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I've caught up with everything but Friday so some of this will probably be from the end of June. Finn's departure worked well even rushed. I do still think there was story left to tell with Alexis/Finn as Finn continued to spiral and Alexis became more attached, while Tracey became more judgemental due to her feelings for Gregory. I feel this would have played nicely with the battle over Gregory's literary legacy, which I imagine will also not continue past the initial seeds planted the week that Gregory died. Brook Lynn and Chase with Violet at least has given the couple some sort of obstacle to deal with even though I don't feel they will get the kind of mileage out of it that I suspect. I think there would be some meat to explore about either Brook Lynn or Chase deciding to put off having children because they either feel overwhelmed by Violet (who wouldn't?) or because they realize that they just don't want to be a parent. Jane Eliott continues to bring class, grace, and snark to everything Tracey does. Eliott's scenes with Sam McMurray were very touching. Lots of seeds have been planted for Tracey in the last few months. I am (foolishly?) hoping that something happens with them in the coming months even with Mulcahey out the door. I was surprised that they jumped into Drew and Willow so quickly, but not disappointed. I do think the general arc for Willow since Korte and Mulcahey have taken over is that Willow has become bored with life (hence the decision to change her career). At the time, I didn't understand the thwarted sex scene between Michael and Willow back in May, but I do think there it was suppose to emphasis how Willow's domestic life has impacted her sexuality. I think there is space to explore how Willow loves her children but doesn't want to only be seen as a parent, and that's how I feel Michael sees her. Though, that last part really hasn't been explored in the scripts. Drew is a Quartermaine hoe and I hope that he continues in the vein of early 1990s Ned. I also hope that the Chelsea Grimes character makes her way on screen and is a complete hot mess. The reveal about Mac being Cody's father worked well considering it was coming off a strong week of episodes. I definitely think Mac would admire Cody's lifestyle as that was Mac back in the day pre-Port Charles. The Cody / James scenes were sweet. I definitely think with how they have positioned Sasha in the Drew/Willow situation that the plan is (was?) Sasha / Michael as a counter fling, which I think would have allowed what I suspected was a Cody / Tracey situationship to play out. There's a lot of potential on the canvas, probably too much with such a large cast. I have little to say about Trina / Gio / Joss / Dex other than it seems to me that someone wants Gio / Joss, which I don't think is interesting. When they changed Joss' major, I assumed she would become Jenny Eckert 2.0 and become involved with the Greenbelts (or a modern equivalent) who were protesting the rejuvenation project involving the waterfront leading to some sort of violent episode requiring sanctimonious Joss to have to keep quiet about her own involvement in a violent episode keeping a major secret form her cop boyfriend, especially if whatever incident was set up by Ava trying to frame Sonny. Clearly, I was on the wrong page. I think Trina / Gio could have had some conflict if they kept Trina alligned with Ava as the custody suit ramps up, but I don't think that's the angle they are exploring. The actor playing Gio is too young to be playing 21. He seems like he should be eating Aiden's cupcakes. I think Trina has some interesting space to explore, but I am not seeing that onscreen. The Pikeman stuff never really works for me. I think Anna and Valentine's back and forth has potential, but I also just can't be bothered. I don't find Jason the most appealing character, though he is better than I expected. Sam and Carly was a delight. I thought that was an interesting angle to play. I do think we will learn that Ava is behind the FBI recording because all things evil lead back to Ava apparently. I do feel like the plan was to write out Jagger when this arc was over even though they seem to continue to chemistry test him. I don't feel there is much of a commitment. I didn't have the intense negative reaction that seemed to sweep a good chunk of the board regarding the fall out of Kristina and Blaze and the tape. Ultimately, I think there are severe flaws in the story that fall down, for me, into two categories: (a) censorship and (b) nuances in scripts. When the original conversation between Ava and Natalia happened, I felt like it was played as a bigger moment than it was. I suspect that Natalia's language was suppose to be more openly homophobic than what it was, which would have triggered an actual conversation. Given that the bullying plot for Aiden was dropped quickly, I have to wonder what level of discomfort the network is expressing regarding gay content. Furthermore, some of the issues result from mediocre scripts. I know some have stated they were better than they were, but they still aren't strong enough. Blaze and Kristina both outlined why they might lose their jobs before they did. Kristina is highly underqualified for her position so the center deciding that they were going to dump her with online activists pushing her out because they didn't see her as taking a strong enough stance on advocacy makes sense. If Kristina isn't going to stand up to her girlfriend's mother, who will she stand up to? Blaze states before her contract is terminated that she would be losing her contract because she lied, not because she was gay. Personally, given the insane amount of stipulations regarding media in the Deception contract, I have to wonder if there isn't the same amount in Blaze's recording contract and the company wasn't willing to play with Natalia in terms of having Blaze do media. I do think I wouldn't have rushed to do both job losses in one week. I would have played the media angle first with Blaze being asked to denounce her mother and her either having to finally stand up for herself against her mother or to continue to allow her mother to control her. The fallout for Natalia doesn't seem as hefty as it should, but the right people are hating her so I don't really mind. I think there are attempts to layer Natalia's homophobia in a way that would be worth exploring further. Natalia's root issue with homosexuality is that she was raised to believe it was an illness. Given the deeper conversation about mental illness that should be ongoing on this show given Marshall's racist diagnosis, Heather's metallosis impacting her court decision, and the tampering of Sonny's bipolar mediation, adding a more meaningful view about this would be fitting. It would also allow the canvas to address that even though Natalia is claiming she is think its a sickness, her language is inflammatory and it reflects back on her own character. I think the more problematic piece remains that they are pushing Natalia and Sonny as a thing. I also don't know why I am suppose to like Natalia when the only person supporting her is dealing with undermedicated (soon to be unmedicafted) bipolar disorder while saying he accepts Natalia's homophobia because it was similar to him beating the crap out of a young man without provocation. I really wish they had just had sent Sonny to prison at the same place that Finn became an alcoholic and was sent to rehab. Sonny and Ava were already gearing up for custody battle so I don't think the optics are Ava is worse than Natalia. Also, they've pretty clearly say that Ava is Sonny's target because he hurt his daughter, but I do agree that Natalia's words are ultimately what did that. I think the act was suppose to be impulsive on Ava's part because Natalia was slowly pushing her out of Sonny's life, but I would have had Ava at least try and claim that Pikeman had been bugging Sonny's apartment and was sowing discord throughout Sonny's world in order to prevent him from focusing on the gun running. I'll be quickly to see what happens once Mulcahey's name is no longer in the credits.

Creatively, 1980-1981 was very tough for "Search for Tomorrow" with seven different writers/writing teams helming the show. By the time the show was cancelled by CBS, the show wasn't in a great place creatively. Add in the shifting daytime landscape with the summer of Luke and Laura, I don't think the show had much of a shot on CBS. In the period you specifically asked about, Don Chastain was writing the show during the strike. He inherited a show that was in transition as Harding Lemay had only been writing for several weeks before the strike took place. There was some nice movement during that time (the end of the custody trial where Roger Lee was returned to his biological mother Cissie) and some movement that wasn't as strong (there was a mini-stalker arc with Peter Burnell as Richard Kent which had been a sticking point between Lemay and Mary Bunim Ellis). The introduction of Cynthia Gibbs as Suzi and the permanent return for Brian Emerson in a boxing story worked well later in the summer. Foolishly switching Wendy's love interests from scheming law student Spence Langley to a limited henchman in the jade necklace story Zach Anders was not a smart move. The jade necklace story wasn't great and led to the unnecessary murder of Mignon Sentell, Travis' controlling and mentally unbalanced mother who had been brought back in Lemay's projections with the suggestion that she was going to shift her need to control Travis to her need to control her new grandson, Roger Lee. Chastain started to write out some of the characters from Gabrielle Upton's time (September 1980-March, 1981) that were extraneous (Garth Taper, the artist married to Kathy, was offed in a car accident). I don't think the brand new additions were not that great (Sylvie Descartes, Dane Taylor, and Zach Anders were limited at best). The stories he was setting up were not that great involving Tourneur Instruments exploring space exploration. He is credited for adding more humor to the show and the action in the boxing story seems decent, but overall, his period just got worst as time went on. I didn't look much at the start of 1982, but I would imagine that there was a flux because the show was waiting to transition to NBC with the younger slant that NBC would have wanted. Similarly, even if CBS hadn't cancelled it, I imagine the show would have had younger focus.

A couple more episodes have popped up... The premier is back https://lolaclips.com/footage-archive/itv_archive/ITV-01-1376/families_uk_soap_opera_with_jude_law_full_episode Additionally, there are two new episodes (October, 1990) featuring the fall out of George Davidson's stroke back in England, while Corrine Todd and Justine Stevens have a flat warming celebration in Australia. https://lolaclips.com/footage-archive/itv_archive/ITV-01-1377/families_uk_soap_opera_with_jude_law_full_episode_part_2 One thing that stands out consistently is how engaging I find Morag Hood as a performer. In the premier, her Sue is a necessary cog for Mike to leave in order to pursue his relationship with Diane Stevens after many years. In the October sequence, Sue Thompson has moved on with John Thompson, her husband's scheming brother, while Mike has stayed in Australia and set up house with Diane. I was happy to see it was these October episodes because of the older set triangle (George and Ruby are divorced and on different continents while George has made house with Dot). I think the levels of triangles at every level of the family intrigues me especially as the central hero Andrew Stevens seems to be at the center of two with each of his half-brothers (Mark and Lisa in England and Corinne and Christian in Australia). The Christian-Corinne thread was probably provided the most interesting drama in the Australia set sequences between Corinne flirting with everyone at the party, Geoff Todd (Corinne's father) ending up staying in Christian's bed because of his overnight, and the separation between Corinne's parents, Geoff and Barbara Todd. I thought Barbara's rationale for her breakup was wildly realistic and low key, while also highlighting the insanity of whatever it is Diane and Mike think they are going to be able to accomplish. I found Laura Girdling (Amanda) impressive in her scenes, which means more than passable. She doesn't do well in the high drama (the Greek tragedy bit on the cliffs online from later in the run) or the posh high drama (my credit cards were declined in episode 3). At the car garage, I found her charming after building her life up after her failed nuptials the prior month to Neil Brooks. I can also see why some characters are cut fairly early into year two. Justine isn't generating story. The Lisa-Mark strand at the garage also isn't really lighting things on fire (bad metaphor given John ends up dying in a blaze of glory). I will say, I cannot understand dumping Sue unless Morag Hood didn't want to continue.

I imagine the show didn't have a publicist, and if they did, they were also probably doing three or four other roles on production. I've posted in this thread a couple of summaries from Seli Groves' soap column. Usually, even if some local papers chop up their soap column, someone will carry a complete list. I never see "The Catlins" consistently, which leads me to suspect that no one was sending them the material consistently. If that's the case, the press just planned around it. For SOD, I think part of the issue would have been also the lack of publicity shots that they usually used in their summaries. I don't think "The Catlins" did those other than when the show was launched. On a side note, @slick jones I found an article on Rod Davis that stated he appeared in four episodes in December, 1984, as the ghost of Gus Catlin. I think we have the name, but I don't think we had the date or that he was a ghost.

I think I finally found out a little more information about one of the show's headwriters, Hilary Sares. Sares was involved in publishing; she was an editor. This interview is many years old, but it seems to clear up that Sares wasn't a pseudonym. For the full interview: http://rosescoloredglasses.com/NewsFeb07.htm#Hilary Robin Grunder was most likely also an editor. I found some articles referring to her as being involved with one of Signet's romance lines. Again, this is mostly conjecture whereas Hilary Sares seems more definite.

A set of very good quality episodes focusing on Trey and Sloane's Lincoln Memorial wedding.

When it was announced Don Chastain was fired, originally two writers were announced taking over: Millee Taggart and John Burnett. Until recently, most of us thought they never wrote anything on air, but it seems they were credited for several weeks at the end of 1981 under pseudonyms. The papers stated that Chastain was out as writer and as an actor. Taper leaves town around Thanksgiving. From what I've seen of 1982, I agree that the new additions (Warren, Kristen, Keith, Jenny) were strong. Ellis/Hunt end up doing what Addie Walsh was credited for on "Loving" a decade later by bringing in a stronger younger set. I find some of their writing for these characters to be mixed. The emotional material (the angst between Brian and Suzi, the pseudo-gaslighting of Liza by Rusty) was strong, but some of the heavier plot stuff (the intricate and unnecessary complicated backstory of Rusty and Jenny, both separate and togehter, and the jungle plane crash) left a lot to be desired. With that said, some of the strongest SFT I've seen in the 1980s is Brian and Suzi learning Kristen is pregnant. Ellis and Hunt's final days set up Cherrill well. I had never considered that the EP was the problem. It certainly got better with Joanna Lee. In an industry that recycles behind the scenes staff as much as they do, it's a shame Lee wasn't given another stab at a daytime show. I think she might have helped given Loving a sense of identity. I think because they were often actors on the shows they were working on, or had been actors. I feel like Millee Taggart said in an interview they were afraid that more actors would want to have input on their characters and such so the network/production company encouraged pseudonyms. Wasn't Bob good friends with Jo from when she worked or volunteered at the hospital? I believe in his later years he was the town doctor role. David Cherrill brings Bob back in February, 1983, to consult during Liza's pregnancy. Under Tomlin, Dr. Rogers is the one to perform surgery inutero on baby Tourneur when there were issues discovered during testing. The last time I remember seeing him is at Jo's funerla in October, 1983. Though, the episodes from mid-to-late 1983 can be spotty. I don't think Bob was involved with Sunny's rape, though he might have been. Given that Chastain's doctor role recently departed, I wonder if Bob was brought back in that role or simply as a holiday guest.

lol None of that stuff really works for me, but I also love Dinahlee and Trucker's affair when Trisha is pregnant with Christopher so there's no accounting for my personal taste. I think the half-hour format is ill suited for that kind of show that you are describing. the only one that I think accomplished the adventure piece well was Edge of Night. Having spent a good amount of time the last few weeks watching Generations try to do that, it is a hard sell. On an hour, you have time to ruminate on some of the character stuff that gets lost in a half-hour of action and adventure. I think Jean Rouverol wrote in her book on soap writing that those action style stories often require a large cast of recurring players (I think specifically she was referring to the mob aspect in the 1980s on Ryan's Hope). I agree it had to be different than what it was. Your comments, Khan, made me think of two different things. One, if the show was going to emulate Days of our Lives maybe they should have put Pat Falken Smith at Loving instead of Ryan's Hope in late 1983. I think if Falken Smith was allowed to explore more of the psycho-sexual work she as known for in the 1970s it would have defined Loving a bit better and grounded it in something that was manageable. The second thing is that we, on this board at least, ignore the contributions of Joe Stuart. Based on everything that has been said in recent years, Stuart should have been removed fairly early on. More specifically, I am thinking of how Bill Levinson seems to be at the lead of the team post-Marland and the work he did under Wendy Riche's reign nearly a decade later. I'm curious what a strong female EP could have done with a show like Loving in the early years as it seems that Jacqueline Babbin and Fran Sears really define the show in the 1990s.

These are from early this year when the question about Raunch/Gottlieb/Malone was asked.

I think the Harlequin style late 80s opening with Mathis fits what they were trying to do in the era of Trisha and Trucker, Stacey and Jack, and Ava and Alex, but I agree that it never got to the point that it was that lush. I like the short-lived champagne bottle opening but I'm not sure if that was really the mood of either Millee Taggart & Tom King or Mary Ryan Munisteri's work. The cast turnover would have made photos very difficult for "Loving." In watching early 90s General Hospital, I think the R&B style instrumentals is more evoking the musical choices of Wendy Riche's show as I know some of the music cues were also shared. Millee Taggert & Robert Guza's Loving was sexually provocative at times and probably the raciest the show gets. I think "Loving" was suppose to be a return to multi-generational family based storytelling in the era of the Ice Princess, Stefano Dimera, and other over the top stories. The issue was it was too underdeveloped and the parts that were developed were quickly squashed by the network. I wish there was longer stretches of English languages episodes from late 1984-mid 1985 because I think that is the time that show finally started to get somewhere with Ava getting pregnant, Dane taking over Alden Enterprises, the arrival of Trisha, Steve, and Gwyneth, and generally cohesive canvas. I agree thate Marland and Nixon's visions seemed very different.

Raunch leaves in May. He's probably in the credits until early to mid-June. By early July, I think he is in the credits at "Santa Barbara." A couple pages back, I wrote some more about this. From what I recall, there is a period with no credited EP from about June - early August. I think Linda Gottlieb might have done some work, but its uncredited. I don't think the big changes come until early September when Malone shows up (he may have shown up a bit earlier but I know he did the Daughters of Llanview story and I believe that is either the first or second week of September).

I found a lot of joy in Higley/Whitsell/Tomlin's 2008-2011 run that not only saved the show from cancellation, but also reconstructed the show into something viable that wasn't Wish version James E. Reilly. For me, there was an emphasis on relationships (romantic, familiar, and platonic) and the deeper emotional lives of the characters that hadn't been present in years. Also, moving away from the years of supercouples fans creatively crippling the show with their demands by removing most of those fanbases was such a breath of fresh air on a stagnant, stale show. The baby switch was a multi-arc umbrella plot that managed to go on for a year and ended with a beautiful confrontation between Nicole and Sami pitting two of the show's strongest characters against each other. Nicole and Chloe's "enemy of my enemy is my friend" partnership is something that lasted for many years after Higley left because it was something that added a richness to the canvas. Nicole and Brady's romantic tension was the pre-cursor to the Nicole / Father Eric tension that I loved as much. I found Chloe / Daniel deliciously sleazy from their affair when Chloe was engaged/married to Lucas to Chloe's one-night stand with Phillip leading to the baby's conception. I thought humanizing VIctor Kirakis and Stefano Dimera while still letting them have an edge was a smart move. I thought Stefano having a soft spot for his innocent grandson Theo and Victor occassionally showing a heart gave both characters a richness that had been missing. Throwing Kate Roberts and Vivian Alamain into the mix was just a delightful quartet that should have played out for several years longer than it should. Melanie Layton, while controversial, was a character who energized the younger set who had been mostly filled with goody two shoe legacy children (though I do regret that the show dumped Kristen Renton's rich bitch Southern Belle Morgan Hollingsworth). I thought Nathan / Melanie were a strong couple and the quad with Phillip and Stephanie was highly effective. Nathan confronting Stephanie in her wedding dress about her involvement in Parker's paternity switch was excellent and had followed the brief arc of Nathan and Melanie in quarantine after being exposed to some contagious disease (carried by a character played by Franscico San Martin several months before he appeared as Dario). I thought Carly's affair with Bo was a logical outcome of the year or more of tension between Bo and Hope stemming from unresolved issues related to Zach's death. Bo's inability to be completely honest with Hope about Chelsea's involvement was echoed in Hope's shooting of Kayla, Ciara Brady's kidnapping by cop Dean Hartman, and later Bo's involvement in helping Carly find her child. Carly showing up at Maggie's after Mickey's death to be greeted by Hope only for Hope to go in on Carly for the affair was potential domestic drama I hadn't seen done well in many years on the show. I didn't catch as much of 2015-2017 as I did 2008-2011, but what I saw was fairly enjoyable, though often a bit underdeveloped. I liked the twist that Chloe was carrying Daniel and Nicole's baby even though it made no sense timeline wise. Chloe wanting to keep Holly from Deimos worked for me. The return of Valerie Grant, David Banning's death, and the reveal that Eli was David's son all worked for me, though I would have brought David back from the dead at some point. I found Paul and Sonny on the island while Paul suffering Island Fever or whatever the kind of romantic angsty story that Days had done for years with straight couples and I was for it. I thought the return of Anjelica Devereaux was good. I thought Adrienne's cancer (scare?) after her mother Jo had suffered the disease was an interesting move. I thought the Orwell device was another silly Days style plot that worked me as it involved the right grouping forcharacters. I liked the remarriage of Steve and Kayla, the introduction of Tripp, and Kayla helicoptering Joey when he became involved with Jade. Killing Daniel in a car crash while Eric and Brady both needed a heart was effective for me. I think Higley had a stronger script writing team than Carvilati, who were able to take some of the more threadbone ideas she is purported to produce and turn them into something of depth. Someone mentioned in this thread that Carvilati's characters are grey for lack of a better term. There is little consideration for motivation. I concur; he may understand the history of the show, but there never seems to be an understanding of why characters did what they did in the past. There is not a single universe I can imagine where Ivan was allowed to keep Vivian from her child for DECADES and Ivan doesn't end up be buried alive. Also, having a double wedding for Paul/Sonny and Abigail/Chad where the spoiler Ben is a bigger threat to Sonny/Paul than Abigail/Chad demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of one of the last strong younger couples that "Days of our Lives" had produced. The less said about how a white cop shot an autistic person of color and the cop was the victim the better. Same for whatever the show has attempted with Leo Stark. Killing off characters without much fanfare (Bill, Laura) was disappointing. I will credit Carvilati for salvaging the show's ratings when he came on as the final months of Higley were quite low, but I cannot say that I've enjoyed anything I've seen since. Even when things seems to show promise, it is ultimately crippled by cheap jokes, an emphasis on returning vet characters who appear for several weeks and are gone again, or an emphasis on nostalgic references rather than creating any true moments of emotional intimacy between characters and each other or characters and the audience. To me, one of Carvilati's greatest sins was giving Allie Horton a story that should have gone to her sister Sydney. Sydney returning and turning to Nicole would have resonated much deeper in my opinion than Allie. I felt choosing Allie for the plot was due to her connection to the Hortons, rather than choosing the character who had ties with Nicole already. Also, how Justin is married to Bonnie and Adrienne remains dead will never make any sense to me.

Episode 50 Filmed on December 3, 1982 First Aired on Showtime Thursday, June 16, 1983 At the Clayborne mansion, Emmett Clayborne and his son Logan continue to fight over Logan's sudden return to Eden after being sent away years ago. Cynthia Clayborne tries to intervene despite Logan's insistence that he isn't leaving until his questions are answered. While Bryan Lewis and his houseguest Madge Whitehead have breakfast, Bryan and Madge recount their romantic past in Atlanta years earlier and Bryan downplays his sister-in-law Miranda Stevens' shock at Madge's sudden arrival in Eden. On the highway, Biff is seen pulling off to the side of the road where he discovers the pantyhose and gloves that Amy Stanley (his roadside fling) left behind. At the Student Union, Greg Lewis admits to his pal Clint Masterson that he has grown much closer to Laurel Richardson. After Clint slips off to the lab (Clint is a medical student), Pam Evans arrives and unloads on Greg about how her life has spiralled since she and Greg broke up. Greg attempts to comfort her, but Pam brushes him off. Back at the Clayborne mansion, Logan continues to confront Emmett about the lies Emmett has made in the past; Emmett has claimed that Blanche Clayborne, Logan and Cynthia's mother, was unfaithful, which Logan has debunked recently. Even after Emmett offers to pay him off, Logan declares his intent to stay in Eden until he learns why Emmett ran Blanche and Logan out of town years earlier leaving Emmett deeply disturbed. At Lockhart's office, Josh Collier emphasizes Emmett's disappearance on the night of the murder needs to be investigated. Lockhart wonders if Collier isn't biased due to Emmett's attack on Gail Lee, Josh's friend and colleague. At Lewis Electronics, Bryan and Madge's arrival brings about an apology from Miranda, who tries to maneuver Bryan away from Madge with business matters to no avail. When Bryan is called away, Madge confronts Miranda; Madge knows what Miranda did twelve years ago. Before the conversation can continue, Bryan returns and whisks Madge off leaving Miranda unsettled. Still on the road, Biff picks up Lori, a hitchhiker heading to Eden. In Emmett's den, a phone call from Chief Lockhart leaves Emmett on edge, unaware of why Lockhart wants to see him. Instead of leaving immediately for the station, Emmett calls his secretary to have her with draw $25,000 from his account at Eden Savings. Back at the office, Greg and Miranda discuss Madge's visit until Josh arrives for business matters and Pam arrives looking to speak to Miranda, refusing to take no for an answer. In Biff's car, Biff offers to take Lori to lunch at the restaurant (conveniently attached to another roadside motel). When pressing Lori for moreinformation, he learns that she is on her way to see her cousin Shelley Novak, Biff's former lover, who was in the hospital after being injured in an accident at Lewis Electronics. Written by Doug Marland Script by Patrick Mulcahey Cast: Grant Wilson as Biff Lewis ???? as Lori Novack (actress ... possibly Michaelina Bellamy) Jack Wagner as Clint Masterson Maggie Sullivan as Miranda Stevens Rachel Todd as Pam Evans Larry Poindexter as Greg Lewis Britt Helfer as Cynthia Clayborne Jeff Severson as Emmett Clayborne Steve Carlson as Josh Collier Catherine Curry as Honey Don Matheson as Captain Tim Lockhart Jim McMullan as Bryan Lewis Jane Elliott as Madge Whitehead Ravenal ???? as Logan Clayborne

Off the top of my head, I believe the Shaws had been in business with the Aldriches back in Boston and Catherine loved Jason. I think Catherine worked as Nola's nanny for Jessica while spying on Nola for Mona. I was very curious to see the plague story mostly because the final year seems like an attempt to embrace the hijinks from "General Hospital" while still keeping the hospital at the center. Nola leaves mid-1982 I believe because Zimmer goes on maternity leave. I believe she returns for a brief appearance in September, 1982, to resolve her story (she was pregnant and Billy thought he was the father, but he wasn't).

@slick jones Confirmation that Anne Lockhart's character was who I suspected, Susan Walker, the first victim of the Campus Strangler. Also, the first printed confirmation I've seen, other than IMDb, that Dana Halsted was Francie. Halsted looks like Lauren Marie Taylor. This is Greg Lewis (Larry Poindexter) and Pam Evans (Rachel Todd) from early in the show's run when they were a couple.

Thirty-three hour long scripts were written. Each script has a part one and part two. So what I have described as Episode 49 is a script titled N.D.E. #125 and describes the events in Part 1 of the episode. In the end, there are sixty-six episodes that aired. Most markets in the states aired the show twice a week. I have seen some markets that also aired it daily in the morning so I am assuming that some places bought the G-rated episodes that were also produced. From November, 1982, until May, 1983, Showtime would air 3 weeks of 2 episodes a week and then typically would run a week with the prior six episodes airing over the course of a single week.

The episode where Jason Aldrich is killed (May or June 1981) is available at the Paley Center. Mona's kidnapped by Catherine Shaw and Jason tries to save his mother only to be shot during the process. So a little over six months since he died. Mona dies in August 1982 during the plague storyline. The Christmas tree gag was used many years later on "Days of our Lives" when Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitsell were writing. Kate Roberts and Jordan Ridgeway both brought Rafe Hernandez the same tree when he was in the hospital for some reason. It's a shame the final two years are mostly gone.

Episode 49 Filmed on December 3, 1982 Aired Tuesday, June 14, 1983 on Showtime Local lothario Biff Lewis, returning from a business trip to Santa Fe, has picked up a hitchhiker, Amy Stanley, and stopped at a roadside motel for a quick sexual encounter. His brother Greg Lewis stops by to visit his best friend, Clint Masterson, to find his friend sullen and unwilling to discuss the source of his moodiness; Clint had spotted his girlfriend Pam Evans in a poolside dalliance with Clint's former lover Miranda Stevens. At the Lewis mansion, Pam tries to navigate the morning after with Miranda, who clearly has gotten what she wanted (Pam's mind off of Clint) and wants little more to do with the young woman. After convincing her friend Laurel Franklin to lie for her, Cynthia Claybourne and her father Emmett have a heated exchange over Emmett's possessiveness and Cynthia's investigation into her mother and brother who fled Eden years earlier. The scene ends with Emmett attacking his own daughter suggesting he is going to rape her. Government representative Josh Collier goes to see police chief Lockhart about the investigation into the Campus Strangler who has raped and murdered three women. Josh, who works for AURIC, has been pressed by his employer to put pressure on Lockhart because the investigation hinders their success of Eden as a model of urban rejuvenation. Josh wants Lockhart to interrogate Emmettl Claybourne because he attempted to rape Gail Lee, another AURIC representative. Back at the motel, Amy wants to continue to see Biff after their tryst, but Biff claims he is married to Francie and has a kid to get out of maintaining a commitment, which Amy understands complimenting Biff for his "honesty." While Miranda awaits her nephew Biff's return, Miranda pleasantly shocked by her brother-in-law Bryan Lewis' return from Atlanta, but less pleased by the Bryan's surprise, Madge Whitehead Ravenal. Bryan instructs Honey the maid to place Madge in the suite next to Bryan's own bedroom. In Bryan's office at Lewis Electronics, Josh informs his superiors at AURIC over the phone of the conversation with Lockhart regarding the investigation into the Campus Strangler. A hostile Miranda arrives still stewing over Madge's arrival in Eden and the impact it will have on Miranda's own romantic designs for Bryan. Miranda calls Emmett at home and the audience sees Cynthia wrapped her robe in the fetal position as the phone rings unanswered. When no one answers, Miranda lets it slip that she also couldn't locate Emmett the night the last murder in Eden occurred. Amy and Biff say their goodbyes as Amy waits for her car to be fixed and Biff prepares to return to Eden. After Biff drives off, Amy realizes her gloves and pantyhose are in the glove box, which Amy fears will be found by Biff's "wife." Logan appears at the Clayborne home causing Cynthia to beg him to leave. Emmett returns and Logan greets him as father. Written by Doug Marland Script by Patrick Mulcahey Cast: Grant Wilson as Biff Lewis ???? as Amy Stanley Jack Wagner as Clint Masterson Maggie Sullivan as Miranda Stevens Rachel Todd as Pam Evans Larry Poindexter as Greg Lewis Britt Helfer as Cynthia Clayborne Jeff Severson as Emmett Clayborne Steve Carlson as Josh Collier Catherine Curry as Honey Don Matheson as Captain Tim Lockhart Jim McMullan as Bryan Lewis Jane Elliott as Madge Whitehead Ravenal ???? as Logan Clayborne

From an Ismael Carlo interview on the Santa Barbara Le Site Francais. Carlo seems innocent, but the treatment of Ruben is pretty wild. In the Bible, he is described as being at the same level of C.C. with having dreams for his children and then he is later ignored and said to have abandoned Rosa and the kids without even a real exit plot. I like the idea of Santana and Brick because Santana was so obsessed with her childhood fascination with Channing Jr. that her connection with Brick made psychological sense. I also though having her raise Johnny would give her the chance she never had with Brandon. Santana easily could have become involved with others. I'd be curious to see how she would have done in a triangle with Kelly and Ric Castillo and/or Kelly and Robert Barr. I really liked the suggestion in 1991 that the Andrades had their land which became the Oasis Hotel swindled by C.C. Santana becoming a major player in the business world was some equivalent to Brooke Logan and the BeLieF Formula in terms of potential to rock the show's core. Keith to me is a successor to Kirk, who himself was a successor to Jack Lee. I also prefer Linda Gibboney / Ava Lazar Gina/Santana dynamics so its hard to enjoy what Gina Gallego's Santana becomes even though I think she is more than capable of playing a stronger Santana. I know Mattson's Gina is more memorable to most (and certainly there longer) but I like the more neurotic Gina who is present in 1984-1985. I'm not sure how invested the Dobsons were in Warren as a character. He was originally set to be killed off after being revealed as Channing, Jr.'s murderer. I don't think the change occurred because of an intense desire to save John Allen Nelson, but rather because of the dramatic potential of revealing that a mother shot and killed her own (presumed) son. I haven't seen the bits that suggest that Warren might be C.C.'s son, but I don't doubt it. At times, I suspect they were also considering John Beck's David Raymond as Warren's biological father. Years ago, I suggested the less convoluted (or maybe more convoluted) rewrite would have been to have Eden as "Channing Jr." kidnap Minx before Eden fled Santa Barbara and have him deviously reveal to Minx that just as Minx had switched him at birth, "Channing Jr." had manufactured the evidence that Cassandra was her daughter.

Pretty sure it was on the writing team (most likely Sussman). There was another nepotism joke on in the story earlier. I believe said daughter of the producer replaced Jessica on the soap. I also believe there were some snarky remarks in some episode outline notes I have or have seen. I think the swipes are nothing different than what has been said on the soap boards for years. In some ways, I think the dynamics of Jessica's story may mirror not word for word) the situation with Brenda Dickson. Barbara Rhoades' Jessica definitely gives off a Dickson-esque drag performance at times. Given the daytime landscape of 1990, it probably wasn't strong enough. It seems to fit in with my image of NBC daytime of that period, but that isn't really known as the halcyon days. I think the material surrounnding Ruth and Doreen tends to be incredibly strong and I really wish that Sussman had been given another two years to get the show into place. It probably would have ultimately been cancelled anywat, but I think a lot of the material had potential to work really well. It's crazy to think about how quickly the Whitmore family was deconstructed with the jettisoning of J.D. fairly early, which makes sense since his romance with a trans woman was nixed in pre-production. Younger male lead Cory McCallum was also quickly written out before even getting much of a story. Then, Rebecca and Trevor are both dumped around the same time and Laura seems to become supporting at best. Sam is the only one of any prominence until Peter returns and ultimately Chantal gets more of a presence once Debbi Morgan is cast.

Kim's 1982 return feels forced. Once Michael was dead, it seemed like Labine and Mayer were quick to dispense with Kim. Given they were about to start the soap opera story, it would have made more sense to place Kim in that story as a rival to Barbara Wilde and play a Kim / Seneca / Barbara triangle. I can see how the additif a child would complicate things, but the child easily could have been dispensed to an (off-screen) nanny. So for her to return in March, 1982, after the conclusion of the "Proud and the Passionate" story seems network dictated. Reading the summaries made it clear that the "Kirklands Hope" label was a bit of an exaggeration. Before the oral history, I figured this was something that was cooked up by bitter actors who were sidelined during the time (mostly Ron Hale). The oral history really shed light on the "them vs. us" nature of the cast.

I am into early October, 1990. The transition at the six month marks are pretty rough when they are writing out a bunch of characters (Martin and Rob with Jason now recurring) and the introduction of new characters (Ron Harper as Mr. Williams/Peter Whitmore). I do think the decision to reveal that Danielle is Adam's daughter as Peter returns to town with the clear intention of having another paternity reveal about to happen (Chantal is Peter's daughter) is delightfully wicked. Hindsight gives a different view on the scenes where Ruth goes in on Doreen for her deception regarding her child, while the show is slowly starting to lay the groundwork for the next big story. I can now see why the show was keeping Doreen on the edge of the story and moving her into Peter Whitmore's orbit towards the end in order to really lean into that drama. Kyle and Sam are a great couple even when I don't always love the story. Stacey Nelkins' Chrissy Russell is a relic of the era, a pure unhinged interloper with no real goals outside getting herself her man (Kyle). Do these types still exist in daytime? I don't like Jessica and Reginald, though Jessica's art caper has inspired a movie idea which she tries to sell to her old soap producer, the Bill Bell esque Leonard Cooper, who quickly plots to use the movie idea for a vehicle for his daughter. The shade is very real. I'm not a big fan of the Eric Royal drug dealing in prison plot. It's purely plot. I almost wonder if the show would have been better off playing this all out during sweeps because from what I remember, November is pretty dull. Kyle and Sam marry and I imagine Peter reveals himself to Sam but I don't remember much of the other plots coming together.

The advertising may not be hitting it on the head the way it should, or maybe we are too far removed from the period, but I think the emphasis is suppose to be on the mood of soaps in the 1980s. This was a cable soap opera, but it wasn't embracing the "Ice Princess" style capers (yet) that most of the shows of the era were. The show's initial murder mystery does descend into utter chaos as the deranged psychiatrist kidnaps the young ingenue Jennifer Catlin after he had been trying to place subliminal memories inside her mind (I believe this was when creator C.T. McIntyre acted as interim headwriter between Sam Smiley and Steve Lehrman). The overall tone though was on family conflict (the rivalry between the Catlins and the feuds fueled by the marriage of Eleanor Quinn and Jonathan Catlin) and romantic conflict (the quad between the brothers Dr. Matt and race car driver Beau and the reporter, Lauren Woodward, who was investigating their sister's murder charge case). It's later under Steve Lehrman (formerly a script writer of "Edge of Night") when more of the action and adventure elements start to be introduced and continue until the show's conclusion.

I think the fluidity of the show helped the younger set of "Loving" as the show was quite willing to change actors, characters, and personalities at the drop of the hat until they found what worked. In hindsight, the college revamp of 1992 only provides us two long standing characters (Cooper and Casey) surrounded by a string of duds (Hannah, Staige, and Kent) and one holdover (Ally). Things don't really pull themselves together until Millee Taggert and Robert Guza introduce Steffi, who is strong out of the gate but morphs when Nixon decides she wants to redo Claudette/Margo with Steffi/Deborah. The fact that both actresses are still in daytime (Laura Wright and Amelia Heinle) speaks to this go with the flow nature.

The Corringtons also worked on "Rituals" briefly during the pre-production period in 1984. I think they wrote a bible for the show that I have some pages of and discussed briefly in the thread for that show. In looking at the 1980 summaries of "Search for Tomorrow," I found the period where it becomes clear they are leaving (February-early May), a bit of a drag because the stories are clearly stalling other than the drug plotline involving the Boilmaker and Beau Mitchell. They even seem to scrap the setup for a Liza / Travis / Allison Snowden triangle. I enjoy early "Texas" from what I've seen (August-November, 1980). I think there was a lot of potential in that foundation and I am sorry they didn't get to see it through a bit longer. If they could have survived long enough to make it through the strike, I am curious where things would have gone.