Soaplovers

Lorie had a lot of characters she interacted with still on the canvas.... Victor, Nikki, Ashley, Jill.... so I think she could have had a frosty interaction with Nikki.. and an in character interaction with Victor (that 2002 story was so out of character for Lorie..imho). Leslie taught Nikki/Jill piano.. and I could have seen her being the mediator between Lorie and either Jill/Nikki.... while having a warmer interaction with the Abbots (since she had dated an old family friend Robert Laurence and interacted in their circles for the last months of her stint). And we could have had an update on Chris/Peggy... and also if Lorie/Leslie were still close or just together cause of sisterly obligation.

Very well-balanced episode... multiple stories going on at the same time... and I believe Stephanie name dropped Spectra in this episode LOL I wish Brad Bell could look back at this era to see how Donna and Brooke were written... Brooke wanting the wealth and security so she basically groveled at Stephanie's feet.. while Donna didn't care about approval.. she was doing what was right (i.e. going to find her dad and bring him home vs. Brooke who didn't want anyone to know their father was alive).

I'm sure if her and Victor didn't click... Bill Bell might have tried to mix her with other characters. 1981 was the year where Nikki was being mixed with other characters after her marriage to Greg went south to see where she fit... I know she got the stalker story that was meant for Casey (I think Edward was stalking Casey, but when the actress left.. the show than had Edward refocus his obsession to Nikki)..and was interacting with Paul/Andy quite a bit..plus was working as a stripper so she was around Cash/Kay... so I had wondered if the Victor seeing Nikki at the Bayou was meant to be an experiment/test.. and when the two interacted the first time.. Bill bell said to himself 'paydirt'.. and went with them when the 'My Fair Lady' story showed the two had chemistry. I would have loved to have seen 1980-1982 when Kay/Jill weren't interacting as much because I thought the show over-did the feud between the two too much in later years. I also think that Kay/Jill didn't interact all that much between 1982 to 1984 (I think there was some interaction.. but it was mostly once in awhile and not all the time).. until Kay got the pics of Jack/Jill hooking up and than started to send fragments to John.

Was there a lot of interaction between Jill and Kay between 1980 to 1982? I know there was a scene in 1982 where kay and Jill rehashed the past...Deborah Adair was so warm and sweet that Kay looked as evil as ever..so I could see interactions between the two being kept to a minimum during that period of time.

I'd rather Nene leave.. the show did fine without her annoying self for two season... Kenya vs Kim Fields everyone? Wasn't Kandi vs Phaedra/Porsha during Nene's two season vacation from the show? The show did much better without Nene on the show.. so I say give her the boot.

in regards to the Prientiss brothers.. didn't the show test Casey and Lucas before Casey left the show? I'm not sure if the actress opted to leave or not... but I thought I read somewhere that the stalker story was originally meant for Casey.. but when she left the show.. Nikki ended up getting stalked.. and that once the story was over.. she returned to stripping at the Bayou.. and her return performance (where she felt confident and free after weeks after being stalked and feeling vunerable) caught Victor's eye.. and the rest.. as they say.. was history. I do think the show was testing characters/stories out in 1980-1982.. and whatever worked was what the show went with... hence the random Victor/Nikki encounter. I thought it was interesting the show tested/paired Jill with lots of different men between 1980-1982.. Steve Williams, Jack, John, Andy, etc before settling back with John/Jill again in 1982. I do recall that Leslie dated Robert Laurence.. an old friend of John Abbott... so I always wondered if Leslie/Robert attended Jill/John's wedding since they mailed in 1982 before Leslie left... and wonder if Leslie had a scene with her former step mom or not. Lastly, I would have kept Leslie on and tried to pair her with Lauren's dad... Imagine Leslie having to contend with a potential step daughter that made her dealings with Lorie seem like a piece of cake.

I liked reading that weekly summary.. two or three months before Victor/Nikki crossed paths... it seemed like both characters were being tested with other characters. I think Nikki was dealing with a stalker.. and semi dating Cash.. and Andy (the same Andy that was Paul's best friend and later hubby of Diane Jenkins?)... and Victor was being tested with Peggy. And it was interesting seeing the starts of Patty's 'crush' on Jack.. while Danny/Patty were starting as well (that ended tragically in late 1984).

Can we trade Nene for Kenya? Kenya can generate sparks with anyone... and heck.. seeing Kenya/Porsha being friendly would be refreshing especially with both of them becoming mothers.

I think 1980 through 1982 were transition years..so bill bell was experimenting..testing characters out, etc. Probably the rare time he actually wasnt writing in story bubbles. I recall actors loving holiday parties, costume bells, etc because it meant working with others they normally didnt work with. Bill bell was big into story bubbles with little overlap..and Marland was huge into overlap even when it didnt make sense for characters to interact. Nixon/labine were better at balancing out story bubbles and story overlap..imho

I always kind of thought Bob cheating on kim with Susan was perfect karma..since kim pursued bob when he was married to her sister Jennifer. Glad Nancy pointed that out to kim.

It's better to start before Barnabas arrives because the other characters have character development.. and there is one story that plays out alongside Barnabas arrival that started before the Barnabas story. I actually liked the pre-Barnabas stuff better..imho.

I think I read peggy left him at the altar..and she left town..and he did as well shortly thereafter. He also dated Jill briefly as well..so he had ties to the show. It was short sighted writing him off and never bringing him back...same with writing off Patty in the mid 80s.

Personally... Lecy's Becky reminds me more of Roseanne than Darlene ever did. Darlene was more like Dan with Roseanne's wit... while Becky was more moody like Roseanne was.

What was his relationship like with Paul, patty, mary and Carl? I think once Patty left in late 1984...the show turned Mary into a busybody because there wasnt othe4 facets to show. It would have been interesting having steven on as a reporter especially during the rawlins case, kimball case...etc. Maybe even interacting with leanna love. Imagine Mary's face if she had her as daughter in law lol Plus, he could have been a buffer for impulsive Paul and Carl/Mary.

So has there been any noticeable changes with the change of head-writer? The changes were obvious when it went from the Pollacks to Cenderella to Depriest to Marland... so just curious if there was a noticeable change with these new writers? I think in a few months time, Grover will take over.. and from what I read.. she made an effort to write a good show.. but was in over her head... we shall see if my impression of her will hold true. I honestly assumed that Depriest would be lousy on this show and she was well above average.. and I assumed Marland would tighten up the show (since he wrote some strong hospital content on ATWT and GH)... and he was lousy on this show.

Brown had the chip on her shoulder vibe that worked for the character...guarded with a heart of gold..and was her own worst enemy. She would hurt people because she assumed they would hurt her in the long run. A defense mechanism. Braun had a more demure vibe..a little rough around the edges..but seemed more like she'd be coy and attack from behind instead of to your face. Bransford seemed more like a live wire that would attack for no reason. Wright is more entitled, chip on her shoulder and more harsh. None of the heart underneath the rough exterior like brown, the coy manner of Braun, or the crazy emotional intensity of Bransford.

I think it's time for rhobh to do the individual narrative format with some group interaction. If the women were required to film their own lives...they might actually be forced to...gasp...share their lives...and be docked pay if they contrive stupid stuff like panty gate and dog gate. If you're gonna generate drama..at least be creative about it. Bethenny is rich for ragging on dog ga4e when she bemoaned being 'homeless' and cried anytime someone pointed out her bs. She can take several seats. I think what we're witnessing on the housewives is a wearing out of the drama for the sake of drama format. I think all the shows need to go back to 13 episode seasons plus 2 part reunions...and a fun unseen footage episode like in the old days. This way, the women dont have to stretch out pointless drama. rhonj worked this year cause it was a shorter season..and there were multiple spats that didnt get dragged out. I will say Jennifer's backstory about her mom at the reunion was fascinating...and wish more of those nuggets were revealed during the season.

Smith's daughter obviously didn't realize that Marland and faster-moving storylines didn't mix. Brez's are worse than Marland???. If so, that's pretty bad sicne Marland was lackluster on this stint and I fell asleep watching the episodes he was head-writer of. Pollack's and Depriest were a better fit for the show..imho.

Watching those 1988 episodes, Donna had more purpose than Brooke due to the modeling story, majoring in Journalism, etc. I was surprised Katie had focus and the family seemed closer knit than the Forrester family...so I never understood why Brooke was always unsatisfied and wanting to be wealthy. Even in 1988..brooke was a chemist but only had ties in a romantic sense with the Forresters...while Donna had more avenues to explore..but after 1989.was just a talk to for Brooke and Macy before leaving in 1991

Some goodies from 1988 has been uploaded.

And yet that ugly snyder set survived yo the end.

I think Ellen came back that Thanksgiving in 1998... and I think a year or so later, Penny came as a surprise for Nancy.. arranged by Emily. And I think in late 2000, Lyla came back for a visit.. basically exposing that Katie lied about her being a neglectful mom, etc... which seemed out of character for Lyla when Katie was first introduced.. and I think that was the only way the writers saw to undo that out of character action.. by having it revealed Katie was lying (which made sense since Katie and the truth parted ways a long time ago).

I'm wondering if the show felt Emily filled the function that Dee did.. and that's why Marland and company didn't think to bring Dee back.

I wonder if we'll see the whole Danny/Patty/Traci story with Danny/Traci married and Patty accidently causing Traci's miscarriage.. that happened during that late 1984 period of time.

Even in these models...viewership still counts I guess. I watched it and thought it was funny. I think we are seeing people want escapism again from real life. Or they want something more melancholy than what one a day at a time offered. Shows balancing the escapism and real life like odaat suffer. Still..I'd rather the show go out in top notch quality over continuing with their quality diminishing..like the original version did...and other Netflix shows.