Reading through the posts from the last couple of days (I haven't watched the newly posted clips/episodes yet but I always find I don't enjoy random episodes. I need to see things in context of the bigger picture to truly appreciate it.) one of the things I've seen on this board many times is the love for Bianca. 

Since 2017, watching everything that exists from '86 to '00 (where I am now) I personally don't get it. That character seemed so out of place and just didn't work as part of the canvas of ATWT. I remember she'd be gone for long stretches of time and then she'd show up and I'd think, "Oh man, I thought that character was surely gone by now."

I can 100% understand why no writer ever brought her back. She was useless. She had no storyline. She was just someone Lucinda could talk to. I guess I feel about her the way everyone else seems to feel about Katie. LOL

53 minutes ago, Xanthe said:

Small correction -- Mark was a lawyer and a politician, not a doctor.

My bad!  Thanks, @Xanthe!

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks @NothinButAttitude

This period often has characters I barely know or don't know and seemingly had no impact on the canvas. Most of these doctors (aside from Jeff and ever sorrowful Annie), for instance. Gary Hudson was so different from Con Roche as Rick Ryan. They probably should have kept him on. I wonder if he did his own stunt at the end. The psychiatrist looks familiar. He reminds me of the annoying guy on the first season of Newhart, although I assume that's not him. I had to laugh at him showing off a ton of his chest hair...just because. Ah, the early '80s. The other doctors all blur to me. The woman at 5 minutes is so familiar to me too from elsewhere.

Con Roche (Rick) always sounded like a fake stage name. When you Google him only ATWT and 1 film are his only credits. There is very little info about this actor on the net.

Gary Hudson is one of those actors who is always working, but never really had a long term role. Most of his parts were in that bland pretty boy mold like Ted McGinley and Lyle Waggoner. Cameron Mathison would also fit into that category. 

26 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

Gary Hudson is one of those actors who is always working, but never really had a long term role. Most of his parts were in that bland pretty boy mold like Ted McGinley and Lyle Waggoner. Cameron Mathison would also fit into that category. 

I think I remember him best for his male stripper role in a TV movie called Ladykillers. 

I had no idea that Margo McKenna also did a stint on ATWT until as well. I assume that this was after EON, right? Did she pop up on any soaps after this? 

As more clips emerge, it is so odd to see Peter Reckell in a role other than Bo. I am interested to see what his feelings and memories were while on ATWT. I hope someone presents the recent clips to him and we get commentary from him. 

I am glad that clips of Rick Ryan are starting to appear to. He has always been one of the many ATWT characters that I've wanted to see clips emerge. I will always stand firm that during the Sheffer years, Hunt Block should've been cast as the dastardly Rick Ryan instead of Craig. The same stories they had Hunt played could've still been played with him as Rick, but instead of him marrying Babs, he would've simply been her brother. And instead of making Babs go off the deep end, Babs could've been a pariah for simply covering for her brother's heinous acts. That would've also prevented Craig's character growth from being assassinated. 

5 minutes ago, NothinButAttitude said:

I had no idea that Margo McKenna also did a stint on ATWT until as well. I assume that this was after EON, right? Did she pop up on any soaps after this? 

As more clips emerge, it is so odd to see Peter Reckell in a role other than Bo. I am interested to see what his feelings and memories were while on ATWT. I hope someone presents the recent clips to him and we get commentary from him. 

I am glad that clips of Rick Ryan are starting to appear to. He has always been one of the many ATWT characters that I've wanted to see clips emerge. I will always stand firm that during the Sheffer years, Hunt Block should've been cast as the dastardly Rick Ryan instead of Craig. The same stories they had Hunt played could've still been played with him as Rick, but instead of him marrying Babs, he would've simply been her brother. And instead of making Babs go off the deep end, Babs could've been a pariah for simply covering for her brother's heinous acts. That would've also prevented Craig's character growth from being assassinated. 

Hunt would have made much more sense as Rick.

This was after her EON run. 

I wonder if he's ever talked about his ATWT work. Maybe some interviews in his early years at DAYS? I don't know. I guess hardcore Peter fans might know more.

I put up a few clips of him a while back.

 

Poor ATWT suffered from all the changes in the early mid 80's.

They had more headwriters in that 5 year period 80-85 than in the first 25 years!

All the more important to have a clear vision of who and what this show was about.

Instead each set of writers made changes (not necessarily improvements) that ripped away at the foundation.

It was good to see David and Ellen getting airtime but that amnesia trope was a cop out.

Why not have David have that breakdown, leave town and meet Cynthia (or whoever) who follows him back to Oakdale. Much more realistic. 

And while David was away, Don Hughes returns and gets involved with Ellen. Don and Ellen had a friendship from Day  1 of the show and she almost married him. So using the past to provide story.

And maybe use on of Don's stepdaughters (Alice /Debbie)as a new 30 something character character?

Like days did with Alice, Nancy should have still been used and given involvement in the story.

 

7 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

 And while David was away, Don Hughes returns and gets involved with Ellen. Don and Ellen had a friendship from Day  1 of the show and she almost married him. So using the past to provide story.

And maybe use on of Don's stepdaughters (Alice /Debbie)as a new 30 something character character?

Like days did with Alice, Nancy should have still been used and given involvement in the story.

Those are great ideas. The show wrote Don into something of a corner but they could have easily tried. They just gave up, I guess because they thought he was too old. I'm surprised sometimes that P&G allowed the focus on David and Ellen. 

8 hours ago, NothinButAttitude said:

 

Fantastic show to fill a blah Saturday night!  Thank you for sharing.

Zsa Zsa is so fun!

That Lieutenant also reminded me of Kirk from Newhart!

 

7 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Those are great ideas. The show wrote Don into something of a corner but they could have easily tried. They just gave up, I guess because they thought he was too old. I'm surprised sometimes that P&G allowed the focus on David and Ellen. 

It shocked me that Helen Wagner and Don McLaughlin were dropped from contract status in the early 1980s (one of the all-time most bone-headed moves on daytime TV), so I was always expecting David and Ellen to be shoved off the back-burner as well. In the end, I am surprised that Patricia Bruder made it all the way to 1996, considering how little Ellen had to do in her final years on the series.

4 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

It shocked me that Helen Wagner and Don McLaughlin were dropped from contract status in the early 1980s (one of the all-time most bone-headed moves on daytime TV), so I was always expecting David and Ellen to be shoved off the back-burner as well. In the end, I am surprised that Patricia Bruder made it all the way to 1996, considering how little Ellen had to do in her final years on the series.

I'm really surprised too. I can see why Marland kept her on even though he seemed to struggle writing for the Stewart family. However, I think it's a downright miracle that she lasted a few years after he was gone with the subsequent writers who seemed to have zero respect for the history of the show. It was a crime that she was let go but I guess by that point it just didn't make sense to have her around. If I remember correctly, at the end of her run, she was just hanging around with Susan, a woman who she hated. David, Paul and Dan were dead, Annie, Dee and Betsy were MIA and Emily was busy running around Oakdale being histrionic and had ceased to be a real, relatable person. The Stewarts were decimated much like the Matthews of AW. 

11 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Poor ATWT suffered from all the changes in the early mid 80's.

They had more headwriters in that 5 year period 80-85 than in the first 25 years!

All the more important to have a clear vision of who and what this show was about.

Instead each set of writers made changes (not necessarily improvements) that ripped away at the foundation.

 

In my eyes, ATWT was like two different shows, the first one from 1956-1979 and the second one from 1985-2010. The years 1980-1984 are kind of like a black hole to me. Whenever I see clips from that time period, I frequently don't know who anybody is or what's going on. 

 

1 hour ago, SoapDope said:

 

Thanks. I really liked this Betsy. I wish they would have kept her. Lindsay Frost was ok but I found Meg Ryan too "cute". 

On 8/3/2024 at 1:49 PM, NothinButAttitude said:

 

This is the first time I've ever seen a clip of Zsa Zsa on ATWT. I recall reading that she refused to play a mother (despite having an adult daughter in real life), so they had to cast her as Miranda's sister. I hope more of her scenes pop up.