Soaplovers

At least Sharlene and a few other characters made mention that Gwen had changed and they weren't sure why she was so different. I think she was out of sorts because Willis had left her and she put the blame toward Rachel and the Cory's. I think Dorothy had just finished playing Naomi Harper on Mama's Family so I think she hadn't quite shaken that character's aura when trying to tackle Gwen in 1989. She was much more subtle when she was briefly at Generations and Bold & the Beautiful.

I also like that some of the interactions have been in people's residences vs at OJ's or Uptown. Let's face it, the writers dropped the ball with Hayley by not providing her point of view in the same manner as Bill and Dani. This leads me to think that the show is leaning toward Bill/Dani as end game and Hayley is just a plot point/obstacle vs an actual character I'm on the fence with Naomi because the writers haven't really given her any development or POV other then she's the lawyer and was close to Bill/Hayley. Her marriage to Jacob works because the actors sell it, but the writing doesn't really go there in terms of natural conflict (Jacob's boy scout level need for ethics vs Naomi's somewhat grey shadings). I've also have said that about the show doing strong Milestones (i.e. Point A, Point B, etc).. but we miss the beats between Point A and Point B in some cases. I had chalked up the Silk Press Sheila/Ted bombshell being stalled due to the recasting of Ted and allowing the new actor time to put his spin on Ted (which I've noticed in recent episodes that he's playing Ted with a bit more edge).. but the other stories I can't understand why they stall and/or not focused on for many episodes (i.e. Vanessa finding out Doug owes money and that Joey played her with no follow up for many episodes, Martin's secret coming out with little to no mention, etc).

I always marvel at the loss of memory when it comes to certain characters. Sami is best in smaller doses, and I think having Sami coming and going is what is best for the show and for the character.

The way the show rotates stories from the front burner to the back burner, I predict Ashley will probably be put back in the backburner in the next few weeks. To me, both Ashley and Dani are hurting the show.

Unpopular opinion, but Julianne Moore wasn't all that much to write home about.. but I will concede that she was able to make both Sabrina and Frannie completely different characters and play them both well. With that said, I thought Mary Ellen was a much better Frannie then Julianne Moore was.. but I think it's difficult to really put yourself into a character if you're playing two different characters (Ellen Wheeler and Anne Heche struggled at first to make Vicky and Marley distinctly different and fully fleshed out characters). Claire Beckman wasn't given much to work with as Sabrina, and the history and writing was there to make Sabrina more of a grey character. Remember Sabrina did pretend to be Frannie in order to get Seth to sleep with her... she did to her sister what Kim did to her sister. And I think Claire Beckman would have played those darker aspects of Sabrina (she did that when playing Silver Kane on AMC) with more flare then the passive way Julianne Moore approached the material. Martha Byrne was much better when she came back in 1993 to about 1997 then she was when she played Lily originally from 1985 to 1989 and after 1997.

Angel Falls only had 6 episodes and it ended with multiple cliffhangers. The least CBS could have done was pick up one additional episode and/or two hour made for tv movie to tie up the loose ends.

I was disappointed that the Caroline/Hayley connection appeared to have been dropped after the first few weeks... so I'm glad to see that on Caroline's side.. the connection is still there. I'm sure Shanice was sick and tired of Ashley's tantrums.. and since she couldn't fire her... she figured peace of mind at work trumps sexy time with the fireman. And Lynn Martin was one the writers that left the writing team (I assume she'll be credited until the end of season 1).

It really highlights how insecure Dani is

The show needs to cast a younger straight guy to write dialogue because when the show writers conversations between straight men, it tends to be off the mark. Case in point, the conversation between Jacob and Derek... no straight guy talks like they did.. and there is no way that Jacob wouldn't at least be on Derek's side somewhat instead of acting as if Naomi has his balls stored in their bedroom drawer. I like Jazmen's scripts.. but sometimes they do tend to be more theatrical based vs being written for tv.

I thought that the Dani/Andre conversation in regards to Ashley was mature and also a peek into Dani's motives. Dani had multiple motives when advising Andre not to pursue Ashley. Partly due to jealousy, and partly because she sees a bit of her much younger self in Ashley (i.e. the young model on the rise falling head over heels for Bill and giving up her modeling career for love.)... she knows that Ashley would do that for Andre if he snapped his fingers. Which brings me to Jan/Ashley's conversation... conversations we should have seen a few times before today's episode. We saw both of their POV's and I'm wondering if Jan's admission about a past man is foreshadowing something (ala Joey Armstrong possibly being that past love and Ashley's dad). I'm curious about Hayley's motivations for the fake pregnancy.. and how she'll use this fall to her advantage (will she pull an Annie Dutton)? Doug is totally reserving his grave for move in soon with the way he's acting today (which I think stems from his addictive personality). There was talk about what influence Guza had on the show as co-head writer... and I think Vanessa is totally a Guza character... and I wonder how she'll change/be adjusted once his name stops appearing in the credits.

I think now that it's been a little over three months since Ford/Cwikely have taken over that what we're seeing is more and more what they're doing and planning. My guess was that the first few weeks of their work did sort of follow outlines and/or where Ron C was wanting to take stories while making sure the day to day scripts were beefed up... but as time went on, I do agree that there did seem to be a shift/direction changes (i.e. Shawn/Jada, Cat's backstory being explored, and Doug III's story being resolved).

I was posting about Jan a few days ago wondering what her take was on Derek/Ashley.. and I guess she appeared

Team Smitty.. .Martin can kick rocks for all I care

At least she isn't infecting Days or BTG so that's the silver lining.

I think having Joey Thrower playing Kevin was effective because he was basically 18/19 and in love with an older woman Lee Ann.. who was using him unintentionally due to relationship issues she was having with Max. I don't recall if the writers understood that Lee Ann was doing to Kevin what Max had done to her (i.e. an older person taking advantage of the naivete of a younger person)... but looking back at that era, the similarities are striking. I think once Lee Ann is revealed to not love Kevin and still married him, then Kevin is recast with Greiger to show a more bitter/cynical Kevin.

$300 is sadly a good deal for ticket prices nowadays, and reunion acts do commend a lot of attention/buzz. It would have been more logical if the peak of their time together was during the 70s when disco and funk were popular.. and she went off for a solo career in the 80s when she felt creatively boxed in by the group trying to chase trends they had outgrown. In regards to the breakdown/script writer discussion, I think a combination of younger and mature individuals would benefit the show.. and I do think at least one or two script writer needs to be white. Only because the script writer in place couldn't write younger white people to save their life (Derek/Ashley scenes in particular were cringe). Oddly, the Vanessa/Joey scenes were well written and realistic so the script writers do know how to write for older white people

We all have to remember that MVJ spent a long time at B & B so Brad Bell's horrible story choices probably had an effect on her.. hence the whole Dana/Leslie situation where she caused irredeemable acts so early in the run of the show. While I love the actress, I do think perhaps Dana/Leslie needs to be laying low and leaving the canvas for the time being so that Nicole/Ted/Eva can move forward... and then once the next stage of the plot occurs... Dana/Leslie can pop up. The show is pretty good with their Point A, Point B's, etc.... the weakness for me is the journey/process of getting from Point A to Point B and so on.

If I recall, any mentions of Hope by the 90s was her trying to battle staying sober so I could see Mattson playing that type of Hope... and a possible distant/cold relationship between her and Alan Michael due to her alcoholism with her uncle Ed trying to help Hope. Plus, it would have given Alan Michael more of a reason to come over to the Bauers.

I thought Julie Grey was nicely set up as the tortured secetary that was in love with JR and waited for him to come to his senses and divorce Sue Ellen.. but never does. Episode 3 of the mini series had Pam basically throwing some hard truth's to Julie, which led to her resigning and leaving the show until the next season. Had the show been more soapy, I could have seen Julie pop in and out of the show as either a thorn, or ally, to JR.

If I recall from reading old 1980 summaries, Vanessa came onto the canvas in late May/early June 1980 while Holly left the canvas in mid to late November 1980 so there was little to no opportunity for the two to interact other then Andy (who came onto the canvas in August/September 1980). I think Holly's primary interactions between April 1980 to November 1980 was Barbara, Andy, Ed, Rita,.. with occasional interactions with Nola, Hilary, Katie, and Kelly. So I could have seen Vanessa and Holly perhaps interacting once or twice in 1980.. but nothing significant where they would remember one another years later. I also viewed it as it being 10+ years that Holly had been gone from Springfield so Vanessa seeing Holly and commenting that she was actually attractive could have been taken to mean that she had hoped Holly had let her looks go over the years and was disappointed she still look good and a possible contender for Ross. One thing I'll say about the writing team in 1989 was how the writers effortlessly weaved Holly back into the canvas even though her primary scenes partners were no longer on the show (other then Ross, Ed, and Alan). There was one episode where Holly was at the country club where she had been put in charge of the tv station and she interacted with Rose, Ross, Josh, Mo, and Will.. and she had great rapport with all of them. Soaps hardly do those types of interactions nowadays.

Unpopular opinion, which I always seem to give on this board, but I think TT was served better when she was playing Jessica Griffin on ATWT during the Douglas Marland years then she's been given here at BTG. When I looked at Jessica Griffin, I saw an actual fully fleshed out character played with strength and conviction... while Anita Dupree is basically a caricature that TT is trying to infuse with her talent.. and the writing isn't helping any. I'm hoping Derek finally has closure from Ashley and can move on without the added weight of Ashley and her neurotic tendencies on his shoulders. I wonder what Jan thinks of the break up since she seemed on Derek's side more so then her daughter's side in terms of their relationship.

So Hayley is going to try to pull an Annie Dutton?

Yeah... one is unhinged (Dani) and the other is anal (Ashley). Andre needs to get better taste in women.

Karla is very hit or miss with her acting... she's much better when she restrains herself vs when she tries to convey emotion. Smitty needs to divorce Martin because who knows what else Martin is lying about. Never say never... recurring characters seem to vanish on this show for awhile and then they pop up when we least expect it so I think she might pop up again in the future. @Maxim I do think given Anita's backstory that she might have a few extra skeletons in her walk in closet that could come back to haunt her. Also, maybe AI could come into play with someone generating her voice via AI to sell products and/or used as a sample of a new song.. and she finds out it's related to someone/something she did in the past.

I don't see why recast when the character is kind of taking up space