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I personally didn't care for it, mainly because it degraded both Margo and Jessica so much. I felt the story inexplicably turned Margo into a sex starved bored housewife and at that point in their marriage I don't think Tom and Margo needed another infidelity story, especially not after the mess that was Tom's mid-life crisis and affair with Emily resulting in Daniel. I didn't like the Jessica stuff either--it was sad because Jessica and Ben were trying to have a child together and Jessica had just been raped and lived through all the Marshall stuff so I would have though Jessica to be a lot stronger and smarter. But this was Sheffer's ATWT, and in hindsight judging from his work at Days and Y&R it was a tame woman hating story for him.

Thanks I've seen a 1982 episode in which Alison walks in Katherine and Earl being somewhat affectionate with each other as they reminisced and Alison being very appalled. It didn't help that Katherine was friendly with Nikki who I believe Alison never cared for. I think I labeled her as much due to the fact she later kidnapped Victoria. That's an interesting thought about Deborah Adair being a bridge between Dickson and Walton. One thing that interests me from the Adair era is Jill falling head over heels for...Andy of all people. I'd have to believe comparing that story to the Jill stories as the decade progressed is like comparing apples and oranges. With Adair's Jill was it believable enough for Jill go for Andy? I've often heard there was a major characterization shift there in '80 and again in '83 when Dickson returned. Are the clips of Adair's Jill chiding Katherine for telling John about their past rivalry still on Youtube? If you guys have seen them, what did you think?

Don't forget about Lisa Mansfield! I didn't know Marc was the father of Julia's daughter I thought the father was Eric Garrison. By the way, what did you guys think of Kevin's parents? I know Alison later went bersek herself, but didn't Earl and Katherine share some secret past?

Someone, maybe even in this thread suggested Peter Reckell for the role of Blade and I think he would have sizzled. I don't know about the dual role part but he'd have been perfect for being rugged and mysterious. Can you imagine Reckell getting it on with either Epperson or Walton? Plus he left Days in early '92 so he would have been available. Anthony Addabbo later played a dual on role to B&B for better or worse too bad they didn't find him earlier. To Michael Tylo's credit he did have an extensive and well known soap background when he was hired while Hunter was still probably recognized as Marina Toscano Jed left town and I believe he was involved with Nikki when he did so. It was quite sudden, and I remember her being upset. As for no one catching some of that sloppiness there 1996/1997 my guess is there was too many cooks in the kitchen at that point. The writing team had gotten bigger by then. Remember by 2001 we had Scott and Alden coming to blows over storytelling and casting decisions.

One more question; how much did Marland write of ATWT there in 1979? I've heard he was responsible for the Hadley Bennett story which when reading about I found it sounded a little too bizarre for ATWT.

What year did Chuckie Shea die? I love Rita Lloyd as well and she is criminally underrated. I had no idea she also played Lucille Wexler on GL from the clips I've seen she's fabulous there as well. Edwina was a good antagonistic character in my book.

Fletcher was like the male Reva in a way as he was with many women over the years with Maureen, Claire, Alex, Maeve, Vanessa, Holly etc. This article below is from February 1996 Soap Opera Update. The answer of course was not very long before Josh Taylor took over the role briefly:

From June 1994:

Thanks so much again for that history lesson saynotoursoap! Thanks Max as well for sharing hat clip video link. I remember it on the defunct WOST site. That's interesting that two children of two iconic characters on two P&G soaps named Chuckie both ended up dead. I think Darryl being the killer in the end could have created some powerful drama--imagine if he had framed someone else then get into an accident and make some death bed confession he did it. Mousy Vicki who was Carolyn's best friend being behind it all was kind of sad. Sabrina appeared in '93 alongside Duncan to fight Hans in Montega? I don't remember that but that's pathetic. That sounds way too 1987ish for 1993! What did you guys think of Edwina Walsh?

Apparently this short-lived soap did have enough time to do a special one-hour episode. Maybe a stunt too little to late, but this ad comes from I believe January 1975:

Ad from TV Guide announcing the new hour length AW:

Thanks for both articles Carl! I never knew James Lipton and Nina Foch were married; unfortunately it appears to have lasted only a few years. I wonder if Lipton should have stuck to acting instead of taking up writing. I'd actually love to see Roger and Peggy's wedding. From the synopses I've read Roger spent tons of money of a period of several weeks to give Peggy a big extravagant wedding and invited the entire town but the only invited guest to show up for the ceremony was Bert Interesting a few months after the '77 article was written the word "The" was dropped from the show's official title, but even now and through out the last decade my grandma will still refer to it as "The Guiding Light". Was there any negative reaction to the show dropping the word "The" from the official title?

As a non-GH viewer(I've watched the L&L wedding and watched a little in the mid-90s) I was wondering how GH viewers thought about MST3K using old GH clips as an example of bad television. I've probably watched more GH there than the show itself.

As bad as it was at least Tom and Margo had actual storylines in the late 90s where as under Sheffer Tom was on the very backburner while Margo was cheerleader for Katie and Craig before good old Hoggie had her and the very married Jessica fighting over studly and abusive man whore Doc Reese(typical Sheffer eh?) That story coupled with Cabot saga made me tune out for several months in the fall of '04. Passassante was kinder to them but wrote them as either the world's worst/most oblivious parents and also turned them into being more pretentious.

Mike did leave town with Pilar for like about two months after this. They left to join some formula one racing team or something and I think Mark and Connor joined them when they left town. I must say Roselyn Sanchez's acting ability has certainly came along way from this! Sheffer later did bring Pilar back in 2004 as a deranged psycho who killed rabbits paid by Simon to keep Mike and Katie separated.

Thanks haha I should have known as I have enjoyed all of the eps saynotoursoap's put on. Speaking of Diego's shooting, it it's alright with everyone else I'm going to summarize a couple February 1997 episodes from that time period that long been collecting dust in a box full of VHS tapes. The first one I have here I've dated to Friday, February 21st 1997, about a week after Diego was shot at the wedding. This episode is quite possibly Allyson Rice-Taylor's last ep or perhaps one of her last shows. Shawn Christian as Mike is also present and looks really hot. If anyone has ever seen the Charmed eps he did in '99(badly I might add ) he looks like how he did there here. The judge at Lily's arraignment is played Lewis Arlt, famous for his SFT and AW roles. Funeral Home: Pilar is seen watching over Diego's body when Lucinda bursts in. Lucinda tells Pilar she must testify on Lily's behalf to prove that Diego was a dangerous man and terrorist. However a mourning Pilar refused and blamed Lily for Diego's death. Pilar claims that Diego was never like that until he came to Oakdale and got involved with the town. Pilar claims that Lily turned Diego evil because of her constant betrayals of him. Her and Lucinda argue more when Mike with a bandage on his head coming back from Ben's breaks it up. Lucinda uses Mike's head as an example of how bad Diego was but Pilar will have none of it and tosses Lucinda out. Mike tries to sooth an upset Pilar over but she is completely devastated by Diego's death and wants Lily to pay. Therefore she will be testifying against Lily at her arraignment. When Mike tries again Pilar breaks down, professing her love for Mike, her hatred for what Diego did, and her hatred that he was gunned down. Pilar sends Mike away to tell Lucinda about what she will be doing. However Mike lingers and eavesdrops on Pilar talking to Diego's corpse. Pilar vows to make Lily pay for her crime and to defend his honor. Suddenly Diego's voice responds "I hope so. What would I have left without my sister?" Mike looks horrified. Police Station/Jail: Tom and Margo are arguing because Margo thinks it was her who killed Diego. Margo tries to convince Tom but fails. Margo argues with Tom about what she could in black out states like the one she was in at the wedding, but Tom brushes it off as just Margo misplacing her gun. Tom and Hal talk about the case. Tom tells Hal he's reducing Lily's charges to involuntary manslaughter while Hal apologizes about putting Margo through an tough interrogation. Tom tells Hal he's sure the gun will show up and that he hates pressing charges on Lily for killing a man who put Margo and the rest of Oakdale through hell. Jessica is informing Lily of Tom's plea offer and Lily says she will agree to it when Holden storms in screaming "No way in hell!" Holden and Lily argue over what she is trying to do what is best for her. With the plea offer, Jessica explains Lily would only get a couple years in prison. Lily believes it would be better to only be away for a couple years than be away from Luke the rest of her life. Holden remains unconvinced, but Lily declares she is doing what is best for her and Luke. Holden insists that Lily should plead not guilty. Margo comes in to visit Lily and tells her about her blackout states. Margo tells Lily about losing her gun and that she thinks she may have shot Diego. Lily insists to Margo it was her who put a bullet in Diego. Holden brings Luke to jail and Hal allows Lily to hold him in her cell. Holden tells Lily that Luke can't live without her mother. Lucinda comes by and insists that Lily plead not guilty because there's not a jury in the world who would convict her once they knew what kind of man Diego was, but Lily was still very uncertain. Later Lily breaks down before going to the bond arraignment. Lucinda blasted Jessica for convincing Lily to accept the plea bargain but Jessica quips Lily is a grown and smart woman. Lucinda claims Jessica that she is incapable of understanding about how a mother and child can be ripped apart but Jessica reminds Lucinda she is a mother herself. Hospital: Ben show's Mike the x-rays of his head injury. Diego had struck Mike on the head with a lead pipe. Ben and Mike chitchat about Diego's murder case. Mike tells Ben he's a suspect in the case as well as he has both the motive and means to kill Diego. Mike then leaves for the funeral home. Connor's: Cal drops by Connor's house looking for Mark about work with Kasnoff Construction. Connor tells Cal Mark's not home. A suspicious Cal starts inquiring and says he saw them at Diego and Lily's wedding. Connor tries to change the subject to Luke and Lily but it Cal keeps prying at a nervous Connor. Connor finally breaks and tells Cal that Mark found evidence that Diego had killed Jones. Connor tells Cal she tried to talk Mark out of going to the wedding but he wanted his revenge. Connor tells Cal she has not seen Mark since Diego was shot, he's vanished. Cal assures Connor will come back complete with explanation. Connor is thankful to Cal for the support in spite of past differences which Cal responds anytime but is obviously now intrigued by Mark. Courtroom: Outside Cal catches up with Hal and tells Hal about Mark. Hal becomes quite interested about Mark's disappearance. Suddenly we flash to a scene with a rough looking Mark sitting by a campfire stabbing a knife into the ground. Lily's arraignment hearing begins. The judge calls for Lily Santana to rise. Lucinda quickly shrieks "Excuse me your honor but it's Lily GRIMALDI!" An appalled Lily answers to the name Lily Santana by saying technically yes. Tom announces the reduced the charge from second-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter. When the judge asks how does Lily plea, she's about to speak but suddenly looks back at Holden holding Luke.

Saynotoursoap I have to thank you for all the information and details you provided in answering my questions earlier as well as providing me with a better idea of the timeline of 1970s ATWT. I wasn't offended at by the attention spans remark because I think it's true! Actually I've always been fascinated by the Centerville story since I first heard about it and I wish there we're clips available to see it. Thanks Carl for sharing that video. Props to whoever put it together I didn't see anything in it later than Diego's shooting so I was very impressed they strung all those vintage clips together. I've probably asked this before so sorry if I'm repeating myself but did ATWT do anything special for their first one hour episode?

What was audience's reactions to Kim's marriage to John and all the years of torture she went through? She also fell in love with Dan Stewart, producing a memorable couple there. What were reactions to Bob and Kim being reunited? John was a heinous villain wasn't he? Didn't he fake paralysis or illness just to keep Kim around? I've read about Kim's amnesia storyline, I think as a viewer at that I would have been very frustrated by that point. Actually given the ratings started falling during that time to other soaps maybe some of them were!

You know, I don't remember if Amanda came back or not. I've always seen dates that Cullen did return in '87 though. The one I watched on WOST was the 12/24/87 episode. Funny there is an interview out there somewhere, maybe already here on SON too or in this very thread from early 1984 in which Pam K. Long discussed bringing back Amanda in spite of considering Cullen to be the ultimate Amanda. Those plans obviously never materialized. Have you seen the Bauer BBQ eps from that year Carl? I saw it on the old WOST site, and they attempted to tie in the show's 50th Anniversary with it. It's pretty surreal to watch, probably most memorable for Alan-Michael's introduction by parachuting in. Cameron Stewart and Lacey Bauer also went up in a hot air balloon, and I heard it never came back down! Instead it floated away from Springfield before finally crashing all the way in Beverly Hills! There also seems to be some strange stories for the show, like India adopting Dorrie, the arrival of Josh's dead wife etc. Didn't Claire Ramsey inexplicably wake up from her coma for a second time and ran off with her doctor?

Never heard about the trucking story so I'll don't know but I've seen some clips from early 1987 with Alan running some art scam and then being accused of murdering Paul Valere. It was ok material I thought, but I've heard that particular story as well as a few others on the show at that time were considered some pretty low points for the show. I don't believe the show got better until that fall. Has the Xmas 1987 episode surfaced on Youtube yet? I saw it on WOST except for the delightful Alan and Reva scenes the whole thing seemed hokey as it was focused on Johnny Bauer being sick awaiting a miracle to happen. I've also see a clip from that time period when Vanessa called it quits with Alan over his growing infatuation with Reva.

I've always been amazed that both SFT and GL lasted at 15 mins for so long and could still tell some compelling stores in those fifteen minutes than later sixty minute shows. Maybe it was those hour expansions that contributed to the genre's problems. I wish I could have seen how the 15-min soaps worked day to day though.

It was Conboy who abruptly bumped Keifer, Garrett, Chamberlin, and Yvonna Wright to recurring status there in 2003, all four in the middle of storylines too. Holly was involved with Ed, Beth getting it on with Jeffery( ) Blake starting her own private investigation with Harley's Angels, Mel going to law school etc. All the stories got dumped or pushed aside for pointless excessive newbie junk like Eden, Darci(ok I liked her later on), Nico, Lori/Brad/Marie triangle mystery(DON'T ASK!) etc. Wheeler and Kriezman's first order of business was getting rid of all the newbies that were devouring the show. Then after Weston had sent GL history to hell, one of the first things was bringing back Dinah. It felt like GL existed again before 2002. Dinah's return was so great and Roger's death and the initial aftermath was amazing. Making the annoying Sandy NOT Jonathan was an excellent move and seeing Jonathan be a real scum was fun initially. I never thought the show would actually pair Jonathan and Tammy, and if they did they would undo them being cousins. Unfortunately by early 2005 they really started to blow it, and in the aftermath of those major cuts in the summer of '05 they never could keep a solid footing again.

Wheeler always struck me as highly unstable there in 2007/2008/2009 when she mentioned herself how she would cry of every little thing about the show. Seem every interview she had to say something about she cried every day because she was so thankful the show was still on the air. I've heard of that restarting GL rumor many times before. Infact it was rumored that would happen back in late '05 but it turned out be the Inside the Light episodes instead thankfully. As much as I liked Harley and Ehlers in the 90s and early 00s, it seems Harley became very tired fast and Ehlers became very strange. Had no idea about the Mark Bogue and Mandy Bruno stuff. I hated Mallet and Marina as a couple anyways. I so want to read Zimmer's book now at least for the entertainment and Zimmer's perspective. As for Watros and Zimmer I've heard they've both made up. It was explained to me before Zimmer and Watros had to work under some tight, confined conditions on both GL and that stage play the did together in which tempers flared as their big egos created friction. I guess time heals. I don't about Peter Simon aside from his great displeasure being on the show which he abruptly quit twice ('96 and '04). Simon remarked in an SOD interview in the Maryanne Carrathuers story Ed was the only one who hadn't married Reva but wish he had. I hated the show got rid of those sleek '05 opening credits for that crappy 70th there is a destiny anniversary opening. God damn terrible.

Yeah I remember Ellie got totally humiliated in front of everyone at a dinner party when Kirk exposed her having an abortion to everyone. Ellie was missing at that big Snyder 1994 Thanksgiving dinner I think. Not sure what Marland had planned, given almost all of the Snyders were written out in 1994/1995. What exactly happened to Gavin Kruger anyways? I don't remember at the moment.

Great stuff! I dug out Smith's soap history guide but unfortunately the entry is kept rather short unlike the others, so there's not much more to add but I'll post it anyways: