1 hour ago, EricMontreal22 said:

But thinking of non-white, soapy divas, howabout Diahann Carroll?

Ooh, yes!

I don't know why I didn't think of her before! LOL

23 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Hey Kane (I think we may be talking on FB?) But yes I was!! My mom called her the "soap lady" and would hope I'd run home from school enough to watch her. I had no idea that she was on Loving--which is ironic because I don't ever remember her discussing it on her show as you say ;)

No, that must be someone else.

The details are a little fuzzy without looking it up, but if I'm remembering correctly Leo gave Kate and Louie a stock tip that didn't pan out and they lost their nest egg (which was the lottery winnings that Kate inherited from Harry). Leo felt bad so he rigged a contest at Burnell's in Kate's favor and part of the prize was being interviewed on TV. Cindi played the reporter doing the interview.

12 minutes ago, Kane said:

No, that must be someone else.

The details are a little fuzzy without looking it up, but if I'm remembering correctly Leo gave Kate and Louie a stock tip that didn't pan out and they lost their nest egg (which was the lottery winnings that Kate inherited from Harry). Leo felt bad so he rigged a contest at Burnell's in Kate's favor and part of the prize was being interviewed on TV. Cindi played the reporter doing the interview.

Are you still living near Duncan?

Wow, I was really sad to hear about her passing. https://komonews.com/news/local/cindi-rinehart-queen-of-soaps-northwest-afternoon-co-host-passes-away-diagnosed-throat-cancer-television-talk-show-celebrities-local-seattle-western-washington

16 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Are you still living near Duncan?

Wow, I was really sad to hear about her passing. https://komonews.com/news/local/cindi-rinehart-queen-of-soaps-northwest-afternoon-co-host-passes-away-diagnosed-throat-cancer-television-talk-show-celebrities-local-seattle-western-washington

Victoria now.

That is very sad. She was such a lively presence onscreen and her enthusiasm for soaps was so great.

For those of you who wanted to see Richard Steinmetz (Jeff Hartman) opposite Esta Terblanche (Gillian AMC) on the South African Soap "Egoli" - go 17:00 minutes into video below. This is from 1993

":

Having Diahann Carroll join the cast of TC instead of Morgan Fairchild would have been fabulous! Building a new soap around a glamorous, successful woman of color would've been an excellent way for viewers to see how TC wasn't like their grandmother's old stories. Especially in '95, when the notion would've been REALLY bold.

1 hour ago, Kane said:

Victoria now.

That is very sad. She was such a lively presence onscreen and her enthusiasm for soaps was so great.

I;m in Victoria too. And totally agreed.

14 hours ago, dc11786 said:

Did Trucker cite his grand love for Trisha as the reason he couldn't move on with Tess? Or was it just because she was a lying manipulator who was off limits once a bunch of her schemes were revealed?

I think what made the Trisha stuff tedious (at times) was that we knew Trisha was alive and off canvas. A person struggling with the death of their spouse as an obstacle for a new romance is the framework for great character driven writing, but the preponderance of story threads involved made it a bit much. The gaslighting, the near misses in Rome, and the general overall ongoing mourning were too much combined.

Didn't they try Angie and Cliff briefly on All My Children? Or was Cliff no longer a lead by that point?

As I am thinking about all of this, I could see potential conflict with the Angie / Trucker dynamic regarding Frankie, Christopher, and the Aldens. If Frankie continue his Jesse, Jr., act and became involved in more trouble, Christopher could have been caught up in the crossfire (not literal, but maybe Frankie does something that leads to Christopher getting hurt in something like a car accident) and the Aldens want to swope in a take away custody of Christopher. Or if they had continued the initial AIDS story replay and had Angie worried about being infected after the needle stick, and someone within the Alden clan being judgemental and worrying about the impact that would have on Christopher.

All of this is a million times more compelling than anything I saw on The City. My main problem with The City is the lack of humanity. So many of the characters are so harsh constantly fighting with one another with few moments of quiet intimacy. I know there were friendships among the characters, but everything surrounding the story was so bleak, even in the final months where the show was stronger.

I think the idea of taking Christopher McKenzie, who would have essentially be a country boy by the time Trisha would get him in the late 1990s, would be struggle being in the big city and that perspective would be compelling for a younger character. I could see Christopher just running all over the city like he would have in Maine and have no sense of any of the dangers. I would have paired him in a brotherly relationship with Tommy Domeq, who's mother Abril would be tied to the modeling agency.

Christopher's arrival would also cause conflict for Tess and Buck as Buck could struggle with his brother's death. Down the line, Trisha could wnat to keep Christopher away from Tess and Buck when she discovered some of her past with her brother Curtis. Or Trisha struggling to maintain control of Christopher when he was more ideologically alligned with Uncle Buck. This could bring out that bitchier side that we saw on occassion, and play into the idea of Trisha replaying the Clay/Gwyn parenting dynamic.

The Trisha / Danny angle would have been intriguing as it would have also provided conflict for Alex / Jocelyn. Trisha's imposter father and Danny's lawyer sister would either have a united front against Danny or Jocelyn could have some resentment towards Trisha as she could end up taking time away from Jocelyn when Alex would rush to his daughter's aid. I would take the opportunity to explore the fact that Alex and Jocelyn were made up of a sexual abuse surivor and an older man, unitnetionally replaying a bit of the trauma dynamic that Jocelyn had endured when her father handed her off to his friends.

I also just like the idea that Trisha could end up with the loft which was originally the Alden mansion, correct?

These are wonderful ideas about Christopher and Trisha. I had forgotten Buck was his uncle so there's even more story. And yes, Abril and Tommy would make sense too. I never knew why the show dropped Tommy. For an attempt at some brief ratings goosing they could have even asked Rena Sofer to briefly appear as Rocky.

Cliff is one of those characters where based on what was written I thought he was big all the way through his run, but from the bits I've watched it seems like Cliff keeps leaving (similar to Nina) starting in 1985 or 1986 and he has less and less meaning to the canvas.

Those would be good ideas for Angie and Trucker conflict.

I didn't remember the Old Navy ads as starting in 1994 - by the time they got so big and that older woman Carrie (?) became a pop culture buzz I thought it was 96 or 97. That makes more sense for Morgan's hiring.

48 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

For those of you who wanted to see Richard Steinmetz (Jeff Hartman) opposite Esta Terblanche (Gillian AMC) on the South African Soap "Egoli" - go 17:00 minutes into video below. This is from 1993

":

Thank you.

@EricMontreal22 This may interest you.

I've never heard a great deal about just what Jeff did in Egoli beyond being paired with Esta, or how long he was on the show. Clearly the show was popular enough in South Africa to buy Jeff, but I wonder if they ever referenced his past, or that he was mentally unstable. It's always been so random and fascinating to me. Like if a German soap brought John Dixon on for a year or two. (not that P&G would ever sell any of their characters)

11 hours ago, Khan said:

IIRC, Rudy Giuliani was mayor back then, and he was getting good press for revitalizing Times Square after decades of neglect, so I think that played a part in those shows' development as well. Suddenly, NYC was a tourist destination again, and I guess the networks wanted to capitalize on that any way they could.

As a foreigner I can see this. One of my oldest friends lives on East 5th near that little park and I visited regularly but there was a change. I felt safer.

Too bad Giuliani turned into such a piece of excrement.