Take me back to Llanview!

I always resented how the show declawed Blair and tried to turn her into a model citizen. The real Blair didn't't give a shit about laws and doing the right thing.

I would have gladly drank Tim Gibbs' bathwater.

And Jason Shane Scott's headturn looks like someone just penetrated him for surprise anal.

There's only ONE head turn that counts here, bitches.

I watched One Life to Live for Christian.

They had some great looking men over the years. I liked Brody's little furry wrestler bod.

R2 lmao. It does.

Don't forget these two!

Or these three.....

Patriotism.

Max and Gabrielle custody battle drama!

Dorian and Blair reunited... In Salem?

I loved the Georgie Phillips era and when Teddy Sears and Brandon Routh were on being hot. What year was that?

R12 1865

[quote]Llanview

Stupid fucking retard made up frau CUNT name.

I see Mitch Lawrence is off his meds again.

R15=Frau CUNT

Quite a few classic videos have been uploaded in their entirety lately. Karen turning tricks at the Wallington Hotel and is caught by Viki. It leads to Karen's famous breakdown scene on the witness stand.

I love the spunky Viki in these episodes. She's powerful and clever. I'm not sure why she was so taken by the needy, clingy Karen.

Viki provides comfort during their heart-to-heart chats: "Karen, don't forget in the past I was a bigger whore than you ever were".

Beep beep!

There has never been a show on daytime or primetime as good as OLTL!

Dorian is my goddess.

Man, i still miss this show. Hard to believe it's been 9 years since the reboot.

OLTL should have been the last ABC soap standing.

Hillary B. Smith’s come-hither look is also a winner.

Josh Kelly as Cutter. Attached for your enjoyment.

I'll never forgive Doris Quinlan and Agnes Nixon for giving into ABC's demand to drop the "The" from the series name. "THE One Life to Live" was perfectly fine. I love fat soap names, and worked for this show. Fat Karen, Fat Marcie, Fat Sadie, Fat Ina, Fat Bo, Fat Wanda, Fat Asa. Fat Vinnie.

This soap and Days of Our Lives were my two go to soaps

Occasionally I watched AMC, I watched AMC regularly from 93-96 I was home schooled and where I lived NBC put DAYS on at 12 and then I switched over to ABC for AMC and OLTL, GH and Passions, just to crack on it

I will not watch any soap without THE in its title!

"I would have gladly drank"

Oh, dear, R2.

YOU STINK of ECHO!!!

THE One Life To Live had fat Sadie Gray and fat Dr. Jim Craig. I stopped watching when they dropped THe from the title and got rid of the fat characters.

R25 here , I loved the Natalie is trapped by creepy Janet in a well storyline that summer on AMC, it was like a pre James Reilly Days of Our Lives type camp storyline

JER probably wishes he wrote it

R27 honey, you can correct me all you want. I'll be over here guzzling Tim Gibbs' copious loads.

I’ll fight you for them r31 even tho he has not aged all that well.

I downloaded the Lifetime app to watch Twisted Little Lies -- a movie written by and starring master thespians Jessica Morris and her bestie Melissa Archer. It was standard women-in-jeopardy fare. The girls still act as well as they did in 2001 (take that however you wish).

A botox-free Archer seems to have leaned into covid hard, finally becoming the great big fat person she was always meant to be, instead of the mere pudgy bitch she was on our dearly departed show.

I had a guilty crush on Todd Manning.

R34 I did, as well, but not OG Todd but TSJ's Todd who was later to be revealed to be Victor Jr. I hate to say it but when he was strapped down being given a lethal injection execution, he looked so fucking hot I got hard.

"I always think there must be something terribly wrong with me because I don't have ANY problems." Ugh.

"Oh, my dears!"

Miss Sleestack is da queen!

The always lovely Linda Dano did a podcast for the Locher Room recently.

That's quite a coup for Miss Locher, given what a technophobe Dano is. I especially like how warm and teary she gets when the costumer who got his first break working on her show comes on.

If Slee is the Queen, then Dano is an Ace!

Carlivati wasted Dano as Vivian on Days of Our Lives last year

Incidentally, why wasn’t Robin Strasser asked to return to DAYS as VIvian if Louise Sorel couldn’t travel, Sorel lives in NYC now

I want answers

Dano is too loyal to say anything unsupportive about her experiences on soap sets.

Anna Stuart on the other hand said she found playing Greenlee's mother on All My Children a bit of a rude awakening because, like Dano, she was used to the warm and supportive set of Another World, where there were NO egos.

It was a less friendly, more competitive place than she was used to. She said this because she knew she was basically unemployable now.

Is Strassman still a nasty old witch?

Anna wasn't wrong. That AMC set ... hoo boy. It wasn't as icy and dysfunctional as the GH & YR sets, but it was pretty damned close.

Oh please Anna. There were plenty of issues on the AW set.

"Will you sing the whole sawwng?"

Care to spill the goss on the All My Children set, R44? Was it really that much of a cold and dysfunctioning place to work?

The Y&R head honchos the Bells, apart from ruining careers, had obsessive control and were able to keep things perhaps a little more cohesive than GH, which seems to be a free-for-all of egos. It's amazing that GH are able to film a daily show in that environment.

Anna Stuart and Linda Dano weren't the only ones who spoke warmly of JC Studios (the Another World studios) in Brooklyn. It seems that many actors who worked there said the backstage working environment was about as good as it gets in daytime.

Because AW taped in Brooklyn and not Manhattan, the people working there didn't go around thinking they were important, they behaved like every day relatable people. Something about Manhattan gives actors there a superiority complex.

OLTL could be problematic. I still lol at Forbes March telling Miss Locher that Sleestack tried to get him fired. And we all know about Strassman’s antics and Jimmy DePaiva flupping a couch around the set. And Ellen Holly and on and on. Clint R drunk quite often. Toxic.

Clint held up better than many with alcoholism. These scenes were Clint at 60, and his final months on contract.

He came back for short periods in 2003 and 2004, both comebacks are on youtube, and the decline is obvious.

Sad, but he was gorgeous as a young and a middle aged man.

UH-OH. Rae is BUSTED!

So many bad things happened to Rae when she returned to Llanview: her worst enemy (Skye) turned out to be her long lost daughter, then while practicing therapy without a license she hypnotizes Viki, who then as Niki murders Ben. Rae is then strangled and left for dead by the "Music Box Killer" which she somehow miraculously survives.

Linda Dano was never accepted as Rae. It just didn't work.

The one thing they did get right with Rae's return, was reuniting Linda Dano and Robin Christopher.

These two had such a believable, HATEFUL chemistry between them.

Yet, to this day, Linda regards Robin to be her own true daughter in real life, as she does Alicia Coppola, the other actress who played Lorna on Another World.

I loved Alicia Coppola as Lorna so much that I just knew I would never accept anyone else. Yet Robin Christopher -- who is cool when compared to Coppola's heated portrayal -- won me over. I adore them both so much.

I was never a fan of AMC or GH, so I didn't know Skye Chandler from those shows. When Robin showed up on OLTL I was excited because I enjoy her vibe. Skye was wasted on OLTL, but I'm glad I got to see the actress one last time.

R56 I liked Carrie Genzel’s Skye Chandler on AMC from 95-96, I know I’m in the minority but she had good chemistry with onscreen sister Kelly Ripa (Hayley)

Genzel only lasted about a year and by 1997 she was on the West Coast doing Days of Our Lives as soon to be crazy Ali McIntire, she only lasted a year in the role too before being replaced by Lisa Linde

[quote]Care to spill the goss on the All My Children set, [R44]?

The usual; egos, backstabbing, general unfriendliness. A lot of power struggles. In fairness, a lot of that was brought on the network who seemed to get off on pitting actors against each other. Another World was wonderland compared to that.

The only reason I disliked Raye Cummings being exposed as Skye's mother, was because Skye had such a strong established familial relationship with the Chandlers, especially her father and uncle. I didn't want anything to break those bonds. I especially loved Skye and her uncle Stuart.

AMC had the reputation as a close knit company of actors and largely tranquil set. Susan Lucci was always lauded for setting the right tone, even as her fame and notoriety became so outsized to the medium. I know SMG hated her, but that was it in 40+ years.

R57, I must have just missed that version of Skye. I peeked in on AMC during 93-95. The only storylines/characters I recall are Sarah Michelle Gellar's Kendall coming to town and completing owing Erica; Dmitri Merrick (and only because he used to be Dex on Dynasty); and Gloria's rape by Dixie's brother, Will.

I was a lapsed DAYS viewer who turned the dial to AMC after DAYS became too repetitive.

They wrecked Skye's backstory just to give a story to Linda Dano who played a character NOBODY cared about.

I meaning completely "owning" Erica

I also remember liking Hayley and Dixie. The whole Ted Orsini thing was weird, though.

R61 funny I’m a huge DAYS fan too but have been watching 1994 AMC episodes and it’s so good with the Jane Cox/Janet Green (played by the underrated soap hopper Robin Mattson) reconstructive surgery storyline and her Mom Wilma Marlowe (who should be a Datalounger) and the insufferable Felicity LaFortune as Laurel, it’s great camp

Trevor just started choking the shot out of Jane after finding out she’s really Janet the crowbar killer out of the mental hospital, at the altar in front of all of Pine Valley

It’s classic soap opera, although the camp value and the fact that all of Pine Valley is dumbed down for this storyline puts it more into a more Days of Our Lives type storyline than classic AMC

They had to think of something outlandish as they were competing with James Reilly’s DAYS at that time

And can we also agree that Laurel was the original “Karen”, even her hairdo says “Karen”

Laurel! What was her deal? I remember her being such a central character in 1993 and 1994, but I can't remember why for the life of me.

Man, those tornado sequences on AMC were fantastic. It set off so much drama. AMC and One Life to live were such a strong one two punch at that time.

R65 she was awful, I was rooting for Janet and even Kendall Hart, remember they joined forces after Kendall found out “Jane” was Janet during the big tornado?

She was always up Trevor and little Timmy’s ass and in Jane and Kendall’s business

Why are you guys so friendly, what are they up to? I have to go an investigate since I have no life of my own!

She even had the obligatory Karen accessory, THE AUTISTIC CHILD, With her daughter Lilly

She was horrible

Her acting after Jane/Janet cut her car tires to kill her and shut her up in the hospital when she woke up from her coma was laughably bad

I just remember her pointing to “Jane” and trying to scream out “Jjjaneet”

And of course Trevor, Timmy, Jackson even Dimitri are all in the hospital room and are all like “What is she trying to tell us?”

Days completely ripped off AMC Natalie/Janet in the well with the Kristen/Susan Secret Room story. They even copied Janet's appearance with Susan Banks but made her southern.

R67 they did and headwriter James Reilly, when he gave interviews, always mentioned AMC being his favorite soap opera, I believe Agnes Nixon hired him as one of AMC’s writer’s in the early 80s after he sent her a note telling her how much he loved the show

He wrote Edna on Passions specifically for Kathleen Noone to play because he was a fan of her as Ellen on AMC in the 80s, Noone has said this in interviews. He specifically wrote EJ on DAYS in 2006 to be played by James Scott because Reilly likes him so much as Ethan On AMC

Then a few months later Reilly got fired from DAYS

Never watched the show, but that theme is.awesome!

When I started watching, Laurel was played by a stereotypical sexy blond (Kristen Jensen). AMC pivoted hard when Laurel was recast with Felicity LaFortune. She became an entirely different character. Somehow, it worked. Probably because I never cared for EITHER version.

Rae was no Felicia Gallant, but at least they were able to utilize Dano's excellent comic abilities.

I like seeing how soaps changed due to writing, production, and actor changes. A show could transform from a melodrama into a romantic comedy within three months.

I'm currently watching late-80s OLTL. The show is all about the Perils of Sarah and Megan Gordon, with some Tina and Gabrielle machinations sprinkled in. Viki shows up a couple of days a week to purr soothingly. Cord stalks through rooms to reprimand Tina. Max is around mainly to blow smoke up Megan's ass and to lustily insult Gabrielle (just fuck already!)

Whatever scenery Asa leaves un-chewed is devoured by Michael Grande. Renee is constantly ringing her hands (I can't believe she was a very good madam back when she was running hoes. She's too damn anxious and excitable). Clint sleepwalks through most scenes, only waking up when his brother, Bo, or their Pa is around. Monticello's Raven Alexander shows up a few times a month in the guise of Melinda Cramer, but the role is, sadly, rather forgettable.

I'm really enjoying it so far. I grew up watching Another World at 2pm, so getting to see the storylines my friends talked about is cool.

I always wish I had Jason Shane Scott's bone structure

R57 Antoinette Byron, was the best and the original Skye. She's gorgeous and actually Australian. Antoinette had quite an extensive resume in both countries, starring in the US on Melrose Place and Women in Prison, and in Australia the soap opera Home and Away playing Nat Nash.

She is also Robin Christopher's first cousin.

R72- I’m watching that same batch of shows and holy shit are they working Jensen Buchanan into the ground. Sarah is so overexposed in this Austin storyline. Andrea Evans is on some sort of extended leave at this point and I feel the void. I also remember thinking Marco Dane’s return was so squandered having him spend all his screen time with Megan and not mining his history with Larry, Viki and Tina.

R72 and R75- I was a little OLTL freak from the 4th to 9th grades and late 80's OLTL ruled.

Interestingly enough, Megan and Sarah really did take over 1989, while OLTL was definitely Andrea's show from 86-88..

It's a shame that the stalker thing pushed her out.

And the unsung hero of that show was Fiona Hutchison as Gabrielle- she goes to the forefront shortly... And this was the summer coming up when Llanview has the prison break. It's a camp classic.

And I find Phil Carey utterly hilarious- he had some damn good lines.

The show also had some of the best background music ever during the 80's. Very keyboard/synth heavy and contemporary.

I'm a little younger than you, but that is when I started watching OLTL. The only thing I don't like about those years is that Robin Strasser left in 1987 and didn't return until 93. She and Phil Carey were wonderful scene partners.

I am 43 and will be 44 in a few months-

Phil had great chemistry with both Robin and Andrea.

I loved when Asa hated Tina- it was great stuff.

R78 Yes, there was a scene on youtube of Dorian and Asa teaming up against Tina in the Llanfair entry hall, it was perfect!

LOL YES!!! He called Tina the proverbial bad penny.

Ellen Holly wedding is up on YouTube - the one she complained that Viki Sleezak got all the close-up - and it wasn't even her wedding!

Was Ellen Holly the Victoria Rowell of the 80s?

R82 Yes! Though to be fair to Ms. Holly, I can understand her resentment, because her interracial storyline is what launched OLTL and made it a name. But, looking back at OLTL history, it was very clear that after that first storyline they never seemed to know what to write for her.

Ellen Holly felt that her contributions were undervalued and that she was disrespected over and over. She called them out and got called crazy for it.. Now, I think that Ellen Holly was a little naïve to believe that a black character was going to lead a daytime soap in the late 60s and 70s and overvalued what her character meant to that show at that time, but her naiveite and ego doesn't excuse the way she was treated.

Same thing with Rowell and a lot of her complaints about Y&R has been the foundation of this movement by black actors in the last few years.

[quote]Rowell and a lot of her complaints about Y&R

Dru was one of Genoa City's best characters ever. They should have fired Phyllis instead.

But the actress that played her was a humongous, giant pain in the ass.

In the oral history of One Life To Live both Viki Sleezak and Agnes Nixon deny they treated Ellen Holly with disrespect,

What do you expect them to say? Oh yeah, we disrespected Ellen at every turn.

Ellen Holly wedding - where she said she got the cover of Ebony, while Viki Sleezak got all the close-ups - and it wasn't even her wedding!

[quote] Oh yeah, we disrespected Ellen at every turn.

Viki Slezeek was quite open about Clint Ritchie drinking problem, and a clash she had with Marcia Cross

So if Viki & Ellen had a clash, I think Viki would be open about it.

That's the problem, you're confusing Erika Slezak with her character. They are not the same and it has nothing to do with how Erika felt, it is what Ellen felt. Erika can think she didn't disrespect Ellen, it doesn't mean that she didn't. That was Ellen's experience.

amateurs

[quote] Erika can think she didn't disrespect Ellen, it doesn't mean that she didn't. That was Ellen's experience.

Ellen claims Erika said about her "Get that black bitch out of the way"

Erika denies she said that

That is the ENTIRE conflict

it's too bad Aggie didn't have enough pull to just call up Loving and say Carla Hall is moving to Corinth

In today's world, if Ellen went to the press after Rauch's alleged remarks, he'd have gotten canned and Carla would become Mayor of Llanview.

R74, hold the phone…Sky #1 and Sky #2 on AMC were first cousins? Really?

R95 Yes, apparently it is true.

R75 and R76, watching this era of the show is very interesting. Getting used to Jensen Buchanan crying in every scene has been dizzying. I knew her only as Vicky from Another World (and not even MY Vicky -- that was Anne Heche) but I can see why Jensen forced P&G to transform Vicky into more of a heroine than a vixen. Poor Sarah just wasn't safe.

I agree about Fiona Hutchison. She's my favorite. Andrea Evans is great and rightly got a lot of attention, but I feel for Hutchison's Gabrielle so much. She never seems to be able to catch a break. I love that she came on the show as basically a stalker -- as Max's obsessed fan, lol. Max was always a gorgeous dirt bag, and I love hating him. I always wanted Gabrielle or Blair to kill him. Blair tried.

Paul Rauch wasn’t wrong about Ellen Holly’s voice. Very grating.

R58 was there a lot of coke on the set? I mean, more than what was considered normal in the era. It must have been an occupational hazard with the hours some of the actors were expected to work and the pressure to stay thin.

When I was a gayling and addicted to AMC and OLTL, James DePaiva headlined every jerk off session of mine. His love scenes with Fiona were fire. He was often shirtless, and by today’s standards, he wasn’t crazy ripped, but he was such a hunk of man. I was so upset when he left the show that first time.

Did we ever find out of John Paul Lavoisier (Rex) is gay IRL?

R101 Do you have his address? I'm still willing to investigate!

[quote]Erika can think she didn't disrespect Ellen, it doesn't mean that she didn't. That was Ellen's experience.

By that same token, Ellen can think she was disrespected by Erika, but it doesn't mean she was.

The white lady breathed near me.

RACISM! RACISM!

[quote] Erika can think she didn't disrespect Ellen, it doesn't mean that she didn't. That was Ellen's experience.

I prefer facts. Human beings are not infallible therefore our "experience" isn't true just because our brains framed it a certain way. When it comes to Ellen saying Erika said that quote calling her a black bitch, it is either true or not. Both sides can't be right.

I was the STAR of One Life To Live!

Gillian Spencer ate my snatch!

Lil Hayman gave me a ride home in her Tercel!

She sounds every bit as delusional and shit stirring as Vicky Rowell.

Vicky is at least occasionally lucid compared to Ellen.

there is no way in hell Erika Slezak would say "Get that b**** b**** out of my face". We watched that lady for 40 years and she NEVER spoke like that. Ellen Holly made it up in order to vilify her.

Or Holly is under some delusion that she said it to her. That’s what I believe.

Miss Viki was so nice to me during our commute in my tercel.

I couldn't find the rainbow's end.

Linda won, and was nominated several times for Emmys, including one for One Life to Live in 2003.

"Viki Whatslack now?"

MeeMee Torchin. Yuck!

Linda Dano might have won and been nominated but ES is the Queen champion of the Daytime Emmy awards.

I wish Marty had actually killed Todd before the end.

r116

Real Todd would have never done what Twin Todd aka Victor did. I guess they did explain it when they revealed Nu Todd to be the twin

what sucked is that it ended up being all right to like Marty with Todd (Victor Jr)

Not really. He still raped her in a way by not telling her who she was or who he really was despite him not turning out to be her actual rapist. It was still wrong and cruel.

R119 That was one of the most morally gray storylines I remember from the last decade of the show. I knew it was wrong, but at the same time I loved them together.

Gave us a chance to rediscover the Marty/Todd connection with TSJ in the role. It was dark and gothic get the chemistry between them made it work. Soaps don’t take big swings like that anymore.

Sucks when Roger came back we never got a Marty/Real Todd scene.

On the day Todd returned to Llanview after eight years in the Supa Sekrit Location, Marty passed him by and got on a plane to be with Patrick, who had apparently been in hiding. I really expected Roger and Susan to have a brief (maybe comically bittersweet) scene -- especially since Marty was totally looney tunes at that point. She probably would have thought she was hallucinating or something. I was disappointed when it didn't happen.

I don't think Roger would have played the scene for laughs, either. He always took the gang rape storyline very seriously. I imagine Todd running into Marty would have been poignant, especially when he realized that she was mentally unwell.

If Fiona Hutchison hadn't left OLTL in 1991, I think Gabrielle would have had Alex Olanov's storylines on the show.

By 1991 all of Gabrielle's bitter, hated enemies and rivals were gone or on their way out - Tina, Brenda, Sarah and Megan was about to die. Who was left? An elder Renee that still despised her? It would've been no fun although a pairing with Carlo Hesser before he became a cartoon villain would've been delicious. Too bad she never got to tussle with Blair.

Blair was created to fill the void left by Gabrielle. In other words, if Gabrielle hadn't left, Blair would not exist.

And then Fiona Hutchison had the joy of getting screwed over by Guiding Light a couple of times.

Shut the fuck up Serial Nutcase Scholar. You are mentally ill. No wonder your family had you committed. Serial nutjob.

Yes, R127, THEY’RE the nut job. 🙄

It warms my heart to hear the positive comments about Fiona. One of the few ladies I'd have hopped the fence for.

I love her too, R129. She was part of some of my favorite moments on OLTL and Guiding Light. Hate that both characters were killed off so needlessly.

As an aside, I should mention that you never hear about LOVING having a toxic set (aside from Joe Stuart being a pig to the women). I guess everybody was just grateful to be working.

Fiona Hutchison was incredible on OLTL. The scenes in this episode where Max comes to take Al away from her and she ends up smashing a vase over his head were some of the most intense scenes ever seen on a soap opera. I don't know how she gave these kinds of performances day after day. This was the most overlooked underrated soap actress of all time, point blank, period. Susan Lucci got Emmy noms for doing way less than Fiona:

I always felt they should have kept Blair as Asian

They certainly couldn't get away with switching the character's race nowadays. Part of me wonders what would have happened if they decided to have Kassie play a returning Mari Lyn Dennison rather than Blair. Like, all of Blar's storylines from 1993 to finish are now Mari Lyn's. I don't think she'd be committing incest with Todd, since Tom Dennison wasn't directly related to Viki, right?

Gabrielle was the best! I feel like Blair and Lindsay were both versions of Gabby. Alex was always crazy and high camp. I wish they never killed off Gabrielle and could have found new rivals and love interests for her!!!

Does anyone remember Alex's crazy wedding to Asa as Cleopatra? She was superb!

R136 Of course. I loved Alex! I loved Asa! But, I hated them together and I wanted Renee to go crazy and mess them up.

Liked Asa and Gabrielle as a team up!

Tom Dennison was Joe Riley's half brother, so no Mari Lynn wasn't blood relation to Viki

Fiona was a nasty old cunt! Hated her.

Alex's Cleopatra-themed wedding to Asa was such a hoot (as was Tonya Walker back in the day).

Whoops, I mean't Ton-JA Walker. Same pronunciation, different spelling.

Fiona is a sweetheart and her tortured anti heroine was one of a kind! Loved her.

Mari Lyn was so boring and white toast but I still liked her. Wade got me hard.

Blair and Gabrielle are two of my favorite OLTL characters, so I kind of see what you're getting at R125. Blair and Gabrielle definitely had their moments. One of my favorites begins at about 0:30 seconds into this clip.

I would have loved to see them team up to fuck with Skye, another of my faves.

The 1992/993 era is an example of the changes that can occur quickly in the show. The tone is lighter and far more comedic in 1992. In 1993, with the spring break it becomes much darker again, but it's also a far more sophisticated and more seductive era. They worked hard during this time to build up the teen characters and make it a young person's show again.

Audrey Landers, if she had stayed with the show in 1993 could have been the star of the Spring Fling story, but instead of it being about rape, it could have been about Audrey's attempts to score a major musical record contract, and lead up to her performing a big song and dance number at the Spring Break party.

Most DLs are not even aware that Audrey was a major singing sensation in Germany during the 80s, and sold millions of units of her songs:

The thing with Blair was she became heavily dependent on Todd's stories. Granted she was marvelous in all of them She was the jr villainess paired with the the town pariah and super villain. She was great with Howarth and Haskell but nothing could touch the dynamic Haskell and Howarth had and both actors knew it. Those two together was as good as soap acting gets.

Some of Hutchison's best work was in the Michael Grande era. Her and Brenda Brock both deserved Emmys for that fabulous storyline. Hick Brock held her own against a dazzling Hutchison. They were extremely powerful and her testimony in Megan's trial for killing Michael Grande she was amazing.

The Blair character ended up legend but let's face it Kassie De Paiva had a job for 18 years because they paired her with Roger Howarth

Robin Strasser looks great in that clip. She’s 76!

ABC canceled the wrong soap. They should have kept OLTL.

It's very strange that I can't think of a scene Howarth was bad in on OLTL and yet I really never felt he worked on any other soap. He was only ever great as Todd. A daytime super villain. I never bought as him as normal on other soaps. He was such a wonderful menacing asshole. Even his love interest Blair had to be a conniving scheming character.

OL had lots of bad actresses. Fiona, awful Andrea Evans, Tammy Amerson, Brenda Brock and on and on. None of them can compare to the greats of Slezak, Judith Light and Hillary B Smith.

Who was that cute boy who played Blair’s son? People called him Triscuit but I can’t remember his real name.

Asian Blair had Llanview in a tizzy. She even had Tina shook. No other Asian female was written the way she was (as the center of attention). White Blair was written as a slut and it was just wrong.

Todd becoming the center was a mistake. Viki treated him better than Kevin.

Andrea Evans needs to go to DAYS where her camp acting will fit right in with Ron Carlivati’s camp writing if they were smart they would make Andrea a recast Caliope Jones, Arleen Sorkin’s wacky Cyndi Lauper inspired character from the 80s, as Arleen is very unlikely to return

It’ll be a campfest!

R156 it was such a great dynamic with Jill Phelps's Kevin. She explored it it. Timothy Gibbs always played him that way. He almost played him always challenging Viki like why would you side with someone who almost ruined his life.

At about 1:28 into the clips, Viki begs Todd to help someone. She tells him that she's loved him, even opposing her own son. Yeah, I've always thought she loved Todd more than Kevin for some reason. No idea why it was written that way, but it's true. Tim Gibbs played it that way, as did Dan Gauthier vs. Trevor St. John's Todd, IMO.

I miss this show. Checking out some old videos and remembered the last year when Andrea Evans returned. She worked so well with Roger Howarth, who up until that time, had only worked with Krista Tesreau's Tina. I also liked Andrea and Kassie sniping at each other, as well. And of course Erika/Andrea fell back into their old patterns seamlessly.

The Two Todds story was absolutely atrocious. Rogue agent Irene coming back from the dead (she died of cancer in the 70s) and acting like Tina was dirt on her fingernails was a hot ass mess. Ron Carlivati is an overrated hack!

It was good to see them all again.

fuck these latest clips make me remember how much I miss OLTL

R162- I found Tonja Walker very cold in that video- almost snobbish? It was very very odd but it kinda worked for her!

She was great on OLTL actually.

Fiona and Andrea were fucking everything on that show. Also glad to see Fiona getting some props. I said on some other thread that she is one of the 10 greats along with Haskell and Slezak.

[quote]Every gay boy recreated Blair's dramatic head turn.

No we didn't.

Never really loved Blair or Kassie as much as Tonja and HBS and Haskell..

And Andrea/Fiona/Jessica Tuck blew Kassie right out of the water.

R155, you’re referring to Andrew Trischitta, AKA Triscuit. His character Jack Manning, was such a jerk. I remember him bullying the red headed teen.

Happy birthday to Jessica Tuck!

[quote] The Blair character ended up legend but let's face it Kassie De Paiva had a job for 18 years because they paired her with Roger Howarth

But, she managed to stay on the show and be wonderful even for the long periods of time when he wasn't on. Blair was great on screen, not only with RH's Todd, she was great with TSJ's Todd/Victor, and also with Max.

Dan Gauthierwaa the hottest Kevin Buchanan

R170- Absolutely. The powers that be FUCKED UP getting rid of him. I actually stopped watching OLTL for the first time since 86/87 as a kid in 2006? during that Higley era. He and Heather Tom were the only two folks left worth watching. Higley was the worst writer that show ever had- by far. When I returned in 2008/2009, he was gone I think.

Great looking guy and great actor.

Jessica Tuck was such a good actress. I hated when they killed off Megan.

I follow Jessica on Instagram. She seems as normal as normal can be. Her daughter looks JUST like her and she is extremely cool. Clearly a democrat and a very modern chick.

When you watch the show Megan oozed that wonderful goodness underneath the bitchery (in the early days) Jessica is pretty much that goodness- you can just tell.

And holy fuck- You have to wonder about Jensen Buchanan. There is a story there.

She really fucked that guys life up who she hit while drunk- That guy was utterly fucked...

I cannot fathom was Jensen feels- she has completely disappeared.

That’s what’s so funny - Jensen B as Sarah was the “good” sister, and Jessica Tuck as Megan was the bitchy sister. We were led to believe Sarah would turn out to be Vicky’s missing daughter, but in fact it turned out to be Megan. But in reali life, Jensen Buchanan turned out to be a hot alcoholic mess, and Jessica Tuck is happily married with a daughter and does a lot of good.

R175. Nails it.

I would love to interview Jensen and see what the fuck happened to her- Like a deep dive.

I know she married a wealthy agent? Producer? They divorced and she drove drunk.

And I also try to remember that she was on AW for far longer than she was ever on OLTL.. Most fans remember her from that show- not OLTL (AW was a show I never even sampled for an episode, (I checked out ATWT sometimes for Elizabeth Hubbard)

Those 1989 OLTL episodes have reawakened by subconscious or some shit. I was such a massive fan of that show then.

And at the tender age of 12 I did not feel that the Gordon sisters were "eating up the show". I dug them both, in addition to Andrea, Fiona, And Erika.

That Audrey chick was HORRIBLE though. Blech.

John Martin- Such a boring actor but what a fucking HOTTIE.

I remember watching that very episode that dude posted (sometime in June of 2021) and that dipshit paralyzed bore Audrey was trying to walk and his character was like "come on you can do it!" and my really cool neighbor lady was over visiting my mom (my mom could barely stand her) and she said something like "Shit! I would learn how to walk for that stud!" And was thinking, Hell yeah. He's hot as fuck!

And upon a a lot of reviewing of OLTL on Youtube over the last few years- other than the incredible production values (the cinematic lighting alone, made Gottlieb's OLTL impeccable) I really do not enjoy the Malone/ Gottlieb era remotely as I did Rauch's 80's version.

The background music SUCKED BALLS (other than Carlo/Alex's/ Todd's theme/ and this early Blair Daimler theme- I am talking Mia Korf- it was really good music- it was around 92-93 when Addy was introduced)

Marty's rape/ Alex/Carlo/Andrew/And Viki and the alters were the ONLY good stories in that 92-94 era. The rest was GARBAGE- and so, so, so boring.

But that being said- as someone mentioned above- The Gottlieb era was CLASSY- very, very classy. The show looked and behaved elegantly (generally boring) it was contemporary, and it was very cinematic. I remember critics saying the show became literary. (Thanks to being written by a writer) But my god it was uniformly boring.

Go and luck at the supporting characters on OLTL in the early 90's- just horrible. Suede? The dude from Starship Troopers? It was really bad.

Depaiva is a good actress but I’ll never understand how she only got one original character (Chelsea on GL). I didn’t like her Eve on Days either. Charlotte Ross was so memorable in that role.

Rauch’s OLTL was never boring. Todd would’ve been rightfully killed under his tenure. Instead Todd sucked the life out of the show much in the way GH’s Sonny did.

It also helped that Kassie was such a huge One Life to Live booster. It was clear that she had grown up watching the show, she loved the show, and she still does. She still tweets about it from time to time

One Life to Live become very self-important in the 90s and it shows if you watch the episodes. All the ABC soaps got very uppity as a matter of fact wheras in the 80s there was incredible humour and a liveliness and spirited feeling about everything. The 90s were horrendously pretentious by comparison.

Well said R180! Right - it was the Labine era on GH and the Malone era on OLTL.

I was really thrilled when the show finally got the serious Emmy recognition it deserved in 1994 (for 93)

I still loved 1980's OLTL far more than 1990's OLTL- by a mile.

I don't give a fuck about class or emmy recognition.

I enjoyed 2008-2010 OLTL far more than Gottlieb's as well.

I respected Gottlieb's OLTL

but -loved- Rauch's OLTL

Why did Judith Light not come back to the show for the final weeks?

R182- I don't know if I believe any of that gossip.

But if any of it was true, I cannot blame her. Even as good as OLTL was at the end, it was not in the realm of 1979-

I ended up loving Audrey. (I guess she was HATED- like DESPISED on ATWT)

She actually choked up in her final scenes and I never forgot it. Check it out.

The gossip was so specific about the planned story, which Ron probably thought was genius, but Judith would not have (and would have found it dishonoring history to have Karen end up with Herb Callison). If it was fake, it was really well-thought out.

Ron thinks he’s so damn smart. Ugh. Would’ve loved to see Karen back.

Audrey on OLTL was different than the Audrey character on ATWT. Two different actresses.

I thought the Herb Callison character was killed off long before the end of the show.

Herb just disappeared off the canvas in the early 90s.

The rumored story was that Karen and Herb were now married and Aubrey would have ended up Katrina Karr's baby, who was raised by Karen/Herb in this revision.

I remember the rumor about Aubrey being Katrina’s baby. I’m glad it didn’t happen. Ron thinks he uses history well and he doesn’t. He killed off Laura AND Bill on Days.

Does Judy Light hide from her soap past?

Viki's sons would have been a lot more interesting if Michael Malone had been allowed to make Joey gay and Kevin the rapist. There would have been no need for Todd.

100% it would have been riveting if Kevin was the ringleader. And had that awkward relationship with everyone but Blair.

R189 No. She embraces it in interviews. I mean when your biggest scene has been used in drama schools for decades, you are proud of it. And, her primetime soap role on the Dallas revival, was perfection. She really should've been on a primetime soap in the 80s instead of Who's The Boss.

Vee, the idiot who’s in the biz, is fighting with everyone over at the loser board. Vee has driven poor loser Khan away, “forever”. lololol The losers on that board are constantly leaving for good only to return within a few days. Remember Pervsuds dramatically leaving SON “forever” only to return quickly and be as perverted as ever. Too funny. Vee, who’s in the biz, keeps fighting on the OLTL board.

Judith Light would have been great as another Karen, the one on Knots Landing.

That perv amc2008 told everyone at SON that he has syphilis. Gross!!

WHET Susan Haskell? She should have had a career outside of soaps.

Everyone at SON is a nut! Vee, who is in the biz, runs off every sane person.

This loser Scoche Marin Soap Opera Network obsessed cunt posting here needs to fuck off and die.

Not bad ideas, R190. I've always believed that part of the reason soaps declined is that writers no longer knew how to write for the legacy characters. Viki's son were sidelined by Todd Manning and Rex Balsom--hell, even David Vickers got more play. The Buchanan men should have driven storylines for years to come, yet they were either badly cast, IMO, or tossed aside when cast well. Dan Gauthier should have been a leading man. He had enough grit to go up against St. John AND/OR Howarth, IMO.

Same thing on another of my shows, Another World. For some reason, the writing for Jamie Frame was inconsistent. Why could the show not determine who Jamie was? As the son of the show's lead, he should have been fleshed out from early on, yet his character and motivations seemed to change from writer to writer, as well as from actor to actor. Characters like Jake and Cass outshone Jamie, and that should never have been. Yet Jamie became a supporting character until he was simply ... gone.

Guiding Light seemed to have trouble for a while too with casting legacy kids, at least until the end. I did like Jeff Branson as Shayne Lewis and Daniel Cosgrove as Bill Lewis (despite me considering him a show-killer since he was on several favorites in their latter years, I always like Cosgrove when I see him. In fact, I think he would have been a good Joe Buchanan.)

Do you all remember that lurid Daniel Cosgrove storyline on OLTL? I barely remember it but it was actually very good. Nora was a part of it.. This had to be 2004, 2005? Maybe later?

Sometime around 1980 or so, I think soaps in general got into the mindset that legacy children had to be Mary Sues and were usually not allowed to have as much fun (or storyline) as new characters.

The problem with "legacy" kids is that often the network and /or production company don't want to dirty them up. You can understand why a network, in the 90s, wouldn't want Joey Buchanan to be gay, but it is limiting. Over on Days, turning saintly Marlena Evans daughter into a hellion was genius. Think of how much more interesting Kevin Buchanan would have been as a "Todd" type character. Hell, they could have even cast Howarth in the role.

And since you brought up Jamie Frame. Last summer, I revisited Laurence Lau's portrayal and it was very good as seen through older eyes with some perspective. Much better than I had originally given him credit for. Anne Heche really brought something out in him.

OLTL didn't seem to have a problem with legacy females, both Jessica and Star were well written. I also thought, at the end, Ron seemed to write for Matthew and Todd's kids well and that they would've grown into good adult characters if given the time.

I just always hated them having Jamie Frame go from being a publisher/novelist/screenwriter to a fucking doctor in the span of two years. That’s just because a a new, lazy production regime wanted to ignore his past and “plug him in” to a hospital environment.

Jamie Frame also went from being one of the most compelling characters on the canvas to the dullest person in Bay City.

Jamie Frame has nothing to do with Llanview, which is the theme of this thread.

Kassie was such a surprise as Blair. There was very little in her portrayal of Chelsea Reardon at GL that suggested that level of talent. She did somewhat hold her own against Grant Aleksander, but the character was in all other ways the solution to insomnia.

But as Blair, she was fierce!

Blair had layers, how she acted around Addie or her kids, was very different than she was with Dorian, Todd, Marty, Viki, Asa, Tea etc... You really could feel the relationships she had with each character.

I think DG was the best Kevin and Nathan Fillion was the best Joey but the last guy to play Joey was the best of the rest

R209, are you referring to Don Jeffcoat?

r210

I completely forgot about him but no I was referring to this Joey

Yes, Tom Degnan was a good Joey.

Of course,Khan is back on SON talking about OLTL after leaving “forever” just a few hours ago. Such fucking losers at SON. They all leave forever, for a few hours. May amc2008, the hottie, give them syphillis. lol

Tom Degnan was great on both OLTL and ATWT and yet neither show seemed to know what to do with him.

Who could Liz Hubbard have played on OLTL? Renee?

Chris McKenna, who played teenage Joey during the “gay” storyline with Ryan Phillipe, grew up to be a hot daddy.

Amy Locane as the adult Jessica Buchanan on One Live To Live

I can't decide what would be sadder re: r213: either amc2008 has a stan or it's the guy himself posting (and has been the one talking shit about the other SON regulars, which wouldn't be surprising).

R218 seriously, just FF/block and ignore that poster. He's truly and deeply mentally ill in a way that no logic can reach. If it was anyone I knew in real life I would be concerned for the well being of anyone they obsessed about.

Do as you please, of course, but seriously....the best path forward is to deny it the attention it wants and move along, toots.

One of the things that keeps cracking me up about the Fraternity Row storyline is the idea of a network soap opera being produced in Philadelphia and then Llanview.

Not to mention a local TV station airing an aparently big deal awards show.

[quote] Who could Liz Hubbard have played on OLTL? Renee?

Liz did play someone on OLTL, a society lady named Estelle. Here's Liz and Strasser eating the scenery (around 6:30)

Amc2008 is a hottie who has a chaturbate channel. I watch it constantly!

r222 OMG!!!!

R202, networks began taking less chances from the 90s onward. Watching clips of soaps from the 70s is great. They took so many more chances than the shows do now. They were less afraid of backlash. Plus, there were no social media warriors to cater to.

Sami Brady's transformation into bitch-terror was the last time I truly enjoyed DAYS. Watching her scheme was hilarious. And I loved every time boring Carrie would figure things out and punch Sami in the face, lol.

I agree that Howarth could have played Kevin. Young Howarth was very good at the kind of arrogant, spoiled, big man on campus type OLTL's Kevin might have morphed into given his privilege. His Kevin might not have been as psychotic as Todd was, but more the type to expect Mom and Pa to bail him out of continuous scrapes. Can't you just envision scenes of Howarth charming Slezak despite her misgivings -- knowing that her son really ain't shit, but loving him anyway?

I'll be sure to check out some late 80s Another World to remind myself of the Lau/Heche dynamic. Heche ate that show up -- in a good way.

I still believe Jamie Frame, just on the strength of his legacy, should never have needed love interests to be interesting or compelling. Whether he was played by Dekins, Yates, Lau, Todd or someone else, Jamie should have had an identity that was recognizable despite who played him. I can tell you who Jake McKinnon was. Jamie Frame seems to have changed depending on who was writing for him or playing the role.

[quote]Whether he was played by Dekins, Yates, Lau, Todd or someone else, Jamie should have had an identity that was recognizable despite who played him.

Bekins, not Dekins

R190 has it correct. Michael Malone always intended for Joey to be gay pushed off to Billy Douglas and Kevin to be a rapist which they pushed to Todd. But he was trying to make them interesting. ABC was not gonna allow for Kevin to be rapist.

that photo at R216 is ridiculously HOT

La Hubbard was delightful in that clip. Im curious to know more about Estelle.

Strasser has neuroses written all over face. Her annoying tics became more evident in her return in 1993. And her short term run as Vivian on Days was dreadful.

Michael Malone didn’t really “get” OLTL. He made it too novel-esque with arcs.

‘80s OLTL was a better version of Dynasty. 80s Dorian was Alexis who was on equal footing with Viki.

Vee, who’s in the biz, dictated OLTL’s final years. Vee is in the biz.

.......

I loved seeing Liz Hubbard and Robin Strasser together in that clip. That played parallel roles as Lucinda and Dorian so it is fun to see.

I thought I detected a little irritation on Strasser's part. She knew she could not keep up with Hubbard's scene chewing and she and Slee probably feared Hubbard would eat the show.

It was not long after that Liz landed on ATWT.

THIS sounds like fun!

Oh Christ. Strassman was such a cunt to the crew at OL. They could tell stories about HER. Gossip all you want Strassman but remember that there are more stories out there about you.

Strasser, not Strassman, and she was beloved on the OLTL set. You can’t even get her name right.

R236 Ignore the troll. Don't feed it.

Vee, who’s in the biz, did not get along with Strassman.

Marcia Strassman, incidentally, was on AMC back in the '80s as a woman who embezzled from Palmer.

Fuck off with this Vee shit, as well as that SON crap. We don’t want it here.

R240- FF all of these fucker's posts- I just did. Maybe we can get the fucker outta here.

Vee, from SON is in the biz. He got into a kerfuffle with Khan, a loser, about OLTL. Khan announced that he was leaving SON “for good” but was posting hours later. Kinda like PervertSudz who announced he was leaving but posted days later and still stinks up SON. Vee, who’s in the biz, should do something about the stench of SON.

Fuck off, fat fuck at r242.

We've tried hard to get the troll blocked here but no movement from Muriel yet. The infestation at the P&G threads is so bad that often 60-70 percent of the posts are that poster.

I assume its motive is to close DL soap threads, since too many postings from the same person seems to get them Murieled. What I can't figure out is why Muriel has never banned it ... or even red-tagged it.

I just think it's nutty and obsessed.

In addition to the SON rantings, some of his obsessive comments about the bowel movements of certain actresses, and an obsession with DUIs, are just off the fucking charts looney.

The troll is also responsible for 2 years of Scoche Marin as "New Mrs C".

I figured out its banned username on "the other board" very early on because yje idiot had its user name on the GIF website it used to start the Scoche Marin shit.

It's a hardcore gaper and troll.

Amc2008 has the syphyllis because he’s such a hottie! Fat fuck Casey Hutchison and equally hot Alan Sarapa are jealous. You only have One Life To Live!!!

Dumb Dylan has the scoop on the OLTL reboot! Vee, who is in the biz, will be EP!

........

As we were saying.....

Who’s left for Alan to interview?

Alan will be interviewing Scoche Marin, the new Mrs. C on Y&R.

Me!!!

Ask Alan Needleman about Strassman. Now THERE’S a story.

Even the though the lunatic is bring this up. Robin was known as very nasty behind the scenes at one point. I wonder if she became kinder up on her 2nd return? There was a lot of gossip out there.

I would assume, since by all accounts, Robin was humiliated by the firing.

Strasser should write a book. While I'm sure she'd be as self-congratulatory as Zimmer was in her tome, I'd love to read about backstage antics, even if she doesn't name names.

I miss the Triscuit troll.

R147 Going from Dallas to A Chorus Line, to OLTL in the space of a just few years. Audrey Landers obviously loved to work and she definitely knew how to hustle. Her biggest hit Manuel Goodbye has over 22 million views on youtube!

Manuel Goodbye:

Audrey had plans to stay on OLTL for more than just a year. But she had trouble finding a wall big enough to accommodate all her gold records.

Why did the audience love Todd Manning? Soap viewers had a disturbing habit of making rapists popular.

It was a SEDUCTION!

[quote] Soap viewers had a disturbing habit of making rapists popular.

It really seemed to be a lurid frau fantasy of the day. A man's urges just spilling over (literally). Before the OLTL rape most daytime rapes were shown as a night of passion gone wrong, a man who just didn't take no for an answer.

Marital rape seemed to be a big soap story too.

Aren't gay men some of the best writers of rape storylines though? Michael Malone, though not gay wrote like he was:

"from 1991 to 1996 Malone garnered critical acclaim for his storylines, which included a tale involving the tight bond between an ostracized homosexual teenager and a preacher, and the creation of villain/rapist Todd Manning and the character's gang rape of Marty Saybrooke, as well as the subsequent rape trial."

Todd Manning (in his early years, anyway) was popular because he was a reflection of the Id run amok. He did whatever he wanted to do. Right or wrong. He was pretty much fearless ... unless you were Peter Manning, the adopted father who abused him. Everyone else was fair game.

I think that appealed to much of the audience because many people have the urge to fearlessly commit bad deeds. Todd raped, manslaughtered, kidnapped, stalked, blackmailed, held hostages, threatened, fought, committed domestic abuse, escaped imprisonment, and a host of other actions and crimes. Pure psychopathic rage on parade.

He also inherited $27 million dollars, started a successful business, fell in love a few times (whatever love means to Todd), created children, provided comic relief and pathos, and rolled his eyes along with the audience when his storylines went off the rails.

Todd Manning was terrifying for a few years before Roger Howarth and the writers remade him into a buffoon with a thirst for pettiness and revenge. For a while, he was the scariest thing on daytime ... maybe all of television in the early 90s.

[quote]Todd Manning was terrifying for a few years before Roger Howarth and the writers remade him into a buffoon with a thirst for pettiness and revenge. For a while, he was the scariest thing on daytime ... maybe all of television in the early 90s.

In other words, while Michael Malone was writing the character.

Subsequent writers didn't know how to capture that rage properly, so they tried to lighten him up. Giving him a parrot to talk to or having him pretend to have an alter named Rod.

[quote] Soap viewers had a disturbing habit of making rapists popular.

Bernie Sanders got in trouble for saying it, but many women have rape fantasies. That doesn't mean they want to be raped in reality, but many have the fantasy of being taken against their will. I remember when Craigslist was a thing, you could always find women posting on there wanting you to "break" in their house and rape them.

At least Todd was attractive, I've never for the life of me figured out why so many women were crazy over Luke Spencer.

[quote] an alter named Rod

The best alter Todd had, of course.....was in this clip

I saw Jason Shane Scott at the gym the other day.

Sizemeat verificata?

I saw Beyonce at Burger King

I saw Goody Proctor sniffing around the Adult Book Store.

I saw Miss Sleestak. She said, "GET THOSE TWO BLACK BITCHES OUT OF MY FACE!"

AND she was eating a meatball sandwich, RIGHT OUT on the studio floor!

Ellen Holly was mistreated by Sleestack. Sad.

......

Todd as written by Michael Malone was a deeply disturbed, angry and entitled young man. And Roger Howarth should probably have another Emmy or two for playing him then. He was a menacing, conflicted, rude, despicable and sad pig that interested you. It wasn't just your basic soap super villain.

well fuck... Tim grew up to be very cute

Who was Tim?

Tim Dillon on AMC.

He was Natalie's son via Alex Hunter (Jeremy's father).

When Natalie died, Trevor raised Tim as his own son.

I hated that they killed off Natalie. I loved Kate Collins, she was outstanding. Oddly enough, Robin Mattson was a really good Janet when they brought her back and made her "good."

Later, toward the end of everything, Kate Collins came back as Janet and she was crazy again, but I missed Robin Mattson.

The actor who played Timmy is sort of handsome in an Italian suburban dad cruising the Home Depot restrooms while his wife shops sort of way.

I loved both Kate Collins and Robin Mattson. But, I could never accept that Trevor would have a relationship with Janet, no matter how "good" she was now.

Can we move All My Children talk elsewhere? This is a LLanview thread I think.

When I think of one I think of the other, remember they were neighbors both geographically and on the schedule.

Kate Collins? No thanks.

All My Children and One Life to Live were sister soaps

Y&R and B&B are sister soaps

ATWT and GL were sister soaps

What’s GH’s sister soap? Probably, despite being on another network, Days of Our Lives, as they shared so many of the same writer, producers and actors and DAYS copied the help out of GH during the 80s, in the 70s when Denise Alexander left DAYS for GH, she kicked off the DAYS vs. GH rivalry in the soap world

Actually, if you know the history, Days and Y&R are sister soaps.

Bill Bell wrote DAYS and Y&R at the same time for a few years. Unthinkable that could happen now, but both were half hour shows then and both were owned (at least in part) by the same production company.

Almost all of ABC's soaps were/are sister soaps. GH, OLTL, AMC, Loving/The City, Ryan's Hope, Port Charles and The Young Marrieds, have all been tied together as taking place in the same universe at one time or another and sharing characters. Early on OLTL had Dr. Steve Hardy come to town and consult on a case. Marco Dane spent years in both Llanview and Port Charles. Skye was on AMC, OLTL, and GH. Tracy was on GH and The City. Anna was on GH and AMC. Ava has been established as being the daughter of a Ryan's Hope legacy character. The Young Marrieds neighborhood has been established as being a suburb of Port Charles

Yep. Both Y&R and Days are owned by (then) Screen Gem/Columbia now Sony. Corday owns a piece of Y&R. Y&R was developed with help from Betty Corday when it was still "The Innocent Years" and was, I believe, pitched to NBC before CBS showed interest wanting to bring some youth to their lineup. Which is funny given how CBS eventually ended up. The Corday and Bells are still close, even though it kind of messy for a bit when Bell wanted to leave Days altogether to focus on Y&R. They worked out a deal so that Bell would remain Story Consultant. Tying this back to OLTL, Bell and Nixon were both Irna Phillips proteges. Bell helped get Nixon to Another World and with her success there she was able to create OLTL for ABC.

I believe OLTL and AMC were across the river from each other, but both towns on the Main Line.

I've been down a rabbit hole on YT especially the 2 Todd saga and fuck was Jack a little shit. He gave no shits that his bio dad was held prisoner for 8 years and tortured

R289 there’s no way DAYS and Y&R should be considered sister soaps, just because SONY is pet owner of both of them, they’re completely different in tone

DAYS is campy, action adventure with supercouples and comic book villains like GH

Y&R is boring and more grounded

R294 you're both right. Yes, DAYS' hard turn to action adventure changed its course.

But 1970s DAYS had a VERY similar flavor to 1970s YR - again, Bell wrote both until DAYS went to an hour in 1975.

Some dude has posted some 1976 DOOL and its really, really good. Wonderful African American family - Fucking Hester Sue from Little House!

There are two "1980's" soaps that I barely new anything about- ATWT and DOOL. And this mid seventies DOOL is very Y&R- its kind of this late twenties- to mid 30's very modern vibe. I am surprised how good the episodes are.

R296 DAYS went the camp route and was doing GH type stories better than GH by the late 80s

I think both OLTL and DAYS were the two soaps that copied the most off Gloria Monty era GH

OLTL had that secret underground world beneath Llantano manor, that’s some Days of Our Lives type of stories

Both OLTL and DAYS had characters who time traveled to the Wild West Storylines in the late 80s

I know Maggie Depriest was headwriter on DAYS during the extremely popular and colorful mid 80s supercouples saving the world period and then she went to OLTL as headwriter

As other have said, Days had to change course to survive. They recruited the GH writers and out GHed GH and saved the show. Up until that point, Days and YR were close in tone, pacing, and just about everything else.

I wouldn't say that OLTL copied GH like Days did, I just think they adjusted to be more compatible so that it could be a better bridge soap between AMC and GH and to save itself. People were always coming for OLTL. There is a reason why it was always called the red-headed stepchild of ABC daytime. OLTL's ratings weren't bad, but it was a true time slot hit. During the 80s, ABC could have put a test pattern in that slot and it would have pulled a 30 share.

At the time, the rumors were that Gloria Monty was developing another show and was pressuring ABC for that OLTL slot.

ABC asked for changes, dumped more money into it and put the show on in primetime during the summer of 83, but it didn't get a lot of interest. Gloria then tried to get it back to daytime sandwiched between GH and AMC where she originally wanted it, but it was deemed too expensive, and they had already greenlighted Loving from Agnes Nixon and Doug Marland with big hopes for that show, but it all fell apart because Doug and Agnes' relationship deteriorated. So OLTL kept on chugging along and by that time had gotten renewed interest because of Paul Rauch's over the top stories and improved production values.

Gloria ended up getting more money and power and GH and one of those development deals that never went anywhere for more money.

In 1981, Days had terribly ratings. They hired Pat Falken Smith to be HW with the instructions to reinvent the show

Pat Falken Smith previously been HW of Days (1975-77), immediately after Bill Bell left. She had also been HW of GH (1979-81) during the Luke and Laura on the run period and Ice Princess saga. Thus, she knew Days history well and also knew what had worked at GH when it was at the height of its ratings.

So, she reimagined the show in the mold of GH, introducing Roman Brady, Tony DiMera and their respective families, gradually. Stephano arrived on the scene in spring 1982. Soon after Roman and Marlena were proving popular and the show made them into a super-couple a la Luke and Laura. By 1983, Bo and Hope were on the show in line to become the next super couple. By 1984, Shane Donovan was on the scene, Salem's answer to Robert Scorpio. Also in 1984, we first heard mention of the ISA, Salem's answer to GH's WSB.

So, for the past 40 years, Days and GH would definitely be considered the closest to being sister soaps.

R298 Have you ever been able to find full episodes of The Hamptons? I've always wanted to see it.

Its so funny to me that OLTL was the red headed step child, yet was so amazingly watchable from 1977-1981 and 1985-1990, 92-95.. It was a great show at many points, and at its best - was as good or better than fucking overrated as fuck AMC and Rape Me Luke, GH.

To me 1985-86 OLTL was the most underrated soap of all time. Upon viewing Youtube, etc. I think Peggy O'Shea was an amazing headwriter, and by far OLTL's most underrated.

I never "got" AMC hokey charms or ever really LOVED GH the way I did OLTL (and Y&R).

R301 Also, when it was cancelled it was by far the best soap on ABC.

Absolutely R302, and the highest rated. Viewers were actually growing- it was kind of unheard of at that point.

And something everyone forgets as they laud AMC and AMC being so good in its reboot on Prospect Park (And I believe those reviews) I did not enjoy the OLTL reboot much..

Anyway-OLTL's finale ratings kicked AMC's ass. AMC- the gold standard- got lower ratings for its finale than OLTL.

To me, that says a lot. OLTL truly had more engaged viewers at the end of its run.

OLTL viewers watched until the end.

I loved the Michael Malone years. It could be dark or touching.

R303 The AMC reboot was better because the budget cuts suited it better. It was harder to do with OLTL because Llanview was a mid-sized city.

I was looking up Agnes Nixon interviews and I came across a People magazine interview from 1975 and in it she said that she makes sure to watch Days of Our Lives everyday “because I like to keep up with the competition and it’s a really good show”. That was when her mentor Bill Bell was headwriter , and around he time DAYS became the first soap to have an interracial romance between white David Banning ( Julie’s son) and black Valerie Grant, their son Eli is currently on the show, I wonder what Agnes thought of that storyline and if she wishes she had one it first on AMC or OLTL

That witch Agnes Nixon had Ryan's Hope taken out of its timeslot to accommodate her shitty Loving. If Gloria Monty then tried to get OLTL taken out of its timeslot, I call that karma, even though I love OLTL.

[quote]DAYS became the first soap to have an interracial romance between white David Banning ( Julie’s son) and black Valerie Grant, their son Eli is currently on the show, I wonder what Agnes thought of that storyline and if she wishes she had one it first on AMC or OLTL

Between the hate mail and ratings hit DAYS took, Agnes was probably happy she didn't attempt it first.

That wouldn't fly back then

Malone’s OLTL years were hit or miss. He did attempt to try some new things but he didn’t really “get” the show. They attempted to bring its back to its origins with the “have not” families. Marty’s rape and Billy’s gay story were his high points. But then Todd took over and ruined the show. And Ron Carlivati is not someone I trust with a show’s history. He is an incompetent hack.

R310- Agree completely on Malone (the show was really boring more often than not) and 1/2 agree on Ron.

R310 come on he’s currently having Sarah Horton think she’s the long dead Renee Dumonde on DAYS, Stephfano’s illegitimate daughter who was in love with Tony Dimera when she thought he was her blood brother, he wasn’t

Renee’s big takedown scene when she goes in on all the residents of Salem in big party at the Dimera mansion IS soap opera

It’s up there with Karen Wolek’s breakdown on the stand on OLTL

Did Agnes do the interracial thing first with Carla involved with Jim Craig, or do I have that wrong? Or was Carla, who we thought was white, interested in the black doctor? I have only read about all of that and can’t remember the details.

And was Nancy Grant involved with a white man on AMC, albeit off screen for the most part? This was also in the seventies but Nancy and Frank weren’t major characters.

I could have it all wrong, but this is how I remember it.

All questions should be addressed to Vee, who is in the biz, you know. He is the expert on everything soaps, politics, and international affairs!!

....

[quote] Stephfano’

Stefano.

I thought it was interesting that OLTL got an extra six months to live. It didn’t fold up shop on ABC till January 2012, while AMC bit the dust on ABC in September 2011. To me, that was an acknowledgment that One Life to Life was the more popular show.

[quote]To me, that was an acknowledgment that One Life to Life was the more popular show.

I think it was really an acknowledgement that OLTL was in far better shape than AMC in 2011 and had higher ratings at that point.

Think of it like a consolation prize, "We're cancelling you but letting you live 4 months longer than your sister soap, AMC."

Vee, who’s in the biz, should shut the fuck up!

When the leading female character has multiple personalities, and the actress still manages to snag six Emmys despite that weird, cliched, soapy fact, you know you have something special.

Years ago someone on this board got pissy with me when I said I never cared for General Hospital. I explained I liked OLTL better because it had a hard, dark underbelly. The poster attempted to ridicule me by pointing out that GH is all about the mob and the many murders that come with that business. GH was waaay darker than One Life.

Yet I didn't back down. I could never Sonny seriously. He might have had it rough back in the day, but his dad never fucked him as far as I know. THAT'S dark.

I miss our show.

R320- Years ago some article had described OLTL during its various regimes. In the 70's it was called "Psychological Drama" and I agree with that assessment for its run overall.

GH- Never got that show. I enjoyed it from 87-90 but ultimately could take it or leave it.

I have mentioned before that AMC is as overrated as my grandmothers donkey balls. (I will say upon seeing some videos on Youtube- I do see why it was a powerhouse in that 82-84 era with Jenny/Gregg/Jessie/Angie- the show had a really warm and homey feel, despite being hokey and looking like a high school play. My mom loved that show.

Serial Scholar is nuts!

R321, I'm starting to notice in my Youtube viewings that soaps are best viewed based on various eras of time. Depending on writing regimes or the actors involved, a show could bang or bust. I'm currently watching Guiding Light from 1991; One Life to Live from 1989; and Another World from 1990. All are so good. I must remember to give 1982-84 All My Children a spin. I watched AMC from 93 to 95, but never married it. Stayed mostly to see what Kendall would get up to. I grew up watching the NBC lineup, so I soon returned to DAYS.

GH never caught me. In 1992, when Santa Barbara was canceled, I was looking for a new soap. I watched a week of GH. Then a week of Guiding Light. Guiding Light won, and I stayed with them off and on, even into the Peapack years. The longest GH ever held my attention was during the Cartini regime when OLTL characters visited. I never liked John, or Todd, or Starr enough on their own to stay. After Blair and Tea left, so did I.

[quote]I'm currently watching Guiding Light from 1991; One Life to Live from 1989; and Another World from 1990

Those are all very good periods for each of those shows. Enjoy!

Yes, those are all good periods. 1991 was a great year for GL - if it could have maintained that quality, it would still be on the air.

Are the 1989 OLTL shows all Megan all the time yet?

R323 Try to find Another World episodes starting in the summer of 1988, when the writers strike was on. Harding Lemay was either writing or his bible was being used.

Yes, Lemay's reset of AW was really its last best era. And they used his bible for years after, so almost everything up to around 1992 was either all him or at least partly his story ideas.

Yes June 1988 to late 1992 is that last great era for AW.

That period was definitely based on Harding Lemay's Bible and story projections.

R325- I am watching the 1989 OLTL episodes as well- and yeah there is a lot of Megan and Sarah, but I never minded them. It was clear by mid 89 that Andrea had probably told the show she was leaving and they were clearly trying to prepare. Including testing out the horrible and unmemorable Audrey as a potential interest for Cord.

The show is extremely fast moving and plotty, and generally ALOT happens in each episode. I understand now why I loved the show so much as a young boy-early teen! It still has that addictive quality with well defined characters.

R323 here:

OLTL 1989 is All About the Gordon Sisters, lol. Megan is settling into her split personality and her relationship with Marco Dane; Sarah was just raped by Austin and is currently attempting to hide it from Bo.

I don't understand why she's hiding it, especially since several people -- including Asa -- are aware of the assault. Bo is one of the more understanding guys in Llanview, so Sarah acting like he'll hate her if he discovers the rape makes no sense. He definitely would not have blamed her.

I know the show meant for this storyline to be dramatic, but I'm finding it kind of annoying. Maybe it's because Sarah is played as straight damsel-in-distress. Not fond of those. Some of my favorites heroines and vixens stay in trouble, but I never got the impression that they were weak. Sarah just feels WEAK. Jensen plays it perfectly, but I just don't like her. I want to ... because she's eating the show!

I know things will pick up when they discover Austin isn't dead.

Gabrielle is wringing her hands and skulking around Michael Grande and Brenda. She's my favorite character of this period, so I'm looking forward to the buildup of this storyline. Tina seems to be sidelined, but that makes sense (knowing what was happening to Andrea at the time). Viki shows up to provide advice or to coo gently, but she doesn't have much of a story.

Gabrielle and FH is the unsung hero (heroine) of 1980's-early 90's OLTL..

Gabrielle becomes more central as that summer goes on.

Andrea returns in late July for the hilarious Statesville Prison Break. Its hard to believe that she would be gone in 6 months.

Her final mini-storylines are The Crown Jewels of Medorra/Statesville Break out/Tina in the halfway house / and then Lord Love The Children..

I started watching OLTL during the Malone years with Viki's alters, Todd being Victor's son etc then I stopped so I missed most of the Natalie saga, What was the thought about Viki having another child she didn't know about? Was it an implausible retcon? I actually like Natalie when I started watching around 2005 again

It's a soap opera staple for heroines to find out they gave birth to twins and never knew it.

In addition to Viki Lord of Llanview, other members of the club include Alexandra Spaulding of Springfield and Sharon Newman of Genoa City.

The late Susan Moore of Port Charles is also a member of that club.

Vivian Alamain, sometimes of Salem USA, is a member of the club too.

Donna Love of Bay City is a charter member of the club.

I can't remember, did they ever play that trope on any of the primetime soaps?

I started watching OLTL when Michael Malone was hired, too. It was the proposed Billy Douglas story that drew me in. I'd occasionally clicked to ABC during commercials on AW if I was watching live, and I remember one day Viki saying to Clint, "Remember, dear, the other day, when we were in the past?" And I knew this was not a soap for me.

I liked the Billy Douglas story, but I really wished they'd made the story a peninsula, one stemming from Lord-Buchanan family issues instead of from this island comprised of no one the Douglases. They didn't even have a home set, and we were supposed to believe Billy's father was okay with his son's coming out drama unfolding at the Llanview Country Club. Every day I thought, Billy should be Joey Buchanan, so they could have this argument at home.

I liked the Lindsay-Nora-Sam-Bo drama also, but that was later IIRC, with JFP and Megan McTavish. That got terminally spoiled by Mimi Torchin, and I gave up watching soaps Easter weekend of 2000.

Linda Gottlieb on the Billy story:

[quote] We did several groundbreaking stories that I’m really proud of -- the story that culminated with the AIDS quilt, for which I cast Ryan Phillippe as an unknown actor from New Jersey. I really wanted one of the Buchanans to come out as gay, but the network wouldn’t let me do that. They had never let the quilt travel -- it was really groundbreaking. And we got all these letters from people telling us what those episodes meant to them. This was a time when no one was doing this kind of thing, you understand -- there was no Will & Grace, nothing. It really was a serious breakthrough.

From Llanview in the Afternoon: An Oral History of One Life to Live

Having Joey Buchanan turn out to be gay and having Kevin Buchanan be one of Marty's rapists would have made each character so much more interesting in the long run.

[quote] Donna Love of Bay City is a charter member of the club.

More research is needed; it seems that a third pillow.....I mean, child might be out there.

Upon reviewing on Youtube over the years Gottlieb and Malone's OLTL was boring and very after school special-ish.

The only storylines that really worked as MUST SEE TV were Marty's Rape and Viki/Niki/ect- which was after Gottlieb left.

The episodes are very literate and well written, and the show looked like a film- but my god, other than Alex/Carlo- the show was boring as fuck.

r342 You didn't like the Billy Douglas story?

R343- Then and now, I found it boring. Groundbreaking- yes- Well written- definitely- but it just wasn't my cup of tea. In fact, I liked it more then than on rewatch on Youtube.

Even Gottlieb's background music was boring.

The show may have been contemporary, but it had NO edge.

So many stupid characters were introduced. Suede, The Starship Troopers guy...

And Gottlieb's insistence that they needed short story arcs with brand new characters, was bullshit. Bill Bell called her out on that, and he was right.

I respect that era of OLTL, but I did not particularly enjoy it.

One last thing- I seriously respect Gottlieb and Malone much more after I learned their original intentions for Billy/Marty's storylines.

That would have been night and day.

I really love Susan Haskell and Marty- so I enjoyed her storyline just because I loved her. Brilliant actress.

And my favorite character other than Marty that Malone introduced- Nora. What a great character and HBS probably felt like she hit the jackpot.

I taped it, r344, and mostly skipped everything but the Billy-Joey-Andrew scenes. I would eventually watch Marty, Nora, and the rape story. From the frat boys from whom they chose, I wish Powell had been the rapist instead of Todd. Of course, (Tim Gibbs') Kevin would have been the ideal rapist, and Joey the only choice for the gay boy (played by Ryan Phillippe, of course).

I think Gibbs was still on AW at the time, however. Anyone but Roger Howarth.

R345 I fucking love Nora . Though, I do not understand how Frank Valentini and the writers of GH, who worked on OLTL, managed to screw up her character so much when they had her come the Port Charles. FV should have known that character inside and out, and realized it didn't work. They wrote her more lie Tea than Nora Hanen Gannon Buchanan Colson Buchanan Buchanan.

The first year of the Gottlieb-Malone era definitely has that Afterschool Special feel to it. They were trying to reinvent the soap genre and had much to learn. Much to learn!

But by 1993 when the frat house rape happened, the two hit their stride nicely.

Any idea why they killed Ben off? Did Mark hate OLTL?

Mark Derwin left OLTL to play Bonnie Hunt's husband on the new sitcom Life with Bonnie. Hunt and Derwin had had good chemistry when playing opposite each other in the sitcom Bonnie (1995-96) and Bonnie Hunt wanted to recreate that chemistry on her new sitcom.

The show put Ben in a coma in case the sitcom failed. That way, they could bring Ben back easily. But when the sitcom got renewed for a second season, OLTL killed off Ben.

R350 I can't remember but when Hillary B. Smith was also doing a sitcom, did she continue to do both? I remember Joe Lando would basically appear in the summer while Dr. Quinn was on hiatus for the first year or so.

HBS appeared in in the sitcom Something Wilder starring Gene Wilder. It aired one season, 1994-95, and then was cancelled.

During that time Gottlieb and Malone just put Nora on the far far back burner, just appearing in one or two episodes a week. As I recall, they set up her schedule so she taped her OLTL episodes on Mondays, then flew to LA for the sitcom for the rest of the week.

R352 Thinks because I thought I remembered her being on both. I would also mention she replaced Patti Lupone for the failed tv pilot adaptation of Driving Miss Daisy.

Didn't Malone and Gottlieb also do Megan's death?

r350

Thanks... I had forgotten about the Bonnie Hunt show. I wish they hadn't killed Ben. I liked Ben(and Charlie) for Viki

For those who wanted AMC to have its own thread, use this

R355 I really really wish they hadn’t given bens heart to viki. Intended to be sweet or whatever but I found it super creepy.

Was Tina and Cord's daughter Sarah named after Megan's sister?

Yes but then og Sarah came back alive.

I hate when that happens.

You mean Flash?