Paul Raven

I also am one of the people who enjoyed Donna Reed. She was a different Miss Ellie, but you knew that when you cast her. She did the best she could in a horrible position. I'm glad Dorothy Malone turned them down, but the fact that those are the types of actresses they were going for, shows they wanted to take the character in a new direction. I kinda get the logic of going in a different direction when recasting. But Miss Ellie was never a glamor puss and to have Donna Reed all dolled up was just jarring. i always thought Hope Lange might have worked. She's a fine actress and physically more like Barbara. Naturally she would bring new elements to the character but it might have been easier to take.

Lynn Wood Days, Y&R, GH Michael Gregory Days, Y&R, GH Lilyan Chauvin Y&R, Days, GH, B&B

Scott Palmer Dass Joshua Y&R Tim B&B Dr Cannon GH ? pre Days

i have no doubt that each soap has kept an eye on what the competition is up to and planned storypoints to counterprogram. Some things I can recall off hand Way back in 65 or 66 ATWT had a lavish (for the time) wedding for David and Ellen, the culmination of years of story for those two. It happened at the same time that ABC was making a big push into daytime by scheduling Ben Casey reruns up against ATWT. CBS made sure that any viewers tempted to watch Ben would want to miss that wedding. In 82 when Capitol debuted, OLTL had a plot including locations in Washington to satisfy any viewers interested in Washington intrigue. When Irna Phillips was ready to debut A World Apart, SFT had Jo in an accident and hovering b/w life and death on the Friday before. Irna sent them a message of congratulations for timing that plot to ensure viewers stuck with Search.

Ian Buchanan Days, GH, B&B Tristan Rogers, GH, Y&R, B&B Marla Adams Mildred GH, Dina Y&R, Claire Days, Beth B&B

Robert Clary was on Days, B&B and Y&R. Peter Brown was on Days, B&B and Y&R The late, great Darlene Conley Days Warden Edith Baker,, Y&R Rose DeVille, B&B Sally Spectra, GH Trixie Vernee Watson-Johnson Y&R,GH,Days

After Brenda left, Bill should have rested Ashley for a year or two rather then have a 3rd recast immediately.

Totally agree with that, but Steven needed to be given more agency. I recall him being pretty bland and just there. Then Bill went with the crazy Leanna angle to provide some drama. Fair enough, but Leanna was pretty cartoony. A more nuanced story about a troubled patient could have been fascinating. Killing off Steven just seemed random because Eileen was leaving. Maybe Brenda could have been tested with Rod and more story written for them.

I can't honestly answer, because I'm not 100% familiar with the SAG scale for extras. But it seems like each extra is about $1,000 per day. If you book him for 3 days, you can get him for about $2,600. If you book him for the whole week, he's about $3,500. Found some info from SAG/AFTRA 2014 so obviously things may have changed since then, although I'd wager not much. Background Performers – Hour Program Minimum scale program fee – effective: 11/18/12 No additional increases. $150 Additional Day Fee - $96.00 Length of work day - 9 hours plus a 1 hour meal period. Hourly overtime rate - First two hours of overtime $17.00 an hour third and each successive hour of overtime $22.00 an hour. So let's say an extra is now earning $250 a day. Five Lines or Less – Hour Program Minimum scale program fee – effective: 11/16/14 11/16/15 11/16/16 $429 $440 $451 Additional Day Fee - $170.00 Length of work day - 9 hours plus a 1 hour meal period. Hourly overtime rate - First two hours of overtime $29.00 an hour third and each successive hour of overtime $38.00 an hour. U/5 might now be earning $500 Newbies like Alison Lanier are probably earning around $1500 an episode I would guess based on a figure of $1038 in 2016.

Lauren receives a Lifetime Achievement Award in Fashion (Failures) Can't wait to see what she's wearing. Will she be squeezed into one of her 'exec by day, hooker by night' outfits?

In the current SOD Bryton states he's wanted a Devon/Abby coupling for a decade. Also in a 'Wishes for 2023' round up he hopes for better stories than last year. Ouch! Hopes Josh doesn't read that.

Jessie's brother is mentioned. Does he have a name? Years later her niece and nephew come to stay. Are they this brother's children? Seems Jessie was offscreen for a while. I recall reading about a time time that Emily was suffering from exhaustion and was hospitalized. Perhaps at this time?

Ashley's marriages to Steven, Blade and Cole were pointless. Although Steven I could buy as it was a roadblock to her her being with Victor, but he really was a nothing character. There could have been way more story with that marriage. Blade could have been a romance but Cole and Ashley should never have happened. A lot of characters break up after the first problem instead of them trying to work through it and having the issues in the background to come into play later on.

there really hasn't been one but Kyle for example should be as Jack's son. The situation regarding his birth and upbringing, his feelings about being an Abbott,his business acumen or lack thereof, relationship with his dad and aunts etc should be clearly defined and explored But he comes across as a fairly basic nice guy. I like Michael Mealor and feel he could rise to the occasion if he was given more to work with. We've had Fen,Ana, Imani, Ashland etc who all had tremendous potential but ended up being dropped to focus on the life and times of Phyllis.

Thanks for finding that. I wish they did that more often. Of course, with some of the histories some characters have had, they could be referencing stuff in every scene. And some things are better left forgotten. But there should be more references, like the one above. that flow naturally. It feels like they care and acknowledge that a lot of viewers have been there for years and remember this stuff.

The budget situation at Y&R makes no sense. For some reason Crimson Lights and Society never have customers. CL has an extra as a waiter and Society is allowed 2 staff. Jabot, Newman and Newman media have no staff. Remember when there would be a secretary at a desk, someone handing Victoria a report,or some staff members chatting in a corridor? Devon should have a personal assistant, Mrs Martinez should be spotted once in a while etc Glum Club seems to have a couple of people hovering around (sometimes) No under 5's or day players with occasional exceptions and a different set also on rare occasions. it's embarassing. I don't expect twenty, but maybe 2 extras. Let's say there's a scene at Crimson Lights. Have a customer behind the main characters at a table chatting to the waiter, who then moves across set to the counter. Customer #2 enters and talks to waiter and then sits down at another table. Waiter can move around , delivering those orders, maybe clearing another table. All this business in the background gives the impression of a working business, especially if choreographed well. How much would 2 extras cost - $ 500 ?

There is something seriously wrong with the financials if that is the case. But they keep writing scenes at communal spaces and making it obvious by having wide shots.

By the time the 90's rolled around, you had remnants of the Bauer, Reardon, Lewis, Shayne , Spaulding and Cooper families on the canvas, so it was a wonder that anything cohesive made it onscreen. Introducing 4 new families in a decade was not in the best interests of the show.

How about Leanna Love returning to do an expose on GC's various scandals. Barbara Crampton would knock it out of the park.

Bill Bell was smart enough to avoid supercouples because he knew how limiting they could be to character and story development. Days showed that to be true by having one to kill off one half , usually because the actor was leaving eg Roman/Marlena, Bo/Hope, Steve/Kayla and the audience was not interested in seeing either of them with anyone else, hence the endless back from the dead stories. Even with Nikki and Victor, he wrote them as flawed with definite character traits, so their split was realistic and interesting to watch. I agree he was sometimes to quick to split up couples, rather than try and get a few more years story from them. with long term characters that is important, otherwise we see 5 or 6 marriages and credibility is lost.

GL Morgan and Kelly - Doug Marland's young love front burner destiny couple. But neither truly belonged to a family-Kelly was a Bauer godson, Morgan loosely linked to the Spauldings, so once they split there were forgotten.

Doug and Julie on 80's Days. One of Days (and soaps in general supercouples) they were quietly shipped off in 84, with nary a mention after even though their daughter/stepdaughter was frontburner. When Doug returned solo for a short while,Julie was minimised (not sure how the relationship was treated) When Julie came back in 1990 on contract she was now the glamorous divorcee and again her love story with Doug was brushed aside. It was only when Julie was leaving that Doug returned and they reunited, restoring their legacy that continues to this day.

Where do I start ? The major problem AW faced, like many others, was a refusal to embrace the history and instead following a mistaken belief that new characters and stories were the answer to ratings woes. The Matthews and Frame families were a part of the show when it reached ratings peaks yet later producers/writers wanted to ignore that and expect viewers to embrace new families. even then the Loves and McKinnons were diminished as time went on. Sure, new characters are important but tying them into established characters is a way to keep longterm viewers watching. On the one hand they eliminated half the cast but then focused way too much on Rachel and Mac, creating stories that diminished those characters and their love story. Meanwhile viable characters like Pat, Nancy, Dennis, Jamie, Mike,Marianne etc were not used. Viewers want to see familiar families and their interactions, not fractured families and over exposed characters. The character of Pat was case in point. An original character played by a long term actress who was still vital and attractive but because she was over 40 was tossed aside. Instead Pat , who only had one marriage under her belt could have been used to usher in a new family by having Pat marry and have a couple of step children as Bill Bell did with Jill marrying into the Abbotts.

Not sure where to pst this but this thread seemed appropriate. Variety March 1969 reviewed the 'The Boys in the Band' for a second time, now that the original cast had moved on to LA and London productions. Most of the roles were taken by soap performers, many who were gay IRL Michael Lipton Konrad Matthei David O'Brien Matthew Tobin Leon Russom Christopher Bernau Ted LePlat Harold Scott and David Daniels were other castmembers. Interesting that so many closeted actors would take on gay roles on stage.

For someone who claims to care about mental health and privacy, he doesn't seem too concerned about those issues except when it comes to himself. He wrote the book and made the TV series for the $$$ as he wants the lifestyle he feels entitled to. His wife, a minor actress, now wants to fashion herself as some sort of humanitarian, again while living the 1% lifestyle.