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Soap Opera Digest Best and Worst 1983


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So true. Taking their time is why I fell in love with couples like Cruz & Eden, Roman & Marlena, Bo & Hope, Pete & Melissa, Victor & Hope (Y&R), Cass & Kathleen, Mitch & Felicia, Mason & Julia, and CC & Sophia back in the day.

Sigh. They don't make em like they used to.

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For what it's worth, on the subject of Palmer John, my mother said, "Oh, that was sooo sad" when i asked her about it while reading The Complete Family Scrapbook, she didn't find it tasteless but tragic indeed.

Eric, thanks for the Pescow info., that "alone on Christmas" beauty shot sounds very sad. Wow, I miss those beauty shots, but not necessarily how they'd probably be handled today (Dorian giving David his full body wax...).

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I suspect Daisy's fantasies, along with Connie and Lars' retconned histories, were the result of the network (and then-ABC Daytime VP Jackie Smith) putting increased pressure on AMC's writing staff. As kooky as Agnes Nixon and her team's stories could be at times, all that stuff was a bit much even for them.

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LOL I remember that Felicia/Jamie scene and it was a hott. Wonder if it is on YouTube?

Uh no Phillip and Beth in the Best and Worst for 1983?

Yeah I thought it was cruel and tasteless to kill off Donna' baby!!

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I saw the AW scene on tape...I'd forgotten about the hand on the thigh, I just remembered his discomfort as she started unbuttoning his shirt. Both actors played it so brilliantly - and it was so rare for Richard Bekins to get comedy.

Phillip and Beth were mentioned in an article on trends of 1983, but that was it.

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Ah it was Palmer and Donna's child--I did know about that. I kinda agree with your mom (not having seen it). the soap press seems to have *always* knocked many baby death stories as tasteless or short sighted ("You could have had a new young palmer in 10 years if you had kept the baby ont he canvas!"). While I think some truly have been, and there have been eras where it seemed like baby death stories were being cheaply and all too often used, I think they also can elad to great story and realistic drama that can be cathartic for people who went through the same situation to see.

I need to digitize some of that AMC and upload it (along with Palmer's Masquerade Ball episodes--which I have at least on my computer now, just need to learn how to upload lol)--the Pescow stuff, while completely asexual, was well done. I also love the beauty shots (I believe OLTL got rid of them first, under Rauch?)--it just gives this sense of Pine Valley going on all day even when you're not watching and they often were surprisingly well done bits of mimed business. And yes I can imagine current ones on OLTL--Ford doing crunches shirtless, Ford in the shower, Ford shaving his chest (feel free to replace Ford's name with Cutter).

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I wonder... I actually can see Agnes going for the Nazi stuff--it seems right up her alley of weirder story moments, though the fantasies do sound too much. Orf course Washam was more involved (I believe even Broderick was) at this point with Agnes prepping Loving, etc--and I grant you while AMC ratings were VERY high so I doubt too much ABC pressure, there probablyw as the suggestion that AMC should do a more action oriented story like GH and OLTL were doing at the time.

Was Connie's history retconned? I always thought that she was always meant to be an imposter--it played out really well from the stuff I've seen (which is quite a bit for that story) and doesn't feel to me the way some retconned stories do.

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