Retconning: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

[Soaplovers]

I forgot that Ellen came back for Nancy's 80th birthday.. where you witnessed Molly and David having an argument in front of Ellen/Penny/Nancy.. with Penny exclaiming 'Who are these people?'.  I also think she came back later that year for Thanksgiving after the Tom affair was revealed to comfort Emily while she and Susan had their usual tension.  

[vetsoapfan]

 

Penny's "Who ARE these people?!?" echoed the sentiments of veteran ATWT fans everywhere, LOL.

[SoapDope]

 

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 I remember on another soap board one poster said he always remembered Paul in the late 70's slouching in doorways or laying on couches. Nikki would try to straighten up and he would appear and a guitar/disco groove would start playing and they would end up hitting the sheets. Sounds close to 70's porn as daytime TV would allow. He also drove a Trans Am. 

 

One time SOD did a feature on Doug Davidson's years on Y&R and they showed a hilarious photo of him in tight 70's disco attire. He laughed and said sadly those were his own clothes, since early on he didn't have a Y&R wardrobe. He joked that maybe he was alerting people Paul had VD and to stay away. 

[vetsoapfan]

 

If anything, those super-tight and super sexy pants Paul used to wear would scream, "Come and get me, baby!"

 

Lord, I miss the 1970s' pants.

[mikelyons]

Is Nancy's 80th birthday online? Man, I'd love to see Penny say, "Who are these people?" just once!

[SoapDope]

 

I remember when all the newcomers showed up around 1996 and SOD bashed them in the Best & Worst issue. 

[DRW50]

 

That was the Paul recast, T Jones, Sarah, Zoe, Diego, etc.

 

The people being shoved in our faces for this episode were Georgia, Eddie Man, David Allen, Molly, etc. I think it was a shrieking Molly and David fight that led to Penny's line, which I loved. 

 

Helen Wagner also gave an interview around this time making it clear she wasn't overjoyed with what the show had become (she also tried to act like she'd been there the whole time, from what I remember, not mentioning the 4 or so years she had quit). 

 

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Rosemary Prinz and Pat Bruder still had so much to offer. 

 

Maybe it's for the best.

[amybrickwallace]

 

That's too funny. 😂😂😂😂😂

[mikelyons]

Thanks for sharing these episodes! I hope someone makes a GIF out of Penny’s line. :-)

[vetsoapfan]

Carl, was Helen Wagner off-screen completely for four straight years? I thought she had only been absent for one full year, but had appeared at least once during the others. I don't remember, I was not thrilled with ATWT at that time and watched it irregularly, so I will take your word for it.

[SoapDope]

 

Wasn't Helen also off the show in the late 50's/early 60's for a brief time ? I remember she did an interview where she said Irna fired her because she didn't like the way she poured coffee....LOL

[vetsoapfan]

 

That Irna sure sounds like a pip, LOL.

 

Yes, at the beginning, she was not originally happy with Helen Wagner and the actress was let go from ATWT. Then they couldn't find another performer whom Irna approved of to take over the role of Nancy, however, so Phillips asked Wagner to come back. Wagner was temporarily busy with another job at the moment, which meant Irna had to wait to get her back on ATWT. She wasn't thrilled, but...karma and all that.

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[DRW50]

 

I think that she left in late 1980 and then started making more regular appearances again around Bob and Kim's wedding in 1985, with a guest spot in-between for Tom and Margo's wedding. I'm not sure though.

[SoapDope]

 

I loved Helen as Nancy. Most kids and young people wanted to see the younger set, but I loved to watch Nancy, Chris,Kim, Bob, Lisa etc...

 

I remember Helen said one woman wrote to her during the early days and said "You do the filthiest thing on TV I have sever seen. You throw your dish towel across your shoulder".....LOL. She also talked about a new stove in the Hughes kitchen with lots of dials. The timer started buzzing like crazy live on the air and Bob or Penny ad libbed "Mom I think somethings done" and she said " I don't think it's quite done yet" and a stage hand had to crawl below and disconnect it while they pretended nothing was wrong. 

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Where was it said Nancy was?