Dale

The show missed a major opportunity with Max and Gabrielle when she returned in 2001. Back in their heyday, the characters were written with a "I hate you but can't live without you" kind of passion. But when Gab came back in 2001, it was more like they just had a "I hate you" kind of passion. The redux fizzled miserably (IMO) though it had such great potential! I wonder if anything had changed between James and Fiona by that time, because the chemistry just wasn't there. Or maybe it was the writing that lacked.

I loved Shelly Burch and Delila, especially in the beginning when the character had a purpose. She did leave from November 1987 to June 1988. Here are two 8X10 pictures that she generously sent to me when I wrote to her way back when. She was and is a beautiful woman!

Yes, I do believe the final Tina-Gab scene was the one in 1991 where Tina slapped Gab. I have that floating around here in my "archives" somewhere. And as much as I liked Karen Witter, she was HORRIBLE in that scene!

Viki wore a Gawd awful hat at Megan and Jake's wedding... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GsGsX7WuVc

Clair Malis was playing Dorian when I first started watching OLTL, and I really liked her in the part. As you say, Dorian was in transition at that time, trying to be "kinder and gentler". She was not very successful, LOL! She was trying to win Paul Kendall, and he would have no part of Dorian's schemes and lies, so she was trying to change. But she just couldn't mind her own business and made a lot of trouble for her sister, Melinda, and her husband Peter. I've looked for youtube videos of Clair Malis as Dorian, but can't find any. Do you know of some?

I was a huge Mia Korf fan (talk about somebody that did not seem to be well liked!) and I was very disappointed at first with Kassie in the role. I loved her on GL as Chelsea, but her first few months on OLTL were disastrous, IMO. She was way over the top in trying to play the villainess. In fact, her first few scenes with Robin Strasser were kind of embarrassing - for both of them. Of course, Kassie found her bearings and made Blair totally her own. She ended up doing things with that role that Mia Korf could only dream of. And both times that I've met Kassie, she showed what a beauty she is on the inside as well as the outside.

You're welcome. Fiona was awesome on OLTL, especially the first time around. I think I fell in love with her and her character when she tried to smother her husband, Steve Holden, in the hospital while he was in a coma.

Bo and Sarah were OK. I was never a big Jensen Buchanan fan. When she joined OLTL she was very green. And given that she shared most of her scenes with Erika Slezak and Clint Richie, it showed. She did get better as time went on, but I always found her a little on the "cold" side as a performer. I know she became very popular later on Another World, but I didn't see much of her on that show. OLTL did have Melinda flirt with Bo; or maybe that's how Sharon chose to play it. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was with how the show wasted Sharon Gabet. Talk about a missed opportunity! Her Melinda started out as a schemer, but later became wallpaper. At the time, though, OLTL was blessed with many popular leading ladies - Slezak, Buchanan, Fiona Hutchison, Jessica Tuck and Andrea Evans. I guess there was just no room for Melinda.

Thanks! And for the record, I don't really think I influenced Mr. Paul Rauch. Pure coincidence....

I always thought this was a fun story. In the spring of 1987, I wrote to Paul Rauch who was the EP of OLTL at the time. I suggested to him that he get Sharon Gabet on the show. She had finished a stint on Another World, and the soap world was not the same without her in it! I suggested to Rauch that he hire her as Melinda Cramer. Yeah, I know, ME telling Paul Rauch what to do! LOL! Anyway, some months later, he DID hire her as Melinda, and I wrote to Ms. Gabet to tell her what I had done and to ask for a picture of her. Here is her reply to me: And here is the pic she sent me:

Yeah, I was even in her fan club.

This one is not one of my faves, but it was signed by Fiona. I wrote to her just after she joined OLTL and this must have been her own publicity photo.

One of my fave Gab/Fiona pics:

Thanks, Carl, that rings some bells! I thought that April story with her visions and dreams was wild, and how so many things played into it....especially Denise's murder. Speaking of Denise, how can this thread be 21 pages without anyone having discussed Denise Cavanaugh?

I've had such a wonderful time reading this thread. It brought back so many wonnderful memories of one of the best soaps EVER! I have been watching the 1979 episodes posted on Youtube ( I'm assuming they are the AOL episodes from years back). I see that the episodes only go to the fall of 1980. That means I am not going to see the clown puppet murders or Nancy Karr being held at the clinic. Ah, I guess I'll just enjoy what I can get! I am LOVING the episodes so far, and it confirms my memories of what a great show Edge was! I have a question (and I'll probably have more as I go along!) but what was the story between April and Margo? I stared watching in 1978 before Margo came on, but for the life of me, I cannot remember the circumstances of how Margo is April's mother. Does anyone here remember?

I am amused at how Fiona cut Jessica Tuck out of that photo!

Oh yeah, 1985, 1986 and 1987 were OLTL's best years in the 80's! Didn't the show win the Emmy for Best Writing in 1987? Credit has to go to Peggy O'Shea for that! When she left, and Schnessel took over, the show drifted in to some very choppy waters - 1888, Faux Bo, Eterna and Badderly come to mind. OY! Some of those stories gave us some great production moments and some isolated memorable scenes, but overall, I thought that Schnessel was Rauch's puppet and that together, they brought the show to near complete and total destruction before Gottleib came in and cleaned it up.

I remember vividly the first time I watched GH. It was the 1978 May long weekend here in Canada. On that Monday, Laura Webber killed David Hamilton. I was 12. Laura was 15. I could not believe they had a kid on the show involved in the thick of the action. I became a GH devotee because of Laura and Genie Francis, which is of course, exactly what Gloria Monty wanted. But it was the Heather Webber storyline involving Jeff, Peter & Diana Taylor and P.J/Steven Lars that really interested me. People always talk about Luke and Laura turning GH into the phenom it became, but there was a solid bedrock of other stories and characters that received the full tilt treatment that never get credit. Think Rick/Lesley/Alan/Monica and Heather's machinations as just two examples. I was fortunate to come across somebody on line that sent me copies of several 1979 GH episodes that were copied from the master tapes, including the classic sequence where Heather drinks the LSD laced iced tea she meant for Diana Taylor! That happened in 1979, thirty two years ago! And it was a good/exciting/campy/suspenseful as I remembered it!

Marco started posing as Mario in March 1979 and was busted at his wedding to Edwina in September 1980 by Dorian. Karen figured out that Mario was really Marco in the early summer of 1979 and kept his secret.

I'd add Sarah Gordon to the list, though Jensen Buchanan was not in the same league as the other ladies you mentioned.

Just catching up on this thread..... Badderly should have been named the worst story of the decade. Gawd, that went on and on and on and on and....well, you get the picture. It was a horrific mess, and showed that Paul Rauch's creative steam was gone. Yes, it featured characters we cared about like Megan, Jake, Sarah, Bo Cord and Tina, but they interacted with cartoon villains in a senseless plot. It was the longest summer ever!