The entire Thanksgiving 1988 episode was outstanding from start to finish.  Ironically, this episode aired right after Harding Lemay quit as headwriter, and right before Donna Swajeski started as headwriter.  I wonder if the writers were working off of one of Lemay's outlines.  The episode ends with a montage to Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."  You would never see an episode like this on daytime today.  When AW was on fire- there was nothing better on daytime-  which made it all the worse in its last few years because of poor decisions made by TPTB.

 

 

 

Speaking of 1988 AW, wasn't Lemay going to write  a human trafficking storyline involving children but PGP backed out 

29 minutes ago, cassadine1991 said:

Speaking of 1988 AW, wasn't Lemay going to write  a human trafficking storyline involving children but PGP backed out 

Awesome Harding Lemay Interview

 

Part 4 answers your question

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2010/01/wls-interview-archive-harding-lemay.html

"The thing with Iris and Mac and Rachel was a great incest story basically. And we never had to say it. They played it for all it was worth."

 

On 6/17/2017 at 7:17 AM, juniorz1 said:

 

Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold the phone.  I thought it WAS revealed that Josie was Russ's daughter, hence her rivalry with Olivia.  Wasn't that the whole storyline that Russ was brought back for in the first place?  I'm pretty sure I remember watching (and re-watching) that happen.

 

Correct - someone else pointed that out, too. I had serious memory block on that one.

2 hours ago, John said:

Awesome Harding Lemay Interview

 

Part 4 answers your question

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2010/01/wls-interview-archive-harding-lemay.html

 

1 hour ago, Elsa said:

"The thing with Iris and Mac and Rachel was a great incest story basically. And we never had to say it. They played it for all it was worth."

 

 

The above montage clip, when Carmen Duncan's Iris takes the seat next to Mac with baby Alli- it's clear as day there too IMO, which makes me think this came from a Lemay outline too.  VW plays it in that scene as well, the look on her face when Iris does it just shows that her instinct is to go sit between them, but instead crosses to the window.   Or am I reading too much into a scene with no words and only blocking?

 

55 minutes ago, juniorz1 said:

 

 

The above montage clip, when Carmen Duncan's Iris takes the seat next to Mac with baby Alli- it's clear as day there too IMO, which makes me think this came from a Lemay outline too.  VW plays it in that scene as well, the look on her face when Iris does it just shows that her instinct is to go sit between them, but instead crosses to the window.   Or am I reading too much into a scene with no words and only blocking?

 

 

Absolutely, you are correct.  The actors didn't need words to convey what they were thinking.  Their actions spoke volumes with Mac and Iris playing with Alli in the background, while Rachel is looking out the terrace doors at the end of the episode.  At this point, Rachel is doubting Iris' intentions in her return to Bay City.  It will take months for Rachel to be proven correct when Iris is exposed as the chief of Bennett Publishing that tried to take over Cory Publishing.  The confrontation between Mac and Iris is one of Douglass Watson's last episodes on the show.

 

On 6/19/2017 at 1:05 PM, watson71 said:

The entire Thanksgiving 1988 episode was outstanding from start to finish.  Ironically, this episode aired right after Harding Lemay quit as headwriter, and right before Donna Swajeski started as headwriter.  I wonder if the writers were working off of one of Lemay's outlines.  The episode ends with a montage to Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."  You would never see an episode like this on daytime today.  When AW was on fire- there was nothing better on daytime-  which made it all the worse in its last few years because of poor decisions made by TPTB.

 

 

I love this episode and I am sure it was semi written already by Lemay.  Most storylines and episodes are already prepared in advance I believe..

 

What confuses me is that I heard Donna Swajeski wrote the shoe during the strike in 1988 (which I hear was disjointed/uneven)...so I'm confused why NBC/P & G allowed her to stay on the writing team?

 

Also, lemay seems pigheaded and stubborn...and I think he wouldn't have worked long term had he remained in 1988..unless he shortened the scenes a bit..and varied the conversations so they wouldn't the same thing day in, day out.  Though at least his conversations were more realistic sounding then a lot of Marland's were.

 

In my view, the Red swan seems like a Swajeski idea..and it d idnt seem to work..other then helping to bond Rachel/Iris.  I do think Swajeski helped evolve Iris in a way that I don't think Lemay would have..imho.  Plus, she created Lorna and had her be Felicia's daughter...a genius move..imho.

She also penned the Jamie/Vicky/Jake/Marley mess, though they should have had Steven be Jake's baby.   IMO, her writing is what brought Anne Heche to life.  She brought back Kathleen, Carl Hutchins, and she must have been responsible for Cecile's 1988 return at Halloween, since Harding LeMay didn't come back until November.  She started the Snowflake Ball, she did the special black & white Valentine's Day film noir piece, she was responsible for a lot of innovation on AW and she brought back key characters that fueled the show's future (Carl Hutchins being her longest felt achievement).

 

2 hours ago, juniorz1 said:

She also penned the Jamie/Vicky/Jake/Marley mess, though they should have had Steven be Jake's baby.   IMO, her writing is what brought Anne Heche to life.  She brought back Kathleen, Carl Hutchins, and she must have been responsible for Cecile's 1988 return at Halloween, since Harding LeMay didn't come back until November.  She started the Snowflake Ball, she did the special black & white Valentine's Day film noir piece, she was responsible for a lot of innovation on AW and she brought back key characters that fueled the show's future (Carl Hutchins being her longest felt achievement).

 

It's unfortunate because when I think about Swajeski's AW I immediately think of things I disliked (the treatment of Nicole, anything involving Frankie/Cass, the degradation of the Cass/Kathleen relationship, and most of all the whole fiasco with Donna, Michael and Stacey that made me despise the latter two), but she did a lot of good things too, and there was some fantastic drama, especially Jake's shooting trial, and the reveal of Iris as The Chief. And I adored Cali Timmons as Paulina, and Ryan, and Lorna (although I'm not sure how much of Lorna's best material she wrote), etc.

Edited June 22, 20178 yr by DRW50

She wrote Lorna's best stuff IMO.  Fierce Lorna.  Carl's henchwoman, the affair with Matt, rivalry with Felicia- that was the Lorna I loved.  Peggy Sloane wrote a more watered down version.

43 minutes ago, juniorz1 said:

She wrote Lorna's best stuff IMO.  Fierce Lorna.  Carl's henchwoman, the affair with Matt, rivalry with Felicia- that was the Lorna I loved.  Peggy Sloane wrote a more watered down version.

 

Lorna still had her edge during the Felicia alcoholism story.  She got watered down due to recast more then the writing.

Just now, Soaplovers said:

 

Lorna still had her edge during the Felicia alcoholism story.  She got watered down due to recast more then the writing.

 

I meant the rape.  I don't know what writer/producer thought it was a good idea to rape that character but they were nuts!