Soaplovers

Oddly Ellen was dressed more youthful in the mid 80s to early 90a..than she was in the late 70s/early 80s. I did like the 1982 story where David was caught between Cynthia and Ellen...and Ellen being single with her brief fling with a doctor. Even better, David was conflicted when Karen and Annie fought over Jeff Ward. Was it ever mentiones his response when not only did his daughter Dee marry John Dixon..but so did his 'surrogate' daughter Karen? Or was the Karen/David connection ignored by than?

Sunset Beach...a soap with endless promise. It oddly seemed more like a 3 year telenovela than a soap. Generations and Capital had cliffhangers..just like real life (life goes on)..but a soap is a story..and it felt unfinished.

Out of all the characters, Norma was the one character that grounded the show...a calming presence in a sea of crazy.

Ah.. Ashley before her character was degraded with the whole Victor affair than abortion.. thus kick starting her obsession with him. Neither the pretty Ashley nor the harsh Ashley seemed to be able to play that pathetic thing for Victor.

Compared to the last years of ATWT... 1996 wasn't as bad in comparison... there was a lot of potential... just the wrong writers to make that potential come together. Culliton's year long stint ended in January 1996 right around the time of the airplane crash causing Damian to be persumed dead, Samantha to be blind, and Margo to suffer from PTSD. However, there was some positive threads during 1996... Little Casey's kidnapping.. that led to weeks of tension between Hal/Margo/Tom.. with Hal's hot headed daughter Nikki wanting Adam to be told... with Nikki/Margo not getting along. The only downside was once it was revealed.. there wasn't any fall out and it was dropped. Lisa's public takedown by John Dixon was memorable and made sense... what followed didn't make much sense with that weird Martin character.. that had a youthful romance with Lucinda.. but nothing was followed up on in regards to all of that. And bringing on Ryder was a good move since he was the biological son of Grant Colman/Joyce Colman.. yet hardly any mention of that.. nor do I recall any scenes with him and Lisa. Just a pointless teen triangle with Dani/Nikki.... damaging a good friendship between the two characters before Dani got ushered out of town.. and Niki/Ryder vanished to backburner land. There were some likable moments and potential in 1996... just not the right group in charge to follow through on that potential..imho.

Denise richards is the only thing keeping me a viewer of rhobh.

I recall cricket's dad was dating Nikki during this period as well.. right before Nikki became a recluse on the ranch.

I would disagree about Donna...she had a lot of focus into 1990...and than just as she was getting a new story...the actress quit. But she was fairly well liked and written for..hence why she was spared from the Logan family axe. Kristen got a lot of focus up till she left suddenly in 1990. Its interesting how stephanie had bad relationships with botth daughters..but in different ways. Jealousy of some sort in regards to Kristen...and in regards to Felicia..because they were so alike. I also think Sally Spectra being popular changed the landscape of the show..and adding Macy as her resentful daughter made Kristen less necessary.

While he was good at story and pacing, i always found his ATWT to be cold and not inviting...at least to me. It's why I wish he had a co head writer that could provide warmth and emotion. I think that's why I was more drawn to GL in that era because it was warmer, passionate and full of spirit. Plus, the show had Curlee for story/history...and Long for warmth/drama/excitement. I do wonder who would have been a good counterpart for Marland to provide that element. I actually thought Cullitons year stint in the mid 90s was pretty good..more emotion and excitement...to me anyway.

She said she did the silly school girl thing cause it was the in thing...and a director warned her that she was on Irna's hit list so she downplayed her bubbly tendencies and got off the hit list.

Kristen has strong focus till she leaves in 1990. Why Brooke was his muse when i found her character limiting..I'll never get.

Katie was this show's Peggy Brooks

I remember Donna even saying to Brooke this was crazy..and asked why Brooke couldn't be happy with her life. Episode 309 posted on the channel..where Donna told Brooke about the nude photos...and Brooke acting outraged..with Donna parading he4 body and going against the morals they were raised with lol. What happenes to this Brooke? Donna in 87/88 was in college for journalism....so when i look at a lot of the stories that Brooke and Katie had...they should have been given to Donna such as the Brooke's bedroom story..working at Spencer Publications..etc. I also think if they couldn't get the original actress back, they should of had Heather Tom play Donna instead of Katie.... and just had Katie be recurring. You can tell by episode 309 that Bell didnt have interest in writing Katie.

Ive been anti Bethenny since season 7... she's exhausting. Jason may have been a jerk..but i would be if i were with Bethenny. rhobh Teddi is a kill joy Erika G is fun, Erika Jayne..not so much Kyle has phobias yet wasnt afraid to drive that accident prone car around...hmmm. i guess fear is not logical. Camille showing some of her S1 persona I hope they donated the leftover/unused food to food pantries.

Sounds like the Wayne/lenore/Walter/liz story had some long term legs on it. Did the tone/pace of the story change when Lemay took over for Cenedella? It sounds like Cenedella came up with decent build up, climax of manslaughter, and guilt over what he had done....and Lemay picked it up by having Liz go after Lenore..Walter dying..and Lenore feeling huge guilt over knowing the truth.

Any noticeable difference in the character with Ms. Turner in the role?

When she was on atwt..she was married to a soap actor...the porn star hubby came about in the late 80s when she was a make up artist for that traci lord movie. In interviews, she seemed spirited and fun..yet that didnt come through on Atwt.

When watching the earliewt episodes..i always forget brooke/ridge didnt officially meet till 50+ episodes into the show. When watching these early episodes, do you think there are any clues to indicate brooke/ridge were gonna be major? I recall as a small child, my mom watching the 1st episode when it debuted..and when she laid eyes on Brooke in those first few seconds she said 'I don't trust her...she looks like trouble'.

I kind of liked the quirky energy of early 80s atwt...but I guess it wasn't as popular hence the hiring of Marland in the mid 80s...talented but bland. I'm kind of glad he didnt get his hands on fun female characters like Diana, Karen or Ariel...he would have snapped them of their spirit and made them as morose as Shannon ended up becoming by the late 80s.

I never understood why the show put Gina with Lauren's father..when the character of Leslie would have made more sense...and made Leslie sympathetic..and have Lauren really develop as a daddy's girl...and Leslie would have been on to her and been an ally to Traci, etc. Oh well

Yeah, there was a.scene in the mid 80s where Traci and Cricket were having lunch... it was before 1986 and after 1983..because the scene that followed was a Nikki and Victor one where they were talking about Ashley...and Ashley wasnt in their orbit in 1983.

Wasn't Nikki briefly a model/spokesmodel for Jabot after she/Victor married? The one thing I never thought the show did enough of was utilize the Jill/Nikki dynamic... yes, they fought over a man.. and were warring mother in laws... but if you think about it.. both Jill/Nikki came from working class/humble beginnings.. and both strived for more than they were raised in. While both ended up marrying a man of money.. Jill seemed to take her experience working in nail salons and used it to move up at Jabot.. and proved herself adept.. and amassed her own fortune/success.. while Nikki was a lady of leisure.

I always will think of Loring as Wednesday Addams from the 1960s The Addams Family... She was on for 3 to 4 years on ATWT.. and I always thought it weird that Cricket never came back even for visits. You'd think Marland would have had the character come back for visits when her mom got married, her step dad passed away, etc.

Kay was almost like an enabler for Nikki's dysfunction and her toxic relationship with Victor. Casey did come back in the mid to late 80s gor awhile..and was Nikki's conscience. So without Casey in the picture, Nikki ended up on the hamster wheel of Victor. Didnt Victor show interest in Casey long before he crossed paths with Nikki as well?

I do find it a shame that Karen left the next year.. because I do think she could have fit into Oakdale mid/late 80s period... same as with Diana.