Contessa Donatella

The legacy of individuals at "Days of our Lives" were Ted Corday, Betty Corday, Ken Corday, Wes Kenney, Bill Bell, Pat Falken Smith, ... Bill Hayes said about Wes Kenney, "that he was a bit of a genius. He would watch a scene play and then come over and tell you one thing and turn your dial one notch this way and your co-star's dial one notch that way, and the scene would suddenly go WHAM and just take off. I saw him do it over and over again." Bill Bell was HW at DOOL until he created his own soap Y&R. PFS took over HW duties. PFS left in 1977 and the show went through 3 HWs: Ann Marcus, Ruth Flippen Broks and Elizabeth Harrower. Producer Wes Kenney left and Al Rabin came in. Many HWs came & went. Nina Laemmle, Michele Poteet-Lisanti, Gray Tomlin, PFS came back, MDP tok over, etc. They said that "Days of Our Lives" was the story of a family.

The front porch story is cute but there were probably a lot of discussions before and after that. They were sitting around talking about what kinds of soaps were on the air, that most soaps were urban-based, that most soaps were hospital settings, what kinds of soaps were not on the air, etc., So, no one had done one in color, so they said, let's do one in color. And, then, they said, let's do one in a rural setting. Finally they said, let's do one unlike any other that's being done. And, with that, they had Tom & Alice & children & grandchildren & a country doctor & a film actor to play Tom. They began with an epigraph, the familiar one and an hourglass, the familiar one.

Have to completely agree!

Legend has it that one day Irna Phillips, Ted Corday, and Allen Chase were sitting on a porch in Southampton when they came up with the idea for "Days of Our Lives." The true story is richer, more varied, and, like a true soap opera, more complex. From 1935 to 1940 Betty Corday worked for Young & Rubicam, advertising agency, where she produced two soap operas for NBC Radio: "Pepper Young's Family" and "Young Doctor Malone." After the end of the war in 1945, Ted worked solely in radio soap opera, directing for Irna, including her "Guiding Light" which was the first to move to TV.

I've finished with the Jean Rouverol book and turned to a text that Corday contracted for. Maureen Russell was a fan and a contract historian as well as being a RATSer. She shows a part of her Thanks & Acknowledgments as Thanks to Days fans everywhere but especially RATSers Julie, Laura, the Peel sisters and Joanna. We were the peel sisters. Some of us still are. We came from a storyline where John Black was a jewel thief with a woman partner, who reminded us of The Avengers - Emma Peel & Patrick McNee. That's how I got to be shallotpeel, from garlic peel. Etc. The text is 273 pgs.

Lots of us would have loved having EW back as both. And, AH set out to go to Parson's School of Design. She just fell into a major career -- and I still follow her to this day!

Ellen Wheeler pondered at some great length what to do about Ricky Paull leaving the show. The death on the motorcycle was what she came up with & it meant a heart for Olivia. The only thing I personally found odd about it was that none of us had ever seen Gus riding a motorcycle before that single solitary day. In real life I think people do or do not ride Harleys, etc. Not just once.

I've just been going back over this thread, and I do not think that Stephen Schnetzer was ever put on recurring status.

"Some people don't like killing any character on a soap, but I believe that the death can be as important as the life if it shakes up the town and spins great story for the characters left behind. This was one of those cases." - Jill Lorie Hurst, GL, Otalia, Gus's death

No, @Vee, I would not say that you have all said so. And, I do not understand why it is something that some of you object to. It simply enriches conversation.

I can't remember the red swan either. I remember that it always looked like a piece of cheap paper mache and that it chewed up about a year and a half of show, while they tried to figure out somebody to be a gentleman caller on Rachel.

I was disappointed that she didn't talk about Rachel & Ada & there being parallel to Erica & Mona.

That's a shame.

I'm goin to have to get into this & explore. All of LOVING that I watched was the last 3 weeks. But I watched all of The City.

Actors who regularly rewrite their lines are not too popular with the authors of those lines. And actors who change the grammar of a speech are the bane of a writer's existence. The associate writer whose line properly reads, "between you and me" could sink through the floor when an actor, trying to sound elegant, changes it on-screen to "between you and I". On some shows, such changes are not allowed. GH requires permission for revision. Bill Bell always required actors to follow their script word for word. - Writing for Daytime Drama, Jean Rouverol © 1992

I heard that he was sick. I really hope not. Anyone heard news? "When I look into Becky Herbst's or Leslie Charleson's eyes and we're doing emotional stuff, we just feel each other," Braun raved of Liz and Monica's portrayers. "I'm very fortunate to get to work with those lovely ladies." (Photo Credit: ABC) Tamara Braun

Okay @beebs and @Vee you're not only not getting through to me, you're just annoying me. How about we just give each other passage?

I wish they had kept Holly on full time forever. How about you, @chrisml? Who did you want kept on?

@beebs I am grown up. But, hey, I don't really want to sling empty words at you & I don't want to have them slung back at me. This is just pointless and frankly sad.

I think I've accepted plenty of criticism with grace. And, I don't think I've been defensive. But, from the get-go people have been "not nice" to me.

Someone said they weren't aware of much Otalia & asked a question. That's solicitation.

Okay. Could be. I have her listed elsewhere as Pat Falken Smith (75) died May 19, 2001 Writer, controversial, rape or seduction? DOOL, GH, GL, RH, created the Bradys & the DiMeras I believe that comes from Wikipedia and from Robert Allen's soap book. Where the Heart Is, too.

Well, good. I'm not dominating. And, I am aware of my surroundings. Unfortunately, I'm also aware of being chewed out more than seems reasonable to me. Sigh. No, Vee. Let's not call for votes. Here are references for Otalia if you want to check some of them out: References We Love Soaps, Guest Columnist Destini at the Otalia website Big Purple Dreams, "Guest Column: On Otalia", welovesoaps.net, February 18, 2009. Bhattacharjee,Mala. News Editor, Soap Opera Weekly, "Blogging with Mala" Archived 2009-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, page 14 February 17, 2009. Bendix, Trish."Olivia and Natalia kiss on 'Guiding Light', afterellen.com, January 19, 2009 (Retrieved March 7, 2009). Fairman, Michael. The Advocate,"Otalia in Love on Guiding Light? Women in love: Are Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia becoming daytime's new "it" couple?", March 10, 2009, www.advocate.com. Entertainment Weekly,"The Must List - The Top 10 Things We Love This Week", March 13, 2009, page10-11 (print edition). Branco, Nelson. TVGuide.ca "Guiding Light's Otalia: 2009 Sexiest Couple Alive", March 11, 2009, http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca. "BuzzWorthy Radio: Crystal Chappell & Mary Beth Evans", blogtalkradio.com 02-27-2009 (Retrieved 03-02-2009). Halterman, Jim. "'Guiding Light' Stars Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia Dish on 'Otalia'" AfterEllen.com 03-01-2009. McClure, Danielle. "The Odd Couple: GUIDING LIGHT's Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia open up about their complex on-screen love story". Soap Opera Digest, pp 62-65, March 30, 2009. Matos,Colossus. "My Two Mommies", thinkpinkradio.com, 01-20-2009. D'Emidion,Tiffany."Television: Guiding Light Coming Out of the Closet?", eclipsemagazine.com, February 9, 2009. "Guiding Light","(11-03-2007)", Guiding Light, CBS. Jones, J. Bernard. Daytime Confidential: Top 10 Reasons To Watch Guiding Light Right Now www.daytimeconfidential.com, January 30, 2009 (Retrieved April 12, 2009). "Jacqueline Tsirkin", Internet Movie Database, imdb.com. Purvis,Matt. "Guiding Light Weekly Blog, Blogging at the Beacon. Thoughts on the Week of February 2-6", soaps.com, February 9, 2009; D'Emidion,Tiffany."Television: Guiding Light Coming Out of the Closet?", eclipsemagazine.com, February 9, 2009; Incognito,Lauren. "Where the Girls are on TV: Jessica Capshaw, Megan Mullally, Portia de Rossi", she wired.com, February 9, 2009. Bhattacharjee,Mala. News Editor, "Blogging with Mala" Archived 2009-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, soapoperadigest.com, February 17, 2009 (Retrieved 02-23-2009); Mail Call, Soap Opera Weekly, March 3, 2009,"GL: Otalia are still receiving an ovation from readers"; Branco,Nelson. "Nelson Ratings Jan. 12-Feb 16, 2009" Archived 2009-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca,(Retrieved 02-23-2009). Branco,Nelson. CA "Can a Soap Star Come Out?", October 08, 2008, tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca. Logan,Michael. "Guiding Light's Olivia and Natalia: Lez Be Frenemies?", tvguide.com,October 23, 2008. Incognito,Lauren. "Where the Girls are on TV: Angelina Jolie, Jessica Capshaw, Rachel Shelley" she wired.com, February 24, 2009 Giddens,Jamey. "Soap Opera Weekly Reveals Otalia Kiss Next Week!", daytimeconfidential.com, January 15, 2009. Davis, Herndon. "Racial vs. Gay Diversity on Daytime Television", March 6, 2009, http://herndon.newsvine.com.

Maybe you want to let someone decide that on their own.

Well, I am still trying & I still mean well & am trying to learn whatever it is I'm missing! I'm glad if things look a bit better to you.