Khan

EON was proof that all you needed to make a good soap opera were good acting and good writing. You literally could close your eyes and just listen to the cast speak Henry Slesar's marvelous words and still be riveted.

I've often felt like AW used Denise Alexander the way GH had used her before deciding to give Lesley a strong backstory with Laura. She was so popular on DAYS, but the other shows never understood that that doesn't mean diddly to their audiences if you don't give her a character to play. The whole story (both what had happened years before, and what played out on screen) with Mary, Reginald and Vince was so convoluted. I honestly don't know how AW fans survived through all of it, lol.

Thanks, @Reverend Ruthledge and @vetsoapfan, for your perspectives on GL during this early '70's period. Ironically, as bad as James Lipton was as a HW, I thought he was great as a dialogue writer on THE DOCTORS. His and Frank Salisbury's scripts were the only things to push me through what I could of the Pollocks' work before I threw in the proverbial towel. I really wish I could see Edelstein's work on HTSAM. He and Rita Lakin seemed to be the only writers who wrote well for TD. All the show's other HW's, including Douglas Marland, just couldn't make the show work like they did.

I wish the Fords had made an appearance on Y&R with their son, Steven. I know Bill Bell wasn't into that sort of thing, but I think it would've sort of cool to see.

Longtime fans like @vetsoapfan and @Reverend Ruthledge might have a better understanding of this, but from everything I've read, 1966-1975 was a very rough time for GL. Robert Soderberg and Edith Sommer wrote some key material of that period. Otherwise, GL was struggling when the Dobsons came in and re-energized the show.

I totally forgot that Susan Dansby once worked on GH as an associate producer.

In a way, it's touching that Melissa managed to save Joan's Emmy, as that win meant a lot to Joan after everything she'd been through personally and professionally. Like she said on several occasions, the Emmy was one thing they (meaning, the industry) couldn't take away from her.

I don't think you are. I, too, recall one set to a Christmas Carol ("Silent Night," maybe?). The thing is, you can execute a montage well only if you take the time to do it right - and as we all know, Frank "Point and Shoot" Valentini never takes time to do anything. He's the wrong kind of producer for that kind of storytelling device.

You know, Doug III's introduction leaves me with so many questions. First of all, are we to assume that Dougie LeClair learned that Doug was his natural father, accepted him and even changed his last name to his, and had a son that he named after himself and his bio dad? I mean, what about Robert LeClair? And have Doug II and Doug III always been around the Hortons and Williamses and we just didn't see them? Furthermore, why are we even seeing Doug III when we haven't been reacquainted with Doug II yet? And why did they choose Doug's funeral to introduce this previously unknown relation that everyone apparently has embraced already? God, they really fucked up this time.

I agree. I think the best producer ever to work in daytime was Robert Calhoun. Yet, despite his incredible ability to turn around not one but two flagging soaps, he won only once, for ATWT. Does that mean he shouldn't be held in the same regard as JFP?

The only thing missing from that obnoxious montage:

AMC won Best Daytime Drama Series twice, and neither time did I think it actually was worthy, so I definitely don't put much stock into those awards (even though I'd love to have one someday, lol). ETA: Totally forgot about the third win (in '98). The show wasn't [!@#$%^&*] then either.

Granted, TEXAS had problems from day one, but for some reason, calling it a "badly written serial" really stings, lol.

"Sister Mary Bitchslap," lol!

I seriously wish I could press charges against Ron Carlivati, because what he's done to Abe Carver is nothing short of a hate crime. It's the most depressingly racist thing I've ever seen on television - and I've seen every episode of SNL with Garrett Morris!

Matt and Vanessa reading poetry to each other every night before bedtime sounds like something from a Henry James novel, lol.

Still, it goes to show you what can happen when TPTB exercises a little bit of patience with a show or shows that have potential. Nowadays, AMC and/or Y&R probably would be off the air within six months, lol.

How did these fires start? Does anyone know? True. He moved entirely too fast there (something I'd otherwise never say about Douglas Marland). So, Drew and Willow fiddled while Rome Michael burned? Did GH forget to tell us that Dena Higley is their new HW? Because, that's the kind of [!@#$%^&*] she'd pull.

I thought Sandra Nelson was very good as Phyllis, and very believable in scenes with Michael Damian and Lauralee Bell. She (and Gina Tognoni) grounded that character in ways that Michelle Stafford never could, despite her being the original actor.

TBH, I don't think there's ever been a definitive AJ Quartermaine. Which is odd, considering his pivotal place in the show's history. But AJ's like casting kryptonite for GH, lol.

IKR? Especially Y&R. To go from #10 in May to #2 in August...that might be the second most remarkable thing to happen in the '70's ratings after GH's turnaround in '77/'78.

And as Douglas Marland once famously said, "If your audience says, 'he'd never do that,' you've failed."

I do remember BW saying that Christopher Atkins had auditioned for A.J. - which would have been interesting to watch, lol - but I don't think he was the one they'd picked. I'd also take BW back on daytime in a heartbeat (although, maybe not as A.J. again, lol). Again, maybe not the greatest actor, but definitely one who puts in the work, which goes a long way with me. I didn't entirely hate him on ATWT either. And I thought he did quite well, too, at Y&R, despite not having much to do either time. (Hadn't he been on Y&R before, in another role?) Overall, though, it seems like no one other role for KS has landed the way Scotty has, and I think that's simply because no other show has written to his strengths. Again, a very handsome, good-looking guy - or, at least, he was BITD - who also could be very quirky. On soaps, they either write to one, or to the other, but never to both. Ironically, Ken Corday won't cast him on DAYS because he "doesn't get him," or so KS has said. Yet, for some reason, I think he'd do very well playing a Mike Horton recast, giving that character layers and colors that other actors haven't, while still remaining true to who Mike has always been.

Ironically, I'd come closer to trusting something that came from Datalounge than I would gossip that came from other places, lol.

I feel the same way about Kin Shriner. Only GH knew what to do with a guy who was good-looking AND funny.