Classic SOD Tumblr Goodies

[j swift]

@FrankoI'm so glad Tamara Tunie's play from 1990 is going to actually make it into production.  Unlike last week's broken broadway dreams of Sandra Reinhart.

 

There's so much build up for Frankie's return.  Spoiler Alert: they change writers and he leaves in six months.  The whole connection of Carly and Frankie wound up being meaningless in the long run.  Although in re-reading the character summary I noticed some logical errors that I may have overlooked in 1990.  For example, Frankie has to give Lawrence his inheritance in order to ensure Jennifer's divorce.  Didn't he give up inheritance rights when he was adopted by the Brady's?  Also, the Alamain's were rich so why do they need the Von Luishner money?  Also, Lawrence raped Jennifer so does he have any leverage in their divorce?  Shouldn't Jennifer have gotten 50% of the Alamian fortune?  And why does everyone still call her Carly Manning once they learned her real name (even Aunt Viv & Frankie who would have only known her as Katerina)?

 

It's also interesting to note the early similarities of Carly and Kristen on Days.  Both came on with pseudonyms and hidden brothers that loved Jennifer.  Both were from rich families but were introduced as very humble.  It was as if Reilly was perfecting a characterization that was already on the canvas but somehow didn't meet his needs for plotlines.

[Franko]

Maybe they should have had Frankie learn about his aristocratic background during his two years away from Salem, rather than have it turn out he was slumming the first time around.

 

I believe Lawrence's marriage to Katerina was essential for some sort of political-financial alliance. Of course, within two years, he'd genuinely love Carly. That would have been an interesting twist, having Jennifer become a multimillionaire.

 

As long as I'm indulging in fanfiction, suppose Anjelica was still on the canvas. She could have a relationship with Jennifer not unlike Vivian and Carly.

[j swift]

@Franko Is it paranoid to think that this week's vintage SOD News didn't get posted on Tumblr because we've been discussing it? 

[Franko]

@j swift I've spent the last two days at the edge of my seat. To whomever's posting, we're commenting with love, I swear! Incidentally, I love this pattern of taking turns we established.

[Franko]

@j swift IT'S BACK! And it's your turn to give the first commentary.

[EricMontreal22]

That confused me.  Wasn't Cyndi brought on to AMC as HIV poz?  Agnes Nixon wasn't a big fan of terminal illness storylines but in her 1988 Museum of Broadcast seminars she mentions how she thought AIDS was just too important an issue and their goal was to tell a terminal illness storyline in a still somewhat hopeful way by focusing on acceptance, etc.  But I swear even in the early 80s soaps were getting lauded for their brief nods to ecology related storylines which always makes me laugh...  I mean the ecology of course is important, but I remain unconvinced that it makes for compelling soap opera storytelling.

[Franko]

If I recall correctly, yes, Cindy was always intended to be an HIV and eventual AIDS patient. Conboy's comment stands out as almost a total line in the sand between he and someone like Agnes. I also was reminded of Robin Scorpio being diagnosed with HIV a few years later.

 

Ecology storylines usually have to do with the discovery that someone's business was/is shady. It would be nice if they went the distance (like the Empire Valley cleanup on Knots).

[EricMontreal22]

You're right of course--the issue is the eco storylines tend to just be window dressing.  And of course Conboy would not be interested in an AIDS story

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(Poor guy though--so optimistic about Santa Barbara in the newly posted SOD--did he even last a year?)

In the new issue as well, I assume Michael Storm is talking about the early 80s ball Asa hosted which fans still talk about going on for several months with very little plot...

[DRW50]

 

It confuses me because I thought Conboy brought a terminally ill character into Capitol. Wasn't it Jordy Clegg's wife? Or maybe she survived but then died from something else? 

 

Cindy was always intended to be HIV-positive, yes. I think viewers got to know her for several months and watched Stuart fall in love with her before she learned she was poz. 

 

That story got a lot of praise at the time but I think history has neglected it. It's much more difficult to tell this type of story than it seems. AW had an AIDS story around the time and honestly I'm not sure any viewers cared about any of the characters involved. 

[robbwolff]

I believe you're referring to Leanne Foster. I'm not sure she and Jordy were ever married. I think Leanne was killed off after she fell down the Clegg staircase during an argument with Kate Wells.

[DRW50]

That's it. Thanks.

[j swift]

@FrankoMy Thanksgiving baking kept me from it, but I will go and look up this week's - I promise

[j swift]

It's the end of October 1990.  The Gulf War is approaching, the Oakland A's were in the World Series and something happened that forced the pre-emption of Reva's memorial service.  Emblematic of how GL slowed down after Reva's first death, she died in July and they drug her memorial service all the way into the end of September.

 

OLTL really wants to make their rap storyline happen, but it sounds so corny from the start, (or the jump off, as referenced in the text).  Here's a tidbit, Allen Dean Morre had been hired as Kerry, the hero of the rap story, wound up marrying Vanita Harbour (Rika) in 1993.

 

We're starting "Who shot Jake?" on Another World which I think becomes a juicy backstage story because of upcoming changes in production.  It also becomes a victim of pre-emptions and war coverage.  Jake stays in a coma for a long time, the killer gets recast, and the solution is a bit of a mess.  I hope we'll get more info into what caused that story to derail.

 

Jack and Kristina Wagner are back again to tell us that even though Jack didn't stick around for Peter's birth, the tabloid stories about Robert Wagner's daughter have been retracted and Kin Shriner gave them a thumbs up as parents; so you can rely on that information.  Jack's got a new movie (spoiler alert: never released) and their whining that they writers made Frisco and Felicia pregnant at the same time.  All in all, they probably should have hired a better PR person.

 

Did DAYS go to number 2 in 1988 or 1989 with Kayla's wedding?  Because a couple of years later the rats are all leaving the ship.  Patch just left and Judi Evans has multiple offers from east coast soaps.  We know Wally will leave next and eventually Kayla.  In retrospect, they had all had lateral success at other soaps.   Also, if I were an actor in demand and I read that GH was doing a sophisticated story about adoption rights while DAYS was going to assault their young actresses for sweeps, I understand the exits.

 

Can John Conboy save Santa Barbara?  Well, he's got new sets and new costumes.  However, SOD doesn't bother to press him over the fact that his head writer quit two issues ago and trashed him, and five of the new actors hired in the five months have all been fired. 

 

I'm going to need some more time to digest (pun intended) Jason Bonderoff's strike article.  In particular, the detail that Susan Lucci and Larkin Malloy were AFTRA representatives for any on-set complaints.  I simply can't imagine that was an effective decision. 

 

 

 

 

[EricMontreal22]

That rap story is as awful as it sounds.  I mean it was ill conceived from the beginning--Paul Rauch of all people introducing rap to soap operas??  I wouldn't be surprised to find out he was paying SOD to write about it each week

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  With the 90s and Rauch seeming to want to make OLTL at least somewhat relevant again (paired with the sad AIDS related death of HW Schnessel) really made OLTL become unwatchable quickly (and I was no fan of the later Rauch "fantasy" era).

Did SOD not pay much attention to writer turn around back then?  Going through the 1990 and 1989 magazine articles I'm surprised (*unless it just wasn't uploaded) there is nothing about Agnes Nixon returning to AMC as official HW to try to help it from its slow decline...

[Franko]

Agreed about Jack and Kristina. They don't come off especially well in that article. And double agreement on the Conboy interview not having much meat.

 

I didn't realize Arleen Sorkin was still on Days at this time. I'd love to read her Golden Girls script, or the one for Dirty Laundry.

 

What role would AMC have considered Judi Evans for?

(ETA: I'm thinking Hayley, who's going to debut in a few weeks.)

 

The image of Susan and Larkin as AFTRA deputies is cracking me up, but he claims they did their jobs well.

 

Today I learned Sherilyn Fenn is Suzi Quatro's niece.