Soaplovers

I think AMC started saving their episodes in 1976, Agnes insisted on that in exchange for her agreement to expand that show to an hour.

I do remember reading that Katherine knew Philip was cheating on her..and wasn't sure who it was.. and thought for a second it was Lorie... and that Lorie/Jill kind of had one another's # as well in those early scenes. I read some monthly summaries a long time ago around 1978.. and there were instances of Brock/Leslie interacting with one another.. it was during the time Brad/Leslie were having marital issues and she was pregnant with his child.. while Lori was off in another storyline with Lance/Vanessa during that time. I also think the early years being isolated worked because from 1980 to around 1982/3.. Jill/Katherine really didn't interact all that much. Youtube used to have a scene or two when Deborah Adair was playing Jill... and in that match up.. Jill was the one who you rooted for while Katherine was the one that you despised... and she tried to stop the wedding and only backed off when Liz told Katherine that if she did anything to sabotage Jill's wedding, she'd lose her for a friend.. and Katherine had to back off. In the 90s (up till 98)... Katherine was always trying to interfere and sabotage Jill's life.. while Jill was usually happy not to have to be around her. Kay Alden ruined that vibe with the stupid house story and then turning Katherine into a saint.

According to Tamra's instragram, her son with Simon is turning 18 next week and than he will be on the show.. so if true, I guess she will have secured herself a season 14 slot (since two of her kids would/could be featured on the show....hmm). Apparently, the housewife rumored to be downgraded on the upcoming season 13 of RHOC is Gina... due to her starting a divorce proceeding (not sure if she or hubby that started it)... and she didn't want it featured on the show. So I'm guessing the show is editing the trailer and possibly the first episodes. If all true, this could be a season 9 all over again.. but that was a good season so maybe lightening will strike twice.

Where he and Julia Duffy have good chemistry. So I often think chemistry can make/or break a couple. I didn't much like who Iva married to.. but he seemed like a nice guy with a solid career.. and was willing to be a step father to her child with John Dixon. At that point in her life, it made sense Iva decided on friendship/stability over passion/excitement she had with Tad, Kirk and to a lesser extent John. I often think Iva's quick write out had to do with the fact that the Marland outlines the replacement team had run out.. and her character had a more natural conclusion to her arc hence why she ended up leaving. I do wish she had been allowed to visit more especially in 1994/95/96 when Lily was going through the pregnancy, gas lighting, and losing Damian. And I do agree her Nola return had her playing her more like Iva.. but I did notice in 96/early 97.. she was acting more like Nola of old... but then the writing got weird for her with that obsession story... but she had a few fun fantasies on her return like in the old days.

Even good writers like Pam Long and Douglas Marland make errors.... Marland didn't really write a lot of the Dobson characters well (Katie, Amanda, Rita, etc) and he killed off an effective villainess (Diane Ballard) for a murder mystery and some of the characters he created (Vanessa, Tony) really flourished once Pam Long took over. I had wished Pam Long had just decided to have Hillary leave town so that she could have been bought back later instead of killed off (to think of how wonderful the Roger/Holly/Ed/Maureen stuff in 1988/1989 would have been enriched more if Hillary had been around).

Given the kind of life Iva had.. I could understand her being a downer... and her all too brief pairing with Kirk made her come alive. The only other time Iva came alive was when she won the cruise and got a make over and had the time of her life. Considering that she was raped by whom she thought was her cousin, had a baby at 13/14, gave the baby up, and basically ran away from home.. I'm surprised she was only lethargic. While I didn't like who she ended up with, he seemed like a nice and steady guy... and that was what was needed in her life..imho. When people mention Sam, I'm hoping everyone meant the first Sam... the tall, sarcastic Sam and not the sappy recast.. right?

I liked the isolation that Bill Bell did for Y & R... because that is real life. I'm all for character interaction, but it has to make sense. I recall Nina left the show just as it was starting the process of making the show less isolated and more of a community feel... so it was jarring when during the 'funeral' for Chance that she was hanging out with Ashley, Jack, etc... since she'd never interacted with them on screen (unless it was done off screen). I do know that Leslie in her last months was hired by Victor to help Nikki become cultured by teaching her the pianos, etc. And we've seen Nikki play the piano on and off over the years even with her grandson Reed.

@Cat The only reason Days has maintained some of it's identity is because Corday still has a voice/control (sometimes too much) over decisions.. hence why the music is still the same and some of the elements remind me of Days of old. Why Sony/CBS even thought hiring Mal Young was a good idea still boggles my mind.. did they not look at his resume over in the UK? He was responsible for turning the long departed UK soap Brookside (a UK daytime version of Knots Landing about residens on a cul da sac) from an introspective soap into a plot driven dreck that ultimately drove away viewers in the long term. While his touch might have worked on a soap like Days... it isn't a fit on Y & R.

THIS!! And remember until Nikki and Victor met in the fall of 1981.. they hardly interacted with one another.. and both were on the show at the same time for over 18 months.. so when they interacted.. it worked because he wasn't the type to go to a strip club and she didn't have any dealings with Chancellor/Jabot back than.... so it never made sense for them to to interact until Douglas dragged Victor to the Bayou (and I recall Victor wasn't too keen on strip clubs).. and he saw Nikki perform and was entranced. I also recall Ryan/Victoria were the young star crossed lovers for almost a year... and one episode had Ryan at Gina's lamenting not being able to be with Victoria.. and at the same time, both Chris and Nina were at Gina's.. and Chris was trying to get Nina back out into the dating world.. and Chris saw Ryan and had the two meet... and than Ryan/Nina had a one night stand.. and the rest they say is history in regards to that triangle.

Someone had once pondered a long time ago about how Douglas Marland would have written Y & R.. and I said he would have been all wrong for the show... since the show was not about a community.. but about people in separate bubbles going about their lives with little to no interaction.. like in real life.

Oh yes... I remember Nikki started taking up needlepoint in the mid 90s.. and viewers wrote in saying that they wished they could stage an intervention because she needed one stat.

I don't recall Phyllis and Mari Jo interacting.... I recall Phyllis/Malcolm interacting and an early scene of her and Dru not meshing well together in the mid 90s. I remember Mari Jo/Jill interacting quite a bit. Until the late 90s, a lot of times characters hardly ever interacted unless it was at a big event and/or during 4th of July or NYE. A lot of the actors said they would love the holiday episodes because they would get to work with other actors they normally never worked with. Kay Alden was the one that started mixing the show up a bit with having characters interact, etc. I kind of liked how Bill Bell did it a little better because if characters interacted, it was always a nice surprise and sometimes led to new stories

Nicollette has a stare, but it's more of a disdainful stare that a snob would give as opposed to the sociopathic stare that Joan gave.

Wasn't it true Heather was considered by the producers to be a part of the season 4 cast? She would have been better than Cindy if true.

Here is the thing... in order to have Gretchen and/or Alexis and Jim back... you had to get rid of Tamra since it would have been a hamster wheel because there was still unresolved issues between Gretchen/Alexis.. and Gretchen/Tamra (although I hope Tamra saying she wouldn't talk to her if she saw in person would hold out). I'm anxious to see what season 13 will hold since there is a rumor one of the housewives has been downgraded thus the delay in releasing the trailer. While season 3 was the gold standard for RHONY... I think season 4 was the gold standard for RHOC (a great mix of the original format, fun events, and some drama thrown in)... and Tamra learned her lesson from season 4 and since than will bring in all discussions done off camera onto the show. I recall Tamra was acting all mean in her talking heads to Gretchen and people were confused since it appeared during the filmed scenes they got along (for the most part other than naked wasted)... and as it turns out, some of what Tamra said about Gretchen was true (I always got a All about Eve vibe from Gretchen where she wanted to be like Tamra, etc).

@vetsoapfan What did you think of the Melinda's? I've seen youtube clips of Sharon Gabet.. and she was a great actress.. but I hear she was nothing at all like how the two previous actresses played Melinda.

I think the lesson to learn here is once a housewife officially jumps off the reality show bandwagon, their life improves (moreso than not). Jo on RHOC is happy in a job and great relationship Alex from RHONY is happy in Australia with Simon and the kids These two have officially broken away from the reality tv trap... perhaps others should follow suit (god knows Gretchen from RHOC needs to break away from reality tv and Slade.. her life would improve 100 percent I bet).

And that above gif of Luann makes me very glad that karma punishes those that are ill bred like Luann. Karma is a *itch

I happened to see snippets of episodes with Malis playing Dorian.. and what struck me was how her Dorian and Vicki got along at least on a social level. She seemed to serve as a bridge between Pinkerton's colder Dorian and Strasser's more emotionally charged Dorian. It also seems like she also got to play up the early parts of Dorian inheriting money and Llanfair... the nourve riche aspect in a way. I recall Princi most in the role in the early 90s. She was more upper crust, could lash out emotionally like Strasser's Dorian, could be cunning and assess her prey like Pinkerton's Dorian (from what you describe), and had a certain flair for letting her hair down (the teased hair and motorcycle leather I recall) that I could have seen Malis playing. @vetsoapfan Any thoughts on Vicki's sister Meredith? When my mom was alive and in high school... she watched OLTL in the early years and she told me she loved Meredith and couldn't stand Vicki... and kind of always rooted for Dorian lol

Just reinforces that Katherine was pure evil and the later switch to her being a saint was laughable and insulting. She was pure evil (she killed a man after all).

Isn't Eva friends with Nene? Maybe Nene has some pull backstage ala Bethenny? So I was on Twitter yesterday and there is a rumor that the RHOC trailer that was supposed to come out this past week is being re-edited and a housewife is being demoted (shades of Danielle in season 9, if true). I wonder if this proves true if the narrative will be jumbled like it seemed to be somewhat during season 9 (even though we got a wonderful addition named Shannon that season).

I wouldn't say I find the current episodes boring, but I think the current head-writer did a complete 180 and focused more on character building scenes and establishing a community (he came from P & G where that was the norm) then he was at creating plots (the Pollock's specialty). The one character I will say has benefited from Cenedella has been Penny.. who actually has been presented more as a well rounded character than the version we saw under the Pollocks. And the latest episodes seem to indicate that Penny's 'love' for Rico is based more on fantasy than an actual connection while he introduced the Jerry Dancy character.. and you could see the two had chemistry, but the character hasn't appeared only being mentioned a few times since his introduction.

I'm going to dread the recast of Carolee... even when the show wrote Carolee as a more paranoid ball and chain, C. Campbell always had a sarcastic and kind of whimsical way she delivered her lines. I'm sure the recast will be good, but I'm dreading a serious Carolee.

Maybe she doesn't survive her knee surgery?

I don't buy the riding into the sunset trope.. it's kind of a cop out to me. From watching the Steve/Betsy courtship.. I just didn't see the appeal. I was actually rooting for Diana to break them up (or for Diana/Craig to become a couple). Did Marland ever write a fun loving couple during his time as head-writer on the show? The only couple I could think of was John/Lucinda.. but anyone else?