6 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

If I recall, Dinah was mentioned during the custody story in 1993/1994. There was a small arc where Dinah was preparing to come for a visit to see Ross while Blake was nervous to meet Dinah, but at the last second, Dinah wasn't on the plane. As it later turned out, Vanessa had asked Dinah not to come because she feared that if Dinah came to visit while she was in the custody battle with Bridget.. that it would reflect poorly on her.

I recall Ross was upset with Vanessa for doing that... but it would explain why Dinah seemed to have a chip on her shoulder about Vanessa when she did finally blow into town in early 1995.

6 hours ago, Robluvthebeach said:

So Wendy Moniz had shared that she was hired as Dinah in Fall '93 (Sydney Penny had tested but went to AMC) but Leonard Staab's accident postponed those plans and then when they decided to bring her back was in Feb. 95 (she was a GL fan and was watching when Dinah was brought up in conversation between Vanessa and Ross in'94 and was worried that they may have hired someone else -but it was a red herring). So, when Dinah did come back the plans were always to bring back Hart as well to pair them together

1 hour ago, Spoon said:

I do remember them talking Dinah up for a while. I'm glad they chose Wendy, I don't know about Sydney's AMC work but I think she had an unimpressive stint on B&B.

Oh this is very interesting, thanks for posting! I'm glad Moniz was able to still go to GL after that long year of waiting. Gosh, I don't think Sydney Penny would have worked as well in that role. She was amazing on AMC and very popular, so going there made a ton of sense being part of the iconic Santos family. Moniz plays bitchy/scrappy really well.

Speaking of the Santos family, could GL not think of any other last name for their first major hispanic family? Haha, just seems like they were looking over to AMC and said ok, we'll take that name too.

16 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Speaking of the Santos family, could GL not think of any other last name for their first major hispanic family?

I would assume they picked the name "Santos" because that translates to "saints," an ironic commentary on a family full of criminals. So that shows at bit of thought.

But other than that when it comes to the Santos family? Pfft. SO disappointing to me as someone who is part Latina. I hate mob stories to begin with, and trying to make Latino mobsters one of their core families was a huge mistake, IMO.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by DeeVee

@DeeVee only Carmen and maybe the grandma were really bad. Danny wanted to get out, Tony was a little more gray but his brother, Father Ray was generally portrayed positively. They gave up quickly on Pilar, which GL did a lot around that time.

Here's a question, who did more damage to the DNA of GL- the mob or the Island people?

3 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I would assume they picked the name "Santos" because that translates to "saints," an ironic commentary on a family full of criminals. So that shows at bit of thought.

But other than that when it comes to the Santos family? Pfft. SO disappointing to me as someone who is part Latina. I hate mob stories to begin with, and trying to make Latino mobsters one of their core families was a huge mistake, IMO.

LOL - I didn't even think of that (the "saints" translation) - how ironic. Definitely a choice all around.

40 minutes ago, Spoon said:

@DeeVee only Carmen and maybe the grandma were really bad. Danny wanted to get out, Tony was a little more gray but his brother, Father Ray was generally portrayed positively. They gave up quickly on Pilar, which GL did a lot around that time.

Here's a question, who did more damage to the DNA of GL- the mob or the Island people?

I'm just new to the Santos family, but Mick of course was bad (the first guy who Michelle killed in self-defense). He started it all.

Gosh, I don't know much at all about the Island people, but doesn't sound promising haha. Unless this is the Prince I've read about that maybe Cassie or Beth was in a relationship with. And I remember a clip of a blind Reva holding someone at gun point... if none of that has anything to do with the Island people, then nevermind :)

1 hour ago, Spoon said:

Here's a question, who did more damage to the DNA of GL- the mob or the Island people?

Wow, tough question, lol. Both outlived their usefulness, but if I had to choose...? I'd say the San Cristobel crew. At its' heart, GL was a Midwestern show; so, to have over half of it take place suddenly on this mythical, vaguely Hispanic island (with royal subjects and townsfolk who were anything BUT Hispanic) was just too discombobulating (sp?). Say what you will about Andorra, San Rios, or even Barbados and Santo Domingo, but at least they didn't eat the show for years on end.

27 minutes ago, Khan said:

At its' heart, GL was a Midwestern show; so, to have over half of it take place suddenly on this mythical, vaguely Hispanic island (with royal subjects and townsfolk who were anything BUT Hispanic) was just too discombobulating (sp?). Say what you will about Andorra, San Rios, or even Barbados and Santo Domingo, but at least they didn't eat the show for years on end.

It's never good for a soap opera to have a second location. It splits the show's characters and it makes it close to impossible to do umbrella stories.

Agnes Nixon did it with her soaps with Center City and NYC, but had the characters tethered enough to the original locations to make it work. Not everyone is Agnes Nixon, LOL.

And worse, they eventually brought them all to SF. It was idiotic to have big music industry people in SF back in the 80s, but royals? So silly.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by DeeVee