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The Loving credit is also off. She was credited head writer from January 1992 until January 1993. Granted that was the on air credits. Millee Taggart was announced in November 1992. I think Riviera aired in 1991 though the material was probably written earlier. I imagine Walsh genuinely forgot or was trying to create the sense of consistent employment.

Curtis seems to have potential during Christopher Marcantel’s first run. Like you said, spoiled heir who was threatened by his adopted cousin. I love some of the more sexual elements they explored with Curtis; he fell in love with LiIy’s alter, he was involved with the production of pornographic films, and he seduced Rita Mae while pretending to be Jack. think moving Curtis out of Jack’s orbit was a mistake. Pairing Curtis with Ava seems like an easy way to continue the Jack-Curtis rivalry especially since I don’t believe Johnny’s parentage had been revealed. It was Linden Ashby’s Curtis that married Ava and in the few scenes he appears in from around the time of his marriage to Ava he seems more than serviceable. With Burke Moses, we get a more romantic lead it seems. He falls for poor illiterate Lotty and has to deal with her con man husband Eban Japes. It might have been more appealing if Eban offered Curtis some seedy business opportunity and Lotty saw that other side. Or maybe just had Curtis pop in to Diane Winston’s bordello. Instead, the show pursues Rick Stewart as the bad Alden son. I think Rick and Lotty might have worked better with Gwynn meddling in that relationship. When Stan Albers arrives the character is shifted into a younger set of characters. None of the Curtis / Todd / Rocky nor the Curtis / Rio / Rocky material is overly compelling. Albers handles the comedy well, but his Curtis is more the brunt of the joke rather than a smart aleck. Albers is very good in Alden family scenes, but all the other romantic stuff seems super generic. i don’t mind Michael Lord. I do think the source of the madness seems to be rooted in Curtis’ feelings of inferiority to Clay. The Clay / Curtis dynamic should be more compelling. In his own way, Clay was repeating history, in his own way, by undermining Curtis’ confidence. Gwynn seems to push Curtis out of town to save him, which is compelling. I do wish the show had invested more in that (Gwynn/Clay). Also, Curtis and Cooper could have been compelling as well if it was fleshed out more. Cooper was the type of golden boy that Curtis hated. As Cooper and clay grew closer, this could have been pursued further. I do wish that the show had kept Elise Neal’s Janie Sinclair around. I think her manipulating Curtis into marriage could have been a way to really connect the fractured canvas.

The headwriters credits for early NBC SFT: Ralph Ellis and Eugenia Hunt c. December 1981 - December 1982 C. David Colson December 1982 - May 1983 Gary Tonkin May 1983 - February/March 1984 Ellis and Hunt introduce the Carters and Keith McNeill in the summer of 1982. When they leave in December, Brian marries Kristen, who is claiming she is still pregnant even though she miscarried in December. The setup for the Brian / Suzy / Warren / Kristen quad is very good. Colson takes over in December and plays with the quad. Brian becomes a cop and he and Kristen struggle as young newlyweds. Warren marries Suzy and becomes involved with Rusty Sentell’s bank plans after already running guns for him. Suzy is pretty back burnered during Colson’s time. Colson lightens the mood in the Keith / Wendy story by allowing Stephanie to have temporary custody of Andre, Keith’s adopted sister. The story is a send up of “Little Orphan Annie” with Stephanie as Mommy Warbucks and the introduction of a mutt named Scratcher. This is when Andre is diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and is revealed to be Jenny’s daughter. Keith leaves in May, 1983, and Wendy is immediately thrown at Warren Carter. It’s a nice story that builds while Wendy emerges as a young vixen after previously being much more docile in nature. By August, Tomlin has Wendy get pregnant just as Ringo learns Suzy is behind the SMW trust which owns significant property that Warren wants to invest in. Rhonda Sue was introduced by Colson in May. I don’t know how soon Ringo and Rhonda Sue get together. Colson’s run is tonal different than Ellis / Hunt. Colson is what I expect from an 1980s NBC soap. Ellis / Hunt seems more P&G. It’s like watching 1980/1981 Another World abd then 1984/1985 Another World. Tomlin moves the story nicely and there is a lot of it. The canvas is very big and there are some duds (Angela / Danny’s Greek romance) but the good is very good (Suzy / Warren / Wendy, Jos kidnapping). It’s a nice mix of comedy and drama. I think Tomlin does a nice job with Liza and Travis. They have story but they don’t dominate the way they previously did. Ellis / Hunt go the route of the back from the dead dad and the nerdy third wheel live interest. Had Hunt / Ellis stayed, I suspect Liza would have eventually hooked up with Dane Taylor. Colson gives Travis / Liza the surprise pregnancy, the mistaken fidelity (singer Tony Burton and Liza in New York), and the murder mystery. Tomlin builds the Kendall / Sentell rivalry and really sets up Travis to be a major player by having him take in TR. Rhonda Sue is dumped when Joanna Lee leaves in December 1983. Ellen Barrett says the plans were already in place to purge the cast (the Morenos, Ringo, Danny Walton, and Tom Bergman also left). Phillip Brown may have left too I don’t know. I think Andie leaves earlier when Michael Kendall and Jenny Deacon marry. Andie was a character and I loved her and Rose, Stephanie’s maid.

I don't know what they wrote in the 1970s, but they returned as headwriters from December 1981 until December 1982. They were there when the show transitioned from CBS to NBC. They inherited and continued the Operation Sunburst story which involved Travis Sentell developing an alternative energy source through his work at Tourneur Instruments. There were evil people who wanted to take control of the project including his own father, Rusty Sentell, who returned from the dead to get a hold of the money that would come from selling the project. This is how Dane Taylor, the musical spy, was introduced. Dane was paired with Sunny Adamson. Ellis and Hunt were the ones to introduce several younger characters including Keith McNeill, Kristen Carter, and Warren Carter. They paired Keith and Wendy and created the Warren / Suzy / Brian / Kristen quad. In their final days, they had Kristen reveal she was pregnant with Brian's child leading to Brian and Kristen's wedding. They also wrote the plane crash that stranded Brian, Suzy, and Warren in the jungle in the weeks before Kristen told Brian about their child. They also introduced Jenny Deacon and had her search for her long lost daughter, Danielle. They seemed to be creating a triangle between Jenny, lawyer Tom Bergman, and Tom's father Stu. They also introduced the Riverboat, the establishment that Jo and Stu ran. They were there when a lot of the older characters were written out (Janet, Ted) or deemphasized (Jo, Stephanie, and Martin). Not sure how much of this was network interference.

I don't like Larkin Malloy's Clay, but, to be fair, it has more to do with the writing than Malloy's ability to act. When Malloy arrives on the scene in January, 1992, Clay is a failed Hollywood producer looking to reconnect with his family and redefine himself. Walsh and Ryder come on with the plans of playing with Clay's paternity, which is a bizarre decision based on the character's history. Clay already felt like an outsider due to the acceptance of Alex Masters as faux Clay. I don't know why there was a need to make Clay Tim Sullivan's son especially since they ended up killing off Tim Sullivan after a couple of months. My biggest issue with Malloy's Clay was he was written as a romantic lead, which didn't make much sense given the character's previous position. Clay and Dinahlee were appealing; Jessica Collins had chemistry with both Malloy and Parlato. I think the bigger issue is that the show needed a strong villain now that a lot of the show's previous heavies were either written out or tamed. With that said, Walsh and crew swing to far in the other direction with Clay once Parlato steps in. Parlato plays Clay for the back of the house, initially. I don't blame him. Clay gaslighting Stacey into marriage was a truly awful storyline that, in modern times, the character would have been raked over the coals for, deservingly. Within the span of two to three weeks, Taggart and Guza end the storyline and move on. Instead, Clay stays in the darkness, but is more menacing than criminal. The outline for Clay under Taggart and Guza works better, Clay fighting his own son for Dinahlee's love and taking Cooper under his wing. The problem is the show never develops Curtis in any meaningful way to interact with Clay. Patrick Johnson's Curtis is a hero-type with only hints of a backstory sprinkled here and there. There's little depth given to his Curtis. Michael Lord fairs a little better once they decide that Curtis is more psychologically damaged by everything he has experienced. Curtis' descent under Michael Lord is more subtle than Richard Cox's Giff. This isn't a comment on Cox, who was super talented, but rather to how bad the writing was in 1992. Back to Parlato, I think this scene here shows how the character works at his best. Clay rejects love and acceptance because they are things he is completely unfamiliar with and, instead, he hurts the ones around him. These scenes are from the spring of 1994 during Ava's coma. If you watch the rest of the clip you will also see the returns of Carly and Sheri Rescott as well as Edie Falco as Ava's nurse. The Clay / Alex scene starts at the 43 minute mark.

I don't know when Pat Crowley last appeared, but I'm pretty sure it was in November, 1989. I believe the character was last seen around the time of Monique and Jason's non-wedding. I'm pretty sure Rebecca was said to be out of town for Christmas 1989. Crowley and Andrew Massett were dropped around the same time. I think Massett's initial exit was in January, 1990, after Monique and Jason survived Aunt Mary's attempt to kill them with the poisoned English trifle ( @chrisml this was what your aunt was speaking about). Massett was brought back in March to bring closure to Trevor's character. It was revealed he was sleeping with a colleague leading to Laura and Trevor's divorce. The cast revamp was more around early 1990. Massett and Crowley were dumped in January. In March, the show dumped Pat Tallman, Sharon Brown, and George Shannon and brought on Stacey Nelkin, Debbi Morgan, and Robert Gentry in contract roles. To be fair, the show constantly seemed to be in flux. Dorothy Lyman was brought back for the Peter Whitmore storyline. Not only was Rebecca recast, the plans were to recast JD and feature Gail Ramsay's Laura a bit more. Around the same time, Anthony Addabo was dropped to recurring so I'm not sure what the longterm plans were for Monique and Jason. Maybe the plan was to pair Monique with Butch Hartman's Sean Masters. I like what I've seen of "Generations." It wasn't always perfect and was rarely consistent, but when it was good, it was very good. The Marshalls moving into the old Whitmore estate was a very unique story that blended social issues and character history. The Sam, Kyle, and Jordan triangle was very interesting. Adam and Doreen's affair was fun. There were a lot of really good couples (Adam / Maya, Sam / Kyle, Rob / Jessica, Doreen / Daniel) and some great character dynamics (Helen / Maya, Ruth / Doreen, Rob / Daniel, Sam / Adam / Monique). I think it could have worked if it had more time. Happy anniversary!

I received another batch and have jumping around from October 1992 and June 1993 so I've just watched Trisha's exit storyline. When I've read about it, I wasn't impressed, but, after seeing the storyline play out, I have to admit there were some really nice moments to all of it. In what I've seen, Noelle Beck is given little to do in her final months after carrying the show for most of the past two years (except for the times she has been on maternity leave). Seeing her in less heavy material, Beck is quite charming and has a nice rapport with the cast. I can see why Trisha was loved. Taggart does have Trisha resume her art position at the university and plays a B-story where Arthur, Trucker's geeky assistant at the bike shop, has a crush on her, but it isn't anything big. Her last days are a nice tribute to the couple. Trisha and Trucker spend the morning in bed together, they hang out with Shana and learn she is pregnant, they plan a trip to the cabin, and, in general, just seem to be in love. Things only start to become complicated when Trisha finds a picture of Buck Huston, her mysterious houseguest, and her newly returned brother Curtis Alden. Trisha questions Buck indirectly about it, and, when he isn't honest, she makes plans to confront Curtis. She stops at a pay phone to talk to Curtis, who is at the Forest Inn with Dinahlee, only to carjacked. I wonder how people would react today to what happens in the aftermath of Trisha's death. After the car explodes, a rather big focal point is the picture of Buck and Curtis burning. It's an important point as the picture is only proof of Buck and Curtis' connection, but I'm not sure how people would feel as we are suppose to believe in that moment Trisha has perished. The funeral is nicely done. It's a true event. There is a big reveal (Dinahlee realizes she has been seeing Curtis Alden) and almost everyone is there (including rarely used players like Armando and Dr. Ron Turner). The choice of song, Amazing Grace, seems to work well for Trucker's trajectory, but it's odd that they don't announce who the singer is, I believe its Roberta Flack. Anyway, looking over the Alden clan its hard to commit to their grief as so many of them have been around for under a year. During the funeral, they finally reveal that Trisha is alive and she slips off to another town where she is befriended by a kind woman, Margie, who takes her in. They build a nice little side story here with Margie believing Trisha is a battered wife and having a daughter who ran away. When Jeff Hartman arrives freshly released from Dunellyn, Margie tells him about Trucker beating Trisha and you can almost buy what they are doing. Trisha and Jeff dance to Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," a song "Loving" has used several times, and Trisha asks Jeff if he would need a secretary in Rome. It nicely sets up what should be Trisha's return, in love and happy with Jeff but then remembering Trucker and her son Christopher. I think the story requires a lot of leaps of logic, but if you accept them its kind of a nice exit. Overall, Millee Taggart and Robert Guza's run seems to be very strong after a year of chaos under Addie Walsh and Haidee Granger. Walsh, by the way, is credited as headwriter until January 1993. The Ava / Leo / Shana triangle is very strong. Under Guza and Taggart, Leo Burnell is more of egotistical, arrogant, and a bit of a chauvinist. Shana and Leo have a combative back and forth, while the push and pull between Shana and Leo brings out the worst in Ava, which is best for the audience. At times, there is too much humor in the storyline. Some of Shana's fantasies aren't my cup of tea and some of Ava's schemes seem like they were rejected by the writers of "I Love Lucy." Overall, it's a really nice story. Shana not wanting to love Leo, Leo torn between what both women offer him, and Ava not willing to let another man walk out of her life. While Ally's pregnancy may be nothing new, the way Guza and Taggart present the material seems different. In the transition period between Walsh and the new writers, all of the lying and deceit comes out. Ally tells Casey she is pregnant. Casey confronts Cooper, which leads to Hannah learning about the baby. Then Ally goes to visit Hannah only for Hannah to confront Ally. When Cooper arrives, Hannah calls off their engagement, while Casey turns around and says he's going to support Ally despite the hurt. Most of this is strong, but there doesn't seem to be much effort put into giving Hannah much of a perspective. Gayheart was certainly green, as are so many first time soap actors, but more effort needed to be point into Hannah's point of view. In contrast, the other characters have been strengthened. As much as I hate Giff's death, it is clearly an event that defines who Casey is and guides him in nearly everything he does. Hannah arrived in Corinth from a small town very naïve. This should be her defining event, and, in a way, it is. Hannah hangs around the younger set a bit while longer, but then Guza and Taggart isolate her and have her lusting after Jeremy Hunter. The Hannah / Jeremy story is one of the weakest ones. Laura Sisk Wright has completely settled into the role of Ally and she has sort of gone with the tough girl with softer edges who doesn't want to play games anymore. The character has gone through such an evolution in the past year, but Taggart, who I believe introduced the character, seems to have given her the strongest sense of self. Ally's impending motherhood seems to be directly impacted by her parents' divorce. Cooper also has changed. While Ally embraces motherhood, Cooper completely rejects the idea of being a father. He starts drinking a bit, landing himself in jail for a DUI, and then puts on quite a show at Burnell's in the Arabian Nights window display. It is only after Trisha dies and Cooper has a moment of reflection with Clay that Cooper becomes more interested in fatherhood. While it's not revolutionary, the Cooper / Ally / Casey triangle works because all of the characters have stakes and all of them seem to be operating based on their own individual experiences. Also, none of the trio are perfect. Cooper is easily manipulated by people like Clay and Stephanie Brewster and was pretty quick to abandon the baby before the change of heart. Ally is wishy washy at times about whether or not to accept Cooper's role in the baby's life, while Casey tends to be jealous of the connection that Ally and Cooper will always share because of the child. What's nice is the story is all about little moments like Coop showing up at the Lamaze class when Casey is already there as her partner and Ally worrying about how she is going to be able to pay her medical bills. In the long run, Stephanie replaces Hannah, but, initially, she seems to replace Mia, an Alden University student who Cooper is fooling around with for a bit. Mia is first seen Jeremy Hunter's art class before she ends up hooking up with Cooper and is last seen breaking up the fight between Coop and Casey when Casey learns that Coop is the father of Ally's child. Mia has similarly dark features like Stephanie, but Stephanie certainly has more personality. From the moment she's introduced, Stephanie is a troublemaker; Casey catches her stealing a scarf at Burnell's. She is established as a long time Corinth resident, Isabelle has known her family for years, and she has been attending classes at AU with the rest of the younger set. She's a fun addition. Louie's prostate cancer story is probably the last nice thing done in the final days credited to Walsh. Probably my favorite scene from 1992 is Dinahlee talking to Louie at Pins the night before his surgery. She's worried about him, but he says guys aren't suppose to talk about these things with pretty young ladies. Louie is trying to reassure Dinahlee, but it's Dinahlee who has the best little moment. Dinahlee goes off on a little monologue about how she's never known her father who abandoned her when she was four years old. She talks about how she always imagined what he was like, and, now, she hopes that he would be like Louie. Under Guza and Taggart, Louie's impotence continues and there are some really nice moments between Louie and Kate. Louie avoids Kate when it's time to go to bed, first staying late at the bowling alley and then coming home to do a crossword puzzle. It's such a real conflict that you'd never see play out today with a couple at that age. When Kate is talking to Ava, Kate makes it clear that she and Louie have had an active sex life, which shocks Ava. I can see why it was well liked, and I wish it was featured a bit more. On the down side, nothing seems to really work about Curtis Alden. Patrick Johnson is given very little direction and struggles to find any depth in Curtis. The writing isn't helping. The show pushes Curtis / Dinahlee hard with the silly "Ronnie / Betty" story, which is mostly ridiculous but does lead to some nice tension for Clay and Ava individually as they realize that Curtis and Dinahlee are in love with the other before they do. The reveal of Dinahlee and Curtis' true identities after Trisha's funeral is a nice climax to the story and the possibility of a Clay / Curtis / Dinahlee triangle is intriguing, but no one has a sense of who Curtis is. It doesn't help that they've also saddled Curtis with some mysterious backstory involving Buck and their time in Kuwait. The show needed to really figure out who Curtis was. I feel like Taggart had similar issues with Curtis during her first stint. The other issue is the father/son dynamic between Clay / Curtis doesn't generate the interest that the Clay / Cooper relationship offers. After Cooper gets in trouble with Steffie for nearly having sex in a window display at Burnells', Clay offers to mentor Cooper in the art of being a calculated, vindictive Alden. Some of it is over the top as anything, but it's an intriguing proposition. I've only seen a little bit of Tess, and she works as a con artist/grifter type, but I cannot see how she could work long term.

1992. He treated Trucker in the aftermath of being shot by Giff Bowman and falling from the belfry. Reynolds was later the doctor who diagnosed Louie with prostate cancer. Peg Murray's "Loving" role, Mary Lou, was from 1992. She was Tim Sullivan's neighbor in Atlanta who let Trucker and Stacey into Tim's home during their investigation.

This seems to be from very early in the Brittons return. From the dialogue, it sounds like this is Susan and Amy's first meeting since Amy's return to Woodbridge and the house hunting would suggest that the couple hasn't been home long. BTW, it doesn't sound like Stephen Bolster's Jerry has been in town for very long either. Bolster isn't listed in the press release among those arriving / returning in April, 1968, but it seems like he did. The Brittons returned in April 18, 1968. My guess would be this episode would be from late April.

John Young still was writing for the series.

I don't know the extent Irna Phillips stayed involved. She turned over the writing duties to John Young in 1942. Young guided the show through its evolution as it morphed into the political crime drama in the early 1950s (the years Miles Nelson was governor) and then back into a class warfare drama with working girl Grace Driscoll trying to marry with upper class Skip Kramer. Young ended up writing for television, but his original series, "Golden Windows," was quickly cancelled. Also, when he took over "From These Roots," there are several fan comments in the newspapers speaking of the displeasure with the sudden focus on political and criminal elements. Claudia Morgan is an attractive woman, but I don't know how much work she did in television. I think she easily could have carried the show for another 20 years.

I'll look for them and type them up. I know there are a lot of brief episode listings for the early episodes available in markets that the show aired in primetime. If I come across any of those that I've saved I'll try to post them as well.

I'm pretty sure they were published in the Soap Opera Encyclopedia from 1987. I want to say it was around 1.7 to 2.0. I'm sure most of this was a disaster, but I really wish material would show up from the last six months of the show. I would love to see the show once it shifted from the college stories to a lot more of the business dealings with Carter and C.J. I actually picked up a press kit for when the show premiered that included several pages of a character biographies for the show, but they don't appear to be from either version of the show that we know about (the unaired pilot or the series). These bios seem to be from a Rituals 1.5 for lack of a better term. The Priscilla Lawson character is called "Laura" in the character sketches and there is a biography for a character who clearly becomes Patrick Chapin. In this version, there are also hints that there may have been another untraditional matriarch figure, a female college president who would be dating the "Patrick Chapin" type. If anyone is interested, I'll post some more about it.

Great find! Thanks. I forgot the show was down to only 10 minutes in the last year or two. Still you get two very interesting scenes. The Braden storyline is very compelling. When Anne starts telling Victor and Kitty she heard Dick's music coming up the walk, I really began to feel for her. Kitty's comment about not wanting her parents to fight was something I don't feel like we would get today. Anne's decision to leave Victor also seemed pretty surprising. I also liked that there was some nice build to all this by having Carolyn share with Lee about the trip that Grace and Anne had taken from the prison. I still think this one could have easily transitioned to television.

I need to clarify. Apparently, all Cooper did was touch Selina's breast. In the flashback scene, Tyler and Cynthia surprise 12 year old Cooper in his bedroom with the two in bed. They seem to jump to conclusions and Cooper develops a complex. The lead up is actually pretty decent. Cooper ends up going to therapy with Dr. Turner for one session where he skirts around his sexual problems (he seems to be impotent, but they never have either character say that). Turner even asks Cooper if he is gay, and this is handled with more care than I expected. A lot of the story is written as if Cooper isn't sure what has happened; did it happen or did he make it up? Later, Nixon rectifies the story and ends up having Cooper say Selena molested him, but that doesn't happen until about June 1994. Addie Walsh is credited in the August 1992 episodes I've gotten to. I guess she will remain listed as writer even though Granger unofficially has taken over. The show's plots are pretty lame, but the character interaction is really strong. The most fascinating element of all of this is how many forgotten plots are playing out. The show basically spends all of 1992 trying to make Stacey and Trucker a thing. Also, Ava is now involved in this "Phantom of the Opera"-esque storyline involving the mystery owner of the store involving some rather involved dream sequences with people who do not appear to be James Carroll playing the role of Mr. Burnell. The Giff / Trisha pairing and Giff's insanity pop up almost instantly. The change in Giff is drastic and not subtle at all. The show quickly burns through plot: the custody situation for baby Christopher is resolved by Lynn Thigpeg in about 2 episodes, Gwyn and Clay married in June and have annulled the marriage in August, and the whole Selena story is over. There seems to be more energy and direction with the younger crew now that its pretty much Casey / Ally and Cooper / Hannah. The fall out of Kent tampering with the breaks leads to some nice Ally scheming; she befriends Isabelle (in another hospital room recovering from her heart attack) and lands a stint at the Alden mansion as Isabelle's companion. Ava learns of the scheme and calls Ally on her masquerade. It's actually really nice. Ava also happens to be at the mansion when news of Jack's death reaches that Aldens. We get a brief, underplayed, reaction to that which was nice. I definitely enjoy HOW the characters are involved in different stories, just not the stories themselves. Casey and Ally's first kiss was well done and that's a dynamic that works well. The show has now transitioned into the brief 35 Maple Street storyline which means I get to look forward to the ghost storyline. 1992 is such a mess.

I've been watching the episodes from the time period Casey was introduced. As I viewer, I could immediately connect with Paul Anthony Stewart's Casey. He's strong, silent, and deeply emotional. He was the perfect successor to Eric Woodall's Matt Ford, who's departure left a big hole on the canvas. I'm curious about what the plan was originally for Casey. He is mentioned as early as late December or early January 1992 when Giff informs Gwyn that Casey (then called Revel) had visited him for Christmas (offscreen) as well as mentioning that Revel was a musician. In January, Walsh takes over and Matt briefly joins a band with a character named James who makes a move on Ally during a short rebellion period from Ally. It's Matt and Ally's final story, but I wonder if James was what Mary Ryan Munisteri intended Revel to be, a bit of a threat to the Ally / Matt coupling. After Matt departs, Ally's story involves going to school and scheming to get into Giff Bowman's art class. It's a very brief storyline that involves Ally faking a pregnancy in order to gain Giff's confidence while at the same time she is dealing with the fact that her mother Bonnie is pregnant by her artist boyfriend, who Bonnie plans to marry. In some ways, Taggart will repeat the story in a year with Jeremy Hunter and Hannah Mayberry, but I can only imagine that the Giff/Ally story was meant to create some natural tension for an Ally / Casey pairing down the line. Yet, I haven't seen any indication in the material I have that Giff had any issue with Ally. The Casey / Ava flirtation is also interesting, maybe because I forgot that soaps use to do little chemistry tests like this. I haven't reviewed all the clips, but I imagine those Casey clips include some of the cocaine smuggling storyline involving Basil and Burnell's. It surprises me that the show seems to continue to play this coupling afterwards with Ava oblivious to Casey's romantic intentions, while Casey seems to overread every reaction Ava has even while the show has Casey continue as Ally's confidante. It seems, to me at least, that in the summer of 1992 the show intends Ally to be a longterm spoiler for Cooper and Hannah with no clear indication where they are going with Casey. He has feelings for Ally, he spends a lot of time with Hannah, and then he has a crush on Ava. In a way, it's nice to watch something where the story isn't set in stone because there still seems to be some direction. The younger set introduced in 1992 is pretty strong, but I think its a rougher start than most remember probably because (smartly) the show launches the frat/sorority storyline in late March and pretty much drops that angle by early summer. Kent is written out after the Casablanca Dance, all the supporting characters from the early days of the story aren't even present at the dance, and Staige morphs into a sounding board for Ally when previously she seems to have the potential to be a leading character. Even Rebecca Gayheart, who can be annoying with her sickeningly sweet voice, seems to have found a better way to attack the character of Hannah. It's truly been astounishing to watch the resolution of Coop's secret. He manages to get a P.I. to track Selena Walker to Minneapolis where she is working as a nurse. In Minneapolis, he asks her what happened the night of his birthday and we get an actual flashback of before and after Selena and Cooper slept together (with a brief glimpse at Tyler and Cynthia Alden reacting to their twelve year old son in bed with his governess). The dialogue states that Cooper wanting to sleep with Selena, that Selena pitied him so she did, and that Tyler and Cynthia were wrong for running Selena out of Cooper's life. I cannot imagine a show doing this storyline with a gender reversal of an older man saying a young girl wanted to have sex with him. It's really uncomfortable to watch as the actor playing Cooper in the flashback plays Coop as so innocent and unaware of the sexual nature of the scenes. This also plays alongside a rather over the top scene of Stacey (who I believe was headed to the Caribbean) rushing into the Alden patio to announce that Jack has been lost at sea. The younger set certainly brings an energy to the show when a lot of the other parts weren't as gripping.

I'm in the final episodes I have of May 1992. There is a five week gap in episodes. When I resume, it will be late June. It is clear that there has been a change in production. Establishing shots for scenes have been introduced and we have a greater sense of what Corinth feels like. The story also is taking us outside of Corinth. The mystery of the love nest at the Tides has Stacey and Trucker in Atlanta meeting with Tim Sullivan and his friend/neighbor Mary-Pat (played by soap vet Peg Murray). The Atlanta excursion is a bit bizarre as it leads to a building attraction between Stacey and Trucker. I didn't realize this was a story beat that was played this early. Trucker and Stacey nearly kiss in Atlanta, but it seems all but forgotten upon returning to Corinth. In Colorado, Giff visits his first wife's grave to celebrate her birthday where we meet the last member of the younger set, Revel Bowman. Revel is now going by Casey in honor of his late mother (Alise Casey Bowman). Paul Anthony Stewart is a find. He immediately throws himself into Casey's lost boy soulfulness which makes the character immediately likeable compared to most of the rest of the newly introduced younger set. A dayplayer artist pal of Giff, Oliver, returns to reveal that Trisha is also in Colorado. Trisha returns mid-May after being absent since mid-February (Noelle Beck's second maternity leave). Trucker and Trisha's reunion is a mess. Trucker's PI has tracked Giff and Trisha down to Porter's Point or wherever the commune was and immediately trashes the place and attacks Giff. It's the over the top reaction I've come to expect under Walsh, but I'm not sure if Walsh is still writing. The scenes in Colorado are a mixed bag. Trisha's return grounds her motivation in her own history that is very relevant to the current story (she doesn't want to raise her child the way she was raised around volatile Gwyn and Clay) and Beck is glowing post pregnancy. I'm not sure what the plan is for Trucker and Trisha. They are back tracking now; the previously happily reunited Trisha and Trucker are now at each other's throats. There is definitely groundwork being laid for Trisha / Giff (Casey notices the attraction), but none of this seems to be heading anywhere good. It's clear that Walsh and Granger had no idea of how to use Richard Cox's Giff, which is a shame since he was such a breath of fresh air under Ryan Munisteri. In other segments of the story, the AE story is becoming more intriguing. Both Shana and Jack have been completely sidelined since the end of the Take Off story in late April. Shana and Larry have an attempt at an emotional moment after Shana learns she and Jack have been scammed, but it has no impact on Jack and Shana's stories. It does, however, fuel Isabelle's plot to push Gwyn forward as CEO of AE after ousting Jack for misappropriating funds into a project that was a fraud. The AE stockholders appear fairly regularly, Howard (an older gentleman who acts as Isabelle's partner in crime) and Ellen Saunders (an older woman who seems fairly recognizable). Gwyn's pursuit of the CEO position lures Clay back into the fold, which is a great story point. Pompous Clay doesn't believe Gwyn can handle it, while Jack and Shana call out Isabelle for using Gwyn to get Clay back on board. It's a shining moment for Christine Tudor Newman. She does so much with so very little. She interacts well with everyone in her story. There are also just some nice moments for Gwyn. At the art studio, Gwyn reconnects with Giff hoping to use Giff to help her lure a board member to her side. It's a nice moment that is used to show a dynamic that is missing on this show: friendship. Anyway, it's now officially a Dinahlee / Clay / Gwyn triangle. In a very well done scene, Dinahlee confesses to Louie she fears she will always feel like an outsider among Clay's family while Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" plays in the bowling alley. Clay confronts Gwyn at the opera and Gwyn tells Clay to get Dinahlee out of town if he loves her (Dinahlee). Later, Clay and DInahlee accept a job offer in Chicago to work as executives for a bowling conglomerate that wants to buy Pins. The job offer provides Clay and Dinahlee with a decent conflict that plays on what Walsh has been building for the past five months. At the start of the month, Carly, Paul, and Michael are shipped off to New York. There story was awful under Walsh so I don't miss them. In revisiting their story under Walsh, Carly and Paul had a lot of plot but it never was developed. Michael had a serious heart condition, Carly and Michael moved to New York, Carly reunites with Flynn, Flynn and Carly become engaged, Paul realizes he loves Carly, Carly tells Flynn she loves Paul leading to Flynn's fatal hit and run, and Carly develops a bit of a drinking problem. It all sounds exciting, but it is all so poorly executed. What is most surprising is Ava remains on the backburner almost the entire time. As her relationship collapses, Ava takes the high road and maturely accepts defeat when it comes to Carly and Paul. Lisa Peluso does some fine work, but it's a shock to see her go from an A-player to a C-lister. In the last few episodes, they have launched Ava's new story revolving around her new job at Burnell's and her mysterious boss. The mystery of the Tides moves nicely now that they've established Stacey's main motivation (boredom) for looking into the story. Tim Sullivan has just arrived in Corinth in late May, and I believe he will already be dead when my episodes resume in late June. Part of the problem though is the mystery is mainly misguided. Stacey and Trucker are looking for an older woman who has been hired by Isabelle to scare them off. The reasoning by hiring an older woman (in her late 50s /early 60s) is never completely established. I can only assume Isabelle is trying to lead Stacey and Trucker to believe that this woman was one of Cabot's mistresses to throw them off the scent. Again, it's a bit of a bizarre tale but also interesting. They are still trying to find their way with the younger set. Hannah and Cooper now appear to be the major couple with a bit of Cooper / Ally and even Cooper / Staige thrown in for good measure. Arthur is still hanging around Hannah, but it's clear that he won't be for much longer. Hannah and Coop have complications from both Clay and Dinahlee as well as Isabelle. Coop and Ally's romance is thwarted by young sexuality; Ally is a virgin and Coop has a traumatic history that is slowly being unveiled. There is a nice scene in mid-May where Hannah, Coop, and Ally all end up at Burnell's just as Hannah puts on a more sexy black dress just as Coop arrives and Ally spots the look between the two. There is also some fun infighting between Staige and Ally over Coop, but it feels like the sorority stuff is already beginning to fade out. I definitely think things are shaping up, but I'm fearful to see all the momentum killed when the next set of episodes start. The story is already switching.

I’m in April 1992. The AU revamp is in full swing. Eden Atwood’s Staige was underutilized. The interaction between Ally and Staige is an early example of a soap frenemy relationship. At first, I didn’t think much of the sorority/fraternity storyline. For one, it won’t last long. I think by the summer the show abandons Bleak House and the Alpha Dels. Secondly, the show has introduced a series of new characters and roped in characters like a member of Matt’s band and the senator’s son who was interested in Dinahlee for a hot minute. With that said, Laura Sisk has emerged as a stronger actress now that Ally is a scheming social climber. Ally and Staige are both into Cooper for their own reasons. It is their push-pull is more interesting than the inclusion of country girl Hannah Mayberry. With that said, the Hannah-Cooper dynamic has created one of the show’s more intriguing stories. It seems that with Hannah and Cooper there is an attempt to recreate the Lily, Jack, and Curtis tale. Like Lily, Hannah is a pianist and Cooper has endured sexual abuse. The sexual abuse story is slowly building. We have only had some hints of it. Upon his arrival, Cooper is pulled aside by Isabelle who confronts him over his past: being kicked out of colleges, jumping from boarding school to boarding school, and the family’s inability to keep a nanny. The nanny becomes a sore point when Cooper and Clay clash when Clay moves out of the Alden manor. Clay recounts Cabot’s 60th birthday party where a young Coop spiked the punch. When Clay recalls the beautiful nanny, Coop lashes out. His personality completely flips. I wonder if the show was considering giving Cooper MPD, but I suspect it was just an example of Cooper being triggered. Cooper and Ally do seem to be the relationship the show is most committed to at the moment. Staige attempts to thwart Ally and Coop’s romance by telling Ally to keep away and later undermining Ally’s confidence when Ally alludes to being a virgin. Kent is underdeveloped. It’s hard to tell if Howarth is green or not because he is given so little to do. Rebecca Gayheart’s Hannah could give you diabetes she’s so sickeningly sweet. Her relationship with Keith Grummet’s Arthur is a sweet dalliance, but I cannot see where they would take it. It’s interesting how little details emerge. Julie Bowen’s character is Steffy, Eden’s ‘little sister’ at the sorority who is dating Sam Maxwell, the young man who was after Dinahlee back in the winter. I’m curious to see how long it takes for these people to completely disappear. Daisy Fuentes seems to be fading now as Tess once they’ve introduced the sorority set. The show is more interesting when it interacts. For example, the aforementioned Coop/Clay scene was very well done. Two characters, both introduced under Addie Walsh and Jeff Ryder, who have very unique viewpoints. When Coop tries to come at Clay, Clay makes a deep cut; questioning whether or not Coop has any true friends. I think the interplay between Clay and Coop is fun. It is the old sullen black sheep versus the new one. I can see why Coop vs. Clay would become a bigger thing under future regimes. Similarly, there is a great scene set at Burnell’s where Dinahlee and Hannah are shopping for a Dinahlee’s first real date with Clay, Isabelle and Gwyn are engaging in some shopping therapy, and Ava and Ally are hunting for a new wardrobe for the newest Alpha Del. The camera shifts between the three scenes and ends with a Gwyn/Dinahlee standoff in the same dress. The show is definitely building a Dinahlee / Clay / Gwyn triangle with Isabelle nudging a Gwyn / Clay reconciliation both openly and privately by encouraging Gwyn to take on the role of CEO of AE in order to lure Clay back into the fold. In another stand out scene, Clay drops by Gwyn at her room at the hotel where they sit an watch an old film on television and skirt around their unresolved feelings for one another. While Gwyn’s arc is building very slowly, and is developing into something intriguing, the Jack / Shana angles of the AE story are not as strong. Jack’s need to defend his position isn’t grounded in anything other than story needs. The Isabelle / Jack animosity comes out of nowhere. Meanwhile, Shana’s romance with Larry Lamont is very dry and to the point. It doesn’t even seem to be building naturally to the revelation that Larry and his assistant Jeanne are scheming to con Jack and Shana out of money. It just seems to move step by step without much nuance. In the latest episodes, it appears that Larry has developed true feelings for Shana without any real angst. Jeanne emerges as a basic threat to Larry and Shana’s happiness, but it is stated that she may have made a play for Jack (off camera). The only element that works is that this all means Jack is too busy for Stacey, who now has significant motivation to become obsessed with the secret of the love nest at the Tides. The Rescott storyline has fallen apart. Kate and Louie are now supporting players in other people’s stories. Louie, now working at the bowling alley, has become a confidant for Dinahlee and I assume will usurp Maggie’s role. In other orbits, Kate is now acting as a social secretary for Isabelle usurping Bethel Leslie’s position. It does connect Kate more to the larger world, but her own family has suffered. The Paul / Ava / Carly story is winding down. Flynn has been quickly killed off in a hit and run shot on location in the city. Carly starts drinking while Michael has been brought home to Corinth. Michael is now completely your average soap kid without any of the personality that was crafted under Mary Ryan Munisteri. There is potential for a great moment when Carly returns from several days of drinking in New York and reunites with Michael, who smells the booze on her breath and immediately calls her out. He is reminded of Ruth Austen, the woman who raised and abandoned him. It has the potential to be a powerful moment, and it is, to an extent. It all plays as soap by numbers rather than actually delving into the emotional turmoil this should really cause. Failed potential is the name of the game right now. Within the same set of episodes, Isabelle receives a phone call about the plane crash that killed her nephew Tyler and his wife Cynthia (Cooper’s parents) and Shana recounting to Larry about the crash that killed Jim and Jimmy. Shana’s monologue is a touching moment, but it seems to be a missed opportunity to connect the old with the new. And yet, Kate has mentioned on two separate occasions that she lost her husband. For a show called “Loving,” there isn’t a lot of it. The show’s main romantic couple is Dinahlee and Clay. Day in and day out, they get a bulk of the show’s story time. In my latest viewing, Clay and Dinahlee have faked a wedding to convince Hannah that her sister isn’t a liar. This leads to Gwyn forcing Dinahlee’s hand resulting in Dinahlee confessing all her dirty deeds to Hannah. With everything on the table, Dinahlee and Clay are free to move forward as a couple. Now, Dinahlee has confessed she has feelings for Clay and has moved passed her feelings for Trucker. And yet, despite his screen time, he is missing from stories that he is critical for. The main thrust in the AE storyline is Isabelle’s desire to see Clay in charge of AE, but Clay shows no interest in AE. Similarly, Gwyn talks about Clay’s desire to reunite with Trisha and how Clay’s relationship with Dinahlee would impact that, but there is no real talk to Clay about Trisha or the family outside his scenes with Gwyn. At least with Dinahlee, she spends time with Hannah, who seems to be her main non-romantic focus.

David Cherrill started using Dr. Rogers in early 1983. He informed Liza she was pregnant with Tourneur. Gary Tonkin continued to use him during the pregnancy storyline and he was in the delivery room in July, 1983. I’ve seen those. I’ve heard he also made an appearance at Jo’s memorial when she was presumed dead.

I think Kate only appeared in New Orleans with Martin. I think the character was a madam or a prostitute. Does anyone else have any details?

I’ve been watching the episodes from the NBC run on YouTube. As they were looping, I saw a January 1984 and December 1986 episode back to back. Watching Sunny go from scenes with Timothy Patrick Murphy to Lee Godart was awkward. Does anyone else see a physical resemblance between the two actors? It was a bit unsettling to think this was the man that Sunny was settling down and having a child with. Also, were both Steve Kendall and Jack Benton both at the TV station concurrently? Or did Jack replace Steve? I thought Jack might be the replacement, but Steve seems to stick around longer than I expected. On on the other hand, I’d love to know the circumstances in which Phillip Brown left the show. Steve is a critical piece of the Sentell-Kendall rivalry that Gary Tomlin is building in those 1983 episodes. I don’t remember Brown being listed in mass exodus that occurred in December 1983/January 1984. When is Steve’s final episode? The Vargas kidnapping story is super effective. I do wish they had tied Vargas to Kate, Mary Stuart’s dual role from the late 1970s. Kate had been a madam that had been Martin’s lover. I think it would have added an interesting layer to the Martin/Billy dynamic. The showdown in the warehouse is really strong. I love that the show continued the Brian/Jo dynamic. I saw a really nice scene with Gene Pietragallo and Mary Stuart where Jo tells Brian she cares about him even after he breaks Suzi’s heart by knocking up Kristen. I don’t like Rhonda Sue, Ringo, or their story. It’s amazing that Ringo lasts nearly two years on a show with constant turnover. Going back to Steve, the scene between Martin and Steve in the hospital highlighted how nicely constructed the shows adult set was. The Martin / Lloyd feud is fueled by Kendall’s father’s suicide (shades of Mike Marshall on TEXAS). Lloyd has a flirtatious business relationship with Stephanie, Martin’s ex-fling and his own “son” Steve’s one-time fiancée. Steve now has two fathers: Lloyd, the man who gave him his name and raised him, and Martin, a stranger he shared a biological connection with. When Steve asks Martin why his marriage to Jo ended, we seemed prime to highlight the rifts in all these dynamics. I imagine we never get there though because Steve must depart soon. Warren Carter remains fascinating and the Wendy / Warren/ Suzie story has legs to go on for years with Wendy’s miscarriage, Suzi’s inheritance, and Suzi’s pregnancy. I also love Mandy, the amibitioys hostess who has her eyes on television. I really enjoy what has popped up.

IMillee Taggert has the most time between her ‘88-‘91 run and her ‘92-‘93 stint. Despite this, her long range impact is uneven. There is no denying that Trisha abd Trucker’s romance shaped the show for many years and that Taggert created that. I’ve already said before I don’t think Trisha / Trucker should have been end game. Taggert and King do introduce realClay into the story. They also wrote the Louie / Kate romance and created Carly abd Paul. Some of this should have been better utilized by subsequent regimes and some of should have just been ignored. While it’s often overlooked, Taggert and King did try to diversify the canvas with the Domeqs and adding Det. Hindman’s children to the younger set. What did did you think @EricMontreal22 of Taggert’s second run? I think she smartly swapped Steffi for Hannah and continued to play Ally’s pregnancy as the main complication in the younger quad. Shana’s desire to have a baby seems strong as does the brief Shana / Leo / Ava triangle l. Yet there are so many other clunkers: the Dinahlee / Curtis pairing, the convoluted backstory with Curtis / Buck / Tess, the return of Trucker’s father, the Jeremy / Ava Universal Studios caper, and the open ended exit story for Trisha. Whike i I get what you mean regarding King and Taggert’s corporate stories, the second half of Marland’s run had the trademark Maryland business world: Amourelle Cosmetics, Forbes Construction, Burnell’s Department Store, the Beecham brothers, and the fight for AE. The difference is Marland’s stories seemed to be grounded in how they would impact others. Nixon was never really a big business type writer and that difference makes for a rough transition in 1985. I think Babbin’s year worked for “Loving.” The show seems to ground the story more in reality while still injecting bits of humor. On the other hand she also sets in motion things that were detrimental in the long run: firing Perry Stephens, okaying the dismantling of the Alden family, and failing to recast Dane when Anthony Herrera left. Sears is interesting because what she does shapes the remainder of show’s run. The introduction of Casey and Cooper as well as positioning Ally as a lead gives the show a jolt. Jessica Collins manages to make Dinahlee something even when the story isn’t there to support it. All the sets she introduces remain for quiet some time. Also she incorporates a lot of modern music (music rights are probably one of the reasons this is never replayed). I wish we didn’t have to lose Carly and Paul in the process. Sears fast departure is a shock. The much remembered revamp was something she spearheaded along with Walsh. Haidee Granger is there for over a year I think. I’d also love to know what changed with Walsh, but Grangers solo work is so over the top that I think Walsh may have felt that it was to big a conflict. Also, Granger quickly squashed Cooper’s sexual abuse story by having Coop claim he wanted to have sex with Selina his nanny. If this was something that Walsh was being told she had to pen, I think I might have quit too. The bits I’ve seen of later in Walsh’s run are stronger (May 1992). As we have seen though in what has appeared online, it’s just such a tonal shift from one regime to another. Being a fan of the Claire Labine school of soap writing, Mary Ryan Munisteri’s work (while flawed in ways) speaks to me more than Walsh’s does. I thought the deal with the devil and the snakes was all at the tail end of the first Maitland story set on the Golden Gate Bridge (November 1984). It may have been later. I think Jonathan kidnaps Keith and replaces him in the final weeks of Marland’s run (May 1985). Either way I know Nixon had stated it was a favorite. While it’s clear she has massive influence over the story, she isn’t credited long as head writer. Jack and Stacey’s engagement party (February 1986) is credited to William Levinson. I’ve stalled in March 1992. I don’t have the fall crossover episodes but they are available. You are correct though Granger is de facto writer during the crossover. Taggerts hiring is announced in November. Regarding the gay storyline on “All My Children,” you raise an interesting point. I’ve read Marland planned to reveal Tom, the character recently introduced on episodes of “The Doctors” airing on Retro, was gay. I’m also curious what the plan was, if any, regarding the AIDS research on “Loving.” I imagine it would have mostly be a talking piece for university in fighting (older conservative donors not wanting their money thrown into research for “those people”). Would they have even attempted to humanize the story by introducing someone suffering from the disease. I believe Curtis returns to Corinth in July 1983 after years of drugs and sex in Europe. I think there was a real story to tell there while not necessarily diagnosing Curtis with the disease. An interesting sidebar, Brian Frons WANTED the Dobsons to tell an AIDS storyline in the first few years of “Santa Barbara” so networks weren’t 100% against it.

No. I got these episodes from another source. Mostly full episodes (often missing credits) with long stretches with very few episodes missing. Even though Millee Taggert and Tom King had a good stretch (two and half years), there were three different executive producers they worked under. From the bits I've seen, Taggert/King and Babbin seem to have the strongest material, but I think the show also made some major changes to the canvas that hurt the show in the long run and weren't rectified for quite some time. I love Sears/ Ryan Munisteri's run, but Munisteri's strength lies in character rather than plotting. With that said, I did enjoy a lot of the story. Ava/Paul/Carly/Flynn is an incredible quad that easily could have been generic but the characterization is so rich (and definitely builds on what King and Taggert were already doing) that the story remains deeply engaging. I love that Paul never really gives up on Ava despite all the terrible things she has done. I also think that by allowing both Ava and Kate know Carly's secret, a lot of strong natural tension was built between the Rescott women and the Slavinski men. The Ally / Matt pairing was well done, but Matt's story is certainly more engaging. Laura (Sisk) Wright is more at ease in the role of slightly devious schemer than she is as a more outgoing ingenue. Eric Woodall just works beautifully with every actor they pair him with. Matt's relationship with Kate and Louie is very poignant, and the connection with Ceara provides some of the show's strongest moments. The story that Munisteri builds for Trucker and Trisha was probably not well received by that fanbase. It made Trucker and Trisha both look human and even terrible at times. The conflict with Jack and Stacey that comes out of the situation with Dinahlee nicely ties into the story with Trucker and Trisha, but overall glances over the role that Shana has played in all of it. If Munisteri had stayed, I suspect that Shana would have been shipped to Hong Kong like Isabelle intended. The introduction of street kid Michael, snarky artist Giff, soulful Flynn, and spirited Dinahlee added deeper layers to the stories and the canvas. From what I've seen of Sears / Walsh, the characterization goes to pot fairly quickly. Characters are now people but more types. Isabelle is simply a meddling mother and grandmother without the appreciation of what has led her to become this in such a short period of time. Michael, who was hustler and slightly devious, suddenly becomes your average soap kid. Matt, deeply aware of all his baggage, wants to rush into marriage and move out of town with Ally despite not wanting to rush her into sex weeks earlier. Only Gwyn seems to get a bit more depth, and it is her story which seems most interesting, but is also one of the slowest building. Walsh' plotting is a bit stronger, but the stories are not as interesting. Clay becomes involved with Dinahlee because he's down on his luck and hopes to keep an eye on her. Upon the arrival of Hannah, Clay pretends to be Trucker to keep Dinahlee from disappointing Hannah having told her a fairy tale about being engaged to a very rich man, Trucker McKenzie. This dominates a good portion of the episodes. Stacey is presented a chance to write an article on the Alden family for Brava, but instead nixes the offer at Isabelle's request. Instead, Stacey becomes obsessed with some love nest that Cabot had in the Tides and the mystery surrounding who the lover might be. Again, in terms of a story, it is interesting, but it isn't impacting the characters in any real meaningful way. The alliances being built in order to prevent Clay from taking over Alden Enterprises is an intriguing concept and is a story that at least gives the Aldens a sense of family unity, but it also seems to meander a bit. More things happen under Walsh, they just don't have the impact without the story. What I've caught of Haidee Granger's work is bizarre. The storyline ideas are definitely meant to grab eyes (Giff goes crazy and kidnaps Trisha! There's a ghost at 35 Maple Street!), but the scriptwriters and actors manage to make some moments very meaningful. As much as I hate seeing the destruction of Giff Bowman, Cox and Stewart are pretty damn amazing in some of their final confrontations where Casey is trying to convince Giff to tell him where Trisha and Christopher are. For all the complaints made about Matt not having ties, Casey has the same issues once Richard Cox departs, but both actors give the characters an edge. On an hour show, Woodall and Stewart could have driven story for years, it's a shame they weren't given that opportunity. Shame on them for not looking for something more unique and truly 'embarassing' like the Jonathan Maitland story. Then again, maybe the deal with the devil stuff was under Jonathan Maitland's second run. I think the Vochek / Donovan family structures were flawed. I think they should have had killed off Patrick Donovan in the pilot as a result of the prostitution story with Johnny Forbes helping hide Amelia leading to Patrick finding her and being shot in the final showdown. I would have sent Amelia to prison and had Johnny get off by turning on her. This would have built more tension between the Forbes / Donovan clans which could have played nicely into the Merill / Roger / Doug storyline. I also believe I have mentioned that I would have had featured the Vochek father instead of Patrick Donovan. I would have built a slow burning romance between him and Rose Donovan which would have been complicated by the revelation that his wife wasn't dead and had in fact abandoned the family. When she returned to town, she could have been involved with Johnny Forbes, which would again escalate the tension between the families as well as complicate her husband's divorce plans. Also, if Rose was a staunch Catholic, this might have been an end to that relationship. I think more story at the parent level would have enhanced story at the child level. I know it was probably too early for it, but I think they should have bitten the bullet and had Doug been deeply in the closet. Doug and Merrill's relationship could have been beneficial because they were both involved in forbidden relationships (Merrill with a married man and Doug with a man). It would certainly have been a different dynamic for the Roger / Merrill relationship. Also, I don't remember the show really playing up the fact that Roger's career should have been hindered, at least slightly, by the scandal involving his father's murder. I guess they were going for a JFK angle with Roger, but I think it would have made more sense to use the prostitution ring to keep Roger in Corinth for a year or so before he could really build up his political plans (which should have been the case anyway since he was president of the college). I think Doug's sexuality could easily have been used in the AIDS storyline they wanted to tell, but I also think that story might have been interesting if they sort of played a sexually fluid Curtis Alden. Again, I think some of this never would have made it past the network, but its always interesting to consider. I think Nixon wrote Noreen and Mike out after Marland brought Noreen back in his final weeks, though I believe Nixon brought back Doug for the relationship with Shana. Later, Taggert / King brought back Rose and Patrick and were used during Munisteri's run. The last mention I've gotten of them was at Christmas 1991 when Stacey says they are with Doug in California. Overall, the Donovans and Vocheks needed more inherent tension that a family like the Rescotts provided. I think they could have worked, but it would have meant a major overhaul.

The timeline never really works. I believe Sam, initially, is a year older than Monique. So there is suppose to be a significant age gap between Sam and Laura. Later on, I believe it's implied that Ruth conceives Chantal at the time Peter leaves town meaning Chantal is younger than Sam, which makes absolutely no logical sense. Originally, Ruth and Henry's daughter Jacquelyn was married with children implying she was the oldest. I dont one think we ever learned who Jason's biological father was. Hugh originally took Jason away and named him Hugh Gardner II. When Jessica returned to Chicago after her initial banishment, she takes Jason back, marries Senator Tim Craig, and rechristens her son. Jason loved Tim and felt guilty because Jason didn't save Tim when they were involved in a car accident that sent their vehicle into a body of water. It was Tims death that led to the fracture in Jessica and Jason's relationship and why she can't locate him at the time of the premier. The death of Tim also resulted in Jessica falling off the bottle. Rob is suppose to be older. He's a professor on track for tenure when it starts. I think he is probably a little younger than Jessica and Laura, but still older than Jason, Sam, Adam and Monique. Jessica's family lived in the same neighborhood as the Whitmores. JD Whitmore also has a crush on Jessica. I really lije like the triangle between Jordan, Sam, and Kyle. I actually really like George Shannon in the role of Jordan. While his mob ties grow organically in the story, I don't like that they made him the heavy in that way when I felt Shannon's Jordan represented so many things Sam wanted while Kyle was just raw passion. I was actually listening to Here and Now this evening because of Sam and Kyle. rutherford grows immensely as the character of Sam evolves. Valentin is never given the heavy emotional material Rutherford does. The rare time she does (Trevor and Laura's divorce) it's all b-story. With that said I've only seen the fallout of Jasons death. I'm not sure how valens did with her instant widowhood.

Parlato doesn't seem to be delivering that line with any snark. I think Gwyn may have gone back to school in either 1994 or 1995. Nixon paired Gwyn with Jeremy Hunter, has her experience menopause, and had her working at the ad agency after several years back in the corporate circles at AE. I'm up to March 1992 and I'm surprised to experience so many forgotten stories. The mystery at the Tides is something @EricMontreal22 mentioned several times but to see it play out day to day is bizarre. I'm curious to see how cohesive it will turn out as they've hinted once at the resolution (Clay is not Cabot's son) but the rest of the story seems to suggest this is all about Cabot's infidelity. It's also surprising to see it started out under Mary Ryan Munisteri back in November. The end of the Matt Ford story was incredibly disappointing especially since they saddled Ally with an obsession for a newly sanitized Giff Bowman and a rather extensive side story involving her mother Bonnie getting pregnant by her new boyfriend. Also, Mary Ryan Munisteri lays the groundwork for Casey. Gif has been married three times and has three children, one by each former wife. Revel (Casey's birth name) is visiting Corinth at Christmas (offscreen) and is a musician. in the transition from Munisteri to Walsh there is a brief young crowd introduced around Matt, Alky, and Reggie involving a band. I imagine the plan was to have Revel involved in the band. Ally also has a brief flirtation with Sam, the senator's son who Dinahlee spent some time with. Sam was a member of the main frat. Walsh spends a lot of time making Clay and Dinahlee happen. After mentioning bring her family to town, Dinahlee now claims it's just her and Hannag, her half sister. Mom apparently abandoned them to pursue her dreams to be a singer. Not a big Dinahlee / Clay fan. The he show really struggles with Becks latest maternity leave. Trucker and Stacey are trying to solve the mystery of the Tides, which is probably why Haidee Granger pursued that angle later in the year. The infighting at AE started out interesting with Jack, Shana, and Gwyn uniting against Clay but Isabelle's meddling has become cumbersome. I didn't realize John Schneider was on contract to play Larry Lamont, a businessman looking to work with AE and seducing Shana. Also shocked how Walsh sidelines Ava and completely shifts the focus of Carly / Paul / Ava / Flynn to make Paul and Carly endgame without any plan in place for Ava. It's really upsetting to see the story shift gears to Michaels heart problem and some rather generic interactions between characters who previously had a bunch of layers. I understand why people liked Arthur, the assistant at Truckers auto shop. They lay the nerd layer on pretty thick but the actor gives him dimension. I did did jump ahead and watched some May 1992 episodes and things do seem to settle a bit, but the show has been a bit of a task in Walsh's early episodes.