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Dave is very much a supporting character in Jeff's story at this point. Dave has been popping in the bookstore to convince Jeff to start selling the Bible, which leads Jeff to start being overly aggressive in trying to convert customers to Jesus rather than convincing them to buy product. There is a very specific approach to capitalism on this show as being a detriment to the soul which is quite fascinating. On secular soaps, it is the equivalent of show's that valued the community over the individual. Dave has also deduced that Jeff is interested in the ministry. I think that is a smart move for the character, but I'm not sure if that's where the story is going. Miriam is definitely going down. The Miriam / Charles / Nancy triangle is fascinating with Miriam standing in as the jilted wife while Charles shacks up with Nancy in Nora's house. Charles is such a nasty piece of work. I'd say he's one note, but given some of current world figures, maybe the heartless industrialist isn't that far off. Now up to episode #195. Several new characters have shown up. Jill Hansen just showed up and collapsed at Jeff's bookstore after stealing a book while Dave is chatting up Jeff. Jill is a runaway from Indiana who I know will become involved with several sets of characters. A couple episodes earlier Gary Taylor, Peter's buddy from the job site appeared, and he I think is involved wiht Peter and Jill for a bit. Carla Redlon has returned to Kingsley after achieving some success as a singer looking to reunite with her son and ex-husband. Peter's arc has built nicely. In the last month or so, Vicki Lang has been introduced as Gene's new assistant. Peter trying to become the man of the house is nice layer to some of his material. He is in the thick of things (offscreen) at Prescott Development. There was a nice scene where there is a minor construction accidnet that leads to people being rushed to the hosptial and Terry fearing that she is replaying the loss of her family further. I'm not always sold on the actor; he comes off as a bit like he's from a sitcom. I do think he has a fun presence and he seems like a real teenager. One of the best developments was in Nancy's lawsuit when Miriam, hurt over Nancy and Charles' fling, decides to run off and tell Terry that she knows all things that Nancy has concocted and will say so in court. Its a nice twist on the Miriam-Davidsons relationship. Meanwhle, Miriam is still pill popping a bunch, which hasn't gone unnoticed by Terry's stalker was a story I had heard almost nothing about. It is well done. There were some interesting sequences with Dennis Frazier, the man who killed Nora and Scott, remembering the accident before going to the Davidson house and knocking on the door. The lighting, the music, the filming, and Mary Jean Feton's performance are incredibly effective. I find the quad between Ben / Lori / Russ / Becky very interesting, especially in counterpoint to where Susan Scannell will end up at the end of 1982 on "Search for Tomorrow." Becky's story is very similar to Kristin Carter's becoming involved with Brian while he is trying to reunite with Suzi. By default, I would think that Warren / Suzi / Brian / Kristen should be more effective given the angle of Warren being more devious than Ben and Kristen's miscarriage being a secret. In what I've seen though, I find the AL version more effective. Russ as the equivalent of Warren is just as jealous and hot headed, but not as openly a criminal. Warren's connection to Rusty is a bit like Russ' connection to Vince, but Vince is more effective as the grey villain in the overall story than Rusty ever was. There's a lot of interesting dynamics at play. I think it helps that Russ has Vince and Carrie, which keeps that end of the quad very interesting. Carrie is more of a low rent Stephanie, but with more emphasis on their animosity than I remember seeing in the Stephanie / Kristen material. I have no use for the Summer Wind angle though I find the actor playing Phil attractive. I am curious if there is any crossover with Carla Redlon becasue I think a Becky / Carla friendship could be intiguing. Ben and Lori are now heavily involved in Ben's pursuit of a clinic in Chesterfield, the part of town that Ione Redlon is looking to move back to. Lori's point of view is very negative about the area, which Alex Greely explains away as representing her sense of instability in the past year with the car accident with Russ, marrying Ben, Nora and Scott dying, the fire, etc. It was smart to justify her POV, but I think Lori's a bit spoiled. I can't see a modern audience being overly sympathetic to Lori in this situation. I appreciate Jill's story. The actress is young and its only been like two or three episodes, but it is clearly a social issue story. Jill has left because her mother's boyfriend made a move on her and the mother, Mrs. Eubanks, didn't believe her. Now, because she just turned eighteen, she is no longer viewed as a runaway but rather homeless. Jeff and Liz taking her in seems like the kind of thing the new Jeff would do. I'll be curious if I still enjoy the story as it progresses. The Hollister Mall plot is a bit stalled. The investigation into the fire has continued. Insurance payments have been released, but now Charles and Webster cannot secure insurance which threatens the whole project. George Slaymaker was recast just as George was seen committing adultery by making out with his mistress in the office. I think it's one of the new George's first scenes. I have to wonder if that had any element of it or if I'm just stuck thinking about Joann Pflug's quick exit from Rituals two years later. The first George, Charles Kahlenberg, will pop up two years later on "The Catlins" as Warden Evans, who ended being behind a drug ring in the local prison as well as being behind the murder of Eleanor Catlin Quinn. I'm mostly just having it play in the background so I'm not sure if I missed anything or misheard something.

On "Loving," Ryder and Walsh were hired under Fran Sears who was looking to bring the college back in focus. In fall of 1991, Mary Ryan Munisteri introduced Giff Bowman, an art professor, and the art studio. Trisha began to handle the Alden art collection which I believe was tied to the University. Ceara Connor crossed over to work at the University in the public relations role, I believe. In December, I believe Ally Rescott agreed to go to Alden University. Ryder and Walsh arrived in January and launched phase 2 of the college in late March by launching all the fraternity / sorotity stories that last about one contract cycle. I want to say Granger arrived in May or June, 1992. Supposedly, she and Walsh clashed over story and according to Paul Anthony Stewart in a press article, there was no headwriter in the summer of 1992, but, as you stated, the writers were credited through the end of the contract. I suspect they probably came back at some point. The story I think Granger and Ryder fought over was Cooper's past sexual abuse history. The show was leading to a conclusion where Cooper had been abused by his childhood nanny Selina. When we met Selina, Cooper and Selina revealed that twelve or thirteen year old Cooper had seduced his nanny Selina. When Walsh returned to headwriter in 1994 with Laurie McCarthy, there was a scene less than two months into Walsh's return where Cooper claimed that he had been sexually abused by Selina to Steffi when they were in the barn. I don't think Granger was well liked by some of the cast. Christopher Cass made a comment about her during the "Men of Loving" interview that was quickly scrubbed referring to her as "the South African" when referring to how things were going during the 1990s vs the 1980s.

I'm now up to 180, which I believe brings me into February, 1980. A lot of the storytelling tends to be plot heavy without much emphasis on the emotional fallout or lacking a level of nuance. Up until about 175. the Nancy / Terry fight over the house descended into very black and white tropes. Then, Terry shows up at Nora's house while Nancy is rummaging through things and makes a peace offering acknowledging the pain Nancy has felt over the way she was treated and how she (Terry) isn't going to seek vengeance. It's nice scene that sets the story on the path I think works best for Terry. Nancy remains toxic as anything, but at least Terry is acting like Terry and has acknowledged that her grief made her lose sight of things. Mitch Dunbar has dug into the vital records and discovered that Nancy isn't Nora's daughter and that Nora never legally adopted Nancy, which is suppose to hurt Nancy's case. I want to like Nancy and Charles Carpenter's romance, but the meat of the story, Nancy vs. Miriam, isn't given the right amount of energy. I do love Miriam descending into booze and pills as her father shifts her into the role of defacto housewife who also works in his office as a secretary. I wish they had played up Nancy and Miriam's friendship and Nancy and Charles were sneaking around. It would work better for me. A new Terry story has started in the last few episodes involving mysterious phone calls. In doing the data for the writers, I know where this is going and I like it. It is a nice little bit of suspense. Gene / Ione's search for a home doesn't get as much time as I would hope and the dialogue isn't as sharp as it was earlier in the story. Leon has taken over the apartment that his sister Sam was occupying, but I don't think it was mentioned in the dialogue. The Slaymakers are such a bizarre edition. George is the heir to a banking fortune and is in cahoots with Webster and Carpenter in their schemes. Vince Cardello knows that George is having an affair and skirts around how this would be a problem if George ends up running for office as he tends to do. George's marriage marriage to Bethany/Beth is loveless. Beth has sacrificed personal happiness for professional ambition by marrying George for his family's name and power, though I beleive it was said her own father was a prominent attorney or judge. Mitch Dunbar spends a lot of time with Beth trying to help his clients (he gets Beth to slap Terry with a warning rather than a fine when she trespasses and enters Nora's home to try to broker peace between Nancy and herself). They are intriguing becasue they are new, but I suspect that elements of these characters will be introduced in other stories more effectively later in the show's run. Michael Ryan manages to embed a certain grace and strength to Vince, while also appearing to be bitter. Vince's relationship with his daughter-in-law, Becky, is one of his redeeming features. In this set of episodes, Becky has miscarried. It's a fairly emotional story point for a story that has mostly been about Russ' jealousy over Becky working with Phil and Becky's ambition to see her name in bright lights. The Summer Wind stuff isn't my favorite, but I enjoy Chris Auer's Francis Miller, a predecessor to Loving's Arthur Davies. I don't want Francis to have story of his own, but he gives texture to the canvas, which is fairly rich without him but better served with him. The miscarriage evokes a lot of nice moments among the tragedy. Becky snaps at Lori about how she couldn't know anything about loss which leads to Lori talking about the loss of her father and grandmother. Lori and Becky's relationship is special because usually in this situation, a Becky type would be actively undermining Lori. Instead, Becky tries to be the friend Lori deserves while falling hopelessly short more often than not. And Lori forgives Becky because Becky's intentions are pure. I can't think of another relationship of this type. It's fascinating. Though, I'll be curious to see what happens as there seems to be hints (or maybe just from doing the episode credits) that there will be some Russ/Lori stuff coming up. Terry and Ben were very gently with Russ in the midst of the crisis and Russ lashes out, which was on brand. I thought it was a smart way to keep Terry in the thick of things. Becky's miscarriage leads to a phone call between Russ and his mother, Carrie, who is back in Chicago. Carrie is (of course) delighted to learn of the miscarriage and it's a fairly nasty scene that's on brand for the character. Maybe because there isn't a connection between Carrie and Becky the way there is between Nancy and Terry, I find these scenes more powerful than off putting. The Hollister Square/Mall plot is heavily focused. Charles and Webster work with Norm Eliot to secure an arsonist to torch Ben's office. Norm, who is seeing Miriam and working as an aide to George Slaymaker, is initially tasked with the job, but refuses only to turn around offer to secure a man for the job with a finder's fee. Sometimes, I find the villains on this show seem to go farther than they would on network shows, but I am adjusting and appreciaitng it. The office is torched and an old man (Laskey) dies. Carpenter has no guilt over the old man's death. It's pretty wild. There's a fire inspector going around trying to put the pieces together. Because Ben has received a substantial insurance check, I won't be surprised if they blame him for a minute. Ben's crisis of faith regarding work intrigues me. His pursuit against the Carpenters to maintain his work has riffled feathers in his marriage. Some of the conflict lacks depth in the dialogue. Lori's fight against Ben's quest for justice is missing Lori's acknowledgement of how the Carpenters nearly destroyed her life the previous year. Such writing turnover does that, but it would elevate the domestic drama slightly by acknowledging Lori's desire to move past the last year and not be stuck in it. Ben's father pops in again to offer money for the clinic. I'll be curious to see if he comes back at all after this. Very little time is given to the Cummings and the bookstore. Jeff is visited again by Dave Phillps, who admits he was a surgeon and abortionist in his past life. Cardoza is still in the role. I'll be curious to see if this is actually the same character as Tom Ulrich's or if its pure coincedence. I don't think Ulrich arrives until fall of 1982 (November?) so I'll be curious. There is another scene where Jeff tries preaching and converting in the book store. I think they should have just made Jeff a preacher and let that play out. The show seems to go in waves of being interesting. I'll see what the next few weeks bring.

Did anyone read Mike Poirer's article on Marlena Delacroix's site about Capitol's history? The most interesting nugget was that James Lipton wasn't planning on staying much longer had the show continued and Samuel Ratcliffe and Peggy Sloane were set to take over as headwriters. https://marlenadelacroix.com/2025/02/looking-back-on-a-capitol-idea-that-did-not-survive/

Those outlines from 1992 are very early in Addie Walsh's run. She started in early January. The team is comprised of Mary Ryan Munisteri's crew. A good number of those writers are out over the next month or two. I don't have any tangible proof, but I think early Walsh is running off of the projections that Munisteri left. The Michael heart storyline is very stripped down Labine because of the way Walsh approaches it, but I imagine it would have been more meanignful had Munisteri stayed. The band romance between Ally and Matt's bandmate was recycled from "Tribes" as was Ally's breif claim that Giff had gotten her pregnant. Granger doesn't start until May. I am pretty sure Sears is there through the launch of the college reset in late March, early April. *** The Devil stuff isn't for me. Recently saw the Russ goes to Hell sequence from "Another Life" and it gives the same hokey vibe. I get what Nixon was going for, but it doesn't work for me. I'm sure others will feel differently. It was nice to see the 1984 murder storyline. I still think Stephanie Payne was originally intended to be a Merrill recast. The turnover is crazy everyone on "Loving" in the 1980s. In March, 1987, I'm pretty sure Ralph Ellis takes over the writing team. He quickly brings the Nick Dinatos murder to end revealing Cabot killed him. I doubt that was the original plan, but who knows. Anyway, Kelly is Kelly Conway, Zach's daughter and Lorna's stepdaughter. Kelly was left with her new stepgrandparents while her parents went off on a honeymoon never to return. They build that brief teen scene around her with Teri Polo's rich bitch Kirsten (I think was her name), the punk Rob Carpenter with the mohawk and the alcoholic mom, Lotty's kid brother Ned Bates, and maybe Dave Hindmann (Art's son who can't read and plays basketball). Kelly is replaced by April Hathway, teen prostitute. They are all pretty much forgotten. Ava's beaus post Curtis are both unmemorable, Tony #2 and Judd Beacham.

It's a real shame. I'll be curious to see if there is any shift again when I get to the episodes Cheryl Chisholm is credited as production writer. Chisholm starts as a production assistant and starts writing scripts in the interim period. She became a playwright (or was one when the show premiered). There is a near stage quality (albeit local stage) to the scripts in November-early December, 1981. I think my thoughts are Nancy are very misguided. The Lindsey family is quiet toxic during the interim period with Alf Lindsey having revealed the truth about Nancy's paternity drunkenly during her sixteenth birthday. Nora confessing she had accepted the affair because she didn't want one mistake to ruin their entire marraige. Nora's inability to love her husband's love child. An unloved Nancy racking up to ex-husbands and an abortion before she turns 33. It's a very stark vision of a core family. Delightfully delicious in the dynamics, but Terry is nearly saint qualtiy in this period while not coming off as a Pollyanna. It's a briliiant combo of wriitng and Mary Jean Feton's warmth and presence. I think I am suppose to hate Nancy because she was marked from birth by her illegitimacy and her nasty demeanor, but working with troubled youth, Nancy has the trademarks of someone who just wasn't cared for. By her thirties, Nancy should have progressed a little but some of those heated exchanges between Nora and Nancy are so brutal on each side and Nancy very frankly points out that Nora hated Nancy because she couldn't hate Alf. Nancy's flirtation with Scott, and later with his boss, screamed of needs of a father figure who would love and care about her, but if she couldn't get love, she'd get security from money. Under the Barnes, she is absolutely vile. Squatting in Nora's house isn't bad as I knew that was happening, but going after Scott's estate was devious even by Nancy's standards. I wish there were some more layers to Nancy as she showed a moment of remorse after showing up after midnight of NYE and learning Scott and Nora were dead. The only other character that fascinates me, in a very different way but becasue of their story, is Jeff Cummings, who is also losing a bit of his edge with the Barnes around. After experiencing "the miracle," I found Jeff's hapless devotion to God without making any real efforts to think for himself fascinating as it was presented as a false way to celebrate religion. Jeff's acquisition of the bookstore was smart, but the bizarre segue into the introduction of Dr. Dave Phillips is borderline campy madness. Dave, played by Cardoza, is a reformed alcoholic cell mate of Jeff's who has now revelaed he is a former abortionist who feels he has been saved by Jeff. I really wish they had considered having Jeff join the ministry as I think that would have been such an interesting arc for him. The former sinner now trying to lead a flock while also being tempted. The Barnes aren't writing very layered scripts at this point (150-165). Everything is black and white for the most part. Vince Cardello's moment of chatisizing Charles Carpenter is a rare moment of conflicting values where the mob takes the moral high ground (Guza would love this scene; AL's equivalent of Sonny telling off Edward Quartermaine). I'm glad to hear the last year is good. From the fan interview posted with headwriter Jason Vinley, I think he lost the plot a bit in the final year. He really enjoyed the Daar Salaam bible story, which I think was endemic of the 1980s sci-fi trends. He described it as "Raiders of the Lost Ark." I'll be curious to see how I feel when I get there. Susan Carey Lamm has impressed me in both roles (AL and SFT), but I think she should have replaced fellow AL actor Susan Scannell as Kristen in 1985. Kristen could have been involved in the custody battle of Jonah and filled the void of villain now that her brother was dead. Adair was a dead end with the decision to eliminate Alec Kendall. You are probably right about AL being what Loving wanted to be and couldn't manage. I have to wonder what impact the shift in cast had. I know that when the cable soap "The Catlins" was cancelled in early 1985, it had experienced decent ratings in January, but it wasn't enough. I got the sense that the production costs continued to grow as they procured more coastal talent. I wonder what role that played on "Another Life." Also, given the departures in the last year of the show of several major cast members (the Carpenters, Peter, Russ?) I have to wonder if there wasn't some money issues at play. Maybe I'm wrong thoguh.

Script writers for episode counts #201 - #260 under Dallas and Joanne Barnes: Cheryl Chisholm (34 episodes) - as production writer Libby Rodes (9 episodes), Chris Auer (8 episodes). Linda Culpepper (7 episodes), Steve Sylvester (5 episodes), Cheryl Chisholm (4 episodes), Ted O'Hara (4 episodes), Susan McBride (4 episodes), Edna (C.) Brown (2 episodes) It's not clear what the "production writer" role is. Cheryl Chisholm is credited in each episode with credits in the role after 209 except for the 3 episodes Chisholm wrote the scripts. I am assuming its a breakdown writer or maybe script editor. This takes us to the end of the first year. I'm about 100 episodes away from the end of year 1 (I'm at 165). The Barnes have been credited for about 3 weeks. Lots of characters have been written out. Helen Carpenter is gone in the last week of December having taken everything and left. No goodbye scene, just Charles and Miriam coming home to a barren home. Marty McGraw gets a goodbye scene a few days later as Carrie Weaver decides to return home. Doug Hughes and the other Hollister Square people are slowly saying their goodbyes to Ben Martin. Nora and Scott are dead at the end of the first week. Samantha Marshall is offered a job in D.C. and leaves shortly after the funeral. Nancy, seeing dollar signs in Nora's death, quickly dumps her tv station owner boyfriend in a brutal scene where she says he more than likely bored his late wife to death. Nancy is a nasty piece of work. The story started to lose steam mid-December. The crisper, shocking scripts have faded, which is disappointing. The scripts are rather plot heavy without the mix of domestic drama and social relevance that had been sprinkled in. There are still some good moments here and there and some crappy ones. I don't know if this is the result of John Cardoza's departure and David M. Hummel taking over or the impending lull with the Barnes assuming the reigns. The nastiness between Nora and Nancy doesn't even come to an end in death. Nora completely disowns Nancy claiming Terry as her only daughter. I realize Nancy isn't blood, but Nora raised the woman. It's just a nasty move to make. Nancy, of course, has stolen the will and is now in cahoots with Harold Webster, the Carpenters shady attornney. It's fun, but it is still ugly. Nancy is also going after Scott's estate claiming Scott's reckless driving was the cause of Nora's death. Nancy is heartless, but she is someone who has been hurt for her entire life. I find myself sympathizing with her more than I should. In one particular moment, Terry learns of the will and declares Nancy isn't even Nora's daughter. It's a low blow for Terry to pull even in the heat of the moment. In Nancy's early sequences, Terry defends her to the death. This shift, while intriguing, is a bit disappointing without Terry delivering some speech about how she has seen the light. Sam's out and now the Slaymakers are becoming major roles in the story. I think there has even been reference to Jason Prescott (originally Dan) who has employed Peter. There is definitely a new day dawning in "Another Life." I sorta miss the old one. One of the more shocking scenes in this sequence was mobster Vince Cardello calling out Charles Carpenter as Charles' toast to Scott Davidson's death. Even Vince is disgusted and makes a point of stating how morally bankrupt Charles is. Michael Ryan is fun as the mobster taking the moral high ground.

In thinking about the Corringtons and Tom King, I also looked back to the AWHP to see more details about Eliot Carrington's death, which occured in June, 1979. News of Eliot death was relayed by Frank Lansing, a reporter for the Associated Press who ends up working for Mac. Lansing informs Iris that Eliot was shot in the head in his hotel room while investigating the conflict in Cambodia. I get the value of wanting to play the conflict of Dennis' two fathers as well as the potential of building a Eliot / Iris / Alex / Victoria quad with Victoria luring Eliot into staying in "Texas" by offering Eliot the position. I have to wonder though if they could have gone another anglee and still maximized the story. I also don't think the show even really takes advantage of the possibility of Victoria / Eliot because they start to declaw Victoria shortly after Eliot's arrival, which, to me, was a mistake. I wonder if they could have had recast Frank Lansing instead and had him around for some of the Tanquir storyline. While Frank wasn't a father figure to Dennis, he had significant ties to Eliot and could have possibly played a diferent angle rather than having both Eliot and Barrett both suffering from internment in a prison camp. Even if it wasn't Frank, I think a foreign correspondent with ties to Eliot and Iris could have effectively made some of the story work and integrated into other aspects of the canvas. If positioned as a possible romantic rival for Iris' affection the individual could have also caused Ryan grief by helping Ginny pursue a line of inquiry about the missing Barrett. Also, this person endearing themselves to the Marshalls would have created some conflict if Justin did go through with his initial revenge plot which included seducing Iris away from Alex.

Before writing for "Search for Tomorrow," the Corringtons were trained by Paul Raunch doing spec story projections/scripts for "Another World." This was probably early to mid 1978 because the Corringtons ended up at SFT in August, 1978. This discussion all remains very interesting to me, but does lead me to wonder again if the Bellmans were simply a creation of Tom King for "Another World" or if Paul Raunch was already laying the groundwork himself on the mothership.

I wonder if the scripts for this week were written at a point when the show's premier date was assumed to be the first week of January, 2025. Or was that just speculation on the board's part? I can't remember. I also feel like someone made a brief reference to "the holidays" in one of the week 1 or 2 scripts. If so, the third week would have started with the inaugration, which would have been a preemption so Thursday's episode would have been the Friday episode.

You can focus on the blood relative part. That's fine. Most people will probably agree with you. I don't think Andre pursuing someone he is unaware is his cousin is a terrible story idea. Especially if Eva is briefly led to believe that Ted isn't her father. I do think it's purposefully tawdry that a motherless Andre is pursuing an older woman who has acted as an aunt to him since they've made such a point of how close he was to the Richardsons and how close the Duprees are as a family. I think that's a deliciously messy story point that I expect should cause a nice rift between Nicole and Dani. I think an Eva / Andre story could have an equally messy quality to it if told right. But truth be told, I'd probably be less upset by any other story combination than Ashely / Derek / Andre becasue it isn't working.

I am quite aware of the family tree. Given that Eva's paternity isn't definitive yet and Andre was acting a bit shady week 1, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them isn't a Richardson. But considering the fact that Andre was raised as a surrogate son of Nicole and Ted, and he had no problem bedding down with Auntie Dani then I don't think the cousin angle is something that would give him the ick.

Today was a chore. When purse cat manages to give off more emotion than a majority of the humans in the scene, I should have known today was going to be an issue. I don't think is anything to Derek / Ashley / Andre story to invest in. I think the show might already be shifting to an Eva / Andre angle which would be in their best interest. I'd be much more intersted in trying out Andre / Shanice. I cannot really find any angle of the current configuration I enjoy. Andre / Dani doesn't feel longterm, to me, and I don't hate Andre in theory. He's just drifting, which makes sense to an extent because he is suppose to have spent so much time abroad. Dani getting the code from George the security guard was just dumb. I think there might have been a better angle to explore with Jan, Ashley's mother who cleans houses, if they had established she had been hired as she is already Team Dani. This is only going to get Dani deeper in trouble with her legal proceedings, but whatever. She seems very undeterred. I almost wish they would go really unhinged and have had her live streaming the whole thing to her merry cult of online worshippers. Initially, I thought leaving the bottle was actually going to lead to something cathartic, but then in just descended into another Dani moment. I like Kat, but the whole set up for her date was odd. At her parents house was a choice. I would rather they have just redecorated Ashley's studio for the occasion. Tomas is rough. I want to like their romance, but this first date just wasn't it for me. After a terrific set of episodes this week, to lose the energy on a Friday is a disappointment. Not having any follow up to Eva / Leslie today was probably the biggest disappointment.

I wasn't sure re: Mark because I know they had been slowly killing off all of the Love Crew players in the Killing Club story. I think Brown and Essensten were there through the climax of the Killing Room murders. I seem to recall Bo interrogating a janitoral worker somewhere and the beat was played that the dayplayer janitor didn't want to speak with the cops because they were undocumented, which Bo deduced. It was just a very surprising beat to play. Given that Higley is known most for unfleshed out ideas, I think it often comes down to the quality of the writing team that is what I really enjoy. I thought the early Rex/Adriana stuff was neat and the kind of couple writing that was effective. I thought Nash was a well developed addition and the romantic complications worked. I felt from the beginning that Duke and Kelly were going to be a thing from when they were running partners back in the summer of 2005. I thought the concept of Ginger Foley was interesting, but I'm not sure Shannon McGinnis was capable of carrying a story on her own. I didn't hate Paige, but going from Brown to Huffman to Neil in under a year was a lot. Most of the veteran characters weren't well suited in that era so I can see why most didn't enjoy it.

I appreciate and enjoy immensley the work of Marcia McCabe, but Sunny is one of those characters who most writers just couldn't find the right place for. In that respect, she reminds me of Ariane Zucker's Nicole, an interesting character played by a talent actress that often has an aimless character despite the utility of the characters they are playing. The situation with Hogan / Sunny is complicated. David Forsythe departs in August, 1984, or thereabouts, after the show brought on Victoria Windsor, Hogan's ex, as the third wheel for the triangle. I think they may have briefly toy with the idea of a Victoria / Sunny / Lloyd situation, but the show really struggled to figure out what to do with Liza wihtout Travis so it seems like, for a moment, they shift to Lloyd / Liza / Stephanie playing on the rivalry between Stephanie and Liza that Lee / Tomlin developed when Liza started to handle Travis' part of the TV station that he had inherited from his father. Sunny dangles. I don't hate the Hogan / Liza pairing as much as others do under Mayer / Braxton, but I don't appreciate their characterization of Sunny. I could see how Sunny would get to the romantic delusion about Hogan, but I'm not sure I could see the angle involving Sunny's suicide. I appreciated Tomlin playing Sunny / Hogan again briefly in October, 1985, during the poisoned water storyline, but there was just so much focus on Liza / Hogan. It's a shame really.

I watched very sporadically when Malone returned having never watched before, but picked up OLTL with a bit more frequency in 2005 when GL became such a mess and the rumored gay Coulson story was beginning. From what I remember, it was presented as a bit of a Friday plot twist to a mystery involving Daniel's secret affair which Bo and Rex were investigating because I think they ended up at a gay bar together in one sequence. There was a red herring early on with Daniel getting a political aide, a young blonde, who I think we were suppose to believe was Daniel's mistress before they dropped the bomb and had Mark revealed. If I recall, I don't think Mark had appeared much in the months leading up to this, but I think they gave him a few scenes with Riley or someone shortly after. At the time, I didn't hate the twist because I saw it as an obvious soaped up Jim McGreevy story and was only recently out of the closet myself at the time. It was good to see gay representation when it was so barren in daytime in general (Mark and Eric Walsh were barely shown). Now, as a more experienced adult, I think my issue was with the insistence that the show stuck wtih the gay label rather than bi and that there wasn't any effort to really play the fallout (everything happened in like May, 2005, and then the last thread was Riley leaving in early to mid-June 2005). Daniel killing Paul over the blackmail to keep his secret worked for me because of the political angle, but I can definitely say it was still problematic despite Higley's claim of balance by having Eric and Papa Walsh reconicle on Father's Day a few weeks later. I think James Harmon Brown and Barbara Essensten were script editors during the early months of Higley and it was a much tighter show than it would be from what I watched later with their replacements. I found the day to day much more enjoyable in spring-summer 2005 and I remember thinking by late fall some of the energy I was enjoying was gone. I tend to like HIgley's work so my response is certainly outlier data.

The show continues to move along. I thought this weeks scripts were better than last weeks. Everything is a little plot heavy, but I don't think that's a terrible idea when you are trying to establish a show with a cast and crew that doesn't have intense dytime experience. I wouldn't want to see lengthy monologues wasted because the actors, and writers, are still finding their footing. The Nicole / Ted / Eva / Leslie story continues to be the most intriguing. In recent years, when long lost children are introduced I don't feel like the effort is put into the parent other than the established lead so seeing Leslie's perspective is refreshing. I don't mind that Ted had an affair once. It's not the same as Bill marrying Hayley. Both may be ramifications from an affair, but both are in very different stages. Parallel plots are not uncommon. I might be a bit more concerned if Leslie and Ted were shacking up at the moment from the start, but that doesn't even seem to be a story possibility. Eva worming her way into the Richardson family is fun and her dynamic with Kat continues to be full of potential. I'm not sure where they are going with the Eva / Andre angle, but despite potentially being cousins, I think that is the most intriguing possibility presented for Andre. I don't think Nicole knows as much about the affair as others have suggested. Otherwise, why wouldn't Ted tell Nicole that Leslie was back? I don't think Ted knows about Eva because that would have been something he should have asked about when he saw Leslie. Though, it may just be the writing team not being on the same page as MVJ, but I don't really think that is the issue. The domestic stuff for the Martin Richardsons was fine. I'm still not wowed by Mike Manning and think Claybon will become more comfortable in time. Martin isn't a likeable character though I get the sense that he is driven to that point by his insecurities regarding his secret from the past as well as his sexuality. I'm glad to see Martin / Smitty kiss though that wasn't the only thing that left me feeling the show was uncomfortable with their sexuality. Though, my other concern, not addressing the element in the room that Martin is concerned about being gay in the public eye, was addressed wonderfully by Samantha. I also don't hate the set up wiht the older kids because it is different. I am not going to complain about a show launching with four generations of a black family. Also, I don't think there is any need to adjust the family relations to meet the needs of the casting of actors. Tamara Tunie, Karla Mosely, and Daphne Duplaix are all too young for their parts, but I'd rather have them then cast older just to meet the demands set in the writing. Though, that's a probably a belief that isn't prevalent here, which is fine. The Ashley / Derek stuff was better than earlier stuff, but the bar was super low. The McBride family stories aren't bad in concept, but there is so little sense of the two as a couple for either thread to be as compelling as they are. I hope there is follow up on Doug skipping out on Vanessa to go to the game arranged by Joey. I think if the show were to explore organ trafficking with Doug / Joey, that has potentially to be interesting though I cannot help but wonder if it won't be Doug giving Joey access to Vanessa and her real estate connections. The Dani / Bill / Hayley stuff is tough for me because the angle I'm most interested in (Hayley) seems to be underplayed. I think Hayley's acceptance, or fight for acceptance, into Fairmount Crest is the most intriguing element. I can't wait for someone to drop the bomb on Hayley that Bill blackmailed the Duprees into showing up and Hayley wondering what he has over them. I want to see her try and hire household staff only to be unable to with Bill telling her the Duprees have blackballed them when it is actually Bill trying to keep Hayley tied to the house. Bill and Dani are toxic in the best soapy way, but I'm not seeing them as the divorced couple drawn together because they should be rather because they are both messy. I think the Naomi / Jacob stuff fell flat because Naomi's rationale was weak for supporting Dani. I wish they had explored more of what Naomi had said to Chelsea in the first week about how demanding and controlling Dani is. I would have angled the Naomi and Jacob conflict about how Naomi and family always have to keep Dani from going off the deep end and situations like this would make it worse. I would have had Dani at least blame Jacob a little to cause the drama stick, but it would have been more meaningful if Jacob made the point he has already compromised his moral integrity by not doing anything at the wedding.

Despite really enjoying Karla Mosely yeterday, it was a pleasant reprieve to get a break from Dani's antics. It was also a nice place to rest for her. It was nice to explore more of Nicole's sphere, which is a story I am more intrigued by. The layers to this show are always astounding me. The setup of Eva and Kat was wonderful and I felt the conflict between Kat and Nicole felt genuine. While Kat did catch Eva in the act of being snooping, there was clearly some bias on Kat's part based on Eva's social economic status, which made Nicole look less foolish to me for ignoring Kat's warning. Kat googling Eva was just a refreshing common sense thing that soaps don't do. The Nicole / Kat dynamic mirrored a bit of the Anita/Dani relationship with its own shadings. Colby Muhammed and Ambyr Michelle easily could carry the third generation of the Dupree clan. Michelle did very well with Eva meeting Ted and learning about the Laura's accident. I was genuinely shocked that Eva confronted Leslie about the accident looking for assurance that her mother hadn't crossed the line. These are the sort of beats one needs to make the characters seem astute and not look like complete fools. Leslie's manipulation of Eva is something I could watch all day. I was happy to get more of the McBrides, but I am going need a bit more progress before making any final decisions. Elements of the story seem to be a bit Alan/Monica Quartermaine, which I love. I am just going to need to see some meaty scenes between the two. Diego is a nice catalyst for drama while Doug is off loosing money. The Martin / Smitty story is starting to shape up. I don't think we will see the presidential bid come to fruitition because of the obvious murder in the background. I don't really get what Martin knows of the night of the murder. It sounded like Bill's very open threat about the murder would suggest he knows, but I have to wonder if Martin doesn't truly remember everything and is not completely aware of the outcome. Maybe he thinks the person lived and was paid off. I just don't understand with anything he remembers why he would look to move forward knowing Bill is looming in the background livid with the Dupree clan for the travesty that was his recent wedding. I am curious if the comment made about Bill wanting Naomi to be president was a throw away or if that will lead somewhere in this story. Mona is still a nice perspective. I am hoping Mona's loyalty leads to some sorta of poisoning Katherine Bell style plot twist where she turns out to be behind something protecting the Richardsons.

Happy to hear the ratings went up across the board for CBS daytime. That, on top of beating timeslot competitor, must be a win. Today's episode worked really well. I've given Kara Mosely and the writing some grief for Dani's actions in the first few episodes, but today Dani worked for me. When Dani showed up at the presser, I assumed we were in for another episode of the Dani Dupree Show. Instead, we got a woman owning up to a good amount of what she did and then shocked me by saying that they should call the police. I'm so use to modern soaps where the crazy actions rarely are met with a level of proper emotional fallout or reflection as today was. Adding in the flashback to Dani and Bill on Naomi's wedding day was smart. I wish this had been done sooner because this gives so much more depth to the Bill / Dani relationship. Not that I couldn't assume it wasn't there, but seeing it play out was wonderful. Judy Tate did a phenomenal job bringing that relationship to life. I don't have much to say about the Andre/Ashley stuff except that Shanice did all the heavy lifting. I can only hope that the picture of Ashley with camera shy Andre yesterday leads to Andre's mug dragging up someone from his past he doesn't want to deal with. The only thing I find interesting is that the show has now potentially paired another one of Naomi's friends in a triangle with Dani. Personally, I need a Shanice and Leslie scene of some depth because I feel like they would be as thick as thieves until Shanice learned the truth about Leslie. The movement in the Martin / Smitty story was a smart beat to play since it is clear based on casting calls what the Smitty story angle is. I think Martin as appearance focused as most of the Duprees is spot on. I am curious to see what happens with the nugget that Bill sees Naomi as presidential material. I could possibly see some Naomi / Martin political rivalry down the line. I like the Bill and Hayley dynamic, but I don't see this marriage lasting a year. Bill and Dani definitely still have heat and the flashback today only fuels that. I am looking forward to seeing how Hayley is accepted in Fairmont after Dani's little stunt at the wedding. I feel like that could turn the tides for some people.

The really good stuff alligns with the arrival of Jason Vinley as the "creative consultant" which is basically the headwriter role at that point. I think he's behind Miriam's kidnapping, the Amber / Gil / Stacey triangle, the Kate Phillips Carrouthers murder mystery, and some other stories during that period. The final year is intriguing because the show starts to lose the premier cast (the original Carpenter clan is replaced by Charles' brother Preston, his occasionally seen wife Phyllis, and their complicated daughter Courtney) and Peter leaves shortly before the show is cancelled. The DOMI plot seems insanely delicious and the Assassination Game plot sounds intriguing. I don't think the more domestic stuff from that era is as strong such as Courtney and Vaughn, but I like Susan Carey Lamm so we will see. What I am watching now is on the edge of the Barnes' fulltime arrival so its in a headwriter less era with network executive John Cardoza overseeing production because of Bob Aaron's departure. The material is very topical (abortion, pornography, homosexuality, white flight) that I think are replaced by Dallas and Joanne Barnes' heavy action driven approach after knocking off Nora and Scott by the end of their first week. I am not sure if the topicality will remain, but I'll be curious. The content is intriguing and the execution is tighter than the early episodes. Only Steve Sylvester is still around from the first episodes on YouTube. I think the topicality feels like early Wendy Riche "General Hospital" when she was guiding things and not a whole lot is actually happening but the material is generally well written and interesting ideas are approached. With the way they are burning through material, I can't see it lasting long but its been a fun two months. The Jeff story is insane. He ends up in prison where his cellmate is an alcoholic, Dave Phillips played by John Cardoza, former executive producer and CBN executive. I believe this character is eventually the man Terry marries, but it may just be an odd coincidence of reusing the name. The Russ / Carrie / Becky / Vince material is probably elevated because the actors are rather strong. Even Marty McGraw (Russ' mother Carrie Weaver) overplays her part in a way that is very compelling. On "The Catlins," Bea Swanson plays a similar sorta role in a way that makes her stand out as a local actress paired with more traditional New York talent. The big plot movement has Russ and Becky now married as well since Russ has learned about the baby and is frustrated by Becky's attention due to joining Summerwind. It's a beautifully disastrous move that is replayed by Sue Scannell on "Search for Tomorrow" in about a year's time when Kristen Carter marries Brian Emerson. It's a shame that "Search" didn't utilize Scanell as well in the material I've seen as she has been here. The Hollister Square story is moving along. Doug Hughes is being written out, but pops back in the story apparently several times over the years. He's a fun recurring character. Samantha Marshall and the zoning office has made it clear to Harold Webster and Charles Carpenter that they are on to them and Charles has decided to build the mall for real; I guess the initial plan was fraudulent. I only have about 2 weeks left of the original configuration of the Davidson clan and they have been sorta dragging for a bit. I wasn't keeping episode to episode notes, but they started fading after the wedding which is when David M Hummel becomes executive producer. Nancy remains my favorite though I like Terry and Lori well enough. Nora is an interesting concept but I'm not sure they nailed all the elements of the character. Peter Andrews is also the casting director on "Another Life." Thanks Soapslover for adding some more.

I think its possible we are all overreading a production choice to have the phone placed that way, but I am certainly not judging given my speculation heavy posts. The piece that makes me leery about it being intentional is it hurts her case for leaving her mother to start the purse line. I imagine this accident will be used to keep Chelsea attached to Dani a bit longer and frustate Kat in the process long enough to accept a date with Tomas. It's been subtly alluded to, but was more clearly laid out in casting call for Leslie. I'll address that and the stuff about Ted behing a spoiler just in case: It was subtly alluded to in the episodes leading up to Friday's reveal, but it wasn't stated implicitly because it would have spoiled things. If you read my above comment, it should give some more insight. Ironically, the other Atlanta produced soap "The Catlins" opened with a fairly large cast of the main family: Generation 1: Catherine Catlin Generation 2: her son T.J. and his wife Annabelle Generation 3: , their children Matt, Jonathan, Maggie, Beau, and Jennifer. Jonathan's wife Eleanor, Maggie's husband Roger were both present in the opening with Matt's ex-wife Crissy appearing in June, and Beau marrying Lauren in July Generation 4: Jonathan had two children with at least one on-air early in the run, Stephanie. Matt's son Bobby arrived with Crissy in June.

What I will give Michelle Val Jean immense credit for is developing a situation that has viewers (validly) able to argue from different sides because the characters are not black and white. I rolled my eyes during the wedding fiasco. It was too campy and drawn out for my taste (but given who wrote the breakdown that tracks). The fall out was worth the show. I love that you had Anita clocking Dani for the insane behavior while simutaneously negating any role she (Anita) may have played in Dani's situation. Dani remains a (purposefully) taxing character who I'm sure I'll appreciate more in time. I thought Mosely's dialed back reaction after her conversation with Nicole was a nice contrast to the mania displayed earlier in the episode. I think what was effective about today's exposition, particularly in the scenes with Eva / Dana Leslie was that it was cloaked in mystery. We got enough nuggets of what was going on while not necessarily getting the entire picture. By this point, Eva should know the lore; there's no reason to explore it in depth so the recap was logical. I wish more time had been presented on this story. Eva not realizing Leslie arranged the accident was a nice beat. @BetterForgotten pointed out during the casting stage that Eva was in the vein of Carly Roberts. I appreciate is Eva is deeply connected to her mother in Val Jean's version and is going after the father. It's the sorta twist that centers the female characters and avoids the rampant misogyny that was present in a lot of the mateiral I've seen from GH in that era and other eras, though I'm not as well versed as others here. The material on the elevator was an effective cliffhanger from Friday, but I just wasn't invested. The Uptown scenes with Derek and others all felt very terse and effectively just used to break up other stories, which is a shame because all those characters (Derek, Vanessa, Doug, Pamela) could use a bit more shading. Martin only caring about his image was an interesting shading. The conflict set up between Naomi and Jacob was interesting, but i would have loved to seen that beat played a little longer. I did appreciate that Chelsea's revelation didn't lead to everyone beating up on Chelsea, but I think this will continue to be an issue. I didn't think Chelsea making a video about having a family meeting was smart so this will continue to be a pattern. Dani owning the mess worked for me. Shanice that nurse is gold. The supporting cast is really strong. Reminds me of a combo between Amy Vining and Anne Milbauer.

Credits based on what we have available: Defacto Headwriters Roy Winsor (credited as Storyline Consultant) Monday, June 1, 1981 (#001) - Monday, October 12, 1981 (#096) with scripts by: Steve Sylvester (18), Bro Herrod (18), John Cloyse (11), Peter Cloyse (6), Jeff Dane (1) Dallas & Joanne Barnes (credited as Story By) Tuesday, October 13, 1981 (#097) - Monday, October 26, 1981 (#106) with scripts by: Dallas & Joanne Barnes (2), Steve Sylvester (2), Linda Carol Culpepper (2), John Jenny (1), Laura Eastman (1) No creative lead listed Tuesday, October 27, 1981 (#107)- Friday, December 25, 1981 (#150) with scripts by: Steve Sylvester (10), Linda Culpepper (7), Cheryl Chisholm (5), John Jenny (3), John Faulk (3),Peter Andrews (1) Dallas & Joanne Barnes (credited as Creative Supervisors) Wednesday, December 30, 1981 (#153) - Tuesday, August 10 , 1982 (#312) with scripts by (as of episode #200): Cheryl Chisholm (8), Steve Sylvester (7), Linda Culpepper (6), Susan McBride (5), John Faulk (4), Ted O'Hara (1) Jason Vinley (credited as Special/Program Consultant) Wednesday, August 11, 1982 (#313) - Friday, October 5, 1984 (#875) Executive Producers Robert Aaron Monday, June 1, 1981 (#001) - Friday, October 16, 1981 (#100) John Cardoza Monday, October 19, 1981 (#101) - Thursday, December 3, 1981 (#134) David M. Hummel Tuesday, December 8, 1981 (#137) - Friday, October 5, 1984 (#875)

@DRW50 Not sure if there were plans to bring on Tony Cardello. I get the sense that Tony's existence was meant to explain why Vince was insisting now after twenty some off years that he reconnect with Russ. The Russ-Becky orbit of "Another Life" is fascinating because there is no one good and they are all driving the story. Becky is the closest and she seems like the character we should be hoping for redemption. Her pregnancy has been revealed to the major parties now including Russ, Carrie, and Vince while also starting Becky's involvement in the band Summerwind. Becky remains a strong antiheroine and someone worth watching. Nancy has become involved with the station owner, an older widower, and thinks she has found the man of pocketbook's dreams. Of course, this man is also Scott's new boss so this has the Davidsons at odds. It still feels like we are heading towards a Scott / Nancy situation at this point where Nancy claims that Scott came onto her, but I don't think this thread ever gets there (or maybe even existed anywhere other than my imagination). Nancy and Miriam's friendship is fun. Now, Miriam knows Nancy is a Davidson (by marriage) and throws a fit. Again, the Davidsons remain calm. It's a very refreshing approach compared to modern soap. Another story thread that was rather shocking was Jeff Cummings' redemption, which I wasn't really enjoying. Jeff keeps going round and round about miracles having been declined by multiple banks for loans to buy the bookstore because of his spotty work record and his past alcoholism. Liz advises him not to not ONLY put his faith in God. This felt super heavy handed as it also involved Liz going to Terry about how much faith one should have. Then, Jeff gets another miracle, the hospital gives him back money for treatment because he was healed by a miracle in order to avoid a law suit. Seeing this all as a sign, he refuses to read the documents for the sale. What is utterly shocking is when Jeff lands the bookstore finally Liz learns their is a repayment clause that they cannot meet and Jeff learns that the store has been selling pornographic films and material. The fact that the show is showing you cannot just have faith, but you need to think about the miracles that God is giving you and not just follow blindly seems very different view of religion than I expected. Jeff's miracles are about to be washed away by his failure to take the time to do what was right. Charles Carpenter maintains his status as resident villain. He has taken all his wife's money, much to her chagrin. He keeps putting the screws on the people living in Hollister Square so he can remove them to build the mall. Samantha Marshall and Gene Redlon's contrasting views on how much they should intercede fascinates me. In addition, Gene and Ione have started looking at houses in the pre-dominantly black part of town Chesterfield (I think) where the Redlons use to live. There is conversations about white flight and the renewal of the community in the past few years. Gene is presented as not being proud enough of being African American and Samantha's brother, Leon Marshall, is presented as a contrast. It's really a fun little show. I am curious to see how long I enjoy it.

I believe Nixon has it in her collection which I thought was out of Northwestern University. If not, it might be in Irving Vendig's collection in Boston University I think.