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Hartford House and Caldwell House were both properties that were operated by Stu and Jo. Hartford House was in the 1970s (starting around 1977) for a few years. I believe it previously belonged to the family of Dr. Greg Hartford, one of Jo's love interests. Greg had impregnated Louise Bergman, Stu's sister, years earlier and she had died before giving birth. So there was some animosity between them. I'm not sure when Hartford House stopped being a thing. Stu is operating the Terrace, a wine bar in the fall of 1981 in the clips we have seen. Caldwell House was introduced in March or April 1985 when Jo, as a part of the city council, was trying to preserve the property due to its historic significance. I believe the bank was trying to buy the property. Later, the show actually introduced the property, and Jo and Stu turned it into lodging. Sarah Whiting stayed there for a bit. So did Mel Hibbard. Suzi and Cagney were living there while Cagney was doing maintenance work before becoming a cop. In November, Sarah Whiting was murdered in the basement. In a separate plot, Hibbard was trying to break through the basement of the Caldwell House to access the bank and steal money.

I find it very interesting that Guza/Taggert and Nixon run back to back because they each have their strengths, and they don't necessarily overlap. With Guza/Taggert, I love Shana/Leo/Ava, but elements of the story are very unappealing. Ava's fanatasies annoy me, to be honest. I also think they were too quick to move Ava out of that orbit, but I think that they might have looped her back in down the road had Guza and Taggert stayed. I find most of the Buck/Tess/Curtis stories incredibly unappealing. Buck's entrance was intriguing, the Curtis/Dinahlee/Clay triangle had potential, and Tess as a scheming AE employee. Those moments were just weighed down by the clunky backstory in Kuwait. I also don't remember Dinahlee having much agency other than dealing with Curtis, which seems on par with where Walsh left her and where Nixon continues to go. Guza and Taggert though had some very strong sexual material which I thought was well done. I think the romp between Cooper and Steffi in the window display was pretty enjoyable. I remember some rather intense moments between Dinahlee and Patrick Johnson's Curtis. The bubble bath, which I believe was posted, where Gwyn joined Buck was also good. There was also a stronger generational feel. I liked that Louie's prostate cancer led to sexual issues and that Louie and Kate got the chance to face them. There balance was different than Nixon's. More story was told at once, but often at warp neck speed. Ava/Leo/Shana basically is told in under six months which is really wild to think about. Ally and Cooper's marriage ends super quick, even if that was the characters intentions, the writers should have dragged that out. Nixon did focus on stories in bursts and the cast wasn't balanced. She also had a huge cast that she probably should have trimmed down. Steffi's journey under Nixon is just an amazing story. I know Amelia Heinle has gone in a different direcction in her acting, but I'm shocked to hear how people don't like her on Y&R given her strong run on "Loving." I like how the show did maintain ties between Steffi and Casey, which is a relationship I really enjoyed even though I don't think I would have wanted them as end game. I hadn't thought about Nixon's approach to Stacey. She definitely is a passive and reactive character rather than being in control of her own story. I wish we saw more of the domestic issues between Stacey and J.J. before jumping into Buck and J.J. I appreciate that towards the end we saw a little more of Stacey's energy when she punched (I think she punched him) Curtis in the face for the Trisha is alive ruse. I don't have a problem with Nixon's approach to Curtis. It's not my favorite, but it isn't until the plane crash that Curtis becomes irredeemable which I think is just after Nixon leaves. Maybe it's before. I think Michael Lord's Curtis was already reverting back to a very Marcantel like Curtis with the scheming. The PTSD element was probably wrong for Curtis, but I enjoy the potential of him manipulating that while also not being able to truly be in control of it. I also may be more forgiving because Tess/Curtis/Dinahlee was such a turn off to me. I didn't care too much about Egypt in general so none of that bothered me. I thought dropping Clay/Gwyn to go Gwyn/Jeremy was stupid. I did enjoy reading your thoughts so thanks for posting.

Marland created "Loving" the way Nixon created "Search for Tomorrow." They were each the first headwriter. Nixon wrote the "Loving" bible. I suspect Dan Wakefield's original creator credit was he was going to be the show's first headwriter. Why Marland's credit was removed I don't know. Given Marland's penchant for spending money, I could definitely see him being bought out of the credit, but truthfully, she might just have removed it.

Eras I think were strong: The Marland Years (June 1983-May 1985, but in particularly December 1984-February 1986): Mostly as @Sapounopera describes, down to earth soap. The constant turnover of those early years is not fun. I think the structure that started to tighten in November/December 1984 with the arrival of Steve and Trisha, Ava's pregnancy becoming a bigger story, Dane and Ann marrying, and the show dropping the Doug/Lotty story. I think Ava's pregnancy lie, Dane's takeover of Alden Enterprises, Tony and Rita Mae's older woman/younger man romance, Lorna's romance with Linc (pre-Zona and Rebekah), and Trisha and Steve's young love affair played very nicely. After Marland, it sort of teeters on until about early 1986 when Dane leaves, Stacey and Jack marry, and Zona ends up dead with Lorna accused of murder. The Jacqueline Babbin Year (late 1990-January 1992): While not purely the time that Babbin was EP, I think what she set in motion in her year came into fruition fairly well by the end of her tenure and through the time Fran Sears worked with Mary Ryan Munisteri. The reconstructuring of the Alden family in spring of 1991 opened up the canvas to new spaces. Reestablishing Patrick and Rose Donovan. Building up the supporting cast. Telling strong umbrella stories like Abril's pregnancy and the Carly/Paul/Ava triangle were very effective. I think the idea of Shana becoming more gray again was appealing (executed poorly) as was the attempt to reintroduce the college campus through the adults. Matt and Ally's sweet romance complicated by the the sexual abuse that Matt's stepfather committed as well as Matt's drug problems that resulted from that were strong material. I think Trucker's affair with Dinahlee was intriguing, but it developed sides of Trisha and Trucker that the audience were uncomfortable without all the necessary nuisance or clearly grounding the motivation in the characters recent tragic loss of two of their children (Benjamin and Tommy). The Guza and Taggert Era (January 1993-September 1993): Guza and Taggert provided a much more layered "Loving" with deeper characterization and stronger plots than had been going on for a while. I don't think the younger set would have taken off if they hadn't introduced Amelia Heinle as Steffi Brewster allowing Ally to transition into a more heroine role. Shana and Leo's romance offered comedy, social issues, and business intrigue. Casey and Ally became a stronger rooting couple. Early Buck and Stacey was a lot of light hearted fun and a rivalry between Stacey and Gwyn was new and interesting. There were weaker plots (whatever was happening with Tess/Buck/Curtis) but it was mostly strong. The Return of Nixon (September 1993-August 1994): Agnes Nixon returned in September 1993 and took the show in a very different direction than Guza and Taggert. Some things worked better, some did not. Shana and Leo's story became narrower and less interesting (Patti's potential developmental delays were the only source of conflict) to the point it was easy to write out Shana and Leo in June 1994. Bringing in Dante Partou gave the Kuwait story some weight and pivoted characters in much more sustainable directions. Nixon made Tess likeable and nasty at the same time. Steffi's eating disorder was well done. Janie Sinclaire had the potential to be the next Erica Kane type. Curtis/Dinahlee/Trucker was fun. The return of Cabot was intriguing. Nixon sets up the revelation that Kate Rescott's father created the formula for the soap that was the basis of the Alden family fortune. It had the potential to be "Loving's" answer to the BeLieF formula on "The Bold and the Beautiful." Pushing Ava into the seat of the head of the Alden empire had the potential to impact the canvas in new and interesting ways for years. The Stacey/Curtis and Trucker/Dinahlee pairings were ripe for ripping apart once Trisha and/or Jack returned from the dead. Casey and Ally had little story and were set to be the next Shana and Leo if Walsh and McCarthy hadn't developed Casey's psychological issues and his coping through drugs.

The conversation in the "Loving/The City" thread made me think about how limiting it was. In theory, I like the idea of Liberty House because the structure itself allows you to play a lot of domestic drama. I wish it just wasn't Liberty House that had survived. It might have been interesting if a class issue was embedded into it. From what I recall, the riverfront area was very working class. This was where Selina McCulla's clinic was and where Ryder and Cruiser had their little home away from home where T.R. crashed. I think it would have been interesting if that Liberty House had been some sort of development with city funds intended to bring in upscale business types who worked at Tourneur and other industries. The owner had perished in the flood and Jo, as a representative of the city council, convinced the new owner to turn it into lower income housing for the working class. Of course, some of the units were already sold so now you have a class, and potential race conflicts if you brought back the McCullas. I think playing that sort of element would have been effective and still allowed you to still have sets like the Sentell home and maybe a couple others. I think a nasty mess with Stephanie/Steve/Martin/Lloyd/Jo/Estelle/Sunny would have been fun. Tomlin set up some really good longterm material in 1983-1984 that was never seen to fruitition. I think there was an attempt at the start of his run to revisit that, but it never completely worked. These were the only two previewed in the article I saw. I believe Jo had never met the owner, but that they had specifically requested she would be the property manager. I remember a second article with someone, maybe it was his successor (Lawrence?) previewing how they would tell short term stories with new characters and if they caught on they would keep them. Hopefully this works: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/128429047/ I think what Tomlin and Lee did in 1983 was incredibly smart as it was a model similar to what had been done by the Corringtons. I do think it needed some tightening. Another revamp of that style with introducing several new character groupings that were connected to the larger structure of the show. I think the Sentells and Kendalls as rivals worked if both families had members. Travis should have come back from the dead at some point probably after Lloyd married Liza and Martin had decided to groom Steve to take over Tourneur Instruments. The McClearys as part of the working class worked, but I would have trimmed it down to Kate and two kids (preferrably Adair and Quinn, but maybe Hogan and Quinn). Marrying Jo and/or Stu off into a family of new characters may have helped. Maybe Stu marries a widow with a son who goes after Patti, but Jo struggles with because the man has a past that might lead to heartbreak for Patti. Of course, this creates tension for Stu's new lady and Jo. I don't think Martin and Jo would be my endgame, but I think as exes who care deeply for one another but understand it isn't healthy to be together would be effective. Eventually, I'd like to see Jo paired with someone more working class because most of her men were always socially mobile. Or maybe a newsreporter who worked for Lloyd Kendall's paper. Someone different than Jo's usual type. The McClearys were one of those families that just materialized having been living in Henderson for some time. Kate was the housekeeper suddenly at the Sentell house and then Cagney and Adair showed up. Adair, I believe, was away at school, Bedford College?, with the Kendall boys. I prefer Jo Henderson to Maeve McGuire, but I haven't seen a whole lot fo Maeve. My favorite version of Kate was the overbearing mother causing havoc for Suzi and Cagney by cutting Jonah's hair and criticizing Suzi's mothering.

I was curious so I looked it up. John Whitsell stated that the decision to kill off Ryder was "unavoidable" because he had no more story to tell and little viable relationships. From a story point of view, who was Ryder going to live with? In the same article, Whitsell previewed that 4 new charactes were going to be introduced in spring of 1986 to fill in some of the gaps on the canvas. One of the character was described as an older, mysterious man who was a potential love interest for Jo. This was the owner of Liberty House, but I think the story changed as I don't think the owner and Jo went anywhere romantically. Steve Kendall's return and exit is brief. I'm surprised he was on contract, but he was listed among the contract cast. He might have had a moment with Sunny Adamson, but the bulk of his stuff was Estelle's return, which logistically made sense. He's only on for about a month. If he even made it to 10 episodes I'd be shocked. The high school stuff could have gone either way. Ryder could have gone to bed with the teacher, or T.R. could have just felt that he would. I feel like this is why Tomlin tested Ryder and Adair. Their chemistry test was in the Kendall living room. I want to say it was only one set of scenes, but maybe it was two. Anyway, Adair, IIRC, was tasked with distracting Ryder while Chase was doing some snooping related to the checks being sent to San Marcos. This would be October, 1985. Ryder was going to end up working at the paper so I could see how this would have continued. The stuff with the Herald seems to fall off again fairly quickly, but so do Adair and Chase. There was some weird sequence with El Patron, the shadowy figure who ran the island who I believed was murdered on-air without us seeing his face. I wondered if they were going to tie this into Martin's return, but it didn't happen. If we could have managed Estelle, Aniston's Martin, Peter Haskell's Lloyd, and a compeetent Steve onsceen togehter it would have been exciting. Sorry, Hogan's grief wasn't the focus, but his grief was the focus of Ryder's death. TR is a little upset but Hogan goes on and on. Liberty House was an apartment complex that was being built in Henderson at the time of the flood and was one of the only (if not only) building to survive the flood. I think it could have been limiting in that it meant the entire town was gone. Also, it's harder to explain why someone doesn't know someone or something when they all live in such tight confines.

@Matt Powers thanks for sharing your thoughts. Stephanie Braxton and Paul Avila Mayer are credited until late September, but I suspect there was some tweaking by Tomlin in the month before that. The Ryder/TR/Danny stuff was more character based in September. and, in my opinon, was more effective. Ryder was a gifted student and TR (who hadn't been able to read until August, 1984) felt insecure and ended up in regular classes with Danny, who had failed his second semester out in California. The guidance counselor was dropped immediately when Tomlin arrived as was the Henderson High School set and most of the TR/Ryder/Danny story. There was a brief attempt at Ryder/Adair flirtation, but that chemistry test went nowhere. A lot of the fall of 1985 issues stem from the turnover in both headwriters and in executive producers. No one is there long enough before there is another shift in the story. Tomlin clearly comes in with a long story for the rebuilding of the Kendall family with Chase working at the Herald, Steve returning to town, and Estelle turning out to be alive. For a brief moment, there is a solid set of characters in that grouping even if some of the actors are clunky (People give grief to Robert Wilson but Steve Lundgren was worse). Then the new EP comes in and all that story seems to be swept away. Then Steve leaves town, Chase and Adair disappear, and the hinted at return of Martin Tourneur (which I imagine was intended) was dropped. A lot of air is let out of the sails. Women to Watch is atmospheric to me in the way some people enjoy the Corinth serial killer on "Loving." I don't think killing Sarah hurt the show in the long run. Stephanie's murder was foolish, but Louise Shaffer's Stephanie had been so watered down by the writing, or the lack there of, that the loss doesn't feel as impactful as it should have. Lloyd Battista's Rivera character was odd. I felt the stand alone episodes of the flood are engaging, but the longterm impact is hard to gauge becasue again there was another new headwriter and another new executive producer. I think the idea of flood was intriguing, but in the end, the Liberty House setting may have been more limiting than helpful. Ryder's death was hard to watch, but watching the main focus of grief coming from Hogan McCleary almost seemed more painful. I find myself unable to find any significant interest in the final months with under Addie Walsh and Pamela Long. Long is an accomplished writer, but her style doesn't work for me. I cannot put my finger on it exactly but there is a bit of emptiness in the heart and family attempts I find in her work, even though these are the things that are celebrated. Walsh's work on "Loving" isn't my favorite, though I felt her second run with Laurie McCarthy was stronger than her first with Jeff Ryder. I don't have much use for Kat. Liza going crazy over Hogan and trying to blame Patti for her miscarriage seems like a grander scale character assassination than Sunny's faked suicide attempt. I don't think Bela is strong enough to carry a triangle with Sunny and Estelle. Suzi was killed because the show wanted to pair Joanna Going's Evie with Cagney so they had to get rid of Suzi. I did find the scene where Jo visits Jack Bett's character at jail interesting, but not enough to keep my interest. This is from January-February 1985. I want to say T.R. ran away from home on New Years' Eve because Lloyd was finally going to confront Liza with the news that TR was his daughter and TR didn't want to go live with him. In the candystore, TR is looking at the Herald which I believe has the story of her disppearance which is why she reacts as she does. By March, T.R. is back home.

At one time, I thought she was a construction worker. Later, in some of the 1984 material that has popped up, I think I saw she was on the construction site in the hard hat, but I don't think she was a construction worker. I think she worked in the on-site office, or that was the impression I got, but I could very well be wrong on that. Patty was in the role until October, 1984.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but it is easier to cancel a show when it is network owned. NBC may have already decided they wanted the flexibility to cancel the show without much pushback. Though, they didn't seem to have any issues cancelling "The Doctors" and Proctor & Gamble "Texas" at the same time.

The serial killer storyline was successful, but it was a story of deconstruction. It cleared a slate, but didn't naturally build up anything. Keeping it in Corinth wouldn't have changed that. I would have preferred the show staying in Corinth, but ABC wanted a large scale revamp including a name change and location. From a business standpoint, this made sense. There was a major revamp in 1991-1992 to bring Alden University into the forefront and then 1993-1994 Nixon made the show more in her general nature. Another version of Corinth wasn't going to stand out so I can understand why. The bigger issue is the foundations of "The City" weren't strong. Lemay mentioned the family/generational element, but I would go even a step farther. Almost everyone was starting at the bottom. A majority of the characters were in brand new (romantic) relationships and new careers. Nick intrigues me because he is a reviving his career. Sydney has been in her position of power for a bit. Mostly everyone else is just stepping into a brand new world. I don't think that's the best way to establish the show. It would never have happened, but I would have liked to have seen Morgan Fairchild as Ann Alden Forbes. The issue with "Loving" in 1995 was even if it had continued sans serial killer there several key performers leaving (Michael Weatherly, Paul Anthony Stewart, Amelia Heinle, Dennis Parlato). This would have left huge gaps in the canvas anyway. I think Louise was never seen onscreen. I believe Kate was out of town once visiting Louise, but I may be wrong. Sherrie Rescott Watley only appeared once in the 1990s when Ava was in a coma in April, 1994, for a handful of episodes with Carly. Her longer run was 1985-1986 when Ava lost Jack's baby and used Sherrie's latest child Johnny and passed him off as Jack's son. Sherrie eventually fought for custody for her child and one. I think she popped up a couple more times. She gave birth at Ava and Clay (Alex Masters) wedding in November, 1987. Ava was slightly different though than Rachel and Erica even if she was casted in a similar mold. Ava was part Erica Kane, part Nola Reardon. Kate Rescott was originally a cleaner at the Catholic church which Jim Vochek presided over. Ava worked at the office for Forbes Construction. Though, Ava had the shady, criminal uncle like Rachel did. I don't know if it's true, but an additional rumor is that Ava was suppose to be biracial, but had been raised without that knowledge the product of an affair between Kate and an African American man. I could see how Nixon might want Carla, who denied her heritage, to be on the canvas when Ava learned that her identity was different than she had embraced her whole life.

You copied and pasted the blog. You reworded a few things, but you didn't take out the caption in your second paragraph referencing the picture included in the original blog about Tess wearing the tiara.

@Donna L. Bridges Because I was interested in your comments on Azure C., I went looking for your blog post. Are you also Matthew Turcotte? http://popcultureaddictlifeguide.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-city-secret-life-of-azure-c.html https://shallotpeelblog.org/2023/06/29/blog-255-the-citys-transgender-story/

I have a potential theory about the choppy nature of this episodes. I was looking into the ON-TV airings of "New Day in Eden" and saw that both "Eden" and "Loving Friends" were sometimes aired on ON-TV as early as 9am. I know it is cable, but I am not even sure if they would air that type of content in the early morning. I've read a quote from the producer of "A New Day in Eden," Michael, stating that they would film two versions of the show with the hopes of syndicating it. I'm curious if "Loving Friends, Perfect Couples" was doing the same. I found some further information about the ON-TV airing of "A New Day in Eden." ON-TV aired the show only once a week, while Showtime aired it twice a week and had mini marathons. While Showtime aired ANDiE from November 1982-August 1983, the ON-TV run went from November 1982-January 1984.

This is why I am leaning into believing NBC did in fact wipe the tapes. Sally Sussman Morina made the point of saying that NBC was interested in a new soap in the late 1980s because they were very impressed with the money New World was making with syndicating "Santa Barbara." If they had the September 1980-December 1982 run of "The Doctors" which is basically the entire Alec Baldwin run I cannot imagine them leaving it on the shelf even if the show was not as creatively strong as it had been. The addition of African American characters, which "The Doctors" had done fairly well in the 1960s/early 1970s, is a treat to see of the Ralph Ellis/Eugenie Hunt episodes I saw. I was particularly surprised that they had Teri deal with a white couple where the man basically says he wants Dr. Aldrich after realizing Teri is black. The conversation with Teri and Calvin (I think it was Calvin) afterwards was pretty strong. The cast feels very large in early 1980 with the addition of the interns, which I don't think was a terrible idea in theory. Bringing in everyone at once probably wasn't the smartest idea.

Thanks. Also, thanks for the kind comments in the "Types" threads.

This is rather unfortunate. This would mean that a bulk of Alec Baldwin's run as Billy Aldrich would be gone, which seems strange as I could have sworn I have seen stuff pop up in those they started on soap programs where clips were played. I think Baldwin premiered in September 1980. With that said, I am excited to see what's available of 1980. There is a minor story involving a character name Jeff Burgess, a medical student who ends up not continuing his studies partially due to Matt Powers' belittling him. Disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing the messy writers strike, Lemay's run, and the final insanity of the Barbara Morgenroth run with the Aldrich crypt plague and Felicia's use of Jean Marc's "Dorian Gray"-esque elixir to keep her from aging. Part of me wonders if this is what prevented the show, which was rumored to have been bought by someone like Hallmark 20 years ago from airing the program.

Winsor stepping in makes sense as it sounds like Ettlinger's departure wasn't planned. Pickard and Provo may have just been given scripts and projections from 1964 to have an idea of the show's characters, storylines, and tone. It's always possible they were working earlier. I do think during this time period they were also trying to relaunch "Wendy Warren and the News" as a televised daytime series. Regarding Ettlinger and "Flame in the Wind," by the time the show becomes "Time for Us," Ettlinger is being credited as writer. The press for "Flame in the Wind" is mostly Joe Hardy explaining the vision for the show. There are some rather significant story shifts in February, 1965, for "Flame in the Wind" with the quick exit of Craig Reynolds, who was married to Roxanne Reynolds, lusted after author Kate Austen, and I believe was the object of affection for editor Flora Perkins. There was also a scheming reporter Ted Alcourt who also disappeared in February, 1965. I think in March the show introduced Liz Grey as the new threat to Kate Austen's happiness with attorney Tony Grey. Whether that was Phillips or Ettlinger's influence, I wouldn't know.

Hardy and Ettlinger had worked together on "Love of Life." Ettlinger ended up as the writer replacing the show's creator Raphael Hayes, or so I gather. I know that Provo and Pickard's scripts start in April, 1965, from their collection. I wonder if the show just worked off the projections from Ettlinger until Provo and Pickard assumed the roles.

Wow. This unlocked a memory. The Nathan Purdee photos were different than the homoerotic photos of Bruce Michael Hall and his twin brother right? In my head, they were different, but now I am wondering if they aren't one in the same. That was a very odd time for erotic photography and daytime actors. You also have the Marty West oil wrestling videos in there somewhere.

Interesting seeing how Charlie Clemmons and Jerry Ames were written out. This was the last time I think we see Jerry unless something else turns up. I think the Charlie-Joan pairing is interesting and I would have liked to see how that played out. Charlie and Joan seem to be replaced by Wilfred and Nola as the older man-younger woman combination. December definitely feels like the end of something and the start of something else. The January summaries felt very different to me, but that makes sense now seeing the transition period. Hess is out in December according to the documents correct, or rather, Lou Scofield has assumed the headwriter position? Something I want to add is that Roy Windsor had developed a serial around this time called "The Widening Circle," which was about a young woman being released from a mental hospital and her attempts to reclaim her life in the outside world. It sounds very much like the story of Laurie Hollister. I would be curious to see what the original story projections by Hess/Scofield looked like. I've seen some of the Hess' long story before and he's a very mature writer. I'd be curious if he had set up the Laurie/Ken story originally or if that was all Scofield or Windsor. It was also nice to see how the show moved from Valerie/Nick to Amy/Nick. I wouldn't say it was the smoothest, but it was clear the show was no longer interested in pursuing the Nick/Valerie angle now that Sam Stevens was around. I like Eleanor Gault. I think there is some interesting things brewing, but I'm not sure they ever completely gel for me, but dialogue can sometimes bring things to life. I like the country club group with Ken, the wealthy boy who doesn't want to seem to go into business so instead he's tending bar at the country club. Alex Lockwood, the club manager, and his dynamic with wealthy alcoholic Nola Hollister. I'm curious to see how long this group is allowed to play out. In a way, December, 1968, feels like an end for the Ames family. Charlie Clemmons as the family foe is run out of town which also the family with little to do. I suspect the hope was Belle would be enough and while Marla Adams is certainly a capable actor, the newspaper angle ends up falling by the wayside. This in turn seems to leave Nick, Frank, and Jerry with little to do. I wish that the show had convinced Haila Stoddard to return as a more permanent presence (or even recasted) and had Charlie married to Pauline because Pauline as Belle's stepmother would be delightful. Thanks @FrenchFan for sharing these with us.

@robbwolff Thanks for your recollections about Tess. I do remember there being some inaccuracies (the one that stands out was her claim that Robert Jardin had been alive at some point in the story on "Where the Heart Is" which she later admitted her error), but I've since seen several things over the years that weren't posted elsewhere in source materials and newspaper columns that she had stated first. Personally, I don't think Tess made up the Agnes Nixon/"Brighter Day" story, but I would definitely agree that is a claim lacking sufficient evidence for many people. I remember some of the Todd Strasser drama as I remember he was making claims like he had been the one to write the line about Adair and Chase's exit on "Search for Tomorrow" and him specifically stating to a question that I asked that the decision to cancel "The Catlins" had been made before the filming of the Thanksgiving episode, which was just inaccurate. I've seen Todd Strasser's other identity on Facebook in recent years and I'm not sure if its an imposter or the original poster from WoST. There is definitely a stock type of soap opera message board posters that could be reviewed. @Donna L. Bridges I couldn't locate "The Brighter Day" post. I think most of the posts I saved were from circa 2010. In my review today, I had also found stuff I had clearly saved from the late Steve Frame's soap opera message board as well. I don't seem to have any from WoST. @Paul Raven Not necessarily in this instance, but Irna Phillips is also a source of lot of soap opera history misinformation. For instance, the Wiki page in question cites Phillips as the creator of "The Brighter Day" when it was in fact Orin Tovrov. Phillips threw a creator credit on the show when she brought it to television, but the she started writing the show in 1951 two years after Tovrov created it.

I might have the post somewhere. I recently uncovered a couple documents I had saved with a bunch of posts from that board. If I locate the specific post, I will place it in this thread.

This was mentioned years ago on a soap opera board (run by @danfling) The poster (who went by the handle Tess, but I believe her name was actually Chrissy or Christine) that mentioned the mother/daughter combo on "The Brighter Day" had an extensive collection of soap opera material both video and script. They would post pretty vivid recounts of material they had recently watched. She has briefly worked in the soap opera industry in the 1980s as I specifically remember Tess speaking about working on "Another Life." Tess stated that Agnes Nixon was hired to work on "The Brighter Day" just before it had been cancelled and had proposed a mother/daughter duo where the mother was a beautician and the daughter was a social climber. Tess disappeared from the boards probably a decade or more ago, which is a shame because she was a wealth of knowledge. I suspect the wiki entry is from a fan who recalled what Tess had shared rather than Tess herself.

Belle was originally suppose to die. I think the changed it and wrote out her daughter instead.

It's probably the strongest set of episodes I've seen since the January 1990 start, but I've only seen January-August 1990 completely and intermitten stints from November 1990-December 1991. You are right though. There are too many threads playing at once or too much story being burned through in one section. In some ways, the problem is its a reset. For example, I think the Ned-Jenny romance is a strong story thread. I'm not necessarily rooting for Jenny and Ned (or Jenny and Paul for that matter) but the looming business conflict between Ned and Bill Eckert, the (all too brief) attempt by Tracy to make a lady out of Jenny, the return of Anglela as Tracy's enemy, and Jenny's angst over being engaged to Ned while lusting after Paul is all enjoyable. It just needs to play out slower with people reacting more. One of the nice story crossovers is Paul, after saving Tracy from the Cartel, has said two things in the hospital: one not to let Tracy die and admitting his love for Jenny. This is heard by Monica, of all people, which gives her and Alan something to cluck over. Tracy badgering Monica for more info on what Paul said in surgery is delighful and it has the potential to explode. If that was played slowly, with Tracy wondering what was said while also trying to "tame" Jenny, leading to the engagement with Angela's return I think that could have played out for months instead over several episodes. Almost everything with Dom and Mac that plays out in a month could take about six, but anchoring the show's core triangle around three (relatively) new charactes was a mistake. Mac is the veteran having arrived in March, 1990. At least with Jenny and Ned, both actors may be new, but Ned has been around for a bit. I will say though, some of the Jenny/Ned conflict is basically a replay of Dawn/Ned, but at least the show isn't afraid to lean into that down the line with the David Langton stuff. One of the things I had been considering, which I didn't hate, was I wondering if there were so many story threads because of Monty's intention to reshape the show in the image of "EastEnders" and the Brit soaps. I'm realizing some of the more annoying elements can be connected to that (the introduction of the Eckert clan as well as the insistence that characters state their ethnicity over and over without it being meaningful or (in the case of Michael Lynch as Mexican Connor) inappropriate. Also, Monty's last month feels very sweeps like with the return of Holly, the plane crash, Dom and Mac's decision to sleep together, and A.J.'s DUI. I think one of the nicer things Wendy Riche does is slow the show down. For some reason I was thinking Sturges was at "Days of our Lives" later than she was. A.J.'s date Marilyn was a blonde, but it probably wasn't Sturges as you pointed out she was a brunette and on DOOL. At first the Adkins connection sounded like Luke, but Luke isn't dead. Not really sure where this story was suppose to go as it definitely seems like it was something Linda Grover brought to the show. There are definite replays of some of her work on "The Doctors" as young nurse Sheila Cantillion has gotten a visit from her stepfather Peter Kaufman who's presence from her past is evoking the same sort of dread that sexual abuse survivor Missy Palmer seemed to endure on "The Doctors."