Paul Raven

The talk about a possible late in life coming out story on Days, got me thinking . Which character, past or present on soaps would be suitable and believable to tell such a story? I'm talking about characters we are familiar with, not the never seen sister who turns up in town announcing they're gay. I'm mulling over my ideas...so over to you. Should be a fun discussion.

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This is a story that should be told, but I doubt Days can be trusted to do it justice. I get the outcry and the feeling that the couple positively represented a unique and unconventional pairing and that should not be devalued, but can also see that Craig and Nancy would be the right couple to tell that story.

Wasn't sure where to post this. Anyway, watching Yellowjackets and saw the name Daisy Von Scherler Mayer in the credits as director. That rang a bell so I checked and she is the daughter of Sacha Von Scherler (vet of several soaps) and Paul Avila Mayer (co creator of Ryan's Hope) Nice to know that the creativity of her parents lives on.

That makes sense. Jack could have been sounding off to Diane, reasoning that John is attracted to Jill because she's a pretty young thing and John just needs to get his rocks off.Jill just happened to be there, any other gorgeous chick would fit the bill. Diane mentions Gloria her friend who only dates lonely older men like John and then we go from there.

That some month Gloria split town when John rebuffed her sexual favors. As I said it was probably a couple of episodes. I can see Jack meeting Gloria in a secluded spot at the Embers. He probably got her name from the PI he worked with. Jack explains the assignment and Gloria asures him she's the woman for the job. In the same episode perhaps, Jack tells John he's like to meet for drinks. John is skeptical but Jack says he's like some one on one father /son time. There's been a lot of stuff happening and they need some quality time to sort through things. John is alttle perplexed, but always willing (and hoping)that Jack will clean up his act agrees. John comes to the restaurant and waits at the bar for Jack. Gloria sidles up and takes a seat. John gets a message from Jack that he's had to cancel due to some work issue. Gloria strikes up a conversation and engages John who's persuaded to stay and finish his drink. Next scene, John and Gloria are getting along famously, even agreeing to another drink. John opens up about a beautiful young woman who has come into his life. Gloria says she's jealous and spins some story about never finding the right guy and John goes into gentleman mode telling her she's a beautiful vibrant woman etc. Camera focuses on Gloria going in for the kill. Gloria puts the hard word on John and he backs off, saying he has made a commitment to another woman and that he is a man of honor. No matter what might be happening he would not betray that commitment. He apologizes if he led Gloria on and wishes her the best. Next day, Jack meets with Gloria and she tells him no dice. John Abbott is one of those rare guys who is actually decent and moral. Gloria says that the woman he's interested is one lucky lady. Wistfully, she states she's like to meet her own John Abbott...maybe ,one day. With that Gloria departs.

Danfling used this example to start the thread.

August 1982 Jack hired glamor girl, Gloria, to split John and Jill. So there was another Gloria involved with Abbotts all those years ago, Does anyone know who played her? It was probably a couple of episodes. Imagine if this was the same Gloria, who years later remembered wealthy John Abbott and this time managed to land him.

B&B Ridge and Thorne over Caroline AW John and Michael over Donna GL Ed and Mike over Leslie

I think Traci on Y&R attempted suicide when she was pregnant and alone? Katherine threw herself overboard from acruise ship. Vanessa threw herself off a balcony to frame Lorie. There a number of soap character(usually female), who took a handful of pills due to some trauma, who were conveniently rescued in time. It was a standard plot device that could lightly deal with a topic and but pretty much avoid tackling it head on. (see also abortion) The attempted suicides were brushed aside.

Jean Simmons Pilots/Proposals Golden Gate Jane Kingsley 1981 Midas Valley Molly Hammond 1985

Oops! Sorry Mel- don't know how i missed that. Never let facts get in the way of a good story.

Both Peter and Nicole could have returned at any point. I hate when soaps never have family members return.

Thanks for that. Yes the list includes the kid oriented serials like L'il Abher and Don Winslow which aired late afternoon. the only soap I hadn't heard of was Elm Creek, which ust have been local. In fact there were several more soaps running throughout the 40's that were heard on local stations only. But the majority were traditional soaps and most of the aired from Chicago, so there was alot of work for actors in that city. Some actors were holding down multiple roles. In the next few years, the shows moved to New York and I think Ma Perkins was the only holdout. Actors were forced to relocate to keep working. Ironically the same thing happened with TV soaps when one by one the NY based soaps were axed and that source of work and income disappeared.

Yes. I think it was the final 4 episodes in May sweeps. The show actually won its timeslot for one of those episodes and overall did well.

Just hit home to me that Y&R has 3 major contract characters-Ashland, Jack and Victor all males over 60. Number of contract females over 60 -ZERO. Surprised they decided to go with an over 60 actor for the Ashland role.

Josh is earning $40,000 to turn out that dross ? Unbelievable. Days has a lot of vets on contract Deidre, Drake, Mary Beth, Lauren, Galen, Suzanne,Stephen,Josh etc at least as many as Y&R so I don't think Y&R is exceptional in that regard. Days seems to be using extras and I think the sets look better. Y&R's management of the budget seems suspect, although Days extreme taping schedule must make a big difference.

CBS trashed Murder She Wrote in it's last season. It would have been better for it to go out on a high and concentrate on the many other problems with the schedule. Fact is MSW was still winning it's Sunday @8 timeslot. In Wk 34 in the dying days of the 94/95 CBS aired a 2hr MSW Thurs @8 in a test run. It ranked 55th. The next ep aired in it's usual Sun @ 8 slot and won the time period ranking 12th. In Wk 1 of 95/96 season MSW ranked 55th in its new timeslot and its Sunday replacements Cybil and Almost Perfect ranked 49th and 65th, so the move did nothing to help the ratings. On Sunday, Sept. 24, the network finished third on the night, and its performance among 18 -49 year olds was worse than it was with the older skewing Murder, She Wrote in the time period last year.

i've read that before but never seen it verified. My understanding is that ABC wanted to replay EON late night. My guess is some sort of deal was in the works for those involved to receive minimum payments as this was new territory and probably there was no compensation payments agreement set up. ABC saw this as a chance to pay peanuts and make extra money on the deal compared to primetime reruns. Donald May was probably the most outspoken at what he saw as exploitation of soap actors and the blame was pinned on him for it not going ahead. Just speculation...

So on Monday, family and friends gather at Society to honor as Michael reflects on the past and thinks about the future as Victor offers him a job. Then on Tuesday, family and friends gather at Crimson Lights to honor Nick as Noah ponders two job offers. And dear friend Phyllis couldn't be bothered attending either event-probably because she wouldn't be the center of attention...oh, wait...she'd make herself the center of attention. Coming up on Wed. Family and friends gather at the Gangrenous Pineapple to honor Phyllis, just because she hasn't been on for two days.

Could see that happening. That way they could rid themselves of Devon's penthouse set and save more $$$$. And cos the Chancellor estate is so huge, Moses can move in as well, and he and Faith can have their 2 eps a month there as well! Now that Micheal has had his moment in the spotlight, how long before we see him again?

I think they're on to something with the birthday celebration. One episode each week could be devoted to a character's birthday. Friends and family could tell them how great they are and they could make a heart rending speech. Bam! 37 minutes of airtime filled.

I touted him for a recast Tucker a few months ago. He had said he'd only come west for a soap role if it was contract.

Dallas dropped out of the Top 10. 1. Cosby Show NBC 35.5/55 Family Ties NBC 33.4/51 Cheers NBC 29.7/45 Murder, She Wrote CBS 28.2/41 Golden Girls NBC 27.3/47 Night Court NBC 28.8/41 Moonlighting ABC 25.4/38 60 Minutes CBS 24.8/39 CBS Sunday Movie CBS 23.8/36 Growing Pains ABC 22.7/34 . Who's the Boss? ABC 22.5/36 NBC Sunday Night Movie NBC 22.5/34 Newhart CBS 21.9/32 : Amen NBC 21.7/38 Dallas CBS 21.6/34 NFL Monday Night Football ABC 20.6/34 Kate & Allie CBS 19.3/30 227 NBC 19.3/34 Designing Women CBS 18.8/28 Dynasty ABC 18.7/29 Head of the Class ABC 18.5/30 Hunter NBC 18.2/33 Together We Stand CBS 18.1/27 Miami Vice NBC 17.4/27 Cagney & Lacey CBS 17.3/28 Highway to Heaven NBC 17.3/29 Hotel ABC 17.1/29 Falcon Crest CBS 17.0/29 LA Law NBC 17.0/29 Hill Street Blues NBC 16.9/29 Gimme a Break NBC 16.7/28 Jack & Mike ABC 18.5/29 Perfect Strangers ABC 16.5/28 Matlock NBC 18.4/25 Valerie NBC 15.9/23 NBC Monday Night Movies NBC 15.9/25 You Again? CBS Tuesday Movie CBS 15.4/25 53 Magnum, P.1. CBS 15.4/25 Amazing Stories NBC 15.4/23 Facts of Life NEC 15.2/28 20/20 ABC 15.1/26 Webster ABC 14.7/26 Scarecrow & Mrs. King CBS 14.7/28 Knots Landing CBS 14.7/22 Our House NBC 14.8/24 Mr. Belvedere ABC 14.5/25 Easy Street NBC 14.5/22 MacGyver ABC 14.0/22 ALF NBC 13.8/21 ATeam NBC 13.7/24 St. Elsewhere NBC 13.3/23 Kay O'Brien. Surgeon CBS 13.1/23 Disney Sunday Movie ABC 12,6/20 ABC Sunday Night Movie 12.6/19 Sledge Hammer! ABC 12.2/19 1986 NBC 12.0/21 Simon & Simon CBS 11.6/18 Sidekicks ABC 11.5 / 18 The Wizard CBS 11.2/17 Starman ABC 10.9/18 Downtown CBS 10.8/20 Spenser: For Hire ABC 10.6/19 Crime Story NBC 10.6/18 The Colbys ABC 10.5/16 Life with Lucy ABC 10.2/19 Mike Hammer CBS 10.0/18 Together We Stand CBS 10.0/17 Twilight Zone CBS 9.8/16 Better Days CBS 9.7/16 Ellen Burstyn Show ABC 7.0/14 Our World ABC 6.5/11 Heart of The City ABC 6.5/11

Thanks for reviving this topic. It is apparent that Y&R's budget has been cut to the bone. They are down to taping 4 days. Sets have been shrunk to allow more room for permanent sets to save on having to pay for assembling/pulling down sets on a regular basis. A lot of actors have been put on recurring so they are only paid when they appear. Contract cast have taken paycuts and reduced guaranteed appearances. Fewer actors are used per episode. There are no extras and hardly any day players. Costume budget appears to have been cut -especially apparent from women's clothing. i wonder if backstage personnel have also been cut. Should compare the credits to see. I'm sure Josh Griffith is being paid less than he would have for past gigs but would be earning a fair amount. Anyone have any idea what he is making? The whole COVID set cleaning and testing might have to come out of the established budget. Having said all of that the show looks dreadful and it's embarassing that daytimes #1 soap looks so cheap.