On 10/19/2019 at 3:13 PM, Soaplovers said:

 

I always thought it a shame she and Lemay couldn't work well together because I think she could have helped him adjust to late 80s daytime.. and he could have helped her with connecting the dots idea wise.  I do think Lorna/Felicia being mother/daughter was great idea (though I sometimes wonder if Lisa Grady was meant to be her long lost daughter, but the actress quitting made the show abandon that idea).

I think there was some discussion about Lisa being Felicia's daughter. Didn't Felicia stick up for Lisa when Vicky was causing problems? I always had the sense that they were gearing up for that storyline, but it got shelved when the Lisa character became less vital once Anne Heche took over as Vicky. I don't remember how Lisa left, but I assume Joanna Going could see the writing on the wall, and that's why she left.

13 minutes ago, chrisml said:

I think there was some discussion about Lisa being Felicia's daughter. Didn't Felicia stick up for Lisa when Vicky was causing problems? I always had the sense that they were gearing up for that storyline, but it got shelved when the Lisa character became less vital once Anne Heche took over as Vicky. I don't remember how Lisa left, but I assume Joanna Going could see the writing on the wall, and that's why she left.

I'm not sure but I don't think so. I know when Lucas first came in, there was a scene between him and Felicia where he thought Lisa was their daughter and he accused Felicia of lying to him about her, but I think she was always meant to be Felicia's niece. I think she was brought in as the focal point of the Sin Stalker story. The story was that the Sin Stalker had killed Lisa's parents when she was younger because he was so obsessed with her.

 

From what I remember, Lisa left because she had just given up fighting for Jamie. I wish she had stayed though. I really liked the Lisa/Jamie/Vicky triangle. 

Edited October 21, 20196 yr by AbcNbc247

4 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I'm not sure but I don't think so. I know when Lucas first came in, there was a scene between him and Felicia where he thought Lisa was their daughter and he accused Felicia of lying to him about her, but I think she was always meant to be Felicia's niece. I think she was brought in as the focal point of the Sin Stalker story. The story was that the Sin Stalker had killed Lisa's parents when she was younger because he was so obsessed with her.

 

From what I remember, Lisa left because she had just given up fighting for Jamie. I wish she had stayed though. I really liked the Lisa/Jamie/Vicky triangle. 

 

Back before Lorna appeared, probably around 1990, there was talk about AW casting for the role of Bliss, a twenty something model who was rumored to be Felicia's long lost daughter. Clearly, Bliss was scrapped. It makes me wonder if Swajeski had no idea about who would turn out to be the daughter.

3 minutes ago, robbwolff said:

It makes me wonder if Swajeski had no idea about who would turn out to be the daughter.

I always thought that too, also that after a while she became more interested in creating and writing for Jenna.

2 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I always thought that too, also that after a while she became more interested in creating and writing for Jenna.

 

I liked some of Swajeski's work, but as others have pointed out, she really did not excel at wrapping up her stories. Great kernels of stories that had disappointing conclusions.

5 minutes ago, robbwolff said:

 

I liked some of Swajeski's work, but as others have pointed out, she really did not excel at wrapping up her stories. Great kernels of stories that had disappointing conclusions.

I liked her work too. Her and Peggy Sloane's tenures were the last good ones before the problems (sabotage?) began.

Edited October 21, 20196 yr by AbcNbc247

On 10/19/2019 at 12:23 PM, chrisml said:

The Red Swan was an absolute mess. It highlighted the problem with Swajeski's writing. She had great starts to her stories, but she never knew where to go with them. The RS just fizzled out. Swajeski was the type of writer where the individual episodes would be great, but they would never build on each other. She also had this odd thing about having a cliffhanger on Friday and not resolving until Tuesday or Wednesday. She needed someone with good storytelling/plotting skills to keep her on target.

 

Yes! I notice this with her as well. I enjoyed her writing on AW, mostly, but agreed completely with this.

She was also just a very generic/basic soap writer. Very run of the mill in terms of storyline content. 

What I remember most about Donna Swajeski's tenure at AW are the "one-off" episodes, like "A Valentine to Singles" and "Honeymoon on the Murder Express."  It seemed like AW was following SANTA BARBARA's, and JFP's, lead.

2 minutes ago, Khan said:

 It seemed like AW was following SANTA BARBARA's, and JFP's, lead.

Probably. 

 

Wasn't AW being blamed for SB's poor performance at the time by NBC?

Just now, AbcNbc247 said:

Wasn't AW being blamed for SB's poor performance at the time by NBC?

 

Really?  They did?

 

If you ask me, the two bigger strikes against SB were its' unconventionality, and the fact that it was up against GH and GL in most markets.  (Also, you'd have to take into account the BTS troubles, which definitely spilled over into the writing.)

 

I had no idea NBC blamed SB's dismal ratings on AW, though.  That's so damn ludicrous of them to do that, lol.

17 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

Really?  They did?

 

If you ask me, the two bigger strikes against SB were its' unconventionality, and the fact that it was up against GH and GL in most markets.  (Also, you'd have to take into account the BTS troubles, which definitely spilled over into the writing.)

 

I had no idea NBC blamed SB's dismal ratings on AW, though.  That's so damn ludicrous of them to do that, lol.

I'm not 100% sure but I did read that somewhere. I think GH was the biggest reason why SB didn't do so well too. But I think it was around this time that NBC started to get tired of P&G and wanted AW gone, or at least be its sole owner.

Edited October 21, 20196 yr by AbcNbc247

 

1 hour ago, chrisml said:

I think there was some discussion about Lisa being Felicia's daughter. Didn't Felicia stick up for Lisa when Vicky was causing problems? I always had the sense that they were gearing up for that storyline, but it got shelved when the Lisa character became less vital once Anne Heche took over as Vicky. I don't remember how Lisa left, but I assume Joanna Going could see the writing on the wall, and that's why she left.

 

Did she go then to that Mediterranean doctors show? "Going to Extremes"? I liked the triangle with Jamie & Vicky.

14 minutes ago, Khan said:

If you ask me, the two bigger strikes against SB were its' unconventionality, and the fact that it was up against GH and GL in most markets.  (Also, you'd have to take into account the BTS troubles, which definitely spilled over into the writing.)

What is BTS trouble?

 

Quote

 

I had no idea NBC blamed SB's dismal ratings on AW, though.  That's so damn ludicrous of them to do that, lol.

Yes, that is ludicrous.

Edited October 21, 20196 yr by Donna B
spelling

35 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

She was also just a very generic/basic soap writer. Very run of the mill in terms of storyline content. 

 

That's true. Sometimes that makes the show watchable, but not very "must see". Sometimes that's needed. But a good assessment. Run of the mill/generic. I guess after watching years of trash, I'm good with a little basic soap, lol. 

25 minutes ago, Khan said:

What I remember most about Donna Swajeski's tenure at AW are the "one-off" episodes, like "A Valentine to Singles" and "Honeymoon on the Murder Express."  It seemed like AW was following SANTA BARBARA's, and JFP's, lead.

 

Probably a network mandate. I forgot all about those, honestly. 

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I'm not sure but I don't think so. I know when Lucas first came in, there was a scene between him and Felicia where he thought Lisa was their daughter and he accused Felicia of lying to him about her, but I think she was always meant to be Felicia's niece. I think she was brought in as the focal point of the Sin Stalker story. The story was that the Sin Stalker had killed Lisa's parents when she was younger because he was so obsessed with her.

 

From what I remember, Lisa left because she had just given up fighting for Jamie. I wish she had stayed though. I really liked the Lisa/Jamie/Vicky triangle. 

 

I liked Lisa and the Lisa/Jamie/Vicky triangle as well. I was disappointed she left. I agree she was always probably supposed to be Felicia's niece. Now, she'd be her daughter for sure! LOL. "Shock twist" ... 

Edited October 21, 20196 yr by KMan101

37 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Probably. 

 

Wasn't AW being blamed for SB's poor performance at the time by NBC?

Ultimately, what I think sealed AW's fate on NBC was the ratings resurgence DAYS experienced under Reilly in the 90's. That had absolutely NO IMPACT on AW or the rest of their daytime lineup.