Chris B

I’m pretty deep into 1992 and this is just see tv. I’m stunned when you look at how dull 1991 was. Sheila has been a seamless addition and I don’t think this would be written nearly this well on a soap today. They’re acknowledging her history but presenting her in a way that it makes sense these people accept her. Today, I feel they’d be too tempted to reveal her crazy and it wouldn’t work. Her chemistry with Eric is scorching and I also love her relationships with Brooke and Kristin. Speakinf of Kristin, I expected her to return for Taylor and Ridge’s wedding and had no idea this was an extended visit. The way they weaved into the Spectra storyline with Clarke worked really well and I’m surprised she didn’t stick around. I also love that they’ve developed her relationship with Felicia and used those two characters to usher in the Bikini Bar (a brilliant location). Zach and Sly are great additions and Felicia finally feels like a character worth watching. Karen’s intro was pretty successful and I’m enjoying the triangle with her, Thorne and Macy. I also like Bill being back in the mix and having a family member to interact with. His romance with Darla was also a genius move. The Brooke/Ridge/Taylor/Stephanie/Eric mess has a lot of interesting layers and is riveting tv as well. The most shocking thing is that there is SO much going on and all of these stories are well balanced in terms of importance. That is so anti-modern B&B. It’s truly shocking how good and complex the show it and it makes me sad to think about how it is now. Just looking at this year, there are so many ideas they could pluck to make the modern show better. More storylines and the Bikini bar for the younger characters would be key things they could use.

She has said this a few times, but I don't understand. I enjoyed her on the show and I feel like if anything, they should've continued her character after the stalker storyline. She would've been an excellent Abby replacement.

I loved the layout of Karen’s house but I think the Avery’s had a pool so I’d probably take that. The worst hoise was easily Kenny and Ginger’s. Overall though, I’d love to live at Sumner Ranch.

JR I found to be someone who took pleasure in victimizing other people. With Cliff, his biggest victim was himself. He let his anger at the Ewing’s completely destroy his life.

@ErrolDo you know about how much longer we have to wait for this announcement?

I can’t recall the exact writer but it may have been Michelle Val Jean. When the strike was first announced, a fan asked if there was someone addressing the needs of soap writers which are typically overlooked. She said that yes, there is someone at the top who is meeting with soap writers and addressing their concerns in the negotiations.

The episodes are mis-labeled, so I didn't realized, but it looks like I'm at the beginning of March 1992. I found 1991 to be a dull yer, but the show is really kicking into gear. I love Faith/Karen's introduction and Dorothy Lyman is great as her mother. The Spectra/Forrester feud over Brooke's Belief storyline is excellent! The way it's torn Macy and Throne apart is fantastic story. I don't understand why they're also teasing a dud romance between Macy and Jake. The Belief story is more than enough and much more interesting. I'm really excited to be enjoying the show so much and also knowing Sheila is right around the corner. I feel like I've been waiting forever for her arrive and never thought I'd get to that point. It's been so lovely seeing the show evolve over time.

I wonder if the soaps will get picketed once they start filming scab materials. We have multiple soap writers out protesting and I know one mentioned there is someone who is addressing specific soap needs, so this strike is actually personal to them. I wonder how that would go down. We didn't have social media like we do today during the last strike. Could be a big mess for them.

I honestly don't credit Jacobs with the Williams family. I think that was all Lynn Marie Latham and Bernie Lechowick. Even looking at Latham's subsequent work on PC and Y&R (especially Y&R), she seemed to really value diversity so I imagine she was the driving force behind that family. I also think that had she been given free reign she would've developed Pat more. There were so many hints of a future for Pat like her becoming a doctor again and the flirtation with Gary, but it didn't go anywhere. My guess is that they likely got negative feedback at the thought of Gary being paired with Pat.

Everything she said was true and it was obvious they killed her so they wouldn't have to deal with developing her character. It was easier to keep Frank around because they could give him the role of Mack's friend and give him throwaway love interests. I do think it's a shame though because the family had such potential. Pat also had great chemistry with Val and Karen. I feel like she would've served the show well to be elevated to the contract cast and maybe kill of Frank instead.

One that I'm curious about is Carolee Campbell on The Doctors. I don't believe she acted again, but she went from dayplayer to one of the main stars of the show. I'm sure if she wanted to stay she could have.

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I loved the Jean Hackney plot. I hate that we had to lose Ben, but I found it a suspenseful storyline and I liked how much of the canvas it involved. It was different, but I thought it fit. I also loved how they played Ben's exit into the even better Jill vs Val storyline. BTW, a bit of trivia is that they *did* try to bring Doug Sheehan back at some point, but were unable to locate him. I wonder how his return would've tied into the show and if it would've possibly replaced the Danny Waleska story which I feel is one of the worst they ever did.

These are all strong, dynamic young actresses who fit well on their shows. Stacy Galina was dull as dishwater. I also think it was a mistake to kill off Mary Frances and bring her back as Kate.

Cynthia Cidre was a disaster. As many have said, she wanted to write a crime procedural and didn’t understand how to write a continuing storyline. There were moments and scenes that were good, but that’s it. Like Val’s two scene return, but none of the character based stories they introduced were developed. I was only in the third season when they’d squandered all of the audience that they were forced to write it as a soap and it did improve, but those first two seasons were painful.

Y&R and B&B have FAST Pluto channels and GH just launched one through ABC. While I’m sad to see The Doctors streaming clearly on its last legs, I still say it’s a big achievement and something to be proud of. To take a long forgotten soap and syndicate and stream it for so many years is a win no matter how you look at it. 1967-1979 available in 2023 in unreal so kudos to them. I just wish a bigger platform had gotten it. The biggest shame to me is that P&G streamed their soaps too early. The AOL thing and AW on Hulu were all great ideas, but streaming hadn’t picked up yet. Not to mention the Prospect Park soaps being top five on Hulu, but the damn company ran out of money. It feels so unlucky to be a soap fan, but I’ll keep hoping someone gets it right. I’m really pulling for Neighbors on Amazon FreeVee. If that works who knows? Maybe they’ll pursue a reboot of a US soap. If P&G does still have their library, I’m sure Amazon would be the ones to convince them to stream it.

So the app has been updated and it is now free with refunds provided to subscribers. I downloaded the new app and it’s good but if they’re no longer making money off it by charging a subscription, I can’t see any incentive for them to upload the remaining episodes which is disappointing. I’m going to try and speed through 78-79 just in case.

I think it would’ve just been a mystery story but their chemistry was so strong that I wouldn’t be surprised if they went there with it. I think it would’ve just been a mystery story but their chemistry was so strong that I wouldn’t be surprised if they went there with it.

Devante could do anything and could bring even the most boring actors to life (Melinda Culea comes to mind). I still hate we never got to see the rest of the Val/Sumner storyline that started in season 13. That was a pairing I never knew I needed, but their chemistry was insane and I wish we could’ve seen that play out. It would’ve really enhanced the final season.

I do think they should’ve expanded The Doctors to an hour instead of taking Another World to 90 minutes. The show had good ratings and was an Emmy darling. I feel the hour format would’ve allowed them to flesh out the show better. They did one 90 minute episode and two hour long episodes and expanded the cast as if they were going to expand the show, but of course it never happened.

A network doesn’t file for bankruptcy because of one show so I’m unsure how you’re putting that on The Doctors when the bulk of their programming isn’t soap related.

I completely disagree with that. The Doctors is a super old show cancelled in 1982 and yet they’ve still managed to air it successfully for years and have an app going into its third year. Hardly what I’d call a failed experiment. Their biggest issue isn’t what they’ve done so far, but that there isn’t more content available. I know they tried with P&G and had they been able to add any of their shows, it would’ve driven more people to subscribe. I still think the price is good for what we have now, but when I’m done with this show I won’t have a need for it.

I tuned in for the Neil tribute and while it was nice to see Yolanda and Malcolm, it fell flat. I get that these are really tributes to Kristoff and not Neil, but from a story perspective, it makes no sense not to mention Dru. Devon and Lily lost *two* parents. Devon was only accepted into the family because of Dru. Sharon was there and was Dru’s best friend. It just is odd they don’t mention her. Even having Daniel there upset about Phyllis would’ve been the perfect opportunity to mention that Phyllis cost Lily her mom. That could play into Daniel’s emotions, having Lily use her moms death to comfort Daniel with him know Phyllis is alive.

I wonder if these recent app changes means they’re gearing up to release the rest of the episodes. BTW, I’ve been re-reading the Daytime Royalty thread for this show and I finally arrived to the time when they launched the app. A employee from Retro TV was asking questions and answering them there for quite a while. One thing mentioned was that they planned to include the pre-68 episodes as an app exclusive. Of course Covid happened and they never got around to it, but I hope whenever they add the final years that they do go back and upload those episodes as well.

This is heartbreaking and stunning. I don’t know what to say. I feel for that cast and crew and all the alums who loved her. Not to mention the cast and crew of The Bay where she was an integral part of the show. The cast and crew of General Hospital has had to face so much loss in a short amount of time. I don’t know if I can recall a time like this. Kristina Wagner is someone in particular who is on my mind. I hope they are doing okay and that the studio gives them the support they need to grieve. The amount of loss that they keep facing cannot be easy. Heartbreaking.

My app is still working on my phone and I’ve been watching it today. I haven’t checked my tv though. That is odd though because I noticed they just updated the app to make it easier to use. I paid for the yearly subscription but I only have two years left so I was trying to hurry through them so I can cancel it until they add the remaining episodes.