1998 Year in Review

[DRW50]

I know. I think that was a surprise cameo too. I don't remember reading about it. It was such a touching moment, especially when Harold looked back, and Natalie told him it would be OK (poor Harold was lucky to leave before it got so ugly).

[Mitch]

Okay was Harold a dog???? And why did they kill him (AMC killed a dog??????)

[Khan]

Yes, Harold was a dog; and they - actually, Megan McTavish - killed him because [official company line] losing a beloved pet who was as loved as anyone else in the family is a touching, personal subject that was near and dear to the hearts of several writers on-staff [/official company line].

(Actually, it was b/c, MMT lacked the capacity to write anything else for "nice Janet" and the rest of the Dillon clan.)

[Mitch]

Wow, I knew McTrash was crazy, but isnt she a dog lover herself (I thought she bred dogs...) Seems like a cheap ploy to ring some tears. She didn't have a car run over him?

[Michael]

I really liked the Harold story. No, not the most dramatic, soapy thing ever, but I wish these shows would do MORE of that sort of "real life drama." It's a nice counterbalance to the over-the-top stuff. I barely knew AMC at the time and cried like a baby at that.

[SFK]

+2

Do you all remember that Harold the dog was recast... with a different breed? Of course the original Harold (who passed away IRL ) was a mutt so it was hard, damn near impossible, to find a suitable replacement unless he had living, trained littermates/grown puppies (think Benji or Dreyfuss). But the new dog they got looked like a Bearded Collie. I guffawed when I first saw him.

[Michael]

That's like when Crystal Hunt's Lizzie on GL always carried around that little dog, Roxy, who I think was CH's real-life dog. And she was a tiny little thing. Then, when Marcy Rylan took over, they recast Roxy, but the new Roxy was like 20 lbs, and it was hilarious watching petite little Marcy Rylan lug around this dog that was NOT a purse dog at all.

[SFK]

LOL, yes! And IIRC, that second dog was in fact related to the first one... I wonder if it was its mom/dad?

[EricMontreal22]

You know, it's stuff like this that's missing on soaps. Details like a family actually having a pet (and one we see).

>Best Reunion - Jack/Christine, AMC

REALLY?

>Dropping the Ball - What happened to Kevin? AMC;

We really should see a bench in that park they show constantly with a commemorative plaque for Kevin's death at Holidays. (We've already seen the same bench with both a Leo plaque and a Stuart one on it)

[EricMontreal22]

Khan hates any story on any soap post 1992. I thought it was, for what it was, extremely well done.

How was Lee's death so graphic? I don't remember.

[DRW50]

By McTavish standards I thought the story about Harold was done with taste, and it seemed obvious to me that she really cared about what was happening. It sucks that McTavish didn't write more for them but I thought the little she did write (that and the wedding) was better than anything the Dillons had after her firing.

I think Lee's exit was seen as too much by some because he had this big OTT screaming and yelling death from an aneurysm as Adam kept saying things to make him worse and worse, and watched him die.

[Khan]

I know, right? You have to wonder just how awful the other reunions were that year for this one to have been the best.

[DRW50]

At the time I did think that the early scenes of her proving she was Christine were decent, I liked Walt Willey's performance and seeing Travis back. I would agree it wasn't great, although I can't remember any other 1998 reunions so I can't compare.

The character was never great but they didn't completely ruin her until the rape story.

[Cheap21]

That story only highlighted just how boring Janet and Trevor were once they got married. Their biggest story involved their damn dog having cancer. Yawwwnnn

[DRW50]

Their biggest story was that garbage with the deadly candy cane.

I put it down to lazy writing more than anything else. A lot could have been done with the Dillon family. Soaps being incapable of writing for married couples is yet another reason they lose viewers. Look at what could have been with Erica/Jack and how weak a lot of her stories have been since.