teplin

I liked Cali Timmins, but I LOVED Judi Evans as Paulina and I thought she had scorching hot chemistry with Tom Eplin. I agree that Paulina's story arc would have been much different if Cali had stayed in the role. She was more vulnerable, but also more calculating. I could easily see her being more of an antagonist than Judi's Paulina.

Which is why, according to rumor, Kristian Alfonso wanted him out.

Virginia Dwyer (Mary Matthews) passed away on August 20. She was 92! RIP.

I always thought AW did beautiful work with its remotes -- St. Croix, Jackson Hole, Arizona, even the New York courtship scenes with Carl and Rachel.

That's a great scene between Cruz and Eden -- Cruz acknowledging his jealousy and trying to make Eden understand that her feelings for Robert are a real threat to their union; Eden denying it even as she on some level knows it's true, and is unwilling and unable to tear herself away from Robert. That's the kind of adult conversation I haven't seen on soaps in more than 20 years. And boy, did it remind me of how I loved A Martinez back in the day.

I have to say I loved every incarnation of Felicia, from "pushy, nasty twit" to comic relief to romantic lead to tragic heroine. She rivaled Susan Seaforth Hayes for the way she suffered on screen. She was terrific at everything, turning in great performances even in the preposterous John Hudson romance. I also hated that Sergei storyline at the end -- it was so beneath her. Thanks for the Felicia-Lorna clips, those actress were really magical together. Too bad Robin Christopher was such a horrible recast.

Jeanne Lange was great! I really liked John Getz and David Ackroyd (the original Gary Ewing), too.

We may never see either lady in any role again. i think of how many fantastic performers were a part of our daily lives and then just disappeared ... Wyndham and Strasser are two of a handful that I miss the most.

Strasser's Rachel was a selfish little girl, much in the vein of early Erica on AMC (which is no surprise, of course). I loved her in the role, just as I loved her as Dorian. But her Christina Karras on AMC was terrible, no matter how long it lasted. Anyone who saw her as Rachel or Dorian would be astonished that Strasser could play a character that was so flat-out boring. Most of the fault for that has to be laid at the feet of the writers, but Strasser did nothing to give the role any spark. That's not to say that she couldn't have played Rachel's transformation -- but really, the point is moot since it was she that wanted to leave AW, not the show's decision to get rid of her. Wyndham's Rachel was a force of nature. She was truly scary in those early years. She did not often show the vulnerability that Strasser did, at least not until Rachel met Mac, but she was every bit as memorable. I don't know what Strasser would have done with Rachel's maturation, but I know that Wyndham's Rachel is the only reason I kept watching AW through so very many lean years ... just as Strasser's Dorian kept me watching OLTL. Both women made some unfortunate choices in the later years, as Carl alluded to, but they'd built up such goodwill over the years that I still loved them.

Wow, that promo's almost as bad as today's are.

Carmen Lo Porto (ex-Jack) appeared on this week's episode of Nurse Jackie. He looked much taller and more mature.

Ron Raines was just nominated for a Tony Award -- Best Actor in a Musical for his role in Follies. I never liked his take on Alan Spaulding, but I know he's got musical chops. Congratulations to him -- and to OLTL's Judith Light, who was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

I hope he enjoyed the hell out his life -- I certainly enjoyed his Barnabas.

Poyner was only marginally less wooden than Bruno. I missed a lot of mid-80s AW, so some of this YouTube material is brand-new to me. Thanks!

I bow to no one in my love for Rachel and Vicky Wyndham through the years, but you're absolutely right. She got a little of her old spark back when Carl "died" and she was battling Jordan Stark, but that was short-lived. As much as I appreciate that the pairing with Carl kept her pretty prominent in those last years, it was just dreadful for her character. That breathy, faux-Elizabethan accent she adopted made me cringe. I still love her for all she was from the 70s to the 90s, though.

I was quite young when Mary Matthews "died," but I can remember her death scene. I was never fond of her (or her husband), so I didn't mind her departure -- though in retrospect it certainly didn't do the viability of the Matthews family any favors. I think it would have been better to have killed off Jim (vetsoapfan is correct that Hugh Marlowe was already faltering) and let Mary's grief manifest itself in her trying to exert more control over her children as a (misguided) way to keep them close to her. Though I suppose Dwyer wouldn't have wanted to play that, either. And then we might not have gotten Irene Dailey's Aunt Liz, who was a wonderful creation -- though often mishandled through the years. By the way, when it comes upper middle class mothers of that AW era, I much preferred Helen Moore (Lenore's mom) to Mary Matthews.

But such a horrible actor ... at least in his AW days.

Wow, I would have sworn that Kristian Alfonso was on board when the Jake & Jessica story was underway. I don't at all remember Tammy Taylor's Hope having a crush on Jake. Thanks for the this, Carl -- that was indeed some nice work from SSH in clip 2.

The only one I don't recognize for sure is #8 -- is that Maisie?

There was some pretty exciting stuff happening then. I loved the whole Liz-Neil-Don-Tony-Anna-Marie-Alex roundelay, Eugene and Calliope were a scream, Roman and Marlena and Kim and Shane were great, and Bo and Hope were an attractive couple (though Kristian Alfonso was very, very green). I didn't like the increasing marginalization of the old guard: Doug, Julie, Don, Trish, Maggie and Mickey. I thought most of the Salem Strangler was very well done, including the Mary Anderson murder/Jake unmasking and Marlena's "murder." The Salem Slasher story had some individually thrilling moments but it was, as Paul said, poor conceived. I remember Don Craig ripping off his "mask" to reveal Roman Brady and losing about a foot of height in the process!

I've never seen that tribute to Mary Stuart before. Very nice.

I loved Anna Holbrook and Sharlene, and Anna richly deserved her Emmy (even though the storyline she won it for was horrible). Speaking of red carpets, Anna Stuart was at the Independent Spirit Awards last night. I swore that was her at Harvey Weinstein's table, but the camera never lingered long enough for me to be sure. Turns out, she was there -- looking as beautiful as ever -- and judging by this photo, it may have been as James Cromwells' date: http://www.contactmusic.com/photo/anna-stuart-and-james-cromwell-27th-annual-independent-spirit-awards_3751167

I liked Susan Keith's Cecile a lot, but Nancy Frangione made her into a completely different, much more entertaining character. NF's Cecile was just a classic soap character -- I almost wrote villainess, but she was much more than that. Beautiful, bitchy, selfish, poignant and most of all, funny -- "As God is my witness, I will never tell the truth again." She wasn't written terribly well when she returned to Bay City to steal from her SORAS-ed daughter Maggie -- too much of a stereotypical shrew -- but it was a treat to see NF again. By the way, I'm enjoying Carl's repostings of 1999 AW more than I did the original run. The Jordan Stark story is still ridiculous and I have no love for Cameron (dull), Sergei (the worst) or even the then-popular Lila (though I've always liked Lisa Peluso), but it's good to see Rachel, Felicia and the rest again. And though AW always looked cheaper than any other soap on the year in its later years, it looks positively lush compared to today's soaps.

Cruz & Eden are not my favorite soap couple, but I've always held them up as the most romantic -- such incredibly chemistry between A and Marcy. I wonder if I'd feel differently if I'd rewatch them.

That was quite a monologue for James Pritchett! He was always one of my favorites from the show, though they tended to make his character too much of a prig in later years.