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@Joseph If you are asking who cancelled Liza's flight, I believe that was either Aja Doyan or Rusty Sentell. I believe those are holiday episodes from 1982. At the time, Rusty wanted Aja to marry Travis because a stipulation of Rusty's former father-in-law's will left Rusty in charge of a trust for Travis' child. Since Liza had trouble conceiving, Rusty wanted Travis to marry Aja. To keep Liza and Travis apart, Rusty needed to keep them apart so he either made the call to the airline to cancel the flight or had Aja do it. Since I believe Liza was in New York visiting a recording artist or agent that Rusty has arranged, I think he would have cancelled the flight.

Weren't the Hendersons created in the vein of the Matthews of "Another World" and the Hughes of "As the World Turns"? The Hendersons were farmers and Bruce had received a significant amount of the Henderson family money in order to go to medical school leaving his sister, Liz, and mother, Ma Henderson, financially strapped? As a result, there was guilt on Bruce's end because of it. I want to say the farm had to be sold because of it. I imagine that Bell might have decided he worked too much in that arena and decided to deemphasis them to try something different.

The original Chill bromance was written at a time where a lot of the script writing staff had worked for the P&G soaps in the 1980s with strong, emotionally intimate relationships between men like Rick & Phillip on GL and Jamie / Sandy on AW. They were clearly going with that type of relationship which always seemed to be dripping in homoerotic subtext so I think the writers knew what they were doing with Chill. As I recall, there was also some tension building around Kate pushing Stefano to groom Will to be his heir apparent which was why Kate kept mum about Chad's paternity. I do wish that someone would remember that Chad's arrived in town fresh out of rehab when he was introduced in 2009, but I don't think anyone has addressed that in years. The EJ & Will stuff was never subtle because both actors laid into it heavy. The possibility of EJ & Will was more interesting to me than the execution which always came across to me as a way of making Will gay without having to pair him up with anyone which would have been clever in 1982, but was trite by 2012. At the very least, they could have least let Sami think Will had bedded down with her ex-husband for a very new reason for Sami Brady to have one of her over the top meltdowns. In terms of present day, this is "Days of our Lives" written by RC. If Chad / Sonny were to happen, you know that it would only be because Dr. Rolf implanted Abigail's memories in Sonny's mind. Moral of the story is be careful what you wish for.

@KaneI definitely understood the function in the Clay story, but I wish there had been more definition to the story. Maybe it doesn't come across in the plot summaries, but it just seems like Rick is thrown on the canvas. I do like when they pair him with Cece. I do wish those 1987 episodes that were once online would reemerge at some point. @DRW50There was definitely story to mine with Tommy. I think if Tommy was brought back even when the show was still on when Dinahlee was in Clay's orbit and you had a situation with Dinahlee helping to raise Tommy, Trisha would have gone ape and it would have given her something else to whine about.

Jeanne Glynn seemed to be toying with a couple different couplings towards the end. I definitely saw the Quinn / Justine chemistry test. They had also tested Justine with Chase when Adair was out of town in the winter of 1984/1985. Wendy seemed to be heading in Alec's direction. I thought the idea of Sarah as duplicitous was delicious given that she was Jo's granddaughter and playing Wendy as the more good girl in the situation was a fun twist. I've been watching the end of 1985 and Wendy's final days are tough. I hate Bela, but I do like the setup to the Wendy / Stephanie / Bela situation though I wonder if it wasn't in the cards to make Bela the serial killer. Lloyd Battista's Rivera wasn't even in town yet if I recall correctly.

I find the fact that Rick was introduced when they had Curtis fascinating. Despite the class difference, I feel like Rick was a similar character to Curtis in that he was a scheming Alden male. I've always assumed that Rick's position came about because they had dulled Curtis so much over the years. Also, the overlap between Rick and Curtis wasn't very long (about six months? from February - August 1987?) at the start of Rick's run. While I'd always considered how Curtis impacted Rick, it's now dawning on me that Rick also may have impacted Curtis. I wonder if one of the reasons TPTB decided to play Curtis younger in the Stan Albers run was because Nummi needed to appear the eldest based on the timeline. I think Rick was mentioned once during at least once during the Alden murders though he was definitely missed once. Clay's son Tommy, on the otherhand, I don't think was ever mentioned after 1991.

If it was any other character, you can at least think that Bill, the professional photographer, took the shot.

Clearly this is a script that ran short. I wonder if the Minnie and Kate stuff was scripted or it, too, was added in order to make the episode run at the right time. Scott Feraco, Jeff Hartman #1, is probably my favorite iteration of the character. I know Richard Steinmetz's psycho Jeff got more use, but I feel like there was real potential in the Hartman family. If the show was going to go with business stories, the Aldens needed a significant rival. Jeff working for the Aldens while his father Charles had a seperate empire is intriguing to me. Also, Jeff having brothers meant that Ava could have went after a rich husband outside the Alden family tree. Thanks. @slick jones Gwyn's parents seen in flashbacks in 1987.

For all its flaws, I really enjoy 1985 and the three million different combinations of writers and producers who managed to navigate the show in a single year. The superstition story isn't my favorite and from one of the few periods I haven't really watched in depth yet (I really like Sailor and can't bare to see his final episodes). Cagney and Suzy were a hard couple to anchor the show around as Cagney was a hot head with few ambitions and Teri Eoff, while capable, was saddled with a version of Suzi was defined more by her relationship to others than any sense of inner self. Suzi going off the deep end would have been interesting or have Suzi rekindle her interest in social work. Justine as a foil for Suzi and Cagney bored me, but when they explored Justine's life outside going after Suzi, I appreciate Leslie Stevens more. The problem is the best version of Justine was really what I would have wanted for Wendy in terms of characterization. I don't mind Justine's exit. Sarah Whiting had more potential. Giving Jo a grandchild on the canvas was a smart move. Michelle Joyner was very green. I liked the original version of Sarah who was very sheltered and insecure moreso than Tomlin's take of Sarah as a schemer who only claimed to be a plain Jane. With that said, I was sorry to see Sarah murdered and more sorry that we weren't given the opportunity to see her funeral. I always imagined Sailor was intended for Liza. His first scenes, either right before or right after Erwin Nicholson's arrival as EP, he is seen in a business suit eyeing Liza from across the room. Then, the whole Sailor personality while secretly being the heir to a shipping fortune was very much in the mold of the origin story of Travis Sentell and his early romance with Liza. I suspect Glynn would have done Sailor / Liza / Lloyd / Stephanie.

The last of the episodes Tony Wright has. The ship storyline is definitely not my favorite. While I think the stuff with Jack Mahoney and Stacy Manning is pretty standard fare, I enjoyed it. I also didn't realize that Vanessa had lost her arm in a car accident prior to her arrival. For @slick jones, Stacy Manning said her mother's name was Ellen McKaufsky (spelling?). Stacy changed her name when she became a television reporter.

@victoria foxton Thanks. I'm working my way through week six (early April 1990) and I have to say things are gelling a bit better. The main stories remain Anny's pregnancy, the deconstruction of the Cox family, and the building tension within the Pressfield household over Chris' growing friendship with his new stepmother, Pamela. After being visited by a truancy officer at Toppers', Anny makes the decision to return home and try to talk things out with her parents. The confrontation between Anny, Matt, and her parents, Carl and Sophie, is fairly strong for the show. Anny proves to be as stubborn as her father, Carl, and remains determined to keep her baby and raise the child as a single mother even if she is only fifteen years old. As the conversation builds, Carl's motives become increasingly clear until he flat out states the obvious; he doesn't want to get stuck with Anny's kid the way he got stuck with his sister Bobbie's. Matt, the said child the Kubiaks were stuck with, warns his aunt and uncle that they run the risk of not only losing their daughter, but also their grandchild. The acting isn't always the strongest, and sometimes the dialogue can be a bit clunky, but the situation is well crafted. In reference to @danfling's point regarding the "Ryan's Hope" connection, the Kubiaks are a working class ethnic family, seemingly second and third generation, that contrast the upper middle class white collar Cox clan and the well off, but not untouchable, Pressfield family. Carl can be Johnny Ryan-lite at times. Anny is definitely a young woman in the mold of a Ryan girl; she wants to study law. Bobbie Kubiak is definitely a less complex Delia with Matt filling the role of the abandoned John Reid. After deciding not to have an abortion, Anny informs Lorraine, and the audience, that she wants to be a supreme court judge one day. Timing is everything. As a follow up, Anny plans to leave town by bus in order to escape her tryannical father, but soon learns you can't go far on thirty bucks. Before she can depart, Sophie and Carl show up at Lorraine's apartment, where Anny has been staying, and makes amends offering her the opportunity to return home and attend the local school which caters to the needs of teenage moms. As a further olive branch, Sophie (a seamstress) has brought a dress for Anny to wear to the Father-Daughter Dinner that evening. The Father-Daughter Dinner is shown. Despite this being an opportunity for stories to intersect, sadly it doesn't occur. The show has a limited number of female characters. Carl and Anny's arrival is one of the final moments of the episode, but we never have to see any of the actual fallout. There are moments of snickering, but there is no opportunity for Carl to defend his daughter or for Anny to react to returning to the school environment. Also at the Father-Daughter Dinner are Stacey and Melinda Cox with their dad Ian. This is the first family get together since an aborted dinner several episodes earlier where a process server arrived to deliver Virginia divorce papers. The lead up to the dinner is a ride for the Cox girls. Stacey is adamant she won't go, and Virginia has to coax her into going by refusing to let her use the car. Stacey ends up squirming out of the original plan (Stacey and Melinda going together with a dress prepared by Sophie Kubiak) and instead jets off leaving Melinda in a lurch. At the dinnner at Westdale High, Stacey arrives late wearing a provocative outfit (her shoulders are exposed, oh the horror!) Stacey goads Ian into an argument and only becomes further hurt when she realizes Ian doesn't want Stacey to make a scene because of his business connections. Stacey's rebellion continues to be a thread as Virginia Cox arrives next day for a PTA meeting to discuss dress code only to find Stacey wearing yet another provocative outfit. In the second time in this show's short run, a mother refers to their daughter as a tramp (Sophie Kubiak said something similiar to Anny upon learning she was pregnant). Later, Mr. Stevens, the science teacher, also confronts Stacey about her sullen attitude. While Stacey attempts to lash out, Melinda seeks solace from Billy, her boyfriend, who in a beautifully awkward moment tells Billy he cannot know what its like to lose the heart of his family a year after his mother's death. It is a tender moment for the couple, but its only a piece of the larger triangle developing now that Melinda has begun spending time with Billy's best friend, Matt Kubiak. When Matt Kubiak arrives to drop off Stacey's dress, Melinda hitches a ride with her knight in shining armor. While Melinda is at the dinner, Matt and Billy work on mounting a picture of Melinda and Billy. Later, when Melinda stops by Matt's place, it isn't clear whether she has come to see Matt or Billy as she is aware both of them are at Matt's. The two friends, one girl trope is rarely used anymore so I appreciate it. The final thread that is getting attention is the growing tension between Billy and Chris Pressfield over Chris' decision to try and build a relationship with their new stepmother, Pamela. Billy has finally convinced Chris to join him, Pete, and some young woman to attend a showing of "Rocky Horror" only for Chris to accept an invitation to go see an exhibit with Pamela at the museum. Billy, of course, flips when he learns that Chris is abandoning him for Pamela. Later, there is a nice scene between Bill and Billy about Chris' social isolation and how neither of them real understand him. Chris is much more sensitive and reserved than either his father or brother, which has also deflated Bill's plans to turn Chris into a salesman. Billy's latest plan to get Chris out of his shell is to throw a party at the Pressfield house to bring people to Chris. Later, Billy blows a gasket when he spots Pamela and Chris sitting in a booth at Topper's, but Pamela pushes a reluctant Chris to accept Billy's offer of planning the party. It's by no means a perfect show, but it has a lot more depth than I initially expected it would.

From how it's presented by fans in soap books, Avila Mayer and Labine's prior work was so radically different from "Ryan's Hope." I think the late 1980s was a better blend of the two styles. I'm not always the biggest champion of Millee Taggert, but I do think her stint with Tom King transitioned the show well that Labine was able to really revert back to form. I do like seeing how Labine's work tracks among her different shows. I haven't seen all of the Katherine Bell / Ned Ashton / Lois Cerullo story, but it seems like it was pretty much a retelling of the Arlene / Ben / Betsy story with the multiple wives and a rich boy at the center. I think part of the issue was that the show was basically a show about one generation of people. All the Ryan and Coleridge kids were basically in the same age so while there stories were different, they fell into same category. It seems in the 1980s, when you had the third generation Ryans and Coleridges (Johnno and Ryan and Maggie and Ben) that there was a better mix of story. I do think that Labine and Mayer kept some characters past their best sell by date. Michael Corbett was attractive and charming, but Pavel had been too tied to the mob drama. I wonder if it would have worked better if the show had put someone like Barry Ryan's never before mentioned kid brother in the storyline. This would have added a layer of conflict because the Ryans wouldn't have liked Rae getting her hands on another Ryan male. Sherry's confession to Richard Rowan's murder while Emily Hall slowly descends into a state of hysteria is marvelous. For that sequence alone, I would have loved to have seen her nominated. Comparing that moment to any of van der Vlis' work in the show's first showed her range as an actress. It's a shame that no one took advantage of her availability in the 1990s. I'm curious how she would have handled a role like Alexandra Spaulding.

I'm into week 5. The show is a bit of a bizarre mix of social issues, potential potent family drama, and a bit of an attempt to interject action sequences into a very low key show. I will say some very weak sequences build into much more interesting developments. I'm not a huge fan of the initial trig test theft story. It is silly at best. With that said, I thought Gordon Johnson introducing his son Darryl to Selina and the Teen Crisis Hotline was a nice movement. There are definitely moments that seem very Y&R-esque (Trent Jones is head-writing with Mary Ryan Munisteri, Jones would have worked at Y&R at this point right?). Darryl and Selina's sequences tend to be a sounding board for social issues (poverty, drug addiction, suicide, etc.) and the language seems very dated. I think I caught at least one character saying something was heavy, which I believe was a Bill Bell staple. Knowing where this plot is going, I am okay with what is going on in the process. It is interesting to see the start of a mini-love triangle with Darryl, his current girlfriend Rhonda (played by Lalanya Masters who appeared as Jason George's wife on the UPN series "Platinum"), and Ingrid, a computer nerd who calls Darryl at the hotline looking for help connecting to the Internet. I'm slightly more impressed with the Anny Kubiak story even though Ele Keats, the actress playing Anny, is a bit green at this point in time. At this point in the story, Anny has been avoiding school in order to make some money at Topper's and has moved in with Lorraine, the drop out with dreams of a being a fashion designer. The story has explored all the angles: Anny has visited an abortion clinic, Carl planned on sending her to live with an aunt and uncle in Detroit to conceal the pregnancy, sleazy Pete Sego has hooked Anny up with an adoption lawyer Sam Dillon in order to arrange a private adoption, and Anny seems to be open to the idea of being a teen mom. Anny's friendship with Stacey Cox is noteable. I think Keats and Valentine work really well together. Valentine's Stacey Cox seems to have the strongest arc at the moment. After hinting at problems in the Cox marriage, Stacey discovers her father, lawyer Ian Cox, in an embrace in his office with another woman. Stacey now knows her parents marriage is over. Stacey starts to act out, dressing more flashy, and going to frat parties. A lot of the show's strongest moments are very quiet like Stacey coming home late one night to find her mother, PTA queen and soccer mom Virginia Cox (played by the late Harriet Hall) passed out on the couch after drinking too much. None of the stories are overly earth shattering, but I appreciate that the perspective is different. With that said, it would have been better to have developed some of the adult stories a bit further as it would give more weight to the kids reactions. Stacey's sister Melinda (played by Lisa Lawrence, who played the notorious Sarah Kasnoff on ATWT a few years later) has a much different reaction. Melinda seeks solace from her boyfriend, Billy (Greg Watkins who would later play Evan Walsh on ATWT), but Billy is more determined to get in her pants. This leads Melinda to the arms of Billy's best friend, Matt Kubiak. Matt and Melinda are very angsty as they know they shouldn't be together, but their story is just starting. The weakest pieces tend to revolve around Jojo (Kenny McMurphy), Tina, and their issues with Matt Kubiak. McMurphy plays the role completely over the top. There isn't a subtly delivery to any line. To be fair, Jojo is a cartoon villain trying to run Matt and Anny off the road and messing with the break line on Pamela Pressfield's car leading to her car accident. Tina is equally over the top, but I appreciate that there is a brief flirtation between Tina and Matt. Tina is styled a bit like Matt's mom, Bobbie, with big hair and flashy clothes. The dynamic between Jojo and Tina matches a bit the relationship between Bobbie and her controlling boyfriends. The family dynamic pieces are interesting, but they don't have a big overarching story. For example, the situation within the Pressfield household has the potential to be explosive. Dad Big Bill Pressfield owns a car dealership and has recently married a much younger wife, Pamela, less than a year after the death of his first wife. Both sons from Big Bill's first marriage (yuppie jock Billy and quiet introvert Chris) have different reactions. Billy violent rejects Pamela and takes issue with Chris when the boy gives Pamela a chance by listening to music with her and attending Shakespearan productions together. The dynamics are intriguing, but its not really a story as much as a situation. It's interesting to see some elements of Mary Ryan Munisteri's work on "Tribes" that pops up later on her brief "Loving" stint a year later. The perspective, the young people reacting to the adult stories, is definitely the approach that was taken with the Matt Ford and Ally Rescott story. I know Millee Taggert introduced both characters before she departed, but I believe Munisteri added the Reverend Ford rape plot. I remember thinking it was odd that they only spent one day on the trial for Rev. Ford, but watching "Tribes" makes me realize the story was only about Matt. Also, the Topper of "Tribes" is definitely the pre-cursor to the Checkers set on "Loving." Lorraine Delaney talks about wanting the waitresses to have themed uniforms which was one of the trade mark pieces of Checkers. During one of Ava's many attempts to marry Paul Slavinski, Ava went to Checkers to have Cherry Jones' character help her with her wedding dress. "Tribes" is appealing in a strange way. The acting runs from truly awful to surprisingly strong depending on the actors and situations. The hardest part for me is it feels like early "Generations" where there are a lot of neat ideas, but nothing is really coming together to be cohesive.

I know this is an incredibly old comment, but I wanted to compliment you @SFK for foreseeing this. Besides "Swans Crossing" and "Fifteen" being available, 2/3 of "Tribes" is on YouTube. Out of 90 episodes that were aired, 68 are currently available. When Louise Shaffer was interviewed by Alan Locher, she revealed she was on the writing staff of a show headed by Mary Ryan Munisteri that was abruptly cancelled when Pinkerton guards came into the studio to remove everyone when production was halted and no one informed the cast, the writers, or the crew. Shaffer was referring to "Tribes." I think this resolves the issue of 95 episodes vs 90 episodes that has come up over the years. Since the show wasn't filmed in order, it is likely there were 5 uncompleted episodes that had been filmed at the time of the show's abrupt cancellation. Also, because of the suddeness of its conclusion, scripts were written through at least episode 107 per copyright information availble. I thought I had once found copyrights through episode 112 or 113 but I can only find through 107 now. I've begun a rewatch of what's available. I usually don't get passed the 20s. @slick jones I'll post any new information I come across. Just off the bat, Nick Benedict's character Earl was not only a gambling creditor, he was Pete Sego's abusive dad. Not sure if his name is also Sego, but I'll let you know. Also, Ana Arthur's Dinah character was Pete's older sister who was married and came back to town around the time Pete was dealing with legal issues stemming from raping Stacey Cox. Something I appreciate about "Tribes" is the show is basically a traditional soap opera but told through the perspective of the younger characters. I'm in the middle of week two and lots of the drama results from the characters' family ties. Anny Kubiak, honor student and potentially the first person in her family to go to college, gets pregnant and passes out at the school dance. Anny's father Carl, a working class man, knows that Anny is hiding something. When she does reveal the truth, Carl is more upset that Anny thinks that he might hate her than being mad about her being pregnant (even though he is clearly not pleased). The tension then builds between Anny and Carl about who will handle the pregnancy and how. Melinda Cox seems to sense that there is something going on at home because her dad missed her mother's birthday and all his clothes have been removed from his bedroom closet. When her boyfriend Billy tries to make a move, Melinda blows up at him. The women in Matt Kubiak's life that are causing him the most grief are his mother, Bobbie, who he hasn't seen in years, and his cousin Anny, who he feels he needs to protect. Darryl Johnson, who helps his friends steal their trignometry test, gets berated by his father Gordon for his behavior with Gordon going on how Darryl will be judged harsher because he is African American while Darryl brushes off race. Mostly, I find the show enjoyable given the fact that it doesn't shy away from the heavier issues. It was rather somber to listen to waitress and aspiring fashion designer Lorraine Delaney explain to pregnant teen Anny that she (Lorraine) had had an abortion several years prior with both women discussing the need to make the decision that was right for them given yesterday's ruling.

re: Seneca / Kim / Michael / Rae I haven't rewatched the 1980s episodes in several years, but I always liked the plotting in the story with Michael, but, if I gave it more thought, none of the characters came off as all that appealing. Seneca and Kim's initial "Lolita" storyline was off putting and Kim's other options (Sam Behren's Dr. Adam Cohen and Robert Lupone's director character) seemed older than they should have as well. The closest Kelli Maroney got to an age appropriate love interest in her first run was Paul Carlin's quickly dropped alcoholic rich kid Craig LeWinter. Also, the story played itself in such a bubble. Jill was occasionally concerned about her friend and former husband, Seneca, and Jack occassionally intersected with Rae for professional reasons. None of the other significant ties (Michael in the Crystal Palace with Joe and Delia and Barry being Kim's manager) ever seemed to give the story enough connection to the other ongoing story threads. I actually felt it was smart during the Writer's Strike to have Kim run off with baby Arley to the Ryans' home because that was a way of bringing that story into the Ryans' realm. Labine and Mayer had shifted so much in their writing from their work on "Where the Heart Is" and "Love of Life" with the Ryan family that I do think that mother-daughter duo Rae Woodard and Kim Harris seemed out of place in the RH-universe, however, I think they were very much in the Labine and Mayer tradition. The frame of the story with Rae taking on Michael as her personal assistant and giving him a worldly education while Michael and Kim snuck around seemed to be grounded a bit in the Meg, Caroline, and Rick story that Labine and Mayer wrote on "Love of Life." Not just because of the mother-daughter being after the same man, but the whole older woman exerting her wealth over the man to keep him in her grip (Meg, I believe, was funding Rick's business venture, the Beaver Ridge complex). Also, elements of the story also seemed to be grounded in the machinations of Liz Rainey Hathaway from "Where the Heart Is" with the young girl from a troubled home using her past to manipulate her parents while also involving herself in a triangle with a father-son duo. The difference with those two stories and the Kim, Michael, and Rae story is those other stories were connected to the main thrust of the story. The RH story played out in its own universe.

Friday, May 18, 1984 We've seen part of this episode before (the gambling scenes). It's nice to see it in it's full content. This must be very early in Alice Mitchell's run. Another mention of the unseen Valerie Krystopolis. The decision to focus on only two stories was an interesting choice. Not necessarily one I would have made, but I think the writers were trying to mirror Beau's minor windfall with the decline of the Catlin fortune. This is a very P&G group of actors both past and present at the time of this episode. Michael Forest had only been playing T.J. for less than three months when this was filmed. Forest just fits very comfortably into the role. Then tension between Jonathan and Dirk is interesting and had the potential to be capitalized upon. I believe the Catlins boat was seized because of the drug shipments Dirk Stack had been running through the Catlin freighters while he was in cahoots with Cullen Quinn. Jonathan's drug commission may have been the ones to take down the Catlin ships. Then again, I may be adding subtext that really wasn't suppose to be there. The gambling stuff is a kick off to a summer storyline involving horse racing. In the July 1984 episode, Jacqui can be seen sitting at the track drinking a coke while Maggie Catlin walks by. There ends up being a bit of a triangle with Jacqui, Beau, and Woody as Woody had lost out on a chance with Maggie when she choose Dirk. By the fall, Woody and Jacqui are living together. In December, it comes out that Jacqui and Dr. Peter Crane, Vanessa's ex-husband and Jennifer Catlin's love interest, knew each other in Europe where Peter had treated Jacqui for a brain tumor that may or may not be operable. Shortly thereafter, Jacqui becomes pregnant and she and Woody make plans to marry with the tumor forgotten (it may have been resolved, I've seen only a handful of episodes) but now threatened by the potential of Maggie Catlin returning one day to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. Whether Maggie actually came back, it is unknown. Like Valerie, Maggie is mentioned a lot in the episodes I've seen but rarely seen.

I believe P&G played a role in “The Catlins” from the beginning, but it was more informal. P&G’s vanity card didn’t appear until March/April 1984 around the show’s first anniversary. Despite this, I do believe C.T. McIntyre tried to sell the company on the show before it’s premier but I think P&G waited to see how things went. The cast changes began fairly early in the show’s run. Julie Ridley was in the role of Maggie no later than July, 1983. Prior to acting, Ridley had been in a production role. The rest of the changes occurred when Steve Lehrman, a former “Edge of Night” script writer, was tapped to head write the show in the summer/fall of 1983. By that point, it was a mix of hiring local talent and New York talent for the contract roles. I believe J. Don Ferguson and Muriel Moore were let go because the show wanted T.J. and Annabelle to be the mature romantic leads so they went younger with Michael Forest and Pamela Burrell. A lot of the early press stated P&G was involved in the production. One said it was bankrolling the show so it does appear they had a major stake from the beginning.

@DRW50 Thanks! I'll comment more later, but something I wanted to point out was from the Dawn Young video. I knew Young had appeared fairly early in the show's run (circa November 1983-January 1984). When Jennifer Anglin arrived in April 1984, Jennifer had returned from Paris where she was spending time with Young's character Valerie Kristopolis, the Greek shipping heiress her father had an affair with. I haven't seen Valerie in any of the videos that have appeared online. Young's video confirmed the timeline with her appearing in photos with J. Don Ferguson, who was released from the part of T.J. Catlin prior to March 1984. What I hadn't realized was that Dawn Young returned as Valerie Kristapolis in the show's final months. During the video, it is very clear she is part of the Casablanca story. Not only are the outfits and sets similar, Young clearly is in shots with Robert Sacchi and John Archie. Also Archie is wearing the same scarf in both videos. Also, as bad as the younger drug storyline looks, I'm still impressed that this show seemed to be teasing a romance between the white troublemaker Roxy Granger and African American teen MG O'Neil. MG was the son of James O'Neil, who's mother worked for the Catlins and had been raised alongside the Catlin brood as a surrogate 6th child. Also, I had thought Roxy looked familiar, but never in a million years would I have guessed it Tracy Griffith (Melanie Griffith's half-sister and Ruby Monroe from "The Monroes").

Thanks @Paul Raven for the “Mary Marlin” article. I hadn’t been that interested in that show until reading Anthony Heilbut’s book “The Fan Who Knows Too Much” and have since been fascinated. He describes some the shows occult elements which is pretty wild for the time period. Lots of people carrying on conversations with ghosts (I don’t think the ghosts responded) and Joe, in Russia, hearing Mary’s prayers for him from Washington, D.C. I think there may even bye a sequence where Jane Cruisenberry, the writer, wrote a scene from the perspective of a bird.

Casting under Ellen Wheeler was tough. No one may have been truly horrible, but no one stood out other than Pelphrey (at least initially). To be fair, it may have been the lack of rehearsal or direction but so many new hires from that era were just wallpaper (Michelle Ray Smith, Mandy Bruno, Jessica Leccia, Bonnie Dennison, Kane Manera, etc.) I don’t think the writing helped much. So many times the show between 2005 and 2008 tried to pass off static storytelling as character driven when it was simple plotless. I know the budget was a mess and Zimmer’s refusal to take a cut hurt the show. As someone who enjoyed Reva at the time, I felt her character was still in the thick of things. I also felt her stance of demanding her contract be upheld wasn’t irrational. With all that said, I think a different EP would have just let Zimmer go and I don’t think that would have been the end of the world. For the last decade or so, I’ve wondered if “Guiding Light” could have pulled off a “Days of our Lives” style revamp (2008-2009) where they were basically the walking dead, dump a ton of the top salary actors, and managed to stay on the air. For example, could the show have dumped a significant portion of the remaining San Cristobal and mob contingent and told quieter stories with a mix of newer characters and some mid tier people? Instead, Wheeler/Kriezman tried writing a show without consideration of budget and trying to have recurring characters carry story. I always felt that the “Days of our Lives” of 2008-2011 had the texture of a P&G story while the plotting could skew more to the over the top. Also, given the demographics changed during Conboy and Weston, it might not have hurt to just tell good long story with a consistent cast and playing the beats along the way.

@Soaplovers It does seem like Barbara, and to an extent Bruce’s former mother-in-law Vivian Carlson. I’ve read newspaper articles where Tudi Wiggins announced she wasn’t going to renew her contract in 1980 had the show continued. Ann Marcus seemed to be setting up Dana Russell’s Amy Russell. Despite the obvious Bruce connection, I think Marcus would have paired up Amy and Steve Harbach, the former cell mate of Ben’s who decided to study law upon his release from prison. Steve had developed a crush on the older Vanessa. In December, 1979, Amy and Steve attended Timothy Caufield’s wedding to Sarah Dale. If a romance developed, I imagine Steve’s attraction to Vanessa would have escalated the tension once it was revealed Amy believed Bruce was her father. I think the Amy / Vanessa dynamic would have been very interesting to see play out. I wonder what Marcus’ plans were for doctors Tom Crawford and Lianne Wilson once Meg was gone. Dr. Andrew Marriott seemed to be looming with a romantic interest in Lianne even though I suspect they could have eventually played Meg and Andrew more seriously. I wonder if Barbara Sterling would have assumed that role. I believe @saynotoursoap said Barbara was set to return at some point in this thread.

Online, I’ve only seen the clip you have posted. The Paley Center in New York has the premier episode of “For Richer, For Poorer.” Amy and Austin are seen towards the end welcoming Rachel Cory for a visit.

Regarding “Woman in White,” I believe the main characters ended up on “Road of Life.” This was the one Karen Adams, correct? I don’t know how long they were on the other series, but their story didn’t end immediately.

The 1962/1963 projection was from the book “From Ma Perkins to Mary Hartman” it can be found on page 7 of this thread. Meg’s return is briefly set up at the end of the projection. It looks like it was a Don Ettlinger story. I think Ettlinger may have left around this time so it may be a case of a new writer scrapping it. The 1968/1969 plot was from “Writing for Television.” Sarah Dale is described as a judgmental zealot who’s presence in the Sterling household after she sold her house in Barrowsville and without warning moved in with her daughter and son-in-law caused tension in Bruce and Van’s marriage. This tension lead to Bruce becoming involved with a character who was never introduced but I believe the character became Marsha Mason’s Judith Cole.

I think we know of at least two attempts to bring back Meg in the 1960s. The first was around 1963-1964 when the Phillip Holden / Kay Logan were characters. Meg was suppose to return as the head of real estate office I believe. This was in some soap opera history book that had monthly summaries based on projections. The second attempt was later around 1968/1969 around the time Roy Winsor had taken control of the writing room. Meg was suppose to return when Sarah Dale was on her death bed and then was to stick around to go after money from the sale of the family home if I recall correctly. At some point in the 1960s, Winsor felt that his shows needed to extend beyond the small circle of characters that had previously dominated his shows. This was around the time the Ames family started to fade out on “Secret Storm.” I wonder if this had any impact on Meg’s return earlier in the decade. Obviously, by the end of the decade, this course seemed to be reversed and the Ames came back to SS and Meg was slated for a return.