GL now joins some illustrious company in the cancelled soap thread.

Let's share memories and ask questions here.

Were fans happy with the endgame couples?

1 hour ago, SamandWillowFan said:

Were fans happy with the endgame couples?

Yes, I was. Not keen on the double wedding. Just think they're hokey. I bet no nobody actually has one. 

16 hours ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

AMC: Erica was there from the beginning, a native & presented from the start as a handful. Erica always had one story per year that she was the star of but the rest of the time she was in on everyone else's stuff just as a regular person, sorta. 

AW: Rachel was there from early days not the beginning & she regularly had starring roles in s/ls but also functioned as part of groups & had friendships, etc. She was a native. 

DAYS: Marlena came along pretty early but was not a native. She moved there. Her first identity was just as a doc & Mickey Horton was her first patient. BITD I don't think anyone would have predicted she'd become queen of the show. But Pat Falken Smith created another iconic romantic couple out of Roman & Marlena. Then when Stefano became obsessed with her, her status was sealed. 

GL: Reva was not a native & not there from early days either. Brought into town, paid, to do a dirty deed. Reva was never just a part of the gang. She always had her own stories. She did participate in stories of people in her sphere of influence, like family. She was with every Lewis man but Bill. They retconned her past so she was a child in the Lewis household but the Lewises weren't native themselves.

3 of 4 probably had guarantees of 4. Deidre doesn't. 

Carly at GH is probably the most like Reva. Hmm, Carly at ATWT maybe too. 

Did anyone ever notice that in almost all cases of "A Middle-Aged Woman Ate My Soap," the woman has been a former bad-girl?  AW - Rachel, AMC - Erica, GL - Reva, ATWT - Carly, GH - Carly, EON - Raven, etc??   Is this just a coincidence?  Of course there are a few exceptions, when a nice character eats a soap: DOOL - Marlena (and at times Hope), OLTL - Vicki (but Vicki really always was the leading lady from day-one. So I'm not sure she fits this mold), etc.  

Also, would others agree that this phenomenon has never happened on Y&R and B&B?  I'm curious how and why writers on those two shows seem to have avoided this trend.  At least so far.   

Y&R Nikki?

B&B Brooke?

On 8/10/2023 at 5:02 AM, Paul Raven said:

Not only was GL's new production model something to get used to, everything looked so drab and unappealing. 

In 1983 Gloria Monty produced The Hamptons for ABC primetime on location on alow budget.

Although it was only once a week for 6 weeks, it looked a hell of a lot better than GL. And that was over 20 years earlier. There must have been big advancements in production techniques over that time. Yet GL looked dismal

agreed about gl’s aesthetics, but not sure this is a valid comparison. “the hamptons” may have been low budget, but it was certainly more than gl’s at the end. and whatever “advancements in production techniques” that may have occurred, they wouldn’t have compensated for time: “the hamptons” shot an episode a week; gl an episode a day.

Edited August 11, 20232 yr by wonderwoman1951

4 hours ago, Neil Johnson said:

Did anyone ever notice that in almost all cases of "A Middle-Aged Woman Ate My Soap," the woman has been a former bad-girl?  AW - Rachel, AMC - Erica, GL - Reva, ATWT - Carly, GH - Carly, EON - Raven, etc??   Is this just a coincidence?

Very interesting. Surely it's not just coincidence. 

Edited August 11, 20232 yr by Donna L. Bridges
typo

I don't know if someone will be able to answer but I'm trying to find more about GL late 1960s' history. After checking the script archives from many writers, I think Agnes Nixon stopped being HW on November 25, 1966 and Irna Phillips came back with John Boruff on December 15, 1967. 

So 1967 is quite confused. Many writers are credited: the Averys, Funt & Lesan, the Ferros...

I only found a newspaper article crediting Theodore and Mathilde Ferro as HW in August 1967. Would someone have some more precise info for the writing of that year?

Thanks  

3 hours ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

agreed about gl’s aesthetics, but not sure this is a valid comparison. “the hamptons” may have been low budget, but it was certainly more than gl’s at the end. and whatever “advancements in production techniques” that may have occurred, they wouldn’t have compensated for time: “the hamptons” shot an episode a week; gl an episode a day.

I wonder if a comparison might not be to The City. I think people found it visually jarring.

16 hours ago, wonderwoman1951 said:

while there were a lot of errors and omissions — especially re oltl — i have to give her a pass. she finished the book just before she died at 93, from parkinson's. her children were helping her, but i’m sure there was a lot they didn’t know,

when i saw her in 2011, her memory was already shaky.  

I respect that Agnes was 93. I'll give her a pass that her memory may not have been great. But I don't give a pass to her editors who should have fact checked her book. The problem is that people will quote passages from her book and believe them because it was in her book. Agnes said so in her book so it's a fact.

It happens all the time here that books and page numbers get quoted as facts, when they are not true. To stay on topic about GL, Christopher Schemering's 50th Anniversary book about GL had several wrong statements. Just because it's in a book doesn't mean it's true.

4 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Y&R Nikki?

I would never have thought this about Y&R - to me, for it to be the highest rated and arguably the most popular for years - I've always thought it to have absolutely the weakest cast out there.  Definitely a show that I thought could never handle a bad writing stint.  Yet here we are.  Y&R kind of has a number of women that could fall into this category for me - not just one bad girl turned good.  I think - Jill before Nikki (but Jill has never maintained air time, Nikki has).  I'd throw in also - Sharon although never from the wrong side of the tracks, but Sharon is a more Brooke like (B&B) character, and then also I think of Lauren.  Never would have thought, but Y&R has kind of maintained a stable of good actresses as the show approaches likely an end.  I would never have thought it would be the show to maintain a stronger cast.....I also think Ashley and Phyllis.  Any one of these women have at times carried a LOT of story and airtime.  Nothing like Reva on GL or Vicky on OLTL, Erica on AMC, Marlena on DAYS.  I do think maybe Nikki is the most likely of Y&R's women right now, but it coulda shoulda been Jill.  

1 hour ago, TEdgeofNight said:

I respect that Agnes was 93. I'll give her a pass that her memory may not have been great. But I don't give a pass to her editors who should have fact checked her book. The problem is that people will quote passages from her book and believe them because it was in her book. Agnes said so in her book so it's a fact.

It happens all the time here that books and page numbers get quoted as facts, when they are not true. To stay on topic about GL, Christopher Schemering's 50th Anniversary book about GL had several wrong statements. Just because it's in a book doesn't mean it's true.

At the time I read it I thought someone from soaps should have been an editorial pass.

@FrenchFanThis is what was stated in Variety.

Agnes continued writing TGL when she took over AW. John Boruff was now assisting at TGL as of Jan 66

Ted and Mathilde Ferro began May 67

Irna returned as headwriter Feb 68

Are the Averys,Funt/Lesan mentioned in scripts you've seen?

I see their names in Soap World but maybe they were just scriptwriters under Irna. She was headwriter of ATWT at that time so maybe just doing long term story.

Also GL went to half an hour in 68 so extra writers might have been brought in.

EDIT

I went back to my files and found the copy of the Variety article from Feb 68.

It states that Irna had returned to GL recently so your dates of Dec 67 is correct. It states that when Irna quit LIAMST in October 67 she was asked by P&G to return to GL.

August 11, 2009, last actual production day, I believe. Today is an Endiversary. 14 years. 

1 hour ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

August 11, 2009, last actual production day, I believe. Today is an Endiversary. 14 years. 

Oh! I do miss the show and just tuning in and seeing familiar characters. That's the thing about soaps, you form such an attachment because you "interact" with these characters daily for years. I know it wouldn't be the same if it was still on and the last years were rough and I didn't watch much, but I wish there was somewhere to revisit whatever is left of the catalog.