Chris B

I'll miss Dave, Zak and Newt and Lauren who finally won me over. I'm especially devastated about Zak. He was so cute. I wonder if this means Zak's sister Hayley is next? I also wonder what will happen to the McQueen's. I don't want ANY of them touched. Sad about Kris too, but he's been announced to leave for a year.

I definitely see the Knots Landing mixed with Melrose mixed with crack. James Stanley and his wife created it and wrote for KL during the LML years. What is really killing me is the ridiculous music and odd cast. It's not written as ridiculous as the final product made it. It's a very fun show.

I've watched the first five episodes (which includes a two hour pilot) for Emerald Point and the show is definitely getting better. Jill St. John joined the cast in the fourth episode. Unfortunately, the opening credits seem to be missing from every episode except the pilot (I checked all the other DVDs) so I don't know if she was added. I also won't be able to see if the title card on the Wikipedia page is real or fanmade. Hopefully I missed it and one of the later episodes has the opening credits. Anyway, Jill St. John is very strange. I always thought she was a weird choice for Bond Girl and I see why they picked her as the mega bitch, but it's not a total success. She looks old and tired and maybe would've been a better choice for the heroine on this show. Maud Adams style of acting is all wrong for her good girl role. It's unconvincing and it's like they're trying to tone down her sex appeal which isn't possible. I'm currently watching the first episode of Pacific Palisades and it's as trashy as it gets. It's like Melrose Place on acid, which is bad because Melrose is already on acid. Just ridiculous in terms of the sexiness and the cast is such an odd group. A couple look straight out of porn and Michelle Stafford as a heroine? Surprisingly effective. Finola Hughes is the one person who really stands out in a weird way. I can't wait to see Joan Collins as her mom. Right now I'm still sitting on CPW, Savannah and Models Inc until I finish either PP or NAS. I've also slowed down on my Dallas/Melrose Place viewings, but only because I need to buy more of those series.

I'm in the 300's. I think they go to color in the mid 200's. It was like a week after Mia Farrow left. The show lost nothing going to color, it looks pretty great. Maybe better.

Thanks for that interview. It's a bit worrying when it comes to those later episodes. Although a good number of cast members remained, I wonder how much they'll have to do, particularly Norman and Rita. So many new characters, two families, are brought on. Characters like Connie, Elliot and Martin Peyton were so important and they should've found another way to save the budget. Connie and Elliot are just delightful once Alison is written off. They've finally been brought back to the frontburner and are interesting and relevant. And Dorthy Malone is looking great. I dread their final day and also the final day of Leigh Taylor Young. She's a terrible actress today, but was AMAZING before the botox.

The Dobsons got one more episode with Story By credit. For later episodes with Jill St. John, Rita Lakin is credited as Story Consultant and Creative Consultant towards the end. She created Flamingo Road and did Peyton Place (plus the 1985 reunion), The Doctors and Dynasty. I also noticed that the show looked much better in the glimpses of the later episodes I saw. Susan Dey had her hair situation sorted and the clothes looked better.

Oh I understand now. I'm not used to seeing the Story and Teleplay credit in these old soaps. I'm going to guess in this case their script was re-written since the show isn't that great. I'm sure there will be lots of kinks they attempt to work out. There is something dead about this show. Like Marissa on AMC. Still some nice elements that could come together. I still wonder if Maud Adams will ever do anything. She looks like the perfect soap bitch, but she had one scene in the two hour pilot and halfway into the second episode she's MIA. Sela Ward is doing all the heavy lifting in the bitch department.

I think this is new information, forgive me if it's not. Okay well during the pilot I didn't pay attention to the writing credits, but for the second episode I did. This is Emerald Point NAS btw. Well of course the EPs are The Shapiros and Michael Filerman. Filerman was probably more of the showrunner. Then it says Story By: Bridget and Jerome Dobson Teleplay By: Charles and Patricia Dizenzo. I wonder what kind of role the Dobons played on this show. Were they more like the headwriters? I never knew they had anything to do with any primetime series.

Last I saw Elliot was dating some strange girl who works with him and Zak. It's a shame Laila left because she developed into quite an interesting character. Shame that Anita and Ravi are the ones left.

Oh yes the first season of Dynasty is so smart and daring. Blake character was such a bastard. I loved every second of it.

I was going to skip Silver Shadows and go to Letting Go, but you guys have inspired me to check it out! I just finished the two hour pilot of Emerald Point and it was soap by the numbers with the kitchen sink thrown in. Not Michael Filerman's best work. The male characters are weak, the sets and lighting leave something to be desired. The clothes look dated by this time periods standards. And with Sela Ward's bitch character they made her too bad too soon so why should I care about her? Sela is doing a great job though. Overall it's probably going to be watchable, but I see why it didn't work. I'm curious to see how it improves. I also want to see more of Maud Adams who did nothing in the pilot.

In general, I really love watching failed shows. It's interesting to see what went wrong, especially when things go horribly wrong. I also like when I occasionally find a show here and there that is actually good. Like The Monroes. Savannah came with an Aaron Spelling intro and a three minute preview which I watched and it doesn't look too thrilling. I'm sure it'll be fine, but Robin Lively, Shannon Sturges and Jamie Lunar all look old and tired. The location is the best thing so far. Pacific Palisades looks like Melrose/90210, but no thoughts on that yet. I've just popped in the Emerald Point pilot and it does seem awfully dated when you compare it to Dallas, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest and Dynasty at the exact same time. What is up with Susan Dey's entire look? I'm really intrigued now. I'm not seeing how they can squeeze a soap out of this. I'll keep you informed.

The next episode I have to watch from season three is Silver Shadows. I must say I'm finding it a bit hard getting through it. There are too many self-contained episodes and not all of them are strong. Especially Three Sisters in the haunted house. It's also unbelievable how useless Kenny and Ginger are, although her relationship with Joe and rivalry with Ciji improved things for her. Oh yes, that is a great film and I definitely see the inspiration. Especially for Richard, Laura, Gary and Val.

Today my DVDs of Pacific Palisades, Savannah and Emerald Point NAS just arrived. Now I'm just waiting for CPW and Model's Inc. I'll let you know what I think of them once I start watching.

The Monroes was GREAT and deserved to live longer. I haven't seen many of the short-lived ones so it's hard to say. Falcon Crest is pure popcorn TV, but enjoyable. Dynasty is EXCELLENT for three seasons, pure trash the rest. Not even good trash. The Colbys was a better executed clone of Dynasty with a stronger lead. Knots Landing is god-like. Dallas is much better than I recalled. Their season long plotting was exquisite and the show was unique. Melrose Place is a very funny show thats better than I remembered.

I'm starting to see why The Culliton's were replaced so soon. BTW, Eric I think you wanted to know more specifically when they left. I saw in one of those articles you posted (I think it was you) that they were canned after three months. I'm towards the end of July and I have episodes through October, so I'll let you know when Lynn Latham arrives. But these early days are full of potential that's going nowhere. Two major problems 1. You have Debbi Morgan playing this great new bitchy character and give her nothing to do? Just ridiculous. She needs to be interacting with Lucy, Kevin, etc. who are her age and could relate to her. 1. Why the hell is there a frontburner story with the end of Karen and Jaggar's marriage if he's not even on the show? They should've began the show with those two divorced. I'm so sick of hearing where Jaggar is and how busy he is to appear on screen. I also think it's disrespectful to fans of the couple to break them up in such a harsh way. I've never seen Jaggar, but he seems like an ass based on this. I'm also not crazy about Wayne Northrop's character, but then again I never have liked him. Overall the show is well produced, I just want it to start moving. They've developed interesting characters and potential couplings, now get with it. I hope they give Matt a story soon.

She was such a good looking girl and more talented than the annoying lame ass Hannah, Sarah and Nancy. I was so sad when he wrote her off. Right now I'm trying to get through Xmas week and hope that Hannah hurries and leaves. God. This whole show is unwatchable. I want to skip all these episodes, but it's not like I have anything to look forward to. Emmerdale, on the other hand, is such a page turner I wish I could watch every episode in one sitting just so I can see what happens. I want to see into the future with that show! I can't say the same for any of my soaps, UK or US. And watching completely spoiler free is just shocking.

I do wonder what hand David Jacobs had in his soaps. On Knots and Dallas, I know he wrote scripts and in interviews has credited himself with major story points like killing off Ciji Dunne. Maybe he was like the lead headwriter or more of an executive producer with a hands on approach with the writing? I know he was heavily involved in Knots. When John Romano destroyed the show (not totally his fault), it was Jacobs who (after creating a midseason cliffhanger) shut down production, brought in Ann Marcus and got the show back on track. It was a remarkable turnaround that you don't often see midseason on a primetime series.

I actually don't remember her soap stints on Paper Dolls or Falcon Crest, lol. I guess that says it all.

Whenever my Emerald Point NAS set arrives I'll upload clips to YouTube so you guys cam see it. I've read that the show had strong ratings for the premiere, but they dropped as the weeks went on. I guess it makes sense now that I see it was pre-empted three times. That would kill almost any new show. The problem I had was that there were so many characters and so many of them were dull. I especially hated Mimi Rogers and Nancy Olson on this show. Nicolette Sheridan, Terry Ferrell, Dack Rambo and Brenda Vaccaro (some names may be messed up) rocked that show. That is harsh, but I did feel something was off in the one episode of Flamingo Road I've seen. I need to buy this show it really interests me. Plus it has two seasons which is better than most short lived primetime soaps. I do have one general comment...so much of this thread seems devoted to the short-lived primetime soaps. As a result, I've already purchased Emerald Point NAS, Pacific Palisades and Savannah. I'll soon be ordering Titans, Models Inc, CPW, The Street and Malibu Road 2000. Now my question...can we discuss the longer running ones too? I could just run wild when it comes to Dallas and Knots Landing! And how I feel Dynasty was brilliant, modern cable quality for three seasons and complete trash the others.

There was a collector years ago with Berrengers, but he went off line before I could get it. I did manage to ind Emerald Point NAS, another rarity, but I've been waiting ages for that to arrive. Both shows sound interesting. LML was also a writer on Berrengers and after that show I believe she went to Knots. Similar to their deal at CBS, Lynn and Bernie were allowed to pick from Falcon Crest, Dallas and Knots Landing. I think they chose Knots because they would've had more creative power. I'd have to dig that interview up to find out.

I was curious about the writers of The Monroes and I found out a little bit. Chip Johannessen and David Alan Johnson were both producers and writers for the series. I'm guessing one or both were the creator. Nancy Miller was a writer. Chip wrote for 90210 from 92-94, then produced the 94-95 season. He's a producer at 24 this season and has been writing episodes for the show since 2001. Also a producer on Dark Angel and Moonlight. David Alan wrote and produced robbish like The Pretender and Sue Thomas FB Eye. Nancy Miller is the EP of Saving Grace and Any Day Now for both series entire runs. She also was EP of CSI: Miami for one season. Their credits weren't as soapy as I expected. Wonder what let them all to their primetime soap detour.

If you look at a lot of failed shows, being on the wrong network or bad timing or scheduling can definitely hurt a show. Look at Dark Shadows, it started off hot, but kept being pre-empted and moved around due to the Gulf War so it lost momentum and was canceled. Pasadena on FOX was Desperate Housewives, but darker, better acted and better written. I think that's a show that came a couple years too soon and was on the wrong network. Speaking of, has anyone mentioned Pasadena in this thread?? It was pretty brilliant. As much as I hate Dana Delany on DH, she killed it on this show. Balthazar Getty was also much better here than on Brothers and Sisters. Another great, amazingly brilliant short lived soap is The Monroes. I don't know who wrote or produced it or what network it was on, but it was brilliant. William Devane and Susan Sullivan, two of TVs greats, just killed it as the matriarch and patriarch of this uber rich political family. I don't know how or why this show failed or how it was recieved. All I know it that it was brilliant. Hate that it didn't even last 13 episodes.

That's a good choice if you wanted to axe an entire family, but I am surprised they'd get rid of Josh. He's young and still had so much to give. I thought he was working well in the halls. It'll be interesting to see what happens there. Since those characters don't have many family connections they could all go. I'd predict now that the Valentine's are all gone. Amy is gone and so is Ste. I wonder if Tony and Dom will survive. I don't think Loretta will.

I missed this article on the previous page! Very interesting, thanks for posting Paul Raven. I love that the producer slapped Lana Turner back. I bet she deserved it. Now I want to see this show even more. Sounds very lavish and expensive and since they want to downplay the soapy aspects it's probably as camp as a row of tents. Interesting that the producer came from Peyton Place. Explains why there was another primetime soap yet it didn't become a trend. Since I'm assuming this one is an hour I wonder if it has more in common with the 80s primetime soaps.