Paul Raven

Found the Goutman interview interesting and could appreciate his efforts with ATWT. Re the vets and younger characters. I remember when Nancy was in scenes with Katie and there was blowback. I'm sure Goutman felt he was doing the right thing in having Nancy on and involved with a younger character but if Nancy had been involved with a daughter of Frannie or Don's daughter Christina it would have worked better. The show needed to refocus and simplify. Frannie, Andy, the Ward quads etc would immediately give the vets more opportunity to be involved or if budget didn't allow at least the onscreen characters were linked to them.

Billy is the most recast Y&R character and suffers for it. David Tom (twice) Ryan Brown,Billy Miller,Burgess Jenkins and Jason Thompson all played Billy and this in addition to all the writer changes have contributed to the destruction of the character. In that time only Phyllis has been recast and is back to Stafford. And Victoria (and that character changed with Heinle)) So all the other actors are the same faces and that helps a lot with going along with some of their characters 180's.

I'm not sure as viewers how we are supposed to take Billy. Are we supposed to be Team Billy as he fights to uncover the truth about the evil Ashland or see him as saddo who can't accept his ex moving on? JT's portrayal is so smug and self righteous, especially when he starts talking about journalism as though he's been involved in the field for years with a couple of Pulitzers behind him. Lily comes across as pathetic even when she is spouting lines designed to make us believe she has some agency in the relationship and the business.

Re Carla Faust ATWT. She was an'acid tongued TV reporter who interviewer John Dixon about his novel'

I love Sara/Darlene but I agree, they need to scale back on the soap opera aspects of Darlene's romances. A few light funny family focused eps. And the constant references to what a loser family they are were overdone.

Congrats! Glad his inner saboteur didn't get in his way.

Who will uncover the shocking truth about Ashland's past? Will it be Victor Newman who has the wealth and power to hire the best investigators on the planet? Or Billy Abbott, journalist extraordinaire who has the vast resources of Chance.Com, at his disposal? No, it seems professional busybody Phyllis Summers will the one to do it with the aid of her trusty laptop!! A few frenzied talons typing away and all will be revealed...

Maxine Stuart Grand Hotel NBC Pilot 1964 Leonard Stone Grand Hotel NBC Pilot 1964

I'm pretty sure I once read Agnes Nixon saying it's best not to mention past characters as it only reminds viewers who may miss them or remember them fondly that they are not around. Not sure I agree...

June 1963 Manya Starr (The Clear Horizon) writing and producing . 'Advice on Love'. Valerie Allen in the lead.

Nice that Michael Fishman is still included but seriously his handling of the few lines he is given always sees them landing with a thud. DJ and his family serve no purpose and could be relegated to a few guest shots. What happened to Mark's gender fluid clothing choices? That aspect has been completely dropped. Not sure what the point of the live episode was? They've done it before and better. The phone calls were weak and the 'in joke' references dropped in (Darlene running to another set) didn't work for me. Looking forward to a return to the usual format next week.

Thought - maybe Ashland's parents were involved in something criminal or in witness protection so that is why his past has been so carefully covered. glad to see Imani back, but that girl needs to be causing some angst pretty soon.. My latest gripe is the men's wardrobe. Ashland and Jack scrub up well in nice suit and tie combos but everyone else in solid dark cheap looking shirts Rey,Devon especially. Like her or hate her,i think there was some life left in the Tara character. I would have it revealed that Kyle wasn't the father and even Tara would be shocked. Jack could throw party on how much he loved that little guy and Kyle could hot foot it to Italy unencumbered by a kid. Ashland could provide for Harrison and Billy could be questioning her about his past. She could just be used when needed. What was the point of Gloria getting the JVC job? Traci writing the book about Dina? Nina getting work at Chance.com? Oh, and clever of Ashland to meet his blackmailer in public.

Totally agree. As Alexis,Joan had a signature role that embedded her in the television annals after years of movie and TV work and she was savvy enough to know that it was as much Alexis as it was Joan the public loved. So every role thereafter had a little (or a lot) of Alexis in it . She wasn't going to take over the role of Bea Reardon...

Ok. In that case maybe Janice wasn't that enamored of Rauch.

Thanks for clearing that up. Do you recall any explanation or reference to Penny,Edith and John not being present? Obviously Ruth Warrick was contracted to AMC but I wonder if Rosemary might have returned in respect of Santos and an age appropriate actor could play John. I wonder if she was asked?

Janice worked for Paul Rauch on Another World. She must have been OK with him to agree to OLTL. I think with both of those characters there wasn't the depth of character that she had at Y&R. She probably didn't realize how good she had it at Y&R, even though it was a tough time for her. Leslie was front and center whereas Tracey and Laurel were just part of the ensemble. Michael was in the same position in that the Meredith and Karen stories were biggies whereas Larry/Laurel was just kind of there.

The notion that NBC could just take Y&R is ridiculous. Sony and Bill Bell would have to agree,it would have to happen when the CBS contract is up and the only inducement would be a shedload of money, which even then would surely not be viable for NBC. If I was being asked in 1985,I would have told NBC to go after Y&R and given them that (useless) advice for free. It's like saying that at the time ABC should buy the Cosby Show-it just doesn't work that way.

Pheobe Dorin was a recast Penny. She came on in 70 or 71 when Irna was absent. She never had any story but maybe this was intentional as they were trying to ease her in. Rosemary was so beloved that I'm sure there was negative response .'That's not Penny!!' Pheobe was dropped after a few months.

Leticia Bradford played by Ruth Buzzi.I don't think she was royalty. Anna also fell for Prince Nicky.

Great story idea Vee! Larry also married Laurel(Janice Lynde) but that went nowhere. Janice should have learned from Another World (Russ/Tracy). .Don't let your not to well received character become another wife to an aging core character. You will Die!!

Danfling, As another poster stated, I believe Judge Lowell last appeared late78/early 79 as he was not seen at Dan Stewart's funeral. Granpa Hughes was married to Mrs Kopechne in July 75 and didn't that all happen offscreen? So I presume Santos Ortega was probably unwell and not up to appearing before the show expanded. I imagine the funeral was offscreen also (maybe Penny,Edith and John were mentioned as having been there) Ethel Remey/Alma was written out due to illness and replaced with Dorothy Blackburn until Alma could be written off. Ethel Remey didn't pass away till 79.

Thanks Jam for the info re 'This Is My Son'. Variety reported in Oct 63 that cancellation of TD was imminent due to low ratings. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed.

Hey Brolden, will you be revisiting this thread? Variety stated 2000th episode would air Friday Nov 29 1963

1963 Variety reported P&G interested in The Morleys by Vera Caspary and Lloyd Rosamund as a daytime soap. After a script is submitted they'll take it from there. Caspary was an author most famous for Laura which became a hit movie in the 40's.

They need to stop the establishing shots of the Abbott and Chancellor homes. We see the exterior of these vast homes and then move into the same one room. Sharon phones Mariah from an empty Crimson Lights to apologize for not attending the christening because she had a 'staffing issue'. What? the extra who wipes the tables couldn't make it? Adam seems to wear the same suit in every scene. Nate advises Amanda to take time for herself. She'd just come back from a vacation. Wouldn't it make more sense to have Amanda and Imani go to work for Jabot,Newman,Chance.com, Hamilton/Winters than start another business that we will never see?