17 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I would have enjoyed an India return too, however briefly.

I can just imagine India taking a look around the Peapack sets...."What a DUMP," 

I did like that Lisa brought back some of Nola's "devil may care" with an edge..attitude..and I have to give it to Wheeler, they could have cut the Cooper diss and the kiss. 

Whoever said they should have just sent the younger characters off early and concentrated on the vets and the main family (I did not give a damn what Daisy, Ashley and that kid of Gus were up to...) more attention to Alan dying (would love a return of Hope for that...) etc. But they were paying those kids so, times being what they were, they used them.

15 hours ago, anthonymolchan said:

Alan-Michael and Amanda, following Alan’s death—-any actors. 

Instead of "killing" Phillip, I would have killed Alan earlier, murdered, and AM and Amanda return.

11 minutes ago, Mitch64 said:

I can just imagine India taking a look around the Peapack sets...."What a DUMP," 

I did like that Lisa brought back some of Nola's "devil may care" with an edge..attitude..and I have to give it to Wheeler, they could have cut the Cooper diss and the kiss. 

Whoever said they should have just sent the younger characters off early and concentrated on the vets and the main family (I did not give a damn what Daisy, Ashley and that kid of Gus were up to...) more attention to Alan dying (would love a return of Hope for that...) etc. But they were paying those kids so, times being what they were, they used them.

It was me, and I recognize that those kids had fans too (and they were part of the cast family). I wasn't suggesting their guarantees not be used, just that they didn't need to stay until the last day. 

Not to pick on Ashlee, but why that kid was around after Coop started banging Beth, I don't know. She sure didn't need to be stuck kinda randomly in a scene with Vanessa and Dinah on Dinah's wedding day. At least IMO.

2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I did a little digging around to see what I could find out about this storyline since I never saw it. I stumbled onto a post that quoted a bunch of cancer survivors DRAGGING the storyline. Mainly because Reva attempts suicide. (I know it's a serious topic and they're not wrong to be angry, but those who said Reva's a "fighter" and "survivor" who would never do this apparently forgot she attempted suicide twice before. Three times if you count Dolly the Clone). They also didn't like that she kept it a secret from her loved ones.

What attempt am I forgetting? The one after Kyle and Maeve's wedding is the only one I recall before the cancer one.

I mainly think the cancer was another Emmy bait story for Kim. I certainly can't disagree with those who found it insulting that Reva would've rather wreck her marriage than just tell Josh she was sick. And unsurprisingly, she dumps all her crap on Billy, who not only takes care of her, but I think offers to marry her. RME. I don't rewatch it per se, but came across some of her stuff with Jordan, and he's the only reason I would give two [!@#$%^&*] about that Shayne tramp.

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

What attempt am I forgetting? The one after Kyle and Maeve's wedding is the only one I recall before the cancer one.

Maybe some people wouldn't count it as a suicide attempt, but I was thinking of her driving the car into the ocean. 

@DeeVee  oh, gotcha. i can see the argument either way, but I never have.

21 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

I can just imagine India taking a look around the Peapack sets...."What a DUMP," 

I did like that Lisa brought back some of Nola's "devil may care" with an edge..attitude..and I have to give it to Wheeler, they could have cut the Cooper diss and the kiss. 

Whoever said they should have just sent the younger characters off early and concentrated on the vets and the main family (I did not give a damn what Daisy, Ashley and that kid of Gus were up to...) more attention to Alan dying (would love a return of Hope for that...) etc. But they were paying those kids so, times being what they were, they used them.

Anyone know why the show didn't keep India in 1991?  Is it because Phillip wasn't going to be around?  

By the time she returned, it seemed like the shoehorned her in for no reason. She was so ordinary, it was sad, IMO!

Michelle became too much the focus on this show.  I just didn't find her that interesting to focus that much attention on her. 

As for Samantha, I never got why she never returned.  I thought the original actress was good and had solid storylines. I never understood why she never returned, yet they had so many Harts and even another Dinah (who looked nothing like Vanessa). 

The teens they added in the late 90s (Drew, Marcus, that singer, etc.) I never could get into.  

22 minutes ago, MLH said:

Anyone know why the show didn't keep India in 1991?  Is it because Phillip wasn't going to be around?  

By the time she returned, it seemed like the shoehorned her in for no reason. She was so ordinary, it was sad, IMO!

Michelle became too much the focus on this show.  I just didn't find her that interesting to focus that much attention on her. 

As for Samantha, I never got why she never returned.  I thought the original actress was good and had solid storylines. I never understood why she never returned, yet they had so many Harts and even another Dinah (who looked nothing like Vanessa). 

The teens they added in the late 90s (Drew, Marcus, that singer, etc.) I never could get into.  

I think most of MKA's '90s soap stints were short-term by her choice. I do wonder what happened with her '98-'99 stint as it seemed like that was more open-ended. Maybe Rauch decided she wasn't hot enough. I don't know.

They should have brought Samantha back. With Dylan long gone, I think her having no real identity beyond being Ross' niece and Philip's sister meant they didn't care, or most of the later teams had never heard of her. 

(I'm not even sure how much interaction she had with Philip)

10 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think most of MKA's '90s soap stints were short-term by her choice. I do wonder what happened with her '98-'99 stint as it seemed like that was more open-ended. Maybe Rauch decided she wasn't hot enough. I don't know.

They should have brought Samantha back. With Dylan long gone, I think her having no real identity beyond being Ross' niece and Philip's sister meant they didn't care, or most of the later teams had never heard of her. 

(I'm not even sure how much interaction she had with Philip)

The way they were writing, it seemed like India was staying longer.  

Phillip's storyline had him on the run or in jail. Then he left for a long time. I think they dropped Samantha and Dylan way too fast. The relationships between her, Ross and her Dad (Justin) could have been kept going. They could have brought back the lady that was helping her decide to do the risky surgery to get her to walk again.  She could have made for a good recurring character. They could have had her want to become a advocate for the disabled. 

 

From fall 1988 to late 1990, it seemed as though Curlee and Long shared co-head writing duties.  We know that Curlee was the one to push for Mindy/Roger being more then just a one time hook up (Curlee had said in a Locher Room interview that Long kept saying that it would be out of character for Mindy to carry on with married man beyond a mistaken one night stand, but that Curlee's idea was taken... and all know Curlee hated the Roger with the mask posing as Adam Malick.. and that seemed like a Pam Long story.. which sort of made sense considering how Roger did wear disguises while in hiding back in the day).

I suspect once Pam Long left the team in late 1990, that some of the elements she was focusing on were dropped/modified.  Case in point, Harley was going to be paired with a designer that was part of a Jewish family.... and Mallet/Mindy were dropped pretty quickly once 1991 rolled around.   I have a feeling that once Long was gone.. .Curlee and co shifted gears on some of those characters.   I also suspect Dylan/Sam were a Long creation.. and that once Long was gone, Sam became more supporting before she was phased out in early 1992.

3 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

From fall 1988 to late 1990, it seemed as though Curlee and Long shared co-head writing duties.  We know that Curlee was the one to push for Mindy/Roger being more then just a one time hook up (Curlee had said in a Locher Room interview that Long kept saying that it would be out of character for Mindy to carry on with married man beyond a mistaken one night stand, but that Curlee's idea was taken... and all know Curlee hated the Roger with the mask posing as Adam Malick.. and that seemed like a Pam Long story.. which sort of made sense considering how Roger did wear disguises while in hiding back in the day).

I suspect once Pam Long left the team in late 1990, that some of the elements she was focusing on were dropped/modified.  Case in point, Harley was going to be paired with a designer that was part of a Jewish family.... and Mallet/Mindy were dropped pretty quickly once 1991 rolled around.   I have a feeling that once Long was gone.. .Curlee and co shifted gears on some of those characters.   I also suspect Dylan/Sam were a Long creation.. and that once Long was gone, Sam became more supporting before she was phased out in early 1992.

I didn't think Harley and the fashion designer had any chemistry. Billy owned that huge building and they dropped all the opportunities for the rich people to go to other than the country club (I miss where they actually had a country club) and have smaller characters that could have come in and out to push things along.  Nadine being in real estate could have also kept her in Billy's orbit.

I thought Mindy with Mallett was too similar with her and Rusty. I don't get what their storyline would be.  I would have had Mallett and Jenna in a relationship to stir things up before he got with Harley.  Too bad Robert Newman left before Harley/Josh got good! 

As for a one night stand...that would have only worked for me if Roger/Mindy had a Rear Window type situation.  Or be an alibi like Roger was for Rita. Otherwise, who cares if they had a one night stand? 

I wouldn't have had Hart at all.  I would have had Roger building a good relationship with Michelle triggering Ed. Or if Hart was created, he him in a relationship with Michelle. Now that would have been something! 

6 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

Case in point, Harley was going to be paired with a designer that was part of a Jewish family....

I am going to hazzard a guess that this being dropped may have had little to nothing to do with Long's departure. I suspect that this was dropped more because the network/P&G/producer chickened out.

I remember this very clearly. My mom and I were very interested in seeing how they handled this, as we are Jewish. It was awkwardly handled, in our opinion. It was more about Harley reacting to these "exotic" people than about creating actual characters.

During the 80s-early 90s, soap audiences were still pretty conservative. We've talked before about how GL failed for a long time with creating a Black core family, even though they said they intended to do it. Besides the Barbados Spauldings, they tried to create a family around William, who worked at the Blue Orchid. They introduced a brother and sister for him, but nothing came of it in the end. There was Hamp and Gilly later on, but it wasn't until they brought in Mel's family that you had a real attempt to create a Black core family. 

I think it was probably the same thing with the Jewish family. They made it a big deal that they were going to do it, then yanked it really fast. Maybe they got complaints, maybe they just couldn't figure out how to weave them into the canvas. OR, yes, it could just be the incoming HW didn't want to write for those characters.

But my mom and I when we heard they dropped it were like, "Oh, yeah, they chickened out."

I don't know what the timing was, perhaps our friend @kalbir can tell us exactly when Long departed for the last time?

Edited September 3, 2025Sep 3 by DeeVee

12 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I am going to hazzard a guess that this being dropped may have had little to nothing to do with Long's departure. I suspect that this was dropped more because the network/P&G/producer chickened out.

This is the case. IIRC, this is one of the reasons Pam quit.

23 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I don't know what the timing was, perhaps our friend @kalbir can tell us exactly when Long departed for the last time?

I believe Pamela Long was last credited December 1990. Nancy Curlee took over January 1991.

24 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

This is the case. IIRC, this is one of the reasons Pam quit.

Oh, wow. Interesting that she felt so strongly about it. Possibly, if she had had the chance to see it through the characters would have been well developed. 

12 minutes ago, kalbir said:

I believe Pamela Long was last credited December 1990. Nancy Curlee took over January 1991.

Thank you! I'm going to see if I can find those episodes. I'm curious to see how I feel about them now. If they're not on YT maybe the German channel has them.

Edited September 3, 2025Sep 3 by DeeVee