3 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

Catalog sales, can you believe it??

I believe Dee mentioned this to Barbara when they met in this episode.  I guess they all put together a fancy photo spread done in a layout in a catalog and distributed to buyers and maybe the well-heeled.  Perahaps Lisa and Dee and Ariel were heralding the achievement of reaching customers well beyond Oakdale.

It is amusing that James tried all of these schemes from drug running to mind control to make money, meanwhile he could have lived off of Barbara's investment in Lisa 's company.  While James is trying to figure out how to manipulate his wive's dreams, Lisa is quietly inventing J Crew's entire business plan.

57 minutes ago, Mitch said:

EVERYONE had shadows on their faces..Jeff got it the worst...it was like the light over his head went out.  For Bunim and the Dobs wanting to make the show "youthfull" it is incredibly slow, dark, and depressing...the scene with Dee and David, which should have been heartfelt came off an slow and ponderous...and then there is no follow up in the scenes at Fashion...(at least have Lisa say, "What's wrong" and when she finds out the Stewarts are divorcing have a bit of a smirk...(an ode to Elle and Lisa's fued.)  The scene of Annie and Jeff are supposed to be romantic comedy I think but it just is flat...

 

I do like the Lisa/Ariel scene...its like a Designing Women scene

 

Probably Bunim's obsession with youth made her believe that dimmer lighting would somehow make everyone look younger, particularly the older cast members.  Who knows?

2 minutes ago, j swift said:

It is amusing that James tried all of these schemes from drug running to mind control to make money, meanwhile he could have lived off of Barbara's investment in Lisa 's company.  While James is trying to figure out how to manipulate his wive's dreams, Lisa is quietly inventing J Crew's entire business plan.

 

James seemed much too chauvinistic to rely on Barbara to maintain his lifestyle and I suspect Barbara was attracted to that aspect of him.

Before Hal, Barbara seemed to gravitate toward these chauvinistic types, brimming with machismo.  Maybe, not so much Brian, although the more he stood up to her and told her off, the more she seemed driven to keep him in her orbit.  Tonio and Duncan were both brimming with machismo.

Also, James liked to live on the edge.  A quiet life with the 'missus' would never have appealed to him for too long.

 

It kind of became a running joke, how many businesses Lisa had but I kinda loved that that she low-key had her hands in all these different companies. Every now and then, she'd exert her influence through one of her ventures, not in overt ways like Lucinda but in sly ways.

We don't see much of that in today's daytime soaps.

1 hour ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Bunim and the Dobs wanting to make the show "youthfull"

Is it their departure in 1984 that causes the exodus of Burke Donovan and Gunner St. Clair?

 

It seems odd to have two characters, in the same story, have fatal diseases that they want to keep secret from Dusty and the women they loved.

 

Also, I'm sure that I'm not the first to notice, and I know that they are spelled differently, but it would have been fun if Henry and Maddie Coleman had been relatives of Joyce and Grant Colman.  That scene from the 50th Anniversary of Soaps when Joyce feigns a headache and Lisa tells her she wouldn't care if she had a tumor; gets me every time.

Edited August 18, 20187 yr by j swift

2 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Probably Bunim's obsession with youth made her believe that dimmer lighting would somehow make everyone look younger, particularly the older cast members. 

 

I think it was Bunim's attempt to emulate Y&R's lighting, which was similarly shadowy.

56 minutes ago, j swift said:

Is it their departure in 1984 that causes the exodus of Burke Donovan and Gunner St. Clair?

 

It seems odd to have two characters, in the same story, have fatal diseases that they want to keep secret from Dusty and the women they loved.

 

Also, I'm sure that I'm not the first to notice, and I know that they are spelled differently, but it would have been fun if Henry and Maddie Coleman had been relatives of Joyce and Grant Colman.  That scene from the 50th Anniversary of Soaps when Joyce feigns a headache and Lisa tells her she wouldn't care if she had a tumor; gets me every time.

 

Haha, that's actually @Mitch's quote though.  Mine was responding to his.  

 

That is odd.  I was so young when that story aired that I wouldn't have truly understood it but by the way, you've just described it...sounds like I still wouldn't understand it.

 

Having Maddie and Henry be related to Grant would've made a whole LOT more sense than having Henry related to James Stenbeck.  Also, it would've really made Maddie's connection to Lisa that much more meaningful had they done that.  Missed opportunity.

 

5 minutes ago, Khan said:

I think it was Bunim's attempt to emulate Y&R's lighting, which was similarly shadowy.

 

Hm.  That's interesting. I'm not sure how I felt about Y&R's lighting back then but it seemed to work a sure sight better for Y&R than it did for ATWT, perhaps the difference in climates?  Being in sunny California vs. being in seasonal NYC?

Edited August 18, 20187 yr by DramatistDreamer

The interesting videos you find on You Tube.  This was posted about a year ago, which was surprising, in particular, how much the representative touts P&G's embrace of the soap opera, especially given the company's attitude toward these shows over the last twenty years.

 

I would love to read Bunim's Afternoon Tv interview about ATWT.

I had all those mags, but they disappeared along the way.

I do recall her talking about the lighting, saying they would be using key lighting to focus on the performer on camera. She said it takes extra time to light the set but needed to be done to update the visual appeal of the show.

Seems that didn't happen as planned...

How did I miss this?!  Had anyone posted this before?

 

We are excited to have the talented Margaret Colin and Emeritus Trustee Anne Sward Hansen with us tonight to support #EqualEducation. pic.twitter.com/vpfyuZ70oR

— The College Fund (@collegefund) April 25, 2017

12 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

How did I miss this?!  Had anyone posted this before?

 

Is that Lyla...she looks freaking great!  I truly think the ATWT vets made a pact with the forces of dark to age better and more naturally then any other soap cast.

She does. Margaret Colin looks good too. I'm glad she seems to have aged naturally. I'm glad they seem to still be close all these years later, considering they only had about two years together on ATWT. 

7 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

She does. Margaret Colin looks good too. I'm glad she seems to have aged naturally. I'm glad they seem to still be close all these years later, considering they only had about two years together on ATWT. 

I wonder why they didn't have Bob and Lyla marry. They were engaged and broke it off due to the revelation of John being Margo's dad but the impact would have been greater with Lyla and he being married. I don't remember them having that much chemistry but they both are such pleasant actors I cant imagine they didnt have an easy chemistry. It made more sense then Bob and the drug lord Miranda.

Was Miranda ever mentioned again after she left?

10 hours ago, Mitch said:

Is that Lyla...she looks freaking great!  I truly think the ATWT vets made a pact with the forces of dark to age better and more naturally then any other soap cast.

 

That is Anne Sward who played Lyla.  I do agree that pretty much every 50+ actress from ATWT has aged like fine wine.

 

10 hours ago, Mitch said:

I wonder why they didn't have Bob and Lyla marry. They were engaged and broke it off due to the revelation of John being Margo's dad but the impact would have been greater with Lyla and he being married. I don't remember them having that much chemistry but they both are such pleasant actors I cant imagine they didnt have an easy chemistry. It made more sense then Bob and the drug lord Miranda.

 

I think the actors had a nice chemistry even after it was clear that they were never going to be a couple (like when Bob and Kim were engaged). Bob and Lyla seemed more like friendly colleagues by then but they still had a kind of chemistry, albeit mostly platonic by then.

2 hours ago, Scrapple said:

Was Miranda ever mentioned again after she left?

 

The only time I can remember is at Bob's bachelor party, he was roasted by a fellow doctor who made fun of all Bob's failed relationships before Kim.  Miranda and her infamous profession was mentioned.

I think Bob and Lyla had a lot of dramatic potential at the time and should have been married ..the impact of Lyla's past would have thrown a loop and then just as they were getting back together Lyla could have learned of Margo's affair with James, causing tension as she tries to keep the secret that Margo is screwing over Bob's step daughter....(okay, I would have gone full Marland and had Bob mentioning his need for honesty while Lyla looks guilty..)but they needed to have a strong Hughes family to make that work with Nancy and Chris there and the close ties with Babs and the family, which the Dobs destroyed so all the potential was gone.  Bob and Kim could have still come down the road.

I'm just glad they never had Dr. Bob go through some midlife crisis and marry a girl who was barely out of diapers.