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I hear what your saying regarding Carrie Brady's place on the canvas. There is no arguing that. As I think I was saying poorly above, Karen was introduced during a transition period very early in Riche's run (as was Jagger). There were a lot of things that happened during that period that feel very against the soap opera grain. For example, David Langdon, Monica's ex and Dawn's father, arrives in Port Charles in a medical story where Monica inserts herself with the intention of telling David that Dawn was their daughter. David dies suddenly and Monica never reveals this information to David. This feels very untraditional. Similarly, the whole Joseph Adkins arc with Bobbie writing to a murderer and the women of Port Charles all fawning over his book is not something I felt was the type of story soaps in 1992 did. Similarly, introducing a character like Karen without any family ties and anchoring a younger part of the story with another outsider Jagger wasn't how things would typically work (effectively) on the soap. I think my issue with the idea that Brenda had a direct goal is that is all there was to her. She had nothing to her outside of that in early 1993. Jagger had wanting to find his family. Karen was working to get into medical school. Brenda had Jagger, who only wanted her when he couldn't have Karen. Even Ruby called Jagger out on this. Brenda's point of view was so limited. The fact that she nearly gets bested by Jenny Eckert of all people in a confrontation in March, 1993, is pretty wild given how milquetoast Jenny is. I can see why you would think Karen was taking a middle of the road approach to things. It might not have been presented well, but her pursuing her career and going to college was going to come first. Working at Kelly's and maintaining her grades was going to come before her romance with Jagger. With Rhonda around, meddling in her life, Karen definitely had more reason to be conflicted. Rhonda saw Karen's relationship with Jason as the key to Karen's success, both by marrying into a wealthy family and by building a network of connections in Karen's career field. Having watched some of her "General Hospital" run, I would like to at the early years of Karen's run on "Port Charles" to see how that all this continues in terms of her characterization. I think Karen remains very passive romantically deferring to Courtney Kanelos, who was just a much stronger adversary for Karen than Brenda was based on where Brenda was in her journey given that Courtney had Neil which tied her to the entire Scanlon clan. I do remember Karen having some outbursts, but I vaguely think that Shayne's Karen could also be pushed to her limits and she would fire back. This just wasn't her modus operandi as it was for characters like Courtney and early Brenda. In Brenda's defense, I think part of the issue was the underdevelopment of her character. I think there was an intent on either Levinson's (or Riche's) part to craft Brenda as a "poor little rich girl" type who had no moral compass because her father was a business tycoon who ignored her and had loved Julia's mother more than her mother. If this was true, and the intent to solicit sympathy, or least empathy, for Brenda, it wasn't played enough for this to be effective. Brenda rejected Julia both in terms of her role as a parental figure and any sisterly advice she gave. I would even go further and say that the issues I have with the Brenda/Karen rivalry were inherit to Bill Levinson's writing. By comparison, if you look at what was being done in the other female rivalries, the issues were mostly consistent. Jenny and Julia, for example, had the potential to be interesting but Julia was so passive and Jenny was sound brash and unfeeling that there was no one to root for. Also, the rivalry between Tiffany and Bobbie took Tiffany into a very narrow view with her solely trying to secure custody of Lucas at the cost of everything else including her friendship with Bobbie and Tony as well as her marriage to Sean. I'd be curious to see if Levinson had similar issues when he was at "Loving," but I'm spacing at the moment.

I was referring specifically to a comment Joanna Lee made in Soap Opera Digest about how "Search for Tomorrow" couldn't compete against the hour shows in terms of the types of storytelling. With that said, she probably was referring to the budget that was required which plays into what you are talking about. I like Alec/Adair/Chase but its a logistical nightmare. The characters are rarely all on screen at the same time. In October, Alec is presumed dead to return in November, and by the end of the month, Adair has left town. When Adair does return in February, Alec leaves in March. I was reading a newspaper column from November 1984 stating that Page Hannah was recently released and that Robert Curtis Brown was also out in the near future. I think Glynn was planning Adair/Chase/Justine. Jeanne Glynn's final weeks without a co-writer are stronger, in my opinion, but I find the year Glynn is there is a constant state of transition probably due to Ellen Barrett. Paul Avila Mayer and Stephanie Braxton tend to be hit or miss with viewers. They are either despised for the main thrusts of the story or appreciated for telling stories in a different way (for eHogan loving Liza, but Liza just kind of wanting a sexual relationship). I think there are stronger character moments under Avila Mayer and Braxton and the characterization is more fleshed out, but the overall plots leave a lot to be desired. The dynamics between characters can also be hit or miss. I won't say much more and let you watch.

I have been cruising around "General Hospital" of the 1990s. I haven't seen Brenda's arrival yet, but I definitely found the character very rough in early 1993. I think Brenda is a very flat character in what I've seen. She seems mostly motivated by a desire to be with Jagger. This seems to be the entire extent of her characterization. This is by no means VM's fault, but I'm definitely curious to see how the show manages to evolve this character because she is barely beyond a stock type. Her connection to Julia is interesting at times, but Julia herself has a very delicate position on the canvas. Anchoring the younger set with a young woman who wanted to be a doctor was just smart. Karen and Jagger were both introduced during a period where there were interim headwriters between Norma Monty and Maralyn Thoma. Karen was introduced as a participant in the Volunteens program and was initially presented as an object of affection for Jason, who had Robin pining after him. I imagine Wendy Riche envisioned the audience watching this young woman go to medical school, become a doctor, and joining the staff of GH. That vision was achieved with Karen's return in "Port Charles." In terms of her actual connections on the canvas, it is initially weak. Pairing Karen with Jason, who came from a wealthy medical family, and with Jagger, who was rough around the edges and had escaped a troubled upbringing, makes sense. I feel there is an underlying seediness to a lot of Bill Levinson's work, which I don't always hate, but certainly makes things uncomfortable. I think hinging the big romantic pairing on two characters without significant ties to the canvas was untraditional and may not have been good for the longevity of the couple. I also don't think Riche would have gone that route a year or so later. For the most part, Karen's struggles were mostly internal, which made her appear passive since all the actions she made were choices rather than actionable steps. Cari Shayne played the conflicted part of the character well, but I don't necessarily think she played the passion for medicine well. To be fair, I also don't think Levinson leaned into that part of her character enough. Cari Shayne seems no less capable than Christie Clark from "Days of our Lives" playing a very similar character at the same time.

And since there seems to be some interest, I started gathering episode information from TV listings and soap opera summary columns from British newspapers. This is what I have for the first month or so of the show. They aren't very detailed, but they give a sense of the pacing... which seems glacial. Italicized information is one of two things. Most likely, it appeared in a weekly summary for the show, but was not listed in an individual episode spot so I chose which episode I attached it to. This means it could be in the other episode that week. The second possibility, which is less likely, is information I've included based on the general sense of the story or from future plot details that seem to suggest what something might be. For example, Justine realizes she has met a mystery man in one episode and in the next she is speaking with Mike and Diana. I've drawn the conclusion that Mike is the mystery man so it is italicized. Families (April/May 1990) Episode 001 [Monday, April 23, 1990] Mike Thompson, a garage owner out of Cheshire, is plagued by mounting financial issues yearns to relive his youth and a romance with his old flame in Australia. Meanwhile, the Thompsons involve themselves in planning a birthday surprise for their soon to be wayward patriarch. As a result, Mike makes a decision that will impact his family for months to come as he departs for Australia. Episode 002 [Tuesday, April 24, 1990] In Sydney, Andrew Stevens and his mother, Diana Stevens, attempt to find some sort of middle ground. In Cheshire, Mike Thompson’s absence starts to concern his family. Episode 003 [Monday, April 30, 1990] In Cheshire, Sue Thompson is asked to perform a gruesome task. Meanwhile, Sue’s daughter, Amanda Thompson, relays to her mother the nasty shock she received when she went for her final wedding dress fitting in preparation for her wedding to Neil Brooks. Episode 004 [Tuesday, May 1, 1990] The Thompson family are becoming increasingly aware of the trouble that Mike Thompson has left behind in Cheshire while he is off in Australia. Episode 005 [Monday, May 7, 1990] Sue Thompson and the rest of her family continue to see the mess that Mike Thompson was running from in Cheshire. In Sydney, scheming Corinne Todd notes that widowed Diana Stevens continues to grow closer to younger restauranteur Anton Vaughn. Upon arriving in Cheshire, Andrew Stevens reconnects with George Davidson, his maternal grandfather and a mechanic for the Thompson garage. Episode 006 [Tuesday, May 8, 1990] In Cheshire, Sue Thompson’s is slowly seeing her fears come true regarding the family’s financial situation. In Sydney, Mike Thompson arrives on the doorstep of his first love, Diana Stevens. Diana and the rest of the Stevens clan is celebrating. Diana doesn’t take to kindly to Mike appearing on her doorstep after so many years. Episode 007 [Monday, May 14, 1990] In Cheshire, Mark Thompson and his uncle John Thompson clash over how to handle Mike’s garage business in Mike Thompson’s absence. Sue Thompson is feeling the stress from her husband Mike’s departure as well. George Davidson and his lady friend Dot Downing show Andrew Stevens, George’s grandson, the Cheshire countryside. Episode 008 [Tuesday, May 15, 1990] In Sydney, Diana Stevens continues to forge ahead in her business plans with Anton Vaughn. Justine Stevens, Diana’s daughter, is upset to learn the identity of the stranger she had met earlier on the beach, Mike Thompson. In Cheshire, John Thompson and his nephew Mark Thompson continue to remain at odds on how to handle the garage. Episode 009 [Monday, May 21, 1990] Justine Stevens challenges her mother, Diana Stevens, and Mike Thompson, Diana’s first love, leading to tempers running high in Sydney. Episode 010 [Tuesday, May 22, 1990] In Sydney, Diana Stevens’ mother, Ruby Davidson, tries to dissuade her daughter from giving Mike Thompson, Diana’s old flame, any hope of a reconciliation. While in Cheshire, Sue Thompson is called to her son Nathan Thompson’s school and learns several shocks; not only is Nathan in trouble for his poor behavior, but her husband hadn’t paid the school bill in quite some time. Episode 011 [Tuesday, May 29, 1990] In Sydney, manipulative Corrine Todd believes that Diana Stevens is in pursuit of Anton Vaughn, while Diana and Anton continue to redesign Vaughan’s, Anton’s restaurant. Mike Thompson comes to the conclusion that there is nothing left for him in Sydney. Meanwhile, in Cheshire, Nathan Thompson offers to help his mother Sue Thompson by dropping out of school. Note: The show was preempted on Monday, May 28, 1990, for a telethon.

Chloe and Nicole became friends because they had a common enemy: Sami. This was during the period that Chloe was involved with Lucas and Nicole was with EJ in the fall of 2008. I remember a very fun sequence where Lucas took Chloe and Allie up to the Horton cabin on Smith Island. Sami, who had been under house arrest for some crime, ran off to interfere in the coupling and Nicole immediately called the cops so that Sami would be arrested. I will say Chloe/Nicole's friendship may have been why they didn't play much with Chloe/Brady during the early years of Eric Martsolf's Brady. Given the grander scope of their history, it probably made no sense, but I enjoyed it immensely.

I believe Rachel died at the end of season one. When the secretary was dead, Edward started to unravel. He was slowly losing his mind. I think some of this may pop up by the end of the first thirteen episodes. Rachel takes sympathy on Edward. She may have even started working in Anne's position in the church. Anyway, Edward eventually revealed his, and possibly Jessica's, involvement in Anne's death. Or maybe Rachel just discovered that Gabriel was a bisexual drug addict. Anyway, this lead to the eventual murder, which was a staple for Russell T. Davies. In season two, I think Edward was committed to an asylum. I believe this may have been what brought Sue Holderness' lesbian vicar Joan to the canvas. Joan developed an attraction to the family maid, Mary. Mary may have been involved in the burial plot, but I think a second body was discovered on the estate in season 2. This one belonged to a baby. I believe it was eventually revealed that the baby had belonged to Mary and Edward. I remembered another detail about season 2. Wasn't Ruth Tyler, Mark's mother, embezzling funds from the church? She had stolen checks and cashed them. Also, did Charlie turn to prostitution? Or am I simply placing a bunch of "Families" stories onto "Revelations" characters. I think Edward was coaxed into taking his own life by Jessica. Edward lit the cottage on fire and sat there and died. It was a replay of John Thompson's death on "Families" in June, 1991. I want to say Steve Whittaker had also been left for dead in the fire after being knocked out by Jessica. I have notes somewhere I collected years ago from the old primetime soap board where I first heard about this show. @JamesF, you may have been even been the one who posted on it. Anyway, I cannot seem to locate them at this point as they must have been with my "Springhill" notes which are also missing. If I find them, I will make sure I repost what I find. @Vee As I think I stated above, the entire first season was released on DVD probably about 10 years back by Acorn Media. I think it sells very cheap right now. It is a fun show that I would recommend. Abbott credits Russell T. Davies for the supernatural elements stating that without Davies it would have basically been a dry run for "Shameless." The housing estate is similar to that Chatwin of "Shameless" and the Freemans are definitely a more cleaned up version of the Gallaghers. The first season of "Springhill" is fairly strong and sort is the final attempt at the kind of stories RTD told on "Families" and "Revelations." The religious and supernatural elements are interconnected into the story fairly well in those first season episodes. Katharine Rogers (Eva) like Judy Loe was marvelous as the mystery figure at the center of the story.

I'm glad you will enjoy "Revelations." It's truly a shame that more of RTD's soap work hasn't made it in complete form online. "Springhill" was released on DVD several years back, but only season one. Acorn later briefly released the second season online. It wasn't as strong as the second and I don't think I made it all the way through, though I did catch the wild ending both on Acorn and on YouTube. I'll give the lost media thread a look anyway. The only episode of season 2 that made it online for "Revelations" also gave the impression that the second season of that show may have been a little bit of a bore. From what I gather, Gabriel and Edward are both sidelined for most of the season, while there is an interesting mystery regarding a dead body found on the estate from years ago. There is also a lesbian storyline that I would be interesting in seeing. Judy Loe's Jessica does take center stage as she seduces the newly arrived Steve Whittaker, Rachel's brother, who has come to determine the fate of his sister (who I think is said to disappear after Jessica murders her). Amanda Wenban, who played Jackie on "Families," comes on I believe as Mark's mother, a scheming cleaner for the church.

It was wonderful getting a chance to see different periods of this series. The April 1990 episode (the third episode of the series) is quite a treat. I've got quite a bit of summaries from TV listings from this period, but the dramatic tension isn't really captured as well as it is here. The Thompson household is ripe for drama. The pressures mounting from Mike's disappearance, questions about who is the new alpha male in the household (Mike's cagey brother John or his son Mark), the revelations of unknown debts, and the wedding planning all give the sense that the show has a lot of story to tell. I'm not sure if the dramatic tension continues. I know there are a few more revelations to come (Nathan ends up involved in a scuff at school and is nearly expelled). Morag Hood is a real gem here as the overwrought Sue Thompson. She is definitely unable to handle all of the things coming at her. I think Sue's story progresses very nicely with her being forced to build her independence and creating a life on her own (with a professional and romantic alliance with her brother-in-law John). It's a shame that she couldn't have been kept on. Laura Girling as the romantic lead is a choice. Not my choice, but a choice none the less. In Australia, things seem much calmer. I do appreciate that there seems to be a deliberate attempt to distinguish the two realms of the show (set in Sydney and in Westbury) by the color choices. The Australian sets are much brighter in color. I think that's probably the nicest thing I can say. Mike's story in Australia moves forward, but there isn't much actual story progress. Mike is running from creditors and this is pushed again in his refusal to pay the hotel bill right away. Throwing away his clothes in the trash can was a nice symbolic moment especially in the sense that he is still the same man escaping from paying his bills. Tessa Humphries' Corrine seems like a low level schemer, but I know she ends up upping the ante by sleeping with both Andrew and his brother Christian, who must have appeared earlier in the episode based on the conversation and the credits. Andrew leaving home just as Mike is coming to Australian was a nice setup for the viewer to follow two people as outsiders into the two worlds of the show. Andrew being upset that Diana is leaning on a younger man after leaning on him has the potential to be interesting, but I don't think it goes anywhere... The man in question, though, was Anton Vaughn, who is seen with Diana in the October 1992 episode during their turbulent marriage. Diana and Anton's hostile breakup is a nice contrast to the breakup of Charles and Isabelle's fractured marriage with Charles carrying on with Fiona, his daughter's friend and now his son's girlfriend, while Isabella beds down with the gardener. I didn't realize how young Isabelle's lover actually was until seeing him in the recap. The Bannermans now have control of the Thompson's old house (which I believe belonged to Sue's family the Grandbys). The kitchen scenes in both episodes were nice. I like the little breakfast chatter between the Bannermans as this sort of plain domestic drama that is immediately complicated by Simon's visit to Fiona only to learn that Fiona's sugar daddy (his own father) is allowing her to stay on in the flat that he has been paying for. I almost wonder if Sue Thompson couldn't have returned at some point and become involved with Charles Bannerman had the show lived on past 1993. I think Morag Hood and Helen Bourne would have been fun as rivals. @DRW50 Since you are probably the only one interested, another kind soul has uploaded the 13 episodes of "Revelations" that were released on DVD several years back. "Revelations" is the follow up work of Russell T. Davies after he was in charge of a bit of the final year or so of "Families." The posh Rattigans definitely feel like they would have mingled easily with the Bannermans and Thompsons.

The generous soul who posted the July 1992 episode posted several other partial episodes: And a trailer:

Michael Pavel's murder, Kim's impossible pregnancy, and the truth about Rose's daughter were all pretty messy stories. The strike definitely killed some momentum, though there were elements I enjoyed. I thought bringing Kim into the Ryan circle by leaving Rae's place and taking refuge with the Ryans connected the canvas in a natural way that wasn't very common at that time on the series. I also thought the introduction of Craig LeWinter as a potential love interest for Kim as well as for Faith had some potential. Overall though, it was just messy. I can't remember, but was Barry's dropped gambling storyline started during the strike or before? I think contracts ran out as the strike went on. Daniel Hugh Kelly left when his contract was up and I thought that was why Richard Backus also departed. The introduction of the Chicago Ryans was a necessary evil given the title of the show. Also, Elizabeth Jane was Barry's half-sister/step-sister depending on the day of the week. I didn't mind having a young female Ryan and thought pairing her with Roger allowed them to revisit the idea of Mary / Roger from the beginning of the show.

The last show to expand @DeliaIrisFan was "The Young and the Restless." My assumption is market research suggested that the hour long shows were more successful because they could tell a wider breadth of stories at once. I enjoy Lee and Tomlin's run, but casting was definitely hit or miss. Phillip Brown was attractive, but rather green. He did have charisma, which helped, but given the dramatic weight his character had on the canvas (raised by Lloyd, fathered by Martin, love interest for Stephanie) a stronger actor was probably needed. Elizabeth Swankhammer was tough as Suzi. Not only had Suzi already been backburnered given the knowledge of Cynthia Gibbs' departure, but Swankhammer was suppose to rival Lisa Peluso. Cain Devore and Jennifer Gatti wouldn't have been able to carry an expanded teen scene. John Glover as Vargas was great. Olympia Dukakis as Dr. Barbara Moreno was a fine addition. Tina Johnson and Tom Sullivan did good character work in their roles, but they wouldn't be allowed to carry a frontburner story. If the show expanded to an hour in 1983, I don't think they would have had to add a lot. There was a lot happening in Henderson that would have just had more space to breathe. In 1984, there was a huge cast revamp anyway and that pretty much killed a lot of the momentum that had been built in the previous year under Lee.

Wow! Thanks for these. Out of curiousity, were these from the collection at Dartmouth?

When they brought back Vivian back to Salem in early December 2009, they immediately reestablished that she was the woman who had given birth to Phillip. At the time, Phillip was on the outs with Kate because of her marriage to Stefano, which she had been blackmailed into because of her role in poisoning Chloe during Chloe's marriage to Lucas. The show had built up a lot of dramatic tension in the prior year between Stefano and Victor with the dock wars plot and then the renewable energy story before shifting it into more family drama. Tony died during a fight with Phillip, and Phillip I believe was suspected of murder. Nicole, who was emotionally tied to both a Dimera (EJ) and a Kiriakis (Brady), was the one who cleared Phillip. I don't think the Dimeras forgave Phillip quickly for what they thought was his role. Shortly after, Stefano was "poisoned" after going to Java Cafe and being served by a Greek server. Stefano automatically assumed it was Victor's fault, but instead it turned out to be undiagnosed diabetes. This led to the introduction of Owen (Wes Ramsey) the Kiriakis gardener who kidnapped Phillip's girlfriend (fiancee?) Stephanie and dumped her in the morgue where his father (played by Gordon Thomson) worked. Stefano's blackmail had just been the latest tie between the two families as Daniel, Victor's godson and Chloe's lover, was being accused of being behind Chloe's poisoned induced coma. Vivian's return with a her unrequited love for Victor and her past marriage to Stefano turned the Victor/Kate/Stefano triangle into a quad. The way the show was being structured, it was clear that Melanie was going to be the daughter because Vivian wanted to kill Carly's daughter and also wanted to gain Phillip's love and respect. Mia was a red herring, but I also think there may have been an attempt to build an actual bond between Mia and Carly due to the fact they had both given up their children. Also, prior to Carly's return, there had been quite a big deal made about Mia's mother, who I think had abandoned Mia or was an addict of some sort. With the amount of build that Mia's mother was given, I think that Mia's mother was originally intended to come onto the canvas, but the cancellation of "Guiding Light" led to "Days" securing Crystal Chappell and going in a different direction. The one element that was never really addressed was that Melanie was also sorta of Frankie Brady's "sister" too as well as his niece. I have to wonder if there wasn't plans at some point in 2011 to bring back Frankie as a love interest for Jennifer in a quad with Daniel and Carly. Chad really didn't have much story after the initial reveal that Sydney was supposedly his daughter. This was mostly because everyone in his story group was weak. I think the "big" story for Chad was a ski weekend that all the younger ones were supposed to go on in February, 2010, after Chandler Massey was introduced. A ski weekend which I never think happened onscreen. It was just a bunch of romantic yearning between naive Gabi and worldly Chad with Mia acting super jealous and Will super clueless.There was a brief attempt in the winter of 2009/2010 to make Mia a vixen, but by March or April 2010 the show had secured Jessica Tuck for an arc as Madeline, Chad's mother and Kate's former hooker pal, for Chad's secret parentage the show accepted defeat with Mia. I don't think "Chill" was intended to be romantic any more than Phillip/Rick or Dennis/Jamie though there was always going to be homoerotic vibes given the intense emotional intimacy between these men. If I recall correctly, in the summer of 2010, Kate had lured Will into the Dimera camp and there may have even been a suggestion that Will was going to become Stefano's protege, which I felt would have been immediately threatened when the truth about Chad's parentage came out and would have caused more animosity. I don't think it did in the end, but given how weak Rodrigues and Spritler were the show had no real choice which is also why I suspect that Mia wasn't replaced with another young female until they brought on Abigail nearly seven months after Mia left town. Though, they did beef up Kinsey's role in the immediate aftermath of Mia's departure by having her family lose their money and Kinsey deciding that she was going to turn tricks like Chloe to make a quick buck. I wouldn't be surprised though if the "Chill" reaction led to Sonny's introduction as it was fairly obvious that Sonny was brought on for Will even before MarDar arrived. Now, I am wondering if the decision to drop the potential Dimera heir angle between Chad and Will was due to the decision to instead go the route of Will and Sonny becoming a couple, but not before Will knocked up Gabi with Gabi passing the child off as Chad's. I remember there was a bit of an arc about Gabi have mono which I remember people thinking was dumb, but I felt it was somehow going to be used to either cover up a pregnancy or used to alter a pregnancy timeline with Gabi claiming she wasn't pregnant, but that her mono had recurred. This would have given Chad/Abigail, Sonny/Will, and Chad/Will angst because I think Chad would have agreed to go through with the lie for Gabi due to his loss of Grace, the daughter he never knew.

@Jdee43 I think the C.C. / Santana revisit in 1991 would have been effective if had been allowed to play out to what I imagine was the natural conclusion. When the Dobsons returned with the dinner party episodes, it was established that Ruben and Rosa Andrade had been tricked in some land deal with C.C. It was later revealed, before Santana arrived, that the land in question was the property that the Capwells had built the Oasis on. The setup for this would seem to be that the Andrades were going to come into some level of power in Santa Barbara. Cue Santana's return, where Dr. Grant Jameson, on C.C.'s payroll, has kept Santana locked in a psychiatric facility against her will before she learns the truth about what was going on. When the trial occurred regarding the incident involving Santana's imprisonment, C.C. continued to wield his power before Jameson had a moment of consicousness and confessed all his sins, but not before admonishing C.C. for his behavior. While I don't think C.C. directly caused Santana to be kept locked away, he certainly wasn't willing to listen to Santana. His arrogance and hubris played a role in that story. Similarly, you could see the parallel plots being developed in two ways. Firstly, Santana had been locked away and kept from Brandon in a manner very similar to the way C.C. had kept Pamela from Mason in recent years. During the trial, Santana's biggest supporter was Warren Lockridge. Sliding Santana into the triangle with Warren/Mason/Cassandra would seem like the logical steps once the full arc of the Santana and C.C. story played out. Secondly, Gina, who had kept Brandon from Santana, was now pregnant via artificial insemination with C.C.'s child. To me, it was clear the Dobsons would have had Santana raising Gina's child via C.C. in order to atone for the sin of being kept from her own child. Part of the issue was that Paul Raunch was the producer. Production staged the C.C. and Santana relationship as romantic with a splashy montage of C.C. and Santana making love to Vanessa William's "Save the Best for Last." While I think the romantic element should have played to an extent, this was not a romance story. It was a story of power and revenge. Santana was playing C.C. Rosa makes that very clear in her confrontations with her daughter reminding Santana that she cannot turn C.C. into the late Channing while Santana leaned into the shared grief over Channing's murder. I don't think the Dobsons wanted us to root for Santana and C.C. to be an endgame couple. I imagine the story would have led to a small civil service between C.C. and Santana, who would marry because C.C. wanted to make a play for custody of Gina and his son and wanted to provide him with a stable mother figure. Once Santana and C.C. secured custody, I imagine Santana would have arranged a situation or have allowed Gina to have a situation where C.C. ended up locked away long enough for Santana to secure her birthright, the Oasis, which would have shifted her into the world of Cassandra and Mason. Of course, some of this played out and some of it didn't so I may just be overthinking all of this.

Scott was Jo's nephew via marriage. Scott was the illegitimate son of Doug Martin, the attorney who was married to Jo's sister Eunice. Doug was the biological father of Eunice's daughter, Suzi. So Scott was also Suzi's half-brother. John Wyatt later adopted Suzi when he married Eunice after Doug died. I believe Doug died as the result of a mercy killing, which may have been performed by Jennifer, or was it Scott. I thought it was Jennifer, but that would mean Jennifer killed both of Suzi's parents, which I don't think is right. Scott was also Stu's cousin/nephew by marriage as Stu's second wife Ellie was related to Scott. I've seen Ellie listed as Scott's cousin and sometimes as his aunt. Kathy was introduced as a law student who I believe worked with Scott's father, Doug, or with John Wyatt, the other local attorney. It seems that she was introduced primarily as a love interest for Scott. I wonder if Kathy, the liberal feminist who aborted Scott's baby, was intended to be a long term interest or one of those socially relevant stories that "Search for Tomorrow" told during that period regarding the deaf and racism. Kathy was later tied to the Bergmans when she became involved with Stu's son, Tom. I believe Tom and Kathy were supposedly still living together offscreen in Washington when the show went off the air, but I don't know if they had been mentioned in ages.

Question: Did the episodes that aired on Retro really stop on December 29, 1979 or is that listed just to finish out the year?

For me, Gabi's appeal comes from the fact she was part of one of the strongest young adult sets the show had developed in years with Will, Sonny, Chad, Abigail, and Gabi and the actors were (for the most part) willing to stay or come back. Banus was much stronger than her predecessor and came on with some heavy material to play (the aftermath of Arianna's death), which gave her some fan interest when she arrived. Gabi as Will's beard worked for me. The decision under Tomsell to make Gabi a social pariah was pretty appealing to me. Under MarDar, Chad and Gabi became models, which I think replaced the gambling website story they quickly abandoned. Trying to lure Chad away from Melanie, Gabi claimed to have a stalker and roped some deranged dude, Andrew (played by Caleb Hunt who was fairly good), leading to the kidnapping of Melanie at the start of the explosion that started off Tomsell's run. This was one of the only stories that appealed to me when I started watching more frequently in preparation for Tomlin and Whitsell's return (the other was Nicole's pregnancy). Gabi's role revealed coinciding with the return of Nick with Nick and Gabi working together at the Brady Pub was just really fun to watch. Blake Berris and Camila Banus were great together. Gabi's pregnancy was a great cause of conflict between that whole set of characters with Will going along with the lie to keep Sonny in the dark and Nick's homophobia stemming from his prison rape. This in turn leading to the rapist escaping, the rapist kidnapping Gabi, Sonny helping Gabi give birth on the island, and Will heroism as he attacked the rapist when the man threatened Gabi, Arianna, and Sonny's life was just a really strong story for a show that hadn't really had much plot in the past year. The show also took time to develop all of those relationships, Nick/Will, Sonny/Gabi, and Gabi/Will. It was a solid set of characters. Gabi is interesting as a piece of the bigger story. I thought pairing Gabi and JJ was an appealing move. Making J.J. move on from bland Paige to her half-sister Gabi with similar features worked for me. The history between Gabi and Nick gave the relationship some conflict to build off of and Gabi and Sonny (when he was around) co-parenting Arianna after Will's death were all interesting even though they never really tapped into all of that. Ultimately, though, I could see where most of my interest in Gabi lies in her potential rather than her actual presence on the canvas. In many ways, though, I often find myself feeling the same way about Nicole, who I adore, but has only had about four or five stories that I really have enjoyed over her multiple runs.

For the show to address this issue, a character choosing to join the police force due to police brutality, would require the show to address their recent past of having a white police officer shooting an unarmed black youth who is on the Autism spectrum. Given the reaction to that story, I imagine that's not something the show really wants to draw any light to.

I think Chad was supposed to be a solid player in the teen scene of 2009-2010. The characters who were introduced in that period typically had at least two stories that would be made fairly clear at the arrival. Chad didn't even know about the baby Mia had because he had been off in rehab for a drug problem (which has never really been revisited). His initial arc was a) learning of the existence of the child and b) actively trying to win back Mia even though she was involved with Will. There story was definitely a C-story at best and I think it only played out several times a month. It was definitely interlaced into the larger narrative of baby switch saga with Grace and Sydney. I think what helped elevate Chad as a character were he was the most charismatic and capable of the younger set he was in. Dylan Patton and Gabriela Rodrigues were very green as Will and Gabi. Taylor Sprietler wasn't much better, but showed a little energy in her last few month (not much, but more than before) when they turned her into a vixen before Madeline paid her off to leave town. On the topic of Chad's bizarre origins, I believe his original parentage may have also been tacked on at last minute. Chad was initially Chad Peterson and then Chad Peterson-Woods when they decided he was going to be the son of D.A. Peterson (David Leisure). And Mia, while certainly not a long term character, may have also been a bit of a case of a change in story. Originally, at the end of 2008, the casting call for Will had him as a college baseball star who had an interest in Melanie. At the time, I felt the plan was to make Melanie Nicole's daughter as I seem to recall there was a suggestion in late 2008 before Trent died that they had a child together. Melanie's parentage, which I imagined Sami would have kept from Nicole, seemed life the original second arc of the baby saga that was dumped pretty early. Then they decided to make Mia a more permanent character and cast Dylan Patton as Will and the story entered more C-level territory. A lot of these elements eventually popped up in other stories (what I imagined would have been tension between Melanie and Will over Nick became tension between Melanie and Nathan over Nick as well as the revelation that Melanie was the daughter of Carly and Daniel). Before Chandler Massey was cast, I think they had already set in motion the plans to build a frienemy relationship between Chad and Will with Chad's parentage being the source of drama. The secret that Madeline was Chad's mother was a story built not just for Chad, but for Kate and Stefano. I imagine the longterm plan was for Will to become jealous, or at least feel complicated emotions, about Kate's mothering Chad. Massey and Diedrick played very well off each other, but finding a strong female partner took a lot of away from their story potential. I think Gabi was definitely broadly defined when she arrived, but the nature of her arc was pretty fascinating from the perspective of how linear it felt. When she was originally introduced, Gabi was very nasty to Arianna because she had been in prison because of a nasty relationship with a boyfriend that had landed Arianna in prison on drug charges. I don't remember if Gabi was religious at the beginning, but the character was definitely naive and sheltered. Camila Banus came on for Arianna's death which was definitely a life changing moment for the character as I don't think they had completely reconciled. I believe had Tomlin/Higley/Whitsell had stayed, Gabi would have ended up pregnant by Will in late 2011 with Will and Sonny hooking up around the same time. Utilizing the fake stalker arc, which was one of the strongest stories from MarDar's run in my opinion, and pairing Gabi with Nick was just brilliant. As much as I hated losing Nick and Gabi, having Gabi leave her daughter to go off to jail because she had an abusive man in her life (like her sister Arianna) seemed like a great way to touch on the character's origins. I hope, one day, they explore the impact of Gabi's absence on her daughter's life and having her reflect on the way she treated her own sister.

I think as of 2021, they had digitized January and February 1980, and possibly a little farther as random episodes were being found on their website very briefly. They claimed they were going to wait until the entire series was finished before releasing the rest of the show. Again, take that for what it's worth. To be so close to the end and not get there would be very frustrating.

Claire Yarlett and Mary Beth Evans both played Dakota Lane on "Rituals." I believe they were both on "Days of our Lives" at the same time in the 1990s.

Katherine was introduced in either late May or June, 1993 right after Dominique dies in late April/early May. Levinson is gone a few months later (October, 1993) and Kin Shriner leaves in December. Shriner and Evans had worked together towards the tail end of "Rituals" when Koty was carrying Mike's child. From what I gather, Shriner and Evans enjoyed working together. I imagine Levinson would have tried to reform Katherine at some point or just went heavy into a Lucy / Scotty / Katherine triangle. With Scotty out, Labine repositions Katherine. She decides to tell a variation on the Ben Harper bigamy plot she and Paul Avila Mayer wrote on "Love of Life" with the Katherine / Ned / Lois tale. During the story, Katherine and Lois each seem to absorb different elements of the Betsy and Arlene characters. Even with this, Katherine is the clear antagonist, the Arlene. It's interesting to see that Katherine meets the same fate as Arlene, aimless once the story reaches it's initial climax. I watched the first half of 1995 a year or two back. From what I can remember, Lois and Ned have already solidified as a couple. I think Katherine goads Lois into a fight at Outback in Janaury, which leads to a legal battle that is wrapped up in February when the case is dismissed. Lois and Ned marry during May sweeps, or their events leading to their wedding start then. In the meantime, Katherine is a pariah and so is Damian so most of their scenes are together. It isn't until Tom Hardy returns that they start pushing the Mac / Katherine pairing, but, to be honest, I don't remember what Mac and Felicia were doing in the meantime. I feel like they were still handling the latest Ryan caper as he escaped from the institute.

David Wallace's Tom also had a brief stint as a jerk between Simones in early 1990. He had just learned that Tom Jr. might not be his, and Simone had left him to go on a cruise with her mother or something. Tom was a psychiatrist, which is one of the reasons I think he eventually faded into the woodwork. By the time Wallace left and Ashford arrives, Jon Lindstrum's Kevin is in that position. The shift to Felicia and Tom as well as Katherine and Mac in 1995 is rather jarring from what I remember. Tom returns during the spring of 1995 as the groundwork for Audrey's Alzheimer's has begun. I imagine there may have been some strong conflict planned between Tom and Steve over how to handle a condition like Alzheimer's, but it's probably best they didn't end up going down that road. From recent pictures, Wallace has aged fairly well, but I don't think he and Lisa Trusel live in Tennessee or somewhere else far from California. In regards to Tony, from what I'm seeing, the show is definitely still action/adventure heavy well into mid-1990 even though they seem to have some strong domestic material, however, the domestic stuff appears as filler mostly. This is a shame because there is a lot material worth exploring just among the Brownstone group. Tony as the Brownstone dad really was something they could have played more. Maule handles the dramatic material with ease and makes the day to day life of Bobbie and Tony intriguing (to be fair, so does Zeman). In terms of story function, Tony remains mostly a reactionary character in terms to whoever is in his world at the moment (either his wife Bobbie, or previously Lucy, or his brother Frisco). You have Tony and Bobbie who have adopted a child under a year old who's origins are unknown, you have Tom and Simone, separated, working towards a reconciliation, raising a child they may or may not be Tom, and Felicia and Frisco expecting their first child. When the stories do collide, it works well, but the show should have leaned into this more. When Monty returns, this doesn't seem to get better. Palumbo and Hardy introduce Rita Lloyd Jones, Tony and Frisco's former stepmother, to the show. She goes to work at General Hospital and clearly has set her sights on Tony. I think that Tony and Rita had had an affair when his mother was dying or something, but I don't remember the details. It think there was real potential to delve deeper into the Jones family dynamic with Rita around given that Frisco had such anger surrounding his mother's passing and he was just becoming a father himself. Plus, Bobbie is in the thick of things with Broxton (the Jerome attorney) that things would eventually get really messy between Bobbie and Tony. Anyway, before anything can happen between Tony and Rita, Monty nixes Rita and ships her out of town during the pre-Eckert purge that occurs from late December 1990 until mid-March 1991. Bobbie and Tony still split over Bobbie's lies regarding Lucas and Cheryl, but while Bobbie flirts with cousin Bill, Tony is left on the backburner.

Here are the writers list for a handful of episodes from March 31, 1993 - March, 1994: March 31, 1993 Bill Levinson Tom Citrano Ralph Ellis Jeanne Davis Glynn Linda Hamner Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Meg Bennett Linda Campanelli Gail Larence & Peter Rich Carol Saraceno Doris Silverton Michele Val Jean May 13, 1993 Bill Levinson Tom Citrano Ralph Ellis Linda Hamner Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Michele Val Jean Meg Bennett Linda Campanelli Martin M. Goldstein July 13, 1993 Bill Levinson Tom Citrano Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Linda Hamner Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Kimmer Ringwald Gillian Spencer August 13, 1993 Bill Levinson Ralph Ellis Tom Citrano Meg Bennett Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Kimmer Ringwald Gillian Spencer September 24, 1993 Bill Levinson Ralph Ellis Tom Citrano Meg Bennett Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Gillian Spencer October 7, 1993 Bill Levinson Ralph Ellis Tom Citrano Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Dana Coen Karen Harris Gillian Spencer October 25, 1993 Claire Labine Matthew Labine Eleanor Mancusi Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Gillian Spencer Irene Suver December 8, 1993 Claire Labine Matthew Labine Eleanor Mancusi Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Lewis Arlt Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Louise Shaffer February 3, 1994 Claire Labine Matthew Labine Eleanor Mancusi Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Lewis Arlt So look those over, it would appear that only Ralph Ellis, Meg Bennett, and Michele Val Jean were retained and most everyone else was dumped. @Vee I'll defer to you about the 2000s. I also may have been thinking of "Days of our Lives" that somehow managed to build a strong writing team under Higley and Tomlin's multiple runs for most of those writers to disappear in the past few years. Back to 1990, the Casey stuff was terrible. Anna and Casey on the run was pretty bland. I did appreciate the climax of the plot with the homage to "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" with a bunch of dayplayers running around the blacked out Port Charles thinking there is an alien invasion going on. Paired with Desiree cornering Frisco and Sean at Sean's penthouse and attempting to kidnap Robin was amazing. I will say, even when I don't always like the action stories, "General Hospital" could do the end of a story justice. Another compliment for the show that isn't always amazing... the writers always try to make things seem linear even when they have no right to. Tom Hardy lets someone (Anna?) and the audience know that Casey Rogers must have morphed himself to look like Shep Casey. So Shep Casey is actually Roger "Shep" Casey. Casey got his name off a case file when he was being questioned quite later, but there is an attempt to make things fit. So Shep Casey seems to be the Jeffrey O'Neill of his day or any of the "One Life" actors playing doppleganger roles. Shep isn't a bad character per se. A reporter who wants to handle the sleazier element of Port Charles isn't a bad idea, but the writing leans into Shep as such an antagonist, which is limiting. A lot of Palumbo's new characters are stock types. The Latinx characters recently introduced also fall into the category. Carla is the noble, hard working poor immigrant not wanting anything from anyone. Frankie is a hot headed with his eyes on the ladies. Rico is a controlling boyfriend. I appreciate that there is an attempt to make them an existing part of Port Charles. Carla is a maid at the Quartermaine mansion and one of Monica's favorites. Rico went to the police academy with Sam and Frisco. To allow access to this part of the canvas, other stories have been reduced or backburnered. The Casey / Wellington story has been replaced by Faison's attempt to romance Anna after Sean reveals that he (Sean) was behind Robert learning years ago that Anna was a double agent and that the Swede was alive. This means very little to me, but I guess it was a significant piece of Anna and Robert's history. It seems clear to me that the show is leaning into Anna and Robert. Katherine is off running Delafield's and not having much else to do. The chem tests with Colton are done now that Carla is around, but they seemed to have tried Katherine and Shep and even Katherine and Larry (how did he manage to stay on so long?). The strongest stuff is in the Ned / Dawn / Decker / Monica / Wendy story. Wendy has gone complete psycho, maybe she always was and I just wasn't paying attention. Janice Lynde shows up as the new Gloria during the Police Officer's Carnival fundraiser. She must have recently wrapped her stint on "Tribes." Jennifer Guthrie is growing on me. Monica remains in a supporting role, but at least its a prominent role. I know that won't last forever. They briefly paired Monica with Kyle Morgan, the obstetrician treating Felicia. One of the stronger scenes was in the underplayed Tony and Bobbie adoption story. Tony has a rather dramatic monologue where he gently goes in on Bobbie for leaning into her prostitute past and claiming that Lucas' situation was her own fault. It was incredibly strong. I am not surprised they gave him those longer speeches during the B.J. storyline during the Labine years. Tom and Simone's story has no traction. There is a nice scene with Audrey warning Monica about the dangers of meddling in Dawn and Ned's happiness after everything she herself experienced with Tom, Simone, and the baby. Tom and Simone seemed to be quietly reconciled, but they are dragging the paternity test out. Maybe it took weeks to do, but there is little play in this story. They could have at least built up the Meg / Harrison element of the story so that it didn't see so disjointed. Tracey and Scotty are a fun couple. Lee and Gail, in town for the wedding of Ned and Dawn, just showed up walked in on Scotty and Tracey together. Lee going in on Scotty, and Scotty responding in kind was a good scene. Lucy setting up Scotty in regards to the sale of Wyndemere was a nice way to keep the story going and intersecting with other parts of the canvas. I think Sam Hall has been added as a co head-writer but I'm not sure.

I'm still in 1990 (I've made it into July, but May was such a drag with the Casey stuff). In regards to the Monty article and her return, I'm in the period about six months before her return. The biggest issues I am seeing with the show is narrative structure and characterization, which are often interlinked and result in less than engaging scripts, at times. The overall show has a decent pace and enough veterans to add energy to the staler elements of the show, but the deeper I get into Gene Palumbo's run, I can see why changes were made, but I don't think they needed to be as radical as Monty went. In terms of scripts, Monty claims she was tossing the entire script writing team out and bringing in nighttime writers. I haven't checked the credits to see how accurate that is, but in what I've seen of early 1991, the scripts become very stilted by March, 1991. Lots of current event references without grounding them into the current story. Riche is able to turn the ship around even with Norma Monty still in the position in those early months in terms of script quality. For example, I find this episode incredibly strong March 31, 1992 . It comes several weeks after Norma Monty has left and there are interim headwriters before Maralyn Thoma arrives. There are just a lot of really wonderful character beats between Nikki Langton's arrival at the Quartermaine mansion, Ned recounting his marriage to Dawn to his new bride Jenny, the tension in Paul and Tracey's marriage with the beautifully awkward attempt at reconciliation, and just some general good tender moments. I know the press stated that Claire Labine also tossed the writing staff in 1993, but I know some were retained. Michele Val Jean, for example, and I believe someone else. I want to say Elizabeth Snyder, but I feel that wrong. From what people here have said, the writing staff was pretty much maintained or evolved in a healthy way until Frank and/or Ron arrived and started dismantling it, but I could be wrong on that.