Am currently in the (to me) dreaded summer of 2000 where Lily and Simon are stuck on that island and Andy, acting completely out of character, becomes his father and fakes being paralyzed so that Denise, someone he never loved, won't leave him. Leah Laiman is my least favorite head writer of any soap. At least all I have to get through is the next 2 months and Hogan Sheffer will come on and turn everything around, imo.

In the meantime, at least Carly is back and Hunt Block has premiered as Craig. I can understand  long term viewers being upset in the change in Craig's character. But I remember Craig being a manipulative man in the early 80s. And since he hasn't been seen on screen in 6 years now, it's not impossible for him to have changed. I certainly change in many ways over 6-8 years, as do many people I know. It's just a fact of life. Plus, Todd Rotondi and Hunt Block look so much like father and son, it's perfect casting!

1 hour ago, adrnyc said:

Am currently in the (to me) dreaded summer of 2000 where Lily and Simon are stuck on that island and Andy, acting completely out of character, becomes his father and fakes being paralyzed so that Denise, someone he never loved, won't leave him. Leah Laiman is my least favorite head writer of any soap. At least all I have to get through is the next 2 months and Hogan Sheffer will come on and turn everything around, imo.

In the meantime, at least Carly is back and Hunt Block has premiered as Craig. I can understand  long term viewers being upset in the change in Craig's character. But I remember Craig being a manipulative man in the early 80s. And since he hasn't been seen on screen in 6 years now, it's not impossible for him to have changed. I certainly change in many ways over 6-8 years, as do many people I know. It's just a fact of life. Plus, Todd Rotondi and Hunt Block look so much like father and son, it's perfect casting!

There was no reason to replace Behr and Broderick.  Dumb. And to have Goutman hire Laiman from AW where she created that dumb plot with Prince Edmund from Guiding Light. Terrible. Broderick was finding her footing.  I was meh about Behr but she had tons of experience but both were probably more costly than the incompetents we go in 2000.  

As a first time 90s viewer, I too was enjoying Broderick and Behr. I steeled myself for Laiman taking over but found I enjoyed her first 5-6 months...probably because she was using story projections left behind. Sometime around Feb '00, I recognized a change. Still, the next 2 months will be over before I know it. (I hope! Missing episodes and a 2 week trip to France should help. Fingers crossed.)

Edited to add: Last night, I was wondering if the Lily/Simon island storyline was network dictated. I'm reminded constantly by the commercials that this summer was the premiere/first season of Survivor on CBS. They even made a "Survivor" reference last night; I can't recall the specifics. And as far ahead as they film, Survivor wouldn't have been a "thing" by the time they were getting scripts for the summer ready and shooting them. Hmmmmmmm......

Edited July 25, 20241 yr by adrnyc

I'm not sure it's trying to capture the Survivor zeitgeist as much as desperately trying to invigorate Lily and showcase Byrne. 

A Friday Special!

I never get tired of Melanie Smith.❤

 

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

A Friday Special!

I never get tired of Melanie Smith.❤

 

I can only imagine what it would have been like had she stayed on as Emily - having just binge-watched her late 80s ATWT run, I think she captured the complexity of young Emily so well. And watching her progression from being James’s teen lover to her relationship with Brock (damn they were good together) - the possibilities were endless for Emily’s character at that time. Not to mention her chemistry with Marie Masters!

@Soapsuds Thanks.

@OzFrog Melanie would have remained excellent, as she seemed to truly embody all the nuances of the writing. I am glad she didn't have to play most of the writing MKH had though.

Hey guys, if anyone's interested, Ariane Muenker, who played a character named Melinda Gray, is gonna start posting clips on her YouTube channel of her time on ATWT next week. 

Edited July 26, 20241 yr by AbcNbc247

57 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Hey guys, if anyone's interested, Ariane Muenker, who played a character named Melinda Gray, is gonna start posting clips on her YouTube channel of her time on ATWT next week. 

Thanks for the heads up!😊

Just now, Soapsuds said:

Thanks for the heads up!😊

👍😉

3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

@Soapsuds Thanks.

@OzFrog Melanie would have remained excellent, as she seemed to truly embody all the nuances of the writing. I am glad she didn't have to play most of the writing MKH had though.

By that time, she would definitely have walked, rather than having to play that.

Edited July 26, 20241 yr by DramatistDreamer

On 7/24/2024 at 12:09 PM, adrnyc said:

Am currently in the (to me) dreaded summer of 2000 where Lily and Simon are stuck on that island and Andy, acting completely out of character, becomes his father and fakes being paralyzed so that Denise, someone he never loved, won't leave him. Leah Laiman is my least favorite head writer of any soap. At least all I have to get through is the next 2 months and Hogan Sheffer will come on and turn everything around, imo.

I'm currently in December 1999, but I will say, from the bits I've seen of them together, I think Andy and Denise should've been a long term couple. In general I'm shocked Denise didn't last longer. She was a big part of carrying 1999 and Cassandra Creech gave great performances. I can't help but think that if she was white with that level of talent she may have had a career similar to Maura West on the show.

I always liked Creech. I was disappointed to see her only briefly pop up on GH as an assassin during Guza II.

38 minutes ago, Chris B said:

I'm currently in December 1999, but I will say, from the bits I've seen of them together, I think Andy and Denise should've been a long term couple. In general I'm shocked Denise didn't last longer. She was a big part of carrying 1999 and Cassandra Creech gave great performances. I can't help but think that if she was white with that level of talent she may have had a career similar to Maura West on the show.

The character received such vicious hate early in her run (likely in part due to her being a black woman, partly due to some terrible writing), I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did. 

Andy and Denise would have made sense, but the show had no interest in Andy.

I get that TIIC didn't find Scott sexay enough, but not to bring Andy back played by a 'hunk' seemed a dumb move, when he was the son of Kim and John.

God only knows what stories he would have been given, so maybe the character dodged a bullet.