DRW50

I was just watching an episode from when Sue Osman was pregnant and not far from giving birth, and Ali was fussing over her, and Dot said something like, "That's how Charlie was when I was carrying my Nick. Or he would have been, if he'd been there."

Seneca does get what he deserves but I just hate how he and Rae were both trashed as characters for this twit. Even then I might be able to tolerate her more if every scene where she is there or where she is mentioned has to revolve around how she was abandoned and boo hoo. I think Seneca in some sick way did look on her as someone he could be a father figure too, but he didn't understand how poisonous she was, he just thought he was saving her from Rae or whatever.

I know some don't like this type of ending for Minty but this is all he has ever wanted. I feel more sorry for Sam, even though I shouldn't...

They might have thought most viewers who remembered Sharon would remember she was on the tape. I do wish that Ian had gone into a bit more details -- I think he mentioned everyone in the band but Sharon. Kirkwood said he was a big Eastenders fan and if he is then I guess you can see that most in him doing his own "teenage characters form a band" story on Hollyoaks a few years ago, with the Dirty Diegos. The people who ran Eastenders at this time I think went on to say the story was just awful but I think it's kind of a fun adventure for teens. Back then on Eastenders, and in life, teenagers were still allowed to have fun and slowly go into the real world, aside from Michelle of course.

I knew she wanted Helen out. I didn't realize they had actually gotten Helen out for 13 weeks or that she played hard to get. Good for her though. I guess she knew how to get to Irna. They could write a book on Irna's issues with actors. She seemed to wreak a lot of havoc at early AW...

Oh. That makes sense. I wonder what they'd be doing with her if they could show her more.

I wonder what plans they would have had for Sharon if she had returned. I also wonder what plans they had for Peggy if Barbara hadn't fallen ill in mid-2003. I think that it was something which would have always haunted Stacey but I think one of the best aspects of Eastenders is the women who have problems in life but still fight back and are allowed to have fun. Kat, for instance. Santer never did that with Stacey. She was miserable, and even when she was "happy", it was always a facade for misery and self-loathing. She went for a year without any real storyline, just the Callum mess, she was cut off from relationships with her family -- they just made her this plowhorse for anguish and shocking plot twists, as they did with Ronnie. I think that's one of the reasons we rarely see Stacey now, even with her taking a break to film a Being Human episode, because there's very little you can do with Stacey. She's just secrets and self-loathing and she's one of the most boxed in characters I've ever seen on a soap.

Geez. Kirk Geiger, the Eisenhower years. I'm just glad she didn't get to fire Helen Wagner. Who replaced him?

I think the problem with Stacey wasn't the relationship with Bradley (Bianca still had a lot of fire even when she was with Ricky for ages) as much as it was the show refusing to ever give her stories beyond Stacey self-destructing or sleeping around or being miserable. They also never let go of the will they/won't they with Bradley and Stacey. While this did apparently work with viewers, I think it did bad damage to Stacey and pretty much killed Bradley's character. From what I've seen of 2005 the show is watchable, entertaining, thanks to the big characters. They were gone by 2006, for the most part. I was never a big fan of Santer so I am not a fair judge but I think 2007 had some good moments, unfortunately in the long run the moments didn't add up to a good program. Probably the pacing was better then, and they had a very solid story with plenty of good small moments and a decent conclusion in Stella's abuse of Ben. The aftermath was not good (because they decided to turn Stella's suicide into a "did Phil or didn't he" and they also ignored or downplayed most of Phil's bad parenting) but the story was good. I think that the Steven return story could have been good but the show seemed afraid to deal with any of what they brought out with Steven. And then in 2008 everything with Stacey/Bradley/Max/Tanya/Jack was pure hell and character-devastating. The main difference in 2005 and 2008/a lot of 2007 is the latter did not have that one strong story. 2005 did. I think opinions of that era might also depend on Sean. I thought he was a racist jerk played by a not that great actor, but others loved him. Sharon's exit -- kind of sad that she's almost an afterthought to the ongoing mob war. I know she did the whole thing about just taking a break but they really didn't have any idea she wasn't returning? She didn't even get Julia's Theme. She's so broken and bitter, it's tough to watch, as is Phil suffocating her. I did like the last look at the room she shared with Dennis.

This is interesting. From the August 76 SOD.

Thanks for reading and replying! It's the nice words that make me know people are interesting. I didn't know that about Billie Lou Watt's husband. I wonder why he left ATWT. It's so touching that they sang to Mary Stuart and gave her the bracelet. I know she had her battles with the brass but there was clearly such love for her.

Love of Life turns 25. Part of this also includes Search for Tomorrow. S. O. D. Publishing Inc.

From the 12/76 SOD. S. O. D. Publishing Inc. SFT turns 25. Part of this also includes Love of Life's 25th.

I figured that.

Sid Owen is cute. I think he looks a bit better with some age and without the longer hair Ricky had for much of his first run. The scenes with Max and Vanessa were very well-written. I'm glad we're seeing them try to understand each other and how resistant Max is to talking about his life. I think they have a natural chemistry together and there is none of that endless, smirky superiority and self-righteousness that "Tan" exudes. I just cannot watch most of the scenes with Heather and Minty. He constantly makes faces like the donkey in Shrek and he's a delusional ass. I thought Bradley was buried? Weren't Rachel and Dot at his mausoleum? I can't remember. I wish we'd seen a bit more of Dot reacting to this but I did like her scene with Fatboy. I liked the scenes where Ian had the drum kit, and all those silly little Ian moments like his saying, "OK" when Grace pretended she didn't want to go in his car, and his saying did they really need to pay Lucy and Peter for their grades, and his teasing Jane about whether she'd ever been a student. The scene where Jane helped him put the tape together was good too. And we got to hear Sharon's voice again...perhaps not in the circumstances we might have wanted. They seem to be trying to make her into the new Yolande. She was saying a lot of Yolande type stuff about laziness and judgment which I don't remember her saying before.

From the 10/25/94 Soap Opera Digest. K-III Magazine Co 10 Reasons To Watch Loving: 1. Nada Rowland In recent months, Nada Rowand's overburdened Kate has taken up residence on the LOVING back-burner. Too bad - there isn't a performer on daytime who could have been as heartbreakingly touching as Rowand was recently, when Kate's eyes welled with tears and pride and she told Ava that her clothes, though shabby, were nothing to be ashamed of. 2. The Theme Song Performed by Jeffrey Osborne, the LOVING theme is a tuneful shuffle of a song - one that's guaranteed to lodge itself in your brain for weeks at a time. You'll be humming it - particularly the catchy L-O-V-I-N-G chorus - everywhere you go. 3. The Wacky Plots Never mind freezing the world. Never mind burying people alive. If unpredictable storylines are what you want, LOVING's got 'em - in spades. A deranged Dante kept Curtis in a cage and called him his "kitty." A would-be assassin chased Ava and Jeremy through Universal Studios until Ava was rescued by King Kong. Ava got shot in the head and visited heaven. Need we say more? 4. Aldens Adrift The return of Cabot and Isabelle rocked Corinth to its very foundations. Clay and Deborah are now destitute, Ava owns Burnell's and Cooper - that's right, Cooper is the new CEO of Alden Enterprises. What that means is familiar characters are navigating uncharted waters, and it's great not knowing who'll be the first to get lost at sea.. 5. Cooper and Steffi's Romance Whether they're in prison, in the diner, or at Belden Pond, sparks fly whenever Cooper and Steffi start bickering. But their scenes can be bittersweet, too: Michael Weatherly's great at showing the frustration of a would-be Romeo who's convinced he'll never impress Juliet, while Amelia Heinle's tough exterior can't mask the sadness of a young woman whose heart has been trampled on time and again. 6. It's Only a Half-Hour At just 30 minutes, you can fit LOVING in during lunch, between errands and appointments, before or after the gym. But don't think that just because it's short, it's disposable. The LOVING storylines often move at the speed of light, and virtually every episode has at least one major revelation or plot twist. 7. The Small Cast With less than two dozen regular cast members on the canvas, you don't have to wait forever for your favorite storylines to roll around. Plus, the small cast minimizes the time it takes for newcomers to familiarize themselves with all of Corinth's citizens. 8. Randolph Mantooth As Ava's beleaguered husband, Alex, Mantooth has great chemistry with every member of the cast. His scenes with arch-rival Clay are mesmerizing; Clay and Alex are like two pit bulls barking and clawing at each other. But Alex's tender side comes out in Matooth's scenes with Augusta Dabney (Isabelle) and Lisa Peluso (Ava). WIth these women, Alex becomes a man of humor, compassion and infinite patience. 9. The Humor LOVING is quickly developing a reputation for its quirky sense of humor. With scenes like Cooper streaking through a very crowded bank, Cabot dressing up like a pineapple and Lenox the butler searching Deborah's bags before kicking her out of the mansion, the show's a hoot. Now that Clay and Deborah have taken over the diner, it's sure to be funnier than ever. 10. Trisha's Alive Trucker's true love, Trisha, was a classic daytime heroine, and the LOVING head honchos were smart not to kill her off. Fans know she's alive and well and busy being an amnesiac in Italy. As soon as Noelle Beck's ready to return to daytime, we're sure the writers will put Trisha on the next plane to Corinth.

Nice to see the random male nudity is back. Was that Dave? If they're going to get rid of him at least we got to see his assets before he goes.

I think Alfie probably got more airtime than he deserved but other than that most of those who hogged the show probably helped save it from a ratings freefall, especially in 2005. Look at what happened after most of them were gone in 2006. I agree that most of the regimes did a good job with the Kat/Zoe relationship. That's the type of thing which would have been easy to just overlook or forget about after the shock wears off. I'm glad that after Anthony they never fought over any other men. I never liked that type of storyline.

He also ran into Jake and Danny Moon -- Danny was the one who stabbed him on Johnny's orders, right? That's a great clip. There were so many classic characters in the mix at that time. Wisely the show used them and pointless characters were kept in the background. Zoe was such a pathetic, selfish character, through and through. Never liked her. Nigel Harmon brought such a quiet confidence to Dennis. He wore that as well as a tight pair of jeans. That's the type of thing I've missed on EE in recent years. He was just so magnetic, you couldn't take your eyes off him. I love that knickers scene with Dennis and Kat. I don't like that hair color on Kat but I do like her fighting spirit. Sometimes I forget just how aggressive Charlie was too -- he's slowed down a lot in recent years. Pauline, and Pauline and her dog, which she probably got because Wendy loved dogs in real life. Pauline became Wendy more and more. I always liked the bond between Sharon and Pauline. It's a real credit to Wendy and Letitia Dean, and to John Yorke and then Louise Berridge, for establishing that bond so believably, because from what I've heard and seen, they didn't have all that much to do with each other in Sharon's first run on the show. I think this was the only time Sharon and Kat interacted. I keep forgetting Billy and Pat lived together at this time (platonically). How random. Given that they both go from home to home and have such loose family ties you'd think they would spend more time together than they do. I really like this version of Pat who knows the score and opens the door in that silk dressing gown. It's nice that recently she has a bit more energy again and isn't as bogged down.

Finally watched Monday's episode. Thought the reveal with Gabby, Cindy, and Tony was flat. The kids have trouble saying lines and yet they were given so much dialogue. Nothing seemed to happen in the scenes. I'm not even sure why they had Cindy find out if the most that will come out of it is Amber Sharpe trying to get Cindy and Tony back together. The stuff with the Costellos was better, but Seth is a terrible actor. He should be written out ASAP, I don't see the point of the character anyway, nor of Riley. It's incredibly tacky that he would take up for a woman he barely knows over his betrayed mother just because he wants to have sex with her. The actor who plays Riley seems to have no subtlety. I think it was an interesting writing choice to have Heidi force herself to forgive Mitzeee and Carl, and seems to be setting up the likelihood that they will sleep together again or Mitzeee will make it look like they will. Paul Opacac didn't do the greatest job in the reveal scenes, I must say. I kept thinking that if you put a blonde wig on him he looks like Heidi. Even though the girl who plays Jem isn't a great actress I did buy her anger and her bitter attempts to warn Heidi away from Carl -- she has some presence. I hope Heidi doesn't keep wearing that awful purple lip gloss. My favorite scenes in the episode were Myra's drunkenness. I know that was just supposed to be filler but Nicole Barber Lane was hilarious. As for Michaela's last scenes, they weren't quite as fast as I was expecting, but still obviously tacked on at the last minute. I couldn't help noticing that when Michaela hugged Myra, her smile faded a bit. I wonder if they were saying she's not entirely happy to be leaving and might return, or if the actress just did that and the show kept it in because they didn't want to retake anything since they wanted her out the door. Michaela was one of the best comic relief characters a soap has ever had. The crush on Mike Barnes. The gay jokes at John Paul. The fighting with the Deans after the McDean reveal. Yet she could also break your heart, like when she believed her father's lies and she let him into the McQueen home (he cleaned them out while she went to get some food), or when everyone believed she was on heroin. I think Bryan Kirkwood just "got" this character and she wasn't the same after he left as producer. It's a shame that she left with a black mark in professional reputation because that might make another show less likely to hire her. I hope everything works out for her. I will miss Michaela. Amy and Michaela weren't there for Sasha either. A lot of the goodbyes have been very rushed and suggest Marquess has little interest in the show's history.

That should be interesting. That whole story with their mother seemed to never be fully developed. I know a lot of people still seem confused over who he killed.

I do agree that he probably had more hopes for his love life. I wonder if anything was changed between the filming and the airdate. Apparently the spoilers for Syed involved him being knocked back from getting work or begging for a job or something. That didn't come across in this episode. I think there was also supposed to be more hesitancy about taking a job from Christian (although I do think that might end badly). I will never say they're this fantastic couple but I do appreciate some of the moments I never thought I'd see, and frankly I'm surprised even got through on a British soap, like Syed sitting between Christian's legs. That's the type of natural little moment which is a nice surprise. I wonder what Bianca's scenes were in this episode, as she was in the credits I heard. Probably just something with Ricky.

From October 76 SOD. RH turns 1.

So Jamie Rose was annoying AND had a stupid hairstyle. I don't understand why a woman would want to look like a poodle. Falcon Crest wasn't a great show but they were genius at casting some of their key roles. Susan Sullivan was the perfect type for the long-suffering heroine you wouldn't get sick of, Ana Alicia was gorgeous, sexy, and crazy, and sympathetic, Lorenzo Lamas and Billy Moses were cute, David Selby was debonair and good fun, and Jane Wyman was, after she got into her groove, addictive. The woman who played Emma was good too. If anyone wants to see an Ana Alicia interview and photos I posted one in the Ryan's Hope thread yesterday.