Chris B

Michele Lee is *such* a Pollyanna! I can't believe she got Michelle Phillips fired because of the story where Mack was meant to have an affair with her character. Of course they eventually re-hired her in a new story, but she missed out on like two years of work. And it was developing into a GOOD story. But Lee felt that although Mack was brought on as a womanizer and total ladies man, they were going to be the stable couple and no cheating was allowed. How lame. They don't have to get divorced just because one cheats. This really limited them in later years. Eric, An example of The Shapiro's being idiots is the "static acting." That is the term coined by Leann Hunley for what they forced her and others to do. Apparently they wanted the show to look like a 40s glamour picture. The actors were meant to showcase the words and the clothes and weren't allowed to move their arms or bodies in scenes. Whatever the director told them they were supposed to do and of course, werk those clothes! She said it was so ridiculous that she decided to leave the show. This comes from her exit article in TV Guide. She left at the beginning of season nine and noted how great it was to finally act before she left.

The Shapiro's were such arrogant hacks who ruined their reputation and future career by their behavior at Dynasty. Still, I find that first season absolutely breathtaking. It's so well written, almost cinematic IMO. After that all the edge was lost. Especially with Blake Carrington. I loved that he was a racist, sexist bastard yet he wasn't portrayed as a bad man. Really, everyone, even the heroine Krystal, had tons of baggage. I thought the show was ahead of it's time and really stands up with the best of TV. I'd say The Sopranos and modern shows included. But boy did they do a number as time went on! Make Jill Farren Phelps and Brian Frons look like saints! He's a hater to, but they were stuck with him. He demanded they clean Blake up, which is why he became such a saint. Also made him a total bore. David Paulsen finally gave Blake some edge back in the final season, but he didn't like it from the interviews I read.

The Dobsons only did scripts for two or three episodes which were heavily re-written. Rita Lakin (creator of Flamingo Road, Peyton Place writer) joined as Executive Story Consultant midseason which is probably when things began to improve. When you throw in Michael Filerman (EP of Knots, Dallas and Falcon Crest) as EP, it's shocking how bad this show was all around. It's like no effort was put in at the beginning. I can just see all the promos coasting off of Dynasty.

I'm still working through Emerald Point. i believe I just finished episode 14. It's getting better, but the casting is so off that it can be grating at times. Now Models Inc is the business. It's campy fun and the cast is really entertaining. Love Linda Gray as Hilary and honestly, I continue to love Brian Gaskill and the way he fits into the show. Still, I'm looking forward to Emma Samms and Kim Zimmer. Next I think I'll try Savannah and then pick up CPW after I finish Emerald Point.

No. It's his real hair... Read that they had quite a bit of trouble finding a wig when he first aired. I guess they didn't know he was balding.

Here's a pretty good Telephone fan video. It features Sisco Gomez, a judge on So You Think You Can Dance UK and Aaron Renfree, a X Factor choreographer who was in S Club 8. I like the choreo, but it's a little off in spots because clearly they were doing it without the music in the public locations. I also wish they'd muted the street sounds during the dance scenes. Thoughts?

Oh god, I guess Lisa is back too. That's not a good sign in his favor. WTF? Of all the people to bringback?!

I decided to take up Models Inc and it's actually a very good show. It succeeds at what it wanted to accomplish. Love Linda Gray in a sexier and less psychotic role. The models are all interesting (especially the one killed in the pilot). And although most people say Brian Gaskill was dumped due to bad acting, I really don't see a problem. I think he's doing a good job and fits right in on this type of work. He's no better or worse than he was on any other soap.

I only know Eve with Ian and as a heroine, but watching her in these early days is like such a refreshing, completely different character. Very shocked to hear she'll get involved with Kevin. Right now they seem to be developing something with Scott I REALLY want to happen. Poor Chris does just as little in the beginning as he did during the arcs.

Yes the series finale was written by the fabulous Peter Dunne and it was billed as such. Finola Hughes gave her cheating husband her blessing to marry his mistress and she moved to be near her father. Michelle Stafford took her entire family home to Michigan. John Rielly (of GH and PSNS fame) was brought on as a love interest for Joan Collins and her daughter went off with his son. All the stories had been tied up a couple episodes earlier so it was an easy finale to write.

I had Toups move this thread here! I didn't want it to get lost in PrimetimeOxides and it's nice to have another popular thread here. Okay I watched episode 11 of NAS and I wish I could say it's improving, but it's not. They recast the role of Harlan, but the new guy (Robert Vaughn I believe) sucks. The first 20 minutes half the characters were at a funeral of a man we never met. That seemed a bit much for a primetime show. I hope when Rita Lakin arrives it actually gets interesting. Jill St. John is given NOTHING to do and there aren't enough characters her age for her to really make much impact. I finally finished Pacific Palisades and I do think it was a well written show let down by casting and poor production values. One final comment, Natalia C. (who played Anita on AMC) played the most demonic teen I've ever seen. She constantly defied Michelle Stafford and when it blew up in her face she always blamed someone! TheStaff told her that she was RAPED and not to look for her father. What does she do? LOOK FOR HER FATHER! Guess what? Her real dad is dead and the guy she met up with plans to kill and rape her. Of course it was all her moms fault. Then she tried to seduce her stepfather and that too was her moms fault. She was like Diana Fairgate 2.0 without the heart. Joan Collins and Kimberly Davies really won me over. They ended up being the stars of this. I still wish Joan had played Finola Hughes' mom though. Seems like the logical choice. I wonder if Finola plays Americans or Brits or what. I can never tell with that accent.

What was so great about the Bad Roamance video? I'm so tired of hearing that! I thought the dancing was terrible and so cheesy. It was decent, but not as good as people make out. Now Telephone on the other hand is FAB! I love Beyonce and she killed it once again. It was giving me Destiny's Child flashbacks, seeing her perform with someone else.

I flipped through one of the final episodes and you could definitely tell things had changed. Everyone had full on hippie outfits and were talking in horribly dated slang (probably dated even then!) and the look of the show wasn't as lush and glamourous. I finally got to see the black family which was an interesting surprise. The actors are so good that I can't see it being a total disaster. I'm sure the writers didn't fully follow through (probably due to the network),b tu what little I saw of the story seemed interesting. I wonder who they'll be friends with or will they be completely segregated. I know the teen was partners in a science project with a white girl and it caused a huge uproar, lol. I can't even imagine.

Carl, stop posting these dreadful lies about Charity and Cain being cousins! They're my favorite couple! Don't do this to me!

I forgot Carmel entirely! I think she's fab, but Calvin has sucked the life out of her. The McQueen's are who made me fall in love with Hollyoaks so I will be devastated if the family is torn apart. They're the only real family left.

Since moving into my own apartments I never bothered with cable because I can easily download my shows and have my collection of bootleg soaps. Now in my third apartment I finally got cable and I find that I barely use it. I record my current soaps, but watch very few primetime shows. My TV is mostly off. As for the quality, it definitely holds up. Some fans had told me it went downhill when it went to color, but it's just as good if not better. Heavy focus on Connie and Elliot, not just being Alison's parents (which Dorthy Malone complained about). Martin Peyton is a force and the entire Harrington household is just fierce. Hannah Cord is a goddess and Steven is just the jolt that Betty and Rodney needed. Rita and Norman are getting big story in the color episodes as well, which totally shocked me. Hell, even Rita's mom Ada is being weaved into the latest umbrella story which I wasn't expecting. The best example of this is George Anderson. I LOVED that character and felt for him. Julie was also very tragic as a result of his problems. The whole Anderson family was so tragic because by todays standard they didn't do anything wrong. Maybe they weren't rich and Betty (gasp!) had sex before marriage, but was she really a bad girl? No. They were good people destroyed by society. I also hate how Betty got that tag yet Rodney remained the golden boy.

I look forward to seeing what kind of family he creates, but I wanna know who he plans on keeping. So many he's dumping, but who's sticking around? I am now curious to see if he changes the look and feel of the show. I at least want the McQueen family to stick around. Mercedes, Jacqui, Myra and Michaela are all great characters. Theresa can go and it's a shame this isn't the US because I'd recast John Paul.

Yeah it's hard packing all these soaps in. I feel like i should buy them in case I can't find them, but I never have time to watch. Right now I'm mainly doing Port Charles and Peyton Place. Then I rotate in short-lived soaps and re-watching Melrose Place and Dallas, but VERY slowly. Of course I have my current soaps which I mostly FF or simply delete in the middle if it's not interesting. It's amazing how I make time, but if something is good then I can find the time. Eric, I can relate to those 10 episode Peyton Place marathons! Now I'm more restrained and try not to do more than two a day, but it's hard.

That's so weird. Karen goes to her own home and finds Jagger's live-in girlfriend and of course they had a big argument. It just seems like they're going so far with this story and building sympathy for Karen while destroying Jagger. It would've been so easy to say they divorced off screen and just move on. Or recast Jagger. As a viewer who didn't watch GH it confuses the hell out of me.

IS Debbie a lesbian or is Jasmine also a guys name? And who is Lexi? What month are you watching right now?

This Karen/Jagger story gets worse and worse. I just can't accept a frontburner divorce story which gets so much screentime and the husband NEVER appears? Can someone explain to me how their relationship was on GH? Is he a good guy or the evil bastard he's portrayed as here? In the episode I'm watching now, Karen has gone to visit Jaggar (who works in another city) and discovered that he has a live in girlfriend. And this is after he stood her up the previous week when he was supposed to visit. This whole story trashes his character and I don't think that's fair if he's not there to defend himself. Other than that the show is picking up. Ellen is finally getting involved in the action. The relationship with Mark is slow burning, but you can tell it's coming. I love how frank they are with each other in regards to race and his disability. The mystery with Serena's kidnapper and his unfolding plans is nice. I accidently spoiled myself and see Danielle dies so I'm curious how that happens and how this all plays out.

Yeah Jill St. John gave the show a jolt, then the writer from Peyton Place comes in midseason and I'm sure that improved it somewhat, but I'm not seeing much so far. I don't believe the Shapiro's had much to do with this show beyond the pilot. At their best and worst, Dynasty was never this dull.

I wish I were finished watching Emerald Point. It's such a dull show, but has a few interesting characters. I'm taking it slow, but I'm almost done with Pacific Palisades so I'll soon be able to pick up another show. I can't decent between Models Inc, CPW and Savannah though. Leaning towards Models Inc since i'm watching the Melrose season that coincides with it. PP continues to be a riot. Finola Hughes is a lovely actress and I'm surprised another soap hasn't picked her up in a big role. She should've just taken the Y&R role in hopes something would develop. GH will never use her. Maybe she can go back to AMC. That's the only place I knew her from before. Love David and Anna, especially when Leora died.

I was sad to see in that EP interview that there is no chance Adama nd Aaron could become a couple. Kudos for not going the obvious route, but I wouldn't have minded it.

Okay now that I've dumped Hollyoaks I have more time to watch this! I'm now speed watching January and I'm in the week it's revealed Maisie and Ryan are siblings. The fallout is AMAZING and the build up was as well. I also love how both women are victims in all this, but of course get blamed the most by their kids. Everything on this show is working. The Aaron story is moving along nicely as well. I also like his girlfriends brother. What is his name? He's cute and I do hope he can repair his relationship with Aaron in the end. I thought he reacted well to the kiss, he wants to be Aaron's friend and to help him. Sad how hard Aaron is being wiht him.