soapfan770

re: Harding Lemay's short stint on Search. I recall reading that Millee Taggart said that Lemay had some wonderful ideas for SEARCH. She said he wanted to bring back Mignon Sentell and she would cause problems for Liza and Travis. She said he had some great ideas for Janet, but unfortunately, it didn't pan out. I also read that Mary Ellis Bunim said Lemay was ineffective. After leaving SFT I believe Lemay did a short stint on The Doctors and then mostly disappeared from daytime until 1988.

Yes Tabitha was hosting Thanksgiving dinner at her house and had a giant turkey piñata much like the one "Cassie's butchered body" was in at the Thanksgiving carnival. The piñata appeared to be dripping blood much to everyone's horror. It fell down and red gloop splattered all over the place. What had thought to have been blood turned out to be cranberry sauce!

It's a crying shame that show so diverse and family-oriented Passions went a not so serious route first as some bad campy supernatural tale then later transformed into Sunset Beach 2 only not as entertaining. My favorite story by far remains the relationship between Julian and Eve that first appeared on-screen in 2003. Both Masters and Ross were able to rise above the campy mess for a serious relationship as did the writing. Other favorite highlights of mine include Ivy crashing her car into the wedding, Julian and Timmy's misadventures, and killer guacamole. Oh and the Thanksgiving 2004 episode which was mockery of the previous year's Thanksgiving on Days. Funny that JER would make a mockery out of his own work.

I also believe that P&G was unhappy with the move to the 2:30 slot instead of the historic 12:30 slot they had enjoyed for 30 years. I've heard two stories over the years over SFT's performance in that 2:30 slot--one that SFT failed miserably, the other than SFT saw its ratings rise but P&G was still miffed over losing out on the 12:30 slot. Carl's right, too many style changes too. Look at 1978-1982. We go from the Corringtons who are credited with modernizing the show to Harding Lemay to Gary Tomlin. In four years with other writers in between! Perhaps if SFT had found a stabilizing writer over a long period of time in the 70s like the Dobsons on GL, Slesar on Edge, Lemay on AW etc. I mean by 1982 the characters which Peter Simon, Courtney Sherman and Morgan Fairchild had played had been long forgotten about, even though the Phillips had been pivotal in the mid-70s! I also believe that P&G was unhappy with the move to the 2:30 slot instead of the historic 12:30 slot they had enjoyed for 30 years. I've heard two stories over the years over SFT's performance in that 2:30 slot--one that SFT failed miserably, the other than SFT saw its ratings rise but P&G was still miffed over losing out on the 12:30 slot. Carl's right, too many style changes too. Look at 1978-1982. We go from the Corringtons who are credited with modernizing the show to Harding Lemay to Gary Tomlin. In four years with other writers in between! Perhaps if SFT had found a stabilizing writer over a long period of time in the 70s like the Dobsons on GL, Slesar on Edge, Lemay on AW etc. I mean by 1982 the characters which Peter Simon, Courtney Sherman and Morgan Fairchild had played had been long forgotten about, even though the Phillips had been pivotal in the mid-70s!

Goodness I had completely forgotten about that plot point. Wasn't that around the same time that Alan was hiding in the shadows and pretending to be a Japanese businessman? This would have been in 1994 if I recall right.

LOL I hadn't thought of it being ironic justice. I think Rick and Roxie actually lasted several months but were on the backburner for the most it as Roxie would meet Johnny. I've always wondered why no one ever thought to bring Roxie back in the 90s. It seems a bit odd she's left languishing in a mental clinic after a single emotional breakdown over too much stress and trauma while sister Reva has frequently become unhinged and never got treatment. Of course my favorite love interest for Rick will always be Abby she was on the way to being a new tentpole Bauer woman before writing her out. I also Rick's pairing with Beth in the very early 90s was nice although it was just to fill in the time before Phillip and Beth had their reunion in '91.

Hmm I'd have to agree about Edmund. One of the few good things Ellen Weston did was continuing the redemption of Edmund to great lengths. Yet in an attempt to restore some of Edmund's edge, Kriezman had him go insane and turned into a laughable maniacal villain complete with giant floating heads talking to him. DAM deserved so much better especially for the once redeemed character. Dinah also deserved a heck lot better exit. Sure she is probably living the fun life with Mallet but she goes out as murderess on the run, just like she was when she returned in '04. Not the best thing to go full circle with...

On the flip side SOD did call out the Jeffery cliffhanger in another category. Why GL just didn't leave the character dead I'll never understand, and Jonathan is letting Reva think he's dead. They probably should have shown Jeffery and Edmund killing each other in the 9/17 episode instead of Edmund blowing the kiss goodbye. Pathetic subplot that went nowhere. I hated Jeffery with a passion and I hope he did kick the bucket for real, but it still mildly perturbs me that it wasn't resolved.

Oh yes I forget that for a second. I was beyond thrilled that Dylan had gone back to Bridget again and reconciled and we got to see real Dylan again.

Word has it that the 12/15 issue of SOD has named GL as most improved show. It's funny because I was indeed nit-picky and less than enthused at GL this past summer--hell I seriously doubted that Josh and Reva would actually end up together but in retrospect I have to give credit where its due, especially towards Jill Lorie Hurst and the all the wonderful returns no matter how botched up some where. Never in a million years, not even back in early summer did I ever think Billy and Vanessa and Ed and Holly would ever be reunited!

A few years ago I remember SOD ran one of those "Where are they now?" articles and Kasdorf was featured. It seemed she was forced to take a break from acting due to her physical strength becoming so weak, I think she had bad arthritis.

...after checking it out again perhaps I was too quick and harsh in my judgment of it! Reading through some of the stuff it isn't too bad actually.

Meh not really. Let me be honest here...if GL had been renewed I would still be an occasional viewer. I'm pretty sure if GL was still on we'd be stuck between Mallet and Marina junk and Daisy/James garbage with cruddy production values all around. If there had been an on-air domestic drama with Leah I would for one would care less and still ponder her ridiculous SOARSing. Unlike some past soaps I personally feel GL's time was up although I do miss the show, really despite some flaws and holes the show wrapped up and everyone lived happily ever after as far as I'm concerned.

I always thought that the B&E screwed up when they when they weirdly twisted story to make Kevin be Ross instead of Rick's. I don't know what caused them to do that but after McTavish went through all the trouble to have Blake cheat on Ross then become pregnant with twins with two different fathers well...plus it cost us a potential Bauer/Thorpe connection. Idiots, but not as as idiotic as that lovely funeral for Ross on Main Street where Wheeler said we'd get to see the Marley kids SOARSed. What we got was a couple of 12-year-olds playing the boys who only appeared twice.

I'm of two minds on NSA. On one hand I didn't much care for her as an actress, on the other I felt it important for her continue as Michelle. I personally thought she and Cosgove clicked as did Danny and Cassie. And yes I despise what happened to Ben. One thing I never got out of the Weston/Conboy era is if they loved Teresa Wright as Eden sooo much, why did they abruptly recast her? Glad to know I wasn't the only Jesse&Drew&Max fan. I too liked Hunt Block as Ben Warren, mainly because he's so good at playing sleazy smarmy bastard type which was exactly what Ben was although Block gave Ben that sense of humor. By the way was it ever really explained why Annie switched up paternity results? I know Blake was blackmailed into helping Annie make it look like Annie and Reva were sisters over the paternity of Kevin, but wasn't just a ploy by Annie to get back at Rick for divorcing/dumping her?

Thanks Carl for the correction. I remember Abby finding Rick in bed with Claire but I hadn't remembered Claire setting it up probably because it was one of those times where I would end up FFing through an entire show. Funny thing about that is, after Rick found out Kevin wasn't his I remember Abby comforting Rick and told him she was ready for children anytime and they could start their own family. Rick said he didn't want rush into having a replacement child. Guess he should have taken the opportunity when he had a chance. While I'm experiencing a bout of nostalgia from the mixed B&E era did anyone else like the characters of Jesse, Drew, and Max? If you thought Rick and Abby were a great love story cut short then look at what happened with Jesse and Michelle. All that wasted build-up for Michelle to end up involved with Danny Santos for the rest of her life. Sure the kid who played Jesse was pretty bad(he was even worse on B&B!) but the angelic persona and attractive body seemed so bad he was good. Drew was a funny stereotypical NYC gal who also was Ross' niece while Max was a troubled kid played by Jesse Soffer. I don't know what it is about them that I liked. Three people trying be a family while overcoming their shady pasts or the fact they were the ones who felt like a traditional GL story as the show got sucked into telling mob and San Cristobel stories.

The best pairing I thought Rick had was with Abby. Maybe it was because it was different and so sweet. Ok sometimes a little too sweet in the beginning but I always thought Amy Ecklund really came into the role especially when Abby broke off her engagement to Rick and later throughout the entire mess with Roy and subsequent fallout. Their break-up was so stupidly written with Rick cheating on her with Claire Ramsey. I wish they had paired Rick with Beth or Mindy much sooner because Rick had zero chemistry with Harley and Mel.

Ah it makes so much sense now. Rauch really does have a lousy record doesn't he?

I actually did watch a little of LMAD in its last few minutes when I came home early the other day. Let me say if you thought GL was cheap... Pathetic, CBS should have simply turned the hour over to the affiliates to run whatever syndicated junk they want. I agree with you SFK about GL's diversity in the 90s. Like Dru, Olivia, Nathan etc. Gilly, David, Kat and Hamp were involved in major front burner storylines for quite a few years there. We even had David dating Bridge at one point until Hart came back. The only other show in recent years that got as diverse as Y&R and GL in the 90s was ATWT in the Sheffer years. Seriously. Sheffer put characters like Jessica, Ben, Issac, Bonnie, Marshall, Lien etc. in plots that were just as asinine as the other stories at the time. Nothing says equality like equal suffering. I think in was during the Broderick tenure when we found out Denise's baby Hope's father was...Andy Dixon! Nothing of interest came out of that one, maybe because it wasn't anything new to the show, already having Duncan and Jessica share a child.

I never understood the point of Boudreau family. Both seasoned daytime vets Richard Biggs and Yvonna Kopacz Wright were completely wasted for the most part and then everyone except Mel was recasted. Remy was not used at all the until the "prestigious acting school graduate" took the role and Felicia when used had to have been the worst psychiatrist ever. Leah was idiotically SOARSed but rarely appeared after that, probably because TIIC realized their mistake. It would have been easier to have revitalized the Grant family when they had the chance instead introducing a whole new family with no purpose and no use.

Gee I wonder what story THAT could be lol... Yes, that was beyond disgusting with Gilly's final story, absolutely rancid. Sadly enough I believe Gilly was the only Grant family member given a proper exit, with the throwaway explanation of David's absence, Charles' random blink if you miss it pop-ups, and I believe the last time Vivian appeared on-screen was when she got a "gift" from the Holly/Nursery Rhyme Stalker. One character I can't pin an exit on is on Hamp. I know actor Vince Williams died in 1997, but he was still being credited in 1996. Yet in 1995 episode I have on tape where Gilly breaks off her engagement to Sid, its mentioned that Hamp is long gone. Kevin Mambo might be a contender for one of the the most undeserving Emmy winners in my opinion.

I believe Dahlia left town with Sugar Hill and Marcus just vanished. Griffith vanished too, not long after the newly returned David played by Tifford told him off after catching comfort Vivian following Charles' heart attack. It was a non-story really. Not sure about Ruth but both David and Vicky had off-screen exits. It was mentioned that Vicky went back to Barbados and in one of Charles' many guest appearances he mentioned that David went to Europe.

After tonight's premiere, I think it's time for Shonda go for broke turn Grey's into a camp-fest ala Melrose Place style. Certainly would be more interesting that's what's being played out right now. One hour was sufficient, why make it two?

Say I was just wondering, what if AW had used a globe in its opening like it's sister soap ATWT instead of the circles? That's why I liked the background of the 1981-1987 opening because it was set against the stars...a globe where the O is in World would have interesting, or would it be too much of a rip-off?

I seem to recall reading something somewhere that Mary Stuart hated the Hursleys and felt that they always had it out for her and her character. So I was kind of surprised to see they wrote the show for six years.