked surprisingly young and vulnerable, and was a mesmerizing storyteller throughout the session. And as icing on the cake, his description of the late Eileen Fulton was just lovely.

Or because the network "suits" have idiotic ideas about what the audience wants to see, and they eagerly hire you because you have the same dumb ideas.

That's all of them!🙂

ITA, but TPTB don't appear to have any interest in recruiting and training new talent.

To me, Sam Groom was the only "real" Russ. He perfectly delineated and inhabited the role. He somehow managed to play a good, noble man of integrity...who was never boring or one-dimensional. I think of all of them (Ada sure got around, LOL), Gil McGowen had the most personality and spunk. While Steve made some terrible life choices and could exhibit questionable morality during his 1968-75 run, he was the Frame who made the biggest and most important impact on the show. The original Janice was too mousy to interest me much, and while Willis originally had spark, I mainly regarded him as "Steve lite." Uncle Dru was a familiar face and comforting presence, and I liked having him around as a supporting player. I was invested in Mike Bauer as well, but mainly from his time on TGL. Of all the lawyers mentioned, even though some said he was somewhat stodgy, John Randolph was my favorite. (The scene in which he served Alice her divorce papers from Steve was quite memorable.)

Wisner Washam was fabulous at AMC, and I would take him back without a second thought. In an ideal world, he and Lorraine Broderick would make the perfect team to reboot AMC. That being said, WW is 93 years old and more than likely retired and/or not up for the challenges of writing a daily serial. Broderick is 77, but still actively working, and would perhaps consider supervising the show as a story consultant (with veto power!) at least. Another writer I'd like to see heading back to daytime is Nancy Curlee. All the current soaps are weakly written at best. It's unfortunate how few veteran scribes are still alive and potential soap saviors.