dc11786

I may very well be wrong on this, but I do think there was mention of Meta Bauer being in Nova Scotia in 2002. Before Mary Stuart died, Meta was being used in the lighthouse restoration project story with a rivalry brewing with Claire Ramsay. I think Meta's absence was explained as her being in Nova Scotia, but I don't remember if she was visiting Trudy. I do know that Mike Bauer was referenced in May, 2004. When Michelle was shipped out of town by Danny at the time of the warehouse explosion story, Michelle and Robbie went to D.C. to visit Mike as they had just written out Ed Bauer around the same time.

Let's add to the Helen Wagner as Trudy mystery... I located this radio interview transcript with Wagner from 1994. where she speaks about her time on "Guiding Light." She says she was on twice between when "The World of Mr. Sweeney" was cancelled and when "As the World Turns" began, but the role sounds more like a dayplayer nurse. She does, however, also repeatedly state that she was on "Sweeney" for five years, when it was probably more like a year or so. https://www.peteranthonyholder.com/Archives/2016/atwt-n.htm

@slick jones Thanks for sharing. I think any early information about casting on the soaps needs to be called into questioned and examined. Clearly, we've been told for years that Helen Wagner was in the original television cast of the series, when this is clearly not true. The ninth television broadcast episode is there and it is clearly not Wagner. The picture isn't clear, but there seems to be a familiar close resemblance between Anne Marie Gayer (who is credited as playing Trudy Bauer in 1951) and the actress playing Trudy in the TV episode. For Trudy's casting, this is what I have: Gloria Grant (at least 1948) Laurette Fillbrandt (at least late 1948) [Fillbrandt suceeded Gloria Grant in the role] Mary Patton (c. January 1950) Anne Marie Gayer (1951, 1952) I don't doubt Holland played the role, but I haven't seen her listed in the newspapers. She was definitely in the cast in June, 1951, but the way the shows reuse actors is wild. The radio casts change all the time. re: Joey Roberts I found a picture in the paper from November, 1952 of Tarry Green as Joey. The character is described as a 16 year old. Green looks younger. There was also a picture of the Roberts clan from February, 1953, as they prepare to send Joey off to military school. I find it hard to believe that nearly 32 year old Richard Holland is subbing as Joey and then they bring back Tarry Green. I suspect Holland either subbed on radio or was brought back to town when Joe Roberts died as a slightly older Joey. Either way, I suspect Tarry Green departs as Joey in the February, 1953, episode. He isn't mentioned much in the multiple 1953 episodes that are available online. re: Gloria and Bruce Bruce is in the story as early as November 1951. I found an episode teaser stating that Joe has called Meta in New York to come back to Los Angeles, but Meta is intrigued by Bruce, a sophisticated doctor. Similarly, it would seem, based on the available story summaries, that Gloria was also around in 1951 as Gloria and Bill's initial emotional affair proceeds Gloria's TV career which is happening in 1952.

Patrick and Kimberly returned to New York on the same flight I believe. Patrick saved Kim's daughter, Arley, who had been ill. Siobhan was there around the same time as she returns in the St. Patrick's Day episode that year. It technically is like a three week period. I think Kim leaves for New York at the end of the first week of March. The second week, Pat treats Arley on the plane. The third week Siobhan returns home.

Potential mystery solved regarding the July 10, 1952 episode. A newspaper article from July 1, 1952 lists the original TV cast of "Guiding Light" as: Jone Allison as Meta, Herb Nelson (as Joe Roberts), Susan Douglas (as Kathy Roberts), Lyle Sudrow (as Bill Bauer), Charita Bauer (as Bertha Bauer), Theo Goetz (as Papa Bauer), Anne Marie Gayer, Bill Redfield, Ed Prentiss (as Richard Grant), Alice Yourman (as Laura Grant), Florine Seres, Santos Ortega, Anne Burr (as Gloria LaRue), and Phil Sterling (as Sid Harper). Some of this is easy to identify and I added in the names. It would seem that Anne Marie Gayer is the actress playing Trudy. https://www.gettyimages.co.nz/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-cbs-radio-actress-anne-marie-gayer-she-performs-news-photo/1163382053 Soap Central has Anne Burr and Phil Sterling appearing later in the year as Gloria and Sid, but it seems safe to say they are there at the beginning as Meta says she is going to see them. I also have a late August, 1952, episode description that says that Sid is excited about Alice Graham so Sid sticks around and we know that Gloria's infatuation with Bill Bauer seems to be receding by January, 1953, so I imagine Sid and Gloria return with Meta or shortly after. Ed Prentiss and Alice Yourman are seen in the 1953 episodes as Richard and Laura Grant so I imagine they are here, but I just don't know what there story would be. The bigger guessing game is the remaining actors: Florine Seres, Bill Redfield, and Santos Ortega. I'm gonna wager a guess that Florine Seres may be Alice. Similarly, I'd venture a guess that Bill Redfield is the actor playing Bob Lang as it is established during the trial that Bob and Kathy married around Labor Day. Despite what it is said online, Dick Grant does not seem to be present. I thought Redfield might be playing Dick, but I found an November, 1953, article describing the episode in which Kathy told Dick about Bob Lang being Robin's father and Kathy states she hadn't heard from Dick in six months when she married Bob. My only other guess is Redfield is Joey Roberts. I'm wondering if Santos Ortega is playing Dr. Bruce Banning, who would have appeared in the episode prior to the one that is online. If not Bruce, maybe the editor at the City Times John "Mac" McIntyre, who I think is referenced in the 1953 episodes online by Joe at one point.

Lisa Ann Walter's comments are interesting regarding soaps during the strike. I don't remember the exact timeline, but she was involved with "Watch Over Me," an English language telenovela that aired on MyNetworkTV after the WB and UPN folded into the CW leaving stations without affiliation. MyNetworkTV claimed their writers were translators and hired non-union workers. The WGA did get involved and the writers did get the proper recognition, as they were doing much more than just translating scripts from one language to another. Besides the incredibly low ratings, the telenovelas became less cost effective because of the unionization of the writers. I just don't know if this had occurred by the time "Watch Over Me" was in production. I don't remember there being any real press about the writers' labor issue until after it was settled, though I remember following the blog of one of the actors/writers who worked on the show and the implication was that they would get whoever they could get to "translate" scripts so that they could keep the costs low.

@Sapounopera There are probably more detailed responses in this thread from around 2019/2020 when @EricMontreal22 first discovered the bible. Actually, you commented on some of them I believe. It's been a while, but I will share what I recall. The story was originally set in a town called Carthage. The bible is written with three sections in mind: (1) the Jack & Lily romance with the Slater family secrets, (2) the affair between Roger and Merrill, and (3) Mike's struggles to cope with the events that occured in Vietnam. There is a character list towards the beginning that includes Jake Vochek (the father of Merrill, Noreen, and Jim as well as Patrick Donovan's army buddy/childhood friend) and Jeff Turner (the son of psychiatrist Dr. Ron Turner and Jack Forbes' best friend). Gwyneth and Clayton Alden are included in the list with a note that they would appear in Year 2. The bible itself covers story starting with the first daytime episode and going through the cliffhanger before the August, 1984, Olympics. The Slater family section spent a significant amount of time describing the backstory of Garth and June's marriage including the fact that Garth had knocked June up and had to marry her, only for her to miscarry the child. June later gave birth to a stillborn son after Lily I believe which led to severe depression and alcoholism. Garth had felt that June had stunted his career advancement. There was also a significant amount of space devoted to research on incest that Nixon had done. The research section reads like a pitch to sell the incest story, but also to provide ways to tell the story without a sexual aspect if necessary. Nixon outlines how incest can just be an inappropriate relationship between a parent and a child, which to me suggests that this research may have been done when she was planning the initial Nina and Palmer Cortlandt story. Jack and Lily's romance was slightly different than what played out onscreen. Lily's multiple personalities were not a story element in the bible, which meant that there was no romance between Lily and Curtis. Jack and Lily were to go on the run for a significant amount of time and build a life together in their new location. They did a much more abbreviated version of this with Jack and Lily running off together shortly before Garth's murder. Jack was still adopted. His mother was still a friend of Ann's from college, but there was no reference to who Jack's father was. There was animosity between Lorna and Jack as Lorna felt Jack was an outsider. Lorna was originally set to become involved with Jeff Turner in an interracial story that was just going to be about two young people falling in love without consideration of race. There was also a hint that Lorna would one day be drawn to Doug Donovan, but this was never completely sketched out. Stacey is mentioned as Lily's friend and pseudo romantic rival. There is a suggestion that Stacey might be manipulative in trying to gain Jack for herself, but that she would probably end up with Curtis for a bit as well. Stacey wasn't mentioned much, but I believe that she and Lily were suppose to be recent high school graduates. When Jack went on trial, June was going to go into a catatonic state of some sort and when she was at a sanitarium, Merrill Vochek would visit her. On the Friday before the Olympics, June was suppose to remember what happened the night of Garth's murder leaving the audience waiting until the Olympics were over in order to stay tuned. In the second major story, there was a very vague outline of what the story between Roger and Merrill was suppose to be about. The description of their emotional state was the main thrust and their motivations for the affair. Merrill was suppose to be someone who was deeply disturbed by her mother's untimely death during childbirth with her or another baby that didn't live; I seem to recall there being a bizarre number of miscarriages mentioned in the bible. Anyway, due to this, Merrill feared chidbirth. She was more career driven than romance driven. The implication, as I recall, was that she and Doug had been together a long time and that was what was expected of them, where as her relationship with Roger was more about lust. Merrill and Roger were not endgame. Roger was suppose to be a step in her romantic journey. Doug was deeply underdeveloped. All I recall is that there was a reference to a scene that was going to occur in the classroom where Doug basically admitted how joyful he was because he was getting married. Of course, he wouldn't get married. Ann was mentioned on a handful of occassions, and nothing to give a sense she was anything other than an obstacle in Merrill and Roger's romance. In the end, though, the larger obstacle would have been Merrill's resistance to commit to any man. Jim is presented as a moral compass for Merrill which she may or may not listen to. Roger's political motivations are discussed. Again, nothing to suggest any major plot movement, which is why I think Nixon needed to write the first year. I imagine it was only underdeveloped on paper and not in her own head, but maybe I'm being too generous. Lorna was also a thorn in Merrill and Roger's romance, which I think played out a little bit on screen, but not as much as I felt was written about in the bible. In the final story, Mike's Vietnam flashbacks were discussed. The 4th of July Speech was discussed, but I think in one of the few mentions in the bible, Jake Vochek was the one to present the award to his best friend's son. Mike refused to see Dr. Turner, a fellow Vietnam vet, and ended up involved in the police force where he was paired with an African American partner, who's name I don't recall, who would have also been a Vietnam vet. This partner on the force never materialized onscreen. Instead, the character may have been the basis for Mike's buddy Gage, who died in Vietnam and haunted Mike in the his memories. Similarly, Jeff Turner, Lorna's beau and Jack's buddy, became Tony Perrilli. Rita Mae was suppose to befriend Noreen and start sleeping with Mike. She was also going to carry on bit with Curtis Alden. There was a bit of a triangle among the three of them which escalated into a violent confrontation and would later be fueled by Patrick Donovan's death. Patrick was suppose to chase down the local campus drug dealers and die of a heart attack. This was going to haunt Mike as he was supposed to be on duty that night, but wasn't (he may have even been carrying on with Rita Mae). Billy was sort of a non-figure as he was impotent and refused to acknowledge the issue, from what I remember.

I think the college campus was an interesting location, but Nixon never intended it to be a big thing. She specifically states in the bible that she doesn't plan on focusing on stories set on the campus and that it was merely a backdrop. She basically stays true to this mantra when she returns to helm the writing staff in September, 1993, and pretty swiftly has Casey and Steffi drop out of college to pursue careers and has Cooper contemplate leaving in January, 1994. She also dropped, without any resolution as I recall, the story with Ava Rescott going back to school and taking one of Jeremy's courses. Whether or not Marland wanted to utilize the campus more is unknown, but, based on the scripts I have for "A New Day in Eden," it seems unlikely. Marland saw a college town as reason to have a lot of young people around, which logistically makes sense. Even in 1983, they could have utilized the college better. I think there was a way of telling the AIDS storyline in a meaningful way by developing a relationship between Noreen and the doctor in charge of the research, while the doctor faces opposition from the AU's conservative board of trustees who don't want their contributions used to fund research for something they deem a gay issue. Of course, I think the fight would be more meaningful if Doug Donovan was a closet case who felt compelled to out himself in a speech similar to Mike's Fourth of July monologue where Doug can no longer remain silent about the issues facing a community he has fought hard to remain on the fringe of. Of course, I'd also suggest that Curtis Alden, the product of Clay and Gwyn's open marriage and laizee faire parenting, would fear that he would have been exposed to the virus during his days as a European playboy when Curtis' "buddy" comes to town to admit that he is dying of the disease and Curtis should get tested. Of course, Isabelle would let Curtis' friend stay with them while he died after verbally attacking Cabot for manipulating the board into trying to cut the funding reminding Isabelle of her own brother who ended his life because of the shame he felt about his feeling for other men. I'm not sure ABC daytime (and more than likely not their audience) would be able to handle that story in 1983-1984. I prefer what Marland was able to accomplish in his final six months or so with the show. The last big revamp in December, 1984, really put the show in a good position. Trisha and Steve's story with Cece Thompson seems to be a variation on Marland's "Guiding Light" tales about teenage girls wanting older guys with the underage vixen seducing the older guy and him landing in prison for it. Though, I don't think Steve actually lands in prison until Nixon takes over again so maybe it wasn't as much Marland. I think Lorna and Linc were a good pairing. I thought Dane as Ava's silent benefactor in her scheme to land Jack was interesting. Ava's baby switch provided a bit of story. I think Dane and Ann's marriage was a great source of conflict for the Aldens. I think the show was in a decent place when Marland left, but it was his type of canvas, not Nixon's. With all that said, Nixon should have been the headwriter in year one to establish the tone, the characters, and the types of stories she wanted to tell. The bible left a lot of characters significantly underdeveloped which is why characters like Rita Mae, who was developed, end up falling by the wayside. Ann Forbes basically assumes the role of several characters by taking up with Mike Donovan and also developing a drinking problem (which was originally slated for Gwyneth when she arrived in Year 2 with Clay). There is almost nothing about Ann in the bible as she is merely a complication to Merrill and Roger's happiness, but even Roger and Merrill were never intended to be end game. Roger was suppose to just be one of the many unavailable men that Merrill would find herself drawn to because she was afraid of suffering her mother's fate of dying in childbirth.

There was a masquerade ball in October, 1992, at the time of the crossover with "All My Children." I struggle watching 1992, but I'll try to see if I can find that. I feel for Atwood as she wasn't really given a fair shake. The college revamp is hailed as a success because of the eventual quad of Ally / Cooper / Steffi / Casey, but the early stages had a lot of growing pains. Both Atwood and Roger Howarth played fairly underdeveloped characters and even the core players in the story (Ally / Cooper) went through a bunch of shifts in characterization throughout 1992. It would have been very hard to find the place for the supporting players when they could barely figure out what to do with the charactes tied to the canvas in bigger ways. Atwood may have quit in November, 1992, but the character wasn't on contract beyond the initial 13-week contract cycle. After the Casablanca Dance, Howarth's Kent is shipped back to Michigan after Cooper planted the drugs on Kent that Kent had planted on him. Without Kent, Staige was more aimless and she was released from her contract, according to the credits. She appeared on a recurring basis for a bit and did receive an on-air write off so it doesn't surprise me that Atwood left the role. Towards the end of her run, I think they were trying to develop a romance between mellowing rich bitch Staige and Trucker's nerdy assistant at the garage Arthur. In December, 1992, Cooper starts sleeping with Mia, a co-ed at Alden U who has dark hair and is sorta bitchy. I think this was mostly likely when they planned on bringing Staige back. Guza/Taggart took over a month later and immediately introduced Steffi into the story and Steffi, in many ways, was a more succesful version of Staige. Like Staige, Steffi's family was once rich and had lost their money; this was the reason that Staige left Corinth as her family could no longer afford tuition. Also, Steffi was involved with Arthur except Steffi was encouraging Arthur to pursue a very married Trisha McKenzie. Furthermore, it seems that Taggart and Guza came in and kept the entire cast from what I recall. Even Armand Rosario who had almost no story was retained on contract so I could see Staige being utilized based on this pattern. I can't see the show wanting to bring her back beyond that point because Staige was a prototype for the more developed Steffi Brewster. It would have been unnecessary given Staige's limited time and connection to the canvas.

Marland doesn't seem to get the Bristows. They definitely were more in flavor with what Nixon would cook up. I don't think Marland nixed the impotence storyline; I suspect that was ABC. I could be wrong though. Nixon's original intentions outlined in the bible seemy less hokey than the type of characters she typically would write like Opal Gardner. What I outlined is from Nixon's original bible. A lot of the more interesting elements never made it on screen and that's why I suspect there was network interference. Lorna's interracial marriage. Billy's impotence. I think Nixon suspected there would be interference because the Lily Slater storyline is presented in a way that if ABC wasn't comfortable with sexual incest that emotional incest could lead to similar results. I imagine that concessions made have had to be made and Nixon choose the incest angle because it was a story she may have intended for Palmer and Nina, but was never allowed to tell. The incest story gets a significant amount of space in the bible including research on the subject. Marland's biggest influence on Corinth that went against the grain of Nixon's view was the corporate landscape. All of the Alden Enterprises wheeling and dealing is slowly dropped over the course of about six to eight months. Similarly, the corporate element of Shana and Leo is dropped in late 1993 when Nixon takes over from Guza/Taggart.

I was sorry to hear about this. Blair had a pretty thankless role on "Loving." The character was originally developed to play a much larger role on the show as she was engaging in an affair with both Mike Donovan and Curtis Alden, which seemed more Rita Mae driven in the bible. The multiple affairs lead to a Mike-Curtis animosity that was going to build into Mike blaming Curtis for what Mike perceived was his role in Patrick Donovan's death (Patrick was going to have a heart attack while chasing the campus drug pushers and Mike would suspect Curtis was tied to the drug ring). Furthermore, Rita Mae's motivation for her lust was that Billy Bristow was suppose to be impotent. None of this really plays out so Rita Mae in the end appears as sort of a comic figure. Marland did some nice work with Rita Mae after the divorce when she hooked up with Tony Perilli. In what I've seen, Tony/Rita Mae are a B-/C-story but there is a sort of gentle simplicity to their romance with the twist that Rita Mae is the older individual with a younger guy. Marland and Blair I think left around the same time towards the show's second anniversary. My guess is that it was more likely outside commitments. Dennis Parlato announced prior to the serial killer story of his intentions to leave the show to focus on theatre and film commitments. Parlato was involved in the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in late June and had previously been involved in a play called "Jack's Holiday" with Nicholas Coster and Judith Blazer from February-March 1995. I don't think it was a PTO issue for him at least. With Heinle, I don't know. Michael Weatherly went to Florida to film a pilot for a nighttime soap "Pier 66" that didn't get picked up in March-April and their child was born about nine months later so I wonder if Heinle didn't just ask for time off to be with Michael in Florida. Though that might be a little late, so I don't know exactly when these episodes would have been filmed. Buck's role in Trisha's death is neither explored nor revealed, is it? I mean it's pretty clear that Taggart was laying the groundwork for Trisha's eventual return and maybe that reveal would have come then. I don't know. I think a Buck-Trisha romance would have made sense. I never considered that they probably shoehorned in Buck's role, but you are probably right though I think the plan was going to be Buck and Tess breaking up Trisha and Buck's marriage. I think Tess was going to get whatever story that Taggart had planned for Dinahlee in 1991 that never got used because of her departure from the show. Mark Valley is my dream casting for Jack Forbes at any point in time lol

Meg Mundy wanted more money than ABC was offering. As I think I've said before, I suspect Taggart and Guza submitted their story bible before it was public knowledge that Noelle Beck was leaving the show. As such, I believe the original plan was for a bigger takeover storyline with Curtis and Trisha vs. Clay like started onscreen but didn't go anywhere because Trisha "died." How that would have been impacted the trajectory of the paternity tale, who knows? I don't think Patrick Johnson or Michael Lord would have fared much better in those stories. Personally, I would have switched Johnson and Brown and made Johnson Buck and Phillip Brown Curtis. Brown's drawl probably wouldn't have worked for the character, but I think Brown would have handled a character like Curtis much better than the other two. Holm is generous. It was pretty blatant where they were going the minute Addie Walsh stepped in. The flashbacks between Cabot and Isabelle, which had been sentimental and loving, ended with Cabot's ghost reminding Isabelle "of that terrible thing you did!" The transition from Munisteri to Walsh is very clear. There is an immediate shift in tone and texture of the canvas. Walsh's Corinth is more soap by numbers where as Munisteri's Corinth took more risks even if they didn't always pay off. With that said, there was always something about the Tides (or "the Bogs" as Holm's Isabelle called it). Even when it was mentioned early on, Isabelle's hatred for the place was well known. I have seen times where writers have mimicked plots coincidentally (Marland writing the incestuous relationship between Emmett and Cynthia Claybourne around the same time Nixon was penning the Garth and Lily Slater story in her bible for "Loving"). Maybe Munisteri would have told the same story, but I think it was initially appeared it was heading in the direction of Cabot having a mistress tied to the Tides. It was Cabot's infidelity which kept coming up. Haidee Granger seemed pretty much loathed by the cast. I've seen Paul Anthony Stewart say positive things, but all the men in the "Men of Loving" reunion who had worked for Granger weren't super impressed. She was out fairly soon after Nixon returns as Nixon is back in September and Granger is out by the end of October.

I don't think it was smart to revisit the books on the mothership. I preface this by saying I have never thought much of Ron Carvilati's work. He seems to have good intentions, but that's the way you pave the road to hell. It would have been smarter to just pretend that the books were actual books that Lucy and Kevin had collaborated on after the success of "General Homicide." I also was rereading some of the biographies and I forgot how truly bad those last few books got. There was some abandoned (I believe it was abandoned) storyline about the search for Alison's half-sibling that at one point led to Alison and Rafe thinking they were brother and sister. Ugh. Of course, this reminded me that it seemed they were setting up one of the band members, the British girl Reese, as Alison's half-sister before they decided to jump ship on that story. Also, wasn't Amanda Barrington a vampire by the end? Also, does anyone remember how far the "Port Charles" rerun of the early years got? When SoapNet launched, they were showing I think 2 episodes in the early morning (7am to 8am at one point). I remember catching some when I was in high school. They aired on a weird schedule though like 2 back to back episodes but only one new episode a day and possibly even repeating the Friday episodes on Monday or something odd like that. From what's online, it appears it was through at least the early General Homicide murders. I cannot imagine it got much farther than that.

Dabney is definitely more of a traditional matriarch figure. Celeste Holms is definitely more calculated under Mary Ryan Munisteri and Addie Walsh, though there are slight differences. Munisteri wrote Isabelle as having a skill set that served her well in the boardroom with her knowledge of people and using her associations to gather intel. Walsh's Isabelle has her own motivation: securing a legacy for Clay. The difference makes Isabelle less compelling, at least in its execution. This bleeds into some of Pat Barry's work. I think Taggart and Guza leaned intot he social snobbery, which Walsh started to real develop towards the end (and maybe earlier as 1992 is not my favorite year). It is hard to take Pat Barry's Isabelle as a serious threat. Nixon basically backburners Barry's Isabelle before writing her out. I think Mundy would have handled the transition from warm and loving to schemer much more effectively. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like if Pat Barry's Isabelle played the final scenes with Cabot on the night of their anniversary. It's not a pretty image. Celeste Holms' Isabelle would have been fine in that, but there would be added poignancy given that Wesley Addy would be dead in about six months. The Clay paternity story reads like the plot Walsh cooked up for Bradley Cole and one of the French characters on "Riviera," which Walsh had written for directly before heading over to "Loving." I think it was damaging to the show's canvas, even moreso than the serial killer. It was an unnecessary move that rarely resulted in much drama. Munisteri's Isabelle became a bitch; Walsh's Isabelle had now secretly been one for years. That's probably my biggest issue with the story. Isabelle's fling wasn't a crime, but her determination to see that Clay was in the CEO seat at Alden Enterprises seemed her ultimate long goal and made her love for Cabot even less real. I've considered Celeste Holms as Cabot's sister-in-law, Cooper's grandmother, and Larkin Malloy as Tyler Alden. Unfortunately, I don't think the best way to beef up the family would have been by adding a new branch, but ultimately that's what happens with nuClay and nuIsabelle and Cooper. Elizabeth Lawrence is an interesting choice. This got me thinking about "Road of Life" and now I'm wondering if Lesley Woods could have managed to balance the warm matriarch and the meddlesome mother that Isabelle Alden becomes. Structurally, so much of "The City" is ineffective because the connections are very narrow. I've been watching some of "The City" sporagically starting in April, 1996, and now in early June. The Richard-Zoey story is intriguing, but it requires the knowledge of so much backstory that is being established as the story is developing. Sydney and Nick's past affair, the combative marriage of Sydney and Jared, Richard's adoption, Nick's alcoholisma and fading career, and Zoe's mother's relationship with Nick. While I applaud the layers, at times it is hard to connect because so much is told to us rather than shown. I don't think Richard is a bad character per se, but his personality can be limiting in a sense because he's not super friendly so his world is small. I think it might have helped if Frankie was more involved with Hotline or whatever Richard's show is called. Zoey has the relationship with Angie, but that doesn't seem to be used very much at least at this stage of the story. Richard might have worked more effectively with a New York crowd similar to the cast of "Central Park West" rather than the transplants. A bitchy ex-girlfriend who found Zoey comical and a non-threat to her on-again/off-again friends with benefits relationship with Richard. Or a professional frienemy who picked up on the connection between Zoey and Richard and wanted to utilize it to move his own career along. Or maybe an older woman, or older gay man, patron who had been supporting Richard during the times Sydney cut him off. Not necessarily contract players, but enough of a world that would make Zoey uncomfortable and feel out of place.

Raines or Walker was originally Faye's maiden name. Nicole was a social climber so I think she might have changed her name to distance herself from her working class roots. Original Taylor was a cleaning lady in the building where Eric Brady was handling all his photography. I believe Sally Sussman Morina created Taylor and Nicole, while Fay, Brandon, and Paul came later under Tom Langan, but I might be wrong on some of that.

I have copies of the scripts. It wasn't very good from what I recall. I only got as far as about episode 5 when I stopped. At the point they wrote out the gay couple, only to replace them with a straight woman, I was pretty much over the only unique element of the show. There were few witty lines from what I recall and that plot was twisty enough to be that sort of show. They basically hoped Genie Francis' name would carry the show. I think there was one unfilmed or unaired episode, but I believe that too was also a cliffhanger.

I would like to know how Augusta Dabney felt playing Isabelle when she returned in 1994. Both she and the writers tried to find a common ground between the comforting matriarch she originally played and the meddling manipulator that had developed in her absence. I felt a little bad watching Clay being cruel to Dabney's Isabelle over the Tim Sullivan stuff because she hadn't gotten to play any of that story. I'd also have loved to seen what would have happened with the character if Meg Mundy had stayed with the show.

Thanks for this. It's interesting to see that the special did go up almost a full point, but that it really didn't convince anyone to keep watching back in the 12:30 slot. I had only started watching in the summer of 2000 because I had SoapNet. The first stories I remember were Cedric holding Alison hostage and Jamal trying to save her and Livvie trying to track down her father by locating Rachel's ex-husband, Joshua Locke. I think Karen Harris set up the younger set fairly well, but wasn't really there long enough to define Jack in a meaningful way. Jamal and Alison were great. It was a shame what was done to them. I watched some of the arcs sporadically. I thought the honor killing story with Arianna Shapoor was intriguing even if Opal Anchel wasn't the strongest actress in the world. I remember "Time in the Bottle" seemed like a ripoff of a popular movie at the time where a guy spoke to his father across time using a radio. I liked Eve being pregnant and seeking counsel from Fr. Michael and Chris agreeing to step up and claim Eve's baby as her own because Ian was remaining with Arianna for immigration reasons. Once the meat of "Tainted Love" began I didn't really like that too much. Wasn't there an attempt to do "I Know What You Did Last Summer" with Jack dying and the other three keeping secret? I don't think I watched any of "Tempted." "Miracles Happen" was a very nice holiday story from what I recall, but I hated that it basically was the end of Alison and Jamal. I couldn't follow it much later because it was so insane. I tried. I think I saw Elizabeth Barrington's first few episodes, but that didn't look that was doing anywhere. I remember the blood bar now that you mention it. The originals were definitely wasted. Once Eve died and Ian and Lucy became a thing, Kevin was basically a dayplayer. Chris never seemed to have much story. I thought he might have dated Shannon Sturges' Kate the lawyer character, but wiki says that she was with Ian. Frank and Karen were supporting after "Time in the Bottle." Was Karen a vampire before she died? I thought her death was underwhelming as it was occuring just as ABC announced the cancellation (granted it would have been filmed much earlier). Everyone became a vampire basically. Again, I tried "The Gift" but all I recall is Alison and Rafe opening a gym and wasn't there some sort of Monkey's Paw like ring that caused chaos like Alison sleeping with Caleb. It's funny because I've always been curious about "The Doctors" final year where they dabbled in things like plagues and aging serums, but this all just didn't play well.

@robbwolff That's how I remember it. It was the start of one of the books. The concluding episode of the last arc aired in the 12:30 slot, I think, and the hour long episode during the 2:00pm slot. I don't remember the hard numbers, but I think there was a bump for the episode in the 2:00pm slot though not that much. I liked "Secrets," the arc with the angels, because it was self-contained for the most part. The story ended with the three returning to heaven with Eve in the fourth chair. I thought it was effective in that way. I remember trying to stick with it through "Superstition," but that arc was just very slow and silly. Something about Rebecca Barrington ( played by Vanessa Branch) making candles in the past and being accused of witchcraft with Alison doing the same thing in the present. I feel like by the time "Torn" was over the show was just a vampire soap opera. I remember trying to watch "The Gift" because ABC announced the cancellation in May or June 2003 so I wanted to see the end. It was also very bad. Rafe and Alison were opening a gym. I think Chris was messing around with a cop in a C-story. I didn't blame Kiko Ellsworth saying even if the show had continued he had no intention of renewing his contract. The stuff with Imani the werewolf was not super engaging either from what I recall.

Still in 1998 and stumbled upon something that maybe everyone else knew, but I didn't. Chris invites Eve, Matt, and Grace to a dinner party with the intention of gathering information on Matt to ruin competition for the Quartermaine Fellowship. When asking the room about their family, Grace states that most of her family is still in China. I was bit surprised. I went looking into Lisa Lord, the actress playing Grace Sullivan, and saw that she was married to Mark Teschner. She is also the daughter of Winston Lord, a politician, and Bette Bao Lord, a Chinese American writer. Given the limited number of Asian Americans characters in the history of daytime, it's a shame that this wasn't given a little more attention at the time it was going on.

The writing staff, or maybe Wendy Riche, was really big on referencing the history of "General Hospital" on "Port Charles." During the January, 1998, episodes, Scott is on trial as Rex has set him up as having faked Serena's kidnapping to get his hands on her trustfund. When Lucy throws Scott under the bus in order to keep Rex under the impression she's on Rex's side, Lee is quick to say in open court that Lucy was previously found guilty of perjury during the O'Connor murder trial as a part of Lucy's opening story. An episode or so later when Scott's on the stand, he claims he would never use Serena's trust, but the prosecutor is quick to remind him how he had no issue utilizing Jason Quartermaine's trust in the past. I know the DV story really goes against the established history, but it seems like such a low hanging fruit. Lee was always the only father Scott knew and this didn't change it. If anything, it was stupid to dump the character as quickly as they did, but his stories were so over the top, I'm not sure how the character would have been able to function in Karen Harris' "Port Charles" a year later. Also, it's worth noting that the DV reveal is all happening the week Lynn Latham works ends and Scott Hammer work starts. In my skimming to find the scene, I ran across some scenes from earlier in the week from Mary Scanlon's bridal shower which features a rather brutal reference to Karen's past as a stripper when it comes up and Mary bluntly places the blame on Karen's shoulders.

Scotty asks Noel Clinton about Meg and Lloyd Bentley. The week starts with Scott and Victor discussing a picture Scott found of his mother in DV's apartment. There is follow up on Wednesday. This episode is Friday.

The "Port Charles" wiki looks right for the headwriters. 2000 is a mess. Scott Hamner finishes off his run in January/February. No headwriter listed in February. Harris and Jonathan Estrin for a few weeks, then Harris solo for a few weeks, and finally Harris and Bloom. About a month before the books, Brown and Essensten take over in early November. I don't think the show ever truly had a shot given its timeslot, but I am curious how the ratings would have looked if Harris took over a year earlier pre-SoapNet. I remember there being online buzz for 2000, but I'm curious if the numbers weren't reflective due to the advent of SoapNet. Then again, VCRs had already messed with the numbers for years. Rachel came in July, 1999, according to IMDb. Scott Hammer would have been in charge for a few months at that point. Hammer's stuff seems very disjointed and abrupt. Ellen's disappearance. Eve's dead child by DV. It's all very bizarre from the little I've seen. DV was brought in at the tailend of Lynn Latham. I think Scott's paternity is done in the crossover time, but I could be wrong. The show dug up Noel Clinton, the man that was in love with Meg but married Brooke, to confirm that yes, Meg had slept with DV back in the day. In theory, I get the point of DV and the paternity reveal. They were trying to build a longterm villain, and having the lawyer as the son of the criminal businessman makes sense, it was just so poorly done. Pre-Arcs, the strongest longterm antagonists seem to be women (Rachel/Courtney) rather than some of the men (DV/Rex). Who knows what Hammer's plan was for Rachel and Ellen if he even had one. Having recently watched some of the Scotty / Lucy / Dominique / Serena story from 1993, the stuff in early "Port Charles" is more meaningful. Without that background knowledge, it just doesn't stick because there just isn't an emotional attachment built onscreen in 1997. When I watch the Cullitons work on "Port Charles," I feel like I'm watching edits of a show, rather than an entire show. I think that's a problem I'm seeing under Latham as well. Riche was good with the hour long format at providing a dose of romance, comedy, family drama, hospital politics, and friendship. On "General Hospital," a lot of time those played out in different stories. On "Port Charles," there wasn't the time for that. There needed to be overlap and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'm still in January, 1998, and Karen and Joe are trying to consummate their relationship now that Karen is divorced. Lots of comedy of errors with getting locked on the roof in a snowstorm, a fire starting in Karen's apartment, being called in to work repeatedly. There is a brief discussion on Karen's part about making sure that they use condoms and how Joe wasn't prepared last time, but was this time. It's an attempt to do a little of it all, but I just still cannot completely commit to it. The strongest potential comes out of the Lark story for Karen and Joe, each being forced to revisit their childhood, but it hasn't gone there yet. Lark is also just super bitchy almost like a combination of early Brenda, but with Karen's backstory. I think Lark is dumped during Scott Hammer's run and I'm not sure what happens. The character is recast I believe. Rhonda does appear during "Time in a Bottle." I just think Rhonda would have been pushing Karen at Chris Ramsay, who pretends to be more well off than he is, which would cause some tension for Karen/Joe. Especially since Rhonda would be sure to throw it back at Karen that she told her that Jagger was a mistake. Neil's leukemia was the kind of story "General Hospital" did well so I'm curious to see how it will play out on "Port Charles." I watched a bit of March, 2000 (maybe a week) and I thought the setup was good. Neil was in the hospital during the Nurses' Strike while Joe was also up for termination for some action he took in treating Neil. There's a lot of potent family drama here. How did Mary feel about the strike given the impact it had on her grandson? Is Joe ever gonna get over feeling fatherly to Neil? One of the nurses crosses the picket line to sneak Serena in to see Neil with Rachel being a royal PITA about Nurse Katie being in the hospital accusing her of sabotage. I believe Neil and Courtney leave as Harris is out the door and B&E come in. Michael Dietz is probably the best of the Joes, but I think they could have found someone more dynamic. Dietz's Joe is a hothead with a mouth whereas David Gail's Joe seems more brooding and a physical hothead. Alex Mendoza is the last one, I think. By that point, the show has pretty much given up on Joe. To be fair, Joe's function on the canvas is pretty much absorbed by Ian Thornhart. Plus with Joe's HIV status up in the air, they weren't going to do much with Joe storywise, even though they could have.

Recently, I've been watching the early years of Wendy Riche's "General Hospital" run and I was curious about how I would feel about early "Port Charles." I've seen the early months before so I jumped into January 1998. There are definitely things that remind me of what I've seen in early Riche pre-Labine "General Hospital." Continuing the Scott/Lucy/Dominique story with Rex Stanton is intriguing, but it lacks the heart of the original tale. I appreciate the friendship between Scott and Lucy and Scott and Kevin, but it lacks the depth of emotion that was explored when Dominique was dying. Also, I feel like Lucy's motivation should be questioned more. If Lucy is with Rex and Rex has Serena, Lucy has the opportunity to be with Serena. That's an intriguing scenario with mixed motivations, but that doesn't seem to be what's developing. Similarly, continuing the story of Karen Wexler after watching her strive to be a doctor in her teen years was nice to see. I wish that Rhonda was around, but I do like her relationship with Scott. I also appreciate the attempt to retell a bit of the original Karen story with Lark Madison. I wish they had developed that a little longer. I feel like we meet Suzanne Madison and the story wraps up quickly. It might have been nice to introduce a boyfriend for Lark as a red herring and then it turns out it was Suzanne who had gone off her meds possibly with Kevin being involved. I think the strongest emotional material is Ellen recounting her marriage to Sam Burgess, his dream of becoming a lawyer, and his death of a cerebral hemorhage after marrying Ellen. Ellen's mother and brother are on the scene because Alice Morgan has a heart condition. I don't think they end up doing anything with the mother or the brother outside this arc, which is a shame since there is a bit of investment there. Meanwhile, the groundwork for the Matt backstory is developing with Matt keeping quiet about his past while Chris digs into his past hoping to discredit him for the Quartermaine Fellowship, which both men are in line for. Chris' father is calling looking for money, but I'm not sure if that really goes anywhere in the long run. I know Chris' brother Jack is introduced years later, but I don't think theres anything in the immediate future. Jake seems to be a deadend now that Danielle is gone. Rib Hillis is an attractive man, but not the most engaging. Julie and Frank are tied up in the Lark story. Joe and Karen are cute, but there is no real meat to the story now that Karen and Jagger are divorced. There was a nice scene with Joe and Frank about whether or not their late father was an alcoholic and how that impacted the family. I'm not sure how long I would stay in this period as I'm not super interested. It just lacks the spark. The hospital setting is utilized well. The action is intriguing, but it's missing stronger characterization. I might stick around though because I'm curious to see the General Homicide story; the third serial killer storyline on ABC daytime in a short period of time. Also, the arrival of Courtney, who seems like a real gem. Matt's mob story is something I've seen bits of but I would like to see how it all plays out. I know 1999 is very bumpy with the psychic espionage/DV Bordisso tale and the arrival of Rachel Locke. 2000 is fairly strong, but I'm not sure if I would appreciate it as much without seeing what comes before.

The way you described Gwyn and Clay is perfect. I've always assumed that this is basically how Gwyn and Clay lived when they were in Paris. Clay and Gwyn both openly carrying on with others while also maintaining some strong feelings between each other, but never able to fully commit to being only with the other person. I thought that would explain why Curtis was the way he was. The approach that Nixon took to the Aldens in the 1993-1994 run is a mixed bag. I think Clay and Cooper fair well. I like Curtis as this pot stirrer struggling with mental illness who would use his mental instability to keep Dinahlee at his side with neither he, nor the audience, knowing where the lie started and the illness took over. I felt like Nixon was setting up Curtis/Stacey in the final weeks of her run, which I would have been here for especially with the inevitable reutrn of Jack. Gwyn's journey is intriguing. Cutting the ties with Clay and working at the agency had some potential, but I don't think removing Gwyn from the Alden orbit for long was going to work. I imagine that Gwyn and Jeremy would have imploded in the fall of 1994 even if the Gilbert story hadn't played out. If Ava took control of AE, I could easily see Gwyn being pulled back into the Alden orbit trying to fight to secure her son's legacy with Jeremy siding with Ava leading to the eventual break up. I also suspect that the original plan for Ava's prediction regarding the death of someone in Corinth was Jeremy.