ALL: Errors, Myths, Omissions & Firsts that weren't

[Janet Marlowe]

 

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[All My Shadows]

"Fall up the stairs" comes from ATWT, where character Liz Talbot (Betsy's mother) died from a ruptured spleen after "falling up the stairs." It's always been my understanding that she fell while running up the stairs, but describing it as "falling up the stairs" is more quirky/interesting, so that's what the anecdotes stuck with. Another part of the story claims that Irna killed Liz off because she objected to actress Jane House appearing nude onstage in a play, but Liz was already recast to Judith McGilligan by the time she died.

I was hoping/waiting for someone to ask this question because there is literally no definition of what makes or doesn't make two shows "sister soaps," so any overblown examination of what makes two soaps "sister soaps" is pointless overindulgence. No one is about to wait around for someone to decide what it means in her head so that the rest of us can then have permission to use the term accordingly. As far as I'm concerned, AMC and OLTL are sister soaps, and Loving is their little sister who lived in their shadow. GL and ATWT are sister soaps, and AW is their stepsister by another dad.

[I Am A Swede]

I read somewhere (I think it was in The Soap Opera Encyclopedia by Gerard J. Waggett) that Irna tried to kill off Liz earlier, for the reason you mentioned, but public outcry made P&G stop her. When Jane House had left the role Irna finished the job.

[Contessa Donatella]

I knew that this was an actual event. 

Uh, is this a slam at me? If so, I dispute that I deserve this. And, I certainly do not appreciate it. Incredibly unnecessary.

If the pointless overindulgence is also to me, well, you're entitled to your opinion but I find this query & discussion neither pointless nor at all indulgent. So on that we will have to agree to disagree. 

Edited February 4, 2024 by Donna L. Bridges

[Khan]

And who will sleep with anyone (unlike AMC and OLTL, who have much too much self-respect).

Edited February 4, 2024 by Khan

[All My Shadows]

And died an early death after moving to The City and getting hooked on hallucinogenic drugs. My synesthetic mind could probably do this all day.

[soapfan770]

The infamous exaggeration that GL went to #1 in 1984 for three weeks. I clearly remember SOD stating that "fact" when doing an in-depth profile on GL in like '97 or '98, and I think it was either Schemering or Waggert (or both) who also wrote about that "fact". What it was as we discovered (and please correct me if I wrong) was GL was simply #1 in its timeslot, not the number one soap in ratings as a whole (Y&R was). 

Y&R: When Carl Williams returned in 1998, I remember there was a number of fans online at the time who claimed they remembered they story of Carl going missing and Paul looking for him. Of course that never happened and with the Carl story being a rare retcon for Y&R at the time, I believed those folks until I later learned otherwise. I have to believe those folks were confused or suffering from the Mandela effect. 

Likewise, there is a myth after Nick Reed died Jill hired a Nick look-a-like named Joseph Thomas played by Quinn Redeker to scare Casey and Nikki, but such a story never appears in any synopses from the time period and it was discovered Redeker as Joseph Thomas had been on wayyy earlier. (Again correct me if I'm wrong).

[Lye-C]

Melaswen was a retcon. The dead characters were supposed to stay dead but unfortunately Corday forced JER to bring them all back because he wanted his pals (Reynolds, Rogers, Taylor) back on the show. 

[Michael]

I really just want to know what the plan would've been going forward. JER would've written Marlena out of the killings somehow.

[Contessa Donatella]

Obviously this was once when Corday was completely right. The reaction to the killings had been horrific. Most fans hated the killings. And, Corday was under a great deal of pressure. But I don't understand what this has to do with this topic. 

Edited February 4, 2024 by Donna L. Bridges

[soapfan770]

If I recall right from an interview JER gave to his buddy Michael Logan at TV Guide at the time, the original plot was supposed to involve witchcraft and Stefano and planned a early 2005 reveal, but he didn't elaborate further than that.  

[Michael]

Hmmmm. Interesting!

The rewrite was so bad that I remember feeling like they might as well have just put up a title card that said, "FORGET ANY OF THIS HAPPENED!" It didn't even make sense within the retcon.

[Broderick]

I dimly remember seeing Liz fall "up the stairs" circa 1973, when I was a kid.  My recollection is that she went RACING up the stairs, two steps at a time, tripped, fell, said ouch, then died a few episodes later from the ruptured spleen.  I think "fell ON the stairs" is a better descriptor.  

The online fans who "remembered" Carl Williams being presumed dead were likely confusing it with the storyline where Paul Williams pretended to be dead.  As you pointed out, Carl's storyline was a complete retcon.  He simply stopped appearing at the conclusion of the Cassandra Rawlins storyline with no explanation.  Most of us assumed he was "down at the station" (or somewhere) until we were advised he was presumed dead, lol.  

That nonsense about Jill hiring the "look-alike" was complete fan fiction.  After Nick Reed died, Jill's only storyline was desperately trying to snag Derek Thurston for a husband.  She didn't have a quarter to her name to hire a "look-alike".  

[Lye-C]

That’s interesting. I also would love to know what the real plan was.

Joe Mascolo was on B&B at the time but they owed two episodes of Joe to Days due to the swap deal in 2002 that allowed Lauren Koslow to briefly return to B&B. Ultimately it never happened and Joe eventually returned to Days full time. I had hoped B&B would lend Darin Brooks or Krista Allen but they’re both out now. Maybe Darin will return full time. 

So yeah, Stefano/Joe could have returned briefly for this story. 
 

Early on in the story, after Bo and Hope were attacked but before Abe was murdered, Stefano’s name was shown scrawled in blood at Salem Place. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Maybe a voiceover, "The part of the Headwriter is now being played by a committee."