About 17 minutes in there's a Soap Talk segment asking viewers about whether Liza and Tad have changed. There is then a clip of Liza/Marian and another with Tad/Dottie/Alfred.

One lady said Tad was getting better and Liza was getting worse but most of the others felt both were getting nicer (and a few felt they were getting duller).

We then get a bit of Marcy Walker and MEK meeting people during the trip with the Soap Talk lady.

When did Marcy leave AMC in 1984? I thought she was out the door by this point.

I still wonder what plans may have gone through with Liza if Marcy hadn't left. My guess is she probably would have lost her way and been written out within a few years, based on how aimless AMC was in the mid '80s, but you never know.

KSTP-TV Good Company, July 26, 1984

48 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

About 17 minutes in there's a Soap Talk segment asking viewers about whether Liza and Tad have changed. There is then a clip of Liza/Marian and another with Tad/Dottie/Alfred.

One lady said Tad was getting better and Liza was getting worse but most of the others felt both were getting nicer (and a few felt they were getting duller).

We then get a bit of Marcy Walker and MEK meeting people during the trip with the Soap Talk lady.

When did Marcy leave AMC in 1984? I thought she was out the door by this point.

I still wonder what plans may have gone through with Liza if Marcy hadn't left. My guess is she probably would have lost her way and been written out within a few years, based on how aimless AMC was in the mid '80s, but you never know.

KSTP-TV Good Company, July 26, 1984

Marcy lasted on AMC until at least mid-September 1984. She's in the Wednesday, Sept. 12 episode doing the Liza likes Cliff storyline. Marcy debuted on Santa Barbara on Friday, Sept. 28, 1984.

6 minutes ago, Franko said:

Marcy lasted on AMC until at least mid-September 1984. She's in the Wednesday, Sept. 12 episode doing the Liza likes Cliff storyline. Marcy debuted on Santa Barbara on Friday, Sept. 28, 1984.

Thanks.

I think that story would have failed even with her as all non-Nina love interests did with him, so no wonder she left.

47 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks.

I think that story would have failed even with her as all non-Nina love interests did with him, so no wonder she left.

Agreed. I do feel a little bad for Peter Bergman, though, having not one, but three new females (Heather Stanford, Alice Haining, Melissa Leo) to act opposite and convey complicated feelings about in such a short time.

What was the name of the town shrink in 80s and 90s?

16 hours ago, jasonminer1974 said:

What was the name of the town shrink in 80s and 90s?

Dr. Anna Tolan played by Courtney Sherman and Lois Robbins.

18 minutes ago, slick jones said:

Dr. Anna Tolan played by Courtney Sherman and Lois Robbins.

Thanks

On 12/1/2025 at 7:16 PM, DRW50 said:

I think McTavish just wanted a clear-out of the younger set. If not for Reggie's ties to Jack, someone McTavish tended to write for, I think he may have gone too.

Yeah I think this was the case too. Rayfield had introduced a bunch of characters with no strong ties to the canvas--especially those young characters (I'm blanking on the Asian guy's name...) If I recall correctly Jonie lasted longer than Laurie, I assumed because she seemed to be the better actress at the time, though not much longer.

I don't think this has been posted. When I did my MA thesis in part about the big 1995-97 gay umbrellas storylines on AMC, I got to speak to writers and cast members but never thought to do any research into the real life teacher who inspired the start of the storyline--with Michael Delaney coming out to his class. Here's that teacher, Rodney Wilson's recollections.

Thirty Years Ago: AMC’s Michael Delaney Pointed to a Pink Triangle

December 3, 2025 | By Rodney Wilson https://outinstl.com/thirty-years-ago-amcs-michael-delaney-pointed-to-a-pink-triangle/?fbclid=IwdGRzaAOlN3hjbGNrA6U3bmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHmsGwciUx_v8PPO8OVXqlqXU3vOOEVIIO5_nQ8u4370VulcRTa-fSHIX5rmA_aem_uAJ-YXLy0q1prGt_eMu4bQ

Edited December 10, 2025Dec 10 by EricMontreal22

16 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Yeah I think this was the case too. Rayfield had introduced a bunch of characters with no strong ties to the canvas--especially those young characters (I'm blanking on the Asian guy's name...) If I recall correctly Jonie lasted longer than Laurie, I assumed because she seemed to be the better actress at the time, though not much longer.

Was it Henry? Wasn't there spec he was going to be Palmer's son?

15 minutes ago, EricMontreal22 said:

I don't think this has been posted. When I did my MA thesis in part about the big 1995-97 gay umbrellas storylines on AMC, I got to speak to writers and cast members but never thought to do any research into the real life teacher who inspired the start of the storyline--with Michael Delaney coming out to his class. Here's that teacher, Rodney Wilson's recollections.

Thirty Years Ago: AMC’s Michael Delaney Pointed to a Pink Triangle

December 3, 2025 | By Rodney Wilson https://outinstl.com/thirty-years-ago-amcs-michael-delaney-pointed-to-a-pink-triangle/?fbclid=IwdGRzaAOlN3hjbGNrA6U3bmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHmsGwciUx_v8PPO8OVXqlqXU3vOOEVIIO5_nQ8u4370VulcRTa-fSHIX5rmA_aem_uAJ-YXLy0q1prGt_eMu4bQ

Thanks. Never seen this. I'm glad he had a happier life than Michael Delaney did.

I can't help wondering how much more virulent the response to this story would be today. One of many reasons it won't happen.

Wasn’t the teen scene not very strong at this time? Compared to OLTL with Jessica and Cristian, a story like this with a good youth set could’ve helped the late 90s a lot?

1 hour ago, EricMontreal22 said:

Yeah I think this was the case too. Rayfield had introduced a bunch of characters with no strong ties to the canvas--especially those young characters (I'm blanking on the Asian guy's name...) If I recall correctly Jonie lasted longer than Laurie, I assumed because she seemed to be the better actress at the time, though not much longer.

Oh my gosh, I vaguely remember this guy! The name Henry came to mind, but if you google that name in relation to AMC, you just get Di or Del Henry. But thankfully I finally found him and this is all the info there is out there:

Henry Chen

(Ivan Shaw, 2003)

Maggie's former Chinese-American boyfriend. His family operated an Asian restaurant and wanted him to continue the family business rather that pursuing a career as a doctor.

1 hour ago, EricMontreal22 said:

I don't think this has been posted. When I did my MA thesis in part about the big 1995-97 gay umbrellas storylines on AMC, I got to speak to writers and cast members but never thought to do any research into the real life teacher who inspired the start of the storyline--with Michael Delaney coming out to his class. Here's that teacher, Rodney Wilson's recollections.

Thirty Years Ago: AMC’s Michael Delaney Pointed to a Pink Triangle

December 3, 2025 | By Rodney Wilson https://outinstl.com/thirty-years-ago-amcs-michael-delaney-pointed-to-a-pink-triangle/?fbclid=IwdGRzaAOlN3hjbGNrA6U3bmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHmsGwciUx_v8PPO8OVXqlqXU3vOOEVIIO5_nQ8u4370VulcRTa-fSHIX5rmA_aem_uAJ-YXLy0q1prGt_eMu4bQ

Wow, this is an amazing read - thank you for posting! I had no idea that storyline mirrored a real life story. I also didn't realize those episodes were what won AMC the Best Writing Emmy that year, which was well-deserved.

I distinctly remember this storyline as a kid and it's a good reminder that I knew I was gay well before middle school at just age 11 (sometimes it amazes me at how young we really were with those thoughts/feelings). I had a big crush on Chris Bruno! 😅

Eric - have you published anything you wrote after interviewing the writers/cast members? Would love to read anything out there. Who did you get the chance to interview? That's such a great experience.

3 hours ago, soapfave06 said:

Wasn’t the teen scene not very strong at this time? Compared to OLTL with Jessica and Cristian, a story like this with a good youth set could’ve helped the late 90s a lot?

The problem was the way Rayfield wrote (I remember it improved a bit when Cascio--sp?--became co-HW) never felt like Pine Valley and was a lot of quick solutions. So these teens had no real ties to the canvas (although Henry--thanks @DRW50 for the reminder--dated Maggie, Joni was with Jamie and Laurie was with JR) and felt like short term storylines (Laurie's alcoholic dad, etc) AMC was really strange in that brief era--we also had crazy therapist Lysistrata with Liza and Adam doing couples therapy with her (I remember she sent them to see a movie together--and JR and Laurie and maybe Jamie and Joni were there too, and the set and everything else looked like something from a Disney channel sitcom) who briefly dated Tad. I do think Lena and Bianca were in that era (right?) and fans mostly loved them, but... It all felt like quick fixes.

In hindsight I think Brian Frons just had Rayfield there as a stop gap measure. He was trying to get Broderick back as HW apparently and when she said no, he hired McTavish. At first Frons did seem to have the idea to re-hire writers for his shows who wrote it during high points in the past (this was also when he hired Josh Griffith and eventually Michael Malone too, for OLTL--of course Griffith left after a year, followed by Malone due to Frons interference.) So I think Rayfield was a place holder and I certainly didn't resent McTavish immediately disregarding much of his stuff--while I did like a bit of it, really it made the most sense. I remember her first episode was a Fourth of July one and suddenly (albeit only briefly) Pine Valley felt more like itself than it had in a while.

2 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

Oh my gosh, I vaguely remember this guy! The name Henry came to mind, but if you google that name in relation to AMC, you just get Di or Del Henry. But thankfully I finally found him and this is all the info there is out there:

Henry Chen

(Ivan Shaw, 2003)

Maggie's former Chinese-American boyfriend. His family operated an Asian restaurant and wanted him to continue the family business rather that pursuing a career as a doctor.

Thank you! It certainly was nice to introduce an Asian family (even if a rather stereotypical one)--how sad is it to point out how rare that was for soaps even in the early 2000s. I remember fans online couldn't get over how they had Dr Joe stop there for lunch and some dialogue about how he had been going to their Chinese Restaurant regularly for YEARS.