Soaplovers

I have a feeling the Deanna story might go the same direction as the Phillip Spaulding story on GL when he believed that Beth was still alive. He was thought of as crazy, but as it turned out.. Beth was really alive.

I actually think Deanna is truly struggling with her grief and mental health, and is masking that with this tough exterior. It's realistic and a true portrayal of someone dealing with mental health issues and not wanting to be seen as weak.

Lastly, Ashley Abbott was a force of nature and tough as nails in her early days on YR before it was revealed that it was just a front for her masking her own insecurities and mental health issues.

34 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

I forgot to mention Andrew in my post. I agree with you -- he was really good in those scenes talking about Derek.

I found that much more worthy of Emmy submission than anything Jen Jacob did as Ashley.

Sorry for being so critical, but these grief scenes have just made it clear how mediocre she is as an actor.

That scene when Shanice looked at Ashley in the hospital to let her know Derek died? Shanice carried that scene -- completely.

Shanice, like Derek, is likable self when away from the person they're being paired with. Shame Shanice and Derek weren't given an actual try out as a short term couple since they had a good rapport with one another.

After viewing the episode, I have a feeling he could all be in Deanna's mind. There was a tv movie from the early 00s starring Jenna Elfman where she was accused of stalking someone while you saw her talking to another woman on and off throughout the movie. The very end of the movie revealed that the other woman never existed, it was all a figment of Jenna Elfman's characters mind.

And here is the thing, perhaps Doug is in Deanna's mind... and once that's revealed and dealt with.. Doug ends up being alive.

6 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

I know I'm in the minority, but I liked the fantasy scenes. I really felt they were doing foreshadowing of where their storyline will be going.

You mean the stalled triangle? ;P But seriously...I'm starting to worry that they might actually be stalling Hayley's storyline now. If we have to wait until November Sweeps even I will lose it. There are too many people suspicious of her for me to believe someone won't do anything about it. With Kat on the case and AA recurring, I hope that will be sooner rather than later...with Tomas dead of course as the man who knows too much. Given Liberty's tea about AA's filming schedule, it might be November though. :(

I think the show was unprepared for Andre/Dani taking off and are unsure how to proceed with them. Although if the writers actually valued their male characters, they would explore Andre's backstory and fear of being in pictures as a nice summer/fall story.

The show needs to know that sweeps aren't a thing and they can have climaxes happen at other times of the year.

I looked at a summery of episodes from 120 to 150. I was so surprised at everything going on from Chelsea's kidnapping wrapping up to Eva/Tomas hooking up to Kat finding out to Derek starting to get feeling his legs back to him withholding it to Doug 'dying' to Vanessa and Joey hooking up.

All within 30 episodes and staggered. Now it's as of the show is on blood pressure medicine and this past week was the show running out of its supply so it got heated up.

14 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Yeah, yesterday's episode was easily the weakest of this week's episodes.

I am pro-Ashley for the most part, but I was really so much GIRL, SHUT UP.

And while I hate the plasma ring storyline, I did love the fallout so far. But...how is it Lia doesn't know who the Impaler is?

I'll take this over the pointless Dani and Andre fantasy scenes.

With that said, when is Hayley going to get caught and written off the show? I want to know because the obvious story of Bill/Dani/Andre needs to get started officially.

I remember being a small child and sneak watching Married with Children since my mom told me it was an adult show. Sunday night in 1987/1988 had some fun shows like MWC, Duet, Tracy Ullman Show, etc.

This article is interesting especially the nickname given to Fox back in the day lol

TVLine

I peeked on Twitter and to my surprise, the peeps on there were anti Ashley and were going to miss Derek because he was the only one to get under SPS's skin...and liked the chemistry between him and Eva (he had good friendship chemistry with Shanice and Eva).

15 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Yeah...Venton gives a sitcom dad vibe.

Any idea who the lady is? She almost seems familiar.

She played Dawson's mom on Dawson's Creek. I liked her audition, but she played Maddie as plucky and fiesty without any of the snootiness that Cybill infused into the character.

31 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Considering that Hillary did nothing to boost the Bauer clan--she basically only answered the phone at the nurse's station--I don't even know why they bothered making her a Bauer. Her only significant storyline was when she was Roger's girlfriend, and that was mainly part of the rape storyline. You'd think they would have given her a major story like they did with Hope. Nope, just minor relationships/flirtations that lead to pretty much nothing.

Another positive of Long's stint as head-writer was that she gave Hilary airtime, a love interest (Jim Reardon), and decent focus in the Dreaming Death & the haunted cabin story. Kobe's emotional response to Marcia Clark wanting time off to do pilot season came back to bite her..imho

Odd that women would have viewed LePlat like that considering the character he played on Love of Life, who was the heavy against the end game couple of Ben and Betsy. Still women of the early 80s obviously had a different view of what was sexy vs whatever is considered sexy/hot in the 2020s. Case in point, Fletcher Reade was very popular with women in the 80s (my mom loved Fletcher)... but in the 2020s, people wouldn't be too keen on him. Some would probably describe Fletcher as suffering from Peter Pan syndrome.

Robert Newman isn't sexy, but he's handsome. He actually grew into his looks as he hit his 30s and 40s. Liz Keifer actually said when she watched GL in her teens/early 20s... she had a massive crush on Robert Newman so obviously some women thought he rang their bell in terms of looks.

I'm curious on what the function of co-headwriter is on BTG. I ask because someone had posted an interview with Kay Alden in the Y&R board with Alden stating she and the other writers worked to implement the ideas of Bill Bell. I also know when Nancy Curlee was co headwriter on GL with Pam Long..they did a 50/50 split and would collab on ideas for one anothers 50/50 split.

To me, it seems as though the co-headwriter is responsible for pacing..but that's just a theory. It could explain partly the holding pattern some of us have mentioned. Since we've had the co-headwriter change over the last 6 to 7 months..and some of the stories have stalled.

I also wonder if the Hayley plot line has stalled because that had been run by the previous headwriter?

Lastly, I wonder if MVJ is hindered somewhat by all the hands in the pot? When looking at the first five episodes that were written by her, we saw tensions between Dani/Nicole, saw Vernon infantizing Dani, saw Anita look with a mix of jealousy/concern when Vernon coddled Dani, and the whole Dupree family mantra had a detrimental effect on Dani in week #1 because instead of her going to Paris to clear her head and not be around Bill/Hayley...Vernon had an edict that ALL Duprees had to be at the wedding.

Since then, the family has become all 'Dupree strong ' with little to no conflict. I want that 1st week element back for the Duprees.

I remember Justice from the short lived syndicated night time soap opera Dangerous Women where she played a dual role as the hardened con with a heart of gold named Rita and her evil twin sister Roxy. She was in her late 40s when playing the part in the early 90s, so I find it hard to believe she was hired to play a young Hope in the late 70s (she would have bene mid 30s).

I don't see anything wrong with Dallas and the guy's network. One of the soaps needed to be geared toward the male audience.

And the truth was that the women weren't the main focus of the show.

I mean it has been foreshadowed since the start of the soap that Derek wouldn't be long in the world going all the way back to his injury saving a cat, losing the ability to walk due to exerting himself so much, and now taking a bullet for his buddy. So my question is.....why wasn't Derek a cop and Jacob's partner instead of a fire fighter?

Both Jen and Ernestine did good work with Ernestine's expressions and eyes doing the acting...with Jen alternating between grief, guilt, and pure hatred (toward Lia). We all have to remember the 1:1 exchange between Ashley and Hayley with Ashley practically putting her feet on the neck of Hayley.

Shut up Dani! She has no need to speak, she's just doing her typical main character syndrome posturing lol

Derek...are we surprised?

Hope saying Brooke chooses Ridge over anything and anyone? Has she lived under a rock? Brooke will always choose a man over herself and her daughters (Hope is the result of said choice..and even had a boyfriend sleep with her mom).

Does this soap have any other stories? I only see this Brooke/Ridge situation being focused on the few times I've checked out B & B.

Maybe Bradley should log into Tubi since season 1 of this soap is on there...maybe if he sees how his dad structured episodes, it might rub off on him.

3 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Donnell and Samantha would've been the perfect choice. Him showing up just in time to escort her was one of my favorite moments of yesterday.

And agreed, about the other families. BTG does need another onscreen family, but writing them just as campy clowns with no purpose other than to make the Duprees look good isn't the way to go.

Donnell is too good to be saddled with the brat that is Samantha. Hasn't he suffered enough.

Here is my theory on why the MJ character changed and was degraded.

A lot of time a writer will write to an actor and how they play a character. Layman had a quiet strength and confidence that she infused into the MJ character, and that could have been attributed to her being the eldest daughter that had to take on the motherly role because of 'death' of their mother. I could have bought her MJ possibly being caught up in prostitution, but I think she would have played it differently.

Sally Spencer took over the part of MJ either before, or right, when Depriest took over as headwriter of the show. I watched Spencer's take on MJ in her first episodes where the writing for MJ was decent where MJ still had backbone and toughess... but Spencer had a more passive aura and her voice was a lot less confident and more timid/passive. So the writers eventually adjusted the MJ character to fit with what Spencer bought to the role.

Another example would be the character of Cecile when Cecile #1 left suddenly and was replaced by Nancy F. Cecile # 1 had started out nice and eventually became more crafty and cunning... but had this nice exterior that made it easy for people to assume she was on the up and up. When Nancy F first took over as Cecile, the character was still low key and not a comically character in her first episodes as the character. You also saw a few times where she would try to be nice/warm as she was manipulating someone.. and Nancy F couldn't pull it off. The writers eventually started adjusting how Cecile was written based on what Nancy F was infusing into the character.

It's why I think the show eventually slotted Cecile in 1983 as the third wheel with Peter Love and Cass Winthrop in 1983 because she fit in with them after Jennifer Runyon left the role of Sally and the replacements (the short lived one and Mary Paige Keller) didn't have a good rapport/chemistry with Cass/Peter like Jennifer Runyon did.

Same thing happened with Lorna Devon in the 90s once Alicia Coppola vacated the role. The cold, intense Lorna that wore black and leather eventually morphed into a corporate ice princess once Robin Christopher took over... same as what happened to Amanda when Sandra F vacated the role and was replaced by the more stoic and serious Christine Tucci.

This was a pretty good episode and I loved the contrast between the glitz and glamour of a long held tradition with the darkness of a crime ring going on at the same time. I think the soap would do well to have their stories straddle the line between the glitz of wealth and the seedy underbelly of the community the elite live in.

Ever since the show had Derek being unable to return to the fire department, the show has tried to show his attempt at rebuilding his life and having him die a hero would be a tragic irony... and the most logical end to his often confusing arc.

Unpopular opinion, but I actually thought the Pam departure was in character for Pam. One the surface, Pam was a fiesty individual... but she also had a tendency to bolt when things got too tough.

And it was irony that Pam did the same thing to Christopher that her mother did to her, it just happened during a time where character studies were at an all time low so we didn't get to see it shown on screen.

I think had Patrick Duffy not opted to quit at the end of the 1984 to 1985 season, I think the ratings would have continued to slide at a gradual rate. The show had utilized everything it could from the dynamics already presented, and that killing Bobby off at the end of the season was pretty gutsy and could have truly reset the dynamics of the show and renewed interest in the show.

Problem was that the show inherited new show-runners that tried to make Dallas into a weird Knots Landing/Dynasty hybrid instead of continuing to show how the Ewings coped with the death of Bobby. Jock's death set up some interesting dynamics with Miss Ellie contesting the will, JR unleashing his true nature out in the open now that his daddy was died, and Bobby becoming even more enmeshed into the war.. which caused further issues with his marriage to Pam.

With Bobby died, we could have seen Pam grieving, learning the oil business, and truly becoming an adversary for JR while Sue Ellen's glow up after her hitting rock bottom could have resulted in Sue Ellen possibly getting divorced from JR a 2nd time and getting some shares of Ewing Oil with her possibly being a tie breaker for conflicts between Pam/JR... while Ray/Donna would have sides they would be forced to take as well as Miss Ellie... while this season would have been a good time to write off Jenna after she comes to grips with the fact that she was the fallback girl for Bobby.

The all female aka Femni-Nazi reunion thing was fun, though part of the appeal of the original show were the females in distress and how they either overcame the obstacles or how they gave into the obstacles.

If Melrose Place were to return, it would be all girl boss with little to no dimension.

The blue collar Midwest thing (white culture) is beanie weenie mac & cheese.. with mac & cheese served with Pork & beans and cut up hot dogs. Sometimes side by side on a plate, or mixed. The ultimate struggle meal (and what I was raised with during very lean times).

So I'm always intrigued with how mac & cheese is done in other families.

@Khan Long would have been an interesting choice, but her attempts at helming a primetime series didn't go well in the 90s (Christy & Second Noah). Although she did understand the male psyche and would have been listened to David Jacobs and his suggestions, unlike Cidre.

The high ratings in the first season is probably why Cidre wasn't tossed out. And in regards to the plot twists being a main focus, Cidre claims that with the limited episode order.. there were character scenes that were cut in order to ensure the plots ran effectively. I think a talented show runner could have sprinkled in some character moments, and I use season 14 of Knots landing as an example since that had maybe 19 episodes.. but there were fun character moments that came through (Karen seeing a naked Nick by accident when she came to Claudia's house, Paige dumping coffee onto a client's lap when he assumed she was an assistant, Anne being turned down for plastic surgery with the dr stating she look great and that perhaps she needed to work on her self-esteem, etc).

Letty Lynton, I think the source material (book) went into public domain in 2025.. which is why it's getting a release at long last.

From what I recall, people have said this movie was a turning point for Crawford (i.e. heralding the next chapter/era in her film career) so I'll be interested to see this one.

Guiding Light having a gothic overture made sense for the show, and it probably started that way long before the Dobson's joined the show.

Pre-Dobsons, just based on the few episodes that have come onto the surface, it looked as though the Kit character had a gothic vibe to her as well as reading summaries of Holly's brother Ken and his obsessions/hatred for Ed.

Dobson's had the Wexlers, Spaulding's, & the Roger/Holly arc as their examples of pure gothic.

Marland had Quint/Nola and his house, had Helena/Silas/Mona, plus had the whole Mark/Amanda arc.

Long went full on Tennessee Williams in her first stint as head-writer with Reva/Josh/Billy, Beth's SA story, Tony & Annabelle's cottage story that tied into the Spauldings, Lesley's Ann death scene. High tech Gothic were displayed with Infinity, Reva's attempted suicide with Barbra Streisand's Somewhere playing. At the same time,the Blue Orchid had a very dark and bleak set design that combined 80s glitch with gothic overtures.

Her 2nd stint was less southern gothic, but still gothic altogether. The Adam Malik (Roger) story, Reva's PPD with Josh's nightmares predicting Reva's demise, Alan Michael's kidnapping, the gaslighting of Phillip with the fake Beth story, Philip trying to dig up Beth's grave, & the Sonni story were all examples of Gothic story telling.

The only other Gothic stories I can recall was the Marian (Brent in disguise) story in the mid 90s and the stupid Reva stepping into the portrait (but that seemed more fantasy than gothic).

I think the move away from Gothic in the early 90s (and Curlee didn't seem to write Gothic stories) was the first step toward GL moving away from its identity since the Gothic element was an important element going back to at least the late 60s/early 70s.