P.J.

It's weird what you think you "remember" vs what actually happened. I could've sworn that Vanessa backed over Reva in the summer, that she was alone behind the wheel and that Reva was practically about to give birth. Instead, Reva barely seems pregnant, it's in the middle of winter (on a set that looks like it cornered the market on fake snow that year) and it's actually Billy in the driver's seat fighting with Vanessa as the car shifts into reverse.

I was watching some early '80's episodes. In it, Mike has a flashback of a fight on a ski tram. What is that about? 

Other notes---I'd forgotten that they developed a relationship between Vanessa and Quint. It's not overly warm, but it's not entirely antagonistic either.

Vanessa's hat game is fierce. It's very Dynasty-inspired.

1 hour ago, Mitch64 said:

Ha...Zombie Mo breaking in the kitchen door to eat Lillian! It is weird...when other soap characters die its a "Oh, I will never recover " and next week everyone, including their lover has moved on...even when real people die their characters like Bert, Henry, H.B. its an episode or two and then move on, but this one was like real life...Nadine tells Bridget that the mayor was their, etc... So yea, I think they made it so intense that they were screaming "This is permanent, like in real life." 

I was watching a few scenes after the funeral...Blake telling Holly to get her ass together for this, Van forcing Lillian to get her ass inside so people won't talk and it would be all about the scandal and not Mo...and Bridget and Nadine in the attic...everyone had a brain and a heart (even Nadine is not acting as goofy as she did when Buzz returned...) and I forgot GL was so damn good at that time...plus I love Bridge's line to Nadine in her funeral dress "Nadine, my God, what happened to you, did you get hit on the head and suddenly get taste?"

LOL...I LOVE Vanessa giving Lillian those marching orders. It's no wonder that Ellen Parker won the emmy that year. Between reading Ed and Lillian for filth, and telling Vanessa she was done with listening to Ed's litany of excuses after the third affair in their marriage, I doubt anyone else came close.

Well, since I had completely forgotten there were lyrics, no. But even after hearing them, all I can remember is "hold on to love"..

JFC...is Maureen's death is like two solid weeks of misery. I mean, it's great misery. But I can't recall any soap ever wallowing like that before or after. And they damn sure never ran pictures of the character during the entire credits crawl. I don't know if that's respect for the actress or making sure all the doors are locked and bolted.

LOL...the '83 intro reminds me that the Lewises' showed up and existed before REVA. 

I like the melody. I must have forgotten there were lyrics to it. It's not very deep, that's for sure.

19 minutes ago, robbwolff said:

I believe the singers were Roberta Flack and the late Billy Chinnock, whose song "Somewhere in the Night" had been the final theme song for Search for Tomorrow.

Thanks!

Quote

Does anyone know who sung "Hold on to Love" at the end of the September 23, 1992 episode? I think it's Roberta Flack and someone, but I can't find it on google.

While I agree the vets could have been better used (lol, it warms my heart to think Wagner didn't want to be in scenes dispensing advice to that lame brain Katie...) I don't think they were misused as badly as some do. 

23 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Keep in mind the times. In the 50's and 60's  soaps pushed the narrative that womens' fulfillment came through marriage and children. That was their domain and major concern. So the wellbeing of their children was paramount. Husbands seemed to have a lesser say but older male figures either folksy types like Pa Hughes and Papa Bauer or successful worldly types like Judge Lowell were to be revered.

 

Exactly. That narrative exists well into the 70's as well. One of the stressors in Bob and Jennifer's marriage is the fact she *gasp!* wanted to continue her nursing career. 

1 hour ago, Contessa Donatella said:

Okay, which day in May '91? I gotta go see. 

I looked forever trying to find the date of An Alex dinner party that had Bev with the best departure line, which was, "Will someone please pass the damn salt to Beth?! 

lol...the episode is 5/14/91. Although I guess i oversold it a bit, it's one soap opera day that she puts it all together, starting 5/10.

Granted, it's not a calendar year. I was a little iffy on when Johnny departed, because what I'm catching some eppys aren't around (sigh--huge bummer when you're into a story).  

Watching May '91, and in literally ONE episode, Alex is hit with three revelations--that Mindy miscarried Roger's child, that Alan-Michael and Henry have uncovered Roger's embezzling, and that Roger has another son. People rave about her blitzkrieg at the Country Club, but hearing Bev McKinsey growl "I want to rip out his lungs..." is FABULOUS. 

Wow...I'd forgotten GL had such a mass exodus. In a little less than a year, they lost Reva, Josh, Philip, Beth, Rick, Johnny, Chelsea, and recast Alan-Michael with Rick Hearst. While Johnny and Chelsea are negligible, there's a lot of history tied up in the other characters. Major upheavals like that usually leave shows floundering.

On 2/29/2024 at 8:12 PM, Althea Davis said:

Guys how do you rate the seasons from 1999 till the end. What are the good ones and the stinkers...? I am asking... for a friend. Lol.

Like all shows, it had highs and lows. I think it was better than some would give it credit for. 

5 hours ago, MichaelGL said:

Glad you're enjoying it! The show really rejuvenated itself during this period, I was even invested in the Dylan/Sam/Harley/AM/Blake/Phillip saga. 

I'm sure I enjoyed it the first time around, but the last 5-6 years of GL just killed a lot of feeling that I had for the show. But be still my heart---Rick Hearst. And this is the Harley I really liked. 

On 2/26/2024 at 9:16 PM, slick jones said:

@P.J.

This is what I found for Somerville in my searches for her soap roles...

PHYLLIS SOMERVILLE     

THE GUIDING LIGHT    Spa Attendant    1990

ALL MY CHILDREN     Velma            Unknown Year

LOVING               Mrs. Swan          1992

                                    Grace     1994

AS THE WORLD TURNS    Alice     1994

ONE LIFE TO LIVE     Eloise       Unknown Year

               Charlotte Stonecliff    1997-98

GUIDING LIGHT        Mrs. Beasley     1998

AS THE WORLD TURNS     Annabelle Fettle         2004

 

Her role on THE OUTSIDERS was great.

LOL...she plays someone called Mrs. Beasley? The Family Affair kid in me giggles.

5 hours ago, adrnyc said:

Phyllis Somerville!!!  I could not come up with my name to save her life. She was absolutely brilliant in everything she did on stage and screen. Interesting to hear she was also in '94 episodes (do those exist online? I don't recall seeing it during my watch through the periods of the show I never saw. And yes, how could I forget Sara Ramirez marrying Jack and Carly?! You're right that the NY soaps always had access to incredible talent.

 

Thank you for this! It's good to have the knowledge. As you said, it's part of soap opera lore and I've heard it mentioned so many times but didn't see it. I could swear that it even got into those "Soaps & Serials" novels from the 80s. I have the ATWT ones - read them probably 15 years ago - and I think that fake storyline made it into the book. Because I remember thinking "WTF is going on here? Why would they write that she fell UP the stairs? Did they make a mistake?!"

'94 is spotty. I fell down a rabbit hole trying to find out Carly's original origin story. Rosanna and Mike are annoying, and of course, just as we got to the point where Ro was going to find out Carly was her sister....there's a two/three week gap, and presto, Ro and Mike are back in Oakdale.

And I admit to using google. LOL.

Man, 89-90 Guiding Light is kicking ass! I'm actually a little more than skeeved out by Roger/Mindy, but I'd forgotten how likeable Kimberly Simms is in the role. At least before this war with Alex starts. 

10 hours ago, adrnyc said:

 

For every ABC actor the casting people were forced to hire from TPTB, they hired seasoned, well known NYC theater actors for other roles - Rose's father, the woman who helps steal a child for Craig/Rosanna, for instance. Mitzi is another seasoned NYC character stage actress. They had a lot of great actors on the show doing great work.

But I really enjoyed the late 90s. David Steinbeck having plastic surgery and returning (although going about 3 months too long) was clever and fun to watch a younger Stenbeck terrorize the cast. All the baby switching/who's the daddy storylines were fun and all came out at pretty much the same time - I thought that was a hoot. 

The racist cop, the burning of the church, and everything that came out of that was must-see-TV for me.

 

The NY shows definitely had better access to talent, and they would pop up in different roles. Phyllis Somerville (who played Annabelle Fettle, the baby broker) was also in episodes in '94 when Mike and Ro went to Montana, and GL in '90 as a mouthy attendant at a Spa Blake went to. Who knows how many the shows hired over the years. But I'll always know Sara Ramirez as Hannah, who married Jack and Carly in Montana.  

1 hour ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

Don't misunderstand. 

I'm sorry---I didn't mean to single you out. It just happened that I quoted your post. It's an open question for the board. I'm not sure what gets Hogan credit as doing anything different in terms of story. He egregiously retooled beloved characters to fit his stories, and after the first year, he pretty much recycled his own scripts. I will say, that ATWT under Goutman did some nice stand alone episodes (which at the time I hated, but have grown to appreciate, especially after watching GH's trainwrecks). But that's Goutman, not Sheffer.

I guess I just credit Carolyn Culliton with Hogan's first year that felt fresh and revitalizing (although I now wonder how much of that was just spin from the soap press) and see the flaws in years 2-5 that signalled epic burnout.

15 hours ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

Recently someone was talking about writing for Sheffer & winning the Emmy as part of the ATWT team & how joyful that experience was. And she said that since he came from outside soaps he didn't know what he couldn't do so he did a lot of things that no one else would have. 

I think of his solution for having 3 lead actresses all pregnant at the same time. Held them hostage in a spa & they were enveloped in enormous fluffy white terry robes! I sorta thought it was brilliant. 

Another friend was a writer on that team & whenever he speaks about "Hogie" it is with the same kind of joy, admiration, etc. One thing we do know is that he ran a Happy Writers' Room & took care of his people.

Am I just dense? What kinds of story points did Sheffer do that "no one else would have"? Deal with two actresses pregnant at the same time? Puhleeze? (I wish people would remember, Sheffer didn't send Byrne to the Spa story because she was pregnant. She ended up getting pregnant and gave birth in September of 2002. In fairness, even Byrne seems to have forgotten this. Unless Sheffer had ESP, he sure as hell didn't know when he planned The Spa out Byrne was gonna get knocked up.)

Otherwise, he ripped off movie plots (as soaps had done before; sigh, I didn't know until much later that GL ripped off major points of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the '80s with Reva/Lewises) and recycled himself. His writers seemed to like him. But reinvent soap opera he didn't.

Scott really should've had staying power, but after Joe Breen was fired, the writers seemed to regard the character as nuclear.

It is an odd episode, having so much focus on the hokey wedding. 

  "biological twitchings".... :DEAD:  I'd like to find more early Vanessa/Reva. Later, Vanessa slips into the "too much of a lady" to truly rip Reva a new piehole when she deserved it.

Early Vanessa does seem like a bitch in search of a purpose. It isn't until much later that her old feelings for Ross even seemed sincere. 

2 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Maybe to a lesser extent Alexandra as well?

That's probably fair. Long wrote for her creations. 

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I feel like the Vanessa pre-Billy couldn't have been viable as a long-term character, although I don't really care for some of what they did with her in that timeframe (like the pill addiction and running over Reva).

From what I've been able to revisit, I think Vanessa did need to be anchored to another family. I love Henry and Vanessa's relationship, but a grown woman can't run around town being besties with her "Daddy" indefinitely  They kind of threw her at everyone when she started. If it was in pants and moved, Vanessa batted her eyes at it. Good grief, she even dated ED. (and not one of the cute Eds, Mart Hulswit's Ed, bless him.) Which they seem to have forgotten by the end of the 80's. 

I don't blame Billy for the shift in Vanessa, I blame Reva. Reva took over the "outrageous vixen" role the minute she stepped into town.  And then I blame Matt. Vanessa caught "brain MIA disease" from him.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I also loved them, but you're right. I don't know how many times I ever remember seeing them in happy scenes.

I'm sure part of it is that there are huge gaps in what I can find online (and both Clarke and Kincaid took breaks from the show more than I remembered), but DAMN. Vanessa tells him she's pregnant, and Billy's barely listening to her because he's suddenly obsessed with getting Reva out of the family (she's just married HB.) DAMN DAMN DAMN Pam Long and her obsession with Reva's magic vajayjay. Now I'm watching 89-90, and Billy's convinced he was still in love with Reva. JFC. And no one except Josh ever gets to read Reva for filth. SMH.

Man, I thought ATWT's Jack and Carly had it rough. Vanessa put up with a lot of BS from Billy, that's for sure.