Flashback Video: Robin & Stone GH

One thing soap operas have always done exquisitely well is to challenge their audiences on controversial storylines. From the marital rape of Kim Dixon by husband John Dixon on ATWT to Carla Gray’s “Passing” on OLTL to the plight of the homeless on B&B, daytime has a long and distinguished history of tackling controversial social issues long before their evening counterparts.

Played by Kimberly McCullough, Robin Scorpio first cam on the canvas as the daughter of two of GHs most popular characters: Anna Devane and Robert Scorpio. Audiences watched her grow from child to young adult and she was a frequent participant in the show’s major storylines. All of this exposure made Robin well known and well liked by the audience at home. Michael “Stone” Cates came onboard GH in the early 90s and his love story with Robin would become one of the most loved and remembered storylines in the show’s history. Taken in off the streets by mob boss Sonny Corinthos, Stone was the classic bad boy with a heart of gold.

As the relationship between the couple bloomed, it was revealed that Stone had tested for HIV and it had come back negative. But he never did the follow-up test. One night, Robin and he made love without using any protection and when Stone discovered he had AIDS, his first concern was for Rob. Although the initial test gave Robin a clean bill of health it was later discovered that Robin had contracted the disease. However, Stone never discovered he had infected Robin as he was dying when she found out and she decided to spare him that knowledge.

Still active on the GH canvas, Robin is living with her HIV status and has gone on to become a successful doctor, wife and mother. By showing a person living with HIV and not just dying from it, GH has taken a substantial step in educating the public. In this flashback video, we take a look back at some of the highlights of this legendary storyline.

Stone and Robin make love but don’t use a condom which has disastrous effects.



Stone tells Sonny he has AIDS




Stone tells Robin he has AIDS.



Robin discovers she has HIV.




After a long battle, Stone finally dies but not before seeing Robin one last time.



Stone leaves Robin a final letter of love.

As Robin’s husband searches for a missing Robin, she has a vision of Stone who urges her to keep fighting and to let him go.

Flashback Video: Neal's Murder ATWT

While I was never an obsessive fan of As the World Turns, there are moments from the show’s run that have stayed with me. Yet, most of the moments I remember are not the ones pointed to by most fans. Case in point: the mysterious relationship of Neal and Royce. Played by the amazing Mary Kay Adams and Terry Lester respectively, these two arrived in Oakdale chock full of secrets. As their stories intersected with the other residents, it was revealed that Royce and Neal were actually the half siblings of Oakdale’s Queen Bee Lucinda Walsh.

In this set of scenes, Neal meets a grisly end and Oakdale is thrown into a full scale murder mystery. What I remember most about this storyline was the exquisite work done by Terry Lester as he comes to grips with the death of his beloved sister and his part in it. And while the police letting a bunch of people pollute the crime scene is beyond absurd, the human emotion underlining the brother/sister reveal rings true thanks to the work of Lester.

It’s a dark and stormy night and murder is in the air. As Emily accepts Royce's proposal, the police receive a mysterious call.



Royce and Emily gleefully celebrate their engagement while Neal lies dead in a pool of her own blood.



Royce calls Neal to tell her of his engagement and takes off to her apartment once the police answer. Meanwhile, Royce’s butler flashes back to an earlier argument with Neal.



Neal and Royce’s relationship is revealed as a despondent Royce falls apart.




Royce refuses to leave Neal’s side until emily convinces him it is time to leave.

Flashback Video: Clint Buchanan & The Old West

In the annals of daytime history, this date is a banner day! Not only would today have marked the 76th birthday of the exquisite Beverlee McKinsey, it also would have been the 72nd birthday of the original daytime cowboy, Clint Ritchie.

First arriving on the scene of One Life to Live in 1979 as Joe Riley’s personal pick to replace him as editor of The Banner, Ritchie’s Clint Buchanan instantly took Lanview by storm. From his unforgettable turn as a father grief stricken by his teenager daughter's pregnancy to his epic love story with Victoria Lord, there has never been a character like Clint Buchanan. In this flashback video, relive the moments when Clint Buchanan is thrown from his horse and wakes up in Buchanan City circa 1888. While there are a total of 46 clips in this storyline you can find here, below are a sampling of some of my favorites:

After taking an ill advised rise on his horse in the desert along, Clint Buchanan wakes up in 1888 and discovers his blindness has been cured. After stumbling into a town, Buchanan City, he meets Ginny Fletcher who is a dead ringer for his wife in 1988, Viki Buchanan.



Worried he’ll never get back to 1988, Clint decides he’ll do anything in his power to keep Ginny from leaving own, including removing a wheel from her stagecoach.



After Clint is shot with arrows by a band of murderers, Ginny nurses him back to health.



Having grown closer after their ordeal, Ginny reveals to Clint that she has never been kissed. Seeing his moment, Clint attempts to sweep Ginny off of her feet.



Ginny is captured and is sold into white slavery. Clint attempts to save her and winds up getting thrown in jail for his efforts.




Believing he’ll never get home, Clint proposes to Ginny. Just as they are about to be married, Clint’s wife Viki finds the portal and shows up to object.

Flashback Video: Frankie Frame's Murder

Frankie Frame’s murder on Another World continues to be one of the most harrowing and violent deaths in the history of daytime. Division was strong between the minority who felt it was jarring story telling the genre desperately needed and the majority who felt the violence was gratuitous and offensive. I have to admit I fell in the later category. I’m sure much of my fury was the result of my absolute fondness for the character and for the actor who played her. And while the moment certainly had impact, it altered the tapestry of AW and was the final nail in the show’s coffin.

*Please note the subsequent descriptions come from ANOTHERWORLDlover who uplaoded these wonderful clips**

Part 1: Frankie reconciles with longtime family friend Felicia. Next, she joins her husband, Cass Winthrop, at the Cory's for Maggie's farcical wedding. Before leaving to pick up Josie, Cass shares an intimate moment with her which turns out to be the last time he will see her alive.




Part 2: Frankie drives Josie to her wedding shower where she gives her a heart to heart about payoffs to a job being not as important as life's other big payoffs.



Part 3: Frankie attempts to leave to pick up her daughter at the sitters and is overcome with a sense of dread. While Cass talks with Joe & Felicia about their upcoming "second honeymoon" (an obvious plot device to garner more sympathy for Frankie when she dies), Frankie tries to have a patrol car come by the house but is rebuffed when she indicates she didn't actually see a prowler.



Part 4: Frankie’s violent end

Flashback Video: The Daisy Awards

So what makes a great awards show? For me, it is pageantry and an awareness of the insanity that is the awards process. Honestly, I don't think there has ever been an awards show that I have ever enjoyed more than when One Life to Live went rogue in 1989 and presented its own awards ceremony to celebrate the fictionalized soaps that existed within its universe, specifically Fraternity Row and All or Nothing. Airing before the real Daytime Emmy Awards, this clever send up was a loving tongue in cheek look at all the ways in which the Emmy awards are insanity personified. From the arrival of the show's core characters to throngs of real life fans playing fictionalized fans to Spring Skye's egotistical tantrums, the viewer was left to wonder what was real and what was made up. Favorite moments from this episode include the antics of MC Robin Leach, Spring Skye arriving in a limo equipped with a bubble bath, Max Holden trying to be an executive producer and the back biting of the nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress. But by far the best moment of the show occurred when competing Lead actress nominees, and main rivals, Megan Gordon and Spring Skye opened the show with a musical number. People, it has been 22 years and I can still recite every word of this song. I'm fairly certain I broke the VHS tape I had such was my love of this musical number. Why the real daytime Emmy Awards haven't tried a version of this I'll never know.

So sit back and enjoy this way down memory lane!

The show starts with a bumper about real daytime shows and then cuts to the arrivals of Asa, Renee, Viki and Clint to throngs of screaming fans.


Llanview's finest roll up in limos and the search for a missing Megan begins...



The show starts with the best opening number in history!


Megan accepts her award

Flashback Video: The Loving Murders

With all the speculation as to the future of daytime dramas, I started thinking about the ways in which popular soaps have chosen to go out. Certainly a variety of factors can be at work but often there is an effort to settle up storylines and give the audience a happy ending. Most show’s follow that formula with one noted exception.

When word came down that Loving was being cancelled, the show’s producers decided to go out with a bang by introducing a serial killer storyline that was both revolutionary and unexpected. It is hard to describe just how fraught with tension these episodes were when they aired. Show publicity at the time made it clear that only a select few of the cast would be going on to the new series being created to take the place of Loving. That meant no one was safe; a fact continually hit home as the original cast of characters met stunning, albeit creative, deaths. And just when the audience thought they couldn’t be shocked anymore, the writers unleashed their greatest the surprise when the serial killer was revealed to be the long suffering matriarch of the show, Gwenyth Alden.

This week’s Flashback Video features this unforgettable storyline and pays homage to the tour de force performance by Christine Tudor in the show’s closing days. Seriously, it has been over a decade and I’m still wondering how Christine Tudor didn’t walk away with an Emmy that year. Enjoy!

Clay, Curtis and Isabelle become victims of the serial killer in a spree that aired over the course of a day.



The family reacts to the discovery of the bodies and more clues emerge. And Jeremy is murdered in a most spectacular fashion.



Trisha finally returns still suffering from amnesia and the killer is revealed in one jaw dropping moment.



Gwenyth reveals the reasons for her killing spree to a shocked Steffi.



The serial killer storyline concludes with one final and tragic death.