Michael

It's interesting to think about that. Would a DH-Sandy have taken off the way Marlena did? They never would have done the evil twin story with DH as Sandy, and that was one of the things that really seemed to boost her into the stratosphere, right? (It was also one of the first larger-than-life plots for Days, it seems.) It's really surprising to me, looking back, that Marlena was never paired with any of the Horton men. Thanks for sharing! It's always fun to hear from people who actually remember this stuff. Amanda, for having been such a major character for a time, really seems like a forgotten bit of Days history. Yeah, I had no idea. I wonder what that's in reference to?!

Looking over that summary of viewer mail and the synopsis/treatment above, I have to wonder how the show felt to viewers at this time -- only eleven years after its very Horton-centric premiere, there are entire storylines involving people totally uninvolved with the Horton family. I know there was professional overlap with Neil and Marlena being doctors, etc., but it's very striking. I guess some of it was also the expansion to an hour, but the introduction of the Neil/Amanda stuff in particular always reads as very abrupt in storyline summaries. (And thank you all for sharing this stuff! It's so interesting to read, and I realize how lucky I am to be able to see it at all. You guys are awesome.)

It's actually weird to see how much he has (visually) aged since 2006. He's filled out a lot but looks great. He seemed soooo much younger when he started on Days.

Thanks for posting that article. Such a "The more things change, the more they stay the same..." thing.

That is seriously the most ridiculous wardrobe I have ever seen on any television show in history. It is a SHEER BLOUSE EXPOSING HER BRA and she is going to work and taking a family Christmas portrait.

Thanks for directing me to that. I rarely check the non-soap forums here.

I caught Anna Stuart on the news on James Cromwell's arm in a post-Oscar interview, I think entering one of the afterparties. She looks great.

Interesting way of breaking it down. 'Effete' is definitely a word I'd use to describe Tylo's Quint -- which, in these 80s episodes, I'm actually enjoying. He doesn't seem much like the other men at all (and the scenes with him and Tony are interesting for precisely that reason), more of a dreamer. I can certainly see how playing it more 'rugged' would play upon other aspects of the character.

Ah. Thanks! I watched the very end of GL, and even though the returnees had so little screentime, it seemed like their mere presence helped tie up a ton of loose ends.

Thanks for such a detailed response. I understand what you mean about Taylor. From what I've seen of his 80s run on Days and his primetime stuff, I get that he was pretty charismatic once upon a time. It's just hard for me to picture him as ever playing the Quint character that I'm watching on the GL DVDs right now (which I guess he didn't really do, haha). If it was a temp recast, the reasoning at least makes a bit more sense. So Nola and Quint just reunited offscreen after Brown was let go, too? What a mess.

I figured. Was it a pretty short-term thing just to wrap up Nola and Quint's disastrous return? How long was Michael Tylo around as Quint during all that? Why did the recast happen? (Sorry to pummel you with questions, but there's so much knowledge floating around this board and the DVDs have spurred a lot of curiosity in me!)

Uhhh... I just read that Josh Taylor (Roman on Days) played a recast Quint in 1997?! What the hell was that like?

Holy crap! Thank you for sharing, Matt!

Thanks! It actually had never occurred to me that both Fletcher and Holly reappeared at the end but never interacted.

Yeah, it doesn't seem to have been well thought-out as far as what would come after Meg was born. Dramatizing the struggles of a family with a Down's child is basically the antithesis of what these shows have been trying to do for the past 15-20 years. I just haaaate dangling threads like that. It bugs the crap out of me that Holly that this daughter with special needs (and Blake a little sister) and she was never even referenced for the last decade of the show.

Wow, that's... not entirely surprising, but awful. Having a child with Down's Syndrome should have defined so much of Holly's drive through the late 90s and 2000s.

When was the last time Meg was mentioned onscreen? Where was she supposed to be when Holly was on the show in the early 2000s -- off with Fletcher?

I think she was probably, as written, not a particularly well-defined character. I think the most 'interesting' thing she did was be implicated in a porn scandal that turned out to have been faked. Doesn't seem like they bothered to involve her with the rest of the canvas too much, so I can see why it seemed like it was best to cut their losses and create someone more interesting. But yes, the connection could have helped Don quite a bit!

Lorraine was Donna's biological mother. She'd had an affair with Don, producing Donna. I don't remember too clearly, but I feel like she was written out kind of quickly.

Thanks. That really annoys me! It was such an integral part of Sabrina's intro.

Were Frannie and Sabrina magically no longer lookalikes after Julianne Moore left the show?

Just wanted to echo the thanks to saynotoyoursoap for taking the time to review that story in such depth! What a great read and an even better resource.

After Gwen heard Alistair raping Theresa and TURNED UP THE RADIO so Ethan wouldn't hear, I pretty much stopped expecting them to treat rape like anything resembling a serious subject.

Remember that endless night where The Blackmailer (I guess it was Vincent) kept breaking into Fancy's room and raping her, and then she would go downstairs and cry for a while, and then they would just put her back to bed and it would happen again?!

When is that pic from?