Soaplovers

Perhaps the show should have scaled back on location shots, not hired so many new characters/actors...and cut their budget. It might have helped keep the show going a little longer.

Time for a reboot for season 11. This is the reason why you cant just have the group dynamic be the backbone of a housewife show. You need a balance and most of them dont have anything going on, or unwilling to film. Dallas is still new so the group dynamic hasn't worn thin. OC will forever continue to shed and grow. NY has already had trouble...and BH looks to be another boring season with the cast they have now (get rid of kyle and lvp). Andy shouldnt be moderator especially for NY

I thought it was the brief relationship with the dad of Tricia and Megan Dennison... which Kay sabotaged.

that flips by the late 90s

She did try to cook John dinner one night shortly after Sharlene "passed away".. and it ended up a disaster.. and one Thanksgiving, she thought the Thanksgiving turkey would cook faster so she put it up to 500 degrees So she did try a few times, and proved to be inept

Some of your choices I agree with, some I don't... that is what makes the world go round THE LOVED 1) India Von H. Her visits in the 90s and 2000s were always a highlight. Still a crime she didn't come for a visit in 2009 when Philip turned out to be alive. 2) Beth Raines (Judi Evans version and Beth Chamberlin's 1989-1991 stint) 3) Roxie Shayne 4) Mindy Lewis 5) Nadine Cooper (1989 to 1993 version before she got saddled with Buzz) 6) Holly Norris 7) Blake Lindsay (from 1988 to 1995 before they turned her into a ditz) 8) Bert Bauer (she was so calming and warm) 9) Maureen Bauer (up till 1991 where she fun, supportive, and warm.. till Curlee & co turned her into a baby crazed jealous harpy.. which could explain why rated low in focus groups). 10) H.B. Lewis 11) Henry Chamberlain 12) Alexandra Spaulding (both versions) 13) Roger Thorpe 14) Jenna Bradshaw (her first stint from 1992-1994) Despised 1) Buzz Cooper 2) Lucy Cooper 3) Cassie Layne 4) Richard Winslow 5) Edmund Winslow 6) Harley Cooper (1997 and thereafter) 7) Reva Shayne (1995 and thereafter.. I liked her during her first stint) 8) Dinah marler (Gina's version in the 2000s.. too harsh and butch when the first 3 Dinah's were more feminine) I had said that when Pam Long left January 1991, the writing suffered for several of the female characters.. and I had listed Holly as one of them. She was much more confident and with it in regards to business. She had a good rapport with Ross, and interesting friendships with Nadine and Gilly. Once Long left in January 1991, that was when the whole Holly still being stuck on Roger came back into focus.

Yup, courtesy of James E Reilly. Compared to the Salem Strangler and Salem Slasher, this was the pits.

I wish the feud had kind of died because by the 90s..it got a little redundant. I think because Kay got painted as some saint even though she killed a man. I liked both characters better when they were in separated orbits.

I recall when I was a kid coming home from grade school and my mom being surprised when Mindy and Will hooked up/married...how it came out of left field yet made sense since Mindy was always impulsive. So I had forgotten right before the mindy/will marriage...that she and Frank Cooper dated. I honestly couldn't see the two together..and it makes me wonder what Long would have done with Mindy if Krista T hadnt opted to leave the show..since I didnt see frank being her main love interest long term unless he was a place holder for when Rusty lost Rose in 1989? I recall that frank and mindy hardly interacted after their brief fling until when the original actress came back for a visit in 2002 and the two shared a dance for old times sake. Even during low periods of GL, they always would reference past events/couplings...like a scene in 2000 when Harley, cassie and blake were joking that their three kids would probably be in a love triangle till one by one the three realized their three kids were cousins (a rare time Philip's Marler roots were mentioned)...and I liked that Hawk/Lillian kept up a flirting interaction years after they broke up..all the way to 2009 when Hawk proclaimed that if things didnt work out with Buzz that he would be there for her. And having Frank/Blake end up together at the end kind of made sense since they had a great rapport in the early to mid 90s before the show forgot the two knew each other for many years. And I liked Fletcher as the buddy...and how he was always the second choice for most of his love interests. He was the guy you could be friends with, but never see in a romantic way... the guy you should be with,, but never quite feeling it felt right. Hilary, alexandra, vanessa, claire, and Holly were prime examples of women who were with Fletcher because he was safe and secure..yet they weren't in love with him. I thought he and Maeve worked together..and were a steady supportive couple...not a star couple, but a good supporting coupling. I had asked this question about Holly and Roger...but I'll ask this about Josh and Reva. Which of their love interests did you like them with best? For me, I liked Reva with Kyle..and I liked Josh with Annie Dutton (pre going crazy).

It didnt help that his character on here wasnt served well. I saw episodes when he was on Texas and he was quite good. He was let go and recast with Jay Hammer..which I read was a disaster.

I used to call out Andy Cohen on his bias and that he should step down as moderator..and he replied to my tweet asking who he was bias toward...and loads of people responded saying Kyle, Nene, Bethenny, etc. I think a new moderator is needed.

I think what this boils down to is peoples personal preferences. I do think long/kobe's first 18 months on GL were balanced, well written, and plotted..they took the show to number 1 for three weeks in the summer of 1984 when GH was still at its peak. I will say I didnt aee rhe point of killing Hilary especially when her on screen love interest him was written off a few months later...I would have had either him or hilary injured in the explosion and once recovered deciding to leave Springfield together (open door for future return). 1985 started out recognizable with focus on the Reardons and Bauers along with the Lewis/Spaulding clan...but by the end of 1985, it was a vastly different show...no Reardons (save maureen), Bauers had a reduced presence, and the lewis/spaulding clan were dominant with lots of new characters. Its funny that Long went down hill in her final year of her first stint..yet came back to fix the mess she started and replacements continued. Long/calhoun were a good team... Curlee even said that Long was a great writer. To me when watching episodes from the Dobson and Marland era...I liked the Dobson era better...both eras had great stories...but the day to day episodes were better in the Dobson era (Denise Pence who played Katie said that the Dobsons wrote outlines for each episode and their script writers would write the scripts...while Marland micro managed and rewrote a lot of the scripts). Both teams had characters gossip and interact...but it was more natural under the Dobsons and static/unrealistic under Marland. Plus Dobsons and Long were more about warmth, emotion and sexual vibes...while Marland's era seemed cold and repressed...I think Marland fit better on ATWT for that reason.

From rewatching the late 80s through early 90s episodes, Pam Long's departure along with Jim Reilly's joining GL around the same really changed the show's tone somewhat. I noticed that the writing for Nadine, Holly, Maureen, Harley, and Alexandra really suffered when Long left. I'll even wager that focus groups would have rated Maureen better if they were asked about her before 1991 because her big stories in 1991/2 was trying to have a baby, being jealous of Holly, blind defending of Roger, and there were even a few instances where she victim blamed Holly. That's why I liked that once Vanessa/Holly bonded eventually Maureen had to come around (Black out episodes solidified that). I still think killing Maureen off was a big mistake because the Ed/Lillian/Maureen situation had so many avenues to explore... I would have had Maureen vanish.. and once backlash over her leaving was known to the powers that be, they could have bought her back.. and played out the fall out. During Holly's first two years back, she was an ace at her job yet would be her own worst enemy in regards to her personal life.. when Long left, Holly became more neurotic and needy even when she was dating Daniel St. John. During Nadine's first few years, she was wacky, shallow, ambitious and wasn't a quitter. When Long left.. she got jealous over losing Billy, and than being ruined by her loving Buzz never made sense. I'm still upset the show killed her off as well. Harley was an underdog and was called out by people for having a chip on her shoulder.. by 1991/2.. she became this beloved figure.. that grew worse after she returned in 1997. And I've discussed my feelings on what was done to Alexandra. Personally, I don't blame her for trying to break up Mindy and Nick.. Mindy did sleep with her husband and tried to break up her marriage than changed the paternity results.. so I never was on Mindy's side. With that said, when the original Mindy would come back to visit, I could like her again because it wasn't her that did the affair with Roger/Nick paternity test, etc.. if that makes sense.

I thought Elizabeth was at least mentioned when Lizzie was born when Philip/Beth explained why they choose the name of Lizzie. I will say I liked that the show didn't take the standard route of having Philip disown the Spauldings and adopt the Marler's as his family. He was close to Ross, and I liked that he was super close to Dinah (both sharing a common bond of discovering their true families as teens... it was a shame that by the time Drew was around by the late 90s, Dinah had left town and Philip was ignoring the Marlers). I was a small child in the mid 80s and my first memories were of the 4 Musketeers, Reva, etc.. so the mid 80s to the mid 90s are more what I'm attached to. With that said, I have seen episodes from the late 70s and early 80s as an adult, so I can understand why long term viewers would have had a hard time with the drastic change in the show by 1984/5. I think Long and Calhoun were able to correct a lot of stuff starting in 1988 (I think the writers strike in 1988 derailed Long's previous efforts when she returned in mid 1987) so that by 1989 through 1993, the show had a second rebirth. @JarrodMFiresofLove I can understand why Hilary didn't mesh well romantically with people.. but I think the reason I liked her was because she wasn't the typical soap opera actress. She and Jim Reardon had a good connection, and on the Slut of Springfield episode.. both she and Jim had a long talk about their relationship, their goals and dreams.. it just gets overshadowed by the Reva/Josh scene. And I think Hilary could have left town and returned in 1988/9 when Roger/Holly came back because she was heavily involved in that story in the late 70s. She was Roger's mistress when he and Holly were married.. and she felt so much guilt and self-loathing for putting herself in that position that she broke things off.. and than Roger went to Holly.. and the two were having an argument cause the two seemed to have had an understanding by that time where Holly married Roger to give Chrissy a family (since Ed was with Rita).. and Roger realized Holly didn't love him so turned to Hilary... while Holly assumed Roger was fooling around with Diane Ballard.

I think that is why Long struggled when head writing Santa Barbara because there wasnt thst Bert type of character, plus it wasnt known for being a community based soap. It was in a unique category of it's own. From what I have seen, I think she wrote Jo and Stu on SFT quite well and used both up till the finale (she was there in the last 6 months with another head writer). I always thought Long should have gone to Another World..imho.

Pam long used Bert quite a bit...she was the voice and moral go to. I had heard Long had planned to test H.B and Bert together but sadly this was never explored...just like her planned Mike/Alexandra story didnt pan out.

Claudette came on and was addicted to drugs.. her character in 1975 tied in with the Kitty bigamist plot because kitty was being blackmailed due to linc and the Tyler's not knowing this..so kitty used the boutique to smuggle drugs via soap. Claudette came across the soap and got high off it and suffered an overdose. She ended up going to rehab/prison and was off the show for 2 years or so. She came back in 1977 after serving her sentence..and she ends up taking a job as hostess as the Chateau that Erica wanted (erica being passed up led her to look tom cudahy's way to make Nick Davis jealous). Claudette was on for 3 years...she briefly dated Phil before she and Linc started dating after Kitty's death. She ended up as manager of the chateau and started fighting kelly (kittys lookalike) for Linc...then Kelly's ex Eddie came back..pushed claudette out of her position at the chateau and caused trouble for other characters before being killed. Kelly was accused, but it turned out claudette was the killer..and she ended up in a car accident and confessed to being the murderer before dying. I think that was in 1980.

Someone on here awhile back said it would have made sense to have Armand Assange play Rico and Chandler playing Mike... I agree with that.

The original Rico was more hot headed like Nick, and I liked that he worked at the lab helping Martha out. I didn't get killing Julie off since a Julie/Mike/Rico focusing would have been interesting. I heard somewhere that there was going to be a long trial for Rico killing Julie.. but when the Pollock's took over.. they resolved the story within a few months and had Rico move back to Chicago to start over. I liked that the Pollock's played the fall out of the Rabbit story with Greta seeking help from Dr. John Morrison (and he lasted quite awhile on the show). In Avery's defense, a lot of the early 1970 stuff was a set up for a possible spin off that never came to pass.. though I do think one or two of the nurses featured could have been kept on. @Chris B I also liked Anna.. and she lasts till near the end of the year.. and she has a two episode send off.

I remember Vicky. She was slowly introduced as an assistant to the dr that did Reva's cloning, as well as being Vanessa's personal doctor when she was ill. I think Vicky double crossed him, and the fall out was his death causing Vanessa to instantly dislike her. In fact, I recall Vanessa background checked Vicky and revealed to Alan that she was the grand daughter of the Jamaica branch of the family.. and it looked as if the show was gearing up for a Vicky vs Alan battle.. than the show recast the actress (who was cold and lacked warmth) with another actress that smiled too much and lacked any of the backbone of the first Vicky. The character fell by the wayside because of a recast that wasn't needed.

Which is the Peapack experiment didn't work on GL because the show was always about the upper middle class and the upper class with the Reardon's, than the Coopers, being working class on the upward swing. The sets were upper crust, but not over the top. Even Reva's (later Holly's) house in the rougher part of Springfield looked comfortable and cozy. The Peapack experiement made it seem like it was a poor, struggling town (even though Spaulding and Lewis Oil were still big players).. perhaps if the show had picked a more ritzy town in New Jersey.. it could have worked.

That is what happens when you lose 190 lbs (her soon to be ex husband). Michael (viki's son) is silently putting a hex on Brianna for not filming for season 13 so now he gets stuck during all that cringe worthy stuff. Don't these women have things going on in their lives? I'd rather hear about that than gossip about Gina and her marriage, plus Emily and her odd courtship. Kelly's date was cute, but dumb. Next week looks like some cracks in Tamra and Shannon's friendship (with Tamra wondering why Shannon doesn't trust her.. i spit my drink when I saw the preview clip of Tamra asking that).

This is Beverlee McKinsey's last episode... and it's interesting that Nick brings up the parallel's between Brandon Spaulding keeping Eric/Alexandra apart.. and Alexandra keeping Nick/Mindy apart. From watching the show as an adult, I think Alexandra was totally justified in making Mindy's life miserable. Mindy was an adult, willingly entered into a long term affair with Alexandra's husband, and was trying to get Roger to leave Alexandra for her... even making snide remarks about her. So I actually am on Alexandra's side in keeping Nick/Mindy apart because Mindy broke up her marriage and switched the paternity results.. and yet the whole town expected Alexandra to forgive and forget? I don't think so.. It is interesting that when Mindy/Nick did get married later on.. and Alexandra finally backed off.. the two broke up anyway... but it had been a few years since the affair/paternity test switch had happened so Alexandra had cooled down some by than.

Yeah, I can agree with this to an extent. At the same time, I think there were times with previous writers that whole episodes are focused outside the hospital (the pollack's did this, for instance) as well. Still Depriest has started a story with new character Dr Paul, who is plotting to unseat Matt Powers as chief of staff...and has recruited an unknowing Stacy as hospital volunteer m, Ann as his partner in crime, and Mona is now on the hospital board. So while I agree that there are some episodes that focus away from the hospital..the hospital is still talked about and most of the characters are still tied to it..except for the Conrads...but I think that story is wrapping up in the coming weeks.

I remember Lucas and Felicia...and I felt sorry for Iris playing second fiddle because I think she truly cared for Lucas. And I liked that the show remembered iris and Lucas dating when Iris arranged for his former girls to come to the wake. When watching the soap, I always observed the show seemed happier to write for Vicki than for Marley...which is a shame since Marley had a lot of potential from a psychological point of view. Unlike Vicki, Marley grew up around Donna..but believed she was her sister and not her mother. Donna had to hold herself back from being a mother to Marley, so I could have seen Donna being motherly to Vicki, but unable to truly be close to Marley in that way...causing resentment from Marley. They always played up Vicki's resentment at not being raised by donna..but I always thought Marley had it worse. If Harding lemay had been rehired in the mid 80s...I think he would have explored all that...instead of doing the good twin/bad twin thing.