Classic SOD Tumblr Goodies

[BetterForgotten]

Monty really didn't know how to execute her ideas in that second stint, and nor did she have the quality of writers to bring it to life. Sometimes I do think she was just doomed to fail regardless. 

[DRW50]

 

Was there more fanfare when she'd returned to daytime for DAYS?

[Franko]

Unless I missed it, this was all she received:

https://classicsodnews.tumblr.com/image/165510867565

(SOD's news section was bare bones in 1987.)

[BetterForgotten]

I guess it could be no one or the press had no use for either Francis or Geary unless they were on GH.

[BetterForgotten]

One of the previous posts had an article about Shelley Curtis leaving DAYS, and Tom Langan coming in.

 

It should be noted that Shelley later joined Wendy Riche's producing team at GH and was fairly influential in Riche's first few years. She also started her career at GH under Monty before going over to DAYS.  

[Franko]

I was driving this morning, still pretty stunned about the deaths of not only Carmen Duncan, but Candice Earley and Kristoff St. John. Of all the songs to be playing ...

(Although tied to AW's last episode, I think it's become a universal song for soap fans.)

[j swift]

Today I learned a couple of things from the vintage recaps

THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS: Week of November 22 - November 26, 1982

Allison talked Nikki into naming her baby Victoria, after Earl’s mother.  Victor insisted he couldn’t be Victoria’s father, but Nikki caught him cooing over the baby.  

 

I always thought Victoria was named after Victor

 

CAPITOL: Week of November 22 - November 26, 1982

Tyler and Joe escaped jail with the aid of explosives unwittingly smuggled to them by Sloane.  Col. Amir detained Sloane in N'Shoba [Mishoba].  

 

I forgot that N'Shoba, where Slone was shot in the final episode, was in the story so early.

 

GUIDING LIGHT: Week of November 22 - November 26, 1982

Ross vowed that he would stick by Amanda, who was upset that Alan didn’t think that she could run Spaulding.  Josh vowed to save Lewis Oil from total ruin.

 

I also forgot how easily Josh got back into the Lewis fold, however how he planned to save Lewis Oil from Springfield was beyond me.

[j swift]

3/19/91 SOD News - I tried to leave some meat on the bone for @Franko

 

The here-to-fore-unremembered Eckart Cousin, Joey Moscini (GH), was brought in as a post-Colton, pre-Mac love interest for Felicia 

 

Gail O'Grady (NYPD Blue) married Jeffrey Byron (son of Anna Lee/Lila GH and Richard Abbott OLTL) and afterward got married six more times; after two weddings with Jeffrey.  She must have a wedding dress wardrobe bigger than Sami Brady's.

 

SB almost lost Lionel in 1991 due to Nic Coster only working 3 days in two months when he went to reoccurring. 

 

Linda Dano lost her co-host at Attitudes, Dee Kelly.  No word on whatever happened to her, but she left even after they let her sing way too much on the show.  I loved Attitudes and all of it's early 90's sensibilities.  I remember Oscar DeLaRenta showing satin hostess pajamas that could only be worn by The Golden Girls, and Donna Karen praising the "comfort" of wearing tights, a bodysuit, a thick belt, a mini skirt, three more layers of accessories, and high heels    It was masterfully sent up by SNL.  Marla Maples (Trump's 2nd ex-wife) is being given a tryout.  The number of times Trump is mentioned in every issue of SOD is amazing in retrospect (if only that fame would have been enough for him).

 

The war did not have a big impact on soaps.  Y&R had a partial preemption and B&B missed one episode.

 

I don't know if it is access or personality but Tom Langan at DAYS had a more difficult, and ultimately more successful, transition at the same time as Gloria Monty.  For example, Monty got to fire most of her cast, but Langan came on board after a mass exodus from DAYS.  However, she is getting all of the press at GH while we never hear about big plans to overhaul DAYS from Langan (at this time).

 

Also interesting are the highs and lows of GH ratings.  It was number 9 from 1963-1970, then it went to number 2 in 1971, then slid to 10th in 1977, Monty was hired it went to number 1, then she left and Y&R took over the number 1 slot in 1988 and has held on to it ever since.  

 

GH hints at the first re-write in the Eckart saga. Instead of Harland Barrett and his daughters Julia and Brenda, we were initially promised a wheeling-dealing sexy businessman in his 50's  (thankfully no mention of Trump) and his daughters Justine and Kelly (I wonder if they were watching 90210 when they changed blond Kelly to brunette Brenda?).

[Franko]

I used to be able to write on my lunch break. Boy, do I miss that.

[Franko]

Our top story this week concerns the twists and turns of Days' supercouple machine. Eve, formerly of Eve & Nick, has married Jack, for the time being formerly of Jack & Jennifer. Bride and groom married for money, not love. Waiting in the wings are Jennifer and Frankie, formerly of Jennifer & Frankie. Al Rabin claims the twist was always planned, and it's not like the Js are going to be separated for long. I wonder if SOD still gets letters rooting for the couple.

 

Charlotte Ross and Billy Warlock have four more months left on Days. Among those in the immediate revolving door are:

-- Mary Crosby, making a spoiled return for what will turn out to be Dallas' series finale

-- Fiona Hutchinson, on her way out but not yet saying so at OLTL (her eye's on L.A.)

-- Brian Patrick Clarke, leaving B&B with the desire to not be a 50-year-old soap star (his eye's on primetime)

-- Carrie Mitchum, whose storyline on B&B has dried up

-- Nicolas Coster, who did end up staying on SB

-- Ming-Na Wen and Michael Louden, off of ATWT (in her defense, even a regional Mamet production was a coup in 1991)

-- Joey Thrower as the first adult Kevin Riley (or is it Kevin Riley Buchanan; anyway, Viki's kid)

-- Jim Morrison as Joey, Arte Johnson as Finian and Glenn Walker Harris Jr., all incoming on GH

-- Tippi Hedren and John Brandon, demoted to recurring on B&B

-- Stephen Gregory and Nina Arvesen, out at Y&R

 

Side Note: I forgot Cassandra's last name was "Hall." That makes me think of Tony and Cassandra Hall, the notoriously tacky clients on Designing Women.

 

I still say Tristan Rogers has his eyes on the door. Regarding his new contract, "I'm back for a while. That's all I care to say on the subject." Also, I'm not ashamed to admit I squealed a little reading about the character eventually known as Brenda.

 

Different Times: Remember when Donald Trump's public image was that of a flamboyant semi-charmer? How times change! I'm with you, @j swift, about Attitudes' appeal (and those great SNL sketches).

 

Its interesting that AMC claims Julia Roberts read for a dayplayer high school character. We know now that she read for Linda Warner. Multiple auditions? Selective memory? Also, the timeline doesn't add up, but I'm now imagining Julia opposite Marcy Walker in scenes between Amanda and Liza.

 

Today I Learned Jean LeClerc is a Bernadette Peters fan. Aren't we all? It's a shame she never did a soap. I bet she'd be great as a frienemy of Erica or Dorian's. Shoot, maybe she could have played Bunny the society columnist on OLTL. Did any of that "beef up the Banner" stuff happen, or was it all abandoned with the revamp?

 

Okay, now I have no clue what order the remaining primers (Y&R, SB and Loving) will go in. We've got The Bold and the Beautiful. Yeah, still swooning over Todd McKee. Also, I love this sentence: "Spunky, sassy and obsessed with one-upping the Forresters, Sally is the Ethel Merman of the fashion world."

 

All this and four glamourpusses wearing beaglepusses.

[j swift]

I forgot to mention in the GH recap for the same week (3/19/91) all of the loose ends of the prior regime are wrapped up in one week; usually just in one scene.  

 

Bobbi leaves the adoption agency to be an OR nurse (it's odd that she wasn't fired).  Anna has forgotten her flirtation with Edge Jermone last month and has the oft-recalled "tie Robert to the pilar" scene.  Lucas and Cheryl move to Phoenix when Robert says he doesn't love her. Finally, Colton, his mother, and fiance move to South America with no motivation at all.    

 

I also just realized that there had to be a feud between the Eckharts and the Spencers in order to explain how both families were well established in Port Charles but never spoke to each other.  But to paraphrase Mean Girls - stop trying to make Eckhart's Bakery a thing, it was never going to be the new Ruby's Diner.    

I forgot how dark his death was - google it at your own risk (but not at work during your lunch break).

[Franko]

For story purposes, having characters meet at a diner makes more sense than having them meet at a bakery. Unless the Eckerts served coffee.

 

Well, I was not expecting that. Reminds me of David Carradine.

[j swift]

4/2/1991 - Desert Storm is over

 

We start with my favorite type of story, totally unsubstantiated gossip from behind the scenes. 1). Genie Francis was approached by B&B to play Caroline after Joanna Johnson left and she was desperate to find another role after DAYS. 2). Jeanne Cooper and Doug Davidson have the highest Q scores on daytime 3). An unnamed network (ABC) is paying young actors to take acting classes while on the job.  No mention was made of the connection between those acting classes and a certain Hollywood cult/religion that was later revealed in the doc Going Clear.

 

Then, there was more obvious goss - producers stuff the emmy ballots and Susan Lucci was the highest paid actor in daytime.

 

Heather Tom and Kristoff St. John both got contracts on Y&R two months after they began on screen.

 

Twin Peaks is tanking in the ratings in the second season.  That SOD editor who loves Twin Peaks got in two mentions this week, including a report that more people watch it than DAYS or Guiding Light.

 

Harlan Barrett, (Julia and Brenda's father), is being cast and there are big hopes for him being a leading man on GH.  They got the guy from the Mod Squad but it is not Michael Ontkien from The Rookies, (who was on Twin Peaks at the time), so I am not interested.  However, SB just fired an older male character named Harlan, so maybe it wasn't a good idea.  On the other hand, Brenda having a father would have made for interesting stories when she started dating Sonny.  

 

A side story about Leanna Love on Y&R.  I forgot what an odd character she was.  However, the idea of a woman being "frigid" is a lost soap trope.  Today all characters are down for a bed hop any time of day or night, so it was interesting to have a woman date five men and never want to sleep with them.  BTW in the 1982 Y&R summary, they mentioned that Leslie moved away with the "Maestro", did they really only refer to him as Maestro in every script?

 

The Dark Shadows primetime revival is also tanking in the ratings.  For the life of me, I'll never understand the desire to remake a "cult classic".  By definition, a cult classic has a small niche audience.  Why did NBC, and later Tim Burton, think that a higher budget was the only thing missing from its mass appeal?  I've always thought that the cheesiness of the original was a part of the attraction that one could never repeat on purpose.

[YRfan23]

I thought his name was “Maestro French” or something?

[slick jones]

Maestro Ernesto Fausch