teplin

I was so excited when I learned Michael Malone was going to write Another World. I'd only seen a few snippets of his OLTL work, but I was tremendously impressed with what I read in the soap press about a number of his stories - notably Billy Douglas and Viki's DID. Before his AW work even aired, I was intrigued by interviews with him in which he talked about Toni's rape as a vehicle to examine racism and classism in Bay City. But oh, what a disappointment his tenure was. He maintains NBC and/or P&G rejected/sabotaged many of his ideas -- for instance, the Toni story didn't play out at all like he had teased it in advance. I'm actually inclined to believe him, though I still think what did end up on screen should have been better.

In the season premiere of The Revolution -- one month ago now -- a character hooked up with the show's heroine after serving her drinks in a bar. The actor seemed so familiar to me, but I couldn't place him. I just realized that it was Blake Hood (ex-Kyle, Y&&R). I only saw him a few times, but he seemed to look quite different on The Revolution: http://greginhollywood.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/rev13.png

Stephen Schnetzer (Cass, AW) was on Showtime's Homeland last weekend. Good role, too.

Similar to the way it botched Jackie Courtney's return, the show really squandered the popularity of Denise Alexander. It was a whole confluence of circumstances, I think. Aside from the story getting too convoluted, the writers didn't play enough to Denise's natural warmth or strength. She was improperly matched with romantic partners – John Considine's Reginald was so Snidely Whiplash that it made no sense for Mary to ever have been attracted to him, let alone have lingering feelings for him, and Robert Hogan's Vince was just pretty damn dull. Even her wardrobe was bad -- dowdy and drab. Plus, I felt like she was isolated in her own story -- too little interaction with the show's VIPs: Mac & Rachel, Felicia, Cass, Donna, etc. I still loved her, though!

Funny how the Dennis Parker profile attributes his jet-set lifestyle to his music career (such as it was) and not his porn escapades. I don't think John and Bo Derek took him to Hawaii with them because they liked his music. Lois Kibbee is a goddess.

Robert Newman (Josh, GL) had a small but pivotal role on Homeland yesterday.

Bite your tongue.

Do you mean the age difference? (More precisely, the lack of age difference?) Yes, she does seem more like his contemporary than his daughter, but that didn't bother me at all when I was 12 years old and first started watching them onscreen. They were soooo good together as the spoiled daughter and guilty father. And I agree completely with you about Vicky Wyndham. She is and always will be the ultimate soap goddess to me.

Thank you so much for posting this, it made my week! I think most of this reflects LeMay plotting, but the dialogue is King and staff. It's not as sharp as LeMay's stuff, but there's still some great meaty material for Wyndham, Watson, Ford and even McKinsey in a short sequence. It's cool that Rachel is clearly the show's heroine, but she's allowed to be willful, spiteful and vindictive. That's the Rachel I fell in love with!

I don't remember Jon Hensley losing his hair??

I thought Jed Allan and Suzanne Rogers had fantastic chemistry -- but yes, the story was rushed and awkward, a transparent attempt to create conflict for Mickey and Maggie (and Don, as Mickey's longtime best friend and law partner). The story was pretty much over in a blink.

NBC pressured AW to do venture into the supernatural because DAYS was having great success with outlandish plots at the time. Supposedly, a vampire story was conceived and greenlighted, and that Diego scene was supposed to be the kickoff of it. But someone in power, I don't know who, thought better of it and the story was dropped completely. (Thank goodness.) I'm a child of Harding LeMay's AW. I don't think there's ever been a better soap -- if you like sophisticated drawing-room drama, that is (not everybody does). I felt a love and affection for those characters, especially Rachel, that kept me watching through many lean years. The show was really terrible in the early 80s ... I mean really, really terrible. But it rebounded with some savvy casting and great chemistry, romantic and otherwise. Newcomers like Linda Dano, Stephen Schnetzer, Anna Stuart, Tom Eplin and Anna Holbrook, along with Vicky Wyndham and Connie Ford, kept me watching in the late 80s-early 90s, when things got pretty bad again. (Though I watch some of those years on YouTube now and think they're leagues ahead of what passes for soap opera today.) I do think the friendship aspect had a lot to do with any success the show enjoyed in its latter years. I know I typically enjoyed the interplay between such characters as Felicia-Cass-Wally-Lily-Dee, Jake-Vicky, Rachel-Felicia and Sharlene-Frankie more than most of the plots the show presented.

Jason Brooks was on Revolution yesterday. Little more than a bit part, but he still looks good.

Dorothy Lyman won as Opal Gardner -- twice, I think. I completely agree with you about Lane Davies. His Mason is one of my favorite soap characters ever -- so much so that I could never buy Terry Lester or Gordon Thomson in the role. And I'm shocked that neither Allan nor McConnell submitted themselves for an Emmy. I loved Allan as DAYS' Don, but CC was his crowning achievement. And I hated McConnell as AW's Miranda, but she was sooo good on SB.

Never mind

We Love Soaps has posted a great Rick Porter TV Guide cover. I was an avid reader of TVG in my youth, but this one is apparently before my time -- I don't remember it at all: http://www.welovesoaps.net/2013/03/rick-porter-dead-at-58.html#more

Way too young. He and Gail Brown had some nice, easy-going chemistry as Larry and Clarice, and he was believable as a policeman. Sexy, too. I hope he had a wonderful life after leaving AW.

Canary played a wacko cult leader. That was the last storyline I saw before my local NBC affiliate took the show off the air.

Seeing Maggie Smith and clips from her film, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, reminded me of an Afternoon TV article that "cast" soap actors in movie roles. I specifically remember the writer imagining Vicky Wyndham as Jean Brodie. I wish I could remember all the others!

Thanks for that TV Guide article, Carl. I've seen versions that are printed flat on one page and Beverlee is clearly visible. It's funny that Hugh Marlowe (Jim Matthews) is quoted about learning lines. Viewers could tell he often struggled to remember his lines. That made his pairing with Virginia Dwyer (Mary Matthews) more challenging, since she didn't bother to stick to what was written on the page.

This episode is a great gift! My local NBC affiliate had dropped The Doctors before Nancy Stafford came on and I've always been curious about it.

Amanda Setton (OLTL's Kim) has been let go from her regular role in FOX's The Mindy Project. It's not a big surprise as she was ill-used—barely used, in fact.

I remember Tracy Brooks Swope as a love interest for Jaimie Frame on AW in the early 80s. I had first seen her in episodes of Starsky & Hutch and Baretta, and I was somewhat jazzed that a "prime-time actress" was doing a soap. Unfortunately, her character was a crashing bore and didn't last long. Honestly, she didn't impress me much -- but the show was in such a funk at that point that it may not have been her fault.

Oh, I miss Tom. Anyone know what he's up to these days? I saw him in a really crappy zombie movie a few years after he left ATWT ... maybe 2007 or 2008? Haven't heard a thing about him since.

Cass and Kathleen were so good together. Smart, witty, adventurous and pretty darn hot ... I thought of them as the Nick and Nora of daytime. I did warm up to Cass and Frankie after awhile, though. I really think Stephen Schnetzer is one of the most underrated actors ever to appear on soaps. He could do it all!