Just now, amybrickwallace said:

 

That might have made it all worthwhile.

 

The late, great Irene Dailey would have knocked scenes like that right outta the park. Actually, Ada's reaction would have been amusing as well.

Yeah, I can't see Jim and Angie hooking up in some May/December romance -- and I wasn't even alive when Maeve Kinkead was on the show!

1 minute ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

The late, great Irene Dailey would have knocked scenes like that right outta the park. Actually, Ada's reaction would have been amusing as well.

 

Not to mention the reactions of his kids!!!

9 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

I have heard that rumor, but tend to categorize it under "fan fantasy" rather than reality. The internet is awash with folks who claim to be "insiders," and who post all sorts of rumors and gossip that cannot be verified...or often, cannot be believed.

 

Now granted, lonely older men do become attached to younger, attractive women who are kind to them. These men may even harbor unconscious desires that they realistically know could never come to pass. If Lemay had had thoughts about Jim growing attached to Angie, even becoming somewhat jealous when she become involved with more age-appropriate romantic interests, I could buy that. It would be an exploration of a older man's needs for human connection after his wife of several decades had died. But an actual romance? Okay, even that does happen in real life, but I it strains credulity that Lemay would see this as a viable storyline for Jim and Angie. (Although watching Aunt Liz freak out would have been amusing, LOL.)

 

I always thought it was fan fantasy too. I've known a few people who claimed to be soap writers, yet were uncredited. So I'm incredulous when I see rumors like this one. This person made claims about ATWT and GL that never rang true to me due to the contradictions in her claims and the holes in her stories.

6 hours ago, robbwolff said:

 

I always thought it was fan fantasy too. I've known a few people who claimed to be soap writers, yet were uncredited. So I'm incredulous when I see rumors like this one. This person made claims about ATWT and GL that never rang true to me due to the contradictions in her claims and the holes in her stories.

 

There was a poster on one "cancelled" soap opera message board who used to post all sorts of absurd, impossible-to-believe nonsense. When cornered, she would simply ignore her disbelievers. Unfortunately, many folks out there in internet land feel the need to elevate themselves by weaving elaborate fantasies about their supposed insider status and knowledge. It's usually pretty easy to spot the fakers.

Edited April 20, 20178 yr by vetsoapfan

I remember that poster on the crazy board where people are not allowed to mention LA soaps by name. She claimed to be an African American post-op transsexual married woman with two kids who had worked on several shows. Some of her stories were very interesting. There was also a lot of talk about food in her posts for some reason.

Last night, I was watching a L&O rerun (2009's "Crimebusters") that featured Victoria Wyndham's son, Christian Camargo. He played a defense attorney.

14 hours ago, Khan said:

Yeah, I can't see Jim and Angie hooking up in some May/December romance -- and I wasn't even alive when Maeve Kinkead was on the show!

 

Speaking of May/December romances -- or perhaps August/December -- I've seen it claimed that Lemay's story projections for his 1988 return included bringing Pat Randolph back ... and pairing her with John Hudson. How anybody would know that, I have no idea, but I would have loved to see Beverly Penberthy on a regular basis again.

2 hours ago, Elsa said:

I remember that poster on the crazy board where people are not allowed to mention LA soaps by name. She claimed to be an African American post-op transsexual married woman with two kids who had worked on several shows. Some of her stories were very interesting. There was also a lot of talk about food in her posts for some reason.

 

"Interesting" does not equate to "believable," however.

3 hours ago, teplin said:

 

Speaking of May/December romances -- or perhaps August/December -- I've seen it claimed that Lemay's story projections for his 1988 return included bringing Pat Randolph back ... and pairing her with John Hudson. How anybody would know that, I have no idea, but I would have loved to see Beverly Penberthy on a regular basis again.

 

Actually, I think a relationship between John (Hudson) and Pat -- or even a triangle between them and Sharlene -- might have been interesting, so long as they were allowed to remain adults throughout the whole thing and Sharlene didn't have revert to "Sharly" in order to ruin Pat and John's closeness.

On 4/19/2017 at 0:18 PM, vetsoapfan said:

 

Yes, the inexplicable way they wrote Gwen during the 25th anniversary celebration was definitely a weak point, but with so many former cast members returning, I knew there would be some missteps.

 

The Matthews family took its first major blows back in 1975, when Rauch and Lemay axed Jacqueline Courtney, Virginia Dwyer, and George Reinholt. With weak actors in both the roles of Russ and Alice, it was difficult for me to care much about those characters after that, and then of course, writing out Pat and killing off Jim really crippled the show.

 

Executives come and go over the years, and tend not to understand the importance of long-running characters, but viewers are firecely attached to them.

 

I'll cut TPTB some slack with those 25th Anniversary episodes for some "missteps" since the scripts had to be heavily rewritten to compensate the untimely death of Douglass Watson (Mac).  Wasn't he on vacation when he passed away, and then was to return to film the party scenes for the 25th Anniversary.   There was a scene in the episodes where Rachel and Alice speak about missing Steve.  This was the perfect time to do some Alice, Steve, and Rachel flashbacks or have Steve appear to both Alice and Rachel.

On 4/18/2017 at 0:05 AM, vetsoapfan said:

In 1989, the final scene on the yacht between Rachel and Alice was great, and brought a much-welcomed closure to the long-running rivalry between the two characters. Both actresses were superb.

 

With its endless on-screen changes throughout the years, AW could have benefited so much by having Courtney, an original cast member, at the hub of its wheel. With Courtney and Wyndham at its core, the show could have had a strong foundation upon which to build a rich tapestry on interwoven characters and storylines, rich is history. Alas, TPTB screwed it all up, over and over again.

 

AW needed some real stability in 1989 after the passing of Douglass Watson.   If George Reihholt had himself together to be a team player, I would have rewritten the Edward Black/Steve Frame story to have David Canary's character be an imposter who assumed Steve's identity and held the real Steve hostage after his plane crash in 1975.   Mac could have discovered the real Steve was alive and sent the clue to Rachel in the red swan.  The real Steve turns up alive, and you could have had the real Rachel/Steve/Alice triangle in 1989 to compensate for the absence of Mac.  This would have made more sense than the entire Ken Jordan/Paulina story that aired on the show.

On 4/18/2017 at 11:39 PM, Nothin'ButAttitude said:

Who decided to even kill Sally? 

 

Seeing as the actor that played Catlin didn't last much longer after Sally was killed off, they should've just given Sally and Catlin their happy ending and written them off. From seeing everyone's commentary in the past on the Brittany story, it was obvious a flop by then. They should've scrapped it, sent Brittany off into the sunset, and allowed Sally a happy ending. 

 

Boggles my mind how this show spend the better part of the early to mid 80s offing Frames and Matthews left and right. 

 

Wasn't one of Liz's daughters killed in the early 80s? Or was it her granddaughter?

 

The character of Sally should have never been killed.  She should have left town for awhile and then returned to the canvas.  Mary Page Keller had some modest success in prime time and then nothing.  I imagine if Keller was offered a good deal she would have returned to AW.  She was Jamie's stepsister and Rachel's stepdaughter, she had a son Kevin who could have easily been written on the show, and she would have kept Irene Dailey's Aunt Liz on the canvas.  The presence of Sally would have compensated for all those Amanda recasts in the 90s and probably could have kept the show from being so "Vicky-centric" with all the storylines revolving around Jensen Buchanan's Vicky.

By 1989, I think, George Reinholt probably had been humbled enough by his post-soap life to return to AW and be more of a team player.  So, yeah, AW should have made the effort, especially once Douglass Watson had passed away, to rehire him.

 

But why go to the trouble of saying David Canary's Steve was an impostor JUST to facilitate Reinholt's return?  I think you could just say that Steve had faked his death in that car accident -- perhaps, stemming from trouble that first arose shortly after his helicopter crash, but had reared its head again once he had returned to Bay City -- in order to protect his loved ones, and then go from there.  (Specifically, resolve the trouble that had been hounding Steve all those years (even when he was back in Bay City -- you could find a way, for example, to say his enemies had rigged that construction collapse that almost killed him and Rachel), maybe have it impact several characters' lives, then have him re-settle permanently in Bay City.)

 

To me, a SECOND presumed death would be easier for most viewers to take than an impostor storyline.  But, hey, if the trade-off is having Steve back, alive, and with Reinholt back in the role, then it probably wouldn't matter.

1 hour ago, watson71 said:

 

The character of Sally should have never been killed.  She should have left town for awhile and then returned to the canvas.  Mary Page Keller had some modest success in prime time and then nothing.  I imagine if Keller was offered a good deal she would have returned to AW.  She was Jamie's stepsister and Rachel's stepdaughter, she had a son Kevin who could have easily been written on the show, and she would have kept Irene Dailey's Aunt Liz on the canvas.  The presence of Sally would have compensated for all those Amanda recasts in the 90s and probably could have kept the show from being so "Vicky-centric" with all the storylines revolving around Jensen Buchanan's Vicky.

 

Wasn't Sally also viewed as a surrogate daughter of Mac & Rachel's? If so, she so could've filled the void of Amanda instead of constantly recasting Amanda. I feel like after Christine Tucci left the role, they should've put Amanda on ice until Sandy Ferguson returned to reclaim the role in '98. 

 

And didn't the show become Vicky-centric once Vicky Wyndham supposedly gave the green light for them to push Vicky more in the forefront? That's something I've always heard. I feel like the show became too focused on Vicky about the last 3 years. While Vicky drove story throughout the early to mid 90s, there was at least balance and other characters got to shine. 

6 hours ago, watson71 said:

 

I'll cut TPTB some slack with those 25th Anniversary episodes for some "missteps" since the scripts had to be heavily rewritten to compensate the untimely death of Douglass Watson (Mac).  Wasn't he on vacation when he passed away, and then was to return to film the party scenes for the 25th Anniversary.   There was a scene in the episodes where Rachel and Alice speak about missing Steve.  This was the perfect time to do some Alice, Steve, and Rachel flashbacks or have Steve appear to both Alice and Rachel.

 

AW needed some real stability in 1989 after the passing of Douglass Watson.   If George Reihholt had himself together to be a team player, I would have rewritten the Edward Black/Steve Frame story to have David Canary's character be an imposter who assumed Steve's identity and held the real Steve hostage after his plane crash in 1975.   Mac could have discovered the real Steve was alive and sent the clue to Rachel in the red swan.  The real Steve turns up alive, and you could have had the real Rachel/Steve/Alice triangle in 1989 to compensate for the absence of Mac.  This would have made more sense than the entire Ken Jordan/Paulina story that aired on the show.

 

Yes, with the sudden death of DW, the scripts had to be drastically rewritten quickly, so I tend to give the writers some clack, particularly since there was a lot of satisfying stuff offered to veteran viewers during the anniversary week.

 

Since we know that Jacquie Courtney had made copies of and kept many of her most memorable scenes as Alice, I just wish the show had shown vintage Alice/Steven/Rachel flashbacks, particularly that famous scene where Rachel went to the country house and tried to kick Alice out. That would have been the icing on the cake for me.