1977: Agnes Nixon interview/AMC celebrates 2,000 shows

[DRW50]

I'd like to see more of her AW. I've seen a little bit, but I'd love to see more of Lahoma, and I think the guy Vince played was named Lefty? I think I remember reading his stay was extended because he was so popular with fans. Didn't Doris Belack play his sister on there and then on OLTL? I can't remember. Wait, that Lefty was Larry Keith. AWHP says Danny Fargo was played by the guy from OLTL. Anyway I'd like to see some of that, I've always been fascinated by the story with Lee on LSD and how the flashbacks killed her because she crashed her car, which doesn't seem quite like something Agnes would do -- to be THAT stark.

OLTL did get the roughest time but those episodes were what hooked me on the show, although I'd watched off and on for a few years. I remember at the time those Karen witness episodes aired, Annie Dutton was having her witness stand meltdown on GL, and some soap fans tried to compare them to see which was better or worse.

I guess I can see the point about the leading men of the 70s but I wonder if Cliff or Greg were all that different to early Phil or Chuck. I guess there was Tad.

It seemed like the comic relief characters were less restrained by the 80s though. Phoebe was out of control but she was usually punished for that, whereas when I see Edna Thornton or Dorothy Lyman's Opal there's a real harshness there which is presented matter-of-factly. That might be the biggest change.

[EricMontreal22]

I'd love to see more of her AW--I've only seen the two part Alice (I think?!) wedding episodes, that used to be online and I wish I had saved... I remember it being terrific, and of course thrilling to see the short glimpses of Robin Strasser. Quite a bit of her GL is online but it's harder to see Agnes' style there as with 15 mins there was less time for humour, etc (she did introduce the first major Black characters on soaps on it I believe). I always find it interesting how she wrote AW for a year while writing OLTL (she did the same for GL and GL) and some of the differences she's mentioned like how at the time, 1968, she was forbidden to make two female characters, one black and one white, who were close friends, roomates.

That AW LSD story has always struck me as very, well rough for Agnes Nixon and kinda out of character though she did have some dark moments on AMC when she was headwriter as well, I guess.

Yeah the eps they picked for OLTL's Daytime to Remember were largely good choices and of course after reading about it so much, it was great to see the Karen court stuff, as well as the Karen/marco babyswitch. (I didn't start watching till a bit after Megan's death and I admit it was great to see that as well).

You're right that by a bit after the hour switch for AMC the larger than life characters got a bit more--I dunno if out there's the word, but harsh. Even Langley. I do kinda miss that from AMC though, even characterslike Billy Bob--but I admit I get why for many soap fans they're the dividing factor about loving or hating Nixon's style.

And yeah Nixon has always liked the kinda bland leading men (and women--), though it's worked mostly for her--I mean although I think Tara went through one recast too many, the Phil/Chuck/Tara stuff is very fondly remembered. You raise a good point about the men, although even Tom seemed to have more layers than Phil... And when you had Greg you also had Tad and Jesse, etc...

[DRW50]

I miss the quirky and crazy humor too -- AMC seemed to lose a lot of that by the early/mid 90s, with probably Disney buying them starting the big trend towards the shows losing their own identities.

Her GL that is online is interesting to me mostly because of the story with Robin (and obviously Agnes was fond of her since she had her come to AMC years later -- Gillian Spencer I mean) although I wonder if it was Agnes who had her throw herself in front of a car. I used to think that was Irna but then people said it wasn't. I can't see Agnes doing that either.

Sometimes I forget how crass Langley was early on (like the affair with Opal). There was that real seedy element on AMC which I think helped it stand out. I guess that might have been different than the 70s AMC as their other side of the tracks characters were usually pretty decent people, like Nick and Kitty, or even Kelly.

It was Lenore's wedding episode on AW.

I wonder if AMC was the first of the ABC soaps to have a sexualized teenage character. Brooke started in what, 1977? 1976? Then you had Laura at GH, and Tina at OLTL, and then Kimberly was dropped onto Ryan's Hope. The only soap which resisted the trend was EON, because Lori Laughlin's mother didn't want her to play a vixen (and in the long run she was probably right).

[EricMontreal22]

Brooke started in 1976--and don't forget soon after teenaged prostitute Donna came on.

You're right about the seedy aspect of AMC (though it was never--or rarely sleazy). Of course lots of the late 70s, early 80s would have the characters in Center City, or C City or whatever at dives liek Foxy's, etc (it kinda bugs me that now Pine Valley seems big enough--like most of the current soap towns) to be a town where everyone bumps into everyone else yet it has big businesses, and places where hookers hang out, etc. And you're right, those characters were largely being phased out by the mid 90s anyway (in fact for a while Loving prob had that feeling more). The original Janet is the last really out there one that springs to mind though there prob were some sense--I think though that it's really hard to balance such cartoony characters and still make them feel like they exist in reality--the same reality with social issue stories, etc--and that's a talent Agnes had (I mean some prob felt Janet went too far, but she coulda been on Passions, yet it didn't feel like Passions--if that makes ANY sense).

I don't think I've seen those Robin episodes of GL but I am CERTAIN Irna Phillips killed her in the car accident (a repeat to what happened to that character--was it her mother? in the 50s). I swear it says that in Schemering's GL 50th anniversary book. Remember that GL went into some trouble when Agnes left it--it went through like 5 HWs (including uber hack James Lipton) in 18 months or something, so Irna returned to it for a year in the mid/late 60s. (I don't think Irna helped it all that much until Soderberg came in after). I know that some of Agnes' alcoholism story is online.

[R Sinclair]

Billy Clyde.

[All My Shadows]

You got the chronology mostly right, except AMC went to an hour on April 25 and was actually at an hour for about a year and a half before it dethroned ATWT in the ratings. It didn't take long for it to become ABC's #1 soap (four years), but I always wonder what it was the drove it all the way up to #1 in all of daytime in '78. Tom and Erica's wedding is a little example of that era, and of course it's a fab episode, but I wish there was something from around 1974-1977 to compare it to.

[TC]

This might mean nothing but around that time Carol Burnett would often talk about AMC during her opening Q&A with the audience. She was very popular at time - and her show was on CBS!

[Pine Charles]

SuLu looks so cute.

I didn't know Candy Earley was engaged to David Crosby.

[All My Shadows]

IDK...I think Carol's show was off the air by the time AMC rose to the top, but who knows?

And yes, SuLu is LOVELY. That's my girl!

[Pine Charles]

Have you been reading Erica's "I Am Erica Kane" blog? LOL

[TC]

It ran from `67 to `78.

[DRW50]

I didn't know she was involved with Clint Ritchie.

[Pine Charles]

Who's that?

[Scotty]

Wow...look at how young Robin Stasser looks in that picture. Of course, she was only about 32-years-old then (she's 65 now).

[DRW50]

Clint Buchanan.

Robin always has those distinctive features no matter what.