dc11786

My post was misleading. In my scattered train of thought, I was trying to explain that I had know for a while that "Santa Barbara" was going to do an AIDS storyline because there is a research folder listed on the inventory for the Dobsons papers at the University of Wisconsin. This is why I thought they might have considered an AIDS storyline for Lindsay. Later, I read an interview by a "Santa Barbara" fan in which Bridget Dobson explained that the AIDS storyline was intended for Mother Isabel because they had to write the storyline. I would love to visit some of the archives that have soap collections, but none are near me. The real shame regarding Lindsay Smith was that the actor, Joel Bailey, is/was married to Gina Gallego. It would have been neat to see husband and wife interact as people both haunted by the love of the same man. I also think it might have been interesting to have had Mason involved with Lindsay on a professional basis given the history between the two men. Does the show ever really explore how Peter Flint learned about Lindsay and Channing, Jr.? Was it because of the diary? I also fanwanked a scenario where Antonio Fiore/Peter Flint had a fling with Channing, Jr. during his hustler days and used all the information about C.C.'s golden boy to win over C.C. Since we are speaking of AIDS, it's a shame that Joel Crothers died. I watched the episodes right after he went on medical leave where Jeff Pomerantz plays the law associate of Jack Lee who incites some jealousy from Cruz when he works with Eden. I think I read somewhere the plan was to pair Jack and Eden, but that Crothers got sick so they brought on Kirk instead. There are moments I find Eden intriguing. The idea of Eden as a replacement Channing, Jr., does sort of fascinate me. I know it's hated, but I sort of appreciate the Eden channels Channing, Jr. storyline. It's messy as hell, but it goes back to a lot of the show's pre-history that I find so damn rich and colorful. There are more subtle hints at the Eden / Channing Jr. stuff in the later 1985 / 1986 episodes. At one point, Eden goes on about wanting to give C.C. a grandchild because of the mess with Channing, Jr. being revealed as an outsider. The rival company wars would have been intriguing. Does the show end up doing anything with Armanti Industries? I do love how the show has Sophia create all these different identities (Suzanne Carlyle, Dominic, Countess Armanti, etc.) It really plays into who she is at heart (an actress), which I would have used to have someone (mainly Eden) constantly question how much Sophia really loved them. Was she truly a loving mother? Or was she just playing the role of one? Someone like Mason should have been commenting on that. Lily was the product of a rape when Gina was thirteen years old. I don't think anyone knew about Lily prior to her arrival with the exception of Phyllis Blake, Gina's mother who told her the baby had died at birth. I don't think the rape was written into the show until later. By that, I mean I don't think Gina mentioned it in 1984/1985 when Summer brought up the experience with Hank Judson. I believe Gina discussed her rape later after the Lilly's departure when relating to one of the show's other women who had been raped, maybe Hayley? I don't know the timing of it all, but was the show planning on Lilly being Gina's daughter from the start? In the episodes I've seen, there is a lot of talk about the resemblance between Lilly and Gina. Lynn Clark and Robin Matson do share similar features, but I wonder if the Lilly / Gina connection wasn't a result of them hiring an actress who looked like Mattson rather than it being planned from the beginning. In the little I've caught of her, Lilly was an interesting post-Mary choice. The false prophet trying to lead Mason to the light after losing his faith completely with Mary, not that he was a man of religion to begin with. I could easily see Mason being drawn to this type of person, and I could easily see conflict between Gina and Mason and Lilly given their tangled histories. Another missed opportunity. I think she was simply deSORASED in the 1990s. Hopefully, someone with a better history of SB can give you a clearer insight.

I'm pretty sure that the tunnel explosion was in April, 1985. I remember looking it up because I know Victor Bevine (Hank) was also on "The Catlins," which ended in May 1985. There was most likely a period of time where he, and his cast mate David Haskell, appeared on both series at once. As I've said, I've been bouncing around and mainly focusing on Channing material and whatever else catches my fancy at the moment. The reveal about Channing and Lindsay is very well done. A lot of under the surface writing with Lindsay, who claims he is straight and seeing someone, but then seems to admit that he was hurt that he was spurned by Channing. I thought Cruz's response to it all was actually really refreshing; not really placing any judgement on the relationship, but focused on learning what role Lindsay played in the drama. Lindsay fascinates me. I realize he is only a bit player, but I wish they had revisited him. The Dobsons have donated their papers to the University of Wisconsin, and, among their SB papers, was a bit of information about AIDS. Bridget Dobson states that NBC (Brian Frons, in particular) wanted them to write an AIDS storyline into the show as part of the network's agreement to air the series. The Dobsons didn't want to do it, but, to appease Frons, they planned a storyline where Mother Isabel, Mary Duvall's superior at the convent, would succumb to the disease. Dobson said she thought it was the least threatening way to handle it. NBC eventually caved, and I'm not even sure the show even hinted at the story. I sort of wish they pushed the envelope and had Lindsay Smith return to town in 1986 with the disease. Rejected by friends and family, Sophia would offer to take him into the Capwell mansion during his final days. I think it would allow Sophia the chance to learn more about Channing, a young man she had believed was her son. On the other hand, they could have just kept Lindsay around in a recurring role without his sexuality being a major issue until they wanted it to be one. Regarding the Capwell sisters, I don't feel they are well developed. I really liked when the East coast Capwells arrived in time for Mason and Santana's aborted wedding. Initially, both Madeline and Courtney seemed so fun and carefree. Even when Madeline showed herself to be an uptight socialite, the characterization at least provided the show with a relevant level of snobbery that was needed in a world of haves and have nots. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how you bring on John Considine as Grant Capwell for a handful of episodes only to quickly write him out. The only thing I can surmise is that the show wanted to do something with Grant and Augusta, but Louise Sorel left. Yet, with this show, squandered opportunities were plentiful so its entirely possible that Grant was always intended to be a blimp on the radar. In what I've seen, Kelly is very generic. Robin Wright is strong, but the writing doesn't really doesn't give her any shades. The pregnancy ploy during the standoff with Peter Flint is interesting, but I couldn't help but wonder if it wouldn't have been more interesting to actually go there. C.C. was determined to have a grandchild and having Kelly having Peter's baby, and passing it off Joe's, may have given some more layers to Kelly. Eden's relationship with Sophia fascinated me. The level of vitriol that Eden uses to attack Sophia when she is masquerading as the Suzanne Carlyle, the reporter, is shocking when compared to the level of compassion Eden feels for Sophia when Sophia is unmasked as the killer. Eden begging Sophia not to leave them and revert to her damaged psyche is a really well done sequence. I thought Cruz's decision about whether or not to turn in Sophia provided Eden and Cruz a real natural conflict highlighting a lot of Eden and Cruz's flaws (Eden raised entitled and above any rules beyond her own and Cruz being honest to a fault without often considering the impact those laws would have on others). I didn't know Santana and Gina had a history prior to Gina's arrival in Santa Barbara. The relationship between Santana and Gina should have driven story for years. I really love Ava Lazar's Santana. Not always the strongest actress, but strong enough to not laugh during the sequence when Paul Burke as C.C. believes Santana is in love for him for him, not because she is trying to locate her son. Santana was such a wonderful character with a rich backstory. The potential of an ongoing quad between Mason, Santana, C.C., and Gina intrigues me. I wonder how Sophia was suppose to play into this, at least originally. I imagine she was suppose to be a spoiler to both this story as well as Lionel and Augusta.

It's funny. Reading about the Carly / Paul / Ava story, it never seemed all that interesting. A lot of common plot devices (sisterly rivalry, mobsters, paralysis, a long lost child, etc.), but the story is so well done. For example, that scene with Kate and Carly talking about life after Paul where Carly admits her interest in Clay Alden. This was really well done. Kate easily could have focused on just how evil Clay was and the entire history between Clay and Ava, which would have been relevant. Instead, Kate's concern was about Carly moving on so quickly especially after saying she dreamed, up until recently, about Paul dumping Ava to be with her. And how honest was the moment where Kate apologized to Carly for letting her be the child Kate thought could take care of themselves? The relationships are just so rich. It would have been easily to play up the rivalry between Ava and Carly. Instead, Ava and Carly have a more layered dynamic. That scene from the end of the first episode with Reggie Rabbit could have easily been silly, but, it was meaningful, especially in the next episode where Paul tells Ava he'll give up his lifestyle to be with her. You could see Ava thinking back to the promise she made her sister, while only moments earlier being thrilled that she could have that happily ever after. I also loved the Dane / Clay / Gwyn scenes even if I'm not overly thrilled with Elizabeth Savage as Gwyn. Dane playing Clay in that scene was brilliantly done. Gwyn and Dane are an interesting couple. I wasn't completely clear about what was happening with Dane and Jack, but that's a dynamic I'm interested in. Unfortunately, I don't think it is something that is ever really developed or utilized enough as well it could be. Here's an August 1992 episode. It's incomplete, but it's interesting because some of this material I believe has been online (the haunted house storyline). It's nice to see what the canvas looked like at this time post-Addie Walsh, pre-Taggert/Guza when Haidee Granger was leading the way. Such another shift tonally in an alternate direction. Beware. This is certainly not "Loving" of 1991.

I really like Maggie, too. I’ve been dipping into “Santa Barbara” a bit lately. I do love a lot of the 1984 episodes, but I understand why people say 1985 was the start of a stronger show. Suzanne Marshall is very engaging in her role. Her introduction during the standoff at the Perkins house was interesting. I thought it was clever to transition Warren from Elizabeth Peale to Maggie by having them in the same hospital room. I was a bit underwhelmed by Maggie’s explanation of becoming a cop though I thought the explanation was interesting, in theory, but I wanted more exploration of Maggie’s life prior to appearing on the scene. I haven’t been watching anywhere in order so maybe there is hope that she does go further into her pre-SB life. It’s funny, but not having seen much of Jed Allan as C.C. I struggle to see him handling the revelation about Channing, Jr.’s murder. I’ve come to appreciate what Charles Bateman has brought to the role, a tyrant haunted by the past. I’m hoping that Allan is able to capture some of those qualities. Similarly, I find Linda Gibboney’s Gina a fascinating neurotic, a victim who seems unable to rise above the circumstances she has been given. I snickered at the scene where Mason and Gina are discussing her pregnancy ploy and how Mason blackmails Gina into taking dictation for him. The scenes in the tunnel with Hank Judson are heartbreaking especially as they haven’t ignored the Summer connection. The writing for Gina must evolve at some point. In the performances I’ve seen, Mattson always seems to be playing Gina as constantly scheming. You can always see the wheels turning in Gina’s head (why the other characters don’t see it is a mystery to me). I think it’s a testament to Louise that Augusta survived the initial purge because, as you say, Augusta doesn’t always seem to have much to do or many to talk to. The banter between Sorel and Coster, and moreso Sorel and Dame Judith Anderson, is gold, but Augusta’s world seems so small. I do love that they included her in the big Channing, Jr., murder reveal scenes. Her perspective gave the fallout some real tension and some stakes that would have been desperately missing if she wasn’t present. There are also some wonderful earlier scenes where Augusta and C.C. are watching Sophia and Lionel through the mirror in the Capwell suite (what a wonderful plot device that was). I love that they let Augusta’s mind go to the worse possible place (that Lionel and Sophia have been carrying on for years during Sophia’s years away). The reveal about Channing’s murder happens in May 31 and June 1, 1985 episodes. When I was watching them, I went back to see if they fell during sweeps. Even though they resolve Channing’s murder, there are still lots of secrets about Channing that haven’t been revealed yet by that point. The Lindsay / Channing secret isn’t revealed to C.C. until August and neither is the paternity secret. Surprisingly, both seem to happen in the same week. The baby switch secret isn’t revealed until December 1985 / January 1986.

That's Floy Dean with Charles Grodin.

I'm pretty sure the actress in the top row is Nina Hart, who played Meredith. I'm throwing this out there, but could it be Fran Carlon, as Susan's mom Julia?

Lemay was hired in January 1988 to return to "Another World." The rumors have always said that Lemay submitted a bible before the strike so it's possible it was Lemay.

Looking at summaries, Elan was involved in the story from January 1984 until August 1984 when her mother reclaimed her. This would be the tail end of Rod Arrants, who I believe departed in June 1984. Wendy briefly tried to be her foster mother as well.

Shout! is releasing another round of episodes on March 31. I was expecting this. Hopefully, they will continue to release more episodes.

The pilot for "Good and Evil" is bizarre. Harris developed the show in the early 1980s with two brothers instead of two sisters. She tweaked the script for ABC. I love Susan Harris, but she has a habit of recycling pieces. In this case, I didn't find it effective. The bit with Genny in the lab talking to her late husband was a less emotional version of a scene she had with Betty White on "The Golden Girls" where Rose tells Charlie she is selling the house and moving to Miami. Similarly, I felt Denise's monologue about being unloved as a child was a less sensitive take on Elaine's confession to Danny where she talked her sister's death and what led to her being bad on "Soap." Having a laugh track going while Marian Seldes is telling Teri Garr they didn't invite her to family holidays because they didn't like her was foolish. To be fair, I feel like "Good and Evil" really needed an hour long pilot to be done well. Seth Green's David appears without any lines in the family dinner. With that said, I have seen the other episodes of "Good and Evil" and some of it is very well done even though it seems to me Harris has left the show. The Ginny / Eric / Charlotte story moves a bit too quickly, but, for my money, the real story worth watching is between Seth Green's David and William Shockley's Sonny. I know they recycled a bit of the show on "The Golden Girls." Lane appeared as the lawyer during Dorothy and Stan's slum lord case, Marius Weyers played the jewel thief during Blanche's Moonlight Madness party, and the bar where Sonny and David hang out was later used for the Rusty Anchor on "The Golden Girls." I was really shocked to see the Tate mansion used for the Sandler home. Speaking of 1990s serial comedies that deserved more time, "Grand" could have played out a bit longer. I even find some of the self-contained second season episodes highly enjoyable.

I recently read Meg Mundy and the show couldn't reach agreement regarding her contract. I believe Jon Michael Reed reported this.

I don't really want to create a thread for this since I don't think it will generate much traffic, but Pure Flix, the Christian alternative to Netflix, has released the first eight episodes of its Christian soap opera, HILTON HEAD ISLAND. Pure Flix offers a 1-month free subscription. I can't really say I'm overly impressed, and I'm a fan of 'bad' soap opera. The overall production is fairly lifeless. Despite some big names (Donna Mills, Antonio Sabato, Jr.), the overall acting and storytelling are as bad as the greenscreen sets. I could overlook the greenscreen if the story was stronger, but it is all so vanilla. The only characters who show a shred of being interesting are being kept on the sidelines. These characters are Aaron Fergland, the African American news director who was raised along the wealthy white Trisk kids when his mother became their maid. Aaron, we are told, was on the path to being a hoodlum before Daniel Trisk (Michael Swan) took him under his wing. The potential conflict with this non-biological son and his other two sons, the subtly named Christian and Jude, could lead to something as could the relationship between Aaron and his wife Naomi, who works in the mayor's office and has chosen her job over starting a family. The other character of note is Chance Montgomery, a New York newsman who Victoria Trisk (Donna Mills) is trying to lure back to Hilton Head Island to assume Daniel's place in business and in Victoria's bed. Crystal Hunt does an above average job as the doctor daughter, Elisha, who returns to town when her father falls ill, but has little to do. Antonio Sabato, Jr. squabbles a lot with the other characters as the 'bad' brother Jude, but has no real definition. None of the newcomers stand out other than the characters mentioned above. Some of it is weak acting, a lot of it is underdeveloped writing, but most of it is just lack of an interesting driving story. With so many characters and so little time, a quicker, snappier narrative would help. The religious piece isn't overwhelming. Wink Martindale has appeared twice as the local pastor in the first five episodes I saw. Only one of his two appearances had a heavy religious bent. Mostly, characters say grace before eating and pray for their loved ones in times of crisis. Nothing too heavy handed. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but there are suppose to be two more sets of episodes released to bring the show up to 22 episodes. Things could improve for the better, or for the worse.

As far as I know, this is correct.

Gus Catlin was Catherine's husband, not her son. I always thought the same given that Rod Davis, a radio personality, was credited playing the role. I think Davis most likely played Gus Catlin in flashbacks to his murder in 1936. Gus was killed by Marsh Quinn, who I would assume was Medger's (Danny Nelson) father. I could be wrong about how Davis appeared, but Gus definitely was Catherine's husband. Jonathan was T.J. and Annabelle's son. Eleanor and Jonathan had a third child, but I don't know the child's name. Jerry Homan, who played Jonathan, was the only Catlin child to appear from the beginning to the end. Homan was a regular with WTBS having appeared on some of the earlier programming, including a sketch show as a newsman who wore a paper bag over his face. Beau had married Lauren Woodward in July, 1983. Maggie Catlin had been married and divorced during the series. In early episodes, she was linked to Roger Brown, an attorney, while a flirtation developed with another attorney, Bryce Draper. I'm pretty sure Roger was her husband. For the Mahoneys, I would list Carla first. Vanessa was Carla and Jack's daughter and it would seem Vanessa was the older sister. Stacey came off younger as the roving reporter and the implication was that Stacey was the product of an infidelity during Jack and Carla's marriage. Otherwise, this looks right.

I'm sure someone with a better knowledge of "Search for Tomorrow" could give you a more detailed answer, but the quick version is Grant played Rose. Rose was the young woman who worked at the motor inn that Jo owned and was secretly working for the mob. The poison soup plot was, I believe, a plan to discredit Jo and force her to close the inn so that they could buy the land. Rose's brother was Wilbur, played by Don Knotts. I believe Constance Ford replaced Lee Grant in the role.

Were Anitmonious and Delerium the same thing? I can't remember. I think Antimonious may have been the pharmaceutical drug and Delerium was what was being sold on the streets. I remember one of the guys from OZ came on as a drug dealer for a couple of episodes. I know I'm alone, but I like how it tied back into Spaulding Enterprises and Olivia and Phillip jockeying for power at the company. The framing was a bit messy, but I thought a lot of the material that came out of that as Phillip went after Olivia was very intense and well done until it descended into Phillip controls the world. I still secretly wished that Phillip had been visiting Elizabeth's grave rather than his secret Springfield model. I believe Brad and Alex had been sleeping together. For some reason, Brad was blackmailing Alex about something (was Alex Brad's boss?) and Alex agreed to sign off on the drug production or something along those lines. It was a very passive connection, but the show acted like Alex was dropping drugs in kids drinks at parties. I can't remember how or why Marie Green even was present, but I did enjoy that they had the show had a bunch of recurring characters who would pop in and out of the story. Of course, if that was at the expense of Kiefer and Garrett than it wasn't worth it. Rick talked sh%t about Ed again when they planned Ed's return in January 2005. Rick stated that he didn't want to be a father like Ed who abandoned his kids when it looked like Rick and Beth might hook up. I also remember that Joey Lupo, of all people, suggested Ross Marler was the kind of guy you'd want in your corner when Ross defended Marah for Maryanne's murder.

For a long time, I defended Ellen Weston's work. I didn't think it was wonderful, but I didn't find it nearly as offensive as others. The Ben Reade stuff was highly melodramatic, which I do see now was out of tone with what the show typically did. I was more offended by the fans that said there was no way Ben Reade could have been molested because he had a father like Fletcher who would have known something was going on. Now, I can see why people would be upset that Ben, who they watched grew up, was a serial killer and there seemed to be a tacked on excuse that he was sexually abused. The abuse angle didn't bother me because I felt it explained some of Ben's sexual hang ups (the initial Marah plotline, the escort service). It wasn't handled with an ounce of sensitivity. I did like how Michelle and Bill were working on creating a hotline for troubled youth because of what happened to Ben, but that wasn't really featured a lot. I also find it odd that the show wrote it like Ben killed himself, but the scene was staged as if he was trying to kill Marina and had failed. Of course, then the show had Lizzie try and end her life... Trying to create a timeline for the Maryanne Carrouthers storyline was foolish as was the story idea itself. I did like that the show had an actual storyline. Often, Weston's work was just a bunch of vignettes that sometimes would, but mostly wouldn't, lead to short story arcs. There were things I liked: the introduction of Gus' mother, the C-storyline where the younger set was involved in a staging of Romeo & Juliet, and Olivia's lie about baby Emma. Rewatching clips of the Olivia story, I can see how the motivation, plotting, and individual writing was so much stronger once Conboy was out the door and Wheeler arrived. It's really a shame that the level of writing couldn't be maintained after Kriezman took over. Kriezman's problem was he bought into the hype too quickly. Tammy and Jonathan's initial story was fascinating, dark, and twisted. What followed was generic and basic. They really needed to address Jonathan's problematic history with Tammy rather than to sweep it under the rug. It didn't help when they just started throwing basic tropes at them (the crazy boyfriend, the meddling mother). I think the story where Lizzie got pregnant by Jonathan had the ability to be a bigger story, but the show catered too much to Tom Pelphrey and his constant comings and goings. I thought Jonathan keeping Sarah from Lizzie was atrocious, and I couldn't stand Marcy Rylan's interpretation. The Sebastian story had the ability to work, and I loved Doug Hutchison in that role. It's a shame that DH has made the life choices that he has made since leaving the show. I never understood the whole "We're scrapping it because PS won't come back." Simon may have been a wonderful actor, but he was hardly irreplaceable. The bigger issue was that Wheeler was producing a show with actors she couldn't afford to pay. Instead of trying to give Rick, Beth, Blake, and Mel stories once a month, I think someone should have made an investments in characters they could afford and that were interesting. So much of Kriezman/Wheeler was just so vanilla and lifeless or insane and over the top. Despite the ups and the downs, I found most of 2004 entertaining, but things just went off the rails by January 2005 for me when they basically decided to reshuffle the deck and drop stories and develop new ones. By the summer, I was fed up with the lame reveal to Phillip's murder, the pointless Harley in prison / Harley and Gus on the run storyline, and the decision to commit to Jonathan and Tammy as endgame without presenting a redemption storyline or treating their romance like the toxic relationship it was.

Bumping for Nothin'ButAttitude. I posted different scenes from various scripts on pages 3, 4, and 5.

I have only found scripts covering the tail end of the show. It was on Showtime and some other cable outlets, like Prism.

And the Lily story was his second take at the incest storyline after trying it on "A New Day in Eden." On "Eden," Emmett Claybourne, a scheming lawyer who worked for the electronics magnate Bryan Lewis, had an unhealthy attachment to his daughter, nursing student Cynthia Claybourne. Emmett had tarnished his ex-wife's name many years ago and run her and their son, Logan Claybourne, out of town. Logan returned to Eden to learn why Emmett had been so intent on keeping Cynthia. When Logan started getting closer, Emmett fled Eden, but not before a scene where it was alluded to that he raped Cynthia. In the final episode, Logan seemed to be getting closer to learning the truth, but he was shot by an unseen intruder. Cynthia, a bit frigid, was getting closer to Jack Wagner's Clint Masterson after his girlfriend, Pam (the one who had the lesbian one night stand with Miranda Stevens), faded from the story.

From what I can gather, Paul arrives on the scene in late April / early May 1990. Roya Megnot would be playing Ava; she returned for six weeks in the spring of 1990. I don't think Ava and Paul interacted when she was in the role. Initially, Dane Hammond seeks out his old friend, Paul Slavinski, as a part of his revenge plot against the Aldens and to help Jack and Stacey. Dane gets Paul, a loan shark, to lend Rick Alden money. As we see in the May 1990 clip, Dane has Paul call in the debt so that Dane can pay it off and blackmail Rick out of Corinth. Louis knows his son is involved in the mob and is friends with Dane Hammond. At the time, Ava was actually involved with Dane. Dane also set it up so it looked like Ava and Cabot were having an affair. Ava believed Dane was dying of some (I believe) fictitious disease. Dane's lackey, Robert, paid some intern to tell Ava that one of the side effects of his medication was increased libido. Ava planned to use this to marry Dane and got as far as buying her own engagement ring and signing a pre-nuptial agreement. Typical of LOVING, you have a change of the guard around this time. The April 1990 episode is credited to Mary-Ellis Bunim and the May 1990 episode to Jacqueline Babbin. Babbin hired Joseph Breen as Paul Slavinski and brought Susan Keith back to town as Shana. With Shana back, the story starts to shift. Dane up and dumps Ava without much fanfare and Paul goes after Ava looking to get a hold of the gambling license on Harry Sowolsky's old casino. Gwyn broke into the Bistro, which was the restaurant she was working at with Norma. I do feel for Savage. I don't think they gave her much (good) to work with. The stuff with Dane had some potential, but there is not enough depth to it in the material that has made it online. If I were in charge, I would have had Ava learn about Dane's scheme from Paul and later reveal to Gwyn what Dane had done to Rick, but have Gwyn (claim) that she didn't believe what Ava said. Then, Gwyn could seek out Denny and confirm Ava's story. Secretly, Gwyn would plot with Clay to ruin Dane. I like Matt. I think it would have made more sense to have built a relationship between Matt and Giff, which would have sparked Giff's desire to seek out his own son. Then, once Casey arrived, you play up the natural tension between Giff and Casey, who hardly know each other, and Giff and Matt, a man that Giff has come to love as a son. Once Casey started pursuing Ally, you have a stronger basis for a rivalry between the two men or you could play it where Casey and Matt came to see each other as brothers and play it so that Casey fights his feelings for Ally because he doesn't want to hurt Matt. The weird part is that they had a young man, Arthur, who hung around the younger set in a recurring capacity. So it wasn't like they didn't have a use for another young male. Ultimately, I think they dumped Matt because it is a half-hour soap and there was only so much space. Casey was intended to give Giff story, but they dumped Richard Cox because of another change in personnel when Fran Sears and later Addie Walsh were let go. Based on what we've seen, it's clear that crazy Giff wasn't the original characterization and was likely the result of Haidee Granger, an executive turned EP and interim head writer, who was trying to create story that she thought would generate some interest.

As already pointed out, the Shana / Jack stuff seems to stem from the custody battle. I think there may have been animosity towards Jack because he was Dane's son. Initially, Shana represented Trisha and Trucker before aligning herself with Clay to get a piece of the family fortune. In material we haven't seen, there was an additional bit to the video where Cabot apologized to Shana and left her something in his will. Clay hid this from Shana, and, by the time it came out, Shana was nasty again. Also, she and Clay had teamed up to get Dinah Lee to seduce Jack. Dinah Lee had agreed, which is something she left out of her confession to Jack. On one hand, I'm glad they are using Shana and Susan Keith. It was a bit of a disappointment to see her moping around the Alden Mansion upset over the ongoing tragedies in her life. Given what she went through, I could see Shana reverting to form and becoming cold and bitter. On the other hand, I think Shana trying to destroy Jack and Stacey's marriage is a bit much given Stacey and Shana's friendship. I hope, at least, they played the Stacey-Shana angle a bit. I do feel that the characters are more active than they were before. Trisha seems to be actively pursuing her work, while previously Trucker was secretly dealing with Monty to get baby Tommy. As I already said, I think Shana seems more involved than she was before. Also, Jack and Stacey seem front and center. When I look back on the spring episodes, a lot of the long term characters were either written out (Cabot, Isabelle, Curtis, Alex) or sidelined (Jack and Stacey). For better or worse, I think the right characters are front and center. I certainly cannot say I miss Abril, Rocky, or Rio despite being so present in those spring episodes. Ally premiered on June 25th. Matt Ford appeared a few weeks before her on June 10th. Matt was homeless and was stealing from the pie shop that Kate Slavinski ran. Later, we learned that Matt had been accused of raping a young woman by his stepfather, Reverend Ford. There is some material in the episodes that have been uploaded. Reverend Ford appears at the prison to threaten Matt regarding Ally. Ally goes to Paul about getting the tape recording trying to trap Ford, which is why Paul is worried about Ally's safety. This is also why there are so many Matt-Ceara scenes. They were trying to have the two bond over their similar experiences (Ceara being an incest survivor). After the trial, Matt stays in town and his mother, Bethel, who is seen visiting Matt in one of the November episodes, becomes Isabelle Alden's personal assistant. I think the fall episodes are fine. Comparing what we've seen, I feel like characters are talking about their emotions more, or, at least, long term characters are delving more into their conflicts. There are a lot of small scenes I really like. I thought the Paul / Ally scene was excellent. Ally is a true Ava clone; putting herself in a dangerous situation for the man she loved without considering her own safety. Paul relating that to his own paralysis was a strong moment. I also really liked the moment on the porch between Matt and Ceara where Matt seems drawn to Ceara, but I'm not convinced it was romantic in nature. Similarly, I thought the Giff / Dinah Lee scenes were great. Giff was such a different character. I wasn't overly amused with the feet painting, but it provided a nice light moment. I do like how he seems to be a bridge between Trisha and Trucker. He has the passion for art like Trisha, but seems more down to earth like Trucker. The Stacey / Trisha scene was very nice. This isn't to say that the spring episodes are bad, and there are certainly low moments in the fall episodes. There is at least one other clip with Rose Donovan online. She appeared at Trisha's bachelorette/bridal shower in the Chip Albers clips. I do find Stacey a lot more engaging in all of the 1991 episodes than anything else I've seen of her. Trisha's reaction to the fax machine is over the top, but the meat of the scene afterwards is strong. A clever writer would have tightened that scene to focus on the internal conflict going on between Trisha and Trucker. This couple lost two children in the span of six months. These are definitely two people who should have emotions brewing under the surface. I think Trucker's accusation about Trisha running to her family was more potent in context of the story being played out. In material we haven't seen, Trisha attempted to secure work at AE, but Jack refused to hire Trisha on the basis of nepotism alone. He flat out told her she was unqualified. In spite, Gwyn gave Trisha this art programs position. I think Trisha had a bit of reason to feel insecure. Personally, I would have grounded Trisha's reaction in Trucker shutting her out during the Tommy matter. Trucker's conflict with the Aldens is interesting; he is always employed by them, but he also has reason to hate them. While I certainly don't think Trisha and Trucker are probably acting like they did six months ago, I think there are very real reasons for them to be acting the way they are even if the past writers didn't develop them. Even in Italian, I find the Linc / Zona story annoying. Regarding Mary Ryan Munisteri, I think it quickly became clear that she wasn't going to be there long. Giff's arrival signals the return of Alden University and with the presence of Ally and Matt there seems to be an attempt to build a younger set. By November 1991, SOD was stating LOVING was planning the college revamp. Based on the way the magazines get info, my guess this means the show was planning this at least by September. Walsh was in the credits by January/February 1992. Fran Sears / Addie Walsh end up bringing back most of the Aldens who were written out. Isabelle returns in November. Clay is back in January. I'm pretty sure Addie Walsh originally planned on bringing Curtis back during the summer of 1992, but Granger decided to create Leo Burnell instead. I also don't think the plan was to write off Jack in the long run. I suspect that they were going to have Jack return at the end of the Clay / Stacey storyline, but, in the turnover, Jack got lost.

You right about Frank and Rick as a couple, but I'd still want to see it just to watch Grant Alexander played the scorn third wheel. Even if they didn't write it as a triangle, you know Alexander would it play that way. Phillip wouldn't have been pleased for Frank to take his place in Rick's life. And I think O'Leary might have taken that seriously.

I enjoyed the October 1991 episode a lot more than I've enjoyed other episodes from that period. It was interesting to see them play the conflict beat Paul and Flynn. It would have been easy to quickly go to the tension between Paul and Ava over Flynn and Ava's faux work romance, but it was nice to see that the initial tension stemmed between two friends. I also really enjoyed the way they had Flynn address the romantic tension between himself and Ava. The writing was really strong for all of this material. Ava easily could have gone into hysterics (as she would on modern soap), but she just proclaimed her love for Paul. I thought that was a mature reaction for a character who had shown a lot of layers in the Feb - May episodes. Paul's radio show was such a different direction for the character. Both Ava and Paul's new careers are less interesting than the ones they were previously pursuing, but I think the idea of knocking Ava down to have her climb up again was such an important part of Ava's character. Her ability to survive all the things she had thrown at her, often created by her own impetuousness. I thought Paul's Weird City monologue was wickedly over the top, but it's the kind of craziness that I can enjoy in small doses. I still cannot believe the show ended on the beat with Paul and Flynn and that great jazz music cue. I thought the party at the Corinth Towers suite was a nice contrast to the events playing out at Checkers. This must have been a very early episode for Richard Cox as Giff. It was nice to see Giff in his initial form, a genuinely nice guy. I get what they were doing with Trucker and Trisha. They were playing the class differences between working class baseball loving Trucker and art appreciating upper class Trisha. I love the added layer that Giff could love both. Trisha's reaction was extreme, or Noelle Beck choose to play it that way or she was directed to go further. I think if they had allowed that moment to be a more subtle, like a lot of the other tension building between them, it would have been more effective. I really liked how Robert Tyler played his reaction to Dinahlee at the bar. You can see where this is all going without being hit over the head with a hammer. Lauren Marie Taylor was the real standout in this. Stacey always comes off so plain jane and boring. There is some real fire here. Her reaction to Jack and Dinahlee was wonderful. And Taylor was genuinely sexy in that outfit. I really would love to see more of this story now. I loved how they used Christine Tudor's Gwyn. The light banter between her and Giff was nice as was the moment where she played potstirrer and let Stacey know that Dinahlee had worn the dress.

Between May and October 1991, not only did Fran Sears replace Jacqueline Babbin, but Mary Ryan Munisteri replaced Millee Taggert.