P.J.

Yeah, I don't think those comments had anything to do with ageism. I think it speaks to the difference in eras---today there is a clearer definition of an character's individual look. Yes, today a 50 yr old lawyer would still be running around occasionally in man panties, and I definitely think there was more reliance on acting presence rather than appearance...but let's not kid ourselves---it's the way we view them that's changed. Not the fact they were more attractive than the person off the street. Then, as now, pretty was the rule, not the exception.

I do think ATWT was the last soap to modernize their look. You could tell they were moving in that direction with characters like Barbara, Margo and JD's Tom...but there's still a stuffy, conservative vibe in their look well into the mid-80's and some would say well after that. I'm sure some of it was about the fact they'd ruled the roost with their "look" for 20 years, much the same way Y&R has been stuck on their "signature look" forever now.

I've always found the ABC shows over-the-top in their acting and character manner.

Hell yeah---a Laurel free episode!! Love the focus on Diggle, letting him lead story.

sigh Olicity are perfect for each other. I love Felicity being jealous and Ollie saying he doesn't deserve her. Or that he cares about her too much to screw her. However you want to put it.

That article makes me feel incredibly shallow. I like the cast chemistry and hot guys. Arc tragectories and the DC vs. Marvel stuff...yeah, not so much. I can't believe someone analyzes it to that degree. And I found myself a little annoyed at some of the less than accurate descriptions of the story. I mean, I know Merlyn ordered Ollie's father's death, but Ollie's father ended up committing suicide. It may be a nit-pick, but it's one of those things that annoys me.

I'm glad I don't know the DC canon. Now I'm seriously bummed by

the knowledge Slade is Deathstroke and Shado will eventually oppose Ollie.

Unless I somehow missed that---some of the island stuff confuses me.

I don't know how often Roger checks into this post. But something has to have been worked out with P&G (or whoever has the rights to the show), since he would not be posting them otherwise.

I think because she comes off like a wet rag. Part of it's the way the role's written---she doesn't know Ollie is the Arrow, and this season she's going after him (I guess), which makes her his enemy. It's always harder being the "good" girl on any show---they tend to stray into the "vanilla" category. And it's probably worse on a superhero show where stronger women are kicking ass.

People harped on Thea last year for being too whiny (I didn't---I thought she was simply acting the way a lot of teens would in her circumstance), and this year she's stronger--less whiny, less spoiled.

I think Laurel's growing, but there's not enough chemistry between her and Ollie for me to care about their romance.

That was a really touching scene between Sara and Lance.

Still wish they'd dump Laurel. But not til after she screws Dylan Bruce's character. He seems hotter here than on ATWT.

That is such a story point, and so true to Lucinda's character---I think it had to come from Marland. I'd really like to know if Marland would have ever hooked up Josh and Meg if not for the writer's strike and Jennifer Ashe apparently wanting to leave though.

Kim and Lisa disowned Babs? I don't recall it---but I'd argue they stood by her long after she deserved their support, especially after she had Carly, Em and Rose kidnapped. That BS that she wasn't responsible chapped my hide. She knew what she asked of James and she reveled in it when they were gone. The fact she then spent weeks in Parker's company literally had me seething in anger.

I don't remember Carly blowing Molly off either---but C&M rarely were involved in each other's stories. They just mainly "caught up" on plot-point days. Even when Molly was with Jake---she started acting like Carly was beneath her somehow---like Molly suddenly didn't remember she'd been a LOT more screwed up than Carly ever was. At the bachelorette party Carly threw for her, all the guests (Kim, Lisa, and I forget who else) were markedly snotty to Carly (after Babs' burns) knowing that Carly had been the target of Julia's bomb and nearly killed by Julia herself in the mud pit, and Molly says nothing to them. NOTHING.

So if Carly wanted to bond with her sister....too bad. LOL. Not that I don't think that should have happened...but that's a whole other story.

Well, at one point, they did make a point of saying Kim (and Lisa and Bob) had tried off-screen to visit her after the explosion, and she wouldn't let them in to see her.

Some of it was about the budget. But I would submit that a caring EP or HW could have made sure relationships were referenced in a timely way, instead of backwriting it six months down the road when you decide to deal with it. And Lisa was still used in that way---as with Bonnie and Casey. But too often Lisa just became a plot point and snarked about Carly, Emily or whoever was in the storyline of the day.

They initially weren't. In Carly's first run, Lisa had taken her under her wing, and Carly's exit was Lisa investing in Carly's Get Real line and going to Hong Kong. Then after Carly returned, Carly lived with her, Carly told Lisa about the $50 million dollar trust and LISA not only understood, but advised Carly to pursue it, knowing she was chasing Hal and not in love with him.

The change was really cemented when Carly married John to secure the $50 million, which never made any sense. I think a lot of it was due to Goutman assuming control---friendships in general really took a hit under him. But I also think Goutman saw Carly as a woman who really wouldn't have a lot of friends, period, and never wanted to show her having a support system. (Even Molly's support came and went with the wind.) Carly wouldn't have had to keep doing as many "desperate" things as she did if she wasn't constantly one step from poverty and/or disaster.

Ugh...the way the entire TOWN treated Carly after Jack brought his fake wife/dumb whore to Oakdale still makes my blood boil. It's the ONLY time in her history she did NOTHING wrong, and they ALL took this unknown woman's side and acted like Carly should just suck it up and let Jack "Jackson" move on with his life.

I've never seen a color picture of her for that episode, so thanks!

um...that's not from the ATWT eppy where they parodied the Munsters? 'cause it looks like Fairwinds behind her.

Scotty still looks damn good. Better than HB any damn day of the week.

I wonder why they recast Sarah. JMW isn't the best actress in the world, but physically she looks like Laurel, while this new one looks more like a girl-next-door. I knew Kevin Alejandro would end up being a badass.

Kind of snickered my way through Laurel popping some pills and washing it down with more wine. Uh, all this over losing her "boyfriend" Tommy? (I loved Tommy---don't get me wrong..) She had dumped him long before that.

Though now that I think about it, maybe Tommy will turn up alive someday. THAT would make me extremely happy.

I didn't mean to make it sound like you couldn't appreciate it---just that I know the monk's robes and spooky castle seem slightly more camp without the entire context.

LOL...maybe I should watch it ---it seems appropriate for Halloween.

I think it's hard to watch an episode or clips here and there and appreciate the true impact of a reveal like that.

Do you have the Barbara/James dvd? I still curse the day I decided to wait and order it for Xmas.

It's too bad Scott was completely derailed by Doug's death and JB's HIV. Had he continued as the brother with a chip on his shoulder (instead of the clown he became with Doug Wert---which wasn't even DW's fault, the writing did a 180) I think it really would have revitalized Tom and Lisa.

Think of how daytime would have been different had Marland stayed HW at GL---no Reva Shayne? The mind boggles.

What was the reason he only lasted two months or so at ATWT in late 1979?

The story I've heard is that P&G brought him on as a consultant, then gave him the choice of ATWT or GL. He chose GL, (I think) because he considered it a stronger show at the time.

Agree that Marland was burned out near the end of his tenure, I quit watching all together..he kept repeating himself and brought in all these characters far from the core...(who the hell was Aunt Mary and her Coffee house anyway???) He should have been training someone for two years to make way when he left and maybe consulted on ATWT for a year or two. I would have loved to see what a Pam Long with a strong producer could have done....or if they moved Nancy Curleee to be head writer.

"Aunt Mary" was Hutch and Linc's biological mother. Played by Lisby Larsen who was also Calla Matthews on GL.

I don't know if you can really "train" someone that way. There are very few writers that honestly seemed as committed to each and every character as Marland was. You can show them how to outline, plot, develop a character---but the way he was able to weave characters in and out of stories--that was a gift.

^^that's why all of John's caterwauling re: Lucinda's schemes was so much BS. The only difference between John and Lucinda's obsession with their kids was Lily wasn't Lucinda's by blood. John's manipulations re: Andy were legion and before Lucinda knew him.

Susan was Dan's first wife. Dan didn't marry Liz until after Paul's (his brother's) death. Emily was born before Andy.

^^^yeah, Lisa especially seemed to be only used as a plot point. "Oh, Casey needs to turn bad---he might as well steal from Grandma Lisa."

They did bring Grant back for a handful of episodes around the time Earl died. Or they were solving who killed Earl and Glenn was gaslighting Lisa maybe?

IMDB doesn't have anything listed for him after 1987 though. Maybe he retired. He's still alive and turns 80 in Dec.