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Jun 14, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Who was behind the hiring of Hogan Sheffer as ATWT's new head writer? Are you back on good terms with MADD and Graham? Why didn't you update the Soaps News column when the news about Sheffer taking over ATWT was released?
— SEW
Dear SEW,
I've been told from various sources that Bill Graham "discovered" Sheffer, which, hopefully, means Sheffer won't get too much interference from P&G. MADD and I are pals again ("Bygones!" she wrote in her note to me); I seriously doubt Graham knows who I am... although, if memory serves, he turned down my request to interview him a few years back. Maybe he does know who I am. I didn't feel the need to update Soaps News because — in my mind, at least — it was only a matter of time before Sheffer ascended to the head writer position. I mean, P&G had warned me earlier in the week not to intimate anything about his future a
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner, A while back on GH I watched Lila talking to a ghost, which at the time I thought was Edward. Much to my surprise, I tune in a few months ago to see Lila with a husband named Edward. Who was the ghost, and what happened to him?
— Lisa
Dear Lisa,
Ah, don't you love retroactive changes in soap continuity? Everyone (including viewers and the Quartermaines) thought Edward had died when his plane went down, and Lila even started communicating with his spirit (via a large portrait in the Qs' living room). Enter Gloria Monty, who lured David Lewis (Edward) out of retirement. What do you know? Edward is alive! (Raise your hand if you remember the day Anna found Edward!) Anyway, Lewis eventually retired again and was replaced by John Ingle, the current Edward.
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner,
Why don't you want Brandon and Sami to get together on Days of Our Lives? They have so much more chemistry than Sami and Austin, and he accepts Sami for who she is — unlike Austin. Do you just not like Brandon?
— Kate
Dear Kate,
Actually, I don't like Brandon, and I don't like this watered-down version of Sami, either. She's neither heroine nor vixen, but she's certainly boring and wishy-washy. Sami is at her best when she's suffering, scheming or squirming, and, for the most part, Alison Sweeney (Sami) is being done a terrible disservice by the lame writing.
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner,
In response to this week's poll about the Gwen/Ethan/Theresa triangle on Passions, I have to take some exception to the wording in the "Gwen" answer. You give the rationale for choosing Gwen as "Gwen! Theresa is a peasant girl who can't compete
with Gwen's social standing and beauty!" The rich/poor thing is a nonsensical
smokescreen (and how poor can you call a family when the 16-year-old has his own motorcycle and cell phone, anyway?). My own reason for choosing Gwen is "Gwen!
Theresa is an immature, lying, manipulative, gold-digging stalker who behaves as
though the world revolves around her and who doesn't have a care in the world that she's trampling on someone else's feelings!" Then again, Ethan's recent pleas that Gwen quit her job and live off his wealth, with the attendant treatment of her career as an unimportant hobby, have pretty much ruined him in the "decent potential husband" department.
Maybe Ethan does d
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner,
I remember that Nina had a baby that was stolen from her when she first joined The Young and the Restless; are TPTB ever going to reunite Nina with her child? That would be interesting.
— Daiana
Dear Daiana,
Years ago Nina confessed to Ryan that the loss of her first baby still haunts her, so it's not a totally forgotten topic. However, Y&R is aging Phillip (Nina's other son) in natural time, so it doesn't appear as if the show's in any rush to have Tricia Cast (Nina) play mother to a grown teen hunk. Given that head writer Kay Alden is constantly mining the show's past, it's probably inevitable that this long-lost "baby" will be addressed in detail at some point. Having inherited Phillip Chancellor III's estate, Nina sure has the financial resources to locate her child if she so desires. (Michael J. Maloney)
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner,
Did the actor who plays Luke Spencer on General Hospital also play Bill Eckert?
— TJay
Dear TJay,
Yes! Good ol' Anthony Geary (Luke) played Bill, a Spencer cousin, from 1991 to '93. Raise your hand if you remember Mama Angela Eckert slaving away in the kitchen, or Bill's famous urinal scene!
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner, On which prime-time soap did the character Alexis Carrington appear? I say it was Knots Landing, but my husband says it was a different soap.
— Kelly
Dear Kelly,
Shame on you! Alexis, played by Joan Collins, was a character on Dynasty! Props to your old man for knowing his soap divas, though.
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner,
What actors have been on Y&R the longest?
— Lisa
Dear Lisa,
Jeanne Cooper (Katherine) joined the show shortly after its 1973 premiere, while Doug Davidson and Melody Thomas Scott (Paul and Nikki) have both been on the soap since 1979.
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner,
What do you consider to be the most original stories of the '90s? My top five are Marty's gang rape on One Life to Live, Marlena and the Devil on Days, Robin's battle with AIDS on GH, the Loving serial-killer story, and the revelation that Azure C. was a man on The City.
— Glamkatte
Dear Glamkatte,
You're off to a good start, but how could you forget about Casey's battle against Guillain-Barre syndrome and his right to die with dignity on As the World Turns? Or Brent/Marian, Guiding Light's cross-dressing rapist/murderer? Or B.J., Santa Barbara's cross-dressing molestation victim? Or yucky Martin's Syndrome on Sunset Beach? Or Janet's redemption on All My Children? Or....
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Jun 7, 2000 04:00 AM ET
- by Soaps
Dear Soaps,
Dear Reiner,
Did GH's Monica really have an affair with Ned?
— LadyXTC88
Dear LadyXTC88,
Yes, she really did. In 1988, Monica went to a spa and met Tracy's son Ned (then played by Kurt McKinney) — unaware he was her nephew by marriage (he was using the name Ward at the time) — and the two had a brief affair. The tryst is rarely mentioned these days, but was brought up at Monica's trial when Pierce Dorman sued her for sexual harassment. (MJM)
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