Contessa Donatella

They dreamed up having all these cast members that are permananent part-time, do they just think they'll permanent part-time kill them off?! This is stupid. Hey, they got us all to agree on something! This is stupid!

Well, William Grey Espy always had that oh-so-low-key manner & very naturalistic demeanor. If they had wanted something different they should have cast for it!

Not even Not even Stephanie Sloane can make this story be NOT a stinker! Abby's not going to lose her head. That was a fake rumor that was circulated intentionally. I guess so we will be grateful that they did not do that. The one thing that the story lacks is a rationale not to just recast! There's no reason not to recast. Big Whoop. Death is not permanent & we can't get by without the occasional death. I for one am so glad we have Ron Carlivati to instruct us how to be fans. Good Grief Charlie Brown!

Yes, that was the Cal I meant. Patrick T. showed up on ATWT I think as Cal Strickland. At any rate he became popular there with Connor & that's far beyond off-topic enough, I apologize. So, Mitch, I don't know if I ever knew how he ended up on the right side of the issue or even the law with Janice's almost successful attempt at poisoning Mac. Things were so desperate & so dire & so scary & then they worked out okay in a pool on a tropical island, of all places.

Now, take Mitch, he was a really useful character, in & out of many stories, overtime. No, not overtime, over periods of time. Good actor, worked well with many people. Later, Zane reappeared, as Cal.

WOW, talk about becoming attached to a character!

Zane was my personal favorite of all of Felicia's beaus. I thoroughly enjoyed myself until BOOM-and I cried for three full days. Whoa! What the heck was that about?!

Okay, I follow on the juicy cheeseburgers. Here's Shawn trying to provide her with a fine dining experience and, thankless, she just wants another juicy cheeseburger from the Pub. I think Caroline & I are going to join her. I keep waiting for Shawn to appear in a ruffled pinafore type apron just like Donna Reed. He seems to be well suited as a nurturer. I don't think that those were divorce papers, just legal separation, to protect the marriage while the party of the first part & the party of the second part dangle over the precipice of the crazy lady's parts! I admit it. I do not like Jan Spears. Of course, I don't like EJ either, although this is a good recast. I'd like to have Shawn do Freddy Mercury's household cleaning number.

Wait a minute, how does it rub off on Kevin, Ryan, and Victor? I'm still so disturbed by its rubbing off on all of us?! My eyes! Is there an emoji for sticking forks in your eyes?!! There oughtta be! 😱 that till better exists But, today, oh my god, the last moment, the last line of dialog! Heaven help us, Dex is secretly employed by Michael! Diabolical! How far is Michael going to go?! And, I've gotta say that I am disappointed in Britta in letting herself get that drunk at that public an event. This will take some living down & her good friend Brad should be fed to the wolves for feeding that video! With friends like Brad she could do better without friends!

Gotta love those unsung, unknown little corneal transplant additives!

Jan Spears, mistake in the long run, yep, I can buy that! But, here's what I want to know: Do we think that the budget is bad enough that they are (1) doing their own hair (2) doing their own makeup (3) wearing their own clothes? I don't mean being catty about the looks of the thing, that's fun sure, but I mean do we really think they are scraping that much of the bottom of the barrel? I'm fascinated that the show does not have enough money to do things in a standard way & are making it up as they go along. The final years of GL were lessons in inventiveness when there wasn't enough money. Things make me think there's not enough money at DOOL today. Am I barking up an empty tree? How can we find out?

People keep insisting I look up these songs & listen to them I'm not drunk. I'm just drinking

And, then as she was working on her memoir, one night she died in her sleep, right? Holidays 1973?

Yes! That's the term I've been searching for. I just repeat to myself the phrase that they couldn't think of anything thing else to try. Bone headed move!

What is Cheeseburger? I must've missed something crucial. 🤣

Very sad. RIP.

I always thought that the writing was important but now I am even more convinced that the writing is critical & many current production techniques are screwing up the writing.

I am sorely tempted to start a whole new topic: What Would Have Been Better Than The 90 Minute AW? because frankly almost anything would've been better! Smart money, expanding The Doctors to an hour would have been better. In extremis, doing nothing would have been better! Creating a new half hour soap might have been better. Investing in a soap writer's workshop might have been better. Innovating some way to improve on NY studio space & sets would have been better! Name a problem & a possible solution & there you have a "better", etc. It's just a shame that no one would listen to the people who saw this up front.

I can see it happening. I think they're on a very dangerous road of pleasing the actor with writing he prefers instead of writing what would be good for the character.

I don't think I could be shocked. But, having learned that multiple streaming companies have approached P&G about streaming their classic soaps & P&G has once again said, "No," and "We are no longer in the business of soap operas." then, what the heck, if the headlines tomorrow said they have a deal in place for any of the shows they have in vaults, sure I'd be shocked.

Just to start out with the right i dotted, it was not the sponsors, specifically not the producers, P&G who were in favor of the expansions. It was the networks, specifically first NBC, who were all about expanding from half hour to an hour, and then, in the case of NBC & AW, on to try 90 minutes. Fred Silverman was the first one pushing the idea. Paul Rauch had been a company man, working for a network, who had crossed over to become EP at AW, working for P&G but still closely affiliated with the network. He was still essentially a company man. He was the second one pushing the idea. And, it was a big push! I learned that it was this difference, that NBC was the initiator from two sources. First, a book put out in 2020 by Elana Devine HER STORIES. It does not cover the 90 minute expansion but it is very detailed about the initial expansion from 30 minutes to an hour. Then, in a 2006 audio only interview between someone from WOST (org) & Pete Lemay. WOST stood for World of Soap Themes & used to be a rich resource. Pete was HW of AW & this guy caught him at an Awards ceremony & got him on tape. It's up on YT. Pete named Fred Silverman. And, the most telling reason that it was not a temp thing to launch TEXAS, is that Pete Lemay would not have quit if it was just a temp thing. "A half-hour seemed the ideal length for serials, but once the hour was tried with AW, the networks were impressed that the ad revenue would be greater if they simply expanded their most popular shows. An understandable notion, but it is not working." - Pete Lemay "At NBC programmers admitted that they went to a 90-minute show 'because they couldn't come up with a better idea.'"

Thanks!

Such a shame. People at different shows always knew. I remember someone talking about NBC and a Gay Panic. I think that was said when they killed off Perry Hutchins on AW.

Did he get outed or something? I mean, was it fine one day & then not fine or did something happen to bring it to the attention of people?

It was intended to be permanent.