P.J.

That's where I think Stowe is so good---there's always these little teases Victoria regrets what happened. But then she's so cold-blooded blackmailing and manipulating those around her, you understand where Emily/Amanda is coming from. In some ways, it's like Victoria meeting her personal, more vicious, Mini-Me.

That little girl who plays Amanda looks so much like EVC it's almost impossible to believe they don't recognize her.

I hope they answer the most obvious, glaring question---if Victoria is such a control freak, why hasn't she kept tabs on Amanda's whereabouts all this time?

The other obvious question is---is Charlotte actually Amanda's half-sister, and if so, does Amanda know? 'Cause it seems really really cold-blooded of Amanda to use that clip of Victoria's session if there's not something more there.

^^^My mom actually said that out of the blue one day, but that's the only place I've ever heard it.

I like this show. I'm not sure how long the premise can hold out (to me, it smacks of Murder One) but I think the two lead women are evenly matched. I can't wait to find out if Emily knows that Victoria tried to save her father, or if it's why she seems to be holding her the most responsible.

I don't think Greg Beecroft wanted to be tied down with a long term contract. Brock started out as such a scumbucket, it would have been hard to really redeem him and let him stay in Oakdale. I respect that Marland stayed with his vision and didn't keep the mob in Oakdale simply because Beecroft is a great actor.

Oh, and I have that card game. And the one for GL.

The winner has to be "I'm just trying to protect Lily"---EVERYONE and their flippin' mother used to say that whenever they lied to her. And she was always being lied to. Hell, most of Lucinda's purpose was lying to Lily and then protecting her from it.

*snort*

Errr....just from that snippet, I'd point out that Derek is conning her, so the over-the-top-ness is a part of that. Not that Marland was ever known for "gritty" dialogue.

Who is playing Betsy? LaRyan?

Craig must make his appearance soon, given Cricket and Margo are already in town.

I gotta say, these write-ups read like bad fan fiction.

Re Dee and Ian's death---I have a dim memory of this, but Jackie Schultz's Dee was fragile and downtrodden. I couldn't tell you what made her that way---if there was a radical shift when Schultz was cast or the writing. Given the "Perils of Pauline" stories they wrote for Barbara, my guess that's the way they wrote their heroines. Rereading Dee's history, it seems she took up with Ian after being rejected by Beau Spencer, and probably still a virgin before Ian bedded her.

I remember it playing a little better on-screen...but what do I know, I was like 12. But, you gotta remember, it was 1980, and it was ATWT, and characters didn't really have one-night stands (or affairs with men probably 15 years older) the way soaps do/did without consequence. Good girls waited for marriage. Bad girls got "reputations"/V.D./pregnant. Look at Barbara's story---she had premaritial sex with James and gave Paul up for adoption.

How did people like Veleka Gray in the role of Lyla? Gray is a fascinating actress to me for all of her roles (especially her later Y&R work).

I don't think many people would remember her in the role. I know I was surprised to find out Anne Sward didn't originate the role.

Melinda's is the first death I have a clear memory of. It probably wasn't....but the way I remember it, it really looked like they shot it at a lake.

Duh...just looked at the picture in the article. It obviously was shot on location.

Hated Rose. For probably the first three months, it worked as a gimmick, gave Byrne the opportunity to "stretch". It went downhill fast the more Rose intergrated with Oakdale, and seemed to completely forget she was a con artist and started treating her like a Joisey PrincessLily. I hate that Scott Hoylrod was tied to her---I'm sorry---Byrne looks a good fifteen years older than him. I don't think he ever truly got a fair shot at a storyline of his own after that.

Count me a "no" to that too. It was so out-of-character for Margo to start having sweaty, gotta-have-it-everywhere fantasies, and I really didn't see what either woman would see in Doc. There was a lot more potential between Jess and Marshall before the "nomightmeanyes" rape. And the less said about Margo's sex life, the better.

I never thought of Kim as "naughty". She was aloof, determined, and mysterious. The things she did, such as sleeping with Bob, happened on impulse. She did not commit her sins maliciously or to cause intentional harm to Jennifer. She was daytime's Greta Garbo, and quite enigmatic. It was an interesting era for ATWT. Truthfully, I prefer it over anything that came before or after.

"Naughty" as in less than the pure, pillar-of-the-community, "kiddo" scion of Oakdale that she became.

Melinda's appearance puts Chuckie's death in 1978.

I would pay to see early Kim as Jennifer's "naughty" sister. PAY.

My understanding is that Tom was driving when the accident (that killed Chuckie) occurred. Michael Shea was already dead by that time. Oddly, Chuckie's death isn't mentioned at all in ATWT's history book, the only time frame I can put on it is early '70's , with the last actor to play the part (probably) was David Perkins.

The last mention of Chuckie is about Don becoming buddies with the boy during his dalliance with Lisa.

What did you guys think of Edwina Walsh?

Rita Lloyd is so underrated. Lucille Wexler scared the hell out of me when I watched GL, and Edwina was the ultimate in reptilian mothers. LOVED her.

I think the analysis sounds negative. I'm sure if the same stories were airing today, they'd be pulled apart to the nth degree too. It doesn't make Marland less of a complete, multi-layered storyteller.

I'm not saying the criticisms aren't accurate or valid, but it's so hard to recapture the details of the stories so many years later. What I know is that families interacted, every action had consequences, and people had honest motivations, even if they were the stupidest decisions of their lives. I may see Marland through rose-colored glasses, but he is definitely the gold standard. The idiots now are simply gold-colored [!@#$%^&*].

Re: Carolyn Crawford....it's the one time (or the most obvious) Marland rewrote one of his stories to suit his fan base, and it was a huge mistake. Rex Smith was hardly Olivier...and if I remember correctly, wasn't there a writer's strike that played into it somehow?

The thing about Barbara and Frannie was that Frannie had gotten on her moral high horse about Babs' ONS with Darryl, resulting in Jennifer, and lying to Frannie about it when Frannie was getting close to Darryl. At the point it happened, it wasn't any of Frannie's business, and she herself had developed feelings for Darryl while he was married to Caroline.

Pretty sure Krueger simply went to jail off-screen.

Ellie was my least favorite Snyder. I think any censure she got from her family was over the fact she lied to Kirk about the abortion. I think this was after Lily's miscarriage (and lord knows Lily's feelings were always to be put first by everyone she knew...) and while Iva was raising two toddlers practically on her own.

Ellie looked like a selfish slacker.

Oh, I wasn't kidding when I said it was awful. There's some story about how it was considered "lost" until they found a print in a warehouse somewhere in '09.

It's just strange. Like catching Anthony Herrera in an old Rockford Files episode.

Was this after he left GL?

Don seemed to be accepted so immediately when he took over as Mike, even though Gary Pillar must have been pretty popular in the role. I guess he had such a warm presence.

One of those old soap magazines has him at a party in one of those white jumpsuits Elvis would have worn, super-tight. I miss the days when just about anyone would go out in that type of thing

It was like '81, '82. So it's towards the end of Mike's run, but I think he was still doing the soap. OMG---Don wasn't the original Mike?

It was very weird seeing him in more casual '80's wear instead of his ever-present suit-and-tie. My understanding is that it's considered a "cult classic". TCM occassionally runs it as an "underground" movie. It was introduced by Jane Powell, which was weird too.

OMG...I am watching the cheesiest movie, Carnival Magic, starring Don Stewart. It features a talking chimp.

The only good thing is seeing Don in early '80's form.

No Nancy?

And who's the kid next to Frank Runyeon? I understand the babies in the pic not getting a credit, but why Pintauro does and not that kid seems unfair.