dc11786

Adrienne had been reintegrated into Salem before Sonny arrived. Kurth returned as Justin in the summer of 2009 when Daniel Jonas was accused of poisoning Chloe. Kate was the actual culprit at the time going after the couple because of the ongoing affair Daniel and Chloe had while Chloe was married to Lucas and Daniel had been involved with Kate. At the time, it appeared the show was planning on playing a Justin / Hope relationship as Hope and Bo had been struggling the last year with residual resentment stemming from Zach's death. While Justin was defending Daniel, Hope and Bo were dealing with a kidnapping involving Ciara by some cop that worked for the Salem PD (Dean played by Nick Stabile). Given how stories were told at the time, I believe Bo, once again, made the decision to ice Hope out of the decision making process just as they had started to make some leeway on making things better (Hope had forgiven Chelsea before Rachel Melvin departed the show). With Bo acting alone, Hope found solace in Justin's arms. By November, Justin and Adrienne had divorced (offscreen) and Carly Manning had returned in October on the run after murdering Lawrence Alamain. A relationship between Hope and Justin was described in previews, I believe, but it was scrapped and instead the show went with Nighttime Hope. Adrienne returned in late March or early April 2010 during the start of the Nightime Hope story. Adrienne arrived to see Justin in the hospital after he had been clobbered by the mysterious attacker who had targetted powerful men (I believe other victims included Abe Carver and Charles Woods, the district attorney who had raised Chad). Adrienne was used as a voice of reason for her niece Stephanie Johnson as well as playing some romantic tension between her and Justin. She also bought the Cheatin' Heart and operated as the owner/manager. In May 2011, the show married Justin and Adrienne offscreen in preparation for Sonny's arrival in June 2011. Other than Marlene MacPhearson and Darrell Ray Thomas, most subsequent writers used Adrienne pretty consistently until she was killed off, which was a shame in my opinion.

I believe when Adrienne was brought back in 2007 after Bonnie Lockhart departed town they made Judi Evans wear a darker wig. I don't know if she wore it the entire run, but I seem to recall her donning darker hair during some sort of kidnapping.

Thanks @DRW50 @te. There were six 90-minute episodes produced and aired, but they didn't air with any consistency. Two episodes premiered in June, 1983, and then a single episode every month until October, 1983. In the summer of 1984, the show was re-run with some frequency with up to two different episodes being repeated. In terms of Showtime, it doesn't surprise me that they didn't care about "Lone Star Bar & Grill." In 1982, Showtime has launched "Romance" which was a romantic anthology. It was a story told in 5 parts. Some of it was developed for the network, but at least one story, "33 Brompton Place," was simply bought from another country and repackaged under the "Romance" banner. By November, Marland's "New Day in Eden" was launched with "Romance" folding in December. "Loving Friends, Perfect Couple" launched in January, 1983. "New Day in Eden" would air two episodes a week before rerunning six of the previous episodes in the course of a single week. These reruns ended in May, 1983, right before "Lone Star" came around.

I'm very sorry to hear about Robyn Griggs. My grandmother was a fan of the NBC shows so I remember watching some of "Another World." Tomas and Maggie (as played by Robyn Griggs) stood out as did the triangle with Angela. It seemed very much like the Sami, Austin, and Carrie story on the show proceeding it, but there was something different. Tomas and Maggie seemed more relatable. I don't know if it Maggie's look (Griggs looked like the teenager girls my cousins were friends with) or the fact that Tomas wasn't a dunce (at least I don't recall him being as dense as Austin Reed), but there was something really nice about them.

I clipped a bunch of stuff on “Road of Life” years ago that I’m starting to review. I had forgotten that after Teri Keane played Jocelyn that Elizabeth Lawrence briefly played her. Gussman would have done well in televised daytime. I’ll see what I can put together this weekend of the final years of RoL. I know that Jim Brent lingered in the Mexican desert for several weeks at some point after a car accident tied to a government project, Aunt Reggie was bilked out her fortune by Randy Ogden before dying of neglect in a shady nursing home, Francis’s old flame Cabe came to town and tempted Francis while also seducing(and I believe marrying) Nicole Malloy. “The Road of Life” and the final run of “Right to Happiness” sound incredibly strong. I wish more material was available.

Just to clarify, despite Irna Phillips claims, she was not the creator of "The Brighter Day" or "Young Doctor Malone." "Brighter Day" was created by Orin Torov and "Young Doctor Malone" is from John Pickard and Frank Provo. Irna usurped control of "Brighter Day" from Orin Torov, who had set the show in the same universe as his hit series "Ma Perkins." There was once a rather bleak letter from Orin Torov to one of the actresses (maybe Liz Dennis) informing her of his termination. I don't know if the "Joyce Jordan" story is true either about the characters starting out on one and moving to the other. Though, I know when "Women in White" ended the characters were shuffled around. I believe Karl Webber ended up on "The Road of Life" as his WiW character Dr. Kirk Harding. I don't know how long Provo and Pickard wrote for "Young Doctor Malone," but one of the men served during World War II and I believe that impacted their writing stint. Charles Gussman was the final writer for nearly a decade for "The Road of Life." He was the one who introduced the wealthy, dysfunctional Overton clan until he replaced them with the even more psychological complex and wealthy Malloy family. Tying the two together as a sort of right of passage, Sybil Overton ended up marrying Ed Malloy, the patriarch of the family, in April/May 1958 as the show was in its final year. Malloy's three children included Nicole (a neurotic who believed she would suffer the same fate as her late mother), Quentin, and Gabrielle (who ended up in a starcrossed lovers story with Frank Dana's college aged adopted son Tommy). I believe the mystery looming over the show at the end was whether or not Ed Malloy had killed his first wife, the mother of his children.

Paul McGrath was the final Dr. Jim Brent. I think Patricia Wheel returned as Jocelyn in 1957/1958 after being the originator of the role in 1950/1951.

We will probably never know what happened unless somewhere correspondence between the two pops up or some network executive has some insight. The closest thing I have been able to gather comes from Patrick Mulcahey, who wrote scripts for Marland at "Loving" in the first year. I'm pretty sure I have another Mulcahey quote in here somewhere, but this one is from Santa Barbara Online How did you start in Santa Barbara ? Thereby hangs a tale. After working with Douglas Marland on Guiding Light and then on Loving, which I hated (and where Agnes Nixon was like some psychotic schoolmarm on speed, making copious condescending red-pen "corrections" in the margins of scripts - "You used the same word on page 2 and on page 34 ! Too repetitive !") - after that, I decided I was done with writing for soaps. Douglas was the best. He'd taught me more about writing than any ten literature professors ever could have, plus I'd won an Emmy. I figured I'd never have another experience like that, so I decided go back to what I knew best : waiting on tables and writing plays at night and being a starving artist again. He has given the same variation on this response over the years in several interviews. I thought he did a similar one with WeLoveSoaps, but WeLoveSoaps is linking me to Nelson Branco's column. Either way, Mulcahey has made it abundantly clear of his displeasure for working with Nixon. To be fair, this was a woman trained by Irna Phillips so I'm sure she felt she was providing much softer feedback than she would have received, but it doesn't seemed to be received well. I cannot imagine Marland felt much differently. Marland's creator credit appears to be due to the fact that he was the show's original headwriter. Nixon wrote the bible by herself which outlined Lily's sexual abuse, the Roger / Merrill affair, and Mike Donovan's descent as a result of his failure to seek treatment for PTSD. Nixon made it clear that she felt she deserved credit for creating "Search for Tomorrow" because she was the headwriter for the first thirteen weeks even though Winsor created the concept. Marland's credit would appear to be something that Nixon agreed to on the basis that he was the first headwriter and knew that that influence would set the foundation for the show. How it went away would be more speculation. There seems to be no legal drama involved so either Marland didn't care or maybe there was some sort of financial settlement.

This period seems so strong for the show. You can see why in a few years time it ended up on television, but the television year is probably one of the least satsifying story moments in my opinion. What comes before here and what comes after is so much better. I don't remember what the reason Conrad hates Jim Brent or what trouble Hugh Overton presents, but I just love what Charles Gussman has done by transitioning the show away back to a more domestic drama set in a hospital compared to the last few years where a Carol Brent doppleganger is revealed to be a foreign spy and other less than stellar stories. I do think Carson McVickers, Jim's love interest before Jocelyn is interesting, but this set up with the Overtons and the Brents is just very strong. Also, when the show transitions from the Overtons to the Malloys in the final year or two, I think the story still remains strong. I wonder if the show increased the action due to the decision to televise the show as the show remains mostly family conflicts and such throughout the other parts of the show's run. Mostly I just want to see the story where Sybil decides to dump her child with her maid Pearl, who in turns gives the child to Malcolm and Augusta Overton who try to adopt the child until Sybil decides to change her mind and go back after the child again pitting brothers Malcolm and Conrad Overton against each other. This just seems like such a precursor to all the baby switch plots of the last decade and a half.

Interesting, @Paul Raven. From April to August 1965, Frank Provo and John Pickard were headwriters for "Love of Life." At that time, I believe all of their daytime work had been for NBC. I'm curious if AHP hired Provo and Pickard with the intention of having them make the show more in line with what NBC would have wanted. Of course, I could just be putting too much thought into this.

I was watching some May 1985 episodes today. I believe I'm a little farther than the episodes that have been uploaded to YouTube so if you are watching those uploads and don't wish to be spoiled, you've been warned. There are little things that surprise me about this period. Particularly, how long some characters are around for. I didn't realize Justine Calvert was on through May 1985 nor did I realize that she got what resembled an exit. I thought that she, like Alec Kendall, just sort of fell off when the actress' contract expired. With that said, Leslie Stevens wasn't given a formal goodbye scene, but I do like to think that her final scene with Wendy and Quinn was rather suggestive with Quinn and Justine on top of the bed and Wendy under the bed and Justine's lack of shock that she was interupting a romantic moment. If Quinn invited her to join them, I wouldn't have been surprised. On a less salacious exit, I didn't realize Angela Bassett was still appearing as Selina McCulla into May 1985. I figured her final appearance was in April when Ryder was in the hospital. Though here she was again sending someone home from the clinic (possibly Sarah Whiting after her bout with smoke inhalation). I also am impressed that the show has immediately introduced two grandkids for Stu and Jo and thrown them into a triangles with the established crew. Both entrances are suppose to be exciting, but I find them both rather odd. John Loprieno's arrival as Danny Walton during the siege on the Sentell house is wildly over the top and Loprieno plays the excess. To be fair, the direction seems to rely on extreme, nearly frantic performance such as Jane Krawkowski's TR manically delivering her dialogue about her newfound love of fast cars and announcing to Lloyd that he too will die one day. I sorta miss the over the top line reading of A.E. Houseman poetry from earlier in this writing team's run. The romantic pieces have been fun. Liza and Hogan in the cave is great. I really enjoy the decision to lean into Hogan's chauvinism. I also like that they continue to play Liza as an outdoors woman without having to mention that Liza has gone camping with Stu for years. Liza and Hogan's no feelings love affair is delightful. I also love the fact that it is Hogan that seems to have caught feelings while Liza seems more remote in her feelings. Also, I adore Joe Lambie's version of Lloyd as this point even though its very different from Peter Haskell's and very different from the direction the character is heading. Lambie definitely allows Lloyd to show a romantic side that was more emotional and while still guarded like Haskell. With that said, the stronger chemistry, for me at least, is between Lambie and Marcia McCabe, who barely anyone knew how to use during the NBC run. Sunny is still on the sidelines, Hogan is still whining about a woman needing him romantically, and Liza remains deliciously complicated throughout it all. In terms of other fun couplings, I cannot help but love Quinn and Wendy. They are just fun. Their little painting in the bathtub scene is both flirty and hilarious when Wendy realizes the paint is permanent and she cannot get it off before Suzi's wedding. Also, the decision to make Quinn Stephanie's new secretary is delightful. I just love Stephanie's little comment about males taking on secretary roles. The show which was so dry for for so long has a levity to it that I appreciate even though the serious tone was also pretty strong at the tailend of Jeanne Glynn's run. Cagney and Suzi have one of the most bizarre weddings in soap history with Suzi's visions. It's a campy disaster. It dawned on me later when Suzi and Cagney recited their vows in front of Kate in the hospital just how bad the wedding itself was. I did like Kate and Suzi's talk about contraception and couldn't help but think of how that conversation would play out today. I love that Mayer Avila and Braxton's Kate is a over protective helicopter mother who crosses lines in the lives of her children. It's such a sharper characterization in the vein of early Maeve Ryan who I remember in the first year of the show telling Jillian Coleridge she (Maeve) would never accept her (Jill) as her daughter-in-law because in the eyes of God that would always be Delia. I also have come to really like Teri Eoff, and dare say I think I like her more now that I have liked Cynthia Gibb. Eoff just embodies that quiet strength that keeps Suzi from being wallpaper but not abrasive to offend Kate. I know there was some discussion about the show positioning Kate as the matriarch replacing Jo, but I don't see that. Kate's role is clearly antagonistic. I don't see Jo in that vein at all. With that said, one of my favorite moments at the wedding was when Suzi is becoming completely unhinged Stephanie and Jo, who have squabbled during the lead up to the wedding, unite and swarm Suzi with love without judgement in a rare moment of unity. It's really a beautiful thing. I forgot that Braxton and Avila Mayer reveal that the McCleary boys are all going by their middle names. Patrick (Hogan), Liam (Cagney), and Matthew (Quinn). I don't remember if that is continued beyond their run. In some ways, and I'm going to be dodging some bullets here, the McClearys are a better version of the Ryans because they are allowed to fight and not get along. By contrast, I feel like the Kendalls have begun to evolve in a different direction. TR is spiraling. Lambie's Lloyd is enjoyable but such a different character. There seems to be little purpose to Chase who one minute seems like he might be getting back together with Adair and later seems to be seeing a mixologist trainee and buying sports cars. I know they are putting Chase and Quinn in a rivalry, but Chase seems to be floating aimless. Adair as well. I also noticed for the first time that Susan Carey Lamm bares a resemblance (at least to me) to Maeve McGuire, the actress who would play Kate after Lamm was gone. I would have loved to see the two of them play opposite one another. I like the stuff with the Caldwell House. It definitely is a slow build and there are parts I like (the bits with Hibbard giving them grief) and parts I'm not super fond of (the fire), but overall I like it gives Jo and Stu a set piece that will keep them back in the thick of things and gives Jo a rather robust kitchen set which was never fully utilized to its domestic drama potential before the show becomes daytime's answer to "Miami Vice."

Central casting for "For Richer, For Poorer" was lackluster. In the little that has popped up, Darlene Parks and Tom Happer lacked the gravitas to carry the story, which was generic at best and overdone at worst. The story shifting to Richard Backus as Jason Saxton with Julia McKenzie as Laurie Brewster Hamilton was a smart move, but it should have been done to work on finding someone strong to play those major roles. Christine Jones and Rod Arrants are strong actors, but they were pretty much sidelined. I think Jason vs. Austin was an interesting dynamic and Jason marrying Megan as this sort of naive, innocent was interesting, but this wasn't the original concept of Megan. The show did try some things that I wish would pop up. While the gang storyline seems very trite, I would have liked to have seen the pairing between Paco and Wendy Prescott, Edith's goddaughter. This seemed like an attempt to replicate the type of stories "All My Children" was telling. I think Jason arranging for one of Austin's clients with a hooker would have been an interesting sequence as well. I also would love to see more of the affair between Laurie and Jason. What's really crazy to me is how the significant batch of the show's run is overlooked. The show shifted in the final months to Tessa and Lee as one of the lead couples which was such a bizarre idea. Also, Connie Ferguson's amnesia and her involvement with Dennis Romer's Dr. Roy White seems to be a rather significant thread. None of this is overly exciting to me, but its just interesting that its overlooked.

Until I saw this list, I thought it was Susan Seaforth Hayes.

@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.