Soaplovers

I'd forgotten that another actress played Angie pre-Maeve Kincaid. I wonder what she was like as Angie.

last night's RHOBH was mostly drama free.. and actually kind of fun till the end of the episode. Welcome to Amsterdam never sounded so onimous LOL http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2015/02/rhobh-recap-welcome-to-amsterdam/

I agree it's a shame there isn't any early Alice stuff available any longer. I'd love to seen perky teenybopper Alice, and beatnik/artistic Alice as well. It just seems like Irna Phillips and the following writers loved Pat and Missy as the main girls while Alice was just a b-character. Thank gosh Agnes Nixon rescued her.

I actually thought that the first episode nicely caught us up with the veterans.. and nicely introduced both housewives effortlessly. I even liked that Gamble and pettifleur knew each other pre-show.. and that if rumours have been swirling around about Gamble pre-show.. then it makes sense she would defend Gina and be her supporter.. but time will tell. Janet: Such a little gossip and I like that she admitted she and Gina are frenimies. I always got that vibe about them last season. They will bicker, apoligize, and bicker again. Her talking heads were hilarious especially when talking to the cake designer LOL Jackie/Chyka/Lydia: I liked their lunch.. it was a good balance of gossip and actually talking about their private lives. I think when RHOBH films for season 6, they look at this first episode on how to balance the gossip with day to day lives of the women. Lydia: I do think she is partly trying to make amends with Gina due to the backlash she got last season, but I also think they were actually friends.. hence why Gina was more guarded and hurt by her then by Janet/Andrea. Gamble: She seems very eccentric.. kind of like an Australian Shannon Beador.. kinda of. Pettifeur: She seems very in your face and very militant. I'd love for her to appear on some of the american housewife shows. I think she could shade the heck out of all the Atlanta housewives Gina: So far, so good.

I was hoping for the reunion not to be so stressful and toxic, I hope that some fun moments were filmed and will be shown to balance out the toxicity. I was afraid with Andy there that Brandi and Kim would be protected to some degree.. but I'm hearing differently, so that might be good.

The music was too old fashion and the leaves had nothing to do with a light house. I think the opening music during the late 70s should have been more dark and intense.. to signal the more psychological undertones of GL that happened circa 1975 to 1980. Still that leaf opening with the soft music was loads above the disco opening that Marland and co. opted for. I much liked the 1983 to 1986 theme with the sweeping orchestra and even the more sync version.

I do think Swajeski did well with what she was given once Lemay left again. Considering she was a program director at NBC daytime when she took over, I think she did pretty well carrying out the outlines Lemay left (if rumors were true). In fact, I think she did well with Rachel's character considering that a lot of whatever Lemay would have planned for her had to be changed given the unexpected death of Douglass Watson. In fact, she was smart to interact Mitch/Rachel after Mac's death at the same time as Felicia's first love Lucas returned.. and how the Felicia/Mitch marriage ended was very realistic because the two had grown apart and traveled different paths. And I think Iris' character was handled very well under Swajeski as well. Did she write Iris' romance with blue collar Hank, or was that her successor Peggy S?

From what I heard, P & G didn't like Marland's story projections for ATWT long-term and thought that the Dobson's could help revamp the show the same way they helped revamp GL in 1975. Marland said that this was the only time he took over a show that was in such great shape that he didn't really have to do too much to fix it.. He just carried on for a long time with the stories set out by the Dobsons. I can say that I enjoyed watching the 1980 episodes.. but 1981 and 1982 episodes that he wrote were a chore for me. I read an interview once that the Dobson's would write out the outline/treatment of where they wanted the plot to go.. and had the writers write out the scripts. It was more a team effort, and the Dobson's always watched how the actors performed the scripts and would have the writers modify future scripts if an actor or actress were playing it differently (which I suspect is why Holly was eventually redeemed with the recast in the mid 70s). Marland was more the type that was more hands on and less a team effort.. from what I've read. I just don't think GL was the right fit for him and it was probably a blessing he only last 2 1/2 years on the show before he quit in a huff leaving all these byzantine stories with no resolution.

I think once Marland died, no one could really write the Snyders properly and the family should have been phased out. Unlike the Reardons on GL, I never got the sense that the Snyders were a nice family and seemed more toxic then loving to me. I actually liked the Reardon's kitchen and the bar/boarding house setting. It was a better way to connect the family to GL and keep them connected. I think the Snyder's living on a farm with that ugly set (which survived till the end sadly) isolated them in a way from the rest of the show. I just couldn't see characters just popping by for a cup of coffee.. nor could I see them just popping by the other houses for a cup of coffee/gossip.. etc. It would have been better to have them live in a working class part of Oakdale.. and Marland could have still had the whole haves vs the have nots. Perhaps have Emma being a single mother living in the family home, struggling to keep up with payments because of hard times.. and maybe have a greasy spoon type of diner, or bar, for the Snyders to run.. maybe by the hospital perhaps. Maybe where the doctors/nurses go when off their shift. Maybe they would have always gone there.. just wasn't seen or mentioned much. Just my two cents.

I always thought perhaps the Snyders had a diner, with them living in a house in the working class part of Oakdale. Would have kept them more connected to the canvas. I didn't like that people went to the Snyder's for Christmas, everyone should have gone to the Hughes house.. the actual anchor of the show.

I always thought that the Snyders were too isolated from the rest of the show especially in the later years. The first few years they were on the show, they seemed connected to the rest of the show.. but as time went on, that changed. Perhaps they should have burned the farm down and moved the family into a house in town.

I think Aunt Mary was introduced near the end of Douglas Marland's outlines, and I don't his successors knew quite how to write for all the characters so they started to be eased out.. starting with Hutch/Debbie/Woody/Aunt Mary.. and I think Emma's fiance Ned shortly thereafter.

I'll say it again, but both Rosie O and Whoopi were not good for the show. Rosie O. might have appeared more subdued this go-around, but I have to wonder if that was due to being told backstage to act like that and not by choice. I do have to wonder if perhaps Rosie O. can't handle the daily grind of a talk show and also have a successful marriage? Whoopi also has employed the same bullying tactics used by Rosie O in the past. Perhaps, both should go and we bring on actually credible news people to be on the panel.. especially since The View is part of the ABC news division now (or did I misread that?).

NO major blow-ups on RHOBH tonight... Brandi sober is still not a likable Brandi.. except she's mean instead of giggly. http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2015/02/rhobh-surprise-review/

I thought it was cause they clashed. I do think some of the later stuff was more Swajeski then Lemay. I know that Dean/Jenna was inspired by her real life relationship with someone she was serious with... Lorna certainly was a great creation that ended up becoming Felicia's long lost daughter, but I don't think she was planned to be her daughter.. which makes me wonder who Lemay might have made her adopted daughter.

Melbourne

Rosie is the same way. I think that's why both she and Whoopi butted heads. When Rosie wasn't there, Whoopi is more relaxed.. when Whoopi isn't there, Rosie would be more relaxed. We shall see how things pan out for the future.

I do think NBC has suffered from the SNL type of comedy being applied to both prime time and its late night talk shows. There was a reason that the cast members were called 'Not ready for Prime time'. It was meant to be shown outside of prime-time. If you love that type of comedy, that's great... but a lot of people I know won't even watch NBC anymore because of the SNL element invading all aspects of NBC. And I'm talking 20s, 30s and beyond. Like I said before, I think Leslie Jones has natural comic timing, but there is only so much she can do with the lousy skits provided. I think Jane Curtain also did decent with the weekend update bit, but that was due to her abilities and not the jokes provided. Tina and Amy pale in comparison to her, imho.

Is it really true that NBC took more control over SNL in the late 90s/early 2000s? If so, this could explain why I stopped liking the show gradually from that era on till now. I tried to sit through an episode from this season and didn't find it really funny at all. I'm not sure if its the writing, or if the performers lack comic timing to make it work? With that said, I liked Jane, Amy, and Tina at the WU desk. Jane still has that dead pan line delivery that made her famous. I'd rather the show had employed the shark at the door bit instead of Melissa Mccarthy doing a bad impression of a Chris Farley character.. and not a fan of Emma Stone's attempt to mimic a great Gilda Radner character. I'd rather the show had focused more on cast members and less on the guest hosts myself. Plus, I would have included a Debbie Downer skit. I do think Lorraine/Jane/Gilda were a strong female comedy trio.. the best teaming of female talent.. though Nora/Jan/Victoria were also a good teaming in the late 80s.. same with Ana/Molly/Cheri in the late 90s. Maya/Tina/Amy not so much.. though I loved Maya. Lastly, i do think Leslie Jones has a lot of potential.. she just needs better writing to help support her natural comic timing.

So Lemay set up Matt/Josie as an 80s version of Romeo & Juliet.. i.e. Frame vs. Cory?

Did Sharlene morph in personality with the recast?

The fact Brandi says Eileen is boring doesn't say much and shouldn't really be taken seriously. Brandi isn't married, we can't see her being a mother, and her work scenes pale in comparison.. she should never have been upgraded to a full time housewife. She's basically been a friend of a housewife, only with a diamond in her hand and a higher pay check. Apparently, Tamra on RHOC is now a grandmother. I read an article that filming for season 10 has been boring.. and only Tamra is bringing it.. but in the sense of her day to day life. I will say her son knocking up the gun sales woman actually saved her job.

Madonna actually had pretty strong radio airplay until 2003 when she was 44/45. What got her banned from radio here in the US wasn't her age, but due to the fact that her CD American Life was released just as the war against Iraq was starting. She never really regained radio airplay, but in this day and age, you can still have a decent hit without much airplay. Her problem is that she doesn't promote the right way. She needs to be performing on shows like The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, etc. That will get people to buy her songs.. and increase her chances of getting a top 40 single. Give me all my Luv wasn't a great song, but the performance of it at the Superbowl guaranteed it a top 10 placement on the charts. She didn't perform Girl Gone Wild nor Turn up the radio on tv.. and they didn't chart on the US charts. I think performing Living for Love on the Grammy's was a good move, but a lot of people who aren't her fans liked the song.. but wished she wasn't wearing what she was wearing. I think she's trying too hard to stay relevant, when she doesn't really have to try..imho

His eyes Actually I'm glad Rosie is leaving, and I knew it was bad to have her back again. She's a bully, plain and simple. I think a talk show is just not in the cards for her anymore. Now we need Whoopi to go and maybe revamp the View into something completely different. Not sure what, but something different.

The reason I think that P & G should have switched Marland to another show in 1990/1991 was due to the mindset of P & G in the old days that believed that writers would burn out/ repeat themselves if they stayed at the same show for too long. This was probably due to Harding Lemay basically becoming burnt out at AW after being there for almost 8 years, and him admitting to that fact. Hence why you saw the Dobson's switched to ATWT while Marland was switched to GL. I don't think Marland would have worked at AW to be honest. I could have seen Pam Long at AW more then Marland, tbh. I do think Angel ending up with Seth made sense. Two nice people finding each other and riding off together. Not a thing for romance novels, but it was a nice B/C story.