Everything posted by Paul Raven
- BTG: February 2026 Discussion Thread
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Guiding Light Discussion Thread
I may be wrong but I recall Tom Eplin. who moved from AW to ATWT immediately upon AW's cancellation, had a contract outside of AW-with P&G itself. Am I correct or did ATWT just take on Jake (and others briefly) to try and attract AW viewers looking for a new show. In the case of the Texas actors moving to GL, I don't think there were any contracts involved. Rather it was Gail Kobe/Pam Long creating new characters and using actors they knew from the previous show. This happens when producers/writers move to a new show. Doug Marland used a number of GL performers when he went to ATWT eg Lisa Brown, Rita Lloyd, Greg Beecroft etc
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The Guiding Light 1959
Elizabeth Hubbard took over as Anne at some point. I wonder why the change was made? As stated several times, Billy Fletcher could have become a new teen at some point. His father just took off so a return of Johnny would have been an interesting plot point. And Paul's half sister Jane had baby Amy-another character that might have utilized. Bernard Grant (Paul) was still working in soaps till the mid 70's so probably would have been agreeable to some sort of return. But continuity went out the door. Instead of using what was there, the writers kept inventing new characters.
- BTG: February 2026 Discussion Thread
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DAYS/Y&R: Casting Shocker!!
Probably right. And he might have seen playing a recast character as an advantage knowing Y&R hangs on to old characters even when past their use by date.
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The Guiding Light 1959
@Reverend Ruthledge I am enjoying these so much. On paper at least it looks like a tightly written series of plots. Unlike today, where things seem to chop and change. Agnes took over sometime in 58, right? I wonder how that cross country road trip played out onscreen? But things flowed smoothly on. And this was a 15 min show. I guess that's why Meta was backburnered as there was just so much room on the canvas. And as much as she was a core character, Agnes realized that in a sense her story had been told and she got her happy ending with Bruce, Again, unlike today where characters have been through everything and still stay frontburner in ridiculously contrived plots.
- Y&R: February 2026 Discussion Thread
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Y&R: February 2026 Discussion Thread
I'm not expecting a documentary but the business stories are so far from reality that they are laughable. It's interesting that Josh's Y&R focus is 1.Business stories -that are in no way believable 2. Using basically empty restaurants daily as settings for business meetings or catchups for characters who don't seem to work 3. Mostly characters who have been on for decades and are playing repeats of stories from years ago. It would be great to see a EP and headwriter who could handle the budget and the cast better and come up with something more interesting.
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Kimberly Beck
If a song can be a hit in one country then it should be able to perform as well in another. There are too many examples of that to prove the point. So it all comes down to luck and timing. Tommy Leonetti was a big name in Australian TV at the time and Kimberly would have been known from Peyton Place. So the ingredients were there to get the song to the public whereas in the states he was pretty much unknown. As for a Kylie remake I don't think it suits her current style.
- Y&R: February 2026 Discussion Thread
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Y&R: February 2026 Discussion Thread
Nice to see Christine in lawyer mode. They TALKED about Mariah's hearing and some nonsense as to why she's free but like most of the awful stories they are made worse b/c we don't see things. OUAT we wouls see the hearing, the judge's ruling etc and it would be more involving and believable. This new park cafe set is actually outside? It doesn't look bad except a few extras eg waitstaff would have helped. Now Society was featured(surprise!) with the Nate/Devon convo at the bar. That was tight shot and we saw a couple of extras in the background. To me the could have done w/o them as the camera held on Nate/Devon. Whereas the park cafe showed the set in entirety and would have benefitted from having a few extra people in the mix. Don't know how and why these decisions are made. Same at Crimson Lights which is usually customer free. Nick/Sharon & co were sitting front of set and there was one lone extra in a booth. It looked sad. One thing I hate is pretty much the opening scenes tell you what to expect. eg Nate and Devon's conversation continued throughout the episode. There's not enough movement and scene/character changes. PS Josh Griffith must go...
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Kimberly Beck
You are obviously a super fan of Ms Beck, so I assume you are aware of her success with her stepdad Tommy Leonetti in Australia with the hit single 'Let's Take A Walk"?
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Considering Abandoning Threads
I can understand your reasoning Errol and obviously you want what you see as best for the website. I agree a particular discussion can get lost if something else takes precedence in the thread, so I would be in favor of more specific discussions, eg the set situation on BTG gets talked about from time to time but gets lost in the monthly thread. This would be good in the Cancelled Soaps , if there were individual topics as there are often concurrent discussions taking place eg Guiding Light 1995 jumping back to the Marland years Your explanation above clarifies things. And the general topics eg Best recasts, Proposed Soaps etc would also have a place.
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Did "Rich Man, Poor Man" and "Rich Man, Poor Man Book II" qualify as soaps?
@FlyRightOrchestraGuy Maybe just start a Kimberly Beck love thread in the Love/Hate forum...
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NBC Daytime
But AW at 3pm might not have gone over well with the affiliates leading into local 4pm programming. I think it's demos may have been worse than SB. And AW ratings would have slid with no guarantees SB would do any better at 2pm.
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ALL: The First Year of a Soap - Growing Pains, Teething Issues, etc...
Susan Seaforth Hayes was also mentioned for Stephanie. I always found John McCook a little dull. Things might have been different with another actor as Eric.
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The Guiding Light 1957
@Reverend Ruthledge This is great. I like how past characters are included or remembered. It created a bond with the viewer. Later there was just frustration when relatives were forgotten or ignored. Mike went from birth to 16 in 5 years! Wonder why Irna never had any interest in Joey?
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All My Children Tribute Thread
As far as AMC (and maybe the fans) were concerned Cliff didn't exist without Nina-hence the 2 Nina recasts and Taylor's returns. But Nina was the same. Any other involvements just seemed like obstacles to an eventual reunion with Cliff. Cliff never had a family built around him apart from his sister who arrived years later. But then neither did Tom (apart from Sean) but he seemed to be better developed than Cliff and had more longevity. Maybe because he moved on from Erica and even Brooke.
- Y&R: Old Articles
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ALL: The First Year of a Soap - Growing Pains, Teething Issues, etc...
The Corringtons were out before the first year had passed. Several characters were dropped: Dawn Marshall who was supposed to be the big interest for Dennis left in Dec 80. Mike Marshall out July 81 Courtney Marshall June 81 Bart Walker Feb 81 Terry Decker March 81 Kevin Cook March 81 Alex Wheeler July 81 Samantha Walker March 81 Clipper Curtis Dec 80 Max Decker was recast Feb 81 A slew of new characters were introduced including Jeb Hampton Oct 80 Ashley Linden March 81 Lurlene Harper July 81 Grant Wheeler June 81 Lacey Wheeler July 81 Ruby Wright July 81
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Guiding Light Discussion Thread
Such lush visuals. And when they went to Peapack everything looked drab and shabby. But it summed up GL at the time -all style and no substance. A bunch of characters with little history on the show, most of whom would be gone and forgotten. They obviously spent a lot on that wedding and I don't think the ratings showed any uptick. Kurt was dead later that year.
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ALL: The First Year of a Soap - Growing Pains, Teething Issues, etc...
B&B was a mismash of various Y&R themes. Stephanie did evoke Vanessa in some ways. The Logans had elements of the Fosters -Storm/Snapper, the absent father, Brooke/Jill. Katie Logan/Traci Abbott -the shy sister with a problem-weight issues/acne Caroline's rape/Chris' rape.
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ALL: The First Year of a Soap - Growing Pains, Teething Issues, etc...
Days of Our Lives had a rocky first year. Ted Corday was not well, dying 6 months into Days first year. Ratings were low. Peggy Phillips was axed as headwriter and Bill Bell was brought in July 67 and revamped the stories, bringing on Bill full time and Laura, first played by Floy Dean.
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Did "Rich Man, Poor Man" and "Rich Man, Poor Man Book II" qualify as soaps?
Well NBC were probably wrong to do it in light of that history. It's not like there weren't a heap of other books that could be dramatized. Pt 1 15.8/25 Beaten by Football ABC and MASH/WKRP/Lou Grant CBS Pt 2 11.1/18 Beaten by Three's Company/Taxi/Hart to Hart ABC and TV Movie High Midnight CBS
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ALL: The First Year of a Soap - Growing Pains, Teething Issues, etc...
Yes, like so many actors who come back as 'twins' the new role didn't take off see Mishael Morgan Hilary/Amanda, Tony Geary Luke/Bill, Lee Paterson Joe/Tom etc