teplin

On 5/27/2020 at 2:21 PM, JAS0N47 said:

Macdonald Carey (Tom) was guaranteed 45 episodes for this 13-week cycle, almost double everyone else in the cast!

Hard to conceive of today -- the oldest actor on a soap appearing (a lot!) more often than their co-stars. Imagine Bill Hayes having double the guarantee of Kristian Alfonso in 2020.

'70s-era DAYS:

Julie & Maggie

Julie & Amanda

Don & Mickey

Doug & Robert

Several sites are reporting that Judi Evans (ex-Beth) had a horseback riding accident on Saturday, May 16, and is in the hospital with seven broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken collarbone and two chipped vertebrae. What a tough, tough six months she has had. Wishing her a speedy recovery if this is indeed true. 

On 5/19/2020 at 12:17 AM, carolineg said:

I feel like John and Marlena both come off a little dumb

A little? John Black was never a Mensa candidate but Marlena lost 50 IQ points under Reilly. 

I would submit that OWN's Queen Sugar is as close to an old-style soap as anything on the air right now, and its Louisiana setting is an integral element of its storytelling.

13 hours ago, j swift said:

George Reinholt,(like many soap hunks in a triangle) was never the appeal of the original story. He was wooden, he had terrible hair, and his delivery was so contrived he made Drake Hogestyn look like Laurence Olivier. 

And yet, like Drake Hogestyn, Reinholt was enormously popular. I remember hearing my aunt and her friends talking about sexy he was. I agree that Alice-Rachel was the main draw, but I think you underestimate Reinholt's appeal to a segment of the audience. 

John Aprea had a stroke as well, according to Linda Dano. 

This is a disaster. 

13 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Julie without Doug was a crummy idea to begin with.

It was ... and yet I kind of liked her Alex Carrington-esque businesswoman incarnation, with the big hair and the big shoulder pads, the flirtation with Victor and the affair with a younger man. It was a stretch from the Julie we knew and loved but SSH played the heck out of it.  

Condolences to Kaitlin Hopkins (AW's Dr. Kelsey Harrison) on the death of her mother, the spectacular actress Shirley Knight. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Knight died Wednesday of natural causes at the home of her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins, in San Marcos, Texas."

Among her many roles, Knight starred opposite Al Freeman Jr. (OLTL's Ed Hall) in the 1966 British film "The Dutchman."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shirley-knight-dead-sweet-bird-youth-dark-at-top-stairs-dutchman-actress-was-83-1133636?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

The Mac and Rachel breakup was somewhat contrived, but the performances made it worth watching. Christine Jones was just exquisite. My complaints with that story are with the lazy, stale aftermath - anything after Janice died doesn't work for me.

Rachel "killing" Mitch and going on trial – earning Doug Watson an Emmy in the process -- and then going to prison before busting out to track Mitch down was riveting to me as a kid. But in retrospect, yeah, it didn't do the show or the characters any favors. 

I was just going to pop in to write what Efulton did -- I recall Sandi Ferguson and Matt Crane speaking warmly of VW. Of course, that was some years after the disastrous early 80s, when the writing took a long and steep nosedive. I wouldn't be surprised if VW was unhappy then.

Dano, Schnetzer and others used to talk about how being filmed out in Brooklyn, away from other soaps and the NYC media, made the cast feel more of an ensemble. 

21 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

I do recall (the actress playing Ashley got an emmy nom... and her arc was huge in 1980.

That was the first time I'd seen Valerie Mahaffey ... she's probably better known for comedy these days but I remember being very impressed with her dramatic turn on The Doctors. I can't remember any story specifics, but I believe she played a neurotic, almost Glass Menagerie-like character, and was very effective. 

Thanks, te., I hadn't heard a thing.

Has anyone heard of any backstage issue or problem with Bryshere Gray (Hakeem)? It's very strange that his role has been downgraded so much in the aftermath of Jussie's departure. Logically, his role should have expanded -- but it's nothing more than a glorified cameo at this point.

I could see Doug Watson paired with Susan Sullivan (Lenore).

My assumption was always that VW's late-in-life Brit accent was a character choice reflecting Rachel's closeness with Carl. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was a combination of boredom and a passive/aggressive stab at NBC. 

What a talent. I have a couple of collections of his music. I was not aware that he also scored The Doctors until I was watching one of the Retro episodes and immediately noted his distinctive touch. RIP.

Thanks, Jason. Seems Doug (Brent) was a cad!

30 minutes ago, Sindacco said:

In these two clips there seems to be more tension from DH than the scenes required for Marlena to have with Maggie.

Those scenes really jumped out at me, Deidre was much more antagonistic than Marlena should have been. It made me think there might be something to those rumors. But then again, Dee was much more antagonistic toward "Hope" than she should have been after the time jump. So it could be just bad acting choices (and a lack of direction).

I appreciate their historical importance and I enjoyed them in DAYS of yore, but they've been written so badly since CM's return that I don't think it's a bad thing for them to go. It's obvious that someone -- and I don't believe it was Ron -- wanted to neuter them of any sexual component that might offend homophobes. I wish both actors the best.

One actor has already revealed his firing ... and that of his scene partner.

I see this is already old news in the Spoiler forum!

I picked it back up again during its last six months and I agree with you, rlj -- headwriter Pam Long had transformed it into a completely different show and I found it quite enjoyable. 

I understood the logic of introducing Texas characters on AW, but it was mostly annoying to me -- the exception was Kevin Cook's flirtation with Pat Randolph, since it gave Beverly Penberthy something to do. I watched Texas for one reason: Beverlee McKinsey. Unfortunately, the show was not worthy of her talents, and the fact that her character was shoehorned in was all too evident. 

Anna Holbrook (Sharlene, AW) has a small role in tonight's season eight premiere of Homeland on Showtime. She looks great.