Paul Raven

One Life to Live

Erykah Badu      cameo, singer performed at Club Indigo

           Erykah Badu    Sept 4/5   1997

Tom Edwards      aka Tom MacKenzie 1969 -  Feb 24 1971 his death

1 minute ago, Antoyne said:

Wasn’t Billy a podcast host this time last year or has it been longer? He’s literally just another character on this show like everyone else who never stays at a job or position more than a month or two.

And podcast became the most used word in every script. Weren't they the basis for CW success? And then they seemed to disappear. Doesn't seem good business practice to be chopping and changing your focus.

Was there anything less interesting than seeing Billy ramble on about the meaning of (his) life?

Just thinking about how having all these long  running characters has  led to a situation where most of them can't walk into Society, GCAC etc w/o bumping into a former love or fling

Jack-Diane, Phyllis,Sharon, Nikki

Diane-Jack, Victor, Nick

Ashley-Tucker, Cole

Phyllis - Danny, Michael, Jack, Nick

Nick- Sharon, Phyllis, Chelsea, Sally

Adam- Sally, Sharon, Chelsea

Billy - Lily, Chelsea, Summer, Phyllis

Sharon - Nick, Chance, Jack, Billy

Victoria - Billy, Nate, Cole

Abby - Chance, Devon

Chance - Sharon, Summer, Abby

Sally - Jack, Nick, Adam

Nate- Abby, Victoria

Why is Billy even there? I've lost track of character's resumes.

It just seems like an easy way to give played out characters like Billy something to do and create conflict.

I've never like JT's Billy. His dour  persona suits Adam better.

46 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

Seems like poor foresight to place Love of Life at 4pm instead of 3:30. The 3:30pm slot is doing well at maintaining GL's audience - perhaps viewers were sticking around til 4pm and letting that hour block conclude before switching off or onto something else. Wonder if the network just didn't have much faith in LOL and keeping a rerun that could pull in numbers was just a wiser move than jeopardizing the slot in the case LOL still manages to underperform. 

The 3.30-4.30 slot of MASH and Match Game seemed compatible programming. An hour of comedy following the soap block.

So then to drop Match Game for Love of Life seemed odd. LOL had played in the morning for years and expecting viewers to find it in the afternoon was a big ask.

If they really wanted it to work it would have been scheduled following GL with MASH moved to 4pm.

But clearances were lower at 4pm and MASH was probably too valuable to be placed there.

I think it was just a way to get rid of Love of Life and blame the ratings.

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Interesting how there wasn't really any change in JER's first few months

Look for a big jump very soon.

Mr & Mrs Smith

2 episodes in. First one really enjoyed. Second not so much. will continue.

Imma Tataranni

Italian detective series. Loved it. Great characters,nice balance with crime /relationships.

So it took a year from Marland's arrival to  see some significant ratings movement.It usually takes about 6 months for a new writer to set things into place-deciding which stories/characters to play from previous writer, finishing up plots , introducing new characters  and stories and then letting things flow from there.

A pity that sometimes new writers weren't given a little longer to execute their vision.

On the other hand, with some of them the sooner they went the better.

It's nice they pay tribute to Tom and Alice, but better still re-establish the Hortons in Salem. Such a pity they were neglected.

Still puzzled why Marie didn't return for the 50th.

There's Spencer, Jeremy, Scotty that we know of who are pretty much blank slates.

And they could create a few more. Julie as the matriarch.

So what's the deal with Billy insisting on a name change to Abbott Chancellor winters? First of all -Who cares?

Has this come from Jill or just Billy trying to assert himself?

And since when has Jill used the Abbott name? Last time I noticed it was Jill Fenmore Atkinson. She hasn't been an Abbott for years. Much ado about nothing.

Notice that the bar where Jordan met Seth had one extra passing through and GCAC had 2 servers and 2 customers but no receptionist for CW or customers at CL.

So Ashley is losing it because of that argument in a Paris bistro? After all her previous issues, wouldn't she have some strategies in place to deal with any triggers? I'm assuming a wealthy woman like Ashley would have access to the best care?

Sorry but I am going to comment on appearance. Victoria looks so much better with her hair fuller rather than the stringy look she sported for years. But the tight white top emphasized how thin she is.

So tired of the man in the dark suits/shirts.

And Jack/Lauren/Nikki/Victoria etc have time to wander around town while supposedly running those businesses they otherwise are obsessed with.

@danfling this article should answer some of your questions

https://ryansbaronline.tripod.com/levinrona78.html

Some highlights

After having been in the Navy for two years, Michael then went to the University of Minnesota. In his junior year, Michael found himself falling asleep in the journalism advertising classes, and decided that he wanted something different.

"I was going to be a writer. My father was a self-made businessman and I didn’t want to go into business. I tried writing, and I found it to be a very lonely and difficult thing," Michael recalled.

Had he ever thought of acting before then? Michael’s answer is very adamant. “No, I had never thought of it. I had always thought of acting as sort of sissy stuff! When I grew up, it was all sports and fighting. I remember, even in high school, thinking, ‘who would go out fo the class play?’”  he continued, “Because I didn’t want to work, I decided to become an actor!”

It was while Michael was at the Guthrie Theater he met his wife, Elizabeth. She was teaching at the University, and was also writing plays, one of which the Guthrie Theater produced. Their son Aaron, was born at this time. (Elizabeth also has a son, Scott by a previous marriage. Michael’s son, Jason, by his former marriage, also lives with them). 

1965 found Michael heading for New York, and his first Broadway role. “I got a part in Royal Hunt of the Sun. That was with David Carradine. Then after that I did some work at Lincoln Center, and at the Stratford Theatre in Connecticut.”

11 hours ago, dc11786 said:

Days" introduced almost everyone (except Kitty and Danny, renamed and regendered Sandy) but quickly wrote out Addie, Ben, and Steven.

Bill was not there at the beginning and arrived at Xmas for a few eps played by Paul Carr. Ed Mallory assumed the role in June 66. so really it was only Mickey, Marie and Julie. And Mickey was strong supporting, not leading  story.

I think the plan all along was to establish Addie/Ben/Steven and then have Julie stay on as a neglected teen.

Not sure which Loving characters should not have been there at the start but a few might have been held back with the focus on fewer characters and stories at the start to help viewers get into the show.

Taylor Miller signed for a year and any chance of her continuing was shot down by her disappointment with the writing for the character.

She would have been better coming on as a new character than try to take the place of one half of the most popular character on the show. Although that didn't work for Sharon Gabet.

In any event AW should have known she wasn't going to renew and slanted the writing towards Sally leaving rather than killing her off.

11 hours ago, Lye-C said:

 My observation is still true. 

As is mine...

1 hour ago, GLATWT88 said:

Am I correct to assume that GL was recording episodes one week before they aired back in 1980? Was this common practice or am I misunderstanding? 

Different shows had different lead times one to three weeks was pretty standard I believe at that time. 

A Days script from 84 has tape date March 16 and air date March 30

Y&R 1980  tape date July 17 air date July 22

Guiding Light

Dr. Carl  Miller       Bert's father 1953

Elsie ____ Miller Bert's mother 1953

I know those profiles take a lot of time/sffort and glad to fill in some gaps.

My next requests to keep you busy

Ali Landry

Stan Watt

Carol Tietel

Brian Evers

3 hours ago, Lye-C said:

Julie was involved with Victor in the early 90s.

A brief involvement that has not been referenced in years. Hardly an important plot point now.

Yea, there are still kids being punished in different ways for being gay and many a parent who might be 'accepting' but not too thrilled about it.

8 hours ago, dc11786 said:

It's a large foundation that you would need to be willing to rest at different times.

Maybe not all of the Donovans should have been there at the beginning.

Looking back, Days kept some Hortons offscreen at the start, Y&R had Lorie waiting in the wings and when Marland introduced the Reardons and the Snyders other family members were mentioned but not onscreen.

It's an effective strategy, even if other siblings turn up within months.

The 2 sister angle would have worked well with Generations with Ruth doing and another sister still struggling. 

His new false teeth weren't helping.

Nick Offerman's character didn't work and Ben's shtick was cringe.

And downer Darlene is wearing thin. She's got a great husband, a house etc. Might be nice to see a lighter side to her.

On 2/12/2024 at 11:55 PM, Lye-C said:

Julie and her husband living in her dead ex’s house…oh boy!

Huh? Julie's dead ex???

Remember when she was cast on Y&R as the Rosales mom and there was spec she would stay on and hook up with Jack etc but she came and went in a flash.

Those 8 women surrounding Sonny-what is the message here? 

16 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

To me it shows that the basic soap opera format Irna created will always prevail - old-fashioned or not. Despite being lauded for its “innovations” Bell’s Y&R, at its core, was still a very traditional soap with much more in common with say Irna’s ATWT than the “contemporary” soaps and style that emerged with it in the 70’s. 

The “innovations” people like Monty and Reilly may have brought people in, but it was ultimately a short-term fluke that went out of style after the monumental highs that were experienced. 

The above-mentioned storyline with Victor that garnered these ratings was similar to one Irna first told on her radio soap "The Road of Life.” On that radio soap, Dr. Jim Brent was on his way to John Hopkins, suffered amnesia, arrived on a farm with a widow and her crippled sister-in-law, and fell for the widow. Bell, of course, also told a variation of this story with Mickey on DAYS. 

And that story could be told today.