I liked DAM from the time I saw him on AW - I'm just sorry his GL run didn't work out better (although he got a relatively "happy" ending).

Agree with you about Beth Ehlers. It was so tough to watch her in later years.

They could have done so much for DAM. But he was hamstringed by a stupid character with ties to the dumbest plot development/storylines in GL history (and yea, I am including the clone in there.) Also instead of shoehorning RPG into a core family they should have made Edmund Alan's kid (actually a great stor, though far fetched would be for Edmund to be the "real," Spaudling heir that actually didn't die at childbirth (dont ask me how they could have worked that out but the writers at that time didnt try to work anything out to make sense.) I also thought he would have been a great "nice guy," on a soap, like a recast Tom Hughes, sexy, clean cut, but with a hint of a spark to make the character less of a selfrighteus prig.

And actually you can't place the entire blame on the writers for making Harley like nails on a chalkboard, a big part of that goes to BE. When Harley first came on the show she was sullen and angry, but Ehlers made her sympathetic and understated. You could tell Harley was wounded. But Harley circa Wheelie and Co. was just an annoying shrill bitch. I don't know if it was the difference in direction, or if Ehlers lost it, or if something was going on in her personal life (I actually blame the weight loss, Ehlers was so freakin skinny at the end that her face was all sharp points and she probably was hungry all the time. ) Whatever it was, Harley was intolerable.

I've always been a big Martha Byrne fan, but with a tenure as long as she had at ATWT, she definitely had peaks and valleys. Holden and Lily were arguably the most popular couple ATWT ever had, but after the marriage, they became snoozeville and it showed in both performers work. The creation of Rose must have been a godsend for Martha, because she thrived with the dual roles, especially that great first year. Rose pretending to be Lily, and Lily on the island with Simon featured MB at her best.

The s/l that I loved Martha most in is probably forgotten by ATWT viewers: when Lily decided to show up Mama Lucinda by starting the ill-advised baby food company. When the baby food turned out to be toxic, lots of childrens lives put at risk, realizing she had been duped by Craig, and knowing she may have destroyed the company her mother had worked her entire life for, Martha was fabulous.

No matter what the writing for Kate, I just always love Lauren Koslow...Same with John Aniston. I'd listen to him read the phonebook.

I used to feel that way with Aniston and Koslow too, now I don't. Alot of it has to do with the writing.

Here is my thing with Dee Hall, even looking at 70's/80's she was never an amazing, powerhouse actress. She was however a very good actress and had a personality that came through Marlena and made you like her, care for her. That was still there for a bit in her return in the early 90's, she rocked during the affair storline IMHO, but from right before the posession until she was fired she was awful. He actings got worse, and that little light that shined through her into marlena was gone.