Soaplovers

Last nights episode of RHOBH should have been called Enablers R Us... plus, the answer to driving Brandi off the show was revealed by Bandi

http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2015/02/rhobh-sister-act-review/

Oh lol I always accidentally fast forward through that little segment cause it's so quick

Thanks cheap!

I usually love the quick little segment.. usually, its light hearted and comical. RHOBH has had some fun little quick segments this season thus far.

I do.think the show was leaning toward hope and Alexandra teaming up..based on the war of the roses divorce.brewing between.hope and Alan..but according to people posting on here...the actress didn't agree with Hope.being an alcoholic.So.she was out. Not sure if true or.not.

I do like the hope/Justin idea.. and I think quint and Nola could have easily fit in as the 80s continued.. especially if Nola had opted to work at the journal... as a gossip columnist. She loved to snoop..I could see a lot of comic potential with her eavesdropping..plus Fletcher and maeves reactions to her lol

Two women and two men...from.different backgrounds..kind of like the five on fox news

I'm wondering if perhaps.Rosie O can't handle the grind of a talk.show plus have a long term.relationship. what is she on.medication for?

Sign me up!

I can't take anything Faye r says seriously..even if she is speaking the truth.

If I were a female and she was speaking to me like that...I'd tell her to look in a mirror when she says that then walk away.

No.need for Faye R when we have Eileen who had the potential to serve the same function and isn't trashy.

The video for Living For Love is out:

I like the obvious nod to Take a Bow with the video.. and the theme of a bull fighter and bull. In a way, I view the video as part 3 of the story that started with Take a Bow and continued in You'll See... with her finally winning in this video.

Also, like that she isn't naked.

Hell no to Faye Resnick returning.. I want less toxic waste on RHOBH.. not more. Just seeing her for that brief second made my skin crawl.

Faye looks absolutely terrible.

That's cause the toxicity and vileness she displayed for many years had taken a toll on.her looks.

Watched last nights episode... WOW!

The lesson for the day is to verify before taking action.

Another layer was added to Anika tonight with meeting her parents. Even in that brief scene between her and her mother developed Anika while I think Cookie and her sister Tasha had a good rapport as well tonight.

Can't wait for Courtney Love to step up to Cookie!

Lastly, I can't believe Andre and his wife set it up to have Hakeem's friends rob Jamal. Even his wife had hesitation for a second about Jamal being hurt, which added an extra layer to her character.

Sometimes little scenes and actions such as those can develop a character beyond a character trope.

Can't wait for next week.

I wish I could believe they but I don't buy Kim

as being that smart

Addicts are pretty crafty... but with the brain power of Kim, Brandi, and Kyle combined.. it doesn't equal a full brain.. this is true.

At least with Lisa V, she had some ability to be cunning. So far, this season she's been decently crafty.. not falling for Brandi's obvious attempts to bait her into more drama. She's taking a cool, cordial approach.

It does look like Eileen is attempting to be the mediator between Kim and Kyle with no Brandi around. That is a smart thing to do..

The problem is that Brandi is an alcoholic who.had the best of intentions but is an enabler....more so then Kyle ever was.

I think Kim is doing this on purpose.. and both Brandi and Kyle are too stupid to see that.

Kim Richards is the ultimate puppetmaster... Nene and Kenya have nothing on her.

http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2015/02/rhobh-drama-queens-review/

It undercut the close relationship Augusta and Julia always had. Augusta did a lot of questionable things, but the one thing that was always evident was that she cared and loved her sister... so for her to fall in love with the guy that raped her sister was just wrong. Perhaps, if she had fallen for him before he'd raped Julia.. then shown the conflict she had over having feelings for him.. then it might have worked.. might.. being the key word

Odd question but what had happened to Courtney in the end? I was watching a Feb 1994 ep of Y&R in which there was an ATWT promo where Courtney was kidnapped by Hans. I don't remember that at all.

Courtney and Hans had a show-down of sorts.. and there was an explosion and Courtney was trapped under the rubble. I think Andy was taking pictures of the site and I don't recall if he knew it was Courtney under the rubble or not. I do remember once Courtney found out, she exploded.. stating he cared more about getting the story/perfect photo as opposed to human life.. or something like that. She left him and moved out of the country.

He then sought comfort from unbalanced Janice.. who was an interesting character that I was surprised lasted almost two years before being carted off to prison (Kim tackling Janice to prevent her from escaping was pretty awesome)

I think the idea was that she was self-sacrificing and if she couldn't have Kelly she wanted someone good and pure like Morgan to have him. Which is fine, but not when taken to this extreme. To me that would have been interesting to explore - seeing her get overinvested and controlling to make up for not being Kelly's girlfriend/wife.

Katie served the self-sacrificing role much better imho. Didn't she always step aside anytime a guy had interest in someone other then herself? I don't think a character like Katie would exist nowadays on a soap.

Don't get the love for.nene or Kenya... to be honest.

I enjoyed when they were friends, same with nene and Kim.

RHOA this season has been too much shade and not enough sunlight to.balance it out.

I was rewatching some of the 25th Anniversary episodes on Youtube. It was fun to see all the history, flashbacks, and also seeds being planted for future story. I always wondered how much of the 4 year stint Donna Swarjeski was her vision vs. Harding Lemay's?

The one thing I noticed was Olivia Matthews being introduced and her eyeing Sam right off the bat while her aunt Pat warned her about making trouble.. and Olivia stating what had happened in the past wasn't her fault.. then Pat saying 'it never is your fault'. To me, it looked like the set-up for Olivia/Sam/Amanda triangle that played out into 1992. It was just like Rachel/Steve/Alice except that the roles were reversed... Rachel's daughter Amanda was the nice one.. while Alice's niece Olivia was the trouble maker. An interesting triangle that was marred by Sam being recast a couple of times.

I also thought it a shame Olivia was never mentioned again after she left in 1992.. she had a couple of important ties still left on the show up through 1999 including her half-sister Josie.. and also the Cory's due to her daughter being Mac's great-grand daughter. Another example of the show not mining its history for story. Though I liked that Olivia wasn't all bad, she had a great friendship with Jenna.. plus close working ties with Dean and Jake as well.

Nowadays, the 'bad' character never seems to have friends or an active life outside of snagging a man/woman.

Sad if true.

While I do agree with what Faye R said, the problem is that Faye is just as toxic and as trashy as Brandi is. People also disliked Faye going all the way back to the OJ Simpson trial.

I'd rather Taylor come back over Faye R anyday.

Actually I liked MES better as Frannie, even though JM was pretty good as Frannie as well.

Reading up on the 1981 monthly summaries, I was surprised to see Vanessa and Ed being so chummy throughout most of 1981 with Rita getting jealous but still wanting to divorce him. I just didnt see Vanessa and Ed as being friendly with one another.. do you think she was inserted in there with the abrupt departure of Holly?

Do you think the Colby's failed cause it was too much like Dynasty? Spinoffs are difficult to make succeed in any genre...but shouldn't there be elements that set the spinoff apart from the parent show?

Knots landing and Dallas were similar yet different...same with Rhoda and Mary Tyler Moore.

I was surfing the internet and found an old online article/post on Guiding Light from 2009. I got on my soapbox and wrote a response to one post, re: Pam Long and the Bauer family. I know my opinion isn't a popular one, but, I'd like to post my response here, as well. I apologize in advance for the length.

1) Scott Bryce stated in an issue of Soap Opera Digest, back in the 1980s, that his father, Ed Bryce, had wanted to retire. Yes, maybe they could have re-casted the part of Bill Bauer. But, then, Peter Simon actually got a lot of flack for replacing Mark Hulswit and Simon's replacement in 1984 also got flack. 2) According to the Gail Kobe interview for GL's 50th anniversary in Soap Opera Digest, Peter Simon chose to leave. The show couldn't do anything about that. 3) From the same interview, Kobe lumped Don Stewart in with the group (actress who played Hillary Bauer and the actress who played Hope) that had storyline disagreements. However, Don Stewart later stated in a Soap Opera Digest article that he was getting burned out worked on a daytime soap and wanted to leave. That it was his choice. Before he left, the show was clearly playing with the idea of an Alexandra/Mike/Lillian triangle. He was put in multiple scenes with Alexandra. Also, his character, as a lawyer, probably would have been the one to defend Lujack, if Stewart had stayed. 4) Charita was ill. There was nothing that the show could do about that. What they could and did do was treat her better than the TIIC who were running the show in the 1990s treated Michael Zaslow. They told her that she could work as much as she wanted to. 5) Hillary and Hope's exit were definitely over storyline disagreements. The actress who played Hillary had writing aspirations. The actress who played Hope didn't want Hope to be an alcoholic. 6) Anyone could have brought the character of Hope back. But no one, especially not Curlee and Demorest, brought her back. They also did nothing to expand the Bauer family, but, instead, expanded the Cooper family. It was ultimately the Cooper family that supplanted the Bauer family in the 90s and 00s. I think Curlee and Demorest were top tier soap opera writers, but, they didn't do the Bauers much good other than writing the few Bauers that were on the show during their stint as head-writers, well. Expanding the Cooper family helped bring about the demise of the Bauers. I have read that David K. was a fan of Curlee and Demorest's work with the Coopers. Not to mention, Maureen being killed off by Curlee and Demorest due to a focus group finding her boring. Maybe there was nothing that Curlee and Demorest could have done, that would have made Maureen more interesting to that focus group, but, maybe they could have written better stories featuring her. With Another World, the character of Frankie Frame was another case of "death by focus group". It is unlikely that the Swajeski-era Frankie would have been deemed "boring". 7) During the Pam Long-era the Bauers were the "fun" core family. Frequently, the actors talent at humor was utilized and showcased. She also put her significant other, Jay Hammer, in scenes with the Bauers and the Reardons during his first two years on the show. Fletcher was in love with Hillary in the beginning of his run. He later became best buds with Maureen. He was involved with Claire while she was pregnant with Michelle. The show even played a little with the idea of a Maureen/Ed/Fletcher triangle during the late 80s. 8) Pam Long created a Bauer, Michelle. 9) She developed/co-developed two of the younger generation of the Bauer family (Rick and A-M) into big fan favorites. As long as I live, I will never understand why her long-term contribution to the Bauer family, via her development of Rick and A-M, isn't even acknowledged by her critics. 10) Pam Long didn't create the character of Johnny Bauer. He was introduced in 1986, after she had left the show. But, she did write the Johnny Bauer/Chelsea Reardon romance. 11) So, while it was a mistake to write off the characters of Hillary and Hope and they should have wrote Bert's death into the show sooner, I have never agreed with the Bauer purists (whose fandom apparently doesn't include Rick and A-M) feelings on Pam Long. It was pretty standard for TIIC at various shows to pressure head-writers to create new characters who could be played by cheaper new actors vs. the more expensive veteran actors. Pam Long, in terms of her GL run, just happened to be a more successful character creator/co-creator/developer/co-developer than most head-writers. Curlee and Demorest created a bunch of new characters during their run. 12) I loved Doug Marland's era of ATWT. However, even he had his faults. He wrote the character of Roger Thorpe into a corner. Long's human and well-developed characters mantra from GL helped make the character viable again. When Marland redeemed the characters of Alan on GL and Craig on ATWT he softened them too much. Craig, on ATWT, went from town scoundrel to the guy who wouldn't even tell a white lie --- per a soap opera magazines criticism of/commentary on Craig's reformation. Marland created the very large Snyder clan on ATWT. Who ended up supplanting the Hughes family as the core family. Even during the Marland era, when Chris Hughes died on the show, the Snyder family farm was heavily featured in those episodes. The viewers didn't get to see Tom and Margo find out about Chris's death. But, pretty much everything going on at the Snyder farm, we got to see. Actor Brian Bloom was not happy with the way his character was written out. He was getting a lot of fan mail, but, was barely ever used in storylines. He was basically phased out.

I do agree that Marland wasn't the end all, be all of head-writers. He had his strengths especially with writing a community and being able to be a great breakdown writer and pacing. However, he always wanted to introduce a lower income/working class family onto his show while also featuring a teen romance as well at the same time.

I think Marland's creation of the Reardon's was better then the Snyders at least at intergrating the family into the fabric of the show.

Plus, I thought Pam Long wrote the Reardon's just as good as Marland did. I do agree she didn't quite get Nola/Quint.. but in her defense, they were kind of losing their uniqueness before she'd shown up to be head-writer. Though I think she wrote Nola way better then she did Quint. Plus, she gave Tony more layers as well.

If what you said about the actress not agreeing with Hope being an alcoholic is true.. then I can see why she was fired. Hope being an alcoholic totally made sense given the toxic state of her marriage to Alan and having a young child causing her stress. Plus, her uncle and grandfather were alcoholics.. and addiction is genetic as well as environmental. I think Pam Long had a great handle on Hope's character, and I forsaw having a War of the Roses story brewing between Alan/Hope.. and I could have easily seen Alexandra being an ally against Hope especially if Alan was threatening to keep Alan Michael from her.

You also mentioned the actress playing Hilary having writing aspirations?? Did the actress want to write on the show, or was she trying to dictate story? It looked like the show flirted with Fletcher/Hilary.. as well as hint at a Tony/Annabelle/Jim/Hilary quadangle before Hilary was killed off. Killing Hillary kind of doomed Jim's character and he was written off a few short months later (or did the actor choose to leave). It's a shame the show killed Hillary because she would have been useful in 1988/1989 when Roger/Holly came back into the picture due to her ties to them.

After reading my review/blog on this past weeks of BH, more thoughts of have into my mind.

So far, I think season 5 of RHOBH has been a stellar season.. ranked way higher then season 3 and 4 for me thus far. It's too early to determine if ranks up there with season 1 yet, but it certainly is fighting season 2 for the second best season of this franchise for me thus far.

Ever since Game Night in season 2, Kyle and Brandi have had a lot of tension in their interactions with one another. I think Kyle held off on attacking Brandi due to the backlash she received during Game Night. However, there have been times that Brandi/Kyle have thrown a little shade at one another since season 2.

For example..

Season 2 reunion: When brandi basically sent a text calling kyle a C u next tuesday and Kyle got the text. And they were both calling each other mean spice, etc.

Season 3: Kyle saying she missed Brandi.. both of her faces I still think Kyle was the one to fill Faye R. in on Brandi and Faye R was basically the puppet guided by the puppet master called Kyle. During the end of season 3, Kyle tried to say that Brandi and Faye had had issues for a long time, and Brandi said she had never really spoken to Faye much before the dinner show-down and Kyle had this look that indicated she was lying. Also, during the Palm Springs trip.. brandi whispered to Kim that not everyone wanted to see her succeed in being sober but didn't reveal whom she was speaking of till the...

Season 3 reunion: When Brandi came out and said that she believed Kyle didn't want Kim to stay sober, which made Kyle come after her a bit at the reunion.

Season 4: When the girls were in Palm Springs.. while Brandi spent most of the time being mean to Joyce... there was one scene when Brandi got drunk.. and she started to insult and come after Kyle. Kyle sternly asked her if she had done anything to deserve this treatment since Game Night.. Brandi said no, then backed off and went after Joyce again.

I think the end of season 4 where Kyle and Brandi were hanging out was more due to their issues with Lisa V. then any sort of start of friendship between the two girls... an unholy alliance if you will.

And even the few times both of them have hung out was to talk about Lisa V.

So when you lay out all these instances, I'm just amazed it took so long for Kyle and Brandi to start fighting. As a result of things festering for a couple of years, it explains why both appear to be so heated with one another.

On the other hand, Kim spent two plus years being upset with Brandi.. and Brandi basically had to grovel and do pet tricks before Kim would eventually embrace with her. So I think on one hand, Brandi is being so protective of Kim because of the two plus years it took for Kim to forgive her... and also to stick to Kyle.. and for camera time