Soaplovers

I would prefer if the show focused more on the damage Dani inflicted on both of her daughters as a result of her selfishness and stunted emotional maturity level. Andre is too good for her and he hope he dumps her pathetic ass.. but then we'll be subjected to her crying and acting psycho again. If every a character needed a punch to the fact.. that character would be Dani.

When watching the episodes where the Phillips clan were a new focus, I knew that the actress that played Amber looked familiar. I remember she was in a Canadian series in the late 80s called Diamonds.. which was their answer to Moonlighting since it starred two people formerly married that are detectives after playing detectives on a tv show. It was comedic and I do agree with what a previous poster said that she did give off a Deborah Adair vibe in terms of look and vibe when watching the series. Apparently she did a series of Grapenut commercials in the late 80s and I actually faintly remember it. And apparently still living her best life in Europe according to Facebook.

Is there a reason why it was put on pause? Was it due to ratings? Streaming #s? Holding out for more money? Was there a toxic cast mate that the others wouldn't film with (Like with Jodie on Vancouver or the Salahis on DC)? I heard good things about it, but there has to be a reason behind the scenes that it's on pause. I know Miami was on pause, what reason was there given for pausing that show?

The emotional and physical decline of Robin sounded so sad and the finale of her character is something that probably wouldn't happen on soaps nowadays because it would be too triggering and/or painful. Even though the character had trouble getting over the miscarriage, felt her life had no meaning because she wasn't able to give the child the love that she never really had herself, and felt like a failure as a step mom and as a 2nd wife to Paul. It's interesting that the start of Sara in 1967 seemed to mirror the final months of Robin's stay on the show with Robin feeling like she couldn't measure up to Sara due to her accomplishments while we come to find out over the coming years that Sara had a host of insecurities herself. The one line that catches my eye is the one where Ed is afraid to touch alcohol due to how that ruined his father Bill's life... and it's sad that he didn't listen to his intitial instincts because the bottle did cause him some heartbreak. The one character thread that seemed to play throughout the decades for Ed was him being his own worst enemy and being the primary cause of his own undoing (as we saw in the early 90s with him/Lillian/Maureen).

In regards to Marlena, I was raised on that character by my late mom. When she first arrived on Days in 1976, my mom was a young collegiate with a feminist spirit that instantly took to Marlena. A woman that was confident, competent at her profession, and would give as good as got in her interactions with both male and female scene partners. She also watched when baby DJ had died sudden from SIDS and was one of many viewers caught off guard by that story choice. Sadly with the vast amounts of content and trigger warnings, I doubt that a soap could do something like this even if spoilers weren't a thing. I know in one of Diedre's recent interviews, she did talk about that story and the decision behind doing that story with Diedre tearing up as she talked about the story. I really hope that when the new co-head writer comes back on, he does something with Marlena to show that there is life after one of the loves of your lives passes away.

Some of you are very nose up in the air and picky about content on soap operas. To me, I admire a soap opera that is willing to experiment and try something that is a little different from the norm. I thought The Valentine's day for singles episodes were a good way to get a little insight into each of the male and female characters currently on the show. I liked that the show would do these random one off specials. My favorite were the Cass ones from the 90s 'The Case of the Stolen Heart' & 'Murder on the Honeymoon Express'... the last one included a brief return visit from Cecile after the special episode to try to tempt Cass away from Frankie.

I think Eva and Kat declared a truce, but Ted is still an issue that needs to be dealt with because he's delusional. Looks like Kat is less charitable with SPS/Leslie and I hope that continues.

I disagree that this episode was meant to prop Eva, I think the episode was an opportunity to go inside Kat's head and get a chance to see things from her perspective. Things I liked: The alternate universe Duprees were a lot more fun and interesting to watch.. can we get a little of that in the real world. Eva/Tomas as a couple shows that maybe Kat isn't quite over what had happened between the two of them. Kat realizing that she's letting her bitterness and hatred of Eva affect all aspects of her life was a breakthrough. She isn't going to like nor trust Eva, but she understands where Eva is coming from and perhaps now they'll be cordial with one another going forward. And also let Eva 'hang herself' and then everyone will see that Eva hasn't changed. Eva feeling guilt once she found out Kat wasn't awake yet. Alternate Universe Nicole was pretty fun to watch. Overall.. a good episode and Kat's reactions to what she was seeing was a hoot.

And I show my Gen Z relatives and friends the Norman Lear shows and they roll their eyes at how cringe it is. I have to admit that the shows was a lot of preaching and a lot of yelling so I kind of understand why they found his shows a chore to get through. At least MTM & Rhoda were headlined by funny female performers, though I much prefer the married era on Rhoda over the divorced era. Oddly, they get a kick out of Dallas especially how they always had breakfast, dinner, and after dinner family time in the living room where they argued and bickered over business matters saying it reminded them of their families. Speaking of short-lived primetime soap operas, I will forever be intrigued with NBC and their inability to ever showcase a successful one going all the way back to the 80s, including their 2013 attempt that was promising, but the concept made it sound like it would have made a good mini series instead of a long running primetime soap.

To me, the show still seems obsessed with each week focusing on almost one story instead of doing what soaps used to do and give equal focus to multiple stories. While I enjoyed watching the Kat story this past week, we had almost no other stories going on except for an occasional focus on the Dani/Bill fallout and a bit of focus on Hayley's attempt to still be a con artist. This is a telltale sign that MVJ hasn't quit shaken the stench of working for nepo Baby Bradley Bell at B & B. In regards to breakdown writers, Jamey isn't the worst one on the show... Ron C was the worst breakdown writer with his ADHD esque tendency of 30 second scenes that made you suffer from a slight case of whiplash. Jean P (former head writer of ATWT) was known for her breakdowns, it's a shame she and Lorraine Broderick aren't still active in the daytime scene to teach people how to do a proper breakdown .

Apparently Linda was a character introduced to provide Greg Foster with a story, but she and her husband Larry didn't last very long. I think it was a weird attempt from Bell to tell a story about a couple marrying too young and feeling trapped by that choice years later. Apparently Linda and her husband Larry didn't last too long on the show. Not sure about Beth, perhaps just a shoulder for Linda to cry on maybe?

I think by the time he returned to playing Mitch, he accepted he was always going to be typecast as the villain. His character on The City was his best attempt at breaking from that trope by playing a strong anti-hero. The show was able to pivot with Nick when the planned pairing between him and Syndey didn't seem to work by pairing him with Lorraine. I don't recall if the show carried over the tensions that had developed between Lorraine and Angie on Loving or not. I was also trying to figure out what decent sized name in 1995 could have hidelined a new soap.. but the only names in soaps by then that could have affected ratings in a significant way would have been a Susan Lucci or a Diedre hall type. Having Morgan Fairchild was an interesting choice because she had gotten her start in daytime in the 30 minute format and while she wasn't a huge name.. she had a name that people knew that could drive some eyeballs to the show. I think the biggest problem with the Sydney character wasn't MF, but the fact that the writers kept her character isolated from the majority of the cast. She only had consistent interactions with Tess and Danny with occasional interactions with Angie, Alex, and Jocelyn (who was the wrong character to bring over from Loving since people hated that she was a replacement for Ava).

In the US QAF, I think the problem with Lindsay and Mel was that they were the only lesbian regulars so the show was stuck keeping them together and/or breaking them up for short periods of time. Of the two, the show did seem to do a better job with connecting Lindsay with the rest of the canvas due to her long time friendship/unrequited love for Brian, her being a mentor of sorts for Justin, and her friendly rapport with Emmett, Ted, & Michael. If I recall, Lindsay was bi.. or leaned more bi and the show never really focused/developed that aspect of her character. The only time I thought the show made somewhat of an effort to incorporate Mel into the canvas was during the brief season 1 arc where she and Lindsay broke up and she became friends with Ted with the two hanging out at Bablyon while Emmett was trying to turn straight and met a woman also trying to go straight. And the woman was likable and cute and she met Mel at the Babylon and it looked like maybe the two might have hooked up, or could have hooked up... but then she wasn't seen again. @te. The Peacock version had potential... but it was so focused on checking off every diversity box that it didn't think to develop the characters nor think out long term story arcs for the characters.

I still enjoyed Sex and the City because it is a time capsule of a bygone era.. and people seemed a lot more free and open during that era then the more puritanical 2020s have been. And when I say puritanical, I mean both the right and left are chronic pearl clutchers nowadays. CBS may have misfired in 1995 with their attempt at attracting younger viewers, but at least the network was willing to try something new unlike the modern day version of CBS that is procedural heavy. I remember having a friend that disliked soap operas and made fun of them.. but the three shows they watched with devotion were Downton Abbey, Stranger Things, and Game of Thrones. When they told me this, I started laughing and I told him 'Sweetie, you're watching soap operas lol'

I think the show needs to bite the bullet and close the book on KS and move on. In the real world, she would be canned a long time ago and it's time for the show to move on and find another Maxie.