TC

Getting a little tired of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CARL. Some of us are actually old enough to remember these old shows, even from the 70's.

Sorry to hear about Roberts Blossom. He had such an impressive resume but his portrayal of Sven was so memorable that every time I saw him, I thought of Sven.

Poor Rocky. He was also the butcher on the Shake `n Bake for pork chops commercial back then

I saw Vince as an uncomplicated blue collar guy rather than a bad boy. An Angie (Maeve Kinkead) prop more than anything. A bit of a Mr. Spock. There was a place for him if they`d had more imagination.

BTW, I loved her then. In my ten year-old mind she could do no wrong.

She was incredibly beautiful and talented. It was as if they could not decide on making her a bitch or ingenue. Either one could have worked. The Perrini family had such a naturally strong foothold in the show with her, Rose (Kathy Widdoes), and Joey (Ray Liotta).

They all went on to varying levels of career fulfillment. AWs loss.

Damn you Paul Rauch.

It's gone slightly down hill since they added Blossom.

My sister used to tape this show. I was never able to get into it. I might have seen Tina Louise's first episode as a recast, out of curiosity.

I had no idea it was related to the novel of the same name, but that same sister loved the novel.

This is one of those shows I never knew about until WOST. What a fascinating cast.

I read them all even if I don't always comment. I should express my gratitude more often though. I owe the one from France (name escapes me) a few thank-yous as well. Probably a few others too.

Berkeley had a short stint on AW in 80 as the corrupt cop friend of Larry and also had a stint on OLTL I think.

Does anyone know about beverlee's first husband(Scott's father)

In a SOW interview when she did the GH stint,Bev seemed very happy with life in LA.She saisd she managed to fill in her days,not with anything major,but just enjoying a normal existence.She obviously saved her money and enjoyed the freedom of not being tied to the daily obligation of soap work.

What year did Berkeley die?

He was also on Texas playing a drunken TV talk show host. I remember reading an interview with Beverlee, where she gushed about how much fun it was, and that he was playing a talk show host like Tom Snyder, only sleazier. My jaw dropped.

TC did you like Clarice later on?

I didn't know that episode from the earlier years was on Youtube. Wyndham was playing Rachel by that time? I'd love to see that. I always thought that one of the reasons the Rachel/Alice rivalry worked was that Robin Strasser was more delicate, yet Rachel was hard, while Jacquie Courtney was butch, yet Alice was sweet.

I don't know that I ever disliked Clarice. I rolled my eyes at her, but she was simple and honest. I was probably too young to appreciate the purpose of a character like her.

You mean a new soap starting or a bland blonde guy cast on a soap and stripping down?

Someone replaced him as Rodney on this show didn't they?

Apparently he was in The Erotic Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Huh...

Yeah, I caught that. I always keep another window open on IMDB when I read these threads.

And thanks for all these vintage soap articles, Carl. Here and on other threads.

I know right, and as a matter of fact, I seem to have gleaned that she'd somehow "stole" the bust, like it didn't belong to her/she wasn't supposed to have it.

Interesting. Please explain. Were you watching then too?

Yeah they did a great job of redeeming Rachel without making her too sappy. Other shows should do as much. And look, no rape to "redeem" Rachel.

What does it say about Beverlee and Iris that when I read about her busted bust and destroyed portrait, I just go, "Poor Iris " instead of caring about her campaign against poor Clarice.

Clarice was as dumb as a box of hair and a white trash waitress to boot. She allowed things to happen to her while Iris, damaged as she was, at least tried to take control of her life. Of course that meant trying to take control of other people's lives as well.

I don't remember Mac's bust being smashed but I do remember when Robert slashed Iris's portrait (that "Daddy" had comissioned) some time later. Good old Beverlee flipped when she gazed above mantlepiece to discover the damage. As I remember it, by then Robert was aware Clarice was carrying his child, and also aware of Iris's campaign otf harrassment against her. She was one busy bee with lots of stings.

I would have been 8 years old in '76, and I don't remember Rachel having this miscarriage, but it feels like they were still playing at Rachel redemption for nastily sending Alice those baby clothes after her miscarriage (among other misdeeds).

Also in that ep, Robert takes the fireplace poker to Iris' portrait, that's what she notices (and is horrified by) first. It's a great scene, she actually blames Louise when she first comes on the scene ("Then why have you got that poker in your hand!?"). You can't help but LOL a little when she says re: her portrait, "I can't bear to look at it... I feel as though I've been violated too."

Okay, we're on the same theme. But my aging brain seems to have lost the details.

I know someone already answered this for me but I've forgotten -- did Patty Weaver leave for lack of story? I wonder if the show would have done anything with her if she'd stayed. It seemed like Liz sort of took her place.

I know there were some issues with Mike after Eure was written out, and then they did recast Valerie some time after Tina Andrews left, but I guess their efforts were half-hearted. Did the show make an effort?

I never understood why they didn't do more with David. You have some pretty handsome or talented actors playing him, but then he just goes. Was Gregg Marx the last David?

I don't know if Gregg Marx was the last David, but he was the coolest.

Susan Oliver.

She's tilting her neck in that photograph. I half expect her to turn into that Star Terk character she played, as she really was.

I wonder what BH90210 would have been like with Bryan Datillo and his sister in the roles of Brandon and Brenda…

Little People, Big world?

Philip Brown never made it to air on GL. After taping a few episodes,he quit and Hunt Block was rushed in to retape all of the scenes.

Any reason for his quitting? I always kind of liked him. At one time there were rumors that he was up for the role of Clint Buchanan as well.

I love Georgeann Johnson! She is a great character actress. She had a good supporting role in Murphy's Romance, and great guest turns on some dramas. On St. Elsewhere she played a woman who was a contender for an artificial heart, but ultimately declined, because she decided she would rather live out the time she had left being active and enjoying moments with her family. On Wiseguy she played a massively corrupt Congresswoman.

She was also on Somerset off and on for years. I think she and Jameson Parker had the first story on a soap which was about an older woman and a younger man.

Wonderful actress, consistently good.

Yes, the Spencers owned a hotel. Melinda and Beau met because Melinda worked for his mother. I'm not sure who played the mother.

I found her. Her name is Georgann Johnson. For some reason I remember her from both ATWT and the TV movie "The Day After"

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425133/

Beau Spencer was the guy who bounced back and forth between the Stewart sisters in the late 70s. He eventually married Annie, but they divorced, and then he married Melinda, who was Jennifer's daughter/Barbara's half-sister/Kim's niece. If I remember my reading right, Beau and Melinda divorced, and Beau left town, but then Melinda died under the Dobsons a year later.

Okay now you are ringing a few bells. Didn't his mother own a hotel? And I believe she was played by a well-known TV face, even if she wasn't a household name.

I have an actual visual recollection of this show. My sister was a big fan of the novel, the TV series, the soap and subsequent revisits.

Figure... the show ran '72 to '74 and I was born in '68 so I was was anywhere from 4 to 6 years old. It was a scene of Rita (Pat Morrow) pulling a draft beer behind the bar in a pub. Maybe someone who actually watched it can tell me if this makes sense.

I also seem to remember an article about her in one of my sister's soap mags; with a photo of Pat Morrow in mauve tinted John Lennon style glasses; probably how I knew the actress's name before IMDB came along.

Given my ADHD writing style, I know it's hard to believe I was reading at 3 but I was.

I believe they had a different dub for Quebecois france--we still get Y&R and B&B int he afternoons and B&B is called Top Models I believe (like that--in English as it's common slang...) I always see it in the tv listings and briefly wonder what show that is... Loving was big in France and Italy I know can't remember the name (Italy had AMC for a long time as Pine Valley though--well except whatever Pine Valley is in Italian)

In quebec, LOVING was AIMER, I think.

An odd one was the French opening theme for Santa Barbara. They took that old Peabo Bryson (yes him again) song, "If never you're in my arms again ... blah blah, this time it never ends" whatever the words are, and gave it new lyrics about Santa Barbara

Oh no

Not Blanche

I don't think those who haven't seen the show can truly appreciate how truly hilarious this character was.

Here are a set of clips:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blanche+coronation+street&search_type=&aq=f

Here's the AA meeting one, which was seen as a legend:

THANK YOU!

Blanche to Deirdre:

"You need to learn to enjoy other people's misfortune; otherwise, you're going to have a very unhappy old age."

hahahaha!

Blanche to Tracy:

"You look remarkably chipper. Trod on a snail?"

Double hahahahahahaha

Blanche talking about Ross at Peter's AA meeting:

"I've never heard so much self-indulgent whinging in all my life. Is there some correlation between how boring you are and how much you drink?"

triple..

And this just typifies Blanche:

Blanche to Deirdre:

"Good looks are a curse. You and Ken should count yourselves lucky."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2755471/Maggie-Jones-dies-aged-75.html

Maggie Jones dies aged 75

By CARA LEE

Published: Today

CORRIE star Maggie Jones passed away this morning, aged 75.

The much-loved actress, who played Weatherfield's battleaxe Blanche Hunt, died at the Salford Royal Hospital after battling a long illness.

She was forced to pull out of filming on the soap in October after being rushed to hospital for major surgery and remained there since.

She had been making a slow recovery but her condition deteriorated early this morning and she passed away in her sleep.

Today her colleague William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, payed tribute to her.

'Greatly missed'

He said: "Maggie was a big part of the Barlow family and a brilliant actress.

"She was a tower of strength, physically frail but mentally strong as an ox and sharp as someone half her age.

"She had an amazing dry wit and was as funny if not funnier than Blanche. We were great cross word partners, we sat through Tracy's trial scenes doing the cross word together.

"I don't think Maggie ever realised how much she was loved not only by everyone on the show but by the millions of Blanche fans out there. She will be greatly missed."

Corrie's Executive Producer Kieran Roberts added: "Maggie was a much-loved colleague and a wonderful actress who turned Blanche into a true Coronation Street icon.

"She will be hugely missed by Coronation Street's many millions of viewers and by everyone who works on Coronation Street. Our thoughts and prayers go to Maggie's sister Joan at this very sad time."

Maggie won several comedy awards for playing feisty Blanche - who is loved for her sharp tongue and tell-it-like-it-is manner.

She first appeared in the ITV1 soap in 1974 and became a regular cast member in 1999.

The character is famed for her put-downs, especially to her daughter Deirdre and son-in-law Ken.

In one classic 'Blanchism', she said: "Good looks are a curse, Deirdre. You and Kenneth should count yourselves lucky."

Oh damn. I love Blanche. RIP Ms Jones

People might have questions, I know I do, but there is no comparison between now and then. We have an intelligent statesman who inherited a problem from a bumbling fool.

And Barack Obama is not fearful of saying he does not have all the answers yet.