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Didn't Robert Mandan return for one of the "Search for Tomorrow" anniversary party during the years he was on "Soap." I feel like I've seen a picture of that. By that time, the late 1970s, there weren't many people left but Mary Stuart and Larry Haines from that era. I think a lot of the soap stars who were there a long time felt very protective of their shows, and naturally their roles on the show. They certainly had more years with the company then so many other people who came and went. You read that Victoria Wyndham article and there is that same vibe. I think there's a reference to Mary Stuart suggesting that they use the theme music for one of her love triangles, maybe Sam / Jo / Tony. Jo would hear the other man's tune based on whichever man she was with to let the audience know she was also thinking of the other man. I know Susan Seaforth Hayes has talked about making suggestions that have received mixed reactions. It's really great to see some of that 1984 material. I know Ellen Barrett's work isn't beloved, but I do think that she, or maybe the writers, do seem to commit to certain character types that were established on the show. Victoria Windsor seems to be a successor to Aja Doyan as the TI scientist. I don't think much happened with her and Hogan because he left in the fall and she was gone before he came back. It was nice to see the end of Travis Sentell. So it seems like this was more like a soap opera death than an actual death. I wonder if the body they buried would eventually be revealed to be Ringo's. Unless someone has more info about the followup. The train accident was neat for that moment where Sunny had to deliver the news. That was incredibly effective. It's great seeing the early stuff between Adair / Chase / Alec. I think if they could have kept any combination of actors for a substantial length of time that stuff could have worked. I really wish we saw more of Kevin Conroy as the sort of sh%t stirrer he seems like in these episodes. By the time the AOL episodes roll around, he is a bit more tortured by Alec's death and pining for Adair. I don't get all of the background story between the characters. Did Adair know the Kendall brothers before coming to town? I'm pretty sure Alec and Chase come in June 1984 after the casting purge (Ringo, Warren, Brian, Travis and Kristen), Adair and Alec's conversation seems much deeper than several weeks. I either didn't know or had forgotten that Jo went back to college. That was cute.

I hadn't considered the element of Gwyn's frumpishness in connection to Trisha's death. That would make sense. My problem more lies in the way we are getting there. In my opinion, you have a lot of characters who are acting very idiotically in order to generate the mystery. I guess I can buy that Curtis would frame Buck, who was already in jail but might possibly get out even though it just made him look guilty. I don't buy that Isabelle would light candles from a mysterious person when people are being murdered left and right. I don't get a sense from the writing that Alex Masters knows these characters as well as he does. I really struggle with Alex attacking Curtis without any sort of feeling for someone who once called him Dad. Or that Alex was once Clay Alden. I just don't get the sense of any of that. I did appreciate the moment where Alex broke down after Cabot and Isabelle died. That rang true to me. On the otherhand, I definitely think there are seeds to this story. The idea of the Alden family being cursed, ala the Kennedys, had been suggested for several years prior to the killings. The Alden in peril plot was pretty successful when Dante came to Corinth. I also think that there is an attempt to connect to the pilot. I don't think there had been reference to WCN-TV, or whatever the station is, since Merrill left. The logo on the station from Richard's broadcast seems to be very similar to the one featured in the pilot. It would have been interesting to link the two killers. Maybe reveal that the killer's actual mother was Amelia Whitley or something. I don't know. I understand why most people enjoy the story. It brings an energy that wasn't really there even during the better runs of the show. It's just such an adjustment because "Loving" is a quieter show. Those big stories (the crossover/the Universal remote) rarely worked. What worked best was investing in characters and a long story, which was nearly impossible with the turnover. Nixon and Josie Emmerich seem to have a fairly lengthy run together (maybe a full year). I think that's the longest combo since Taggert & King with Joe Hardy. I think Babbin and Taggert made a year, but Tom King left at one point so even that wasn't without change. I think it feel more modern than anything that came before it. It is definitely more adult, in a different way. than what had been happening. It feels like the show is set more in the real world. It's not something I require of my soaps though. I think of the Tim Burton "Batman" films. That world feels right for those characters. I feel like my ideal soap town crazy things can happen as long as the characters react the way one would given that situation. I feel, in this case, plot is coming first. People may argue otherwise and I can respect that. At the end of the day, this is the story people most remember the show for, which I feel is unfortunate in the sense that it is not a true representation of what the show aimed to be or could be. It also suggests that this world was mostly expendable. If this was a English language telenovela, I would be completely cool with it. It reminds me of a Brazilian series "A Proximia Vitimia," which was rerun in the states in the late 1990s. I will say I think it speaks to Harmon Brown and Essensten's range that their revamp of "Loving" and their revamp of "Port Charles" went in two complete different directions while maintain some similar elements. Yet, it is also modern in the sense that this new crop of characters are so unlikeable. I don't remember disliking Tony or Danny as much as I what I've seen of the last few months of "The City," but Danny is awful and Tony is propped by Alex to no end. Catherine Hickland does her best with writing that really roots against her in every conceivable way. My apologies about OJ. I knew there was almost a full week of preemptions in July that through things off that I was always told was connected to OJ. @DRW50 The actors make the show work. They seem to manage to always find something at the core of the character to make whatever characterization whatever new writer gives them to work. I'm sure it helped this was back in the day when people had time to rehearse and directors had time to give notes.

The church was a hold over from Trisha and Trucker's 1992 wedding. It's a nice set. I believe it is used one more time. Someone gets stranded there during a rainstorm. I want to say it is Trucker and Dinahlee, but that would be a guess. Dennis Parlato is very good and had the ability to make truly terrible stories tolerable. When he came on, Clay was gaslighting Stacey and had tricked her into marriage. It's a really bizarre story that has bits of Shakespeare and Carmryn Manheim thrown in there for good measure. Anyway, he sells it as best he can, but its pretty bad. This is during the tailend of the year Addie Walsh is credited. When Guza and Taggart come on in January 1993, the story is quickly wrapped up and Stacey is thrown at Jeremy Hunter. Parlato's Clay is left to pine for Dinahlee, who is, naturally, pretty disgusted with him. In those funeral episodes, you can see that Dinahlee and Curtis become involved. If I can find time, I'll try to get the ones including Trisha's death on there. There is a good Clay / Cooper scene and some nice Clay self loathing that is pretty memorable. Parlato plays Clay perfectly. I think he plays Clay with a tragic self awareness that the writing (at its best) really supports. OJ is was 1994. "Loving" was preempted a lot. Not for entire shows, but for chunks. I'm not sure this was so much a case of actual catching the audience up as much as it may have been a chance for the production staff to have an extra week to create the sets for "The City." They were filmed in the same building weren't they? @DRW50 Collins manages to sell a lot of story she shouldn't be. At times, I think of her like Arianne Zuker. Two actresses who have mostly bad storylines during their times on their respective shows, but manage to make the character stay when they could have easily been tossed away. I don't hate Malloy and Collins, but it's such a weird take on the characters. Malloy comes in with Addie Walsh in January 1992 and Noelle Beck is out for maternity leave in February 1992. Walsh backburners Ava / Paul / Flynn / Carly in preparation to write them out and play this storybook romance. It's bizarre. Its a story that works if you accept Larkin Malloy's romantic lead version of Clay, which is clearly how the character is written. Those spring 1992 episodes are mostly interesting in the sense that it shows what the pre- college revamp looked like. In context of Beck's maternity leave, I think they played up the Hannah angle, which would have been less necessary if Trisha was on the scene. I am the one who complained about how Walsh handled Carly / Flynn. In a month, Carly connects again with Flynn, they become engaged, Flynn dies, and Carly turns to alcohol. It's a little much. I suspect that Walsh followed whatever outline Mary Ryan Munisteri left for the storyline, but just didn't spend any time developing it the way that Munisteri did. There is quick storyline (briefly talked about by Carly in that first episode) where Michael develops a heart condition. I speculate that Munisteri, a student of Claire Labine, may have been the one to develop a child in a medical crisis storyline. Maybe I'm wrong. When it came to Munisteri, there was more character working and emoting than under Walsh. Walsh seemed to move the story along at a quicker pace, but I struggle to get emotionally invested in the characters. The Louie/Dinahlee relationship is very sweet and Larkin Malloy/Bernie Barrows also play well off each other. I don't think Parlato and Barrows had many scenes together, and Clay doesn't even go to the offscreen funeral for Louie. What happens to Tudor is awful, but also typical "Loving." She comes back in April/May 1991 when Tom King is leaving. By summer, Taggart is also gone as is Jacquie Babbin. Under Sears/Munisteri, Gwyn is still a sexually desireable. Richard Cox's Giff Bowman is brought on for her. They have a great dynamic, which is why I am rather disappointed they did what they did to Giff. A triangle in 1994/1995 with Cox / Parlato / Tudor-Newman would have been dynamite. Anyway, Walsh ends it Gwyn and Giff in January when she arrives and never looks back. Walsh planned to redo the "let's force Gwyn and Clay to remarry" plot which had been abandoned in 1991 with the turnover in writing, producers, and cast (Horan and Herrera both departed). In many ways, this is the start of the decline of Gwyn as a well a renaissance. While Walsh doesn't overemphasis Gwyn's love life, there is an intense introspection into her personal life. Gwyn reflects a lot on being the poor daughter of a minister who arrives at the Alden mansion as Anne Alden's charity case and ends up marrying into the family. Isabelle grooms Gwyn to take over Alden, but it seems mostly to be a ploy to get Clay back in AE. Some of the strongest scenes, in my opinion, of early Walsh is Gwyn looking back on how she has come to be where she is in her life. It's just a shame she couldn't have done it with Giff Bowman at her side. By those spring 1992 episodes, they are still playing Gwyn as a threat to Clay and Dinahlee's happiness. When Gwyn and Clay do remarry, it is summer of 1992 and now Haidee Granger is in. This all changes rather quickly. Walsh's major plotline seems to be Clay's paternity story. So Clay stays at the center, but Dinahlee and Gwyn kind of get lost in the plot. Gwyn marries Clay in June and has annulment in July. Clay leaves Dinahlee after learning Tim Sullivan was his father and comes back to Corinth ready to make people pay. Dinahlee ends up collateral damage in the Stacey / Clay marriage though Clay remains a threat to Curtis / Dinahlee. Gwyn is always around Clay, but I imagine in the same way "Search for Tomorrow" would have Stu and Jo improve phone conversations. Gwyn/Clay was a nice relationship to fall back on. After the Dinahlee/Clay/Gwyn story ends, Gwyn is given a C-level romance with Armand Rosario, who is the Alden lawyer who initially represented Trisha in her custody hearing. Armand remains on contract through August 1993, but Guza and Taggart dump the romance pretty quickly into their run. Gwyn is portrayed as more pathetic under Guza/Taggert. Her relationship with Buck is often treated like she has scored herself a gigolo and there are jokes about Gwyn being a grandmother. Nixon, like most writers, dumps the Buck relationship pretty quickly to focus on Gwyn and Clay during the Dante Partou story. It is a nice story thread, but it doesn't develop into anything big in terms of their relationship. By January, they've already teased both Clay / Deborah, Clay / Steffi, and Gwyn / Jeremy, which brings you well into 1994. I do like that Steffi views Gwyn as a legitimate threat to her happiness with Clay and I suspect Nixon had Gwyn / Clay as endgame with Jeremy ending up with Tess. Yeah, the constant dropping of Gwyn's relationships creates this façade of Gwyn being frumpy and certainly the clothing choices don't help. Susan Keith doesn't do well under Walsh or Munisteri. Munisteri uses her as a lawyer. Walsh gives her a brief romance with John Schneider and then has her on the backburner the rest of her run. Taggart and Guza give Keith the Shana / Leo / Ava story which definitely plays on the idea that Shana is less sexual than Ava, but more attractive. James Carroll and Susan Keith have some rather intense love scenes early on in the romance. Shana and Leo are well written. They start to peter out in the tail end of Taggert/Guza's run, but the show was transitioning from the second act of the story (the baby might have developmental issues) to the third act (Shana takes over the reigns of Burnells'). Nixon doesn't play any of the Shana takes over Burnells' story instead focusing the story solely on the baby's problems. Also, a lot of the fire in the Shana / Leo relationship came from Leo's characterization; a more typical Guza male, openly chauvinistic and needing be in control. A lot of their energy came from Shana playing against it and more often than not proving Leo wrong. Nixon immediately waters down Leo, which, in turn, gives Shana less to do. I apologize for rambling.

Since there were questions about Trisha's exit from Corinth. These are her last few episodes starting with her funeral and the reveal she survived the crash.

Like has been mentioned, I think the main attempts were the rape accusation and saving Tyler when he fell down the well. There is even some dialogue in these episodes where Danny downplays his role because he specifically didn't shoot Casey. I do appreciate that Casey manages have some legacy on the show through Ally's photography and Steffi naming her daughter Casey. I don't think Ally and Danny could have worked, not that doesn't mean it didn't stop them from trying. If "Loving" had continued as "Loving," the best bet the show had was bringing on a recast Cooper. I also think the show might have been well suited to have tried and lured Eric Woodall back as Matt Ford. I think if they had Matt Ford return as a cop involved in the drug storyline working undercover they could have accomplished what they were trying to do. I think it would have blended what they were trying to do with Tony and Danny more effectively. The episodes I have rarely have credits. I don't know if King was brought on contract or recurring in 1994. I cannot imagine that the show wasn't aware that Weatherly or Stewart might leave. There should have been some contingency plan in place. However, everyone was jumping ship at the time. All the good will that Nixon had bought the previous year was gone because Weatherly, Stewart, Collins, and Tyler quit. Sidelining Marcantel was clearly a mistake. They could have easily gone the route of Buck / Stacey / Curtis for a bit before bringing Jack Forbes back to town. I recently read that Dennis Parlato had informed Jean Dadario Burke he wasn't resigning with the show either and that he had only stayed on into the summer because of the revamp. The last episode is on YouTube. Charles and Lorraine get back together, but I thought they were staying in Corinth. I don't think Bree or Frankie are featured, but maybe they are. Amelia Heinle was very good on "Loving." Nixon spends most of 1994 crafting her into one of the best drawn characters on the show at the time. For their time and their show, I think Coop and Steffi were a decent draw. My guess is they knew that they couldn't keep Heinle, but they figured they might get people to watch "The City" if they could see Cooper and Steffi reunite and leave together. I agree. When Charles was first introduced, I didn't care much for his backstory (the dead fiancée), but when they focused on Charles and Frankie, I liked the story a bit better. I think there was some interesting beats to the original Charles / Angie relationship involving Frankie's jealousy and the frank talk about sex in the age of HIV and AIDS. I also really like Janie Sinclaire, Buck's daughter who was involved in kidnapping Angie and later dates Frankie. I think it was a mistake to kill her off so quickly. Bree is more interesting than I expected. There are definite shades of Steffi Brewster to her with the model with mommy issues. I think Pat Baxter is a wonderful talk to. I'm surprised they didn't bring her back to AMC when they Jesse / Angie returned towards the end even briefly.

Marland penned an incest story for "A New Day in Eden" around the same time. Emmett Clayborne was an attorney or the Lewises, the central rich family in the story. He had a daughter, Cynthia, who was a nursing student played by Britt Hefler, who would incidentally later play Lilly Slater during her late 1980s return. I don't know how long they played the Cynthia / Emmett relationship, but right before Emmett left town it was implied he had taken Cynthia, who was in her bathrobe, into a room and raped her. Around the same time, Logan Clayborne, Emmett's son, arrived in Eden looking to find out why Emmett had run their mother out of Eden years ago. Logan was also curious about what had led to Emmett keeping Cynthia and his mother taking Logan. Logan's investigation led him to his father's study in the final episode. Before Logan could determine anything there was a gun shot. The storyline was never resolved. Never specifically shown, it would appear that Emmett had returned to town and shot his son. As the show wasn't renewed, the storyline wasn't resolved as far as I know. I imagine that Logan's shooting, possible death, would have played out as Garth's murder trial would have with the revelation. Someone would have been accused of shooting Logan with Emmett being the actual shooter and Cynthia being forced to testify in court what her father had been doing to her. I wouldn't be surprised if Marland left projections with something similar for Phillip. Nixon replayed some of the Donovan story elements from 1983 in 1994 return. Angie is exposed to HIV which is an obstacle in her relationship with Charles. I wonder if there was something similar planned with Noreen and Mike. Curtis suffered from post traumatic stress like Mike did. I think the show eventually turned Trisha into the heart of the show. Of course, she doesn't arrive until December 1984. When Trisha leaves, the show doesn't really have that sort of central couple from what I gather. Had Michael Weatherly stayed, I imagine it would have been Coop and Steffy. The Casey / Ally / Cooper / Steffy quad had potential to play out for a long time if the show had continued and people hadn't left. Kate Rescott was positioned into the moral compass position down the line. After Louie dies, Dinahlee asks her to come work at Pins, which gives her a location to spout advice to everyone. She definitely becomes a go-to for Dinahlee and Curtis for a bit and is always advising Ava, Ally, and the men in their lives. I haven't seen much of Roya Megnot as Ava. She seems really competent and fun. Her Ava also seems very different from Peluso's Ava, who seems to change with whoever is writing her at the moment. Peluso seems to play whatever she is given. Nixon seems to position Ava as a more mature romantic lead than she had been in the last few years. Nixon's Egypt is much more over the top until the last few episodes of Linda Cook's 1994 run.

Danny Roberts shows up late in 1994. He was Casey's drug dealer. This is why everyone has an issue with Danny. After Casey and Ally married, they bought a home that Casey was trying to support on just his income as a photographer. At this stage, Ally had made the decision to be a full time mom. In the fall, Casey started becoming fearful that he was going to end up like his father Giff, who I believe they diagnosed as bipolar. Casey saw a therapist for a hot minute, but flipped out when the individual tried to diagnose him. As the pressure mounted, the bills, the fear of being his father, not being able to spend time with his family, Casey started using drugs to cope (cocaine, I think). At this point, Danny Roberts arrives. My last episodes are from January 1995. Danny is pushing Casey to purchase more of his product. At this point, Ally and Coop are aware of the issue. Casey left a bag of coke in his camera bag and Tyler found it. Nothing serious happened, but Coop wanted Tyler out of the household. At the same time, Steffi and Coop are together and her eating disorder has reemerged. She also may have resorted to using drugs with Casey. I'd have to look over them again. Anyway, between the winter and the spring, Casey was caught purchasing drugs or something that led him to become involved with the police department. The Corinth PD was looking to take down a drug ring. Lisa Brown was brought in to play a federal agent as a part of the story. I think they were trying to take down Danny's supplier, who turned out to be Graham, a member of the police department. I believe he was commissioner. During the climax of the drug storyline, Casey was shot and killed. Paul Anthony Stewart's contract was up. I believe he, like Michael Weatherly several months before, chose not to renew his contract. Graham's capture is some of the shading to the Corinth murders investigation. Because the chief of police was a drug dealer, Charles is being very by the book.

This is the episode with the Buck / Stacey montage. It's a little longer than the one from one Stacey died.

The original Tess / Buck / Curtis stuff was Millee Taggert and Robert Guza. They arrived in January 1993. Dinahlee ended up at Trucker's cabin with "Ronnie," her mystery man, in February. Taggart had sent Curtis off to the Persian Gulf in March 1991. Somewhere in between, Curtis had met up with Buck and they both had met Tess Wilder, who was married to a wealthy but dangerous Middle Eastern man. Tess convinced Curtis to help her escape her husband and Buck was going to fly the plane to get them out of Kuwait. During Tess' escape, Dante showed up and Curtis was forced to shoot him. While Curtis was shooting Dante, Tess and Buck flew away on Buck's helicopter. This is all backstory that is revealed over several months. Initially, we just know Tess as the woman that was between Curtis and Buck. In May, Tess shows up at a medical clinic in Maine where Trucker has taken Christopher to get some peace after Trisha's death. Tess follows Trucker back to Corinth and gets a job as Christopher's nanny. Buck and Curtis are both concerned that Tess is back. Tess is blackmailing Buck and Curtis into silence. Curtis has killed a man and Tess knows that Buck was scheming when he first arrived in Corinth. When Tess leaves her job as Christopher's nanny, she ends up working as a secretary at AE when Curtis arrives to work there before he leaves town. Tess still has the gun that Curtis used to kill Dante. At the same time, she tracks down Mac Huston, Trucker and Buck's father, and brings him to town. Mac claims to be dying of an illness that would require expensive treatment. In late August or early September, right before Guza and Taggert leave, Tess reveals Mac has been conning Trucker and Mac reveals the same about Tess. This is around the time that Curtis and Dinahlee are talking about having a baby until Curtis learns that Dinahlee has been secretly on birth control. Curtis torches Pins right around the time Nixon arrives in September 1993. When Dante appears in late October 1993, this is Nixon. Nixon reframes Alex Masters return story stating that the reason he came to town was to protect Clay Alden and he used the excuse that he was in love with Ava as his cover. Dante menaces the Aldens while taking over Dinahlee's apartment above the bowling alley. It is there that Dante keeps his mystery prisoner. There are definite homoerotic elements to the Dante / Curtis story that are played up. When we first learn of Dante's 'friend,' Dinahlee suspects that Joe (Dante's alias) is hiding a lover from Dinahlee. Joe admits he has another male in the apartment before revealing it is a cat. It is Dinahlee who suggests that Joe name his new cat "Kitty." Dante spends the rest of the time referring to the guest as Kitty. After a couple weeks, it becomes clear that Curtis is the person even though he isn't seen. They even reshoot pictures with Chris Marcantel in the role before he is actually seen as Curtis. Kidnapping Curtis was only part of Dante's plan. He also learns that Buck wants money so that he can support Stacey, who is well off thanks to Jack. Buck gets involved in a stock market transaction with John Bolger's Malcolm Christopher, who is on Dante's payroll. Dante also starts tormented Tess by first sending her a scarf she wore on their wedding day and later putting a spider in her flowers at the fashion show. It is the spider that leads everyone to think that Dante is the one tormenting the Aldens. Dante kidnaps Dinahlee and holds her hostage in a cave. I believe Curtis also turns himself over hoping that he will be able to save Dinahlee. In the end, it is Tess who turns herself over to Dante, offers to kiss his spider tattoo, and then plans to shoot him if it wasn't for the syringe that Dante sticks himself with. The cave stuff all happens around Christmas 1993. Dante becomes involved with Egypt in February and supplies her the means to go through with her staged murder. Egypt's murder was really fun. It's so bizarre watching how the cops acted during the Egypt murder case vs the Corinth murders. Just two completely different tones.

Buck Huston arrived in town in March 1993. Trisha was working at Alden University in the art department. One day, Trisha was crossing campus and was attacked by a mugger. Buck saved her. The McKenzies were so grateful that they offered Buck a place to stay since he had just arrived in town. What they didn't know was that Buck was Trucker's half-brother (they shared a father). Buck had come to town to scam the McKenzies. Shortly before this, Curtis Alden, Trisha's brother, returned to Corinth after a stint in the Persian Gulf. While overseas, Trucker and Curtis had met and had a secret they shared (they were involved in the death of Dante Partou). Eventually, Trisha found a picture of Buck and her brother together and began to put together there was more to the story. She confronted Buck and fled from the ties. On the road, Trisha called Trucker from the road. She told him that she had something to tell him regarding Buck. As she was getting back in the car, she was carjacked by some random dayplayer. The carjacker crashed the car. The car exploded. The audience was left thing Trisha died. Several episodes later, Trisha woke up and stumbled into the back of bread truck. She ended up at some small diner not far from Dunellyn, the mental hospital. At the diner, she couldn't remember anything, but I think downplayed her situation to Marge, her new waitress friend. Based on the bruises and Trisha's elusiveness, Marge assumed she had been a battered wife. Shortly after, Jeff Hartman, Trisha's ex-husband, was released from Dunellyn stating he planned to stay far away from Trisha. He ends up at the diner and sees Trisha, who is now claiming she is Crystal. Marge tells Jeff that "Crystal's" husband beat her. Jeff tells Trisha he is going to Rome and she asks to join him. At the time, April 1993, I do believe the hope was that Noelle Beck would return. I also think the setup was there for a revival of the Jeff / Trucker / Trisha triangle. Through the rest of 1993, you have Tess Wilder come to town to work as Christopher's nanny and scam Trucker of the money he was receiving from Trisha's estate. Trucker knows Tess is being dishonest, but doesn't know the true extent. In the meantime, Curtis has married Dinahlee and become paranoid about the relationship between Dinahlee and his father. At the same time, Tess starts threatening Curtis by revealing she is possession of the gun he used to kill Dante Partou, her then dead husband. The problems escalate quickly in Curtis and Dinahlee's marriage where he is envious of the amount of time Dinahlee spends at Pins due to Clay's prior involvement with the bowling alley. Curtis torched the place, felt guilty, and fled Corinth. During Curtis' time out of Corinth, Dinahlee and Trucker reconnect. Dante Partou, Tess' husband who Curtis believed he kills, arrives in Corinth and starts stalking the Alden family. Curtis is missing at the time. Dinahlee, believing that Curtis abandons her, gives into her feelings and kisses Trucker just as Curtis, who has been locked in a cage escapes in order to see Trucker and Dinahlee kiss. Curtis is eventually freed and resumes his marriage to Dinahlee. From his time in captivity, Curtis' previous anxiety and paranoid has developed into trouble sleeping. He is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome around the start of 1994. Curtis knows that Trucker is a threat to his marriage and offers a cash strapped Buck money to convince Trucker to leave town. Buck refuses, but becomes more suspicious when Curtis asks Trucker to become his partner in the Rodeo bar. Dinahlee stays with Curtis because of his health issues while Curtis desperately hopes he will be able to get Dinahlee to love him. Most people are aware of Curtis' condition and its treated fairly seriously. In the spring of 1994, Trucker starts receiving signs that Trisha is alive. There was something to do with a bird, and some rocks. Finally, Trucker drops flowers on Trisha's graves and finds them on his doorstep at the Tides. He is convinced Trisha is alive and asks Alex Masters to investigate. At this point, June 1994, Shana and Leo married in Las Vegas and moved to Rome when Shana received a job offer. In Rome, Shana and Leo ran into Jeff, who is with Trisha, but manages to hide her from Shana and Leo. At this point, Jeff learns that Trisha is "dead" and wonders how Trucker handled it. This tips Shana off. She fears that Jeff might hurt Trucker so she calls Trucker. Trucker calls Dunellyn and learns that Jeff was released on the day Trisha died. Trucker goes to Rome to investigate. In Corinth, Buck doesn't believe Trisha is alive. Based on Curtis' previous actions, Buck believes Curtis is behind the gifts. He eventually gets Curtis to confess the truth, which leads Dinahlee to learning the truth. Dinahlee chases after Trucker and tells him Curtis' role in Trisha's gifts. At this point, Trucker drops the issue. Robert Tyler decides to not renew his contract late in 1994. In January, Trucker has a nagging feeling that Trisha is alive and has her body exhumed. Either in June 1994 or January 1995, it was revealed that the coroner have never matched dental records to prove that the body belonged to Trisha. It was just assumed Trisha had died. Anyway, Trucker learned Trisha was alive and went to Rome to try and bring her home. I believe Dinahlee returns to Corinth with the letter from Trisha to the Alden family saying Trisha wants to continue her life as Jeff's wife. At some point between February and July, Trisha has a miscarriage and goes off the rails. This is revealed I think in September or October 1995 when they begin to suspect Trisha is the murderer. When Trisha returns in 1995, most of the people she has interacted with are dead or offcamera. Other than Gwyn the only other people she would know would be Alex, Ava, Ally, Buck, and Kate. Everyone else had arrived in Corinth after her departure or had no connection that I recall (Steffy).

Since schools have closed, I've spent most of my evenings watching "Loving." Within the past week, I was watching episodes from March 1994 when Buck broke things off with Stacey to protect her and the kids from the loan shark that was after him. As I was watching, I was actually thinking I wasn't sure how I would react to seeing Stacey killed as I had come to really like Stacey and Buck after not being too impressed initially. I really like Stacey and Buck. It was really hard watching Buck finding Stacey's body. On a related note, the montage Buck has of his relationship with Stacey in those July 1995 episodes was also featured in the March 1994 episodes set to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." I think there were only a few switches (the clips with Stacey in the orange shirt replaced clips specifically related to Buck and Stacey's breakup). It's a good montage. The 1995 episodes are such a tonal shift from anything prior to it. A lot of these new crop of characters are rather harsh. Danny Roberts seems really sleazy and gross. Richard is unscrupulous. Jocelyn is aligned with self-centered Tess and seems to be willing to do anything for a case. I think Lorraine the sloppy mess is the nicest of the lot. I don't think Brianna is intended to be as hard as she comes across to me. I like Jacob's relationship with Buck but he seems a little self righteous at times as do so many on the current canvas. Maybe If I saw the transition to this crop, I wouldn't mind them as much. The mystery is neat. I cannot deny that. I even really like some of the small moments in these episodes. Angie and Charles coming home to get the message from Stacey nearly broke me even though I felt it became a bit much with Stacey explaining everything in detail. I thought Ava turning Stacey's death into a "woe is me" moment and being self aware was a very honest moment. I know there was an actual scene between Stacey and Ava where they made amends after Dinahlee left Corinth. I thought Clay's monologue about being a fraud is beautifully in character. The conflict between Clay and Curtis over sending Curtis to Dunellyn was very strong even though I hate what is happening with Curtis. I initially hated that virtual reality sequence with the "Muskrat" stuff, but it became very poignant towards the end when Trisha and Curtis turn on their parents. Is that Joseph Cross as young Curtis? While I think Harmon Brown and Essensten have made the deconstruction of "Loving" entertaining, I don't think the build of "The City" is strong. Maybe its too early, but what exactly is the viewer suppose to turn into "The City" to see storywise? The show focuses so much on the serial killer that there is nothing else to focus on when the show ends. I had a similar complaint about the Salem Serial Killer. When a story takes over a show, it makes it hard to build off the conclusion. Given what I've heard about the early days of "The City" I assume things didn't improve.

I agree the show never really had a strong theme. I think there were ideas and concepts that they tried to use, but they never were used consistently. I wonder what pieces came from Agnes Nixon, which from Doug Marland, and if there was anything left from the collaboration with Dan Wakefield. Marland joined Nixon around the time he was finishing his Showtime project, "A New Day in Eden." In the scripts I have, there are definitely some elements that Marland reused. The layout of the town of Eden is similar to Corinth, a college town with a major family operated company providing major job opportunities for the citizens of their respected cities. In the Marland years of "Loving, " the Aldens operated a factory among their other businesses. Mike Donovan had to handle some of the labor issues. Also, there was a poorer section of town known of Milltown where Ava and Dane Hammond came from. I don't think this was referenced much after Marland left, but I believe he recycled the name on "As the World Turns." A lot of these elements seems to be abandoned pretty quickly. In the 1990s, Fran Sears revived the Alden University concept, but it was pretty much abandoned by Millee Taggert and Robert Guza. Nixon had Casey and Steffi quit school. Cooper may have quit as well. Nixon, however, did revive the Alden plant with a thread involving Frankie blackmailing Cooper into helping him with Ned Delaney, who worked at the Alden plant. Though, none of this seems to ever come together to give a stronger sense of location. @Soaplovers You pose an interesting question about the pilot movie. I'm wondering if the role of distribution had anything to do with it. I know that the pilot was sold internationally as a separate entity, and I don't believe the pilot was packaged with the series episodes. I could be wrong. On the other hand, I think the nighttime premier of "Capitol" is sold with the episodes internationally. If this is the case, maybe the narrative was kept closed for that reason. With that said, it is rather clunky as a stand alone telefilm. Based on your thoughts, I do think there were ways to leave some elements more open.I wouldn't have killed off Johnny Forbes. I think I would have had Amelia shoot Patrick Donovan, who was a retired cop instead. I think killing off the Donovan patriarch would have opened more story for the Donovan clan. Also, I would have had Amelia manage to evade the police and attempt to get Johnny to run off with her. When he wouldn't, Amelia would call Cabot Alden and use something she had on him to get out of Corinth. With this, it would close the film, but still allow you the opportunities to explore story within the series. @DRW50 The chauffeur is Arthur Davis, played by Keith Grummet. Grummet stayed on as Arthur in a recurring capacity through most of 1992 and into 1993. I think he sort of stops appearing around the time Trisha dies. He pops up again in 1994. I was just watching an episode the other day and he was featured in a scene at the ad agency. I agree about Larkin Malloy. I don't think he is bad, but this version of Clay doesn't work for me. He's not bad, and the writing isn't miserable, but I don't find much use for this. Dinahlee started in August 1991. When Addie Walsh takes over as headwriter in January 1992, Dinahlee is less of a scrappy schemer and more of a victim of her own doing. I don't think this is the most interesting version of Dinahlee. I like the stuff from early on when she was harsher and not having any time for women like Stacey or Trisha. I do like her during the triangle with Curtis and Trucker. I really like Lauren Marie Taylor. She is a highlight in the Tides storyline. I like that the writers usually let her maintain grudges despite being the one the audience was rooting for. She has no use for Dinahlee for most of the next few years which I find delightful and like Dinahlee. I just watched an episode recently where Curtis told Stacey he was the one who was leaving Trucker gifts from Trisha while he is sitting at the bar. Stacey shoves him off the bar stool and onto the ground. I laughed. During the Tides storyline, Jack is trying to keep a hold of Alden Enterprises. When Clay returned in January, Isabelle was trying to find a place for him within the company despite what he had done in the previous year before leaving town (he was involved in the faulty manufacturing of airplane parts and blamed Trucker). Jack has aligned himself with Shana and they have invested AE funds in Take Off! a diet scam that is being marketed by con artist Larry Lamont. When Larry leaves town in April, Stacey and Trucker's mystery starts to peter out. This is Flynn's exit story. He dies of the wounds he sustains when he is hit by that car. Ally's mother, Bonnie, is played by Lisby Larson. Her best known role is probably Paige Marshall on "Texas." I think her most recent role was Eve McBain on "One Life to Live." Bonnie returns to Corinth in February 1992 and stays through March. I think we meet her boyfriend. Bonnie loses the baby. The woman going after Stacey and Trucker is someone that Isabelle has paid. The secret of the attic room is Isabelle was carrying on a fling with Tim Sullivan, a stable hand, before her marriage to Cabot and that Clay is Tim, not Cabot's son. Tim dies during the summer. Clay learns of his paternity after Tim's death. I believe the poster said they will be releasing episodes all week. That last episode (March 30) I believe is right before the debut of the sorority/fraternity storyline.

Vincz was also Patricia Hampton, Masons date in 1984, on “Santa Barbara.” Her voice is pretty distinct.

The warehouse episode is on YouTube. This was climax of Jo’s kidnapping in October 1983. Jonna Lee, the executive producer, was out shortly after. Maybe she wasn’t handling the budget well?

@DRW50 The clips you've posted are from November 1992, September 1993, and October 1993. The clip from the September 1993 episode is a few episodes before the storm episode a few pages back. That episode is credited to Agnes Nixon so the Taggart & Guza / Nixon switch happened in September 1993. Interesting, years ago, I read an SOD article stating Taggart alone had left because of illness. I thought this meant she had a brief solo period as she did in 1991. I guess not. It's interesting seeing those November 1987 episodes when the show still took itself mostly serious. In recent years, I see why Ralph Ellis continued to get work as a headwriter. I think there are some interesting things going on in these episodes. I wish the Cece / Rick relationship lasted longer. The Alden family reacting to the wedding is nice. Harry seems much more interesting than I ever gave him credit for. I've started watching some fall 1993 episodes and its a little hard to get into. I know the later part of Nixon's run is very good, but this early material is a mixed bag. I've been watching stuff from when Thom Christopher first appears as Dante masquerading as Joe Young, a man living above the bowling ally. Part of the issue is I know what's going on so a lot of the mystery isn't as appealing as it must have been when it first aired. With that said, I appreciate that the clues make it pretty obvious what's going on. We see flashbacks of Tess and Dante's wedding so we know its Dante. We know that Dante's prisoner is Dinahlee's husband, which means that Curtis is coming back even if we only see his hands. I didn't really like Faison, and I don't really like Dante. They are both these sort of over the top villains which I don't really think work in Corinth. With that said, the impact of Dante is powerful. Because he has been menacing the Aldens, Alex has been heading the police investigation which allows Ava to call him out for becoming too involved in the Alden clan, again. It's nice seeing Peluso playing the straight, emotionally restrained character to Randolph Mantooth's more emotional Alex. When Curtis does appear, in the form of original Christopher Marcantel, the story is a bit more interesting. Marcantel is the third actor in under a year to play Curtis, but it seems pretty clear he is the strongest of the three. With very little dialogue, he is able to tell a lot of Curtis' story. I don't think Johnson or Lord would have been able to do that. Charles and Angie's story isn't very interesting. Neither is Stacey and Buck's. While I like how Ava has evolved under Nixon, I don't like what she has done with Buck. Guza/Taggart wrote Buck as brooding and detached where as Nixon is playing him more of a yokel type who Trucker has to look after. Honestly, Buck could leave town and I wouldn't be upset, but, if he's staying, I'd rather have the original characterization. Nixon must like Catherine Hickland because she really has tried to integrate Tess into the plot more by pairing her up with Steffi in the modeling story. I cannot remember if Nixon paired Tess / Jeremy. I could see where that could be a story. Steffi has continued to be very strong under Nixon. It seems like this is the early stages of her eating disorder. Tess comments how skinny she is and Steffi devours a cupcake after learning Casey is going to go to Vermont for Thanksgiving. We are also back to Dinahlee the victim again as she falls for Dante's Joe Young shtick. Taggert / Guza started the story with baby Patti having developmental issues, but it was part of the bigger story (Leo agreeing to provide Shana with a child in exchange for Shana to loan Leo the money to bail out Burnell's). From what I've seen, Nixon has shifted the story to mostly Leo's fear of baby Patti and his inability to truly embrace who she (might) be. This is an interesting characterization, but it has narrowed the story. There is a rather intense moment at Thanksgiving when Leo and Shana arrive at Stacey's for Thanksgiving where Heather comments on baby Patti's eyes leading to Leo freaking out. I feel like this story would work better if it still was broader with Shana and Leo trying to balance their work/family life with Leo using work as an excuse not to deal with his feelings about Patti. There are a lot of little moments I enjoy. Steffi making cupcakes for Casey while talking to her mother on the phone. Curtis in the cage thinking of Dinahlee while Dinahlee is listening to their wedding song below in the bowling alley. Steffi and Tess visiting Jeremy about Steffi's modeling career and Jeremy reaction alluding to his break up with Ava. Ally and Cooper worrying about Tyler when he is kidnapped by Dante. Stacey talking to the kids and Buck about Jack's Christmas traditions. Clay blaming himself for Tyler's kidnapping. Dinahlee telling Trucker that he was "the one that got away." I just think the bigger storylines need some work.

Jeff's Rome return is interesting. When Shana and Leo are leaving in June, they run into Jeff in Rome. Back in Corinth, it has just been revealed that Curtis has been lying about Trisha being in alive. He was leaving signs for Trucker to find to think Trisha has returned to keep Trucker from Curtis' own wife, Dinahlee. This was during the final months of Nixon's return and things seem to start to switch gears. It looks like they were going to write out Dinahlee in the plane crash in August, 1994, when Jessica Collins' contract was up. I wonder if they were seriously considering bringing Trisha back at that point. Otherwise, Jeff's return mostly seems to be an Easter egg/red herring for fans to remind them that Trisha was alive. Lisa Peluso is a trooper. I've been switching between 1980s "Search for Tomorrow" and 1990s "Loving" and its great to see her change. I like Ava with Paul. The stuff I've seen of Leo and Ava is mixed. Ava being Leo's school crush is a bit silly, but Leo and Ava scheming has a lot of untapped potential. The triangle with Shana is some of the best work I've seen from Susan Keith because Shana's seems to spend a good chunk of the 1990s being the town lawyer. I have no use for Jeremy and Ava. Jessica Collins' Dinahlee reminds me of Arianne Zucker's Nicole Walker in many ways. She plays a sort of scheming character who is softened and has few good stories. The initial Dinahlee / Trucker affair is great. Dinahlee and Clay eat the show alive in 1992. Dinahlee / Curtis are iffy. Patrick Johnson's Curtis is such a different iteration of the character. Curtis the war hero rarely comes across that way, which is strange as Millee Taggert wrote him out in 1991 and brought him back in 1993. Michael Lord's Curtis is very theatrical and begins to play the unhinged version of Curtis that continues until the end of the show. Dinahlee / Michael Lord's Curtis/ Dennis Parlato's Clay is an interesting short-lived grouping. Lauren Marie Taylor's Stacey is a great character, but the story is rarely there to suit her. I like the little we see of Stacey from the early fall of 1991 after Taylor returned from maternity leave and Stacey is dealing with the Dinahlee seduction. The show spends a good part of 1992 setting up the Trucker / Stacey romance, but abandons the idea after actually going through with it. Stacey and Clay is such a bad idea with some very interesting moments. The gaslighting is such a trainwreck that I cannot look away. The ending with Jeremy, Stacey, and Dinahlee turning the tables on Clay is very good. I do think Buck and Stacey have a lighthearted quality, but I don't see that having legs longterm. I am fascinated by the potential Curtis / Stacey pairing that Harmon Brown and Essensten used to write out Stacey. I think Jack returning to Stacey and Curtis married would have been interesting. I've seen a lot of the 1992-1993 Casey / Ally / Cooper material. Once they switch out Hannah for Steffy, that entire grouping is killer. You've covered most of the significant Cooper / Ally / Casey material. In the previous summer, Ally is going hard to get Cooper. She and Cooper end up in a car accident and she fakes headaches in order to stay at the Alden mansion. Ava calls her out on her scheming. Meanwhile, Casey develops a crush on Ava, but ends up making out with Ally. Cooper is all about Hannah until Taggart and Guza arrive. Cooper is completely for Casey and Ally raising the baby until he manages to get a DUI and Clay convinces him that having a child will change Cooper's life. I think Isabelle Alden initially pays down on her luck Steffy to seduce Casey. I really like Steffy and Casey as a bump in the road.

Thanks for clarifying. I definitely agree that early on the show just feels like a typical daytime drama set in Texas. Some of the 1981 episodes I've seen have a more "Dallas" feel to them in a very superficial sense with the talk of World Oil vs. Marshall Oil and Max Dekker and his well. I was surprised to see in the 1980s ratings thread that "Texas" actually beat "Another World" on occasion in 1980.

Did P&G use the original "Texas" logo when they were running the credits in June/July 1980 in the weeks leading up to the premier? I think they credited the "Texas" cast differently in those episodes than they did the "Another World" cast. A few months back, I jumped around various places in the "Texas" episodes available online. I think the early episodes are interesting, but they struggle to concrete on a solid long story. Alex and Iris' reunion and the paternity secret that threatens to destroy Dennis is all right, but doesn't really have the impact it could until Eliot arrives in "Texas." From the beginning, Lisby Larson's Paige is fascinating manipulating her way into the Top of the World club and spitefully flirting with Dennis to upset baby sister Dawn. I think having Paige realize the paternity secret right away was a good move and made the story a bit more interesting. I think Iris and Rena's friendship is refreshing, though I wonder what people thought of that dynamic based on Iris' previous interactions on "Another World." From how she's been described, Iris doesn't seem to be the type to have friendships with women. It did give Iris a reason to be crashing with Rena while she was in Texas. Vicky Bellman is also a thousand more times interesting to me in the beginning than she is in anything I've seen her in later on. I love this boozy, married news station owner who pines for Alex even though she can't have him. I love that Rena is siding with Iris over her own mother. This also has the possibility to be a lot of fun. Not all of the material from those early episodes are online, but I would like to see more of Sam Walker. I think Ann McCarthy is better than I expected her to be in the role and I thought she had a nice chemistry with Jerry Lanning. If anything, I wanted to see Rena steal Justin away from her cousin. Rena and Justin are fire! "The Bet" is a brilliant set of scenes. I can see why people would want them together. I cannot understand Rena and Grant, but I know May and Borelli married in real life so I imagine they must have had some chemistry. Justin / Ashley / Rena is a nice set up, but I don't think that plays out too long. For Writer's Strike material, Max's death is relatively well done. I think some of it is over the top at times, but I think the fall out with Rena vs. Justin is pretty good. I'm also curious what the original plan was for Grant Wheeler. He arrives as they are killing off Alex so his position in World Oil makes sense, but they don't really try to pair him off with anyone. He seems to be a talk to for Iris, at times, and he is Lacey's dad. Maybe if Lacey had taken off the plan was to keep him more involved in her story? I'm impressed with Tina Johnson in a lot of her early scenes, where the Harpers have just come into some money and Lurlene talks about how men might start paying attention to her. I can see why people were drawn to the character even though this doesn't seem to be a huge point for the character later on. It's a shame they quickly dropped Maggie Dekker when Diane Neal came on as Ruby Wright. Maggie coming at Ruby and throwing the water in her face is a great scene. I love Ruby crying because someone called her trash. I haven't seen a lot of the final months, and I know Long's material is well regarded, but so many of the fun characters seemed to be declawed by the end. They seem much sharper and much more active in those earlier episodes.

Jorn Winter is credited for making the show enjoyable. The show certainly turns the tide when he arrives in the fall of 1989. From what I've seen, the fall of 1989 through the spring of 1990 is pretty great. This episode is pretty bad. Kyle's declaration is probably the strongest piece in that episode, but I couldn't watch the entire thing. Sam's concern about Kyle's career was a running conflict in their relationship. Brad and Christy were fun when they were first introduced and Pat Tallman was still playing the role of Christy. When Stacey Nelkins is introduced, Christy moves from a recurring part to a contract role. The show didn't need Christy when they already had Jordan. One of the biggest problems "Generations" had was they would find the character while writing so you'd see vast swings in characterization until they found what they liked. It often worked in the end, but it wasn't always pretty in the process. Debbi Morgan is a talented actress, but this trial story does nothing for me. Morgan and Brooks have decent chemistry, but they seem to be better at the end of the show when Lela Rochon's Brandy is introduced. I get why TPTB would do an art scam storyline. It allows Jordan to be the criminal mastermind, Kyle to play hero, Sam can be caught between the two, and Monique and Jason can play the supporting role in a world that is uniquely theirs. I think I would have had the scam involving Hugh Gardner's estate, which would allow Monique and Jason to be involved as well as Rob, Jessica, and Aunt Mary. Reginald has to be one of the most useless additions on the show up there with Butch Hartman's Sean Masters. The ending episodes with the return of Peter Whitmore are stronger, but not as good as the show was during the racism storyline, the start of the Jordan/Sam/Kyle triangle, and the Daniel Reuben's quest to prove his innocence.

I think I've seen this before. This time something stood out. Doris Hursley died around the time "Santa Barbara" was beginning and there was all this animosity between the first family and the second family of Frank Hursley, a lot of it with Bridget Dobson at the center. Also, Frank dies in 1989, which I believe was during the big fight NBC over control of the series. I wonder how this effected the writing. I know Mason, the product of the first marriage, is treated very well by the Dobsons and that Bridget had half-siblings from both her mother and her father. I am curious how much of this drama bled itself into the show's writing. On a different note, I noticed Eric James (the actor best known for playing Jimmy Boswell on "Bright Promise") commented on the article. The Boswell family also seems to be a complicated. In the episode descriptions I've seen, Jimmy was also in love with Ann Boyd, the woman his father Tom was seeing. The daughter Marion sounds a little bit like a daddy's girl who seemed to capitalized on Jimmy's attraction to Ann in order to separate Tom and Ann. James has been vocal about his criticism of the series as the cast was promised it would be very relevant to then modern society, but it seems after some initial modern situations the show focused on complicated romantic and family entanglements.

It's unfortunate to hear Flora Plumb has passed away. I loved reading those old SOD summaries of "Lovers and Friends" where she was determined to rise above her lot in life, but wasn't really seducing a wealthy man to do it. George was a lawyer so he wasn't hurting for money, but he doesn't seem to be the type of old money that the Cushings, the Brewsters, and the Hamiltons represented. During the 1977 run, Ellie was getting chummy with Edith Cushing in hopes that Edith would help introduce her to society. Edith seemed to only care about using Ellie to keep Megan and Rhett apart. Ellie ended up miscarrying her child because she intervened in Rhett and Megan's romance on Edith's behalf. The miscarriage created friction in Ellie and George's marriage leading George to seek comfort in the arms of Barbara Manners. I don't think Barbara and George slept together, but it was clear where this would end up going. Edith would most likely manipulate George and Barbara into a relationship, sacrificing George and Ellie's marriage, in order to save her marriage to Richard in order to maintain social standing. I wonder what Lemay would have had Ellie react to Edith's deception. From the summaries of "For Richer, For Poorer," none of the Ellie/George/Barbara/Edith story continued. It seems like the show did a C-story love triangle between widowed Edith Cushing, desperate Viola Brewster, and Edith's first love, Roger Hamilton. This only gets some brief references in the summaries of SOD and the columns at the time. I imagine it didn't get much airtime before being abandoned. Ellie and George had some issues with fertility. Ellie was obsessed with Billy, Connie and Bill's son, and then George learned he was the source of the fertility problems. This seems less interesting than the potential manipulation of Edith Cushing into the lives of all those around her. The 1978 clip is nice to see. It seems to be a very low energy show, but I find Tom King's "Another World" similar. I don't hate it, but I can see why it didn't catch the world on fire. I do think the Laurie Hamilton material is intriguing. Everyone seems to have their own mixed motivations here. Does Laurie really want to spare Megan, her childhood friend, of heart ache or is she just jealous that Megan landed Jason? Viola similarly seems to have some layers here. I'm pretty sure Viola hired Chester Higgins, the PI who took the photos, so she isn't as innocent in her declarations either. Laurie and Desmond are planning to buy back the Brewster home, the one briefly owned by the Saxton family. If Desmond and Laurie split, Viola loses her chance to return to her home. The Lee / Lester scenes are very bland. I don't hate the idea of Lee Ferguson, the sort of minor underworld figure with ties to the Saxton clan. I just don't care for the bulk of Tessa / Lee angst. There are some interesting layers, Lee being Amy's former lover, which should have allowed the show to explore some of Amy's darker sides, but mostly its Tessa and Lee against the (under)world.

I like Paul Avila Mayer and Stephanie Braxton's work. The circus story is too much, but, if you look past the circus trappings, the story is solid. The scene where Stu gives Danny some tough love and calls him on his antics would never happen today. In a genre that has become obsessed with love triangles, it has really ignored this version (two friends who love the same person with no true villain). The Ryder / T.R. scene where Ryder admits he's jealous that T.R. has feelings for Ryder was very honest. Adam Storke, Jane Krakowski, and John Loprieno are all very strong. It's a shame that the main story isn't that good. I know I'm alone, but I do like the Hogan / Liza story. Liza clearly doesn't care for Hogan as much as he cares for her. I've been watching episodes from December, 1983, and Hogan has just arrived. He and Sunny are doing their flirty banter thing. It is work. I can see why Sunny / Hogan were well liked in their time, however, I still think this is a good story. Hogan isn't acting out of character and acknowledging his dual nature, he can be both arrogant and passionate, is such a powerful moment. I wonder how this would have progressed had Mathis and Braxton/Avila Mayer stayed. I think it was a mistake to get rid of Caldwell House so quickly. I love that set. I love Stu and Sarah out in the garden just talking. This version of Sarah is interesting to me. She is one of the innocent ingenues that soaps have foregone, mostly because they were treated as paragons of virtue. The Sarah / Quinn dynamic is my favorite. I only got halfway through the three episodes so I'm hoping there is some interaction there with them. The television station stuff isn't that bad. Having seen more of Maree Cheatham's Stephanie, I get why people don't like Louise Shaffer's version. She is clearly a workhorse, while Cheatham's Stephanie was shady as anything. In the December 1983 episode, Liza Sentell has decided to work at the station (Travis inherited his father's share of the station) and Stephanie is doing everything she can to ignore Liza. It's a fun little rivalry that I don't think really goes anywhere. I thought Stephanie promoting Wendy and not Quinn was very Stephanie and I like that Stephanie seems to allude to Quinn being like Warren. Peluso does really well with Meek and Shaffer. It's a shame she didn't make it to the end, but I don't completely blame her for bailing on a sinking ship. Hope more episodes appear from this period.

These appeared before, but haven't been around in several years July 1984 November 1984:

It's interesting to jump between time periods on "Loving." In the 1989 episode, the scene I found most effective was Rick interacting with Curtis because it didn't guide the plot. Also, there was no other Rick scene in the episode. It was nice to see a lot of that simple relationship stuff. I find the Alex / Clay imposter story infuriating (mostly because I haven't seen all of it) and fascinating (because of the potential to it). Watching Taggart and King play the Curtis / Rick dynamic, I'm curious what the relationships between Rick and Clay and Rick and Alex were like. From what I recall, Rick arrived in town when Alex was playing Clay, which was why Rick was initially dismissed as an imposter because Clay's (Alex) and Gwyn's blood types didn't match up with Rick's. I think having Rick drawn to Clay and Curtis to Alex could have produce some interesting twists in the stories. Anyway, maybe more "Loving" will appear. I finally watched a bit of the Stacey / Jack clips from around the time that Stacey / Jack / Lilly has all come out. These would be probably from spring/summer 1988 when either Ralph Ellis or the scab writers were writing the show. I find them compelling in a completely generic sort of way. I do like the potential conflict between Anne and Stacey over Anne's knowledge of the affair. I guess it was more engrossing if you knew and loved the characters, but I don't think this style of drama is really the forte of either Perry Stephens or Lauren Marie Taylor. With that said, it's nice to see Lauren Marie Taylor front and center. Back to the 1993 episode, the JJ / Buck dynamic was interesting. I have one episode where Buck comes over to the Forbes house and Stacey ends up going out (either by herself or with Jeremy Hunter). I think that dynamic is also interesting, and that would have been where the real conflict would have been in a Stacey / Buck / Jack triangle when the show smartened up and brought back Jack. Sometimes I misread things, but Tess had been around for several months by the time that 1993 episode aired. I imagine it was Nixon resetting the character, who easily could have been written out. When Tess initially arrived, she was Christopher's nanny and deadset on getting her hands on the money Trucker was due to inherit once Trisha's will had been probated. At the same time, she was also the source of conflict between Curtis and Buck as they had been involved in the death of her husband in Kuwait. Tess seemed like an attempt to create a Dinahlee-esque character as she was in her original form. I think it's entirely possible that Dinahlee may have even been a Taggart creation. Anyway, Tess worked mostly as a scheming con artist. By the end of Taggart / Guza's run, they had clearly given up on Curtis and were shifting Buck into Stacey's orbit and Tess into Clay's. @DRW50 your point about Susan Keith is interesting. From what I've seen, Mary Ryan Munisteri had little material for her to play and Isabelle, upon returning to Corinth, was planning to ship Shana off to Hong Kong. Addie Walsh gave her that brief affair with Larry Lamont during the diet scam, but if that lasted a full contract cycle I would be shocked. Taggart and Guza seemed to have the best angle for Shana with the triangle involving Ava and Leo, but a lot of this was just a retread of Julia and Mason from "Santa Barbara." At times, Guza and Taggart try too hard with that triangle and some of the comedy and dream sequences are off. I will say, there is a pretty funny scene from August 1993 where a pregnant Shana has been arrested for messing with Ava and has to deal with cops and judge who hate her because she has defended people they feel should be in jail. It is Nixon who writes Shana and Leo out after having them deal with Patti's developmental issues. I think there was definitely story to play involving Shana and Leo. Given the issues with Patti's development and Leo's past, an old flame could have easily come to town with a child, whether it be Leo's or not, and presented itself with a situation. I also think that Shana and Leo would have been torn by the revelation that the Rescotts were the real recipients of the Alden fortune in the same way Alex and Ava should have been torn up by this situation and loyalties would be divided.

I think it is between these two weeks: March 27 – 31, 1989: While Alex undergoes surgery, the camp is bombed. Surviving, he is plagued by dreams that Ava leaves him. He begs the doctor to release him, but the doctor says it is physically impossible, and the government man tells Alex that, as of now, Alex Masters is dead. Although he is in great pain, Alex slips away from the camp. Ava is upset when she responds to Clay’s kiss. Harry realizes the damage he has caused when Ava pleads with him to stay out of her life. Jeff is shocked when he learns Clay has given Trucker and Trisha his blessing. Rick learns that Stacey is pregnant. Cabot and Clay wonder why Alex didn’t steal money. Ava is puzzled when Clay appears to care about what happens to her and Alex. Rocky loves to hear Todd talk about owning his own restaurant. Todd is not pleased about the attraction between Rocky and Curtis. Jack learns that Stacey is pregnant. April 3 – 7, 1989: Jeff can’t stand Trucker and Trisha’s continued romance. Ava is confused by her attraction to Clay. Curtis, Todd, and Rocky are locked in the restaurant. Rocky finds it hard to believe that Curtis was once a spoiled snob. Alex makes his way to Corinth. Jack is infuriated at the news that Stacey is pregnant by Rick, but Rick is thrilled with the idea of becoming a father. When Todd, Rocky, and Curtis are released by the overzealous guard who had locked them in the restaurant, Trucker doesn’t buy Rocky’s story and forbids her to see Todd. In trying to locate the timing of the episode, I stumbled upon a few details I either didn't know or had forgotten. When Jack Forbes locates Alex Masters in South America, he has gone down to locate his own presumed dead father, Roger Forbes. It's interesting that, in 1989, Roger Forbes was still used to generate some story. I wonder if there were actual plans to bring him back or this was simple a way of using history to move the story. In other synopses from this year, there are references to Harry Sowolsky still being in love with Ann Alden Forbes and Curtis using Forbes Construction for the restaurant project. There was also a reference to Rocky and Trucker having a wicked stepfather. I've been watching the Mac Huston story in 1993. Millee Taggart is writing at this time as well. There were references to Rocky and Trucker's mother being heartbroken, but I have very little use for Mac. There are few scenes, from what I've watched, between Mac and Buck. Mac is clearly just there to get the inheritance, which seems overkill as you already have Tess Wilder circling like a vulture. I don't think it was a bad idea to bring on Trucker and Buck's absent father, but the writing is pretty weak. The 1993 episode that @DRW50 posted is from late September 1993. Agnes Nixon is credited as the headwriter. I imagine this is pretty early in her last run. The tornado works to provide some interesting setups. I think those Dinahlee/Alex scenes are pretty strong. I love Alex realizing that Dinahlee is talking about his one time son Curtis and his adversary Clay. The Clay / Alex story can be a bit wonky at times, but it is probably one of the longest running, and most developed, stories "Loving" tells. The Tess / Shana scenes at least provide something different, but I'm not sure if they actually go anywhere in terms of character dynamic. Seeing Buck and Stacey, I don't hate them as much as I do reading about them, but I just don't see much potential for conflict. With that said, it did, briefly, create a nice rivalry between Gwyn and Stacey. The 1989 episode has some nice moments. I like the thread they seem to be building around Rick about the trust fund. He clearly has not been provided money despite being the eldest Alden heir. Even Sandy, per this episode, has a trust. In reading the synopses, I wonder if Rick was hoping to access the money that would be set aside for Stacey's baby. I also enjoy the conflict between Ava and Clay over the tape. True to Ava, she struggles to tell the truth. I thought the moment between Cabot and Ava was nice, but I would like to know if anyone question whether Ava was in on the deception. Clay clearly does, but he also has proof. I would love to see a scene with bitchy Stacey telling Trisha that Ava was in on it the entire time citing Ava's history of lies as her only evidence. I really don't have much use for Rocky / Todd / Curtis. The dance number worked thematically, but I don't really care for anyone involved.