dc11786

May Merisi, everyone's favorite cigarette girl. Yeah, it must have been Labine. I wasn't sure so thanks for clarifying.

Reverend Rutledge of the 2000s was introduced earlier. I believe Millee Taggart had Rutledge first appear as the officiant at Rick and Mel's wedding. He was at somone's wedding. I thought it was established than that the character was supposed to be the grandson of the original, which as stated was a stretch. Dependening on when that Meta speech was (I cannot remember if it was under Labine or under Gold/Dunn/Taggart), there may have been a connection

Barry is there until the end of 1993/early 1994. Nixon writes out her Isabelle. Looking at Kane's blog, he has January 3, 1994, as Barry's last date. Beck didn't appear in 1994. Only the back of the head was seen in the 1994 sequence. The date for Harry in 1994 is accurate. He also appeared March 28-April 18, 1994.

I think there was space to tell a Lily's return story that involved the unfinished business with Jack as there story was abruptly ended because of a network mandate. While it isn't unusual for Loving to strip characters of their personality and backstories upon a return, making the conscious choice to make an incest survivor into an seductress is not one I would have made personally. Honestly, I have to wonder if Bill Levinson was leading the team when that story started. Helfer had played Marland´s precursor to Lily on A New Day in Eden so I think she could have handled that backstory. Stacey being a reporter would have worked better than a novelist. It would have given her more agency on the canvas. I think Jack and Stacey could have worked, but the show really needed to delve deeper into their characterization. Jack was the scion of an affluent East Coast clan with ties to higher education, politics, and the corporate world, but was the biological son of a man who was born on the wrong side of the tracks and managed to raise his status in life. Dane and the Aldens were enemies. That is a fascinating dynamic that should have fueled the show for years, but it didn´t which leads me to suspect that Dane as Jack´s father was a Marland choice, though Dane could also be considered a Nick Davis for the 1980s. With her large Irish Catholic family, with a strong sense of right and wrong, becoming involved with someone who has money and power could have caused her to question her morals. Alex masquerading as Clay isn´t a story I would have told, but there are elements that I don´t mind. I find the general outline though sounds like a watered down General Hospital plot. I think Alex´s relationship with the Aldens after the truth comes out is pretty special, but I am not sure it was a necessary story to tell. I didn´t watch Loving in real time, but later when I was able to access the material through soap dvd sites so I knew Jack was killed. Most of the consecutive Loving material starts in October, 1991, and, by that point, the best days (worst?) are over. I'd love to see Jack and Dinahlee's "affair" as Lauren Marie Taylor never let Stacey forgive Dinahlee for that. I thought the idea of Jack and Stacey moving into the mansion and then Isabelle Alden returning in the form of the sublime Celeste Holms as some sorta Cabot/Isabelle combo would have been great to see play out. Their final stories as a couple in 1992 were not my favorite (Stacey investigates the Tides and falls for Trucker while Jack gets taken for a ride by John Schneider's Larry Lamont dud diet product Take Off! was underdeveloped. Post-Jack, Stacey's life is pretty boring for about a year. The Jeremy / Stacey romance was clearly a shift based on the fact that Trisha was leaving (I believe the plan was Jeremy/Trisha based on how Jeremy's 1991 visit went). I thought Stacey's Victorian marriage of convenience to Clay didn't play to Lauren Marie Taylor's strengths. It was a situation Trisha would have found herself in, not Stacey. Buck and Stacey were fun, but they were more fun when it was Buck and Stacey and Gwyn. I was less interested in Tess. Buck didn't work outside of Stacey for me, so ultimately I could take him or leave him. Phillip Brown was more than decent, but Buck was Trucker's secret half-brother, Curtis' old military buddy, and in cahoots with Tess to snag Trisha's money. It was all just too much. I really like what I've read and what I've seen of Marland's Loving, but I do think Nixon needed to write the first two years in order to establish the flavor of the show. Marland's style is too different. The corporate world that Marland had built up in those final months and the number of side stories wouldn't have been sustainable under other writers.

The way I look at Ava is she matured a bit with Lisa Peluso in the role. Not because Peluso was a better actress, but simply the nature of her story changed. Pairing Ava with Alex, who wasn't a man with money, sorta forced her to shift her priorities. I think there was a bit of a realClay/Ava pairing, but the audience wanted Ava/Alex. To keep Ava relevant, she could no longer be the coquettish young woman using her sexual attraction to manipulate men the way she had in the past. I'm not the biggest fan of Addie Walsh's 1992 run, but I think putting Ava at Burnell's was a smart move to position her back into a place where she was able to exert some manipulation while also being more than just a young woman who slept her way to the top. In theory, I think bringing Lily Slater back was a smart move, but I think the execution left a lot to be desired. Personally, I would have done Lily / Curtis as the pairing with Jack using his previous history with Lily to try to get insight into Curtis' plan for AE. Additionally, I would have had Lily forced to deal with her past by arriving in Corinth to sell the family home with Stacey acting as the real estate agent. I think eventually, Stacey's real estate career would take off and she would be drawn into a business relationship with Dane Hammond, which would have escalated the conflict in Jack about where his loyalties lie. As Stacey becomes more independent, Jack would become more drawn to docile Lily, who would be staying at the Alden mansion as Ann's houseguest given that Lily's mother recently died and Ann could use something to do. Once Curtis and Lily were engaged, then I would have let Lily I don't think the actors are given a lot of opportunities to shine during this period so I won't jump to much conclusions on Hefler's acting. The material from the strike involving Jim and the homeless shelter is more appealing to me. I know there were people that like the Lily and Jack affair so I am curious how I would feel watching it play out day to day. I agree. Jack and Stacey tend to be very bland, which is a shame because Lauren Marie Taylor could give Stacey such a sense of spunk and spirit that is often drowned out by banal dialogue and color by numbers storytelling. I think the best I've seen them is when Stacey and Jack are having their affair during Jack's marriage to Ava, but that was more due to Stacey's internal conflict over being this good Catholic girl who was bedding down with a married man. I also don't think making Stacey a romance novelist did her any favors. Raised with two older brothers, tomboy Stacey never comes of as the type. I really wish a grander attempt was made at Stacey and Curtis. I think Christopher Marcantel and Lauren Marie Taylor could have been Gwyn and Clay of their generation if they at least played them for a minute longer before committing to Stacey and Jack.

Thanks @DRW50. I find the post Marland years hit or miss until about Jacquie Babbin's arrival, but it always good to see something different. I feel like Ralph Ellis' work tends to better in the grand scope of weeks at a time rather than single episodes, at least that was the case with what I've seen of his Search for Tomorrow in 1982. The serious tone is always appreciated, but Ellis is one of the writers who struggles in the 1980s writing the more action & adventure plots that shows like General Hospital had been come to be known for. The whole Jim / Carrie / Dan / Brad foreign espionage stuff is not for me. I don't think that's something that I would ever enjoy even over extended episodes. It's reminiscent of the jungle story with Brian, Warren, and Suzi on Search for Tomorrow I think Ava's quest to determine the truth about her husband is probably one of the show's most unique plots in the 1980s. Ava the schemer being married to a man masquerading as Clay Alden is very intriguing. I thought the Cabot / Ava scene was very poignant, as well as pointed, given Ava's history with the Alden family and references to Gwyn and Clay's marriage. I think the back and forth between Ava and "Clay" is wonderful. I also appreciate how integrated "Clay" is into the Amourelle / AE story structure. Ron Nummi should have been Curtis Alden. It would have made his scheme with Lily a bit more noteable given their history. I don't know how Lilly was chosen as the Amourelle model given her history, but I do think the set up of this secret affair story works. The problem, much like the Clay story, is that it is all hopelessly generic to me at times. I feel like Lily is just some woman from Jack's past without all the baggage surrounding the murder trial, the incest, the rivalry with Curtis, etc. I do appreciate how Ann seems to be manipulating things behind the scenes to keep the truth from coming out. It's also to see what that brief period of Loving where Trisha is sidelined because Steve has died and Jeff Hartman is on the scene looks like.

In letting this stew a little bit more, I think bring Robert Guza and Julie Carrouthers on was a smart move no matter the status of their previous work. While Atlanta has a prominent film/TV production infrastructure, I think daytime serial is a different beast. As a fan of the obscure The Catlins, I know that P&G sent some of their New York people, Heather Hill and Joe Rotherberger, to help with the set up. Now I know things have certainly progressed in Atlanta since then, but reading the horror stories in the Atlanta paper about how The Catlins begun, I think there needed to be established talent attached. Having a couple seasoned veterans in daytime production to train local talent was going to be a necessity. Finding people willing to relocate to Atlanta do so, or commute, is another. Val Jean's working relationship with Guza makes sense, and possibly wanting to help a friend out who is still grieving the loss of his wife. Carrouthers has handled the transition of talent from one place to another so I think that allows her a coordinating history that might be beneficial for the launch. Structurally, this all seems very sound. The matriarch being a former singer matriarch and a politican patriarch sets the story in a world where personal matters are elevated into the public sphere. Too often soaps try to make stories scandalous without really having the framework inplace for why that would make sense. Additionally, setting the show in Maryland/D.C. leans into that political arena in a way that opens a political space for story, while not requiring it to be the entire scope. I'm wildly speculating, but I imagine these four are what Val Jean is considering her core crew. I can't remember who suggested that Obba Babbatunde as the former senator patriarch. That's something I hadn't considered as I was thinking more of a Capitol angle where he wouldn't be introduced at first to save money or that he would be dead at the start. This casting suggestion makes sense. I imagine you'd cast this group first because you want the flexibility financially to get who you want and play with the figures of some of the lower tier players. Additionally, I am pleased to see that there seems to be strong development of that 40+ tier. The set up for this seems to be the type of material I have hoped for in the last few years (decades?): a more traditional soap opera with strong sense of modernity. The Sara / Jessica dynamic echoes Meg and Van from Love of Life and other complicated sister relationships that have played out over countless soaps since the birth of soap opera. Jessica's description reminds me of the way people have described Valerie Ames on The Secret Storm, but I am sure there are better more recent examples. A character with warmth and integrity facing the challenges of the world. While Betty is described as the head of the family, it would seem Jessica is going to be the voice of reason. A possible Ruth Martin to Betty's Phoebe Tyler. There is no mention of Jessica having a partner or children, so I will be curious to see if there are any or if Auntie Jessica's relationship with Sara and Joseph's children is more all encompassing leading to tension between Sara and Jessica. The Joseph / Sara dynamic is interesting. Warring exes are probably my favorite soap archetype. I'll be curious to see if we enter during the destruction of the relationship when Joseph is carrying on his affair with another woman (presumably, but maybe I shouldn't) while Sara is going about her life as wife and mother or if we are entering after the war. Based on the description of Joseph, I feel it's pretty clear he is set to enter the political arena so it would be interesting to see how Joseph navigates those relationships with people who are more than likely going to have ties to his former in-laws. Initially, I thought maybe Sara would return to fashion and take over an agency, but now I can't help but wonder if she'll end up in politics herself going against her ex. Or why not both. I think the suggestions of story scope here (political, music, fashion, medical, law) are all very smart moves and gives more of the feeling what I wanted Patrick Mulcahey's General Hospital to become. I am quite happy that Michele Val Jean was recognized for her talent and look forward to what else might come out about this. Maybe there will be some news after tomorrow´s Santa Barbara reunion. If Mulcahey is on board, I imagine that it might slip at the event.

The source would appear to be the casting sides that are probably online somewhere. I imagine that's how most of the information will be revealled this stage of the game.

While it's possible more than person was in the role, Ken Bryant was Maurice Ottinger in late 1964 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-knoxville-news-sentinel-atwt-ken-br/152176881/

No problems. Frankie's last episode was February 26, 1991, along with that crew of characters (Charlene, Carla, Colton). His start date is May, 1990. I don't think the credits were available but when Frankie first appears, his body is only seen taking Ned Ashton's wallet which is why he was arrested. When he was arrested, Fontaine appeared completely. So not sure if there was someone else playing his body first.

Originally the plan was for a Mike / Rita Mae / Curtis triangle with Rita Mae disillusioned with her marriage due to Billy's impotence. The triangle would have solidified Mike/Curtis rivalry built up over Rita Mae, Curtis' interest in Stacey, and eventually the assumption on Mike's part that Curtis was connected to the drug trade that was going on at Alden University that had led to Patrick Donovan's death. The problem becomes once you pull away one of those threads (I imagine the first to go was Billy's impotence) they slowly lost the plot. I would have dumped Rita Mae and Billy when the impotence plot was nixed. Jim was described as a talk-to for Merrill in the bible; a moral conscious for the woman breaking up a married politician's marriage even though she didn't really want Roger for herself. A lot of characters were not very fleshed out in terms of character, story, or both. For years, one of my bigger complaints is that everyone is married at the beginning. Out of of twenty contract characters, eight were unmarried, unless we count Jim as married to God.

Well said! I do think some of that dynamic is the result of the smaller cast size of a half-hour show as well as the typically limited storytelling scope. Though clearly this didn't work for all half hour shows such as "Ryan's Hope." Shows use to be better about resting legacy characters so they could revive them later. Janet was one of those characters who was gone for some of the 1960s only to return in the 1970s. It seems like SFT in the 1970s chose too often to kill off the characters for the ratings bump. For instance, I think it would have been more practical to have Jennifer shoot at Eunice, but have John save her taking the bullet and dying instead. Eunice could be sent out of town to mourn possibly leaving Suzi in the care of Jo, which would annoy her flavor of the moment who didn't want children and had a secret reason from his backstory for it. When Eunice returned to reclaim her daughter, Suzi could want to stay with Jo and Eunice and Jo's love interest could be in cahoots to help Eunice get the child back. Let Eunice revert back to a villainess to get more mileage out of the character. And, if in the custody battle, Eunice was required to see a psychiatrist to deal with her grief, then she is working with Dr. Wade Collins and you could propel a situation where Eunice and Wade are drawn to one another paralleling the Jennifer / John situation allowing Eunice to recognize her behavior while allowing some trouble to brew between Wade and Janet over Eunice's closeness to Wade leaving Janet to confide in Jo, who gently confronts Eunice, who of course explodes over the situation. You could even have childless Eunice reach out to Chuck Gardner, her cousin's son by Janet, and have Chuck reconnect with Janet on sly so Wade suspects Chuck is Janet's younger lover.

I think Ted Adamson bought into or took over the Collins Corporation, which was the company belonging to Janet's late husband, Dr. Wade Collins, through his affluent family. I believe Stephanie Wyatt as the widow of Wade's brother Clay Collins may have also had a percentage. Or maybe Stephanie sold her part to Ted? Given that Natalie Schaefer played the mother, Helen Collins, I always assumed the Collins clan was suppose to be old money.

I didn't understand what he meant at the time, but I think that was really the start of the changing in the daytime landscape in terms of how people were looking at the shows from a production standpoint. When Brian Frons stated that "Port Charles" was being cancelled because it was not cost effective rather than there weren't enough viewers, we had entered a point where the viewers didn't matter. What we go in the slimmed down 2008-2011 era (which I really enjoyed) seemed to be what Corday was striving for in 2003 , but wildly missed. Hiring everyone back wasn't the original plan though, was it? And those that came back I imagine had a smallerguarantee than they left with, but I don't know that for sure. I would never argue Corday's management is questionable, but I don't think he was making up the issues with the budget. What do you think was the actual reason then for firing Paula Cwikly and Peter Brash and hiring Higley?

Paul and Ava had a ridiculous number of failed weddings in 1991 (3 at least). This is the planning of the last one in December, 1991, which was thwarted because Michael went missing the day of the ceremony. The episode is December 2, 1991, according to @Kane's blog, which tracks given the Chanukuah was from December 1 - 9 that year and the episode opens with a holiday greeting. I have a deep appreciation of 1991. I think Mary Ryan Munisteri's work is pretty on point and since I don't care about Trucker and Trisha like that I'm all for Trucker and Dinah Lee having their little affair. The opening works for the era. I assumed he and Jessica Collins married and went to the West Coast when he left "Loving" given all Collins' work after leaving, but I could be wrong. My conspiracy theory hot take is Nixon would do anything to ensure that "Loving" lasted longer than "Ryan's Hope." If we are to take Wikipedia to be accurate (I know that's a stretch) "Loving" and "The City" combined (3,521 episodes) have 6 more episodes than "Ryan's Hope" (3,515 episodes). "The City" has finally found its way into the trading circles, but it is still missing a good chunk of episodes from the final months starting in September, 1996. I cannot stress how poorly cast Joel Fabiani was as Jared Chase. I think Jared's arrival in March had the potential to kick the show a bit into a higher gear, but Fabiani is so over the top that it goes past enjoyable camp into complete cringe. For the found family element to work, I still feel there needed to be more emphasis on the contrast to the traditional family. A lot of the stories in spring of 1996 involved biological family ties (Richard and Zoey's duel paternity questions, Jocelyn's prostitution as a result of incest, and there were layers of the Azure C. plot involving her mother and brother). I think they needed to develop those (biological) relationships more to explain why the found family may have been more appealing. The late 1996-early 1997 stuff does seem tighter, but there is just a pervasive level of ugliness that runs through things when I watch. The lack of heart is off putting, though I suspect there were moments of occasional warmth and togetherness, so much of the show is run on the non-stop animosity among the shows tougher characters which makes them unappealing to me at most points. Carla vs. Tracy can be fun, but its exhausting when there is so little downtime. I find "Port Charles" much less off-putting than "The City," but often very generic. This is probably for the PC thread, but have you seen much of Karen Harris' "Port Charles" in 2000? I think that was probably the show at its strongest creatively. I know Darren Star talks about "Central Park West" being one of the first shows in a long time to set a series in New York and focus on the glamour rather than the grit. From what I've seen, the show, at least initially, struggles between finding the soft spot between "Law & Order," "New York Undercover," and "Central Park West." Interesting to think about how someone could go from having only seen 1987-1988 "Loving" to "The City." I've always been curious about how many countries aired "The City" given that I imagine a lot of interest in "Loving" waned internationally as local networks were developing more of their own soap operas.

Max Wylie was stated to be the only writer for the show as of Monday, May 17, 1954. So it would look like Lillian and Anthony Spinner were probably the writers from February - May, 1954. Janet would have left and come back in the process. I was re-reading the memo from Roy Winsor about his plans for the show circa fall 1964, which looked at completely writing out and/or backburnering the Ames children as early as mid-1965 with the intention of exploring new facets of Woodbridge by having Peter and Valerie Ames move into a new home and infiltrate their way into the problems of their new friends and neighbors. The Porters were just one way to do so. It is interesting that they chose to introduce Janet and Kip into that story sans Amy. I have to wonder if the Averys fought to keep the Ames children on. Jerry ended up being involved with Hope Crandall in 1965 into 1966. The story with Amy and Paul continued well into 1966. Susan was involved in the Casey Arnold plot. It seems like it all just came to a close right before Hess arrives.

Cwikly and Brash wrote the conclusion of the story where the babies were returned, I want to say at someone's baptism. For a show that hadn't really delved much into the emotional impact of the stories since Reilly left it was a noticable and appreciated shift. I believe it was heavily promoted (Kleenex sponsored the episode or something) and they even dragged Lisa Trudel back as Melissa for the event. I don't remember much of what Abe and Lexi did after that, but I recall they were present when Tony Dimera returned at Tuscany (I believe) under the reservation of A. Dimera; Lexi was questioned if she was the person and she wasn't. There were things I appreciated like Jack and Sami trapped in some inn with a murder mystery theme unaware it was just a collosal joke. Coming after Jack claiming to be gay to let Greta down easily this was a welcome relief. I believe they also wrote out Greta with the vague revelation that she was going "to be with her father" resolving the fact that John Black wasn't that man. Hope and Bo ended up dealing with the return of Billie Reed in the form of Lisa Rinna as a cop and additionally the return of Larry Welch, who kidnapped Hope. I think they also did Chloe's leukemia storyline. The Gemini twins were the big teen story for a minute, which was half baked Reilly. Brash and Cwikly's was well regarded at the time, but Corday cited an inability to maintain budget as the primary issue why they were let go claiming the stories were too expensive with a shifting in the number of sets and such.

I really enjoyed Jeanne Marie Ford's scripts when Tomlin was headwriter a decade ago. She wasn't a Culliton or a Melissa Salmons, but her scripts tended to be better than average as I recall. I'm glad she will be given a shot at the headwriters seat, but I'm not sure how much she and Cwikly will be able to accomplish with the writing team that is currently in place. I am not saying that to be shady, but rather to state that after watching Mulcahey's "General Hospital" I am not sure what can truly be done when the writing team isn't up to par. I found Cwikly and Brash's run fun at first, but it tended to be a bit early fanfiction in some ways. Lots of things being changed to fit the what I imagine the viewers wanted. I didn't like the idea of Craig being Chloe's father. After watching Patrika Darbo's emotional confession to Nancy's rape, I felt that it undermined some of that story to provide a happy ending to a situation that didn't really need one. I'll be curious to see what happens because as I recall Cwikly and Brash struggled with storytelling with a 2003 budget which must seem like a blockbuster compared to today. In regards to the ghost of JER, I think that the show was desperate to recapture that spirit for most of the early 2000s. I think there was a shift when Dena Higley 2.0 began and there was a general shift towards something resembling soap opera rather than soap opera parody. The attempt at high (or low) camp that had permeated every crevice of the canvas seemed more limited to singular stories while trying to embrace something a little more traditional. I think Poulter Clark and Ray Thomas were just wildly underprepared to handle the financial constraints that impacted who they could use, what stories they could tell, and how often they could tell said stories. I didn't find a lot of what they did effective, but I think they thought what they were doing was modernizing the show which I don't think was a terrible concept. For me, Carvilati's return was like the resurrection of JER with the wildness just busting out of the seems. I don't regret that he has been shown the door on the anniversary of the non-sense of two separate characters impersonating their doppleganger. Truthfully, I thought Carvilati would be writing the show's eulogy, so I am pleased he isn't.

Hmmm... for EON, have you tried the Popular Culture Library at Bowling Green? They house a large amount of scripts for P&G shows. They might have something.

@FrenchFan Who was the headwriter on ¨Edge of Night" at the time? Was it Vendig? I mistakenly assumed you were using the James Elward scripts for ¨Secret Storm," but then I realized you were looking at Arthur Heinemann´s. Mel Arrighi´s scripts out of Boston University pick up 56 episodes (ep # 3021) after Heinemann´s end (Heinemann last is ep # 2965 June 18, 1965) and ends a little over 300 episodes later with ep #3329. This would mean the Arrighi scripts cover approximately September, 1965 to probably November, 1966. With John Hess' collection picking up in March, 1967, that´s not a huge gap. I think Elward wrote some ¨Secret Storm¨ scripts when he left ¨The Young Marrieds" in early 1965 so there may be some more episodes that will cover some of the gaps from that period. I am not sure what´s in Elward´s collection, but maybe you have a better idea.

@Paul Raven Thanks for the article summer. That all sounds about right with what I watched. The syndication package episodes start with 70 which I believe is the first Friday in September so it sounds like there will be probably some changes in November around 110 or so. I seem to recall Jeff's cancer "miracle" was in December, 1981, before they kill off Nora and Scott on New Years' Eve. I'm going to try and make it to at least the new year because there is some stuff I've seen before I'd like to see again in context like Nancy's introduction (especially to note who is credited at the time on production and who isn't) as well as the aforementioned New Years' Eve tragedy which I recall being rather bloody and emotionally raw. I am curious about whether or not this was a union production. When all of this is going down, it's the Writers' Strike so I am curious if Roy Winsor's title of Story Consultant means he was going fi-core (was that an option in 1981?) or if this somehow was ok. I know "The Catlins" also seems to be a bit vague with the writing credits which makes me wonder if they weren't just trying to underpay people. Straub, Aaron, and Winsor's departures seem crazy given who replaces them. In his interview, Vinley makes it very clear that the Barnes' were unsuccessful in part because they were use to nighttime shows where you didn't have to worry as much about budget in terms of sets and things like that. @DRW50 The show was in production for a long time. I think in March, 1979, there is an article with Jason Vinley, Gerald Straub, and maybe John Palmer about the show and how its set to premier the first week of January, 1980. I'd really be interested in seeing the original Bible for the show as the pre-production material you talked about is intriguing. Lois Robbins' Mandy was dropped because of Robbins' faith. I'm going to try and do the monthly character tallies so I'll be curious to see when Mandy fades from the story. I suspect that Nancy effectively replaces her on the canvas. It's interesting about Nora because she does definitely give off the vibe of a domineering woman like the way Winsor envisioned Sarah Dale in his story projection for the late 1960s with Sarah also having a religious bent to her. Nothing seems solid enough for me to dig too deep into her character. Characters going from bad to good seems a very P&G philosophy as well. The film description reminded me of that attempt several years ago to do a Christian soap, "Hilton Head Island." I only made it through about 10 episode but there are like 20 or so more. Linda Gray pops up in the second season (with Donna Mills already present) so I am always tempted to pay for PureFlix for a week and binge the rest.

This is a very neat project. I love that you are doing this. I definitely need to dive deeper into these, but something that is standing out right away is a reference to Oceanview on "The Guiding Light." That sounds like the show was still set in Selby Flats/Los Angeles. Oceanview isn't really a name typically associated with the Midwest, but maybe I'm over reading the reference. The "Love of Life" material seems to be very dry and with the focus on Wannberg some of it seems like reheated spy stories that Pickard and Provo were cooking up (with a more campy flair) on "Wendy Warren and the News." "Secret Storm" would be in the midst of the Averys. This seems all very dramatic. The Paul-Amy-Kip-Janet scenario seems very ripe for ongoing conflict. It's amazing how much story, and the number of characters, "Search for Tomorrow" and "Guiding Light" are packing in a fifteen minute episode. Thanks!

Thanks @FrenchFan for all you do. The Valerie Hill bio I suspect is something written by Ira and Jane Avery as I think they were the ones to introduce the character. It's interesting to see listed that Janet Hill was originally suppose to have children. They kept the Swedish professor husband it seems, but nixed the children. Also, wasn't Bob Hill a lawyer by the time he made it on screen? The Alex Waugh article is interesting. I believe, and I may be incorrect, that the period of intense change came as a result of the Averys departure and John Hess' arrival as head writer. I think Waugh's point though is important about the changes when Winsor was attempting his revamp of the show to explore a less Ames-focused serial in the vein of the then-current "Secret Storm." If the show could have kept those women front and center, I think the show would have been better off. I don't even recognize Haila Stoddard. I think they should have recast if Stoddard was focused on theatrical productions. I apologize if I have said it before, but I think Barbara Becker who played Sybil on "Road of Life" might have worked or maybe Lesley Woods.

Originally, it was an innocent comment connecting the drinking of beer to Aiden's cupcake obsession. Then I realized the connotation and went with it. I figure those of you who read my endless rants deserve at least one cringe comment every now and again. Thanks. There is a lot of potential that just wasn't utilized, which is a shame. I know some of us have discussed the need for more action, but I think if the show's scripts were stronger, the emotional confrontations would carry the show. I just don't think that level of writing is being achieved by the staff. I think someone like Richard Culliton would be spitting out gems for Jane Elliott the way he would for John Aniston on "Days." And Melissa Salmons would have elevated that Nina and Ava confrontation back in May to another level. The current crop of writers don't excite me. I didn't think about the Monica angle with Cody and Tracy, but that would have been nice. Monica's response to the Heather Webber stuff would have also been noteable I imagine. I realize that Charleston doesn't seem to be available due to health reasons so I respect her absence, and appreciate Elliott's presence even more. I liked the suggestion someone made about turning Michael into an alcoholic. I can't remember if someone else suggested it, or I expanded on it in my head, but I would have let Michael become paralyzed in an accident and milked the paralysis to keep Willow by his side torturing her. I think I'll try my best to stick it out for the summer since I am off from school, but unless Drew / Nina / Willow is still in play or they have committed to the Stella / Tracy friendship I don't see myself committing to Carly's musical love interests, the on contract / off contract romances, and whatever else is in play. I didn't feel like there was a true commitment to the younger set. There were a handful of scenes back in March/April that seemed like they might, but I don't really remember a whole lot in the past few weeks. The younger set seemed to stall the week they recast Aiden and then none of that group got much outside Jake's bar trip (to reveal Finn's affair) and Danny and Jason bonding to fuel Sam's need to learn what the FBI has on Jason. I know we have talked about it several times. I remember thinking after Terry suggested that Tracy might have depression stemming from all of the loss in her life, including her husband Luke, that she should take up a hobby. If I recall, Tracy showed up in the stables and Cody was shirtless. The Cody is like Gregory line also stood out to me. It's possible Cody / Tracy was just built in order to maneuver Cody into the outskirts of the Gregory story to propel him to tell Mac, but I think someone wanted to try at something more than just friends between them. It's one of the reasons I have no use for the Pikeman story. I think the psychological element of it was interesting with Sonny off his meds, but I don't get the sense that Bernard is interested in playing that.

So I am intending to give this a proper try because I never am able to really follow through with it. I've watched episodes 70-73 more intently, and I am slowly understanding why. Episode 70 is a good starting point because the story is fairly narrow in those episodes on Lori's accident which is a good starting point. The derided Paul Mason / Lori Davidson affair rumor plot has already been aborted with Paul off canvas. The drug operation story seems to be slowly developing and what is probably the first reference to Vince Cardello is made in episode 72 when Russ calls Chicago for help securing a surgeon for Lori's surgery to prevent permanent paralysis. The family structure is intriguing. Terry Davidson's connection to Ravenswood Hospital gives her access to a world that should allow actions sequences involving life and death. Scott Davidson's work at the TV station adds the adventure of searching for a criminal element. Grandmother Nora Lindsey is very snarky and tell it like it is without the intense faith of her daughter. Lori is a young and innocent ingenue and Peter the young man coming of age while fighting the temptations of others. Mary Jean Fenton is very good as the matriarch almost too sickeningly sweet at times, but tonally that makes sense. Beyond that, I am hard pressed to find much to enjoy. The scripts are pretty tough. While compacting the story around the accident provides a tight canvas, there isn't enough meat to pull out of this. Many of the characters aren't deep enough and the dynamics aren't developed (this is suppose to be the first time that Russ is meeting the Davidsons) that this situation to be sustained over multiple episodes. Furthermore, the show's struggle with presenting religion makes the central conflict (bad boy Russ believing that he can secure a world qualified surgeon to take Lori's case over the local dynamo that family friend Alex Greeley suggest) insane. The talk of miracles when there are steps that need to be taken is wild. In the limited subplots, I do like elements of the Cummings' situation. Jeff seems like a real jerk who is being lured into a complicated situation with his work at Capitol Distributors, which is tied up in the drug operation. I think Lois Robbins' Mandy Bolen, the career woman who won't again be involved with a married man for long is intriguing. Jeff's alcoholism and his abusive personality are shocking material, but it isn't always presented in the most interesting way. There has been one scene of Miriam Carpenter Mason and her new love interest, Nick Trench, which is slightly intriguing, but I doubt that my interest will be held. Additionally, has there been any really concept of who was in charge of the writing? From what I can gather, it sounds like Roy Winsor was the headwriter (story consultant) for part of the first year, followed by Dallas and Joanna Barnes (well into 1982), and the final Headwriter was Jason Vinley who claims he was one of the creators of the show stating his name was on the story Bible, which he still seems to have a copy of. Most of this comes from an interview with Jason Vinley. The Vinely interview can be found on YouTube. There is a list of interviews on episode 70 on YouTube.