Khan

I thought the whole story of Chris being Ryan's father was stupid and pointless in the first place. I don't understand why people always need to be related. Nothing of interest came out of those two non-actors yelling at each other.

Frankly, aside from the fact that he was related to siblings who had the staying power of fruitflies, Ryan's lineage, for lack of a better word, always came off as a nuisance and afterthought. Didn't Megan McTavish rewrite her own creation's backstory and say his name really was Ryan Alyosius Lavery even though it was supposedly John Curry (or some b.s.)?

Fiona Hutchison would've been much better off as a "kid sister" for Anna or Holly.

Ah, NOW we're talking!

A little tasteless? It couldn't be more tasteless if he had taken her to Lacy's Department Store off-hours and romanced her with a candlelight dinner and "Fascination" playing in the background!

Once upon a time, I was willing to emphasize with Todd's problems. But that was actually before all the whitewashing and attempts to turn his story into a fairy tale.

I wish they'd let Viki stay mayor. It's a role which suited her so well, and led to her being able to work for others aggressively, instead of constantly fighting her own demons and putting up with her family.

Agree.

Marah's kidnapping was such juicy drama.

I always find it amusing to think that Kendall is supposed to be older than Charlie since she was born before the show went on the air and he was born several years after

I don't find it amusing, I find it insulting! I might be okay with someone sleeping with the grandfather, father and son in the same family, but dammit, respect the history and continuity! LOL!

In what way? The man was the grandson of her former lover, and he was her stepson for a while. The ick factor there ranks right up with her sleeping with Ryan.

You have to understand, though, I come from GUIDING LIGHT, where Reva Shayne, the self-professed "Slut of Springfield," virtually slept her way through the entire Lewis clan. As long as Charlie and Erica weren't related by blood, I was okay with their pairing (although I certainly do understand where you're coming from, ellabelle, don't get me wrong).

In retrospect, I understand why TPTB gave CF so much airtime. Kim who?

To this day, I wish the Charlie/Erica relationship had been more successful. Next to Nick Davis, Brandon Kingsley and Mike Roy, he just seemed the most "right" for Erica.

Yates, Bolger and Gregory intrigue me...Durham and Markel don't...and Zmed just leave me going .

That's great to hear! Did he talk at all about what he's up to these days?

Granted it's hard to tell--he only had brief runs at Doctors and AW again, but all his talkas a consultant (where he was best friends with Jill PF of all people) make me think he was starting to not get soaps.

Actually, I think Lemay grew to understand soaps. However, the industry changed -- and not for the better.

Plus, if we're going to look at friendships with JFP as a liability, then we might as well add Nancy Curlee to that list.

As for Malone, though, I've said before that I felt he paid lip service to OLTL's history, despite Megan's death and all those consultations with AN. If Malone truly cared about the show's history, then why is it I felt as if I watching a brand-new show, with an all-new cast, every time I tuned in? Heck, even Ron Carlivati did a better job of reaching into the show's past and using it to enhance the current stories, IMO.

I miss David Pressman. One of THE best directors. Bar none.

Despite whatever else I have said over the years about LG and her work, I do give her credit for pulling ONE LIFE TO LIVE out of the morass it had become mired in with Paul Rauch. Furthermore, there's no question LG had excellent tastes as a producer. If she had paired up with Nancy Curlee, let's say, or even Harding Lemay -- in other words, someone with previous soap experience who might've explained to her why some of her ideas wouldn't have worked -- there's no telling what she might've done with the show, and with soaps as a whole. Unfortunately, I think her greatest liability was working with a HW whose interest in their show's history was passing, at best.

I have never heard this tidbit. According to Pam, in her original story outline Bradley was to have died at the hands of Lillian. As the story progressed, Pam felt that death was too easy an out for the character. She wanted the audience to see Bradley imprisioned for his crimes. The idea was that Bradley being forced to take responsibility for the abuse of Beth, something for which he could never atone, was a fate worse than death. Plus, Beth would be given the opportunity to confront her attacker. I wonder if SOD simply made an assumption or if a false plot development was leaked? I really cannot see Pam writing such an end for Bradley because the sexual abuse story was taken very seriously.

IA. I can't see Pam Long allowing Bradley to die from the Dreaming Death when what did happen provided so much juicy material for her, for the show, and for the actors involved.

Thanks, Carl!

"The speeding hulk of metal slams into his young body."

Who wrote these synopses? Lester Dent?

I also thought Eric looked too young and still dashing for Mona which made me fill in my own blanks about the nature of their original relationship.

That (Albert Stratton's casting, and "Barney the Clown" ish notwithstanding) might have been one reason why they wrote off Eric so soon after bringing him back into Erica's life. Plus, given Agnes Nixon's recent comments about Erica (that she must never outgrow her insecurities, which I think is hogwash, but whatevs, Aggie), it's possible she decided that bringing closure to Erica and Erica's relationship would have brought about an end to Erica's ongoing journey toward happiness.

In retrospect, I don't think there was anything too wrong in bringing back Eric as a circus clown. Yeah, the idea (that Eric would join the circus) seems...odd. You have to admit, though, it's much better than saying...oh, I don't know...that he faked his death in order to become a spy (hi, Mike Roy)?

People complain the soaps aren't online or on DVD, yet when they are, they STILL complain

What I wouldn't give for AMC & OLTL to be on DVD or streaming online, I miss ATWT so much I'm watching these eppys

Obviously, I can't speak for every fan out there, but why on earth would I want '00's or even late-'90's ATWT on DVD just because it beats not having any ATWT on DVD? I'd want to remember why I fell in love with ATWT (or any soap, for that matter), not why it isn't around anymore.

What gets me is that ABCD (okay, Frons) chose to blame Robin Mattson for her disastrous GH return rather than Bob Guza.

Supposedly TPTB knew how huge the Bianca coming out story would be, and they wanted it to be something that Erica struggled with on her own, and they didn't want her to be in the midst of a romance at the same time. It was felt that would distract from the gay story or something. I can see their point, and if you look at what happened in late 2000/early 2001, it does look like they were laying the groundwork for David and Erica to get back together. Their break up wasn't really final - it was more "I love you, but I don't know if I can trust you, so we need to end this," and yet they kept spending time together, whether it was having breakfast at the Valley Inn, or him driving her home from some event and sitting up all night talking to her, or her going to him for advice about Bianca, or them having sex on Alex's desk...

Erica was one of the few people still on David's side after the libidizone debacle on the yacht, and she arranged to get him out of jail, and that was spring 2001. That relationship was still salvagable at that point, but they wasted a wonderful opportunity to pair them up again to stick David with Dixie and have Erica flirt with Roger Smythe and then end up with Chris Stamp of all people. Such a waste... AMC could have had absolute magic if they'd put them back together. Even as enemies later on, the chemistry between SL and VI was just amazing. There were a few times after that where it seemed like David and Erica might end up back together, but for whatever reason, TPTB always pulled back. I'll never understand that.

Yeah, I see their (and your) point, too, ellabelle. I just don't believe it would have been all that distracting. After all, AMC's social-issue storylines in the past have always been woven into ongoing relationship dramas between different characters. That's a huge reason why Agnes Nixon gets credit for them; they're never "very special episode," if you know what I mean.

Meanwhile, the less I say about Erica's "romance" with Chris Stamp, the better.

^ When did that happen? Because I don't remember it either. I know Susan was injured in a very similar way, also in a car accident, but that was before AMC.

True. But I do recall reading the scanned article in question somewhere on this board and then reacting to it. (Unfortunately, I'm not good at retrieving old posts, so someone will have to help me there.)

IIRC, someone (Carl?) posted one of those story recap thingies from an old magazine, and among the highlights for AMC was a sentence like "Erica is concerned the facial scars from such-and-such accident will be permanent," or words to that effort.

The really dumb part, though, was that they had done that story with Erica already during the mid- or late-'80's.

Thanks for that tidbit, ellabelle. I had NO idea that Erica and David were split up so she could be single for Bianca's coming-out. To me, that decision makes no sense. If anything, such an event would be a terrific catalyst either for bringing them back together or solidifying their relationship.