Mitch

17 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Sad news. Gil was a consistent highlight for me when he played Hawk, even though on paper the character would not have amounted to much. He and Marj Dusay even made the "Queenie" banter charming, somehow. That was when I first warmed to Marj as Alex. His best was usually saved for scenes with "Sister" (Reva) - Gil and Kim Zimmer had something special. Even though he wasn't there for the finale I'm glad they had Hawk return briefly in that last year. 

Agreed..Hawk was basically written as a cartoon but Gil made him more. I loved his relationship with "Sister" and with Sarah..."You old FOOL!" and I laughed at that dumb "Mutton Woman" line every time..Hawk had Annie's number before anyone else. 

And Hawk Alex made no sense...the one scene I can remember BevAlex having with was her being totally disdainful..."Would you like anything?" Hawk.."Yea, uh a steak!" with Alex saying "Please get Mr. Shayne...a STEAK" as only Bev could say with disdain.  But Marj and him were funny as hell..and just reinforced that she should have played another character not Alex and would have been great!

1 hour ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

 

Which is why I said that I watched because of the actors involved.

Do I wish some other soap adjacent person had hosted? Yes, but sadly no one else did and I stull think the actors themselves had interesting things to say about the topics they discussed.

 

More than this, I wish someone would have hosted a livestream or video discussion on the blindspots as well as the bright spots of AA characterization and involvement in daytime soaps, but no one with a platform seems interested in having that discussion.

Ellen Holly (wasnt she a judge on GL) hosting would have been great...but then, no one else would have gotten a word in!

19 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

I always loved the Nancy/Lisa vibe...my favorite scenes was after Eduardo died..and there was broken glass all over her apartment.  Nancy came over, cleaned up the mess and wouldn't leave like anyone else...and the two had a heart to heart about grief.

 

I don't think the bond was shown much at all after Sheffer came in..imho

Agreed, but we did get that great line and one last time for Nancy to ring Lisa's beads during Bob and Kim's anniversary..."You AREN'T helping...DEAR!" Come to think of it Lisa was the most Lisa she was in years in taking barely hidden delight in Bob and Kim's problem.

10 hours ago, titan1978 said:

“He’s got no lips, no vocal chords!  What do you want me to do?”

”They froze the head!”

”WHAT?!?”

 

One of my favorite scenes!

 

I LOVE the look on Goldberg's face through that whole scene!!! Unfortunately this was closer to the reality of soaps then a parody sometimes.

7 minutes ago, Franko said:

@j swift, I think @Mitch meant to say The Sun Also Sets, the show in Soapdish.

You are correct!!! And it involved a beach setting and a dumb shirtless hunk...big hair OTT BUT it looked more entertaining..."He doesn't have a HEAD!"

24 minutes ago, j swift said:

July 1984's entries were like deja vu all over again.

 

I have always maintained that Q&A's in the soap press are fake.  However 37 years after someone confused soaps with Hemingway in this question

Our own @Mitch said this in the Soap You Couldn't Get Into thread

Sunset Beach..its just played like a parody..kind of like "The Sun Also Rises," instead of a real soap. The actors were plastic, not sexy!

 

I researched and found that the Carol Burnett Show soap parody was called "As the Stomach Turns" and the SCTV parody was titled "The Days of the Week", so I am unsure of the source of this confusion.

 

 

And maybe JMR was so snippy about Eileen Fulton's return in this article:

 Because two weeks earlier he published this comment

 

Finally is it possible that a young Ron Carlavatti was posing as PL from Toluca Lake when he wrote this question to Lynda Hirsch?

I really don't think Fulton was hurting but I doubt she had vaults of jewels!!!But agreed, she was the last of the Hollywood Diva acting ladies..

Santa Barbara..it was just a mess but a mess that thought really, really highly of itself and its "intelligence and wit" because its Mom told it so( this being the soap mags.)

Sunset Beach..its just played like a parody..kind of like "The Sun Also Rises," instead of a real soap. The actors were plastic, not sexy!

Passions-well I LOVED the self referential supernatural part of it, with Tabby and Timmy practically stopping to wink at the audience...(and sometimes actually did..) but then..the Sunset Beach soap parody part started with really bad actors with their shirts off...(though I did like Alastair Crane...but he obviously was not running around with his shirt off!0

12 hours ago, soapfan770 said:

I always wished the show had added a couple more Hughes characters via John and Marian Hughes. Always been fascinated what the story was with them but there is such little info! 
 

I think someone here early mentioned Edie would also returned for a couple holidays in addition to the 1963 return. 

I always wished they had brought on their grandkids in the 80s. I see a Carly Tenny kind of schemer sent to the "big city" to live with Nancy and Chris and as we all know, Nancy knows how to deal with, and have a soft spot for little schemers. That would have given them new life during the Dobson's era..(especially if they had brought in the missing Eldgridge son of Lisa's earlier and the Hughes tramp running after him...causing tension between Nancy and Lisa..."You do know who she reminds me of don't you???"

I love JM..she is so down to earth and appreciative of her time on the show, and so nice that she still stayed in contact with DH and KH over the years. 

32 minutes ago, TV4Me said:

Ehlers couldn't be shrill if she tried. Her last few years at GL? You mean when she was never on? Seriously, you stopped watching the show in 1985. Stick to your time reference.

Ooooh...its you! Ah, yes..I watched off and on to the very end and yes, I don't think she was trying to be shrill, but shrill she was..remember when Krieziman made her his very own Mary Sue...("Oh look, Phillip's death is all about Harley...oh look Harley is CEO of Spaulding even though in no plane of reality would that happen. Oh look...Harley is a SUPER HERO for an episode showing off her abs..oh look, Harley is narrating the first episode of the new format..you know..when she was NEVER on" Now you just relax and go to the "Meals on Wheels" in your mind to calm down or listen to this little podcast and everything will be fine.

1 hour ago, Asb23 said:

Anybody listening this FAAD?

 

Ive got to say it’s definitely improving. Is it as polished as it could be? No. But they are finding a groove and each episode gets better and better. Right now there is a cartoonish sounding character named Lucinda who really needs to tone it down bc it’s cringe-worthy. 

Some of the actors are better at audio acting than others. Beth Ehlers is still awesome and, perhaps, they should ask her to mentor some of the other actors.

 

I realize audio acting is different than face to face acting but Beth is just as natural as ever. Quite a few still sound like they’re reading from a script. They need to memorize their dialog so it sounds more conversational in tone.

 

Still hoping for some Beth and Frank Dicopolous scenes to satisfy my GL loving heart.

The description of Frankie D's character as "smooth and intelligent" had me laughing! Also, the "commercial" they were using...at least on the GL FB page was hilarious..."Frank Dicopolous RETURNS to daytime" with triumphant music...like he was Joan Collins are something.

I think Ehlers, as shrill as she was in her last few GL years, is a woman who could pretty much do anything she sets her mind to, so there is no doubt she would be good at this.

40 minutes ago, FrenchBug82 said:

When they SoRased her her FIRST story - while still a teenager - was her getting obsessed with *marrying* Ryan.

I have always thought this about soaps..why does EVERYONE have to get married?Why is that ALWAYS the goal? My example is Alan Michael and Harley as basically early 20s and they are married after a few months and no one questions it, especially with the failed track records of both the Spauldings and the Bauers...and well everyone else they know. It just makes everyone looks stupid and naive. And after they marry they automatically want to have a baby..no one wants a career or hell, even not having a baby and having fun for a bit. No one in Oakdale or Springfield ever advised against marriage unless they were bad and obstructing Twu Wuv.  

On 2/15/2021 at 2:03 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

Someone, a grad student perhaps, might be able to give a great dissertation on the adultification of adolescent characters on television shows. It's kind of a disturbing trend that began sometime in the mid-late 90s and only continues. Soaps do this all the time now.

Interesting. It started earlier then that. On GL in the 80s..while not teens, the 4 Ms went from high school to Phillip working at Spaulding and seeming to be about 30, Rick a doctor or close to it, Beth not going to college at all, and Mindy getting married.  A clip on the GL of AM and Harley having trouble as they were married..when they were in the early 20s. Its like soaps skip college and people in their 20s dating, breaking up and dating others, which you think would be right up soap writers alleys but they have them settling down and wanting babies by their 30s they have been married 3 times.

On 2/13/2021 at 12:08 PM, Forever8 said:

 

Loved this time on GL.  Ellen Parker just looks and acts like someone's mom..not Nancy Hughes type, but a real Mom...dumbest move they ever made to kill her and not keep her around as support, but God knows what Rauch and the rest would have done for her. GA and MOL think they are way more funny then they are in that ad lib singing, but I think MOL always thought he was funnier then he was..(and I like him.) AM and Harley, why do they marry younger characters off like that...they could have the same storyline as 20 somethings dating.

4 hours ago, FrenchBug82 said:

I don't know. I have to be honest that while Beverley Mc was one of the best actresses on daytime I never managed to buy her too much in romances, even in Another World and Texas. That wasn't her strength and even the romance with Roger always looked like an arrangement to me more than love.

She and Fletcher were kinda cute in that he wasn't taking her s**t. But I am not sure Alex ever worked as a romantic lead with either actresses anyway.

Very true. I never bought Rog and Alex...great drama came from it, but I never thought Alex was dumb enough or lonely enough to buy into Roger's b.s. (though the writers tried hard to make it so her power isolated her..) An arranged marriage from the start (Roger has a business Spaulding desperately needs and Alex gives Roger legitimacy..) and then Alex slowly coming to enjoy their partnership because of Roger's more mercenary biz smarts..would have worked better. Alex was all family and business not romantic love.  And or course, I could have done without MarjAlex practically acting like she wanted Rog to screw her on the spot all the time.  The only Alex I could see being sexual was of course...VixenAlex Joan Collins..but even she played her like it was just a bit of fun for Alex not overheated LOVE in the soap way.

On 2/13/2021 at 1:17 PM, DRW50 said:

 

I don't remember if it was ever really said - I think she may have chosen to leave because she was barely used by the end, which would be more mutual.

 

That is what Kassie meant, yes. She probably felt she had a more firm place on the canvas with Philip rather than with Johnny. 

 

I think she decided to leave during the Rae story and told them so. They said..."Oh we will give your story to someone else then." and she was like..."Uh, she's already stalking ME!"

Interesting to see her return later as more of a bitter hellfire woman. When she was first introduced..Chelsea was said to be..believe it or not.."The crazy Reardon.." and Rick was like.."Oh, Nola is coming home." and they were like..."Oh no...Chelsea is even more wild then Nola!!!" and it was like..uh no.

How the hell did Fletcher and boring Frank last so long???Imagine a really strong leading man (besides Roger) for Alex.

2 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

Admittedly, VG was before my time, I think I was in kindergarten when she left the role.

It's probably because I knew nothing of Lyla's loose reputation from back in the day, and I am fine with that, lol.

Alright...nice way to make me feel old : )  

You missed the flashback scenes of Grey with her hair down, wearing a sarong or robe..(red of course) gyrating to some music with Johnny D..(neither looking the 20 something years younger then they were supposed to be.) and John..bugging Lyla by callind her "Delilah" I thought it was interesting that they would have Bob with a former hussy, and also that she was so upset at her daughter's precieved "loose" behavior (she was mad at Cricket for going to the ball without a slip on!!) and Bob, unknowing her former slut status tellign her to calm down about it.  With the recast of Sward all that was tosssed and Lyla was just a nice girl who made some mistakes but that also lessened the impact of Margo screwing James.

7 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

Hm, odd. I know that he once wrote for the show, at one point, but it strikes me as somewhat unprofessional to carry feelings because you don't get your first casting choice. I love Don but who did he think he was, Irna Phillips?

It seems very.."Un-Don like" but he most likely had problems with the actress other then that and those issues rubbed salt in the wound. He didn't seem to have a problem with Sward but they didn't actually last long or light the world on fire.  I actually like VG as Lyla better as she seemed tougher, rougher like she actually was a former...uh...good time gal social climber in her youth and turned herself around. Sward..alway seemed to bland and wimpy.

12 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Hastings must have wanted Lyla and Bob to reunite then? And do what with Kim? I could not imagine Dennison's Lyla having four grown children and grandchildren. In Perhaps if the character were brought back in the show's last years. I could kind of see her as a Maggie Crawford recast though.

No, this was when they were originally casting for Lyla..he had a chip on his shoulder about Velka Grey because of it.

On 2/12/2021 at 6:01 PM, soapfan770 said:

I found it a bit silly Capitol made up some fictional suburb of DC as opposed to using something real like Alexandria or Bethesda etc. 

 

Re: GL’s Springfield I have always had to wonder if the show’s location should have just remained in Selby Flats California. I am quite sure there would be a far more diverse representation of the LA area compared to anything B&B has ever done. 

Good point. Lewis Oil eventually turned into Lewis Construction and it just didn’t sound as interesting when it came to Spaulding vs. Lewis.

Off topic but we really should have know what the hell Spaulding did...I know they had Spaulding Pharmacuticals which sense tying into Cedars..but whatever the hell else they did. But absorbing Lewis into Spaulding would have made it more interesting...besides getting rid of a ridiculous Oil company in the midwest, but also bringing a new energy to Spaulding stories where the Alex vs. Alan and who is CEO stuff was worn out by 1996, so you would have the old rich versus the neuvo riche and it would renergize Van who would have conflicts with both sides. ..(when they got rid of Alex I kept hoping they woudl move Van back to corporate shark and for her to team up with Josh to merge with Spaulding and knock Alan off his throne.)

I always wanted GL to just call 5th and 7th street area "Selby Flats" with a nod to the past.

22 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Wasn't Daryl an old boyfriend of Margo's from high school?  I'm surprised that more wasn't made of that if true.

Which was weird as he looked so much younger then Dolan..and really doesn't seem to be the type any of the Margos (from Colin on) would be interested in...(it doesnt help that when they intro him Margo kept using his nickname in high school "Handsome Harry" even though that doesn't seem to be a nick name anyone would use since the 1920s.

I know Hastings wanted Dennison cast as Lyla, I wonder how that would have turned out.

7 hours ago, j swift said:

Although it still doesn't explain why Lewis Oil would relocate from Oklahoma to Michigan.  According to facts I googled from Michigan State University,  Oklahoma produced 130 times more oil than Michigan between the years of 1859 and 1996.  So, changing their headquarters to Springfield made as much sense as OLTL's Buchanan Enterprises having an office in London. 

 

However, Michigan is a hub for tech and electronics, which would account for why the Chamberlains choose to relocate to Springfield from Chicago. 

None of Lewis Oil made any sense....Spaulding should have just assumed the company at the very begging and have the Lewis and Spaulding unhappy and unfriendly bed fellows.

25 minutes ago, allmc2008 said:

What interview?

Can't remember...it was a long time ago but I remember his quote on JFP. Not that the serial killer storyline she  replaced it with was any good...

On 2/8/2021 at 11:56 AM, Gray Bunny said:

I think in the pilot episode of DAYS, Marie mentions driving down to Boston with her fiance. They gave a definite feel of being in Massachusetts or close by. But as mentioned, DAYS' actual location will always be a mystery. It's near mountains, rivers, has an international airport, but in more recent years it seems it's a simple drive away from Chicago. 

 

I didn't like when they set GL in Springfield, Illinois during the Conboy/Weston era of 2003-2004 because not only is that the state capital city, but they had previously established GL's Springfield as being on the coast of one of the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan most likely), so it'd make the most sense for GL's Springfield to be in Michigan. 

GL's Springfield would have to be in Michigan..there are only 4 lighthouses in Illinois and if they created a fictional one where would it go...it couldn't be a northern suburb of Chicago as GL had a farm and the lower income 5th and 7th streets...which no North Shore suburb would have (plus...if the Spauldings lived on the northshore they would most definitely live on Lake Michigan. I wish soap writers and producers would look at maps once in a while.

5 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Interesting.

 

The more I think about it, the more I started to think Jill was scapegoated and that she wasn't completely responsible for all the problems at AW at that time

Could be..as much as I don't like what she turned GL into (GuidingBuzz) ..her first couple of years were the best it had been since I started watching it in grade school. I also think her refusal to bring Reva back was right...and her instincts were spot on..she did indeed consume the show whole. I think we GL would have still gotten the mob..I wonder if she could have fought off the clone, and I think we would NEVER have been inflicted with San Cristobel..or however you spell that hell hole.

14 hours ago, j swift said:

Can I nominate L. Virginia Browne for the person I most want to see interviewed?  These back to back stories from @will81's Tumblr are, in her own words, stunning.

 

 

They kind of really treated people like crap didnt they???