dc11786

There were at least two attempts to bring back Meg in the 1960s that have been documented in books. In "From Mary Noble to Mary Hartman," there is a story outline for "Love of Life" from the early-to-mid 1960s from the time Phillip Holden as accused of harassing young women and/or when Kay was impersonating her dead sister Maggie Porter. There is a brief note in the monthly outlines that talks about Meg returning and openinga real estate office. I feel like this may have been in late 1964. It was probably from Don Ettlinger if that is the case and he ended up leaving right around that time so maybe there was a postponment due to the writing change. Instead, I believe Vanessa went into real estate. Later, under Robert Shaw or maybe under the brief period Winsor wrote, Meg was set to return in the late 1960s once Sarah Dale arrived in Rosehill after selling her house and moving in with Van and Bruce. Sarah was going to get sick and be on her death bed and Meg was going to return. Meg's return was scrapped though I believe Sarah returned and most of the story played out the late sixties which included Bruce's emotional affair with a proposed character that eventually became Marsha Mason's Judith Cole. Some of this story seems to be used later when Meg actually does return. I think there are some other possible thoughts on why Meg didn't return. The set up of the "new" Vanessa in 1959 in Rosehill gave her two different female antagonists that provided Vanessa with persons functioning in a similar role to Meg. Vanessa's stepdaughter Barbara Sterling Latimer was a spoiled young woman much in the vein of Meg making impulsive moves and was not the best of mothers, or so I would assume, to her young son Hank Latimer. While a Meg / Barbara dynamic would have been appealing, I imagine they were deemed to similar in the way I imagine "The Secret Storm" never brought back Janet Hill once Belle Clemmons appeared on the scene even though her mother Valerie remained until the shows conclusion. Additionally, Vanessa's pseudo mother-in-law, Vivian Carlson, the mother of Bruce's first wife, Gaye, provided a similar type. Vivian was snobby society matron who wasn't always pleased with Vanessa's involvement with her grandchildren. That said, a Meg / Vivian dynamic where Meg became a surrogate daughter for Vivian based on the one she lost would have given a possible Meg / Bruce / Vanessa triangle a very different edge had Vivian been trying to mold Meg into the woman her late daughter Gaye had been and unintentionally, or intentionally, creating romantic interest in Meg on Bruce's part. When Meg does return, Barbara has been off the canvas for several years and Vivian was brought back under Labine and Mayer but in a more limited capacity. It may also worth noting that Ben and Cal are added to the cast once Tess and Bill have left and there is a bit of a hole in the canvas. My other thought is that Roy Winsor may have rejected the earlier return because of his attempt to freshen up his shows in the mid-1960s. In one of the documents to the Averys when they were writing "Secret Storm," Winsor spoke of the success of moving "Love of Life" away from a small group of characters and focusing on the broader community of Rosehill almost in the way that some radio soap operas had central tent pole characters that reacted to the stories of those being weaved in and out of the story.

I don't think I've seen this episode in its entirety before. My 1995 viewing a couple years back stopped at Ned and Lois' wedding just as the AIDS story started ramping up. I was wondering when this episode was filmed. Rosalind Cash passed on October 31st so I am curious if this was filmed after that. That may add an additional level of somber to the performances of some of the performers. This episode definitely felt like Labine was trying to embody the spirit of Delia from her creation "Ryan's Hope" into Lucy. Lynn Herring is a real gem who manages to make every incarnation of Lucy enjoyable. I thought the Doc and Lucy scenes were an interesting contrast about the possible end of a love affair while Robin and Stone are sharing their final moments together. It made Lucy look a little silly, but I hope this was reflected upon in a later episode. I don't know if I have ever heard Stone and Robin's last "date." I thought that was very poignant. I went back a little bit further in Wendy Riche's run and watched some November-December, 1992, that's available online. I think the Levinson era is very intriguing to the point I have to wonder how heavy a hand Riche exerted in the writing until Labine came on board. I know she was the defacto head for the first months of her tenure after bouncing Norma Monty, but even during A.J. and Nikki's wedding that wasn't, there is just a very strong sense of community. Gail and Lee have been dragged back to Port Charles because someone remembered Gail was Monica's foster mother. Audrey and Steve and Sean and Tiffany are sitting in the crowd commenting on the events. It's a nice feel. Nikki is such a fascinating creature. Mostly a hot mess, but there are moments where I think this character could have worked as a long term (or at least longer) antagonist. There was a nice sequence before the wedding where Nikki confides in Monica that she never thought something like this could happen to her only for her to smirk behind Monica's back when they hugged. I'm not convinced that Riche was completely ready to let go of Nikki when she had her pregnant during her brief 1993 return. I saw a little more of the early stages of the custody battle with Tiffany and Bobbie. I didn't remember them mentioning in 1993 that Tiffany believed she couldn't get pregnant (maybe she did when she actually got pregnant). That seemed to be a bigger motive in the battle than I had expected. The Jack Kensington scandal is such a Levinson style story that degrades the female heroine by degrading her sexually in a way that is unnecessary. I didn't realize they played a beat of Jack Kensington still wanting Jenny. I think that kinda went away in 1993 as Jenny and Paul were already together. I enjoy Cheryl Richardson more later in her run, but Jenny is such a hard character because she often has so little agency. I really have a soft spot for so many of the Monty II remnants that Riche managed to find a some life in. Cheryl, Julia, Nikki, Bill, and Paul all seem to be more manageable in these forms. The art caper stuff never seems to do anything for me in any form. I like that Lucy is back and they are mixing her up with Marco. A Marco / Lucy / Tracey triangle would have been messy in a fun way. Lucy's new perfume line that she's trying to launch "Domination," clearly a play on Dominique, is also a beat that I thing that is dropped fairly quickly. It's so odd to see the animosity between Lucy and Dominique given how quickly that changes in January once Dominique starts showing signs of illness. I'm considering jumping back to April, 1993, to finish off Dominique's death and to watch the tailend of Ryan's reign of terror (I want to see him attack Steve and Audrey) and Tiffany's pregnancy. I am also curious to see how the Ray / Karen / Rhonda / Alan story plays out. I think one of the nicest things about early/pre-Labine Riche is the revitalization of the Quartermaines after whatever Monty did to them. I don't think Monty's financially failing Quartermaines were my favorite form though a lot of the groundwork for what I like in 1992/1993 is laid out in the later half of Monty II.

I can see what you are saying about important moments. I think this sounds almost unavoidable in this case. Bartlett sounds like she was prioriizing having a child over her career. By March, 1959, "Love of Life" would have been a half-hour for about a year, which is why I imagine her contract was up. I think the expansion to a half-hour also may have pushed out Jean McBride, who also left in 1958. I believe Paul Raven was written out in 1958 as well after the switch to a half hour. I'm wondering if the show expanded too soon. Labine and Mayer's work in 1973-1975 sounds pretty remarkable. I don't think much after them sounds overly appealing accept for maybe some elements of Gabrielle Upton's final months until the arrival of Ann Marcus. I am not sure if I would have felt that way in Marcus' second year with Tudi Wiggins' departure, but I thought the setup for Bruce and Vanessa in that last year with Amy Russell claiming she was Bruce's love child and ex-con Steve Harbach lusting after Vanessa seems to be there best stories in years. I like the Meg - Tom - Lianne mateiral. The Eliot-Betsy-Ben-Mia stuff is definitely overheated definitely not boring. Ray Slater is Sonny Corinthos of the 1970s and one could only hope he would be written out freeing Arlene to do anything else. The story abou Tony's son from his time in Vietnam was a story that Marcus had been trying to tell since "Love is A Many Splendored Thing."

@vetsoapfan I don't think the Vanessa - Bruce courtship was very long so the audience might have felt differently compared to the long awaited Alice-Steve union. If I recall correctly, Tomme only joined the show in January, 1959, with the wedding taking place in early April of the same year. Though, the show later did wait to recast Cal Aleata until after her wedding to Rick Latimer. I believe Deborah Courteny played the bride and went off on the honeymoon and Roxanne Gregory assumed the role. I want to say this was in 1977. I've only read the weekly summaries of Jean Holloway's run, but they read horribly. The non-Bambi material isn't much better. Timothy MacCauley was chaperoning dates for Ben and Betsy while Betsy was in the process of divorcing Eliot. Liane Wilson arrived as the first female intern at Rosehill Hospital. Ray Slater's large family was introduced in mass with a father, mother, sister, and brother. Meg was in a relationship with Scott Carmichael, a business man who wanted no-strings attached sex. Under a more contemporary writer, some of this might have worked, but most of it just sounds to be on the border of parody. Ann Marcus dumps the Bambi story and offers Van a job at the college in the same week I think. Shepherd Strudwick's papers are at the New York City Public Library and there are 34 items from "Love of Life" 1979-1980. I imagine there might be a script or two from Jean Holloway's time in there. I've read some of the stuff that Hess did for "The Young Marrieds." He was a very literate and provocative writer. I am not surprised that the early years that he wrote for "Love of Life" are strong.

@DRW50 Thanks for those! They are really well produced. It's a shame that the show itself never seemed to capture that energy. I will always have a sweet spot for "Rituals" until the day (hopefully) it all becomes available and I realize how bad it actually is.

Typically, I would agree with you about the displacement of politcian characters from their home space. I thought Frank Ryan's stories were limited because of the D.C. angle and thought ti was a mistake making Roger Forbes looking towards the White House. The smaller physical distance between the Maryland gated community and D.C. makes me think there is a more workable landscape here, but I may end up being very wrong. No need to apologize. I've read many, many posts by you over the years and know that you aren't the type of person looking to start a fight. I did want to address it because it seemed to becoming a bigger conversation and I thought I might have upset people. I think the justice angle is pretty embedded into the show with a cop son-in-law, politicians in the family, and multiple lawyer characters. The might jettison stories relating to life in the Capitol per se, but a pretty significant fiber of this series seems to be the connection to how law and order operates. If the NAACP remains involved, I don't see it disappearing. If they are bought out, I think that's a larger possibility. I think the main reason I don't see the political angle stunting BTG is because I many people are going to think that having a show featuring a predominantly African American cast is an example of CBS "trying to be woke." This isn't a show I thought that white midwestern housefraus were going to be gearing up to watch before the election, and certainly not now. I think trying to water it down is unnecessary because people who will be offended by the potential politics will be outraged that the show features at its core multiple African American women over the age of 40. It seems to be set in the Maryland/D.C. area for a reason. It could be set anywhere, but this is the location. Then again, it might be worth noting that the Vanessa McBride character was originally an African American woman in the casting call articles online. So maybe there is already a bit of backtracking. At 70, Dansby is not much younger than Val Jean. Neither is Judy Tate (69). Of the names I recognize, I suspect Danielle Paige is the youngest script writer with longterm daytime experience (she joined GL as part of their college writing program right?). One of the Hamilton daughters, Naomi, the lawyer, is married to a cop, Jacob. He seems to come from a blue collar family. His friend, Derrrick, is a firefighter, and there is the nurse. I don't think it was stated implicitly, but the Thomas family may also be outside the gated community types. The mother Dana/Leslie is a waitress and the daughter is working as an assistant to Nicole Richardson.

As the person who mentioned they wanted the references to the modern political landscape had the election outcome been different , I will say I thought waiting to launch until they could make minor reference to the outcome would have added weight to material. Specifically, I was thinking about how Martin Richardson would talk about his desire to be president one day and how that dream might be impacted by the win. Or in this case, the loss. Nothing groundbreaking. No "Special Guest Star" appearance. No grand storylines. Just characters communicating to each other about what would have been a significant historical event. That's something I would have found meaningful. I am not everyone and I respect the fact that you wouldn't want that. Today has been a tough day for many so I will also just say that I am sorry if my point of view offended anyone. I could go on about this conversation, but I don't think most people want to hear it. Not today. If you do, feel free to PM me if you want further explanation. I hope to continue to have engaging conversations about the show.

I remember those books coming out, but having no interest in reading them. If I remember correctly, this was Corday's response to the supercouple crowd who he was still trying to cash in on even though hewanted a more cost effective product onscreen. I vaguely recall the general plot ended up revealing that John and Marlena had another daughter together, which was thankfully not adapted as cannon. I felt the setup for the John embezzlement plot was going to be the actual takedown of the Dimeras with forensic account Austin helping them figure it out. I got where it was going, but I literally couldn't care less. I knew these people but all the stories were starting at the beginning and there was just NO energy. I'm genuinely curious what you mean by solid. Was it the characters you liked were front and center? Was it the attempt to try more modern ideas? Because I am really unsure what you mean. I don't think they really got anyone though outside a small bubble of characters (John and Marlena and their family). Even they weren't safe from bad story ideas. Wasn't it revealed John and Hope had married when she was Princess Gina? The more I think about that era the more I cringe. I didn't hate Rafe in 2011/2012 the way some did, but I thought Rafe and Carrie was just a bad idea. It didn't make sense to me. I thought the AMC reboot was reflective of Marlene McPhearson's work on "Days of our Lives." It was trying to be edgy with the human trafficking plot, but I couldn't watch Cassandra dancing for her captor and being raped. It was something uneasy to watch and it wasn't the idea but the execution. Most people really liked it so I must be wrong. I also thought some of the set up felt very piecemeal (but less so than OLTL). It felt like they were featuring whoever they could convince to come back rather than telling a cohesive story. I remember thinking Colby / Petey / Jordan might have had a little more energy with Colby's arrival, but before that the Jordan character was blah but that may have been more acting than writing. I hated that the hospital was gone. I remember in the first week of Tomsell they had brought back Tad, Fr. Matt, and Maxine. The supporting cast enhanced the canvas giving it depth when it had been pretty sparse. The business stuff rarely was solid no matter who was writing so I cannot complain too much about MarDar there, but I do remember the constant switching of who was at which company also spilled over into the writing of the couples. In the course of a two week period, Sami could be lusting after E.J., Lucas, or Rafe depending on the day of the week. I think trying to flesh out Austin and Carrie with more dynamic careers than generic business person wasn't terrible. I came to be okay with Carrie as an attorney because of the potential of her representing people that her cop family members had arrested, but I don't think that ever really happened. Austin's forensic accounting role had no legs though. The idea of him being a professor had slightly more wiggle room, but even the idea that all the kids would take an accounting course was silly. For the 50th, the cast was huge. I don't remember all the other stories being that disjointed, but I don't doubt it. The anniversary at the Martin House also was sort of a situation rather than a story where characters were getting ready for something. There was that odd younger set with Joey, Theo, Ciara, Chase, and Claire where Joey was related to all the girls so he ended with Ava right before they introduced Jade. I thought J.J. and Gabi were a great idea with the revelation that Paige and Gabi were half-sisters and Gabi continuing to work her way through the Horton men. Also, weren't Theresa and Nicole working to launch a fashion line with Kate? I feel like I liked the start of Higley and Quan with the prison break storyline, Laura returning to sorta usher back nuAbby even if Marci Miller bored me, Chloe's pregnancy, and the Jade / Joey / Kayla triangle where Kayla was a bit of a helicopter mom and Jade was taking advantage of the hospitality. It could be wildly uneven but I could even enjoy things live the jungle madness redux because I enjoyed Sonny and Paul. I wanted to like the Greece kidnapping because I liked Tefler but it never worked. Eric and Jen worked better than I expected. I liked Tripp. I loved Eli. Valerie and Abe worked well for me. Deimos wasn't amazing, but I thought Irizarry was very good.

It felt very much like fan fiction. Bringing on a slew of characters with no real story or no idea how to tell the story was bonkers. John and Marlena come back to town and John is accused of stealing pensions. That went nowhere. Austin and Carrie come back for Abby to stalk professor Austin. There was a rich history between all the players involved there with Austin being Abby's donor, Abby's possible daddy issues, Kate's relationships with both Austin and Chad, Kate's history with the Hortons, the history of the Spencer women having mental health issues, and Carrie's ties to Mike. None of that was interlaced into what was a basic story, at best. I feel like MarDar got a lot of credit for a story that seemed pretty much in development when Higley and Whitsell were still present: Will is gay. The way MarDar told the story was through a bunch of dialogue with sexual innuendo between Will and E.J. that most saw as provocative I as tepid queer baiting. If MarDar wanted to push the envelope, Will would have convinced Mommy Sami that he had gotten E.J. into bed. I thought Will / Sonny / Gabi was more provocative because even though it was a traditional tale it was told in a way that had long-term ramifications. And because Sonny and Will hit the sheets like any straight characters would have. I mostly remember characters getting new jobs which may or may not have led to story and people returning and wandering around the square talking about nothing that would matter in a few weeks. I think there was some weird Faberge egg story that held the secret that E.J. wasn't Stefano's son and Stefano being murdered which meant everyone needed to be locked in a safehouse. And Carrie and Rafe dressed up to celebrate someones birthday because every birthday and holiday was celebrated but storylines rarely went anywhere. Lexi's death was probably the best their run had to offer. Renee Jones typically killed it anytime she was given meaty story. The follow up to that was the Abe/Kayla pairing which felt like somthing a show did when it was creatively dead and approaching cancellation. I wish Bravo had started their DAYS reruns in August 2013. I feel like they might have gotten a little farther, but I admit my bias.

I don't remember the canvas being that remarkable different, but later on he mentions a lot of the older cast was being used as U/5s basically. I don't feel that was entirely accurate and, when it was, it was a gross oversimplification. It wasn't being written as if the show needed to be an homage to 80s or the 90s, but rather trying to build for a future. Jen and Hope drove story throughout much of the run. Kate was a major player. Victor snarked as much as usual. It was mostly John and Marlena who were sidelined, but I thought Marlena was too cold to be the Matriarch the way most did. Hogestyn definitely felt like a goofy dad, but Hall presented Marlena as very clinical, which worked for the character. The only John and Marlena story I felt hadn't been told at that point was to have Caroline continue to decline due to her Alzheimer's diagnosis and begin to think of John as "Roman" and feel closer to him than the actual Roman. This scenario could have resulted in a lot of ugly feelings being unearthed and could have played the John / Marlena / Roman triangle in a way that would have allowed Josh Taylor to play the scorned son rather than the scorned lover which felt better suited for him. I don't remember hating all of the first half of 2015. There were defintitely problems. The elephant story was bad, but the dynamics between the characters was workable and had they shifted the story to something more domestic (Serena was a medical journalist and Nicole was back in television production if I recall). I think they also were testing Serena and Daniel as Serena was also friends with Melanie. I didn't dislike Serena, but in the absence of Sami, Arianne Zucker was more than capable of carrying the show had they told the right story. Which would have been Eric / Nicole / Brady / Theresa. I didn't like Paige, but the set up with Paige, Eve, and Theresa worked for me. I would have played the Donovan girls as an extension of the Brady family more than they did, but it worked for me. Theresa was great. Kassie DePaiva was trying to find a groove as Eve. I didn't hate Eve and J.J. hooking up as much as other people did. It worked for me, but it was never going to be long-term. J.J.'s little crew wasn't as strong as the supporting crew a generation back though I do think Kevin Riggins was good as Rory. Ben and Abigail were fine. I can't remember when, but I think at one point the show tried to play a Clyde / Maggie friendship which was appealing given Maggie's farm girl past and the animosity between Victor/Clyde along with the Maggie/Kate dynamic. Incorporating Kate into the Horton set was always something I enjoyed, but the embers were never stoked into a complete fire. The Serena / Xander / Eric story ended quickly. Paul Tefler was a find. Paul Narita was great. Making Paul John's son was probably the biggest story John and Marlena got under Tomsell that was sorta centered around them. I also thought they should have gone with Theresa agreeing to be Paul's beard and nearly marrying him before he was outed. The one that was made public was Galen Gerring,who felt that Rafe was being written into a corner. Rafe had run his course. Tomsell could have dumped him and no one would have noticed. The scenario with Kate / Rafe / Jordan / Clyde was so disjointed mostly because I believe that Clyde was filling the Stefano role that Stefano couldn't handle because of Mascolo's advancing Alzheimer's. James Scott and Allison Sweeney both departed. Drake Hogestyn was dropped from contract and then went back on contract at different points. Hogestyn was open in his dislike of John attempting to sleep with Kristen to prevent Kristen from marrying Brady. Deidre Hall was supporting in the Will story, but she was no longer the only relationship that Will had of depth like when MarDar were present. Peter Reckell had left very early in Tomsell after being vocal about his guarantees in 2009-2011 after winning the Emmy. Alfonso may not have been thrilled from 2013-2014. After Reckell departs, they don't know what to do with Hope. There was some chemistry testing with Hope and Vargas, Nick's former cellmate who was involved in Eric Brady's rehabilitation program. Vargas was a promising character that was quickly dropped in August, 2013, when Theresa and he partied a little too hard and Vargas got arrested again. Daniel Cosgrove was hired in 2014 which started off with a Ciara / Chase bullying storyline that quickly became the enemies become lovers story. I thought the mystery invovling the late Meredith Jennings was interesting and the conclusion was probably one of the last well done big climaxes that Tomsell did. Reckell coming back to resolve the Bo and Hope story once and for all made logistical sense. I don't necessarily love what they did to Hope / Aiden in the process, but it was what it was. To blow up Hope / Aiden only for Bo to die weeks later was stupid. I felt they missed the opportunity to do something that 2009-2011 "Days" did really well which was turning the trope on its head. Instead of Bo saving Hope to escape from another wedding, why not have Bo save Hope and bring her to the wedding and give his blessing to let her move on. I know the Bope fans would have lost their collective minds, but the conversations on the boards would have noteworthy. There was still story to tell with Aiden regarding the fact that he had never told Chase that he (Chase) had murdered his own mother. As I recall, Sami came back for Will's funeral, along with Sonny who had left town a few months earlier. Did she stay on much longer? Steve's return probably had the most meat because they were trying to rebuild the Johnson family unit as Joey also came back. I think it was in 2017 that they remarried right during the Prague storyline? Justin and Adrienne were involved in the triangle with Lucas. That storyline made a lot of sense under Tomsell, but I do think Higley managed to make it more standalone with the breast cancer angle. Prior to this, most of the juice in that story was that Will's father was involved with Sonny's mother, which was more than enough. By the end of fall 2015, both Will and Sonny were gone so a pivot was needed. Andre essentially replaced Clyde, who had essentially replaced Stefano. Andre was too queeny. Clyde was too hillbilly. Clyde was more intriguing when they suggested he wanted Ben to marry into the Hortons for social mobility, which I think Higley recycled a year or so later with Eduardo wanting Dario and Abigail together for social mobility. Shawn and Belle were present, but I don't remember much. Did Shawn and Belle divorce fairly quickly? I remember Shawn and Lani became a thing for a minute under Griffith's solo run if I recall correctly. From what I recall, the older characters in 2012-2015 weren't guiding story in the way they had in previous decades and it was refreshing. Nick, Will, Sonny, Abby, Gabi, Chad, and Cameron (the weakest link) were solid. The pregnancy lie leading into the implosion of Will and Sonny and Gabi and Nick's wedding was great. The reveal of Nick's rape felt well planned (if not a little too on the nose) leading to a pregnant Gabi being kidnapped by the rapist when he escaped. Nick and Gabi's toxic relationship leading to Nick's "death" and the introduction of Percy Ruggles the bird watcher and Gabi, Sami, and Kate working together was great. Abby, Chad, and Cameron's triangle led to the great stripper storyline for Cameron (great might be a stretch but it was a level of fun that DAYS use to do well). Then, Chad and Cameron were both dumped and they went with the Abby / E.J. affair which was great. Doug and Julie were involved in the Martin House and the party, but I don't remember what else. Julie had more to do under Whitsell in the Nick dramas. Abe and Roman were definitely talk tos at best. Abe didn't improve much until 2016 under Higley/Quan when Valerie returned, which was awesome. I don't remember Roman having much, but maybe I'm forgetting. There was a very brief, and well done, triangle with Caroline / Victor / Maggie when Bo returned where Caroline's dementia got the better of her and Maggie and Victor moved her into their house, or so I recall. Maggie / Victor were married off to quickly. They had been better integrated in 2008-2011 because of the relationships onscreen that were developed. John and Marlena were supporting players to their children, and I felt that was incredibly generous. I didn't need to see another John and Marlena story; sorry, not sorry. What we got with John's backstory with Yo-Ling, or whatever it was, was really bad. I don't remember much romance in late 2015, just misery. The serial killer story set the tone for the start of the Higley/Griffith year. It was, at times, dramatically interesting, but I don't remember any big couples coming out it. Abby and Chad had been built up in late stage Tomsell to be the new big supercouple and they worked well with Mansi and Flynn in the roles (Mansi and Deidrick were great too but Flynn was given more dramatic material than Deidrick). Abby and Chad reunited with baby Thomas. I think there was some early Gabi / J.J. stuff I thought was appealing. The younger set had some potential, but it never went anywhere. Jonathan McClendon was the strongest of the crew and he ended making some off colored remark about the rape storyline and the backlash was pretty bad (as it should have been). I still think Chase was a character worth revisiting later in 2016 especially with Daniel Cosgrove's return. None of the couples really worked except for Jade and Joey, but only later under Higley / Quan when Jade became a bitch and was still being played by Paige Searcy. I wouldn't say they were romantic though. Because 2011 had set the standard, 2015's shift didn't feel so big. 2011 literally dropped every single thing that was happening onscreen with the exception of Daniel and Jennifer's relationship, but that was only to lead into Jack's return. The original reset was too drastic to really work, which is a shame because they did get some eyes on those first episodes after AMC faded to black. I remember 2015 felt more natural. I hated 2011-2012 when MarDar was there. Never been so happy to see someone leave the writer's chair in my time watching "Days," though had I stuck around with Ron they might have lost the title.

Thanks @Paul Raven for this. It answers a question I had regarding Dr. Enoch McAndrews. The original actor Charles Egleston passed away in December, 1958. I wasn't sure if the character was written out or recast. It's good to see he was recast. I think that's a new actor for Judge Tompkins. The Tompkins family is much bigger than I expected.

After a brief hiatus, I've jumped back into the Radio Playhouse series. At present, I am in early October, 1976, and am slowly finding myself more involved in the "Author's Studio" program with their presentation of "Vanity Fair." I'm not enthralled with it, but I am not hating it at the moment the way I typically do. Aunt Matilda has arrived at Queen's Crowley (or whatever the family home is) and she is a bit of a blowhard. I think she gives the show a little energy. Becky Sharpe going after one of the woman's nephew is amusing at times. Overall though, I can see why this was dropped by at least one station. "The Little Things in Life" provides light comedy and its a nice little slice of life. The husband and wife continue to have minor squabbles over things like the husband's haircut, sport viewership, etc. It's something that I wouldn't go out of the way to listen to, but it's something I am glad I get the chance to listen to. For the traditional soaps, I am finding it harder to get back into "Faces of Love" because so much of the story is narrowed in on the Kate - Tony story in the City. Kate's decision to redecorate an apartment for a young mother she is renting an apartment to has led to trouble at the Al Ross Real Estate office. The building owner is now angry because everyone wants their apartments painted. The triangle between Kate and Tony, the married man, and Jeff Clarke, the young hippie, isn't overly thrilling. There might be a little bit of excitement as Tony Cushing's wife, Claire Cushing, has been introduced into the story. Claire is very aware of Tony's philandering. There's something dated about "Faces." I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I think it's the clash of the narrative structure and the location. Bellhaven was a much more well developed setting with the small town living and community activities. In the unnamed city, there is not enough activity to reflect the pace of city living. There are a lot of side characters through the various locations, but no stories seem to be strong enough. I'm hoping with the introduction of Claire, the potentially more sophisticated woman, there might be more energy. The other series are lucky that "To Have and To Hold" is last. I adore this series. In the present episodes, the three stories continue to play out: (a) Lynn Carter's romance with neer-do-well ski bum Kurt Rogers, (b) Ginger Foster's suspicions that her husband Dr. Marsh Foster is having an affair with nurse Angela Fairchild, and (c) the illness of Emily Carter. Lynn's story seems to remain in the A position with Kurt proposing to Lynn in Zurich with a ring given to him by his side chick Lisa Scott, who is aware of Kurt and Lynn's relationship hoping that the marriage (and subsequent divorce) will leave Kurt and Lisa well off financially. Lurking in the background is Rene Noir, the private investigator, who is now romancing Berta Schmidt, the secretary of Herr Hoffman, Robert Carter's business associate. Lisa and Kurt fear a double cross (or really a triple cross since Noir already turned on Hoffman) where Noir gives the information about Kurt's embezzlement charges in Davos and his involvement with Lisa to the Carters. Kurt is pressing for an immediate wedding in Zurich, but I still think this story will evolve when Lynn's stepsister Ann is introduced. Ginger is still hosting her sister Cora, from Burtonsville, West Virginia. Cora and Ginger have had a rather well done conversation in which Cora confronts Ginger about her marriage. Cora makes the point that Ginger has always made a big deal about being a doctor's wife and how Ginger seems to think that she needed a husband like Marsh. Cora points out that Marshall has benefited from being Ginger's husband. I thought it was a nice point. Also, Cora had apparently warned Ginger about Marsh at the start of the marriage and those words seem to be coming back to haunt Ginger. The Cora - Ginger dynamic is a nice contrast to the Emily - Angela relationship. Emily and Jason Carter have snuck away for a weekend at the family cabin on the lake. Their conversations are very realistic mentioning their son Bobby coming home for Thanksgiving from Harvard andworrying about Jason's sister Lynn. There is a great scene with Jason starting a fire at the cabin that transitions into Lynn and Kurt by a fire in Zurich. It's just a well constructed transition. There is an undercurrent in Emily's scenes suggesting that she fears she may not have long to live and doesn't want her sister, Angela, to leave town. Angela has been considering the departure due to Ginger's fears. I am considering trying out the CBS Mystery Theatre (or whatever that series was from the 1970s until 1980 or so on radio). Has anyone else listened to it?

I wish I could access the source article, but the internal link is dead. Soap Opera Confidential (not my favorite source) states there was a Conde Nast Portfolio article discussing that the largest audience for soaps is older African American women. If they were focusing on eyeing on international markets, wouldn't they have gone with a half-hour? Of all the concerns, I am surprised you didn't comment on the length of the show because, to me, that would be the gravest concern. To me, an hour long length works better for the U.S. market. The international market has slowly been closing in since the mid to late 1990s when local television industries developed enough to produce their own homegrown soaps. I'd be more concerned about a focus on international markets over local.

I am struggling to follow your train of thought here. The show was developed out of a desire to cultivate program to a specific market that historically been overlooked. This is a show that is about people of color being developed by people of color as part of a partnership between CBS and the NAACP. CBS wasn't looking to develop a new soap opera and decided let's choose this one. It was Sheila Duckworth who suggested a soap opera as part of the partnership between CBS and the NAACP. If CBS was actively trying to revive daytime drama, and had solicited different projects, I think I could see your point of view more, but there don't appear to be concerns about this. For years, there has been talk about the significant the size of the African American soap viewership. If CBS didn't think they would make profit, I doubt they would have followed through with this. Given that the marketing plan also seems different (wasn't there an announcement about an outside agency), I don't think international sales are where they are looking here. Catering to people of color is the business decision. I don't think that's going to change nor should it.

Now my turn to correct myself… Renton appeared with Maurice Johnson as a married couple in a film… they are not married. I don’t even know why I had TD’s name in my head.

The show is being made in collaboration with the entertainment division of the NAACP. There could definitely be a battle over how much politics will be present, but I don't know how the optics would play out. The show's target audience isn't going to be the typical net and if the stakeholders involve try to treat it that way (which they absolutely might) I don't think that will play out well for the show in the long run. It hasn't been said, but I am assuming Bill Hamilton has political aspirations given the legal background and the publicity seeking. On a side note, Timon Durrett's wife is Kristen Renton (ex-Morgan, DOOL). I think shooting in Atlanta was going to bring a different group of actors together logistically. A lot of these roles were listed in the second two casting announcements. People who haven't been announced from those role include Patrick (who people think is going to be a name), Stacy, and Luis (who was initially a contract role and is now listed as a recurring role). Marcus/Martin's husband was Daniel, which is probably why there was confusion between Daniel / David. Daniel was a former reporter. Andre, Naomi, and Chelsea are cousins with Kat and Martin. Andre is Martin and Kat's cousin, but not Naomi and Chelsea's. I suspect Andre and Chelsea might be paired because of their potential connection to the modelling industry.

I think most of that is right except Dana is "Courtney" and Eva is "Diane," not Katie. The language for the character descriptions matches the casting call descriptions. In addition, Katie was a white female character. @BetterForgotten correctly guessed they would be mother and daughter. "David" was Jillian's , now Naomi's, husband. I haven't seen anything suggesting Bill Hamilton was Nicole's ex-husband, but maybe I missed something.

I think the large amount of viewers who would be offended by the political references wouldn't be watching a show with a pre-dominantly African American cast, but I have been wrong before. A show that has a central character who is a gay African American politician with ambitions to be the first out president doesn't seem like a show that is going to ignore what could be a huge moment in this country's history. People have different reasons for watching soaps. Some do want pure escapism and fictional drama. Others would prefer drama that is based on character and social issues. Some want a little bit of everything. Furthermore, some of the character outlines suggest issues that I don't really feel are escapist (drug problems, sexual harassment in the work place). Also, given the number of couples that are already paired off it doesn't seem like this is the vein of escapist fantasy, but (again) I could be wrong.

The show got the greenlight in March, right? There was no way there was going to be a fall 2024 launch. Not possible for an hour long show filmed in a location that hasn't produced a soap opera in nearly 40 years. I think fall 2025 would have been possible. January's original premier date was the result of accelerated development. I have to wonder if they will launch in March in order to be able to celebrate all the CBS daytime lineup at the same time. Probably not likely given the cancellation of "The Talk," but something to throw out there. Personally, I am hoping that production is being pushed back a little bit. Given that the filming was suppose to start around the election, I hope a slight delay would allow for the show to touch upon the outcome of the election from the start. To set a show in the Maryland / D.C. area with a core family involved in the political sphere and not being able to reference the possibility of first woman of color president would be something that people would pick up on.

I think the problem is Lute Mae's wasn't initially suppose to represent the "bad" part of Truro, but rather the intersection of the "good" and the "bad." The "bad" was more represented by the Eagle Cafe and the working class people that were fairly underrepresented even in the pilot. The second season does a slightly better job by introducing the Cuban barrio where the working class community lived. It's just a shame they didn't do more with what was there. I would have liked to have seen Lupe Sanchez trying to open her dress story and be turned down for a loan before Eudora goes in as her partner. I would have liked to have seen Alicia working at the daycare and encountering the child of one of Skipper's old flames from his days cavorting at the bordello with the mother trying to convince Skipper and Alicia the child was his. I remember Lane declaring that she would live on Flamingo Road, but I remember (and am possibly misrembering) that it had to do with power. Those on Flamingo Road had influence and Lane never wanted to be powerless again. Though, it was more because she wanted Field, but they abandoned the Field and Lane story pretty quick into season 2. Going back to Lute Mae's, I thought it would have been interesting to bring that back into focus in season three. The apocalyptical tone of the gambling bill plot felt with Michael vs Sam and Fielding felt like this sort of good vs. evil world where the idea of sin was completely up in the air. I think bringing back Lute Mae's as this sort of a sanctuary in the storm of good and evil while the true evil existed on Flamingo Road would have been fun. Lane as the heroine is a hard sell. I thought it might have been Cristina Raines, but I just don't think the writing is there. There was a really marvellous article detailing the romantic quad between Sam / Lane / Field / Constance, but I just don't really feel that story very much. I think the Sam Curtis of the pilot was slowly watered down. Field was weak willed. Lane was inactive. Constance was the only player who had much energy, though I felt by the end of season 2 Field was a much stronger character in the lawyer role, which I found to be a surprisingly good fit for the character. Sam was in the thick of things in the gambling bill and Sam / Lane / Field as a united front was a wonderful story turn in reviving a dead story that never had much life in it. I think one of the other issues is that Lane was an outsider. If there had been a stronger attempt to build up the lower income area or if Lane had decided she was going to live in the Cuban barrio and made friends with the Sanchez family, maybe her role could have bloomed out more. I think the attempt at a Skipper / Lane friendship based on Annabelle and the bordello wasn't bad, but it wasn't utilized enough to move story. At the very least, let Constance think that Lane and Skipper are hooking up to give us a good Lane / Constance moment. Her romance with Sam and her friendship with Lute Mae wasn't enough. I don't know if Rita Lakin was involved that season on "Dynasty," but wasn't there a plot point about Blake going off to a brothel run by Carole Cook's character? So even in the 1980s, the brothel setting was being used for secret meetings. For me, they should have just leaned more into the Southern gothic element. Claude's fortune was wavering wasn't it? I think he was holding onto an idea of what the Weldon name meant and he no longer had the true capital to accomplish that. He banked on his lineage, which he was basically desecrating by having a child with an underage sex worker and raising it as his adopted daughter. I would have played the frailness of Eudora longer and her pill addiction would have become more and more destructive before sending her off to rehab with Claude low key encouraging it so that he could sell the barrio without getting much interference from her. I think I would have shifted Lane away from music and had her explore journalism. Putting her at the Clarion would have put her in Elmo's orbit and Skipper's. I think there may have been a little more room to play because you could still play Lute Mae / Lane because of Lute Mae and Sam's connection. I would have had Lane interested in discovering the truth about the mill fire and slowly discovering more and more secrets about the Weldons. Random closing comment, last summer, I was bored and was playing with an AI story generator to see what they would come up with for a season 3 of Flamingo Road. Most of it wasn't very interesting, but one idea suggested that I did really like was introducing Eudora's sister who would be a trouble maker. I thought that was a fun idea especially if the role was played by someone like Dorothy Malone.

@FrenchFan Thanks for sharing this. It was a very fun. It was tightly written around the two stories that were linked by roommates Jane Fletcher and Julie Conrad Bauer. I always feel that somewhere along the way the shows lost the lead families to the outsiders, but Julie's story doesn't take away from the Bauers, it enhances it. The Bert-Julie dynamic is very fascinating to me with the domineering mother and the sorta flighty, fragile daughter-in-law. Bert jumping to the conclusion that baby was Alex's was also intriguing, though they did take a moment to try and play the beat that Bill thought the baby could be Mike's. The suggestion that neither Alex nor Julie were actually in love with each other was also intriguing. While I wasn't super interested in the amnesia plot, I thought the writer (who was this from, Nixon?) did a nice job building the dramatic tension in a way with regards to George regaining his memory that the audience could be compelled to see what would happen when George did remember. I thought the best moment in the amnesia plot was the intersection when George remembered speaking with Mike about Julie and sharing with Julie that Mike would have married her without prodding. I thought it was a great way to provide Julie with an emotional hurdle to deal with in addition to raising Jane's anxiety about George's memory returning and the implication it would have on George and Jane's romance.

@Liberty City I also noticed how several sources are citing the speculation in the SID article as confirmation. If Real Andrews is cast (and he probably is), I am hoping its for the role of Joseph, the ex-husband of Dani, but he is probably more likely Anita's husband Patrick.

I believe Janet's son (was he also named Bud, I thought Bud was the father's name, but I might have gotten that detail wrong) was dropped when Janet left with Dan in the early/mid 1960s. For some reason, I was thinking Bud was still alive and I was going to have him raise their son, but I think he was murdered. If that was the case, I would explain that he became a problem child living with Dan and Janet when they married and after he ran away from home several times, Dan and Janet put him in school. Resentful, the son graduated and never looked back on his family. Estelle was the mother of Michael, Steve, Chase, Alec, and T.R. Chase and Alec were twins and the show pretty much wrote off Michael after Tom Sullivan left in September, 1983. During the 1984-1985 T.R. kidnapping story, there is no reference to Michael and I don't remember him being mentioned when Estelle turned up alive.

I hope my tone wasn't condescending. I actually enjoyed thinking about your points because I recognized that I am very focused on the NBC run because that was what I have been able to view mostly. I definitely can see how you'd view the Sentells and Kendalls as a bit of lost cause given the constant turnover in actors. In my mind, Peter Haskell would have to be willing to return as Lloyd, Rod Arrants as Travis, and a strong enough actress in the role of Liza for that to work. I think Liza could (should) work, but I can also see why you'd be willing to cut your losses given that Sherry Mathis was out. Regaring Duncan, I just think that giving Jo family for the sake of giving Jo family isn't a strong enough reason. I've heard people say this before (I want to say I heard someone once suggest that Tomlin wanted Vargas to be Duncan), but I just don't know what people would hope for in that story. Personally, I agree with @Khan about not wanting an abusive background, but I would want Duncan, if he had been swapped, to be a ruthless, spoiled person who would give Jo grief because for her to be at the center, she needed real conflict. Personally, I'd rather see a new ward given to Jo over Bruce returning, but I just find a lot of the mid-1970s stories very bland because of limited access to the material. Bruce and Amy don't seem super exciting from the SOD summaries. As a reporter, I guess he would fit in with the station/Herald. I do think the show needed more of a foundation and exploring branches of Jo and Stu's family trees would be a good place eto start, but I just feel so many of the characters in those families were relatively drama free. Gary is probably the messiest with the Laine affair and the baby. Tom, though, struggled to be a person under a multitude of actors. A strong sense of who Tom is and what his story would be would be anecessity for any post-1986 return. The legal eagle aspect is an access point, and his family anchors him, but I don't think the Kathy / Tom story was going to give Tom much todo in the long run but play supporting figure to an eventual return from Scott. Danny was another one approaching Tom territory with multiple actors struggling to shape the character. I think that's why I like the idea of Janet's son by Jo's cousin coming on and being a jerk. It had the potential to shake up both families.

Holloway's "Love of Life" doesn't play out well in the synopses and I can't imagine it was much better onscreen. I think Bambi was a secondary players in Ray Slater's story and she had been something like a cocktail waitress or cigarette girl that Holloway elevated to the central heroine. She was beat up during some sort of mob conflict which led Ray Slater, who's large Italian family was introduced by Holloway as well, trying to track down her biological father. Other gems from the Holloway run were Timothy MacCauley chaperoning Ben and Betsy out on dates because she was in the midst of her divorce from Eliot Lang. Meg Harper was involved with businessman Scott Carmichael who seemed to be afraid of a commitment. I think in one of Holloway's final plots she introduced Lianne Wilson, the ONLY female intern at Rosehill Hospital. Ann Marcus' version sounds 1 million times more engaging. I think there are an additional set of outlines written for "Love of Life" a week or two further into February, 1980 that weren't produced because it was cancelled. The only other show that I know for sure that happened with was "Tribes" which had nearly 20 unproduced or incomplete episodes (I think 5 partial episodes were in the can when it was abruptly cancelled which is why there is confusion over the number of episodes produced).