Soaplovers

After tonight's finale of RHOBH, i'll be sitting out watching the reunion.. too messy imho. I wish the reunions were more like they used to be.. with the housewives sitting around laughing and having a good time without much fighting. Then I'll tune back in for the lost scene episode because most of the time, I'd wish they were included in the show.

Watching on netflix, the one character I'd probably date would be Ted. I do think the opening credit change between season 3 and 4 is symbolic to me. Changing from the hotties dancing in next to nothing to couples embracing along with friendships between the characters shows me that the characters were evolving beyond the one night stands and finally embracing adult-hood.

It seems like the casting change from Mary #2 to Mary #3 happened right away. I actually think Mary #1 could be very smug and judgmental, but she also was fiesty and interesting. I actually do think if Mary #2 had stayed on, that Mary would have become more of a supporting character. Mary #2 seemed more youthful and less harsh then #1, imho. Watched some youtube videos of the last weeks of RH, and I think having Delia remarry Roger at the end really show-cased how much her character never changed or grew up. I would have much preferred Delia ending up single, but successful and more confident as opposed to married when the show ended.

The old focus of the housewives series is most apparent in RHOC season 1 through 3, RHONYC season 1 through 2 (though season 2 had some craziness due to Kelly but not to the heights of season 3 and thereafter), and even RH of Atlanta season 1 was pretty tame compared to later seasons. I liked that the latest episode of RH of Beverly Hills was more of a throwback to old school housewives with the showcasing of Kim, Yolanda, and Kyle in individual scenes. The only housewife that seems to be shown with friends that aren't housewives or official 'friends of' is Brandi.. but that is mostly due to the fact that her kids can't be shown though I did enjoy the photo shoot for her book cover.. shame her book editor isn't able to advise her on personal matters.

I knew Tamra would feud with someone, but figured it would be the former Miss Kentucky, not Danielle If the show is still stale, then i could see Tamra being booted since she would be the problem.

1999 through 2002 had a series of short-term vigenettes/stories for Holly that would start and end suddenly after a few weeks or months. Case in point: Holly's stay in the mental hospital that had several scenes of her interacting with Annie, but no follow through once both were released. Fletcher's return which only lasted a matter of a few months only for him to suddenly leave again taking Meg with him with Holly's blessing. Holly with Sam the cowboy which lasted a few months with heavy flirting but being kept apart because both were out on parole. I still remember a scene where Holly and Sam were heavily flirting on the phone while Ross exclaimed that he's been reduced to chaporoning a phone sex date LOL She seemed determined to prove he was framed and was very confident.. then one day he steals money never to be seen again. I remember they had good chemistry. Holly flirting with Billy, which was interesting but I think Jordan Clarke was having trouble in real life so they tried to throw in Buzz to make it a triangle but nothing came of it. Holly/Olivia being friends and it seemed like there were some homoerotic underlying feelings.. hearing that The Children's hour was the inspiration.. I have a feeling Holly would have come out but Olivia would have been straight. i did like that Jill Lorie Hurst picked up that thread with Olivia.. even having Olivia/Holly interact about it in the last episodes of the series. I almost think that the show didn't really want to write for her, but because fans wrote in.. they were almost forced to write for her. I often saw Reva, Vanessa, and Holly becoming interesting Matriarch's of the show.. Reva being the rough around the edges one (i.e. like the mom from Queer as Folk), Vanessa being more of the elegant but cold one, and Holly being the cynical, sarcastic one.

I know the OC is not the most exciting show, but they are a comfortable old friend. I like there is an even # of blondes and burnettes for once. I remember season 6 was all blondes that looked inter changable to me. I'm wondering how the new three women are fitting in. It appears that the blonde (Shannon) is friendly with tamra/Heather.. but not sure how the former Miss Kentucky and the other female (who is rumoured to have a marriage in name only) will jive with the cast.

1997 was the last year that GL really felt like GL and the last time it had strong potential to correct itself after the death of Maureen. You had a love to hate villianess in Annie Dutton, Reva/Josh were together as were Vanessa/Matt.. and the start of Cassie was promising while you saw Blake/Holly/Roger/Ross/Fletcher front and center as well as Abby/Rick being positioned as the next generation Bauer tent couple. Who would have known 1998 would be almost the direct opposite of 1997 with Reva front and center at the expense of other characters, Dinah turning into a psycho and Holly becoming an alcoholic stalker (and I think the headwriters crafted the far superior Loving Murders which involved Gwen as a serial killer driven mad by losing her daughter and being rejected by her).

I didn't mind Gretchen in Season 4 at all, but once she hooked up with Slade she lost all purpose for me. I think she should have been cut loose after season 6.I t If I had to choose between Vicki and Tamra, I would say to cut Tamra just because Vicki is so funny to watch when she gets worked up. Every season has at least one funny meltdown moment for me. Family Van, Embarrassing Brianna on a date, surprising Michael at college, trying to reach someone in customer service, having a football hit her in the head, falling on her way up to accept an award, etc.

I think RHOC has always had cast changes so it's never been stagnant like New Jersey has gotten nor has it been as toxic as NY got in season 4. I think season 8 was starting to fall into Jersey territory (i.e. being stagnant with Tamra/Vicki/Gretchen fighting over Gretchen cheating since season 4 again with Alexis thrown into the mix since she was friends with Gretchen). With Gretchen, Alexis, and Lydia gone.. and with two or three new housewives coming on.. the show will either be recharged in season 9 or be directionless like BH was this season.

It almost seems like CH was miscast as Faith because her version wasn't wishy washy, she was upfront, independent, and totally was a strong supporter of Jill/Frank while the other three Faith's were somewhat similiar (with Faith #1 being all shy and fragile, Faith #2 being more confident but somewhat eccentric, and Faith #4 being whiny and more passive). I don't see CH's Faith ever going after Frank like KMG's character did either. Also, I just started the episodes with Mary #2 and I like her take on the character. She has some of the same mannerism as Kate Mulgrew, but she seems a little softer and not as harsh as KM was as Mary. I think had the show given her more time, I think she would have made a good Mary. I haven't seen Mary #3 or #4 yet to judge. While viewing the Pat/Delia marriage... I think both were at fault for the marriage being so dysfunctional. I think Pat should have taken a firmer line with Delia, while I think Delia needed to stop thinking of her needs so much. There were a few instances where Pat is high on pills and Delia is almost the logical one... one must question how far gone they are if Delia is making more sense then they are LOL. I am interested to see how Randal Edwards does as Delia.. but I have countless episodes to go through before getting to the cast switch. Also, love Rae! I can see why she took off quite quickly and was kept on for several years while other non Ryan/Coledge characters lasted a shorter time. It's a shame her daughter Kim was so annoying because Rae could have been a jumping off point to expand the canvas of the show beyond the Ryans/Coledges. I think part of the problem was that the Labine's kind of refused to evolve the show beyond their original format (The Ape, and the King Tut story don't count). Shame 1982 isnt available anywhere because it sounds interesting. It seems from reading monthly summaries of the show in 1982 that the Labines introduced Hollis Kirkland, and had him revealed as Kim's father while he was interacting/flirting with Jill. Shame the Jill/hollis flirtation was dropped cause it could have been an interesting reversal of Frank/Jill/Rae story from 1977/1978 with Jill in Rae's role and Rae in Jill's role.

When did Cecile turn into a cartoon?

Been watching some episodes on youtube from late 1977. I love Faith especially played by Catherine Hicks. I did find out the exact episode # that her replacement took over, and even though the script was written as if Catherine Hicks was playing the character, the new actress had a different way of delivering the lines. While CH seemed to have spirit, confidence, and a fun element... her replacement seemed a little whiny, a little unsure of herself, and more passive. It makes me wonder if Faith would have had all the perils of the 2nd half of 1978 through 1979 with Tom, if CH had stayed in the part. Or if CH would have played Faith as less of a victim.

I think the actress that played Katie opted to leave, but I think the reason that a Hilary/Jim/Katie triangle didn't happen was probably because someone backstage probably pointed out to Pam Long that Katie wasn't the type to fight for a guy, she would be the nice girl who would step aside. That said, I'm surprised Pam Long didn't write for Katie more... she seemed like the type of character Long would have enjoyed writing. Also, I noticed that Pam Long tried to recreate magic on her 2nd time especially in 1987 and 1988. I viewed the Dinah/Alan Michael/Cam/Harley story as an attempt at the 4 Muskateers part 2. While both sets were different, I still think she was attempting to have lightening strike twice.. and it didn't. Though anyone who created Nadine was a genius and I think Pam Long created her. It's a shame that Buzz's reintroduction isolated Nadine's character down the line.

For me, the trouble for GL started in fall 1984 with the pointless death of Hilary. It seemed like the show was hinting at a Tony/Annabelle/Jim/Hilary quadangle when Hilary was killed off. I think she could have been of great use in the late 80s especially when Roger/Holly came back onto the scene. Oh well. Plus, I did see a few 1983 episodes with Hope and she seemed more interesting to me. It seemed like the show was gearing up for a War of the ROses types of story between Alan/Hope when she suddenly was written off. I could have imagined Alexandra siding with Hope in her divorce due to anger with Alan over losing her son Lujack.

This is probably unpopular, but I actually was kind of bored with Marland's GL. I actually liked Pam Long's GL much better, though I do admit Infinity was not a great story nor was the mysterious Cain character (though I think Pam Long was gone by the time that story played out).

Oh dear... Brandi will appear on RHONY. Guess the witch isn't satisfied with hijaking one housewife series, she has to try to hijack another one. Smart that she isn't appearing on Atlanta cause Kandi, Nene, and Kenya would slaughter her. LOL That said, NY looks interesting from the previews. We have some fights, some fun moments, and family scenes.

I did read somewhere that one of the original plans for the final episode was to have Jo and Stu married but that Pam Long nixed it because she thought that the characters would never think of each other in a romantic light and had the idea to have the final scene between them as they looked at the Christmas lights. I can't judge Pam Long's tenue at the show since she was only there for a few months, but judging by the fact that the final scene between Jo/Stu was her idea, I think she might have been a good fit long-term.

Do you think had the show continued on, that L. Gideon might have put more of her own mark on the character of Liza? Afterall, she had only played the part for like only a year or so.

I wish there would be at least one episode without fights and just have each housewife shown in their day to day life without any interaction between the women. My fav scenes of the last episode were scenes with Yolanda and Kim with their daughters. Heck, I even liked the scenes of Brandi doing her photo shoot for her book and I think her editor is the sort of person that Brandi needs in her life. Someone who would steer her in the right direction, not coddle or mother her like Lisa and Yolanda do. I liked the party scenes until Carleton had to muck it up by starting trouble with Kyle. I kept wondering what set off Carleton and you could tell that Kyle was thinking the same thing.

Do you guys think that the lower ratings during season 5 was one of the reasons the show was hesitant to revamp Jersey? I think the producers could have added one new housewife to Jersey, in order to keeps things somewhat fresh.. like how they added Lydia during season 8 of RHOC.

We saw Kim's kids in season 1, but not in season 2 nor 3. I still remember Kim and Kyle's trip to the grocery store where Kyle was making fun of Kim buying I can't Believe It's not Butter while Lisa in a TH was questioning what it was LOL Then it turned out that Kyle's favorite dish that Kim made had I can't Believe It's Not butter.. and her face was priceless LOL I'm glad that Kim's private life is being shown, though too much of the dog was shown. I know Kim used to go to Disney functions, perhaps the show can't film when she goes to Disney get togethers or something. That could be why we've seen little of Kim's adventures in autograph and Disney land.

I think the Kyle and Kim scenes are what the show should be about. Kim is a former child star, basically a has-been and that authograph showcase showcased a different part of Hollywood while I'm happy to see Kyle's guest stint on DAYS was filmed. Carlton totally doesn't belong on the show, and she was totally talking about Kyle behind her back.. Pot meet kettle.

Were there any characters created by Marland on ATWT that would be considered campy, or zany? I know Shannon, Lucinda, and Barbara had their moments.. but he didn't create those characters. Perhaps Julie?

For me, Jax is the type of man that you'd have to shower after checking out, alone sleeping with him. He's good eye candy, but I'd certainly not touch that with a ten foot pole. I don't get the gay vibe from Flat Iron Tom, but Tom Swartz gives me the vibe a bit. Especially with him throwing girls underwear on stage when ever FI Tom is performing in his band. Stassi is such a bitch, but she owns it and is entertaining. Kristen and Katie=no words and Scheana is so funny pretending to be 'above' the drama LOL