Soaplovers

I believe that she only created Joan and Jerry.. and I think they were introduced through interacting with Penny... and that the rest of the family came on when Marland took over. Considering that Cenedella/Lipton caused damage on Guiding Light (hence why the Dobson's were hired to revive it).. I am surprised he was given a shot at head-writing another soap so soon.. unless the Pollock's left suddenly and he was pitch-hitting until a permanent head-writer was found. With that said, I've noticed some corrections being made in the brief time he has been head-writing (Toni becoming more assertive in regards to Steve/Alan... Ann moving out while Carolee/Steve have reconciled... and trying to establish the younger set that the Pollock's had created with no clear cut purpose)... as well as some more in depth character development.

And I don't like that Fallon and Alexis will be getting into a catfight... obviously the new writers don't know what 'anticipation' is because back in the original.. there was a build up before Alexis and Krystle had a cat fight.. using once a season and it came out of left field. I actually liked in the original that Alexis lived in Artist cottage on the property in the second season.. and she was more subtle (like a spider making her web) and less over the top. She also had a warm maternal side that she displayed with Stephen and on occasion Fallon. I'll be curious to see how N. Sheridan will play this Alexis.. because she can be icy and cold with a hint of emotion. If anything, she should be channeling Paige Matheson and not Edie Brit in order to play this version of Alexis.

I recall a long time ago where one of the actors interview couldn't wait till the show aired past a certain point because then they would be getting residuals for episodes rerun.. so it is possible it has to do with the performers not getting paid if the reruns stopped at a certain point (end of 1981).

Even good writers like Marland were guilty of propping a character (Lily).. and having the whole town adore her. I bet if Hallmark Channel was around in the 80s.. he would have written screenplays for their movies since ATWT during his watch was like a daily Hallmark channel movie.

I always figured Nikki and Victor knew of each other.. but at this time (spring-summer 1980).. both were in different points in their lives so that even if they met one another.. it wouldn't have been love at first sight. Nikki was with Greg and dealing with the cult.. while Victor was still with Julia. I think by the time they met in the fall of 1981... both were at places in their lives where they would officially meet and notice one another in that way. Bond was a good actress... but she seemed almost too nice to be Jill. Deborah Adair also was sweet.. but she also gave a look that said to not cross her. This first Patty was a good actress... but maybe she would have been too young to interact her with Danny and Jack... just a guess.

She was marginalized because she had the guts to speak out about the horrible writing. While I think Lisa wad past having front burning stories all the time...she had so many ties that being strong support would have been enough. At the same time, she at least didn't sing katie's praises all the time like poor Nancy did.

I know Cenedella has recently taken over as head-writer.. but I have noticed a slight difference in how he and the script writers are handling the day to day... it seems like there are more conversations/character moments then when the Pollock's were head-writers. i will be interested to see how long he lasts as headwriter before he is given the ax.

I actually liked the wealthier slant most of the soaps took in the 80s, even on ATWT... it was nice to have Lucinda vs Lisa that developed in the later part of the 80s. I guess Marland felt a farm family had to be introduced hence why the show got stuck with the insufferable Snyder clan.

Been watching some of oltl on YouTube. I was amazed at the difference in AE's acting from her first stint (78 to 81) and her second sting (when she first came back in 85..she was more serious and less flighty then in the later 80s which surprised me). I also was amazed at how much I enjoyed her replacement karen Witter in the part....her Tina was less flighty (save for when she started in 1990) and somewhat less selfish then AE's which is why I don't get how when KT debuted that Tina regressed to levels of low intelligence again (though I did like the few times when KT played Tina more serious that I thought what could have been). Oddly...I also loved how when AE came back in 2008 and 2011 that she effortlessly played well against Blair, Cain, and David vickers...characters her replacement played opposite.

I would love if one of the housewives realized that plastic surgery is ruining their lives..and actually tried to go to counseling for it...because plastic surgery is an addiction usually driven by low self worth. With that said, Delores, Carole, etc should habe an intervention staged. And no thanks to Brandi...she brought nothing to the table.

Would Victoria Malloy have worked on the show as the 80s continued... the 80s was less about grit and angst.. and more about glitz and glamour... I could have seen her Leslie fitting into the 80s version of Y & R.. moreso then Lorie, Peggy, or Chris would have..imho.

See why I suggested it

I recall the story... she had investigated and found out that the baby was alive and found out that Esther was keeping the baby for herself. She actually got the baby back with the intention of returning her to those involved.. but that right before she did so, she overheard Dimitri and someone else talking about the baby.. and they agree that it was probably better that the baby had not lived because of all the anguish the baby would have been exposed too. So Erica flashed back to feeling abandoned by her father.. and decided that she would raise the baby because she'd lost her baby. In an odd sense.. it made sense and she was punished and shunned by almost everyone except for Janet (which helped them repair their fractured friendship because Janet knew of the one night stand between Maria and Dimitri but didn't tell Erica). In an odd way, it was well written and kind of made sense for Erica to do this.

Kim would be better suited to OC then BH. Tamra, Kelly, and Vicki would make her wish she were back in Atlanta.

I liked Lorraine Broderick's mid 90s stint as head-writer.. it kind of cleaned up the rough edges of MMT's first stint.. and had set up some good stories for when MMT's second stint started (which MMT totally jettisoned). In fact, I liked her final stint wrapping up the final months of the show's run on ABC until the last second rewrite.

Love them or hate them, but the show won Emmy's for best show during their tenure... and I have to admit I enjoyed their tenure (of course, I liked when they wrote Dynasty.. and even enjoyed the few scenes I saw of their take on General Hospital). I will be interested to see Cendella's, Depriest, and Marland's (the world's most over-rated writer) take on this show.

From what I understand.. Cendella was basically kicked off head-writing Guiding Light for being plot-driven. Guess soap operas recycled bad writers even back in the 70s.

I actually think Luke and Laura divorcing wasn't a bad thing.. what was bad was that Laura got the shaft as a character after the divorce.. even after Luke was finally written off the show. In real life, couples do change and sometimes outgrow one another.. and Laura was fairly young when she married Luke.. so it would make sense for them to grow apart especially once they had a family.. with him still craving the adventure/danger.. and Laura wanting to set down roots and give her family the stability that she wasn't given (and sadly failing at). I do recall one scene during the early years of their return in the 90s when Luke/Laura separated.. and Laura was having a heart to heart with Amy... and Amy pointing out that Laura always craved stability.. yet always would grow bored.. hence why she would always choose Luke over Scotty.. and asked Laura what made this time different.. and Laura didn't have an answer. I think this scene happened during Labine's stint as writer.

So the reruns of The Doctors just had the writer change from the Pollocks to R. Cenedella.... just curious as to how he fared on Another World (his stint on GL wasn't so good, from what I heart). I know he came right after Agnes Nixon, right before Harding Lemay.. so I'm curious as to what his style of writing is like.

So the officially changing of the writing regime occurred in today's episodes. I noticed a tonal shift, as well as, the sudden reintroduction of that annoying old shrew back onto the show.

Girls like Stacy are the reason why restraining orders were invented. Someone actually posted once on Twitter that they couldn't believe how much she's changed for the worst since she first debuted a few months ago... and I'm like 'girlfriend was thinking about suicide when she first debuted so I don't see how much worse it can get'. I'm going to miss the Pollock's since their time is coming to an end.. but I am liking the gradual change in Ann.. and at this point of the story, she isn't after Steve...and even is avoiding going back to their house as much as possible. That nightmare she had even hinted that she isn't in love with him... so I'm curious to see when that flips.

Bonnie Hunt (Davis Rules, The Building, The Bonnie Hunt Show, and Life with Bonnie.. which lasted two seasons and netted her a post cancellation emmy nom.)

Stockard Channing (apart from a recurring role as First lady in The west Wing... she had three sitcoms.. 2 in the late 70s/early 80s, and one in the mid 2000s that bombed). kristen Chenoweth (she was the best part of Pushing Daisies.. but that show barely lasted two seasons.. her first lead sitcom in 2000/2001 bombed.. and GCB also didn't do well.. but only because of the time slot and the miscasting of the lead character).

I could very well see Teddi choosing not to come back for another season of RHOBH, if she's smart. She's fighting a losing battle.. and she seems to have a nice husband and family plus a fairly decent career. So I read a rumor that the women of the OC are filming their season 13 intro. I wonder if season 13 will be a 12 or 13 episode season.. like in the good old days.

In her defense, Monty did swift changes in 1977/1978 that worked wonders.. but I think the difference between the start of her first stint vs her second stint was that she kept some of the stronger actors/characters/stories.. and added to the stories. For example, the Jeff/Monica/Heather/Lesley/Rick situation that started with the Pollocks was maintained.. as well as the start of the Diana/Heather connection... plus Laura was kept on as well.. while the new characters added were added to ongoing plots. When Monty came back in 1991... she quickly put Robert/Anna back together with little to no build up (I think the actress playing Robert's main squeeze had quit just before Monty came back)... killed off a core character with loads of potential (Dawn).. and added a family (Eckerts) with loads of airtime then quickly wrote most of them out.. with none of the characters connected to GH. Plus, drove Robert/Anna off the show. The difference was that when she came on the first time.. the show was in dire straits.. and in early 1991.. the show wasn't strong, but nowhere near the condition it was before.