Soaplovers

RHOA: Kim got a verbal lashing, and it was long overdue. However, all the women on Atlanta are just a step better then Kim. I find there is no one to root for on this show except maybe Cynthia (she's beautiful and actually seems like a nice person outside of the group). With that said, I'll never understand how Phaedra got fired.. but not Porsha? Porsha was the one to blurt out the Kandi rumor on camera.. so she should have been sacked as well. I just don't get what Porsha has on Bravo/Andy that she is allowed to keep being employed. She is vacant, unmarried, no kids, and really has nothing to bring to the table except for the inability to fight with words. RHONY: I'll say this again and I'll be preparing to duck.... I don't get the Dorinda love. She has issues with alcohol, an abusive streak that comes out when drunk, and is harsh in her manner of speaking. Also, I think she could darken the hair because the almost white/platinum hair makes her look older and washed out. A darker color of blonde would warm her and soften her hard edge looks. Again.. why is Tinsley on the show?

Lujack died on screen.. and it didn't make sense to bring him back alive again. At the time, GL was more about realism then fantasy. With that said, I did like Nick and KS' Mindy together... even grew to tolerate Eve/Nick together... but when the two recast Mindy's came on... the show should have wisely had Mindy/Nick go their separate ways instead of trying to keep them together just because of contrived conflict between Mindy/Alex (both recasts without the history). I did like Susan.. and thought she and Nick were good together.. but by the mid 90s.. the show was changing and they didn't seem to fit anymore.

That's what Marland wrote when he took over in late 1985... but before he took over.. it wasn't shown for sure what caused his suicide.. and Lucinda assumed it to be Whit's fault.

I think BH is a lost cause. The reason the first season worked was because they were themselves and weren't acting.. per se. The second season was pretty good, but the other women were trying to upstage LVP.. the breakout housewife from the first season.. and Camille was muted due to PR/shock of going through a divorce. I am intrigued to see how OC will fare in season 14... it seems like Tamra/Shannon are still buddy buddy (Tamra even got some Bass Lake comments on her instagram for hanging with Shannon in Philadelphia right after Eddie got his 4th heart surgery procedure... you know the show will flash back to season 4 with her saying that if her spouse was in the hospital.. she would be at his side no matter what LOL).

I'm dreading the Marland era especially if it's true he alters the DNA of the show by focusing on the Aldrichs, Dancys, and Powers.. instead of the actual hospital. I prefer the hospital element and the majority of character being doctors, nurses, or work at the hospital. On the other hand, The Doctors is his first head-writing stint so maybe he realizes after this show that he can't alter the DNA of the show.. or write off a lot of the characters (his stint involved writing off a lot of the characters on now.. and introducing a slew of characters that had nothing to do with the hospital). Time will tell. I'm also not a big fan of Marland's writing anyway so I'll make sure not to look at the credits by mid 1976

I was bummed that Roseanne was only a half-hour... and even more bummed that the Middle wasn't on last night after it... and it was some new show starring the dude from Scrubs. Upside is that the Middle kept more of Roseanne's lead in when it follows it. Any theory on why the other three sitcoms following Roseanne barely rate about 5 million viewers? With that said, I would have held off Bev coming back till next week so that more time could be devoted to David (since he's only on for one episode this season). Also, I'm glad the show was smart to know that David/Darlene shouldn't have ever been end game.

To be honest, Cenedella's stint is almost a complete 180 from the Pollocks... which is both good and bad. The Pollocks also axed a few characters they didn't want either when they first took over (Anna, in particular who announced one day that she got a job in New York.. had a two day goodbye ceremony and was off the show). With that said, Andy was dead weight and that Joe character didn't really fit in either. The good of Cenedella: More character driven scenes, which the Pollock's seemed incapable of writing especially in their last months as writers. He quickly bought back Mona and involving her in the Steve/Carolee/Karen custody battle.... he quickly moved Ann out of Steve/Carolees house (plot driven move by the Pollocks imho given Carolee's jealousy issues and no woman in her right mind would allow her husbands ex wife to move in even if they didn't have feelings for one another)... he is writing MJ and Penny with more depth and made Stacy less of a trainwreck of a character. The bad of Cenedella: The Pollock's were heavy on plot and action.. and light on character driven scenes.... Cenedella is the complete opposite. Other then the Steve/Carolee/Karen custody batte.. which is getting some movement/action... there aren't any other plots going on... just a lot of scenes of characters talking. Since the previous writers/producer drove the actress playing Lauri off the show, he did at least provide a reason as to why she isn't on the show (and to be honest.. it fit the character though it would have been nice to see on line).. and I get why Mike had to leave.. but it didn't fit how he was written off. It has caused the Toni/Alan characters to stall... had the Pollocks not killed Margo off, it wouldn't have been a problem. With that said, I'm not sure about the Scott/Althea coupling... it does answer for me which writer created his character and Eleanor/Wendy. So while I like the more character driven stuff, I do think some plot lines/actions would have been nice as well. I can see why Depriest was hired, tbh.

The 1983 episode was interesting... but I could see why long time viewers tuned out because there were a bunch of characters nobody cared about on the show. I assume the lady talking to Bob as they drank a glass of wine was the recast Lisa? She seems decent and if Eileen had never returned, I could have been alright with this actress playing Lisa long term. She and Bob had the friendship chemistry... though I wonder who thought Bob/Miranda would have worked as a couple... a fling yes.. but as a married couple? Thank gosh Bledsoe Horgan had the wisdom to reunite Bob and Kim.. and bringing back Chris/Nancy full time. Did Nancy ever meet/interact with Miranda? The actress playing Frannie was cute and all american, but my favorite of the Frannie's wasn't her nor Julianne Moore.. but the final Frannie.

My mom used to tell me that Nikki was a model for Jabot.. but I never saw any proof of that... this episode proved she was at least a part time model.. and Victor is trying to dictate Nikki's life even back then. I know that Nikki/Victor were a popular couple back then, but I often think once Nikki married Victor.. she was basically isolated to the ranch with little to no interaction outside the ranch. Perhaps her staying as a model at Jabot would have kept her from being isolated so much. Ashley finding out that Brett was her father started the mental instability of the character. Before that, Ashley was fairly confident... but finding out she isn't an Abbott threw her for a loop. I now understand why the show resorted to Ashley having nervous breakdowns because Eileen could play a melt down like no one else. Brenda and Shari (when they played Ashley) were too strong willed and I couldn't see them playing Ashley having a mental breakdown. I didn't realize Jill/John were still married at this point... when does John find out about the affair between Jill/Jack? Traci... she struggled in the early years... who knew she'd be the one to hold the family together in the later years (she's one of the few characters that never backed down to Victor).

I remember an interview where Zimmer said it was a combination of menopause, quitting smoking, and stress over the show that caused her weight to balloon. The sad part was that the show dressed her quite badly when for years, Reva had been known for being a clothes horse. Even though she was still heavy when she was on OLTL, the show dressed her in blazers and professional outfits that made her look less heavy then the crap GL put her in.

I loved Nadine Pam Long had a knack for creating interesting female characters and Nadine was anything, but boring It's a shame that Nadine was watered down by pining for Buzz... and the actress eventually quit so she obviously wasn't happy with how isolated her character became even though she had a lot of ties/histories with characters that basically got forgotten once Buzz came onto the scene. Nadine/Ross was an interesting pairing that ended before it really got going. I know Jerry V Dorn had said in an interview while still at GL that he was sorry that the pairing wasn't explored as fully as it should have been.

When I was growing up, my parents weren't into religion. After my mom passed away, my dad found his way into religion and I was surprised when he started praying before a meal because he'd never done it before nor had expressed much interest in religion, etc. Maybe if the show had Darlene expressing surprise that they were praying, etc... and maybe Roseanne clarify that she and Dan found prayer and God during hard times (recession/almost losing the house, etc)... then I could have bought it. What's even funnier is that neither Dan/Roseanne know anything about words, etc... yet know how to use smart phones.

One of the reasons people were upset the show had Roseanne say spanking was a valid use of punishment was because it went against the character. In the original show, Roseanne was against spanking and the one time she did spank DJ.. she felt horrible and tearfully said she was sorry for losing it on him. I will say that Roseanne is fairly balanced in terms of showing both liberal and not so liberal ideals thus far. There are a lot of my friends that won't watch the show, and they're aghast that I would watch it.. but I remind them that my family growing up was essentially the Conner family (right down to the safe sofa though we replaced it in the 90s with a nicer sofa)... and that I grew up right next to the suburb that inspired Lanford. I did watch a few episodes of Blackish.. and it's a good show.. but it's in a bad time slot up against CBS on Tuesdays. ODAAT... I loved the original when it was rerun.. and I kind of wished that this show had taken a different title because it's a completely different show then the original (it's a victim of being a remake... and we all know the stigma of remakes even if they are decent).

In the final years, I loved Erica and Annie's verbal smack downs.

About time Carole contributed something of substance. Speaking of which, why was Tinsley invited back? She seems sweet, but seems very vacant (light on upstairs, but no one is home). I think dropping her wouldn't have hurt the show going into the season (heck even introduce one or two friend ofs as well).

Just started to watch the series... After watching 10 episodes, I can see why this took off.... well written characters, lots of character driven stories.. and I can't believe that Betty was going to be killed off so early when she's fascinating to watch.. neither good nor bad.

Oddly, I think killing Reid made sense at least in the context of the history of the show. If you recall, Irna Phillips was known for killing popular/long term characters on her soaps and this particular soap did that in spades back in the 50s/60s/70s. Did I agree with the show killing Reid? No, of course not.. but it is realistic and part of life.

RHOC was reborn in season 9 when the show unloaded Alexis/Gretchen and Lydia quit... so maybe RHOBH could benefit from some pink slips being handed out... just so long as they don't do what they did to RHONY in season 5 (they pink slipped the right people..but were lousy in how they introduced the newbies.). Also, there comes a time that if you are struggling to come up with stories to tell, or if your life is hitting a snag... maybe you should exit stage left.

I think the problem Roseanne is having is that she hasn't acted consistently on a sitcom and/or tv movies for many years.. and has gone back to doing stand up. So I think she was working off some of the rust and adjusting to acting on a soundstage vs stand up. I often think going between two different mediums can be an adjustment (I've noticed stage actors are usually very OTT when they act in sitcom/dramas.. but eventually settle down the longer they are acting). With that said, I noticed in this latest episode she was yelling a little less and was getting back into the swing of things. With that said, even in the 1st episode of the reboot.. she's a lot less stiff then she was doing the 2 episode guest stint she did on Cristela a few years ago.

Felicity La Fortune was a good actress.. but the 1990s type of soap wasn't a good fit for her. She was much more at home with the 1980s type of soap, which was upper class/larger then life in terms of structure and character.

I don't recall Erica with Travis (since I was too young to watch the show at the time they were together)... I do recall Erica with the younger Charlie with Ruth/Mona freaking out over the two as a couple (little did I know that Erica had bedded three generations of men... Nick/Phil/Charlie). With that said, I liked Erica with Dimitri... the 90s (well most of them) seem to find a good balance between shallow/ambitious Erica and the loving wife/mother Erica that the 80s had trouble finding. It's a shame the show ruined them as a couple (breaking them up and reuniting them three times between 1992 and 1997 takes the magic out of a couple). What was interesting was that in the Jack/Erica coupling.. she was the star of that coupling... even during the years that the two weren't together.. she was still front burner and paired in other relationships with varying degrees of success.... Jack, on the other hand, could never find another female to successfully couple with. The show tried in the early 90s (Ceara, Brooke, Angelique, Laurel, even flirting with Gloria)... but none of them took... and I know they tried pairing him with Carmen in the 2000s (which was a big mistake.. deepsixing the strong Carmen/Erica friendship and wasting the potential of the Carmen character). Which makes me think perhaps Jack should have been written out years earlier..imho

Dorit needs to do the minimalist look since she looks way better without make up. I'd rather see Kyle make up free and also just in casual clothes (same with LVP) because less is more applies to them. In regards to RHOA.. please fire Marlo as a friend of... she's just as vile as Kim.

I was in middle school when these episodes aired... but so much was going on. We had Nikki's back problems/alcoholism story being resolved with hints that Victor was thinking of Nikki again in that special way. We met Hilary.. who at the time looked like she would be the newest female that Brad/Paul would be fighting over (since they were feuding ever since Cassandra Rawlins married Brad.. and she passed away before the divorce was final..thus all the money went to Brad instead of Paul like she wanted). At the time, we were led to believe Hilary would be involved in a potential triangle with Brad/Paul... yet in time that wasn't the case. Ryan/Victoria were in their young love stage... I don't recall him talking much about his family so interesting his father was an alcoholic. Nina before she met Ryan... was dating John Silva but feeling inferior/insecure over dating him.. and this is just a few short months after David Kimball had passed. At this time, this seemed like filler.. but in a few short months... her next story would start with Ryan/Nina/Victoria.

The writer strike in 1988 did no favors for a lot of the stories... so when Lorraine Broderick/Victor Miller were demoted in early 1989... they were probably unable to clean up the mess left during the writers strike. I will say Margaret Depriest in her ten month stint as headwriter did some good and not so good of things for the show. She resolved the Cliff/Nina story, paired up Tad/Dixie, started Jack/Erica (which was fresh at the time), and while I think the Eric as a clown story was strange... in a weird way.. I think it actually was needed because she was a new parent and probably felt more then ever she needed to find her father. Did Depriest, or Nixon, write that her father Eric betrayed her by selling his shares to Natalie (her rival)? Also, I had no idea that Jeremy/Skye were a couple...I guess Nixon ended that when she came back on fairly quickly? I

Laurel wasn't a horrible character, I just think her type of character would have fit in better on the show in the 80s then in the 90s. Lorraine B. always had a quirky side.. pairing Janet/Erica/Skye as a witches of eastwick trio was inspired and funny... while Skye accidently saw Dimitri/Maria together and being conflicted about it because of her friendship with Erica and her crush on Edmund.. with Janet being her sounding board. There was a lot of good stuff within the wacky. With that said, I loved how judgmental Erica was to Annie.. and even when both were in Oakhaven.. Erica still kept acting like she was above Annie while Annie pointed out to her that they were both in a mental hospital and that both stabbed someone. I loved Annie's facial expressions and reaction when she found out about Erica/Janet hiding Kinder's body and remarking 'And I'm the crazy one'. If only she found out about Erica stabbing Dimitri and also kidnapping a baby.