Soaplovers

Shannon without Vicki/Tamra... that will be interesting. Though I thought she and Brown Wind were funny together.. so Shannon isn't without anyone to film with Shannon vs Emily has always been intriguing to me because they're both quite a like.

For me, 1997 was the last year that the show still resembled GL.. and the best chance of fully regaining the light at full wattage ... The Annie Dutton trial was epic, Annie's downfall was satisfying, Annie/Alan becoming the powerful duo was great.. even early Cassie was promising. And Abby's attack than her shooting her attacker when he had a Not Guilty plea was also very strong.. and Vannessa/Matt reuniting.. though I would have liked it if Vanessa had resumed working at Spaulding while battling Annie/Alan.

I'm hoping kelly and Gina go next. Keely is toxic and uncomfortable to watch..and Gina should be a friend of.

Not having India visit when phillip came back was a crime. She and he had a good banter anytime she visited

I remember that scene, and I do recall that Eve Guthrie overhead him ripping into her for doing the right thing and she ripped him a new one in that scene which took him and Bridget by surprise. I do think after the show killed Eve off and Ed eventually left the show... that was when they should have gotten either Mike Bauer to come back (since his grand son Alan Michael was struggling with his good vs bad side... plus Alan was back).. or recast Ed with MH.. or even someone warm that was his own worst enemy. I do think the show had found the next generation Bauer couple to take over for Ed/Maureen.. with Abby/Rick... but the show blew that in 1998/9 with the whole Mob/Reva overdose/San Cristobel crap

Peggy was going through reconstruction and was probably on pain medication so we probably didnt get the real peggy.

I recall before the Brook sister team up against Jill...lorie went to see Leslie..saw Leslie come out of the shower proving she was further along in her pregnancy and realizing Lance was the father.

Was the July 5 1988 episode during the writer strike? If so, that could explain why Vicki wasn't in the action as much... and I'd forgotten that Sarah/Cord briefly dated. Mari Lynn was technically a Riley? I had no idea.

I read an archive article where Dorie laughed at Cathy being known as a feminist..listing her living with her parents, degrading herself over a man, having sex and getting pregnant...etc. I'm sure the show probably did fire her and waited till they found an actress to replace her. After all, the show did that when they hired Erika Slezak so I'm sure it happened in this case as well.

I was reading up on the history of Cathy Craig.. and hearing that was the first role that Robin Strasser had been offered... long before Dorian was a reality for her. Based on what I've read, she didn't want the actress playing the part to be fired.. which made me wonder why the show was trying to fire the actress playing the role of Cathy at the time. I know @vetsoapfanwas a viewer at the time.. any idea why the show wanted the actress (named Dorrie K.. I think) to be fired? Was she not well liked in the part, or was she a difficult actress behind the scenes?

Wasn't Ellie the black sheep of the family? It made sense she never came home much.... she was always driven and career minded. She was the only Snyder that was likable

I do recall Holly and Claire interacting once or twice... once to compare notes about Fletcher.. and another time when Claire and Holly were clashing about Michelle.

I'd forgotten about Amy... she was a fully fleshed out character.. and it's a shame that the show traded her out for Grace. The real Ashley (Brenda E)... how I enjoyed her Ashley much more than Eileen or Shari's take on Ashley. Hope/Victor was always an odd match.. but it was interesting seeing how Victor's attempts at control didn't work on Hope like it did on Nikki/Ashley. Phyllis.. back when Stafford wasn't super campy.

I'm noticing in these write-ups for 1981 that while the focus wasn't 100 percent on the hospital like in the early years.. there was still an equal focus on the staff of the hospital, plus all the non-hospital related stories/characters.

Didn't Jensen basically play a Marley esque character on OLTL? It could explain why she was a better Marley than Vicky.... the only problem was that she fell into the same trap that Wheeler/Heche did when they first started playing dual roles... by putting all the personality and fire into Vicky with leaving nothing left for Marley. Of the three, Heche was the only one that eventually gave equal time/focus on playing Vicky/Marley as more than just a good twin/bad twin. Her Marley was more reserved with an air of elegance (being raised by the Love's).. while her Vicky was softened.. but still an emotional hot wire with none of the elegance in speech that Marley had.

Both Stringfield and LK were funny when playing Blake..but in different ways. Stringfield had a dry sense of humor (like Maureen Garrett ) while LK had a more whimsical sense of humor (which the show used to full effect. Sometimes too much). I did love the brief times the show remembered Blake and Frank as friends.

Kelly needs to calm down. Kelly, Leeanne, and Brandi are the reason why people should continue to exclude people... I would exclude all three because they're toxic messes. Danielle pulling Margaret's hair was worse than Margaret throwing a drink in Danielle's face. Best to turn and walk away instead of resorting to physical violence. Something Porsha should have done years ago instead of being commended for using her fists not her mind.

Sadly, this type of writing will never come again because the writers with psychological depth won't write for soaps.. so we're stuck with the plot driven head-writers.

I remember Victoria's frigid period... didn't it turn out that it started because she had witnessed Nina/Ryan sleeping with one another.. and she internalized her hurt/pain at finding out her boyfriend and new friend were hooking up?

@Khan I always viewed Harmon Brown and Esensten as turnaround writers... meaning that they could steer a direction less ship onto the right path.. but weren't capable of steering the ship to greener pastures. I viewed their work in 1994-1995 on Loving & 1997 on GL as examples of how they managed to rescue a sinking ship and direct it the ship onto the right path... but the reigns should have than been handed to a strong head-writer that could steer the ship (For example, Bedsoe Horgan did wonders for ATWT so that when Marland took over, the ship was already on the right path).

Actually, Pam Long wanted to bring Rita back.. but the actress turned down the offer to return. And while I enjoyed early 90s GL.... on second viewing, while it is structurally sound and strong story-wise under Curlee.... there is a lack of spirit/warmth/energy that populated GL in the late 80s when Curlee/Long were co-head writing.

Actually, their attitude toward Hope was in character and is even supported by psychology studies. The most rebellious teen/adult often becomes strict when they become parents. The only problem I see was that the show didn't give any sort of voice to Doug/Julie to explain their perspective on opposing Hope/Bo. Doug was a ladies man in his youth, so I could see him being the overly protective father to his daughter.. and he viewed Bo as a younger version of himself... while Julie could have been reminded of her more wild/carefree days when seeing Hope with Bo.. and wanting to prevent Hope from making the same mistakes as she did. And to telegraph that... they could have had family counseling with Marlena to showcase this to the viewers so that it wasn't just a standard strict parents/ free spirited daughter story trope.

Bold and the beautiful didn't have blockbuster ratings till Sheila Carter crossed over in 1992.

Why did it have to be Cecile that married Cass at the end.. why not have it be Kathleen? Her cousin Jake was on the show.. and the years away could have also matured her and perhaps even have regained her former spirit/spunk the longer she had been out of the witness protection program.. and it would have been interesting to see her reaction to Carl being redeemed and married to Rachel.

Nene can go away... She was gone for two seasons and the show was still firing on all cylinders. It was proof that the show could go on without the OG of Atlanta. She can go after this season.. following behind Vicki G and Bethenny.