Best and Worst of 87

[Aaron]

No, it's still there. But there's definitely a less aggressive tone to their criticisms over the last few years. They used to tell it like it is, and call the shows out when they suck. Now it's more of a "Gosh, that didn't make a lot of sense, did it?"

[Toups]

Alphabet Wars? LOL What was that about?

[LoyaltoAMC]

I remember the state of the ABC shows that year. AMC was on fire starting in the spring of 1987, with Agnes back in the fold and Lorraine taking on a more significant role along Wisner (who would leave in late 87) in co-HW duties. All the interlocking Cortlandt Manor stories were fantastic, culminating at the end of the year in Ross' trial for raping Natalie. Lucci finally got a worthy love interest in Larkin Malloy, the Cindy/Stuart story was about to begin, Brooke and Adam became an item, and some ignored vets were given storylines. GH was in tatters that year. H Wesley Kenney had just taken over the OP reins from Monty, and he tried to inject some reality back into a show that had gotten stale with endless over-the-top spy/intrigue-type stories. The problem was that he went too far to the real side, and the show became boring. It had one last burst of inflated ratings during Kenney's tenure when they tied up the strands of the popular "Laurelton mystery" storyline. After that, everything went downhill. OLTL was still interesting, but Paul Rauch and HW S. Michael Schnessel began going overboard with the camp element. RH was great and was having somewhat of a creative renaissance with Claire Labine back as HW, but its low ratings would doom it to cancellation the following year. Loving was, well, Loving, a mediocre show chugging along with little notice from anyone.

[DevotedToAMC]

I think you are thinking of the opinion column

[Steve]

GH changed head writers quite frequently in the 80s and imo had several unwatchable years.

[Steve]

Honestly, I'm not sure. It might have been some WSB/DVX spy story like that one starring Sean Cassidy as Dusty that climaxed with a remote at Mt Rushmore and featured a horrid song that Bobbi's stepdaughter Terri sang called "40 Million Stars." I used to switch back and forth between GL & GH in the mid to late 80s and I vaguely remember that the song had some subliminal message that Dusty was programmed to kill when he heard (or something silly like that).

[Gray Bunny]

Their creator's biggest mistake was naming the show "Loving." What an absolutely uninspired blah name.

Back to the list though, it sounds like 1987 was not a banner year for Guiding Light. Lots of criticisms and not many positives.

[brimike]

Wow... Steve/Kayla/Jack was Worst Triangle?!

I look back on that now as one of Days' best storylines... with very strong acting from three very talented actors. (Unless they're talking about the pre-Ashford Jack... I can't remember his name... Joe something. He was like an Italian thug. Then it makes sense)

[MichaelGL]

If I'm correct, it was mostly a time of transition because after Pam Long left in the mid 80s, she was followed by a number of writers, none really being able to capture the success Long had in the early 80s. Long would return to GL some time in 1987 after Search for Tomorrow was taken off the air. However still it would take Long a lengthy amount of time to get things back on track (89 and 90 are considered two of the best years, IMO, within the second tenure on the show) .

If I might add it was also a time when just about everybody was trying to copy off of DAYS and GH, something GL was very guilty of.

[Paul Raven]

Re Jack/Patch/Kayla triangle.

SOD stated that the main problem was that we had 3 Jacks in one year and so the character of Jack wasn't a viable character in the triangle.

Also.that Mary Beth Evans was obviously pregnant and that Kayla would readily marry Jack so soon after being dumped by Patch.

In the accompanying photo of Jack and Kayla's wedding,James Acheson is playing Jack.

[Cheap21]

What the hell was the Alphabet Wars on GH?

[brimike]

Ahhh.. that makes total sense then.

Hindsight is SOOOOO not 20/20.

[DevotedToAMC]

To me, it just sounds like one of their many action/adventure superhero spy stories....not sure what it is, though

[Max]

I'm surprised that AW did not get more mention, since the show made a big qualitative comeback in 1987. During the year, three popular events occurred: the Sin Stalker Storyline, the beginning of the Sam and Amanda relationship, and the debut of Anne Heche as Vicky/Marley.

Also, in hindsight, I would have rated GL's Harley as the best new character for 1987.

[Sedrick]

If I remember correctly, Meredith's Brown's Editor's Note from that issue looking back on 1987 stated that it was the year that "NBC told ANOTHER WORLD to either shape up or ship out".

GH's alphabet wars was the battle between the DVX and the WSB mainly over the antidote to some deadly virus and the Mount Rushmore adventure