Paul Raven

Another week in the maze....

In flashbacks we saw a disoriented Martin come home to Smitty who questioned what had happened. How was that handled? Wouldn't Smitty, reporter extraordinare, demand answers and not rest until he knew the truth? Wouldn't it have been better for Smitty to be away at the time and by the time he returned, say a week later, things had blown over? Agree re the Richardsons. The recast didn't help, but the relationships weren't explored eg why two professionals to whom education/career was obviously a thing be happy with a daughter not doing the same. That can happen, but it was not addressed.

You must have missed the times when they dressed Nikki in the most unflattering clothes. Great big belts that cut her in half and too tight clothing that over emphasized every bulge. She looked awful.

With pre-emptions awhile back, are we in sync with the days? Are the planned Friday cliffhangers actually airing on a Friday? Martin only recently began having nightmare/flashbacks,right? So as far as everyone in the know was concerned the issue was over and done with, so no need for Nicole to know. Especially with Vernon and Anita wanting everything to appear as normal.

Surprised Martin was driving a Toyota. Would have thought at least an Audi if not Benz or BMW. A more prestigious car would have made Martin and Vernon more noticeable and vulnerable.

Thanks @Errol for all your hard work BTS . SON is the best soap board around.

Death and disfigurement? From what I sae in the flashback Martin went all out on bashing Kenny after he killed the first guy. And their first instinct was to cover up the whole thing -exercising their power and privilege to make that happen. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

BTG is getting criticism/praise/discussion over the Martin story whereas Y&R's one big story seems to have no supporters here or elsewhere. And so far to me Billy Flynn is playing Cane very one note- basically kind of an earnest sad sack.

The flashback scenes were well staged but having Martin kill one guy and beat the other to a pulp seems abit much. And involving Elon,Ted,Marcel, Joey and Randy? Best to have as few people as possible involved... If Orpheys was closed for the press conference, why were Joey and Vanessa there? Speaking of that gruesome twosome, I don't find them sexy or exciting - just sleazy . Doug deserves better than Vanessa. I'm still finding some of the dialogue clunky eg Vernon had some line to Anita about time standing still when she's not there. I did like Dani and Bill's interaction. Dani is better when not so OTT. And Bill nails it for me in every scene. But that opening scene when Anita arrives and walks into an empty room calling for Vernon-huh? Did she think he was hiding behind the sofa? If a housekeeper had have greeted her and informed her Vern was out that would have played better than her talking to herself. # staff for the Duprees.

Seriously, has there ever been a headwriting stint as incompetent and uninspiring as this? Weeks of characters standing around that fake outdoor set. Dumb reveal, nonsensical back story. My latest theory. Carter deliberately killed Damien to clear the way for his beloved boss to reunite with Lily. They were both drugged to remove any suspicion from Cane.

What a sad story. It can be so difficult for older single people who do not have a caring family or solid support network.

Pretty please with sugar on top...

So this all happened 2 years ago. I wonder why they chose that timeframe? If it was say 15 years ago, it would make more sense to me. Martin would be starting out as a politician and have more to lose and even back then , there was less awareness and sensitivity to hate crimes. So Martin suffered an immediate memory loss.? Surely there would have been some signs that Smitty would pick up? I think my original theory-that a young Martin was with a closeted older man- would have lent more weight to all parties wanting a cover up.

@MLHI posted the complete 1976 summaries a few pages back.

The constant meet ups/ dates at the same venues are getting repetitive. I get the concept of Orpheys but having all the characters frequent the place is too much. They need a slightly more upmarket place where richer characters would go and the likes of Ashley would also feel comfortable.

Boy, hardly a comment on the show in days. Guess Josh's latest plots are not exactly gripping. How many weeks have the cast been stuck in the maze?

When The Vintage Years was announced at the May Fall Schedule meetings, it was with the disclaimer that there would be changes in casting and concept. It debuted in Dec 81 because of the strike that held up production of many shows.

That story seems a direct copy of ATWT from 1962 where Doug Cassen had to attend to Claire who had made a suicide attempt while he was supposed to attend to Mr Rice. The family complained and Claire exonerated him by finally confessing.

Cole was on a total of 8 episodes this year and we're supposed to be invested in his illness and death. I'm betting the guy Mariah 'killed' will come back to life and haunt her and we will find it's all been a set up. Another illogical 'suspense' story from the pen of Mr Josh Griffith.

With them being months ahead,pre-emptions and now the encore week, how will they be able to time holidays or even Friday cliffhhangers? Will Xmas be celebrated after the actual date for example, or are they just going to ignore or be vague about holidays?

Also Julian being married to Danii Minogue BITD garnered a lot of publicity at that time.

They could have got a lot more out of Cole/Victoria. Now Victoria is again single. After her many marriages and relationships they can hardly afford to be killing off potential mates. Cole could have just left town if it was a budget thing.

Billy Flynn is not giving me billionaire mogul energy. Such a wasted opportunity. One of many unfortunately. I was thinking that Josh could go the whole hog and do an entire story offsreen eg Nick tells Victoria he's met someone. Nikki and Victor can meet her offscreen etc. The whole relationship, breakups, reunions etc could all be related second hand by Nick and other characters. It could on for months until the new love interest is written out. No need to pay an actress at all!

Hard to get invested when the show isn't. At least Cole gets a death scene. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had all happened off-screen. As mentioned above,if they wanted to go that route there was months of story to tell. But the potential of bringing Cole back was wasted.

In a 1976 interview Joan Prather {Janet Eight is Enough} says she turned down the role of Allison McKenzie on Return to Peyton Place. Also Kotter's wife on Welcome Back Kotter.