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From what I remeber reading, it seemed as if it all completely falls apart post-Labine and Mayer around a year later when Ben is sent to prison around June 1976. Ben's departure undoes one of the major story threads that had carried the show for many months. Without a catalyst of Ben's ilk in the wings, there wasn't much to carry either story for the two women (Betsy and Arlene). Arlene was briefly paired in a one-sided attraction with Ray before becoming involved with Ian Russell. I believe the Schneiders introduced Ian as a suave businessman interested in Arlene who was also considering a dalliance with Meg. That would have been delightful but Upton arrives and quickly shifts the narrative to Arlene as a kept woman / prostitute (though I only think she was sleeping with Ian, but maybe I'm wrong). I think it is Upton who transitioned Ben from complicated heel with a romantic appeal to a tortured, brooding romantic lead with a complicated past. I'm not sure that was the smartest move. Upton must have believed that Ben's near rape was his redemption arc, but I don't think it was enough. There is something deliciously wicked about Ben becoming involved with Mia after the death of Mia's stepson Jim Marriott, who had confessed his love for Mia before racing off on his motorbike and being hit by Ben's car. I could see the appeal, but I don't think it completely worked. There should have been an angle involving Betsy (who had been a reporter I think when she first appeared) investigating Jim Marriott's accident, possibly with Jamie Rolins who was I believe district attorney. Betsy and Ben growing closer as Betsy grows closer to the truth. Ben confiding in Mia as Andrew continues to make Ben his surrogate son setting in motion the same dramatic situation with Andew's second wife being in love with his son/surrogate son. I think Betsy and Jamie Rollins were together while Ben was in prison, but I don't think they had much to do. I may be wrong. Meg should have gone after custody making it seem like Jamie and/or Betsy were unfit leading to a case with social services which would have brought Diana Lamont back into the mix causing emotional angst for Diana as she works with Jamie to provide him the child she couldn't. The Felicia / Eddie / Charles stuff seems rather generic once you get to Charles' paralysis and sexual dysfunction. Felicia's pregnancy and her death seemed to bring an end to a story that really wasn't strong enough to be frontburner. The Lynn Henderson stuff always seems rather movie of the week rather than developed for an ongoing story. In the past, I agreed that it might have been possible that the story had become so disjointed that they needed to freshen up and add new story elements as Upton did but others have suggested that the elements themselves should have just been considered. For example, I'm not a huge proponent of Rick and Cal as a couple, but I do think there was some mileage of actually reintroducing Barbara into the mix trying to reconnect with Hank, carrying a torch for Rick, causing conflict in the Sterlings marriage with Bruce and Van taking sides over Barbara vs. Cal, and Barbara maneuvering her way into the Beaver Ridge Complex making her business partners with Rick and Meg, which would give her a new rival. When Ben returned, there should have been a question of how true his redemption was rather than just jumping in head first to a new role. I think the Schneiders might have been script writers for Ann Marcus on "Search for Tomorrow," but I may be wrong on that. Upton introduced the Marriotts in Janaury, 1977. Christian Marlowe's Andy Marriott seemed to be in the mold of Ben. I don't know if the story was any good, but I think Upton towards the end hinted an Andrew / Meg / Andy storyline which I thought would have been interesting. I think Upton had some interesting concepts, but from my understand, the execution was awful.

I'm up to 300. About 12 episodes left of the Barnes. The development of the Prescott family has been the big event in the last few months of episodes I've watched. Jerry Timms as Gil is a nice addition as the show's new young stud. I like when the villains start out as deeply human and just generally flawed individuals like Gil, and early Nancy. Something the show does well is the sorta low level conflict that can generate with things like Gil's carefree playboy "life of the party" lifestyle interfering in the day to day happenings of him and his family. Gil is a shameless flirt and orders a beer or three when he is on lunch from the construction site. I think the conflict between himself and his father, Jason, is compelling even if I'm not sold on Read Morgan. If Morgan was a local talent, I think I might be more generous, but Morgan had a bit of primetime credits I believe. Jason, like Gil, isn't a one woman man so the internal conflict within the Prescott clan is ripe for drama. Yet, there are definitely flaws. Gil's relationships with Sheila Carter, a recast Vicki Lang, and Deena Greely seem to unattached to the larger story that I am not invested. Donna Denton isn't bad as Deena, but she lacks a bit of presence to carry the story in Mitch Dunbar's absence; she is now Mitch's law partner. Gil's flirtation with a married Lori was interesting and appeared to be done to build conflict between Gil and Russ, who seems to be heading in Renee Crawford's Marianne Prescott's direction now that Becky is out the door. Crawford slides right into the role of Lori's friend and Russ' love interest well even if Becky was (at least in the pre-Barnes) episodes more compelling as a woman who had deeper flaws than Marianne. Marianne's inner conflict has some legs if it goes anywhere. With her mother Corrine's passing, Marianne has assumed the mantle of the woman in her father's life and defacto mother to her restless, reckless brother Gil. At present, Marianne is putting her graphic design dreams on hold to work at Prescott Development, sacrificing her own desires for the "greater good" fo the Prescott men. I feel like Marianne is the kind of girl that Carrie Weaver will love and unintentionally terrorize with her overbearing, nearly incestual love for her son, Russ. If Chris Auer hadn't jumped ship to the writing team (his scripts are strong so I'm not mad), I would have liked to seen Francis pining for Marianne to complete the assumption of Becky's role in the lives of the men Becky knew (and who loved her). The complete revision of the Vicki character with the recast and pairing her with Gil is odd. It is basically a new character. Laura Leigh Taylor's Vicki was more conservative and business focused while the new Vicki is more outgoing and lively. I don't hate the new actress but it's such a dramatic shift in characterization and I'm not clear why. I know a later character (Stacey Phillips) assumes the characterization of Taylor's Vicki Lang, but I don't think that occurs until a few months into Jason Vining's work. I also just cannot see Taylor's Vicki giving Gil the time of day when she constantly rejected Peter. The quad between newly arrived developer Jason Prescott, recently widowed Terry, Terry's old friend Dr. Alex Greely, and Jason's corporate attorney Sharon Landers is equally weak. Alex comes off as desperate. Robert Burchette is more than serviceable in the role of friend and the lovelorn colleague, but Alex's jealousy of Jason doesn't work for me. I don't get the sense the friendship has run that deep, but maybe it does for Alex. The actress playing Sharon lacks the bravado to sell Sharon as this shark who kills it in the boardroom and could tear apart the moral Terry. I like that Jason's relationships with Terry and Sharon echo Gil's own bad boy behavior that Jason constantly chatisizes Gil for, but I do wish there was some angle here to root for other than praying that Terry decides to enter the convent. As I was reflecting on the Prescotts, I can see why Vining makes some of the changes he does. Jason isn't a bad character, but Read Morgan doesn't work in the role. Recasting probably would have worked given the show's large canvas involved in the city planning of Kingsley from the political and business angles, but as the show delves deeper into the criminal underworld, I can see why Jason was just dropped. Also, it would have been more interesting if Jason's wife wasn't dead, but had divorced him ages ago and was living in abroad to pop up as a conflict down the line, which is ultimately what happened with Dave and Kate Phillips. On a side note, Dave has been offscreen for most of the tailend of the Barnes run reconciling with his either estranged or ex-wife, I cannot remember which. The Prescott Development stories are bizarre. You have the antics of Gil slowly turning Peter to the dark side (a story that would have worked better with Nancy as the devil on Peter's shoulder) which is obviously built to give conflict between Jason and Terry. Simiarly, Gil's romance of Alex's niece Deena seems to set up animosity between Jason and Alex over their child and defacto child. I just cannot invest in Terry and Jason. Not that I want Alex and Terry, but Jason is just not working for me. I get we are going for the gruff widower who works in construction with a strong belief in the Lord, but I just don't think Jason projects the image of romantic lead. It's reminiscent of Bert Kramer as Alex Wheeler for me. The story the Cavalares family is insane. Dom Cavalares is the drunk single father of teenage Donna. Donna is friends with Jill and they smoke some weed together before Donna ends up being taken into the Cummings home because when her father gets drunk he gets physically abusive. The scene of a drunk Dom breaking into the Cummings' home and attacking Donna is wild. It is a terrifying sequence where Dom comes in raging to get his daughter back with the Cummings' girls (Liz, Jenny, and Jill) and Donna present before Jeff comes in and gets knocked out by Dom. I think it ends with Donna being dragged away. I cannot imagine any show doing that in the past two decades. In some ways, I suspect that the Barnes might have dusted off Roy Winsor's projection for the Jeff Cummings story and used them as the inspiration. When Jason learns Dom is a drunk, Dom ends up going to AA, which was the original story direction before Jeff was saved by the light. The bookstore angle quickly faded before being shifted to Jill to give her something to do. The set up for the Cummings' turning their home into a halfway house was probably the spinoff idea. I don't think its terrible, but it's not working in the larger scale of the show's canvas. I appreicate the attempts to rectify the Jeff story by having Dom turn to AA (offscreen), but I would have liked it more if we actually saw some more regret from Jeff over what he had done. Beth Slaymaker's role in this story is intriguing. As the judge handling Donna and Dom's situation, it is clear that she has a bit of sympathy for Dom that she might not have had if she hadn't given up Jill when she was younger. The Jill-Peter romantic angle never developed the way I expected it to. Jill's "transformation" leading to more interest from both Gary and Peter feels dated by modern standards, but was probably a popular trope for the time. I think Jill has stopped appearing now that Beth has bought her the book store. I cannot say I am sorry to see her go because I don't think they knew what to do with her. Jill was such an abrasive character who I didn't like as a person, but who made sense. She was just exhausting in larger doses. Seidman was much more appealing as Jill's persona softened. The Redlons reunion has been odd. I don't remember if it was earlier and included in my last post, but Carla nearly runs off with Jimmy in a sequence that is very well done and tense. I don't think Carla and Gene work completely. Both actors are wonderful, but I don't like how they play the duo. Carla's career should have her being pulled in directions (which it does, at times) but I think its such an odd choice to play this story in isolation of the Russ-Becky marriage. Gene's political career isn't my favorite story, either, but that's more because I don't care for Jason. I'll do a separate post later about the Carpenters with Nancy and the end of Becky and Russ' marriage.

I think Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt were the wrong pair to bring the show to NBC. People will probably disagree, but I would have given the Corringtons (if free) antoher shot at Search for Tomorrow. The Corringtons would probably have struggled with the youth push as well, but I think some of the writing might have been slicker. Ellis and Hunt's episodes from October-early December have some energy, but its a bizarre clash of old school conversations over cups of coffee and the insane jungle adventures of the younger set. The Corringtons could also lean into the over the top so it might not have worked as well I as hope. David Cherrill feels like a good fit to transition the show to something that would be airing on NBC. Ellis and Hunt feels like the stereotypical sterile Proctor & Gamble vibe that some shows could maintain with a better degree of interest. Cherrill is more plot heavy with centering Travis and Liza with the murder of Tony, then Liza's pregnancy, Rusty's murder, Liza's trial, etc. I think there was an increasing amount of humor by the time Lee arrives in late March to work with Cherrill. Cherrill and Lee introduce a lot of the early Lee characters (Michael Kennedy/Kendall, Rhonda Sue Huckaby, Steve Kendall) and writes the Mommy Warbucks stuff with Stephanie taking in Andie and Andie running off while her diabetes acts up with the big dog. I feel like Lee / Tomlin find a nice groove though there is a lot of their run missing from the tape trade circles (from what I've experienced). I think Jo's kidnapping is strong, the triangle with Wendy / Suzi / Warren is phenomenal, Steve and Stephanie's romance, the feud between the Kendalls and the Sentells, and the introduction of Barbara Moreno all really worked for me. There were definitely weak links (Angela Moreno donning a Greek accent to seduce Danny) but overall I foudn it a joy. Barrett gets to produce some of Tomlin's strongest material with the acquaintance rape and the escalation in the growing animosity between Warren and most of the town of Henderson. I don't know why Lee was dropped, but I think she tried really hard and had some interesting ideas. I would have loved to see her original role for Sheryl Lee Ralph, which was as one of Lloyd Kendall's wives. She was really trying to build enough interest to get the show extended to an hour, but she just never got there. Between stunt casting (Michelle Phillips as Ruby Ashford, originally intended for Cher) and the Live episode along with some strong dramatic sequences, I think she easily could have kept going. It's a shame it didn't last longer. I could give or take Glynn's work until about January, 1985. I really liked the fallout of T.R. learning that Lloyd was her father and Chase being relieved of the guilt he felt over Rebecca's disappearance. The end of the Warren saga led to some great material for Teri Eoff and Lisa Peluso. T.R. and Ryder worked for me. I really enjoy a good chunk of Mayer / Braxton, but acknowledge some of their blunders were too big for most to overlook. I really liked Caldwell House and putting Jo and Stu back in a lodging situation. I really liked Wendy / Quinn / Sarah. I thought the dynamics in the McCleary household with Suzi and Kate were great domestic drama. I thought the general idea of Lloyd wanting Liza while Liza was drawn to Hogan in a mostly sexual way was interesting, but obviously the Sunny angle was awful. It's funny, I think Walsh / Long do Liza equally dirty in 1986 during the Hogan / Patti / Liza story, but that often is overlooked. Probably because Louan Gideon's Liza was so universally dismissed. The shift from Nicholson to whoever was next (Whitsell?) was hard because Tomlin had just started and there seemed to be such a huge shift in story between October and December. I have little use for most of Long and Walsh's run but maybe it would be easier to handle if more of 1986 was available.

It is Roya as Ava who is threatening to shoot Stacey with a gun. Ava had the gun, but maybe I'm embellishing she actually went up to Stacey to use it. This was July or August, 1985. Stacey and Jack decided to be together and ignore Ava despite Jack still being married to her. There was a clip of this somewhere. Maybe in a promo or in some of the material that popped up over the years. I don't think it was Joe Breen's choice to leave, but it may have been. I feel like the sorority / fraternity crew arrives in late March and by early May the Carly / Paul / Michael / Flynn crew have all departed leaving Ava in limbo until the Phantom of Burnell's story which I suspect might have been originally intended to be the set up for Curtis' return in 1992. The City crew who arrive in the months preceeding its arrival really do little for me. Danny is probably the worst of the lot, but so many of them are so vapid and self absorbed that I don't remember much about them.

One of the struggles I see in early Loving is the execution of archetypes that both writers used with their own flavor. Whether Ava is Erica Kane or Nola Reardon seems based on who is at the helm. Similarly, whether Dane Hammond is Nick Davis or one of Marland blue collar schemers falls into the same category. Out of curiousity, what would you have liked seen done with Anne in that first year? Nixon had Ava waving a gun around threatening to shoot Stacey fairly early on so I am not sure if Nixon had a grip on Ava (or maybe Ava just didn't have a grip on her sanity). Nixon and Marland are so different in style it was bound to be chaotic transferring story. Even Millee Taggert/Robert Guza to Agnes Nixon has its complications. I much prefered Taggert/Guza's Shana / Leo story to Nixon's. Elements of Stacey / Buck worked better under the prior regime than under Nixon, but I do think Nixon had a stronger long story vision for Stacey and Buck (and possibly Stacey / Curtis). Nixon does great work with Steffi Brewster with her eating disorder, introducing calculating and flighty Deborah, and pairing her with Clay and Cooper. I loved Janie Sinclair. The Cradle Foundation mystery was very good. I really liked Ava being accused of Egypt's "murder," but I know others didn't like it. The ad agency stuff was great. I just don't see the same energy in the 1985-1986 Loving material. It all seems very flat, but maybe I just haven't seen enough of it. I also think Stacey was more interesting in the late run Marland episodes from March, 1985, then from anything after in the 1980s until about Lily's return. I think Nixon, like Marland and others, defaults to many of her past storylines. Anne and Harry Sowolosky is just Anne and Nick Davis. Except I don't think Nick kidnapped and threatened to rape anyone in the Tyler clan, but AMC is not always my cup of tea. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking of the money angle, which definitely should have been explored more. Nixon had that set up when she was leaving in August, 1994. Cabot had returned and there was the anniversary of Alden Enterprises and Lady Alden soap. McCarthy and Walsh execute the reveal as they had working on Nixon's team. I appreciate a lot of things that Addie Walsh and Laurie McCarthy do early in their run, but dropping that story wasn't one of them. I do think that would have been a great starting point to bring back on some Watleys especially given that contracts would be up. Not that I would want Ted Knight in the role, but I think some of Danny's story could have gone to Johnny Watley. Carly's departure (along with Paul, Michael, and Flynn) was to open up space on the canvas for the younger set that Walsh wanted to introduce (Staige, Kent, Cooper, and Casey). With the half-hour, there was only so much room. I think Marland's Trisha and Steve dealt with the complications of her involvement with Rick Elkins, another preppie boy that was in the Aldens social circle. I imagine that story may have played out a little while longer. When Trisha and Trucker's class conflict marriage tension occurs under Mary Ryan Munisteri, I do feel that there is an underlying level of elitism to what Trisha is doing. Isn't there a rather ridiculous rant in an early October 1991 episode where Trisha goes off because Trucker stole Giff downstairs to the bar of the Corinth Towers so that they can watch a basketball game or something? I think a lot of it was low level and one script writer even had Trisha write it off as pregnancy hormones, but Trisha definintely had a bit of entitlement. It was just later cloaked by her moral high ground regarding Trucker and Dinahlee's affair, which she had every right to have. I hate Giff / Trisha from about July - September 1992. I cannot watch much of it either because it is so bad. It's such a left field move to have Giff suddenly go psycho in a scene with Casey at their apartment when there was no real build before. I've seen a little of Dion as Cecilia in the November, 1987, episodes that have popped up over the years. I find Cecilia's romance with Rick had the potential to spark a lot of drama, but I think Ralph Ellis decided to place Rick further into the Jack / Stacey / Lily story by encouraging Lily as well as taking the role that Curtis should have played in that story. Steve dies later in the month or early in December and Cecilia is gone. I'm not even sure she's around long enough to see Steve off.

The show is fascinating in its approach to material. I am approaching my first big eye roll material regarding the religious focus. Terry is up for director of nursing at the hospital and hospital admin Lester Lewis is concerned that her faith will prevent her from doing a good job because she will be too busy preaching. He cites Jeff Cummings' remarkable unexplained (he refuses to call it miraculous) recovery as evidence of how she acts. I don't think people act like this in real life, but maybe I am wrong. I also feel that the show was missing a chance to really explore and important moment; the Davidsons' decision to prevent Lori's surgery so that she could wait on Russ' miracle. I think utilizing that moment would have been more complex and ultimately I would still side with Terry because it was her personal life. Babs has only just been introduced as Nancy's cell mate. Cellmates are one of the shows favorite ways to introduce people. I am looking forward to Babs story because in some of the material I peeked, her "kidnapping" looks incredibly well done with the twist they kidnapped the wrong person. I happened to stumble upon the exit of the Cummings when I was doing the end credits. They have their big goodbye scene with the Davidson clan on August 31, 1982. Jason Vining has started August 11th. Jill Hanson and Bethany Slaymaker have exited before this it seems. Jeff, Liz, and Jenny all exit on the 31st. Also, Sue Scannell gets a splashy send off on June 29, 1982, at a concert where they freeze frame on her and give her billing underneath "Sue Scannell as Becky Hewitt Weaver." I think she pops up on "Search for Tomorrow" around the same time. I like the idea of Jeff as a minister. Maybe he could have attended Kingsley College and studied theology and faces the issue of being an older person on a college campus. I think Jeff needed to be placed in a position where he would feel uncomfortable and forced to affirm his beliefs by being tempted to the dark side. Eventually he could be pulled into the Assassains Game plot. I'd have Liz drawn into the DOMI plot as she seems like the type that would be swayed by a powerful figure like Vanessa Fazan. In the meantime, I would have presented Liz with an opportunity to choose an easier life with a man she was once in love with who had significantly less baggage than Jeff. Maybe a doctor newly on staff at Kingsley General. Jeff, possibly accused of some scandalous act by a young woman unaware of the impact of her lie, would push her away, but Liz would stand by Jeff even as her old flame encouraged her to leave him.

There are a lot characters in the Loving bible which come off as little more than a name. I would agree that part of the structual issues to the show are directly related to the clashing styles of the two writers at the center of the drama. From what I recall, the Roger and Merrill affair wasn't meant to be end game so I was left wondering what would happen to Roger and Anne's marriage. If I were Marland, and I read the bible, I wouldn't know what to do with Anne either. In turn, the pivot with Anne in 1984 with Roger being presumed dead and Anne deciding to enter the business world felt like a more Marland style development for the character. While White is green in the early material I've seen of hers, she developed into a pretty compelling performer by mid-1984, in my opinion, btu starts to slid back when it was becoming more heavy with the drinking and the animosity with Gwyneth. I felt Shana / Anne was a dynamic that could have gone on for years, just like the Lorna / Anne could have as well. Lorna loses a lot of steam, in my opinion, the minute Marland leaves the door. Her modeling career and her relationship with Linc Beecham kept her in the thick of the family corporate drama (I believe she ahd sold her AE stocks to Dane in order to advance her modelling career). Once the show introduces Rebekah and Zona Beecham, the story is pretty much over. Nixon, and or Levinson, pivoting Lorna to put upon heroine was a mistake. And I have absoltuely no use for anything O'Hara Parker had to do as Lorna. Trisha and Gwyneth were such the inverse of Lorna and Anne. It's a shame that they couldn't find a way to trade off on how those relationships worked. When I consider alternate worlds for Loving, I've always thought about what could have happened if the show went with a Steve / Trisha / Lorna triangle with Steve / Lorna having a sorta Fallon / Michael Culhane style relationship that was mostly sexual, but with each acknowledging the other for who they were. And I would have had Gwyneth pushing Steve / Lorna to keep Trisha / Steve apart with an eventual Trisha / Lorna rivalry as well as layered relationship s between Anne / Trish and Lorna / Gwyn.

Picking up at episode 301, I spent some time wrapping up the end of the Barnes' credits for script writers. There last credited episode is August 10, 1982 (#312). Chris Auer racks up an additional 12 sripts, Steve Sylvester 11 scripts, Linda Culpepper gets 9 additional credits, Libby Rodes had 7 scripts, and Susan McBride is brought back for 2 scripts. Cheryl Chisholm's last credit as production writer was episode #301. She doesn't return to the script writing pool from what I can tell. *** Final Credits for the Barnes: Dallas & Joanne Barnes (credited as Creative Supervisors) Wednesday, December 30, 1981 (#153) - Tuesday, August 10 , 1982 (#312) with production writer: Cheryl Chisholm (35) with scripts by: Steve Sylvester (23), Linda Culpepper (22), Chris Auer (20), Libby Rodes (16), Cheryl Chisholm (12), Susan McBride (11), Ted O'Hara (5), John Faulk (4), and Edna C. Brown (2) *** I'm at episode 240 so I am more than halfway through the Barnes' run. It's such a mixed bag. There are things I enjoy immensely (often relating to the approach taken to the religious elements and anything to do with Nancy), concepts I feel are interesting but not always executed well (lots of the domestic drama) and then just losing interest (the Hollister Square project and Becky's muscial career). I'll start with what works really well. Nancy Mulvey is phenomenal as nasty Nancy even though I found the character more honest when she was more of a low level schemer. The end of the housing story (for now) is wrapped up in the most Another Life way possible by introduicng Karen Davidson, the late Scott's newly crated sister, who drops into Kingsley on a buying trip to announce that she has a copy of the late Nora's will due to some clock. It's a lame ending, and I would complain more except the next stage was satsifying. Watching Nancy refuse to leave Nora's home and getting dragged out in cuffs was much more joyful than it had any right to be. I took so much pleasure in Nancy's downfall. Nancy ends up in jail with hooker with a heart of gold Babs Farley who gives Nancy the business. It's delightful. A thread of Nancy's downfall also included a much more delicious turn of events when Nancy's bestie Miriam Carpenter decided to turn on her and squeal to Terry and Mitch Dunbar that she overheard all the schemes. Of course, Nancy discovers the deception and decides her own course of action. Nancy takes advantage of Miriam's depression induced drug addiction and starts pumping her with barbituates and gaslighting her in order to cut Miriam off from the rest of the world. Ginger Burnett is wildly entertaining as Miriam while she slowly loses what little sanity she has left talking to unplugged landlines, playing with toy soldiers, and mistaking Nancy and Norm fighting for her mother and father. Russ may later go to Hell, but Miriam looks like she's been released with a day pass. The Norm Eliot part of this is absorbing in such a bizarre way. Norm, the dishonoably charged Vietnam vet, is the one who initially provided Miriam with the pills with the suggestion that he did it in exchange for sex. Norm is not the hero in the story, but he is less of a villain than Nancy. He at least loves Miriam for who she is. Nancy's only desire is money and living the easy life. Nancy, as only Nancy can do, decides to set up Norm to confessing that he ran Lori and Russ off the road which leads to a lot of political style deals between Norm, Charles Carpenter, Sgt. Brubaker, Brooke Bellamy, Charles Slaymaker, Vince Cardello, and the newly arrived Jason Prescott. It's a complex situation and not really worthy of the time and energy. With that said, I think there is a very Another Life approach taken to Norm in prison. He initially is set to reveal that he was invovled in stealing Nora's will which would get people in legal trouble, but Charles Slaymaker (commisioner and bank president) convinces his former lover Brooke Bellamy that he'll divorce his wife Bethany in order to keep her quiet. When Norm learns this, he realizes he has no leverage. It is Sgt. Brubaker who convinces him that Norm needs to do what's right for Norm's sake. This is one of the more effetive attempts at a redemption. Norm tells all and then regrets it because he knows it will not benefit him. The Slaymaker stuff comes and go. I'm not a big fan of the revelation that Jill is Bethany and Charles' daughter that Bethany gave away to a girlfriend because she wanted to pursue her legal career. Revealing her husband Charles was the father was a detail I didn't know. I am not really sure what the point of any of this seems to be. Charles knows the truth and doesn't have any interest in the situation. Charles Kahlenberg is back in the role of Slaymaker. I don't hate Jill and the Cummings but so much of it is rinse and repeat. Jill does something bad, the Cummings fret. There are a few moments that I found interesteing. In one scene, Liz tells Terry that she realizes she needs to take accountability for her won thoughts and actions upon considering that she has prayed for Jill to see the light not for Liz herself to see how she can help Jill. I thought that was an important distinction. In the other scene, Jeff suggests that the reason he likes Jill, and that Liz is struggling with her, is because Jill and Liz were too much alike. Apparently, Liz had been a flower child in San Francisco when Jeff met her right out of the military service in Vietnam. Now, I am gonna think about Jeff returning to San Francisco in uniform so he can run into Tony Cardello. The Jill - Peter thread is intriguing because of the Jill - Terry relationship. Jill really is a younger Nancy, and I appreciate how that is acknowledged. Terry would open her arms to Jill because that is how she handles Nancy. I am just not super comfortable with the way adopted children are being presented (Jill, Nancy, Becky). Peter having a tomboy best friend who liked him and didn't notice or becoming involved with a Nancy like young woman who gave Terry a run for her money would be interesting situations. I don't know if by declawing Jill this works as well. I really wish we got scenes of Nancy actually taking Jill under her wing because I think that might give a nice edge to both characters. They have been testing the waters with Terry and men. She has rejected a night out with Alex Greely. The family invites Dave Phillips to dinner with the slight suggestion that it might be nice for Terry to have a man in her life. And we've gotten some animosity between Terry and Jason Prescott, Peter's boss at Prescott Development. Would Read Morgan be considered a get for the show? I think he had done some Westerns. The Prescotts are slowly being built up. Jason mentioned his wife Corrine died of lung cancer and that he has two children, Gil and Marianne. Jason's biggest moves still seem to be in business. He rejects Charles and Harold Webster's atttempts to use substandard material in construction in order to save money. I think the set up for Carla and Gene's reconcilliation is very traditional with each charcters keeping secrets from the other that will ultimately prevent the reconilliation. Leon and Ione are nice supporting players and Troy Paris, who plays their son, Jimmy, continues to impress me. I don't think this is the most exciting story and I think there are opportunities to explore the characters deeper, but its satsifying compared to other parts. Russ and Lori continue to be such a compelling dynamic. With Becky away in New York, Russ is sad and lonely. When Ben catches Lori and Russ out together, he calls her out for it. When Lori goes to Terry for support, Terry also calls her on her bull. When Lori states that she is Russ' only Christian friend, Terry tells Lori she counselled Russ when they dated and it didn't work, what makes her think it would work now? It's a very honest point about the right message form the wrong person. Ben has secured Dave Phillips for the clinic and that thread seems to be dragging, which is fine because so much else is going on. Becky's career bores me. Her emotionally induced larngynitis was too much for me. Dave Cohen (the other Dave) is so over the top. Now you got Becky married to Russ with both Dave and Phil from Summerwind after her. It's a bit much. The music stuff would intrigue me more if there was any intersection with the Carla - Gene story which is pretty much dealing with very related conflicts. IT might be intersting if a bored Dave had dumped the sore throat queen Becky to revive Carla's career and threaten reconcilliation wtih Gene. Russ is now involved with sororiity pledge Sheila Carter. It's being played very low key, but I don't beleive that Sheila who knows everything about Russ doesn't know he's married. Maybe we will find out later she does. I don't know. I don't really care that much either. Hoping to get through the rest of the Barnes' before the end of June because the stuff that I saw when searching the credits seems more intriguing towards the start of Vinley's run with Lori's stalking.

The rumor was that Lou Scofield and Margaret DePriest were involved. I believe the criminal element being a holdover from Scofield and Depriest's time writing "The Edge of Night" makes sense. I believe Falken Smith was supposedly the one who nixed the criminal element fairly early on. The mob tried to knock off Steve Prescott which lead to him ending up living in hibernation with Ellie Jardin and her son, Peter. I think that was pretty much the end of that story. Vicky Lucas' father Ed also had mob ties, but I don't know how long that element was played. Pat Falken Smith was already writing scripts for Bill Bell on "Days" so the desire for more psychological sexual storytelling would make sense. I think "Love is Many A Splendored Thing" was heading in the same direction.

He has. He was gone from the show by the time they came back having left early in Conboy's run. He has said Bridget asked him back to do the two episodes of the Capwell dinner party from hell. I cannot remember if this was mentioned in one of his printed interviews like WeLoveSoaps or his video interview with Alan Locher. I feel like he implied he and Bridget had had a falling out, but I could be wrong.

Anne was very underdeveloped in the bible. The bulk of interest in her story lied in Merrill with Roger's interest in politics giving him at least a semblance of an identity. Anne was nothing more than qualifiers to other characters (Roger's wife, Cabot's daughter, Lorna's mother, etc.). I feel this sort of haunts the character. When Callan White assumes the role, the show starts to pivot Anne a bit into the business field to build up the rivalry with Shana, her newly introduced half-sister. Anne chooses business to escape her grief over losing Roger, while also sorta carrying on a bit with Mike Donovan, who she had a brief fling or flirtation with in 1983 when Mike renovated the guest cottage for the Aldens. The fourth wheel on the quad was Dane Hammond, who had brought Shana to town to hurt the Aldens after they had fired him for shady business practices while working at Alden Enterprises. Anne and Mike fizzle pretty quick and the story mostly became Mike / Shana / Jim while Anne falls under Dane's control. I believe Dane and Anne's initial connection becomes Dane's discovery that the son that he had been denied was Jack Forbes, who Anne and Roger had adopted after Jack's biological mother Linda Henderson died in a car accident with her husband (who had been assumed to be Jack's father). Anne and Dane's connection made her persona non grata among the Aldens which was only enhanced in late 1984 when Dane and Anne married. Also, at some point, Anne had developed a drinking problem. In 1985, I believe Cabot has a heart attack around March and Dane manages to seize control over AE, while also being slowly seduced by the newly arrived Gwyneth Alden. I think Anne is deeply aware that Gwyn and Dane have a growing attraction, most of her family cannot stand her because she has chosen Dane, and she's an alcoholic. Her only friend is Harry Sowolsky who was in cahoots with Dane.

I think Kate was introduced in early January, 1984, for a few reasons. I think the long term plan was to make her Stu's new girlfriend as they had bounced Olympia Dukakis' Barbara Moreno a few weeks earlier. In addition, the original story for Adair was more than likely the revelation that she and one of the Kendall brothers were the parents of Elan, the baby that Travis and Liza were raising. Kate as Tourneurs' nanny/ Sentell housekeeper would give Adair easy access to the house. Also, Stu and Kate together would have had the natural conflict when the custody of said child came into question. Wendy shifts in June, 1983, when Wendy and Keith's marriage ends and Wendy starts to show interest in Warren, who is being neglected by his wife, Suzi, who is busy with her psychology classes. Then, she gets pregnant in August, 1983, with Warren planning on dumping Suzi for his pregnant mistress until stumbling upon the fact that Suzi had been bequeathed a significant trust by her late father. Gary Tomlin was headwriter during this period and he had a tendency of taking heroines and turning them into schemers. When Jeanne Glynn and Madeleine David/Carolyn Franz write, Wendy wavers in 1984, I believe, after they have written out Warren for the first time. She has a brief relationship with Chase Kendall and then she ends up back with Warren while Stephanie tries to pair her with Alec Kendall. Wendy is a schemer by default because she wants to keep Warren by her side; he had escaped from prison. In Jeanne Glynn's final weeks, Wendy definitely is in schemer mode because Warren is dead and she has decided to make Suzi pay by going after custody of Jonah. She also has a brief rivalry with Sunny when Wendy twists Stephanie's arm into making her an anchor at the television station. Wendy's last act of duplicity is to keep quiet (at the beginning of Mayer / Braxton) about Warren's confession that he had in fact been gaslighting Suzi for months on end. Cagney confronts her as she prepares to throw the recording into a lit fireplace to destroy the proof needed. In the end, Wendy turns over the tape, reconciles with Suzi, and turns over a new leaf by becoming involved with Quinn. A good chunk of 1985 is Wendy and Sarah Whiting (the newly created daughter of Patti) fighting over Quinn with Sarah becoming more and more manipulative and Wendy more career driven. Wendy and Quinn were acting as managers for Sarah's music career. The Stephanie / Wendy / Bela stuff at the end is ugly for both Stephanie and Wendy. Shaffer's Stephanie is at her most desperate and pathetic clinging to an affair with younger lion tamer turned news anchor Bela and Wendy's motives seem to shift between manipulative and cunning (trying to prove to Stephanie that Bela is trash) to lovelorn (as if Bela could possibly be some great love) by the time Stephanie called Wendy a slut, I think I was ready for it to end. And I'm typically a Tomlin apologist. Peluso deserved better.

I think there are interesting elements in the bible, but it also feels half-baked. Only a couple of the characters are well defined. I still maintain that Nixon should have been headwriter for at least a year. I like what Marland does with the show, but it is very different than the world that Nixon imagined even when elements were rebranded. At times, I also have to wonder how well some of those elements were going to be used. I suspect Nixon's proposed AIDS 1983 plot was just what ended up happening with Angie and Charles in 1994 when Angie was stabbed by a needle by a drug addict who may or may not have been HIV-positive. I suspect Noreen, who was looking to have a baby with Mike, would have been stabbed by a needle which potentially was infected leading Noreen to fear that she may have the disease. As a result, Mike's sexual appetite would have been satsified in other ways. I am not sure it would have the heft that it could have been, but I guess I may be looking at a story from a 21st century lens for a disease that was only just being uncovered. It's an interesting point regarding Labine & Mayer's 1983 return failing to ignite the ratings, Also, by late 1984, Pat Falken Smith's RH was failing to light the world on fire. I do think some of the late 1980s RH (Rick / Ryan , Johnno / Lizzie / Ben / Nancy) was stronger material than what "Loving" produced in the same period. Especially when you consider that the Kelly Conway story would have been playing concurrently with a lot of those stories. I think I heard the line and, like you, I felt it was about her 1988 miscarriage, but that may have been Lisa Peluso's read on the situation. I felt her dragging Sandy up to the room with Kate and Sheri was really emphasizing that. I'm also not sure Sheri / Ava having that animosity in 1988 fit with Sheri's 1987 return where she ends up giving birth at Ava and Alex's wedding and naming the child after Ava. The Watleys should have been Loving's answer to the Frames coming out of the woodwork to cause havoc for Ava in the early 1990s the way Steve's siblings did for him on Another World. I think having Patty (I think that was her name) as this strong, independent woman after overcoming all the obstacles from the medical procedures as a child arrive could have been a nice conterpoint to the more frivilous (at times) Ally. Scheming Johnny Watley wanting the faux birthright that had been promised to him and leading Ava down the path back into schemer would have been enjoyable. And I would have had Ava Watley, obviously going by some nickname, as sort of filling the role of Ally had Laura Sisk Wright had made the choice to depart. There were other kids too so there was an opportunity to play with that some more. I think Ralph Ellis and Millee Taggert/Tom King, each briefly, tried to expand the Hindmans by adding in Art's kids Dave and Tally. Under Ellis, Dave was an illiterate basketball player being pushed through classes by his coach with Jim Vochek acting as his academic advocate in Jim's role as guidance counselor. This was all a subplot around the transition from Kelly / Rob to Ned / April. Dave and Tally were both around late 1980s-early 1990s, but they weren't carrying any story. And of course Minnie was supporting.

This is the Winifred Wolfe who later wrote for soaps like "As the World Turns" and "Somerset," correct? I listened to a couple more episodes of "Radio Playhouse" this week. Morgan Fairchild appears to assume the role of Kate Wakefield on "Faces of Love" as of Monday, November 3. In the same episode, Ann (Fairchild's role on "To Have and To Hold") also appears. It is hard for me to tell if Fairchild is still in the part. It sounds like she may be softening her voice to distinguish the two characters, but it may, in fact, be a different actress. The credits for the week only included the main four (with Billy Redfield still listed as Marshall) and Carin Greene. I'll be curious to see how she plays out. A month or two back, I also found some episodes of "Sounds of the City" from the same period. I am almost positive we have some articles in here about it. It was an African American radio soap that ran for what seems to be about 180 or so episodes from late April/early May 1974 until late in 1974 or early in 1975. The initial story is heavy on a police corruption plot and some domestic issues often resulting from the corruption plot. What is most interesting to me is the inclusion of commercials that feature the characters shilling out the sponsor's products. In one, the mother and the son are having breakfast and discussing the son's cereal choice. I wish daily audio drama had made it a little bit longer or if there were longer stretches of a lot of the late runs of soaps from the late 1950s. I'll probably just have to live with CBS Radio Mystery Theatre episodes instead.

@DRW50 I don't know if they were reframed scenes. I thought it was well done. And I consider myself a recovering Catholic. I think I have one episode left before I jump back into the 200s. I cannot say I miss Winsor or Aaron. The Barnes arrive for about 2 weeks and add a nice dose of comedy that seems more noticeable than I remember. Ending the drug storyline was smart which meant dumping Nick Trench and Norm Eliott. Trench, like Mandy, gets a quiet exit with Miriam walking in on him on the phone with another woman and he leaves. On the same note, Paul Mason has a conversation with Lori about Russ and Ben and he decides he's accepting a teaching post in England he had been wavering over. I can't say anyone will be missed. Jeff's cancer is a much shorter story than I realize. I don't think there are any mentions of it until episode 97 and I am pretty sure he is saved by the light around 110-115 range. I thought the angle of Liz trying to have Jeff declared incompetent so she could secure his treatment was interesting. tHere are moments where it feels like a serious legal /medical drama. Jeff is still misery. Ben and Lori move VERY QUICK. They've only know each other a few weeks, much of which Lori is still with Russ, before Lori and Ben date and wihtin a month or so they are married. Larson and Williams have such a nice chemisty, much like Roland and Scannell. This quad is a smart central story. I get the sense that whoever was guiding the show between the Barnes brief fall stint and their winter stint was going to go the angle that Lori (like Jeff later) was believing too much and rushing without thinking. There's so much to play within this story and I think it was smart to build separate orbits that allowed each couple to have a story but also to interact. I also didn't realize Gene and Scott were laid off. There's some snarky comment about New York guys which makes me wonder if this wasn't a comment about the recently departed Bob Aaron and Roy Winsor. I didn't realize how short Samantha Marshall's run on the show was. It seems worth noting that Sam is introduced (I believe) after the Barnes' have done their two week run so it would seem that she was an interim writer creation. Sam is dumped very early when the Barnes' return in favor of Carla, when a true triangle woudl have been more interesting. The Hollister Square story is slowly building up to replace the drug story. This was a smart move though I have to wonder if it is coincedence that the story about a wealthy woman Helen giving her husband Charles land in a poor neighborhood that results in drama also was occuring on "Flamingo Road" around the same time. Charles' worming his way back into Helen's life is interesting, and, in the nature of FR, I cannot help but wonder if they shouldn't have pursued Mitch Dunbar and Helen Carpenter more seriously. Ray Owens is serviceable as Mitch, and it would have been nice to see him play a different beat. Ben has also lined up his practice in the building so its all building nicely. Scott out of work is a nice situation for domestic drama. I think around episode 105 I am pretty much getting to the place that I enjoyed during the November, 1981, episodes I started with.

Kim Valentine's Stacey is the most intriguing character. It's a shame she didn't last longer as Dawn Winthrop, but GH's loss was Tribes gain. I thought the destruction of the parents marriage was typical soap fodder, but allowing the emotional fallout to be mostly about how the two daughters reacted was such an interesting point of view. Stacey's descent from decent young woman to emotionally fragile and self destructive was one of the better done character arcs. Frankie felt like a replacement for Tina, Jojo's original girlfriend. Similar style and similar function in the story. I don't think the two friends fighting over the same girl story is always the strongest, but it's a trope I really like. Scott Garrison was good at brooding, Greg Watkins had charm despite being green, and Lisa Lawrence often lacked presence. I felt Lawrence did better with Garrison. The Carol / Chris story is odd for a number of reasons. I suspect the original plan was for Lorriane to be Carol's daughter, as they had the same last name. Lorraine was the most isolated of the younger contract set so I see why she was dumped. There also seemed to be a bt of build in the Chris / Pamela relationship that made me think that this also may have been an original direction. I think that Ryan Munisteri and Jones might have been testing the waters for a gay storyline because of the "Tea and Sympathy" elements. I appreciated that they expanded Pete's family toward the end. I have to wonder what the plans were for Dinah as she was on contract. I think there had to be more going on than just the trial.

In terms of a foundation, I think the show's original storylines had some interesting elements. Judge Hathaway's death sprung forth some family drama with the return of wayward sister Allison and her husband, Roy, who had been involved with Allison's sister Kate years earlier. Kate was pursued by Steve Prescott because she had inherited land that he was interested in that was tied to mobster Arthur Saxton. Michael Hathaway pined for his young stepmother Mary, who's husband Julian talked about some deep seated isues with his father. It is my understanding the day to day wasn't always the most appealing and the mob element was well received. Lou Scofield's material for "The Secret Storm" prior to this wasn't super appealing after some of John Hess' work. In general, I think Pat Falken Smith's work and Labine and Mayer's work was considered much stronger.

I think shifting "Ryan's Hope" and "Loving" was foolsih, in the long run. There was no major bump for "Loving." RH had been stronger than it was when it moved in 1984, but it creatively rebounds in the mid-to-late 1980s in a way that "Loving" doesn't in the same period of time. I think all the daytime personalities behind the scenes are much more complex characters themselves than we often given them credit for with their insecurities and eccentricities. Patrick Mulcahey's "school marm" comment about Nixon seems to shed some light on that, as does the film Labine's grandchildren made about stealing the ashes of a late family pet. Could Nixon and Labine have been enemies? Possibly. In trying to add something new to the old why "Loving" failed debate, I will add network interference in the creative process. Nixon's soaps launched with a layer of provocative realism set in the very modern worlds. The "Loving" bible hints at that sort of edge with Merrill's romantic outlook, Mike's PTSD, Billy's impotency, the incest, and Lorna's social issue-less interracial marriage to Ron Turner's son. Most of this was either openly scuttled by the network (Merrill, the incest), most likely overruled (the impotency and interracial marriage), or watered down (the PTSD story). Mike's story was suppose to be relatively dark with Patrick's death during a campus drug raid that resulted in his heart attack with Mike blaming himself followed by a twisted sexual relationship with Rita Mae that led him to beating Rita Mae's younger lover Curtis, who Mike suspected was involved in the drug ring. If ABC Daytime was truly afraid of losing Nixon, maybe they should have given her a little more leeway. I'm curious if the rumored Ava is biracial story was more than just a myth. The only real provocative long story Nixon is able to get through is Shana's involvement with Jim, the priest. I don't think that was enough because Jim's family ties were so stripped down that the impact of him leaving the church is diluted. Maybe if they played up the Donovan family ties to Jim, it could have had a bit more meat. I don't think the Jonathan is demonic story worked as well as others did. @DRW50 I watched a bit of that episode before you mentioned the Ava / Sheri scenes. Those scenes did stand out, but I'm never 100% sure that Taggart understood that Ava was pregnant, miscarried, and then bought the baby. In 1993, Stacey brings up the baby story when Ava pretends she's pregnant to keep Leo from runnning off to Shana, and Stacey thinking Ava lied the whole time made sense given that Stacey hated Dinahlee for years for ALMOST sleeping with her husband. But Sheri knew the truth. I didn't watch it all, but I will probably go back at some point.

Looking back through this thread, I am surprised I didn't post anything post week 6. I know I wrote stuff, but I must not have posted it. Or I posted parts in the "Loving" thread in comparison to Mary Ryan Muniteri's run whihc was about a year after "Tribes." One of the big shockers for me in the post-week 6 episodes was a "Tea and Sympathy" plot where Big Bill Pressfield, local entrepeneur with a younger trophy wife, suspects his artsy son Chris might be gay. It features a hilariously bad episode teaser where Billy overreacts (on purpose) to the news that his brother is gay. It all leads to Chris bedding down with Carol Delaney (Janice Heiden, weeks before she'd pop up on GH as the spa owner who blackmailed Monica over the affair with Ned). In the available online episodes, there is no connection made between the Delaney clan and Lorraine Delaney. I believe Lorraine leaves just as the other Delaneys are introduced or just before. THis all happens around week 14 when they start to make the major adjustments. With the missing episodes, I don't know the fate of Pamela Pressfield. She just seems to disappear around episode 65 or shortly before. I think she was originally tapped to be the Carol Delaney part as there was lots of Pamela / Chris material. Kerry Remsen was the daughter of the casting director so I think when it was clear she was a nepo hire, they dumped the character. Stacey Cox's story remains the most impressive with her lying about Mr. Stevens, the friendly science teacher, sleeping wtih her before admitting to someone (I think her sister Melinda) that she was lying. This results in Stacey becoming a pariah and being targeted by Pete, who rapes her in the Cox's living room. The rape story is powerful. Stacey starts calling Darryl at the hotline and attempts suicide before they run off together. Pete seems to genuinely believe that Stacey wanted to sleep with him, which is a bit off putting but also slightly intriguing. Pete's story is very layered. It turns out he has been lying about his identity to fit in with the more elite kids. His father is a scummy con. The rape case brings his father and sister into the story. Earl's reaction to the rape allegation is he was surprised that Pete was even interested in women. There are moments where this could have been very compelling. The Melinda / Billy / Matt story was angsty. I didn't like the stretch where Jojo locked Matt and Melinda in a boiler room. That was dumb. Also, the addition of Frankie, Michelle Stafford's runaway character, seems like a Tina replacement. The band story was light and fluffy, but Scott Garrison has a decent enough voice for a daytime show that his singing wasn't distracting. I like that Bobbie was back, but I just think there was a missed moment by not having Bobbie back for more of Anny's pregnancy. Jojo and Laura were an intriguing possibility, but I didn't think they could carry the show for long.

The brief period where Wheeler was EPing from the material credited to Weston had some very nice material for ver Dorn. I remember Joey Lupo commenting directly to Ross during the election story (probably late March/early April, 2004) how well he was handling or had handled Marah's murder charges when she was accused of killing Maryanne Carrouthers. Ver Dorn had Ross reflect on the power of his role in the community and the potential loss that would come if he were mayor. In the end, Ross won (after losing, of course, because it was rigged). When Kriezman came on, I felt the Ross / Blake tension felt forced even though the nature of the conflict was natural (Dinah's return after being on the run for years after killing Blake's half-brother Hart). At times, Kriezman's work felt so stripped down that even character moments felt like they were pure plot. I loved Olivia, but by this point in time, early 2006, the best days of Olivia were over. Cosgrove was gone. Alexander was gone and had no interest in returning. If it could have spared viewers the Olivia / Frank / Buzz triangle and the Olivia / Jeffrey and was there also Olivia / Gus, I would have been ok. From when I started watching, I felt Chamberlain did her best work in those non-contract years where she could focus on how optimistic Beth struggled to be after being harmed for many years by the harsh realities of living. I didn't miss the Paul Raunch Beth Raines years, that's for sure. Wow. I had completely forgot about Gloria Irizarry's warmer Maria. She definitely provided an interesting dynamic. Based on the Soap Central summaries, Maria became harder under Irizarry, but I can't remember if her Maria was cold and calculating or was it just Miriam Colon's. I think the setup for late 2004 / early 2005 for Danny / Michelle was interesting when it looked like that they might go with Danny / Blake on the eve of Ed's return while Beth and Rick were also growing closer and Michelle was still running around with Sebastian. I thought having Ed's son involved with Lillian's daughter in an extra marital affair, while his son-in-law was involved with Holly's daughter who he believed to be his at one time, while his daughter was growing closer to Roger's son could have produced a lot of powerful material.

I don't think Matt / Paul remarried Van. For many years, there was very little research out on that period of "Love of Life." I think Matt Corby arrived on the scene as someone's defense lawyer, maybe Bill and Tess when they were accused of killing John Randolph, Tess' husband. Then, it was revealed he was Paul. At that point, they introduced the Southern ex-wife, Evelyn, and their daughter, Stacey (or maybe she was just Evelyn's daughter). I think Van and Matt reunited, but I don't know if the intention was for usurpment of Van and Bruce, though. Bruce wasn't perfect at this point either. I think he was involved with Judith Cole, Marsha Mason's reporter character. Thinking about all of this, I have to wonder if Paul Raven's return was a substitute for the aborted return story for Meg which would have been in about the same time period.

@Soaplovers Interesting to hear about a possible additional week. The Chicago Tribune lists "Tribes" airing at 5pm until Friday, July 6, on Channel 32. On Monday, July 9, "Mr. Belvedere" has taken over that spot. The Los Angeles Times states the show's last episode would be on July 13 on their local Channel 11, but the newspaper listings for that station drop Tribes in mid-June. It's also possible the final 5 aired in even less markets. I am not sure. I know "The Catlins" is listed as airing a week longer than it is listed in the soap books than it does in the newspaper TV listings.

I don't know if it was ever said why the show wanted to get rid of Danny and Michelle, but I imagine part of it was that they were creatively stifling. The Manny crew wouldn't let anyone or anything come between them. I remember SOD reporting, or maybe it was just gossip on another board like GLBuzz or Spaulding Mansion (maybe those were the same forum, I cannot recall) that they were extending Nancy St. Alban's maternity leave. I think Alban's first episode back (or one of the first) was Michelle's September, 2005, car crash where Edmund stole Michelle's baby and gave it to Cassie. This also was the first episode of the GL podcast that they were posting online. Does anyone remember how long they did the podcast episodes for? During Wheeler's time, I believe Danny and Michelle were mostly apart. Wheeler arrived around March Madness and the mayor story was about to climax in April, which shifted Danny back into the mob circle for "one last time." In May, Danny was involved in setting up the warehouse bombing that was going to "kill" Eden so that she could go into Witness Protection, but Michelle trailed Danny and was caught up on the explosion. As a result, Michelle had amnesia and embraced a wilder side, which mostly meant she would say what she wanted and acted like she was a teenager. ScrambledMichelle ended up with Tony until Tony died on the cliff in February or March, 2005. Then, Michelle was pregnant and something must have happened that caused her to go on the run in August (Bill helped her, as I recall) and then there was the baby kidnapping. I tend to not hate Conboy as much as others do, but the Bradley Cole situation showed he was out of touch with the modern soap audience. I remember Conboy stating in an interview how he didn't know why Cole had been fired when he was getting tons of mail asking for him back. He seemed unaware of the modern internet soap fanbased who mobilized to mislead production into thinking their couple was the key to the show's success. The fact that none of the NYC soaps picked him up afterwards should have been a hint. AMC gave him a dayplayer role as someone involved in the cosmetics storyline and I think the Rassies even tried to get him hired permanently over there and possibly paired with Erica Kane.

"Our Family Honor" was rerun on a small New York cable channel Metro TV in the late 1990s or early 2000s. I think it aired as a New Year's Eve marathon and then was shown in their regular line up for a bit. The show had a strong cast, but the story wasn't really all that memorable. The one thing I remember was a mob murder occuring while "Send in the Clowns" was playing. I think it might have been John Callahan's sleazy lover who was offed while Augie and his wife celebrated their child's birthday.

Patrick Mulcahey wrote for "Texas" in the beginning and had also worked for the Corringtons at "Search for Tomorrow." He might have a bit of insight.