Soaplovers

Greg Vaughn is dreamy.. and he and Daphnee have a lot more chemistry than she does with that creepy guy Carlton.

The show hasn't really invested in Chelsea as a character since day 1 unless it had something to do with Dani. A lot of her story is told instead of seen including this insta relationship with Madison.

I get having more diversity, but why not have more Asian representation beyond just Caroline?

I recall when the whole Brandon being Amanda's father came out that no one knew where Jennifer nor Morgan was.. and that Amanda had lost contact with them years ago. Considering the way things stood when Jennifer/Morgan both left in 1983, I can imagine that Amanda never was able to bridge the gap between the three of them. In a way having Brandon be Amanda's true father would have made more sense since Brandon had given Amanda to Lucille to raise and never really told Alan about what had happened. And the lady in the veil did show up to Brandon's funeral so it was possible that maybe Brandon was the real father of Amanda. Had Jennifer been bought back for even a short stint, or if a better actress had been cast as Amanda.. it could have worked as a story. I recall a rumor that Lauren K (Kate Roberts Days ) had been a possible contender for a recast Amanda in between her stints on B &B and Days... and it would have worked better age wise than Toby had as Amanda.

Dani is emotionally immature, insecure, and values surface over substance. She's also displayed an addictive personality which we've seen with her in regards to alcohol, sex, and Bill. The way she shaded Shanice made me really dislike her because she'll never been a quarter of the person that Shanice is. Shanice is strong minded, empathetic, and has people skills. Nicole is trying out a different persona now that she's newly divorced.. hopefully she'll regain her senses once Carleton is revealed for the creep that he probably is. Unrelated, but can the writers give Vernon back his balls? It's hella cringe how he makes his whole life about Anita when she doesn't do the same for him, imho. He worked much better when she was off the canvas as a character.

I do recall the Alan/Hope getting married thing started in December 1979 at the end of the Dobson regime, but I'm not sure if they would have gone through it had they remained... or if they would have taken a darker turn had they remained in charge into 1980. Elizabeth/Mike were the logical end game pre 1980, but Marland had his favorites and he had to recognize that Mike/Jennifer didn't share any chemistry right? He kept trying to make Jennifer happen.. and her character didn't spark on the show even when he spun her off into a different orbit with Mark/Amanda in 1982. The interim writers at least recognized that Jennifer/Morgan weren't working and wrote them off in the spring of 1983 once Marland was long gone. The part I'm still unclear about is the whole Ben/Evie story since the early 1982 episodes seemed to indicate that Marland was intending to reunite them, but by Christmas 1982.. Evie is celebrating Christmas at the Marler's and Ben is no longer on the show.. though they remarried. Did they marry and than break up right away? She's hanging out around until June 1983 before she vanishes even though her presence would have been needed during the Phillip paternity exposure that happened in August 1983. Considering she was the only female presence in his life by 1983... her presence should have been a requirement.

In regards to Kat vs Eva... I'm on both of their sides and also not on their sides.. and that's what makes their feud so interesting to me. Usually a feud involves an antagonist and an innocent victim... but here, both are have positive and not so positive traits. Kat is 100 % justified in not wanting to have a relationship with Eva. While her instincts about Eva turned out to be valid, her initial view of Eva was a classist view (just like her aunt Dani). And while I think Eva sleeping with Tomas was a really bad move, the fact that she's instantly forgiven Tomas knocks her down a few notches in my book. It takes two to cheat, and he did lie to Eva that he/Kat were broken up or else Eva wouldn't have gone there with him. Eva is trying to make amends in her own way over her mistakes, but sometimes a leopard doesn't change their spots and/or change takes time. It also doesn't help that Ted keeps encouraging her to reach out to Kat, but she's an adult and she should know that Kat hates her and all she's doing is poking the bear. One of my favorite re-sets has shifted the feud from being about Tomas to being about Ted, their father. I do think it's interesting that Nicole is still kind of on Eva's side and I wish the show would explore that a bit. And no, I do not want a baby switch and/or it to come out that Eva is really Nicole's child. A skilled writing team can make the dynamics work without going the standard switched at birth route. Tomas/Kat haven't had any stakes in their coupling since Eva was taken out of their orbit... but I have a feeling his being given a promotion by Bill to buy his silence will possibly play a part down the road between the two. Eva/Izaiah also haven't had any stakes in their coupling, but I have a feeling if he witnesses another fight between Kat/Eva.. he'll see Eva isn't quite the victim she makes herself out to be and he'll start to recall the warnings he got about her from Kat, Jacob, and Naomi. Time will tell.

I don't blame her for staying in New York and doing occasional visits. Especially after the last time she had a longer stint and was convinced to move back to California and than got axed. I'm glad the show is bringing her back when she's available and we don't have to endure bad temp recasts like Strasser and Dano

I feel for anyone that feels they have no other option than to end their life, but I also found her to be very selfish and superficial. Still... one of the best soap opera esque books I've ever read. I might have to resume reading classics and/or books written before the 2010s because here in the states, the quality of books has declined. I prefer female and male written books from the 2000s and earlier because story came before message back in the day. That being said, I can't help but always look forward to Riley Sager's newest release (the one for 2026 sounds promising) and I do like Emily Henry books though her last book wasn't as good as her previous books (i.e. Book Lovers, People you meet on Vacation, etc).

Bill Spencer Sr on B & B was basically a Alan Spaulding type so Jim Storm could have worked as an Alan Spaulding type. Ed Bauer in the 1970s and thereafter never seemed like he should have been played by someone with leading man looks. The reason Mart, and to a lesser extent Peter, worked as Ed was because they didn't have leading man looks and played up certain parts of Ed's personality that weren't perfect. The Mid 80s Ed (Chuck Tyler AMC) was all wrong for the part and seemed too much of a generic good guy instead of the more tortured Ed Bauer of the other Ed's. When watching Peter Simon's Ed (the one I grew up with), I saw that his Ed was written a bit more balanced and with a bit of humor when Long was in charge. He had good chemistry with both Ellen Dolan and Ellen Parker as Maureen...and it helped make Ed and Mo a tentpole couple.. and I also admit he had decent chemistry with Hilard Edson as Eve as well. His chemistry with MG as Holly was more of a friendship chemistry than romantic. When Long and Curlee were head-writing, Ed/Mo were end game with even Holly telling Ed that he belonged to Mo and even telling Mo the same thing. The scenes I've seen of Mart's Ed show that he had good chemistry with Lenore's Rita and MG's Holly. I know that Ed and Vanessa had a brief relationship post-Rita and pre-Maureen.. but was that when Mart was still playing Ed or was that when Peter Simon was playing Ed? @DRW50 In regards to Peggy, I think had Fran Myers opted not to leave GL when she did.. that the whole Roger story would have been different since Peggy represented the good/light that Roger was striving to be like and be with. Once she had had enough and left him (due to the actress leaving the show), any hope of redemption in Roger was lost and it lead to the toxic/stormy marriage with Holly and the affair he had with a young Hilary Bauer and the flirtation he had with Diane. When she came back in 1979, I'm sure the show had her at the nurses station and trying to figure out where to place her next.. but the writer change happened so she got lost in the shuffle.

I have a feeling that the Ashley/Derek/Grayson thing will tie into whatever Jacob is going undercover for. And I wonder if the twist will be that Grayson is the one we should keep our eye on and not Derek.

@DeeVee The actress that played Peggy was on a Locher Room interview and she was asked if her leaving the show was her choice, or the show's choice. She said the first time she left in 1977 was her choice because she and her hubby moved out west.. but when things didn't work out, she was bought back full time in 1979 and given next to nothing to do before she was let go the second time. I think had Fran M opted to stay beyond 1977, the whole Roger story would have gone in a totally different direction because the Roger/Peggy connection and marriage seemed to still have a lot more mileage left in it that probably would have been explored in 1978 especially with the whole Ed/Rita/Holly situation ongoing. When she came back in 1979, it was an odd time on the show where new stories had developed since she had left in late 1977 (The Phillip story, The Amanda story, etc) that there wasn't a place to fit her in. Had the Dobson's stayed beyond December 1979.. maybe they would have figured out where to place her.. but who knows.

Rewatching the Friday episode, some interesting little things stuck out to me. Ashley/Derek/Grayson: The show made a good decision nixing the Andre/Ashley thing, but it hasn't resolved the main issue with this situation... how isolated it still is from the rest of the show. Just make Ashley Joey's daughter and that would connect her even more to the main plotline. Mona/Jan: I like that the Have Not's have upgraded from breakfast at Orphey Jeans to Uptown (I think that's the name of it). Kial: I'm wondering if we were led to believe he was being bought on for Nicole.. and the date with Nicole with just a red herring. What if the show is intending him to be for Vanessa long term? Izaiah: Unpopular opinion, but I think his job at the university is more fulfilling than something superficial like modeling. Eva/SPS: Interesting parallels that the writers were trying to make between the two women. Eva stating her giving up on a relationship with Tomas has resulted in her meeting a new guy and encouraging her mother to give up on Ted and focus on Marcel. Interesting that SPS seems to think the Tomas and Ted situations are different when they seem to be similar.

SPS/Leslie must be crazy, because she's getting in Shanice's face when Shanice has seem her in the past posing as a nurse in disguise. She be tempting fate stepping up to Shanice like that.

Sounds like she was being quiet fired and so she decided to quit instead of waiting to be fired...to leave on her own terms. In her defense, she isn't off base especially since the character of Jennifer seemed to replace Elizabeth in Mike's orbit while Jackie and Hope seemed to be handling the Phillip parenting. So I guess Elizabeth spent a lot of 1980 in a trance trying to find herself so she could be a good parent to Phillip... and than decides on a whim to leave Phillip with Justin/Jackie without even telling Phillip that they were his real parents.

It's called Ladies of London and a man is in the cast? Um.... well it's Bravo and intelligence and depth wasn't something Bravo has been known to have for at least twenty years or so

Hayley was in a fine form at the end of the episode. About time she start stepping up LOL If Vanessa wants to make it possible for men/women to have affairs.. she needs to deal with the fallback. Can't pretend to be a girl boss and than not deal with the risk of getting pushback. Can we all agree that Bill is Dani's addiction? If it isn't alcohol or sex with Andre... it's Bill that's on her mind.

Linda Dano as Elizabeth Spaulding? The same Elizabeth Spaulding that was almost in a zombie like trance during her time on the show? Yeah, no. Unpopular opinion, but Dano was kind of over-rated. Her only good character was Felicia and the character had to be changed because she couldn't play Felicia in the way she was intended to be. @DeeVee I'm kind of glad that Marland didn't have the opportunity to write Roger long term.. he probably would have done the whole therapy BS like he did with Josh on ATWT.. and have Holly & Rita having to face their rapist on a daily basis. I don't recall how he wrote Rita vs how the Dobson's wrote her... but I think the Dobson's did a good job with writing someone that was insecure at her core and made mistakes out of that insecurity and having to live with the consequences with her actions. It's why Evie was a good counterpart for her to interact with.. someone that loved her and accepted her. Marland didn't seem to write Rita in that same way. .but I could be mistaken.

I didn't read too much into Vanessa and Kial except that it was a chemistry test. I truly think Shanice/Ted were a chemistry test as well especially once the current actor took over playing the role and he didn't have chemistry with Daphnee so whatever plans the show had for Nicole/Ted/SPS had to be changed since he had chemistry with neither actress unlike the individual playing him beforehand. Naomi is going to keep this news to herself as long as possible and Jacob is going to keep his work to himself.. and this is going to lead to more miscommunications between the two. If they truly wanted to push the envelope, the show should have Naomi discover she's pregnant and because she fears passing the gene on and not wanting to be a parent.. she has an abortion without telling Jacob. If ATWT could do a story like in the early 90s with Kirk/Ellie, certainly that can be adapted and done in 2026. Ted and Kat are both right and both wrong. Ted's right that he shouldn't turn his back on his newly discovered daughter because she shouldn't be blamed for having a very misguided mother and Kat's right that she shouldn't be expected to warmly welcome a new sister.. especially one that set out to hurt her family and also slept with his boyfriend. It's best that they agree to disagree. Carleton kind of gives me Pick me vibes... but not sure if that is due to the writing or the actor's take on the role.

The thing about modern day soaps are that it's difficult for them to create and develop a true blue couple like in the old days. I'm not sure if viewers are different nowadays vs in the past.. or if modern day writers are unsure of how to create and nurture a new couple with decent level stakes. Perhaps the five remaining soap operas and their writing team should go purchase a few modern day romance novels by writers like Emily Henry or Jasmine Guillory to see how to create a couple and pace their story with stakes added. Just to get the idea of how to pace and foster a new couple.

In defense of Long, she wasn't the one to introduce Johnny nor his annoying kid sister.. those characters were created during her time away from the show. She at least knew to write off the kid sister and change Frank D's character into Frank Cooper and replace the annoying kid sister with Harley. And she did try to liven Johnny up by pairing him with Roxie, or were they paired before she came back as head-writer? I don't think the cancer did him, nor that relationship any favors. @DeeVee In defense of Marland and the Phillip story.. when he took over, he probably had to focus on the Roger story right away most likely because Michael Z was leaving (I think I read somewhere Marland was bummed because he really wanted to write Roger). And by the time he probably would have been ready to start focusing back on the Phillip story, Cindy Pickett was pretty much ready to leave the show so he probably thought he needed to find a new Jackie and get the audience to accept her first so he pushed back that story and decided to build on the Amanda story first. @DRW50 In regards to Barbara, I think having her run the restaurant that her son Andy bought for her was an effective way of keeping her in the mix and giving her purpose outside of worrying about her kids... but once MG quit and the character of Andy was written in a corner, her character became expendable. A question I had was that in reading write-ups of Vanessa in 1980, it said that she remembered Andy because of how he up and left Trish Lewis so am I to believe that she knew of Billy Lewis long before 1983? Another thing I never understood was once Jackie officially was killed off in mid 1982.. why the show didn't think to have Sara and Justin interact with one another since the two had a past with one another and Jackie had sabotaged both of their attempts at being together in the past. It certainly would have given Justin something more to do in the first half of 1983 other than trying to date Helena with Evie accidentally coming between them due to her own lonliness after Ben had left town.

I'm intrigued by Anthony Lucente, not because of their previous writing credits.. but their previous career as a casting director. They were a casting director on the RHO Dallas in the first two seasons, and other reality shows in addition to the Hulu version of AMC as a writer.

I had a feeling either Joey or Marcel would have something on SPS/Leslie.. I'm going to assume it's that, but now that Joey has blackmailed her.. the gloves are off. Vanessa was acting more like Vanessa of the Guza era today. Chelsea... I had heard a rumor that the bible had mentioned her character was going to be into the snow and other party favors... but it was smart of the show to hold off on that until having two traumatic situations (kidnapping and the gene scare) happened. Her manic energy today is one way that PTSD can manifest and it looks as though she's having an episode of that today. Nicole taking her time in regards to romance/men is so Nicole. Her facial expressions at finding out about Vanessa's new business were priceless. SPS/Leslie has Hayley's # and if Hayley were smart... she'd want her as an ally instead of as an enemy. Greg Vaughn was on... and he's still dreamy :) I wonder how Naomi will navigate things going forward.

I think Sara was done for as a character once she was saddled with Adam and none of the actors playing TJ stayed on long term. Had TJ been properly written for, I think she might have survived past Christmas 1982. I think Barbara's days were numbered the moment that MG quit as Holly since it looked like Marland was slowly rebuilding the Norris family with Andy coming back to town in mid 1980 with Barbara and Holly a bit at odds over his intentions. I understood why Andy was chosen instead of Ken since he was a clean slate.. but the character became too one note and irredeemable too quickly by mid 1981 and was written out. With that said, when looking at 1979/1980 episodes... Barbara seemed almost not needed especially with Bert there.

Honestly, I always thought Mike should have been the main Bauer family line that carried on... and it seemed as though that was the original intent with him and Leslie until Lynne Adams opted to leave the role. Based on what I've seen of Mike with other contenders, I always assumed that Mike and Elizabeth would have probably made a go of it as a married couple had the Dobson's remained... but given how emotionally detached she was and in her own world.. I think the marriage would have been doomed. Which of Mike's love interests would have served as his partner as tentpole character after Leslie? I'm curious what others think. Mart's Ed was going through the ringer with Holly and Rita, but it did seem as though Marland was slanting it where Ed and Holly were going to be end game until MG quit in late 1980. He had chemistry with both Rita and Holly that was romantic... while I thought Simon's had good chemistry with Dolan and Parker and had great friendship chemistry with Holly (though I have to admit I did enjoy him and Eve as a couple though). Also, the hunky Ed (Chuck Tyler of AMC fame) wasn't Ed at all... and I have a feeling that if Simon had remained as Ed that the whole Ed/Claire thing wouldn't have happened.