beebs

Good Lord, 60% of everyone on this show is a D!CK! This is so unusual for the time. And yet, I still enjoy watching them. Rita Lakin seems to be able to walk that fine line between being selfish and cutthroat and being completely unlikeable. All the characters have layers and you feel for them, no matter what nastiness they dish out. I'm not entirely sure how much of that is down to the writing and how much is down to the charisma of the actors.

Steve revealing

that he's simply using Carolee to make for an easy ride as an intern

completely changed the entire dynamic, and yet, I've liked him so much so far, you can't totally hate him, even knowing what you do. Excellent stuff.

Is it bad that I've essentially dropped DAYS entirely just because this show is just so much better in every conceivable way?

ETA:

Liz KNEW Althea still loved Nick and was rubbing her face in it WHILE LIVING WITH HER??? Make that 70% of the characters.

Also, so THAT'S why Maggie DePriest looks like! She's playing Mrs. Berger. It's so weird when you're finally able to put a face to a name.

My God, Bethel Leslie has a way with a snarky line. Her Maggie is the highlight of every episode so far. And Althea and Nick are such a glorious mess of a couple.

This show is so easy to get into and so compelling so quickly, no wonder this show was becoming such a huge hit at this time.

Just did, But the Link is under beebs reply.

Fixed it.

Finally...Here we go... And the Rest

You are amazing.

My GOD, I LOVE this show already. Soap producers today better (and won't) take note.

Back on a retro soul kick. DAMN Miles Jaye fiiiiiiine <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Oyh6XQa764

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ULPDq02zavs

UGH. Right in the feels.

From what I've seen, they'd be getting comparable ratings to today's soaps. Though in 1990, that would have put them in last place by about a full ratings point behind their closest competitor, Loving, which was sitting at around 3.5 at the time. For that era, really lousy numbers.

I can't even get my hopes up that Doug and Julie will play a major part in the 50th anniversary although of course I think they should. I feel as though I would be just setting myself up for disappointment. It seems tptb think Days just started in the 90s.

Well, give them SOME credit. I still think they believe DAYS started in 1983, at least. You'd think the show didn't exist before the Bradys arrived.

Great interview and she looks amazing!! I would love for Valerie to return to Salem. The character has history with the Hortons and Abe.

Agreed. Was she a nurse or a doctor when Valerie left Salem? Was she romantically involved with anyone on her way out? I'm assuming she broke things off with Abe before her departure.

Interesting, this proves that the 1972 copyright was taken off the titles as early as November 1983, instead of 1984 like is commonly thought. Great to see these early 80s episodes!

Nevermind, the intro was dubbed in. Still interesting to watch though. These scenes really make me miss WN as Roman and Alice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHxc3e2TJXc

With all the talk of QaF lately, this seemed appropriate (those who saw the UK version will understand).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjd2deVl7Qw‎

Been all about Miki Howard lately. Knew KeKe had done a cover, but I forgot how sick it was. Amazing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BJemvbM0do

Just tuned back in, first time in awhile. Loved Michael/Alice/Janine's showdown, though it's a shame we're losing Michael (I'm probably just saying that because that's a fine-looking man ). Reaaaally enjoyed those episodes. As for the new team, do we know when their episodes will first air?

First of about 5 (so far) bits from Late 97/Late in Malone's run. I found myself really intrigued by a lot of this, though I know Malone's AW was rather unpopular, mostly for aping his OLTL, though because this focuses on Rachel/Carl and Alex/Felicia, I'm not sure I see that. Anyone able to clarify for this here clueless fool?

EDIT: As soon as I heard Cindy ask the African artpiece "which one of you is going to make Grant love me?", that story instantly became dumb as hell.

juniorz1 I think I am the only Sally Spencer MJ fan out there! I never saw Kathleen, aside from a clip or two, so it's not against her - I just like the vulnerability Spencer has in the role.

The McKinnons were phased out in late 1987 (the last child, Cheryl, left in mid-1988). Then Vince and Mary hung on until early 1989.

I think Mary's backstory was already convoluted at this point.

The best part of this for me was the fight between Rachel and Mac. I love watching Watsson and Wyndham fight. Pure fire!

What a mess of a story it must've been then. I did enjoy the family dynamic, it's a shame it didn't work in the long term. Was it just a change in writers that got them the boot or were they just an unpopular family with viewers?

Rachel & Mac's fights are beautiful scenes in any era. If you ever want to convince someone why you'd want to watch a soap opera, just show those two in an argument. Two masters at work.

That was a damned good episode. I hate to ask if it's already been asked and answered, but didn't Mary's backstory get really convoluted after this point? And why did the McKinnon's get so quickly eschewed from the canvas after this, pretty much disappearing after this year (save Jake and Kathleen's brief return a few years later)?

Douglas Marland did not introduce the Dancy family. They were created by Maggie DePriest. He expanded the family, but they were not his creation. I also agree that Marland was not a good fit for The Doctors. It was a smaller, more intimate series. All of his expansive business stories and aggravatingly expository dialogue did not fit the series. He was wonderful at General Hospital, which ironically was my favorite stint of his, but he did not help TD as far as I'm concerned.

Jack, Darcy, the Bennetts, etc were not particularly well-received by the audience, and it was further complicated by NBC and the time-slot change. Producer Doris Quinlan loathed the writers. She wanted to replace them with Ann Marcus, but NBC was dead-set against Marcus following her passion for the Vietnam story on Days. Colgate Palmolive began to side with Quinlan, so NBC bought the series and fired her. It was an unfortunate situation. Linda Grover and David Cherrill should have remained the writers. They were wonderful, but in this era, it was essential to compete with General Hospital. The stakes were so high. Unfortunately good soaps were lost in the shuffle. I watched The Doctors for so many years. I miss Pritchett, Bruce, Rowland, and O'Brien. How sad it all had to change, and for what? So that GH could stay on the air as the inane debacle it is now? God, this makes me furious.

It's so funny to me how one show's success by doing something different has meant that every show must ape that show's style. It's been this way for years now, and it's a big part of what's killing soaps. GH is a hit, let's make all shows have OTT high-octane adventures and location shoots with bombs and guns! Y&R is a hit, let's make all our shows have incredibly dim lighting and sexy young people! DAYS is a hit, let's all make our storylines so unbelievable they border on self-parody! I get that this happens in primetime as well and all, but the lengths to which daytime has gone to make every show "like the #1 show that did things differently" has really ruined it for everyone. And The Doctors is one of the really truly sad victims of this. What a waste.

NBC didn't have Rita Lakin, Agnes Nixon, and Bill Bell write their soaps because they wanted three shows exactly the same, nor were they the runaway successes they were for that reason. They worked because they were different, but complimented each other beautifully. If only execs now (or in the 80s, 90s, and 00s) would see things that way.

Been oddly obsessed with this all week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPTwcwA6vuk

Yes, streaming works too. I just don't understand why these people choose to sit and do nothing with these shows when they have several outlets for them with Netflix and Hulu around. Netflix has no soap section, yet Warner Brothers hasn't tried to add the 80s soaps, Peyton Place is an option and then of course daytime soaps. I really don't understand it.

Other than on here, has anyone made any real effort to demand these episodes come out? I'm sure if there's a non-batshit crazy effort made to organize people to encourage these companies to get at least some of these classic shows out there, maybe then they'll recognize the potential. Maybe not. But then we at least can't say we haven't put in our best effort.

Variety Jan 19th 1972

For the second week in a row, ABC-TV has won the daytime average rating race. Long dominant CBS is third in very close three-way competition. Nielsen book for the week ending Jan. 9 gives ABC an 8.7 rating and 29 share to NBC's 8.0 and CBS' 7.7.

This and the earlier post from Dec 71 really help explain a lot of the major sweeping changes CBS made around this time that led to so many cancellations (SS, LMST, WTHI, etc.), it's striking how panicked CBS got by ABC and NBC's success, and I'm not sure that many of their decisions ended up being for the better in the long-run.

The lighting was so dark you can barely see the faces sometimes.

Hahha, it's true. Some shots were so ill-lit the actors looked like disembodied heads floating around the screen. Utterly bizarre.

I find it interesting that Harding Lemay wrote this. I also noted when I posted this on Facebook, that they had the whole dark, moody lighting thing down a good three years before Y&R (although I'm pretty sure it was to hide the cheap sets more than anything).

Any idea as to why he wouldn't play Sam? Would his return to AW have worked better had he done so instead of creating such a dud new character?