'Tis true. I've halfway through the last 15 years of the show and am enjoying the hell out of it! Bryant's death was all last week and it was one of the most heartbreaking and wonderfully acted week of any soap opera ever. I remember someone on here saying that "watching Hunt Block attempt to cry was painful." Um...you should watch those episodes again. Dude has tears running down his cheeks or pooled under his eyes throughout. But complainers gonna complain.

I came in late to atwt. When I was a kid my mom watched it mid 90’s and that Mark Kasnoff dude was my kryptonite! I said that a million times here but I hated him. Not in a haha- love to hate kinda way like we hated Carly sometimes. But everytime he popped on screen I got angry for some reason and his story with Connor was draining me as a child. Lol I don’t mean any offense to the actor Alexander Walter but his run was really making me angry lol

i took a break and came back early 00’s with the younger crowd like Maddie, Henry, Casey and them and was hooked til the end. I rewatched a lot on YouTube and have seen all of 2001-2010. I never thought this soap was that bad like people were complaining about. Compared to the other cbs soaps it was definitely top 2. Only Y&R was a bit stronger up til like 2008. I even think it was better at times than OLTL and GH. I got to see some of the 1990 episodes until my hard drive crashed and was quite bored and surprised. People were telling me how great this show was back then and the last decade was garbage yet I found myself enjoying the last decade more than the few months I saw there and even what I watched in real time between 94-97 wasn’t that exciting lol

Edited October 29Oct 29 by AMCOLTLLover

3 hours ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

I came in late to atwt. When I was a kid my mom watched it mid 90’s and that Mark Kasnoff dude was my kryptonite! I said that a million times here but I hated him. Not in a haha- love to hate kinda way like we hated Carly sometimes. But everytime he popped on screen I got angry for some reason and his story with Connor was draining me as a child. Lol I don’t mean any offense to the actor Alexander Walter but his run was really making me angry lol

i took a break and came back early 00’s with the younger crowd like Maddie, Henry, Casey and them and was hooked til the end. I rewatched a lot on YouTube and have seen all of 2001-2010. I never thought this soap was that bad like people were complaining about. Compared to the other cbs soaps it was definitely top 2. Only Y&R was a bit stronger up til like 2008. I even think it was better at times than OLTL and GH. I got to see some of the 1990 episodes until my hard drive crashed and was quite bored and surprised. People were telling me how great this show was back then and the last decade was garbage yet I found myself enjoying the last decade more than the few months I saw there and even what I watched in real time between 94-97 wasn’t that exciting lol

Broderick rebuilt some quality during her 18mo head writing stint that ended in Aug 99 when her team was replaced by cancelled Another World writers (Leah Laiman) who were boring but didn't do any damage until Hogan took over in summer 2000 and revitalized the show. People were polarized about it but it had buzz.  I personally didn't like any of Passanante's run from 2006 on but they did keep the show in tact; it was slower, staid and a bit boring for my taste; but in reality, Passanante's ATWT was more like ATWT of the later Irna era and Soderberg/Somer period. I agree with you though the other soaps were often really bad in the 2000s.  

As for the Marland era, his strong period was October 85-87. His 90-to his death was high and low and muddled and sometimes great.  But I will say his Susan/Bob affair story was top notch and I think that was spring summer 90?

Edited October 30Oct 30 by VelekaCarruthers

4 hours ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

I came in late to atwt. When I was a kid my mom watched it mid 90’s and that Mark Kasnoff dude was my kryptonite! I said that a million times here but I hated him. Not in a haha- love to hate kinda way like we hated Carly sometimes. But everytime he popped on screen I got angry for some reason and his story with Connor was draining me as a child. Lol I don’t mean any offense to the actor Alexander Walter but his run was really making me angry lol

I didn't mind him when he was almost paired with Lily, but the Connor story also made me mad. They had no chemistry and the attempts at forcing a "hot" affair only made that clearer. Then they cut off his hair, which was the only memorable thing about him.

On 10/29/2025 at 9:33 PM, VelekaCarruthers said:

As for the Marland era, his strong period was October 85-87. His 90-to his death was high and low and muddled and sometimes great.  But I will say his Susan/Bob affair story was top notch and I think that was spring summer 90?

Agreed -- Marland's 1985 to 1987 period on ATWT was great. 1988 promised to be just as good, but the 5-month-long writers strike disrupted his storylines.  Once he was able to regain control of the show in the fall of 1988 he also had to deal with some cast defections and it took him a solid 6 months to regain his momentum.  As a result, much of 1989 is largely forgettable but it laid the groundwork for what I think was an exceptional 1990.  Casey's illness and death, Andy's alcoholism, the fantastic Bob/Kim/Susan triangle and the very mature way Marland treated Bob and Kim's marital struggles.  ATWT definitely deserved their Emmy for Best Show that year.  1991 to his death, the only two major story misfires were the infamously horrid Crawford murder mystery and the Royce/Neal introduction. Granted, Marland died just as the Royce/Neal story was gaining steam and maybe he could have course-corrected if he had lived, but from the outset it was anti-climactic and odd with every beat.

Eh. It was all lousy for me after 2003 or so lol, and at that time I had never watched the show much before coming in at Sheffer's glory period around 2001 (except for some embarrassing stuff from the Eddie Silva, etc, period) so it had nothing to do with the past.

It slid wildly downhill once Passanante got more involved. Any time I tuned in after that it felt off-brand and like it was going through the motions, and then slowly zeroing out on budget and just becoming sad and turgid. Once you got a look at the Marland classics they would run over the holidays in the 2000s or on WOST, and I began to dig deeper into the show, even a layman could see the show deserved much better.

Edited October 31Oct 31 by Vee

There was a noticeable shift in fall 2001 when JP joined as co-HW. The show was not necessarily bad, but it wasn’t the same quality (for me) as the first year and a half of Hogan’s run. I thought the show regained some spark with the umbrella story around Rose’s death, but if I recall correctly, network interference in early 2004 halted the momentum and led to awfulness like Doc Reese and Keys to the Kingdom.

I enjoyed the first couple years of JP’s solo run. The show had renewed energy compared to 2004 into early 2005. Not everything was great, but the show held my interest everyday until around late 2007. Then the wheels fell off entirely and the show didn’t feel like itself again until it was too late around Maura West’s return after her final maternity leave. So much lost potential in the last year especially.

Originally posted by Alan Locher on FB.

12 hours ago, MarlandFan said:

Agreed -- Marland's 1985 to 1987 period on ATWT was great. 1988 promised to be just as good, but the 5-month-long writers strike disrupted his storylines.  Once he was able to regain control of the show in the fall of 1988 he also had to deal with some cast defections and it took him a solid 6 months to regain his momentum.  As a result, much of 1989 is largely forgettable but it laid the groundwork for what I think was an exceptional 1990.  Casey's illness and death, Andy's alcoholism, the fantastic Bob/Kim/Susan triangle and the very mature way Marland treated Bob and Kim's marital struggles.  ATWT definitely deserved their Emmy for Best Show that year.  1991 to his death, the only two major story misfires were the infamously horrid Crawford murder mystery and the Royce/Neal introduction. Granted, Marland died just as the Royce/Neal story was gaining steam and maybe he could have course-corrected if he had lived, but from the outset it was anti-climactic and odd with every beat.

I agree with your take on the Douglas Marland years.

Remember too there was the EP change in October 1988 from Robert Calhoun to Laurence Caso.

I think 1986 and 1987 were the best years.

A brand new video interview with Martha Byrne for a Dutch outlet:

 

17 hours ago, Ninejamb said:

A brand new video interview with Martha Byrne for a Dutch outlet:

 

Thanks for posting this. I may just be tired right now or maybe it was the editing, but it seemed like she jumped suddenly from talking about Rose being killed off to her leaving the show. It felt like something important was missing. Like why Goutman seemed to want Byrne off the show. 

13 hours ago, Reverend Ruthledge said:

Thanks for posting this. I may just be tired right now or maybe it was the editing, but it seemed like she jumped suddenly from talking about Rose being killed off to her leaving the show. It felt like something important was missing. Like why Goutman seemed to want Byrne off the show. 

For some reason, the interviewer's questions were purposefully edited out, so any back-and-forth discussion between them was intentionally cut.  Luckily, Martha always gives long, thoughtful answers, therefore there are long stretches of this interview that did not get chopped.  But yes, it would have been nice to get a fuller understanding of the Goutman conflict. It sounds like Goutman turned the conflict into a personal fight/vendetta.  I'm not sure of the reason why since Martha has always seemed very pleasant and professional (even in her current MAGA mode).

4 hours ago, MarlandFan said:

I'm not sure of the reason why since Martha has always seemed very pleasant and professional (even in her current MAGA mode).

And she was credited with keeping the cast morale up during the preGautman years...so much so TPTB actually rewarded where with...Rose. 

1 hour ago, Mitch64 said:

And she was credited with keeping the cast morale up during the preGautman years...so much so TPTB actually rewarded where with...Rose. 

I attended an ATWT panel at the Paley Center back in 1997 and the panel included most of the heavy hitters at that time (Hastings, Hays, Hubbard, Fulton, Byrne, and a few others).  Hastings was funny and charming, Hubbard was stiff and reserved, Hays seemed uncomfortable and quiet -- and Fulton and Byrne were both excited, effusive, and happy to be there.  I remember being very surprised that the very kind Kim (Hays) seemed dour in real life and that the scatterbrained diva Lisa (Fulton) was in fact very down-to-earth and friendly.  And Martha (who was VERY pregnant and by far the youngest on the panel) was very warm, confident, and proud of her association with the show.

On 10/29/2025 at 6:33 PM, VelekaCarruthers said:

As for the Marland era, his strong period was October 85-87. His 90-to his death was high and low and muddled and sometimes great. 

From the all-important ratings lens and comparison to relevant time slot rivals. I covered from Robert Calhoun becoming EP until the season of OJ.

1984/85: 7.1 (tied w/ Days for 6th). EP change from Mary-Ellis Bunim to Robert Calhoun in October 1984. HW change from Tom King and Millee Taggart to Cynthia Benjamin and Susan Bedsow Horgan in November 1984. Susan Bedsow Horgan becomes sole HW in February 1985. Time slot rivals: All My Children second half (8.2, 2nd), One Life to Live first half (7.3, 5th), Days second half.

1985/86: 6.7 (7th). HW change from Susan Bedsow Horgan to Douglas Marland in September 1985. Time slot rivals: All My Children second half (8.0, 3rd), One Life to Live first half (7.8, 4th), Days second half (7.2, 5th).

1986/87: 7.0 (tied w/ All My Children and Days for 4th). Time slot change from 1:30 pm ET to 2 pm ET on March 23, 1987. Time slot rivals: One Life to Live (7.2, 3rd) first half until March 20, 1987 then head-to-head from March 23, 1987; All My Children second half until March 20, 1987; Days second half until March 20, 1987.

1987/88: 6.6 (6th). Writer's strike March-August 1988. Time slot rival: One Life to Live (7.7, tied w/ All My Children for 3rd).

1988/89: 6.4 (6th). EP change from Robert Calhoun to Laurence Caso in October 1988. Time slot rival: One Life to Live (6.9, 3rd).

1989/90: 5.8 (5th). Time slot rival: One Life to Live (6.3, 4th).

1990/91: 5.9 (4th). Time slot rival: One Life to Live (5.3, 6th).

1991/92: 5.8 (tied w/ General Hospital for 3rd). Time slot rival: One Life to Live (5.4, tied w/ Days for 7th).

1992/93: 5.7 (5th). Douglas Marland passes away March 6, 1993. Juliet Law Packer and Richard Backus become HWs. Time slot rival: One Life to Live (5.5, 6th).

1993/94: 5.8 (5th). Time slot rival: One Life to Live (5.6, 6th).

1994/95: 5.1 (7th). January 1995 co-HW change from Richard Backus to Garin Wolf and Richard Culliton. EP change from Laurence Caso to John Valente in May 1995. Time slot rival: One Life to Live (5.4, 5th).