GL could've expanded the Grant family by making the Bordreauxs cousins as opposed to a completely new family. Remy was basically a David recast-- iirc he became a cop and essentially had the same vibe that post-Monti Sharp David had.

I didn't like Mel and her family. Although I'm not sure it's anyone's fault, the show didn't do anything consistently with them. But Mel was a stick in the mud, and Remy was annoying.

Was converting a 1986 episode of Guiding Light and did a double-take halfway through: Fiona Hutchison was playing a nurse named Molly Patterson. I was shocked as I assumed that her first soap role was on OLTL, but there she was and it seems to be her first appearance. It's not listed on IMDb or anywhere else online. I just uploaded it to the vault so everyone can check it out there.

13 minutes ago, Search For Yesterday said:

Was converting a 1986 episode of Guiding Light and did a double-take halfway through: Fiona Hutchison was playing a nurse named Molly Patterson. I was shocked as I assumed that her first soap role was on OLTL, but there she was and it seems to be her first appearance. It's not listed on IMDb or anywhere else online. I just uploaded it to the vault so everyone can check it out there.

Fiona was on GL in three different roles. Her first was in 1984 or early 1985 as a student of Quint's.

4 hours ago, P.J. said:

I didn't like Mel and her family. Although I'm not sure it's anyone's fault, the show didn't do anything consistently with them. But Mel was a stick in the mud, and Remy was annoying.

The way they introduced them was terrible. Rick literally picked Mel up in a bar. Their "romance" was SO blah. You would think there would be something sexy about meeting like that, but they had the most insipid conversation. Like what kind of movies they liked. So boring.

I don't recall the parents being used signficantly in storylines. (Though I DO remember the mother ending up in one of Reva's past lives during the time travel story, ugh).

It was the same losing strategy they used with the faux Bauers: stick these people in and hope they click with the audience.

The fact that they had to make Rick suddenly dying of a heart condition no one knew about before--to the point he needed a transplant (and don't even get me started on THAT) shows that they had to make it entirely plot driven because there was little to nothing to draw on from the characters.

The reason the Lewises quickly became a permanent part of GL is because they immediately wove the characters into storylines: Billy and Alan's rivalry, which was both about Spaulding and Vanessa, Mindy dropped into a quadrangle with Phillip, Beth, and Rick, Josh feeling like the odd Lewis out, and then Reva rolling into town and throwing a grenade on the whole thing. A lot of this came from character.

I want to give them credit for introducing a Black family to the show, but just doing that wasn't enough.

Edited Thursday at 09:55 PM1 day by DeeVee

1 hour ago, Search For Yesterday said:

Was converting a 1986 episode of Guiding Light and did a double-take halfway through: Fiona Hutchison was playing a nurse named Molly Patterson. I was shocked as I assumed that her first soap role was on OLTL, but there she was and it seems to be her first appearance. It's not listed on IMDb or anywhere else online. I just uploaded it to the vault so everyone can check it out there.

Check the Soap Hoppers thread. Information on actors and their roles that can't be found elsewhere, Slick Jones is doing an amazing job.

2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

The way they introduced them was terrible. Rick literally picked Mel up in a bar. Their "romance" was SO blah. You would think there would be something sexy about meeting like that, but they had the most insipid conversation. Like what kind of movies they liked. So boring.

I don't recall the parents being used signficantly in storylines. (Though I DO remember the mother ending up in one of Reva's past lives during the time travel story, ugh).

It was the same losing strategy they used with the faux Bauers: stick these people in and hope they click with the audience.

The fact that they had to make Rick suddenly dying of a heart condition no one knew about before--to the point he needed a transplant (and don't even get me started on THAT) shows that they had to make it entirely plot driven because there was little to nothing to draw on from the characters.

The reason the Lewises quickly became a permanent part of GL is because they immediately wove the characters into storylines: Billy and Alan's rivalry, which was both about Spaulding and Vanessa, Mindy dropped into a quadrangle with Phillip, Beth, and Rick, Josh feeling like the odd Lewis out, and then Reva rolling into town and throwing a grenade on the whole thing. A lot of this came from character.

I want to give them credit for introducing a Black family to the show, but just doing that wasn't enough.

Absolutely. Rauch heralded the move in the soap press as it was one of the last moves he did as EP, along with commissioning the "50 Years on Television" intro. It felt very forced and there was little thought put into the characters. At the same time, sister soap ATWT was giving Y&R a run for its money with its prominent black scene: Jessica, Ben, Issac, Bonnie, Camille...

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Spoon

3 hours ago, Search For Yesterday said:

2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

The way they introduced them was terrible. Rick literally picked Mel up in a bar. Their "romance" was SO blah. You would think there would be something sexy about meeting like that, but they had the most insipid conversation. Like what kind of movies they liked. So boring.

I don't recall the parents being used signficantly in storylines. (Though I DO remember the mother ending up in one of Reva's past lives during the time travel story, ugh).

It was the same losing strategy they used with the faux Bauers: stick these people in and hope they click with the audience.

The fact that they had to make Rick suddenly dying of a heart condition no one knew about before--to the point he needed a transplant (and don't even get me started on THAT) shows that they had to make it entirely plot driven because there was little to nothing to draw on from the characters.

The reason the Lewises quickly became a permanent part of GL is because they immediately wove the characters into storylines: Billy and Alan's rivalry, which was both about Spaulding and Vanessa, Mindy dropped into a quadrangle with Phillip, Beth, and Rick, Josh feeling like the odd Lewis out, and then Reva rolling into town and throwing a grenade on the whole thing. A lot of this came from character.

I want to give them credit for introducing a Black family to the show, but just doing that wasn't enough.

Was converting a 1986 episode of Guiding Light and did a double-take halfway through: Fiona Hutchison was playing a nurse named Molly Patterson. I was shocked as I assumed that her first soap role was on OLTL, but there she was and it seems to be her first appearance. It's not listed on IMDb or anywhere else online. I just uploaded it to the vault so everyone can check it out there.

i know Fiona was on through the fall---she ends up having a scene with Vanessa and Henry around the time Vanessa is looking for Dinah.

Re: Mel and her family---at times I think they simply dusted off the Grant family dynamic and threw it onscreen. Successful, driven older daughter, troublemaking son, doctor father and strong willed (if less social climbing) mother. I think they tried to weave Mel into the town (wasn't she friends with Harley and Blake?). But no, I don't really remember them working the parents into Springfield either.

I don't remember if they came on as a family, or if the show just kind of slapped a family on Mel after they decided Rick needed a wife. Even the faux Bauers seemed more thought out than that. When Long introduced Billy and Mindy, we already had reason to care about him, he was Trish and Josh's brother and niece. Or at least it helped. Mel was already pretty bland--giving her a bland family didn't help. Gosh---I can't believe Remy was a character for that long. He must've been on the Frankie D plan.

7 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Fiona was on GL in three different roles. Her first was in 1984 or early 1985 as a student of Quint's.

6 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Check the Soap Hoppers thread. Information on actors and their roles that can't be found elsewhere, Slick Jones is doing an amazing job.

4 hours ago, P.J. said:

i know Fiona was on through the fall---she ends up having a scene with Vanessa and Henry around the time Vanessa is looking for Dinah.

I knew I should have checked the forum first. Looks like I have some more 80s GL to watch (again).

33 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

The way they introduced them was terrible. Rick literally picked Mel up in a bar. Their "romance" was SO blah. You would think there would be something sexy about meeting like that, but they had the most insipid conversation. Like what kind of movies they liked. So boring.

I don't recall the parents being used signficantly in storylines. (Though I DO remember the mother ending up in one of Reva's past lives during the time travel story, ugh).

It was the same losing strategy they used with the faux Bauers: stick these people in and hope they click with the audience.

The fact that they had to make Rick suddenly dying of a heart condition no one knew about before--to the point he needed a transplant (and don't even get me started on THAT) shows that they had to make it entirely plot driven because there was little to nothing to draw on from the characters.

The reason the Lewises quickly became a permanent part of GL is because they immediately wove the characters into storylines: Billy and Alan's rivalry, which was both about Spaulding and Vanessa, Mindy dropped into a quadrangle with Phillip, Beth, and Rick, Josh feeling like the odd Lewis out, and then Reva rolling into town and throwing a grenade on the whole thing. A lot of this came from character.

I want to give them credit for introducing a Black family to the show, but just doing that wasn't enough.

That story sums up why I was not enjoying the show at the time. The plots had potential, but the beats just didn't feel natural and I couldn't connect. It didn't help that by that point I was already tired of transplant stories along these lines. I did think the stories began pulling together in the last months of 2002, but sadly that regime was then shown the door.

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

I don't remember if they came on as a family, or if the show just kind of slapped a family on Mel after they decided Rick needed a wife. Even the faux Bauers seemed more thought out than that. When Long introduced Billy and Mindy, we already had reason to care about him, he was Trish and Josh's brother and niece. Or at least it helped. Mel was already pretty bland--giving her a bland family didn't help. Gosh---I can't believe Remy was a character for that long. He must've been on the Frankie D plan.

Mel may have arrived first but I think the plans for the family were always there. They cast well-respected soap actors Richard Biggs and Shari Headley as her parents. Once it became obvious neither was going to get a storyline, they left. The father was repeatedly recast, while the mother was played by Kim Brockington, whom I did like.

I think early on they hinted at marriage problems, and the father was used in a college protest story, but not much.

I like Yvonna but Mel was indeed generic. I think she benefited in the last years when they had her realize how toxic Beth/Rick were, end her marriage, and somehow ended up with Cyris/

Originally when Mel's family officially appeared, the story was that they were residents in the town that we hadn't met yet. For some reason, Mel's mother Felicia was good friends with Blake and I think the father knew the Bauers for awhile.

I remember Another World when Harding Lemay wrote the show had the Perrini's were mentioned for years as a neighbor of Ada's before Angie was introduced...so it was a shame that the show didn't really ever think to employ that technique on GL... especially during the Long era where she could have done this with either the Shayne's or Coopers.

I’m up to June 15, 1999.

Holly is ready for her hearing, but Blake/Ross have to give her the bad news that the judge has delayed it until August, even though the good press they’ve generated has been working. While sad, Holly thanks Blake and Ross for working together to help her, but then Ross just gets the news that a mystery person has a made a call and was able to get her date changed to tomorrow. The hearing starts the next day and Ross and the prosecutor (Doris) make their arguments, but it’s ultimately Holly who speaks candidly about her past and struggles, but how she’s worked hard on herself and feels recovered. The judge says he’s very hesitant to let her go, but because there are no outstanding charges against her and the majority of doctors have voted in her favor, he decides to let her go, but she has to wear an ankle monitor, continuing therapy and can never work with or near children again. Holly/Blake/Ross all celebrate together, but Doris, the prosecutor, tells Ross what just happened makes no sense and leaves, with Ross saying under his breath that wasn’t quite a miracle, but something strange happened. Outside, Blake gets a call from Ben who congratulates her for Holly’s release, but she asks how he could possibly know since it just happened, and he says that doesn’t matter and hangs up. We then see Ross talking to the judge privately, who tells Ross that his ‘lowlife brother, Ben’ made it possible to get the hearing date moved up and to get Holly released. Later, we see Holly finally at home with Blake, feeling at peace. While Holly is with the boys, Ross comes by and tells Blake about Ben getting Holly released, but doesn’t want to take credit for it. Blake is shocked, but reiterates to Ross that she and Ben are over. Ross eventually leaves, but hugs Blake on his way out, which Holly happens to see. She comes out smiling and Blake tells her to calm down, they are just friends and she then tells Holly about Ben getting her released.

Carmen continues to lie to Danny and now Pilar about wanting to make the family straight and narrow. Danny asks her to publicly announce to everyone what they’re doing at Ray’s upcoming mass service (his first as priest), which she agrees to, but tells Ben she’s going to continue to lie. Danny later tells Michelle about the plan, and how he’s going to have Ray marry them after the mass service as a surprise to everyone, which makes her excited. We then see Dietz listening to Carmen/Ben’s conversation about her convincing the other mob families that she’s going to continue working with them behind her children’s backs, but he doesn’t like the inconsistency and thinks they’re becoming weak. He calls the other family and says he’s defecting to them and wants to put a hit on the Santos family during the mass service! Carmen tells Ben about her late husband and how on his deathbed, she promised to keep his legacy alive and she can’t go against her promise.

Abby’s doctor comes by to ease her fears and fix her implant, which ultimately works and makes Abby/Rick happy again. Rick runs into Michelle and Danny and tells her about Abby’s implant, which excites Michelle. I’m glad they threw this in here, because Budig’s Michelle was very involved in Abby’s sign language story. Rick comments on how happy Michelle looks, so Danny tells him about his plan to legitimize the family business and then asks him properly for Michelle’s hand in marriage. Rick still says he’s hesitant about the world she’ll be in, but asks him to take care of her and he promises to. Abby arrives and she says she’s comfortable going to the wedding, even with all the new sounds.

People start to gather for Ray’s first mass service and Carmen is quick to wonder why Rick and Abby are there. We then see Dietz and his new cohort talking outside, acting giddy about what they have planned, just as the camera pans over to Danny/Michelle with a 30-minute bomb timer starting to tick underneath their pew. Ray starts the service and Abby, now with superhuman hearing LOL, can hear a whirring sound (the bomb timer) that no one else can hear and asks Rick about it. We see Deitz lock the doors and Ben eventually asks Carmen where he is, but she brushes it off. Abby then interrupts the service by jumping out of her seat and asking everyone if they can hear that noise. Rick tries to calm her down, but she’s dead set on finding it and eventually does so by pointing at the timer which is at 9 minutes. Danny realizes it’s a bomb and everyone panics and realizes they’re locked in. Bill pipes up and says he thinks he can turn it off if he chooses the right wire to cut, but a frantic Michelle starts running to them and Bill takes her to the corner and covers her up. Danny then pulls the right wire with just 2 seconds left and saves the day. Carmen tells Ben this is just the start of a war and she will get revenge, and Michelle tells Bill she thinks Carmen set up the attack, which Bill doesn’t believe. Dietz comes around and plays innocent as Danny goes off on him for not watching out for them. He tells them he saw a man running away, but he couldn’t catch him (lies). They send him away to tell all the families that the Santos family is alive and well. Michelle sees that Danny is turning back to his old self by wanting revenge, and after Carmen tells him to leave with her, Michelle stops everyone and openly calls out that Carmen staged her own shootout. Carmen denies it and Pilar can’t believe it, but Michelle says she has proof. She brings out the clock and explains the difference in time between the clock when the guns were fired and when Ben called. Bill eventually backs her up and Danny presses Carmen for the truth. She’s hesitant, but Ben encourages her to tell the truth and she finally does by saying she did it because she was afraid of losing her kids. However, she says she wasn’t involved in the bomb attempt and it was a reminder that you can’t leave the lifestyle, so she tells Danny he must stay involved with or without Michelle. Rick later confides in Abby that he is once again scared for Michelle’s life and feels like he must do something to protect her.

Selena and Buzz talk about when she learned she was pregnant, which Drew overhears. Selena says she was in a bad place, but started turning her life around for her baby, but she was being abused so badly by one of her johns leading up to Drew’s birth. Drew is crying while listening just as Jesse walks up. Selena and Buzz see them both and they quietly realize Drew heard them talking, even though she said she was just enjoying the weather, and Jesse/Drew leave. Drew later visits Selena and asks her for more information, seemingly more open to hearing her. Selena cries and tells her how much she loved baby Drew and all the struggles she had to make money to keep her fed and safe. She says she kept the book of johns in case she was murdered, because her murderer’s name would be written down in the book for the police, which gets to Drew. We then see a flashback of a young Selena with a baby Drew and the police snatching the baby away and arresting Selena. Drew then hugs Selena and they cry together, which was sweet, and Drew apologizes to her for judging her so badly for giving her up. Again, wonderfully acted scenes by these two ladies. Meanwhile, Buzz lets it slip to Jesse that he cares for Selena more than just a good friend, and after Buzz tries to backtrack, Jesse reminds him that Jenna liked Selena a lot and he should pursue it. Later, Drew tells Jesse about her talk with Selena and how she was taken away as a baby, how upset she is by it, and how bad she felt for Selena. She then goes to Selena at Company and calls her ‘mother’, which Max overhears. When he confronts them about it, Selena plays it off as Drew is like a daughter to her and vice versa. Max eventually leaves and Selena asks Drew about calling her mother and Drew says yes, she can see their connection and she’s going to embrace it, which makes Selena so happy. Later, as Buzz and Selena are getting Company ready for its grand reopening the next day, they play music and goof around by dancing and eventually kiss. Harley walks in just as they pull apart and Selena starts to freak out, which tickles Harley. She eventually leaves to clean the kitchen and Harley/Buzz discuss his feelings, which Harley is supportive of.

Susan is now hellbent on being anti-Beth, which is a total 180 from a few months ago. She comes up with a secret plan with Max to make Beth look like trash to Jim. Meanwhile, Cassie and Blake are with Harley and trading notes on how insecure and difficult Beth is to deal with. Susan/Max show up and Susan lies by saying she wants to thank Beth and create a photo album for her like she did for Susan on her birthday. She asks Phillip for help by giving her old pictures of Beth from high school that he has saved. Meanwhile, Jim and Beth are gearing up for a tennis date, where Beth is asking him to teach her how to play, and they find Annie alone with Lizzie yet again at the house. Before they came in, Lizzie had confided in Annie again that she feels lonely and left out now that Beth is spending more time with Jim. Beth tells Annie it is time to leave, and Annie privately tells Lizzie that she’ll see her again. Susan/Max then show up and Susan lies and says Phillip wanted her to bring this big box of photos and memorabilia to Lizzie. She starts opening things and finds a news article about Beth being a tennis champion, along with pictures of Beth playing doubles with Phillip, which surprises Jim and makes Beth look like a liar. Beth is embarrassed and starts crying about it and runs off, but Jim sees through what Susan is doing and he calls her out on it later. He gives her a good tongue lashing and Susan then cries to Max about how Jim is taking Beth’s side over hers. Jim then comforts a crying Beth who is so emotional about this dumb thing, and he says it’s ok and kisses her. This whole thing is SO silly to me, I can’t believe I’m typing it out in detail. Later, they finally have sex for the first time, but it was a bit cringe at first because she flashed back to Carl and freaked out. Beth started crying and a shirtless Jim had to convince her it’ll be ok and he slowly tells her every move he’s going to make so she isn’t scared and they finally get on with it. Why she wasn’t this scared with Matt is beyond me. Afterwards, Jim leaves for work and Susan watches, which makes her realize they spent the night together and she freaks out. Beth finds Susan and Susan screams and lashes out at her, eventually telling Beth that she hates her and threatens that she’s seen nothing yet.

Reva and Josh are enjoying their honeymoon with mud baths and massages, but when the meditation guy comes in, they realize it’s a hippie spirituality and wellness retreat, and they eventually just want pizza, which they sneak in and enjoy. They haven’t mentioned where they are, so not sure if they are in San Cristobel or not, which is odd.

4 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

I’m up to June 15, 1999.

Why she wasn’t this scared with **** is beyond me.

Because **** is about as threatening as a yappy terrier.

3 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Originally when Mel's family officially appeared, the story was that they were residents in the town that we hadn't met yet. For some reason, Mel's mother Felicia was good friends with Blake and I think the father knew the Bauers for awhile.

I remember Another World when Harding Lemay wrote the show had the Perrini's were mentioned for years as a neighbor of Ada's before Angie was introduced...so it was a shame that the show didn't really ever think to employ that technique on GL... especially during the Long era where she could have done this with either the Shayne's or Coopers.

Or ATWT's face-less Snyder neighbors, the Cobbs. Janie Cobb was forever babysitting Snyder children.