1 hour ago, Liberty City said:

I've read Elizabeth Dennehy was hired during a strike period, and the writer (at the time) was unhappy with her as Blake, so she fired because she didn't embody as Roger Thorpe's daughter. And supposedly, Sherry Stringfield was whom they had in-mind prior to the strike, so when the time came, they pounced in hiring Stringfield.

There's an SOD article about headwriters' strike frustrations and IIRC Pam Long has things to say about how unhappy she was with how the Blake storyline was handled in her absence. 

4 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

I did watch a snippet of an episode from the fall of 1987 when Mo was still hospital Admin... and she was preparing to go to war with Alan over something he was pulling on the hospital and Ed.  So I don't think Van and Mo were going to interact as friends.. since it appeared they were on opposite sides in 1986.

Plus, I think Maeve was Mo's friend in 1987/88 until Maeve passes... and Vanessa was off canvas from January 1988 until around mid 1989.

I was surprised Vanessa had set her sights on Ross when she came back in mid 1989.. and she instantly disliked Nadine for being beneath her.  There was a scene where Vanessa came to see Ross as Holly left.. and said 'oh... she's attractive' to Ross.   Vanessa always viewed women as either competition or beneath her.. at least back in the 80s/early 90s.

In fact.. Billy/Nadine started because the two were in cahoots to keep Vanessa and Ross apart.. and then they fell into an affair themselves.

Fletcher was best with Claire.. both were head strong and full of passion/adventure.  

However, I did like his opposite attract relationship with Maeve.. she kept him in line and he helped her to loosen up.

Attempts to pair him with Vanessa and Holly didn't work... I always wondered why the show didn't test him with Nola or Nadine.

LOL...I've seen that---Vanessa calls her Maybelline. 

I didn't realize Billy/Nadine were exactly in cahoots to keep Ross/Van apart. I know Van is constantly asking Ross if he's involved with Holly, and Nadine kind of realized that she couldn't compete with Van and Holly when she wanted to crawl back to Ross. I thought Billy just kind of latched on to Nadine because she was the "party girl" side of Reva, when Vanessa hesitated to get back on the merry-go-round and realized Billy thought he was in love with Reva.

Fletch/Nola might've been interesting, she could've been stumbling on to stories that he was investigating or something. It would've been better than Nola/Buzz anyway. 

 

Elizabeth Dennehy, while an excellent actress, just didn't seem to fit on a soap. And surely not as Holly's daughter. I remember some horrid strike scene of Blake drawing faces on coconuts or something and thinking it smelled desperate.

 

Random thought---I don't really miss Josh when he leaves in 91 either. Billy, while occasionally really frustrating, is my favorite Lewis. 

Edited June 17, 20241 yr by P.J.

10 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Random thought---I don't really miss Josh when he leaves in 91 either. Billy, while occasionally really frustrating, is my favorite Lewis. 

I liked his relationship with Harley, which worked much better than it should have, but I didn't miss him either. I wouldn't have brought him back, although Robert Newman had his moments, especially in later years.

When Blake Lindsay was introduced, was she always intended to be Christina Thorpe or was that something that was decided later? I think it was explained that she went by her middle name Blake and the last name of her former stepfather Mr. Lindsay.

For those who watched in the 1970s, did Christina have a middle name?

36 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I liked his relationship with Harley, which worked much better than it should have, but I didn't miss him either. I wouldn't have brought him back, although Robert Newman had his moments, especially in later years.

Robert Newman is extremely likeable, don't get me wrong. But he's basically Reva's chew toy. 

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

For those who watched in the 1970s, did Christina have a middle name?

If she did, I doubt it would have been Blake.

Wasn't strike Blake making mysterious phone calls and when Pam Long returned they decided to make her Christina?

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

When Blake Lindsay was introduced, was she always intended to be Christina would believe was that something that was decided later? I think it was explained that she went by her middle name Blake and the last name of her former stepfather Mr. Lindsay.

For those who watched in the 1970s, did Christina have a middle name?

Blake was originally a new character. When Chris Bernau became too sick to work, they wanted Michael Zaslow to take over as Alan, but Michael suggested they bring Roger back instead. The TPTB said no, because no one would believe that he survived the fall off the cliff. Curlee knew Roger and pushed to bring him back, so they did. Someone came up with the idea of turning Blake into Christina afterwards, which opened up potholes (like Ed not recognizing her). Then they decided to bring Holly back for a visit, but Maureen's performance inspired Long to bring her back full time 

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

When Blake Lindsay was introduced, was she always intended to be Christina Thorpe or was that something that was decided later? I think it was explained that she went by her middle name Blake and the last name of her former stepfather Mr. Lindsay.

For those who watched in the 1970s, did Christina have a middle name?

From what I understood from reading the SOD article post 1988 writer Strike.. Long had created the character of Blake and approved casting just before the strike started.

In fact, she was surprised/concerned once she found out that the character was introduced on the show since she didn't share what the outline was going to be for her character.

It was after the strike was over and no one knew who she was talking to in those phone calls that her being Roger and Holly's daughter became a thing (Curlee talked Long into it... I believe)

1 minute ago, Paul Raven said:

If she did, I doubt it would have been Blake.

Wasn't strike Blake making mysterious phone calls and when Pam Long returned they decided to make her Christina?

I remember SOD interviewed writers about the mess they had to clean up once the strike was over. Long said she asked producers who Blake had those mysterious phone calls to and they told her they didn't know lol

3 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

From what I understood from reading the SOD article post 1988 writer Strike.. Long had created the character of Blake and approved casting just before the strike started.

In fact, she was surprised/concerned once she found out that the character was introduced on the show since she didn't share what the outline was going to be for her character.

It was after the strike was over and no one knew who she was talking to in those phone calls that her being Roger and Holly's daughter became a thing (Curlee talked Long into it... I believe)

Yes, I read this in different interviews Long and Curlee gave

I may be biased as a Trekkie (where she famously played another hyper-ambitious woman), but I really liked what I've seen of Elizabeth Dennehy's performance. Yes, she was arch and very different from SS, but there was a kind of fearsome intelligence and off-kilter sexiness (a la, yes, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction) that really worked and seemed suited to Roger's child, even if she wasn't originally intended as that. I only saw so much of her with GA but I thought that might've really worked. Nonetheless, no one can argue with Sherry Stringfield's Blake.

Edited June 17, 20241 yr by Vee

From what I've seen of Elizabeth Dennehy's Blake, I like her a lot as an actress. Her character doesn't make sense because she's always up to something but I didn't understand what. I also liked Nicolette Goulet as an actress, but Meredith is another character who confuses me. Seem to be a lot of characters around this time that do not make sense. Alexandra Neill's character is another one.

9 hours ago, Vee said:

I may be biased as a Trekkie (where she famously played another hyper-ambitious woman), but I really liked what I've seen of Elizabeth Dennehy's performance. Yes, she was arch and very different from SS, but there was a kind of fearsome intelligence and off-kilter sexiness (a la, yes, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction) that really worked and seemed suited to Roger's child, even if she wasn't originally intended as that. I only saw so much of her with GA but I thought that might've really worked. Nonetheless, no one can argue with Sherry Stringfield's Blake.

It took a while for Sherry to settle into the role, so I could see Elizabeth clicking if she had had the chance. I think one of the issues might be the romantic choices for the character (Grant Aleksander was such a severe presence, and I can't even imagine her with Carl Tye Evans...).

8 hours ago, chrisml said:

From what I've seen of Elizabeth Dennehy's Blake, I like her a lot as an actress. Her character doesn't make sense because she's always up to something but I didn't understand what. I also liked Nicolette Goulet as an actress, but Meredith is another character who confuses me. Seem to be a lot of characters around this time that do not make sense. Alexandra Neill's character is another one.

I've always liked Alexandra Neill (due to her work on ATWT), but Rose just seems like a bit of a nothing character just there to give Rusty a story and be abused and die. Nicolette Goulet was stuck with such a poor part - the "strong female doctor" cliche soon reduced to the worst role you can give a female character (being passed between two men). 

The mid/late '80s feel so scattershot, especially with new characters, which just makes the show pulling itself together again for a few years all the more remarkable.

@Paul Raven @bboy875 @Soaplovers Thank you for the info re Christina/Blake.

19 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I think they needed what Alex should have been, but sadly even with the divine Beverlee there I don't think the Alex of the end of her run was needed, let alone how she was written under Marj.

I did enjoy McTavish's Alex and her banter with Hawk, mostly because I thought that material suited Marj.

I liked Fletcher more than most here, but that was down to just finding him a likeable support character and everyday figure. Other than Alex I was never invested in his pairings. 

I don't think Fletcher/Holly was a terrible idea, especially with their media jobs, but giving them a child was a very bad idea and just an example of trying to fit an issue story onto characters.

If they were going to tell that story then it might have made more sense to me with Nadine (Jean Carol would have stayed if she had been given story, IIRC), or even Nola. Nola would have loved that child, but I could see Quint struggling, possibly wanting her to have an abortion (especially after learning the baby would have Down's) and that being a more believable cause for their split than an affair. 

I agree that an affair was stupid. They originally brought back Nola to pair with Ed, but sourpuss Simon put up a stink and said that they are two different. That is why they had her making a bit of trouble when she found about Lillian. But a better idea would have been that Nola comes back to town as she is tired of expeditions and basically living Quint's life. Maybe she missed out on hearing about Mo's death as they were in someplace cut off from communication. Nola finds out she missed the funeral and blames Quint (I would even maybe have it Nola had the affair to punish Quint and Quint later tells Henry he was the reason the marriage ended to protect Nola) and moves back to SF for a bit to "save the family" and try to mother Michelle and she winds up getting in everyone's hair. But her discovery of the Ed/Lillian thing could have led to an earlier version of the Ed/Lil discussion at Mo's grave the last week of the show...with Ed finally taking responsibility for it too. 

While I did not like Fletch I thought he and Nola might be good, a crusading journalist that Nola is constantly trying to "help" with his stories and ends up getting kidnapped most of the time. I do think Brown gave off an eccentric earth mother vibe so it would be interesting to see her drawn to the baby, knowing what it was like to be different and everyone thinking your weird..and yes, much better then her and Buzz!

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I've always liked Alexandra Neill (due to her work on ATWT), but Rose just seems like a bit of a nothing character just there to give Rusty a story and be abused and die.

LOL..but we would not have had Rusty saying her name as only the cheesy guy like him could ..."ROOOOzzzzzzzzzeeeee!" Didn't Rusty date the infamous Rae Rooney too or was that Rick?

2 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

I do think Brown gave off an eccentric earth mother vibe so it would be interesting to see her drawn to the baby, knowing what it was like to be different and everyone thinking your weird.

Kind of like how Roger was drawn to Meg.  IIRC, there was a scene where Roger spoke to the baby and said he understood how it felt to be "different" from everyone else.