Soaplovers

Nina Webster was pretty fiesty as the girl from the wrong side of the tracks

So had Lynde stayed on as Leslie.. would the show have ventured to do the Lori/Leslie/Lance triangle... or would Leslie have stayed with Brad, do you think?

Starting the October 1974 episodes on Retro, Penny is kind of a demon child with the low blow of bringing up her late brother Buddy to Althea. Plus, we are seeing Toni moving on slowly while persumed dead Mike is in the hospital in Asia with bandages on his face. That particular story is an example of long term fallout and how modern soaps don't employ that technique. The Toni/Mike/Alan/Margo story as it stands now became possible because of Penny's crush and scheming to get Mike back in the summer of 1973. One action by one character causing a domino affect that's being felt over a year later on the show. Modern day soaps can do this, but modify the pace to fit in with modern day viewers.

Riverdale last season got those ratings...and crazy ex girlfriend gets even lower ratings..yet both lived to see another week/season.

That last sentence is why I think Bethenny has to go. If she weren't on, we would see more equal focus on all the women. This is an ensemble, not the Bethenny show. Why the show caters to her demands, I'll never know.

Sadly, I think Stacy H could have been a good Patty.. but the show decided to make the character into a redeemable caricature instead of a fully 3D character struggling to maintain balance. Her first few months as Mary Jane/Patty before the character went caricature.. she was conflicted about going along with Victor's plan before devolving fully into mental illness. There was one scene where she was angry about not being able to comfort her brother Paul after Nikki broke off their engagement and how she blamed Victor. I do agree that LS quitting affected the long term potential of Patty especially since she quit a short time before the Patty shooting Jack story took place. I didn't think Andrea Evans was horrible as Patty and maybe if she'd played Patty from the start, it would have been different... but there is one youtube out there where she was playing Patty doing the divorce talk with Jack and she did a good job, I thought.

I agree with that assessment of Jill. I do recall when Jess Walton first took over permanently as Jill, she played Jill more like how Brenda had played her for at least the first year or two before gradually making Jill her own. I don't think I could have bought Jess playing Jill in the 70s at least in the context of how the character was written back then. She would have played a more gritty Jill, not the more demure version of early Jill..imho. Years ago, there were episodes on youtube from Deborah's last days as Jill and Brenda's first day as Jill back.. from what I recall.. it was like night and day the portrayals.. that is. Just like I bet on Ryan's Hope when Edwards left and IK came back as Delia (since Edwards was more venerable and elegant as Delia.. while IK (love her) was more like a bull in a china shop)... that there would have been a huge adjustment. 1982 was a year of transition for the show. While the Brooks and Fosters (save for Jill) all departed in 1982, at least there was the Williams, Nikki/Victor, Kay/Jill, and Jack/John there to stabilize things to an extent.

I actually have to say I liked Deborah adairs take on Jill. The Jill I really remember is Jess Walton and the very ending of Brenda Dicksons stint, but I had heard from my late mom and other relatives that they liked DA as Jill. I bet it was jarring when Brenda Dickson came back in 1983 considering all the changes in Jill in the 3 years she was gone. There was no way that BD would have played this scene the way DA did...where she is marrying John for security, yet truly loves and cares for John due to the father figure angle. Jill dated Andy??? I can imagine this Jill dating him, but not the other two Jills.

That last episode with Patty and Carl actually makes what happened to her many years later kind of fit. Talk of her living in a fantasy world, not understanding that Jack wasn't in love with her, etc. With that said, she and Jack had closure in spring of 1984 and she remained on the show for another 6 months or so involved with Danny and Traci. She also was not a big fan of Paul dating Lauren just like her mother. And I liked seeing Mary Williams as fully 3 D character trying to reason with Carl about Patty and Jack. My late mom was in her late 20s and said she recalled many a wcene of Mary lening agaimst the fire place worried abput her children and Carl...and sure enough, she leaned against the fire place worried about Patty and Carl's reaction to patty being pregnant lol I truly think patty leaving in the mid 80s dismantled the Williams family. She had a lot of story line potential and I could have seen her fitting in as the late 80s arrived. Her leaving caused Mary to become focused just on Paul and becoming the one note character...when the character had a lot of story in the first half of the 80s.

The last of the 4 ( November 1982) has Angela in it.

In my view, I think IK shouldn't have come back to play Delia...the character had morphed and changed in the 3 years that she had been 0layed by Edwards...even with the show teying to regress Dee in 1981, Edwards still didn't play her as totally regressed. I am curious to see how IK handled playing Delia in 1982 when she still had Crystal Palace since she was vocal about not liking that aspect.

Seeing mary/carl/patty...good scenes. I didn't know Blake marler was 9n this show! Pretty Jill!!

Yup, that was his idea. I read a review of season 1 of the original Dynasty.. where it was a story about the haves and the have nots.. but that the shift in season 2 to the Carringtons with only Claudia remaining was because viewers at the time wanted to see the wealth and prestige.. an escape from their middle class/working class life. I actually think in 2017, viewers would be more open to seeing the middle class/working class element because right now.. most of the country hates the wealthy it seems. Maybe have the Carringtons be the bad guys, the Colby's being the grey area type of characters since they newly became wealthy, and the Blaisdels being the working class/middle class section with Matthew's job providing insurance to help treat Claudia's mental illness.. and his company opting to cut insurance benefits for workers, etc. And the new show runner in a recent interview said she was conflicted about the Matthew Blasidel twist because she liked the actor and how he interacted with Cristal, etc. And that Esther had suggested the show focus more on the family aspect as opposed to the business aspect (probably recalling that she tried the business aspect in season 1 of the original show and it didn't go over well). So the show runner decided to go this route because of that. I do wonder how Claudia in this version will play out because she seems bat [!@#$%^&*] crazy already while in the original.. she had some semblance of sanity in the 1st season of the original show.

T bh, the original show wasn't masterpiece theater...it did provide the blue print for current CW and reality shows....and don't forget Alexis made throwing shade an art form. However, I have read interviews with the showrunner...who did watch the original...and she has a good rapport with esther..so I think that makes me feel a little better. Contrast that with cidre..who never watched the show nor wanted to listen to David Jacobs. Melinda Clarke is who I could accept as Alexis if she must be recast.

Those final months of loving show what happens when a network doesnt interfere..and let's the writers focus on their jobs. ABC wanted a spinoff/revamp..so the last headwriters went about doing that with a well written murder mystery, plus a logical ending to alex/ava with that annoying red headed interloper. Im sure ava was written out due to cutting costs even though Ava vs Sydney would have been fun..imho. Looking at scenes throughout the run of the show, Gwyn seemed aimless and unsatisfied..keeping up with appearances and maintaining status. So it makes sense she would finally snap (there was a period of time in the early to mid 90s that her character tried to find herself..working as a bar tender, in a hotel, and finally at Tess' agency). And her and Trisha never had a smooth relationship...she was always teying to control Trisha...who just wanted to live her life and didn't care about status..just love and contentment...a contrast to Gwyn. When trisha 'died'..gwyn felt regret and transferred those maternal feelings to Janie then Steffi. And when Trisha turned out to be alive...she thought she had a 2nd chance to repair things with her daughter...only to have her daughter not remember her and reject her. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The final writers took the various misdirection of the Gwyn character and put it to good use.

Blake and Fallon were arguing and he had mentioned that her mother no longer had a say since she choose to leave years before....and then Cristal asked Steven about Alexis since no one would mention her..and before he could answer..they got interrupted. There are a lot of characters inteoduced..so it's smart to hold off on Alexis being introduced till later in the season...imho

Based on the last few pages...both Kim Z and Nene did some really low down and trashy stuff. I think both of them are trash and RHOA was just fine without either of them on the show. I think we need to go back to not rewarding bad behavior in reality shows. Porsha should never have been allowed to return after going after Kenya, but she was rewarded with continued employment...when she is neither married, has no kids, and isn't really housewife material. RHONJ Fun, yet sad start to the season. Soggy has lost her marbles and considering the loss teresa and to a lesser extent Melissa have gone tgomrough...Siggy might have backed off a bit.

Just finished watching the pilot... not horrible, but not good either. I do like that Claudia looks more like a hot mess then the more subdued/elegant version of season 1/2 of Claudia in the original version. I wish that each scene was longer then a minute each,but I do like the mentions of Alexis.. plus Fallon vs Blake in business (story ideas from the 1st season of the original show). Cristal seems more like a bitch then a good guy.. so I'm curious to see what Alexis will be like when she does show up.

They definitely need Claudia on the show, that's for sure. Like her or hate her, she was an important element to the original show.. the outsider..moreso then Krystle ever was.

I truly believe that Bledsoe Horgan didn't get enough credit for cleaning up the show in late 1984 through most of 1985. If anything, she laid the foundation so that Marland could get to work on crafting his stories. I actually think the Marie saga was going on during this time as well... the only change Marland did to the story was creating the Douglas Cummings character as well as having Kim getting stalked by him. The Brian/Barbara/Shannon triangle was in full swing by the time Marland came on.. and all he did was add Duncan. Lily/Dusty were the young angst couple..and Marland added Holden to cause complications. And I do believe marisa Tomei quit the show as her contract was up.. and if I think Marland scripted Marcy and Stuart's wedding before they left the show.

I actually didn't know jersey premiered lol Judging by what I saw, I'm going to assume Siggy will get the villianess edit. It seems like the new girl, Melissa, and Danielle will have issues with her.

When my late mom was alive, she said her fav Margo was Margaret Colin...but by the time I was old enough, I witness HBS last year or so as Margo. Timing is everything cause when Ellen Dolan announced she as leaving the show, it was right after HBS signed as Nora...mo the after saying she would have been open to going back as Margo. With that said, how do you think Margo would have differed if HBS had resumed playing Margo again after Ellen Dolan left the role? Both of the actresses had different takes on the character...HBS was more sarcastic...while Ellen Dolan was sarcastic, but with a harsher undertone then either Margaret C or HBS (a far cry from her Maureen Reardon where she was perkier then her replacement). Also, I'm going to be unpopular...but I liked Heather R's take on Lily better then Martha's, but I will say I liked that Martha played Lily differently when she first came back to the role (more like heathers version then her original version). But I have to say I liked Noelle's take of Lily in the last few years of the show. After all, she did play the Lily Walsh version on Loving....and we got an answer as to how he would have written Trisha long term when he wrote for Lily Walsh.

The sets were so big and orange. So 80s That exchange between kristen/s tephanie highlights how insecure stephanie was. She was even jealous of her own daughter getting any attention from Eric. I don't recall...was that also the reason why she and Felicia didn't get along?

Kenya made season 5 of RHOA crackle and pop. Her twirl and gone with the wind fabulous was memorable. The only time Kim fields was interesting was when she and Kenya faced off.

To me, Jack was Erica's fall back..never truly her true love. I would say Erica was his but never hers. I recall during the Libosone arc that both of them dran it...he confessed he was still in love with her and Erica let him know that she cared for him but wasn't in love with him. Adam and Erica were more like a partnership then a romance so of course he never tried to change her. He liked the challenge she presented and he never got bored because he could never control her. I love watching some of the 1989 episodes especially the ones that Depriest were headwriter of. Some of her ideas were odd, but the show had more of a community feel then when broderick/miller were headwriting. She started erica/Jack, tad/Dixie, and it's interesting she was the one to create Trevor while Natalie was trying to move on from Jeremy..who was with Skye! I don't recall that relationship...so I'm guessing when Nixon came back she ended it because Jeremy and his son were going for Ceara by end of 1990.