Soaplovers

The way Kat was acting today, it only enhances Silk Press Sheila's stalking accusations. She certainly takes after her Aunt Dani. It took about 70 episodes, but the show seems to have finally understood that Ashley/Derek have to interact with the rest of the canvas in order to get viewers to care about them... or at least understand what their purpose for being on the show. Leslie vs Kat is a wonderful pairing.... and Leslie/Tomas was comically. Dani's delusion that she's still Bill's wife.... no comment. I really hope that Eva doesn't turn out to be Nicole's child.. because I find the fall out from the anniversary party to be pretty good and there's more possibilities having Eva not being Nicole's child then being her child..imho.

I think Long was probably planning to have Claire suffer from Post Partum, but she left the writing staff shortly after Claire had Michelle so that element didn't get explored. And I always assumed that when Claire returned in the late 90s/early 00s.. that she was realizing that she messed up by not staying a part of Michelle's life and became resentful/bitter over her previous choices. That was my theory.

Jenn was a huge part of the success of Days back in the day, and that contribution shouldn't be dismissed. With that said, I do think her and Jack's time on the show should remain as occasional visits/drop ins. When Missy returns to play Jenn, Jenn is back to being Jenn. Jenn in her glory days was head strong, fiesty, and was a live wire.... and her scenes with Jack on Friday was classic Jenn with Jack being the voice of reason. It was the foundation of their relationship back in the day.

It's a lesson to never be loyal because once your use is up, you're shown the door. MSW was the only bright spot for CBS for awhile, and once they were back on top... they promptly sabotaged the show as a repayment for all that the show had done for the network.

Annie Dutton was anything, but sane when she was introduced. She was very tortured and looked like she was on the verge of tears when she was first introduced. While people, and writers, made it seem as though Annie lost her mind because of Josh.. I truly think that Annie had a lot of untreated mental issues that didn't manifest until her marriage to Josh. Sonni was also anything, but strong when she was first introduced either. Claire in 1983 was a complete 180 from the Claire that we got in 1986... and I do agree that her character was degraded.

I am a little disappointed that the show will be writing Jenn as in the wrong for her not liking Cat, when she's actually in the right. Maybe if Cat was played by a competent actress and had a purpose, I would be more behind this propping of the character. And I can't wait for the funeral for John Black to be over and then we can proceed and move on.

The last five or so episodes of season 8 after the Jean Hackney story ended were pretty strong with the Laura/Val friendship breakdown, Ben's PTSD with Val trying to help him, and the start of Jill realizing that Val was as much of a threat to her happiness with Gary as Abby was. I always thought that the Jean Hackney story should have ended at mid season at the latest... and then deal with the fall-out because seeing Ben/Val switch roles with Ben in mental decline instead of Val would have been interesting to explore. And seeing Val and Laura's friendship suffer also was interesting and should have been explored especially with Karen caught in the middle and Abby both intrigued and amused at the conflict that she didn't cause. However, season 8 was the only Latham run season where Val was well written.

I think MVJ and Guza made a good team in the launching of the soap, and I'm hoping that the rotation of all stories and characters is maintained once he officially departs from the credits. And so far, Ron C's breakdowns have been decent... but they pop only when he's paired with a good script writer like Jazmin. I hope once Guza leaves officially... that MVJ is able to reign in Ron C and the dread Jamey G.

She needs to learn to be honest with her husband about her lusty interests because being sex positive only works if you're not cheating on your spouse.

The whole town gushing over John Black as if he was a saint is eye rolling. I guess death really colors people's memories over his many flaws, but I guess that is normal and human nature. I'm still confused as to why Leo hasn't been written out. The actor stank up two soaps with his sub par acting, what does he have on TPTB's to remain on these soaps. What's the point of Cat? I hope the new head-writers figure out her purpose and develop her character. And I much prefer scenes not focusing on John's death because life does go on for the world when someone passes.

He needs to divorce her arse with her constant cheating. She's no better than Doug... she's F*cking pathetic.

Unpopular opinion, but I didn't think the show should have reunited Billy/Vanessa at all until the final stretch of the show. When watching the 1989 episodes when both Vanessa and Billy return after being off the show... I liked that Vanessa had moved on from him and that the show was hinting at her wanting to reunite with her first love Ross while looking down at Nadine for being the one Ross was dating. And I loved the twist where Billy and Nadine teamed up to keep Vanessa/Ross apart. This was an interesting concept that sadly the writers dropped with the show deciding to make Vanessa pine over Billy between 1990 and 1993 when they finally reunited. To me, Vanessa pining over Billy seemed out of character. At least once Billy was carted off to prison in 1994... she and Billy divorced and stayed divorced until the final months when they finally found their way back together. During the years when they were divorced, I liked that they had maintained a friendship and connection.. with viewers (like my late mom) wondering if they would ever decide to make it work again. I wish the show had tried that with Josh/Reva because by the time of the final episode when they rode off into the sunset, I didn't care because we'd been through the make up and break ups between them for over 10+ years by that point.

Are we sure Kat isn't really Dani's daughter? She acts a lot more like Dani then either Chelsea or Naomi do.... imho. She certainly loves breaking and entering people's places and has a one track vendetta like her auntie Dani. I'm glad to see some movement on the Joey/Vanessa/Doug story, but thinking about it... the pacing for this tale has been just right. We needed to see Doug sink further and further into gambling addiction to the point where he can't pay it back... and we needed to see Joey/Vanessa in conversations getting to know one another before the two ended up hooking up. So now I'm curious to see what happens next... and if Nicole and/or Dani will weigh in on this.. and if the dropped Jacob angle will be revived. Nice to see Ashley/Derek being support for the Bill/Hayley/Naomi/Chelsea situation with Ashley finally having a scene with Hayley while Derek lets Naomi know about Bill. So Chelsea's new crush is the doctor handling Bill's case. I wonder why she's acting so mysterious. Thoughts on the 'Coming next week' scenes: Andre... Dani is acting like a teenager about to be discovered hooking up with her boyfriend by her dad. You're more mature than her..imho. Now Sharon/Tracy/Anita have buried the hatchet? Or maybe it's a fake out.

I was hoping the Articulettes would be more like Klymaxx then the Supremes. Talk about inspiration for a soapy type of stories (one of the bandmates tried to use the name in order to perform, internal fighting over who was the lead, and the same bandmate that tried to use the name of the group tried to include their name as a song writer... and almost got an award for songwriting). I could see Sharon/Tracy/Anita fighting over all that... and Sharon trying to use the name Articulettes in order to perform and big bad bully Anita and Vernon block it from happening. Shanice is like Amy Vining... but BTG... Amy Vining had a life beyond the nurses station.

Delusional Dani would view it as hope... but realistically, it's being cordial and adult... something they both need to do. Especially if Naomi and Chelsea ever decide to have children... it would be nice to have them being mature around one another and their kids and grandkids. Kat needs to simmer down and let the police do their job. I can excuse the coat and trying it on because she didn't know that it was previously Silk Press Sheila's... but the way she was with Mona when Mona was asked to ID the person in the video was Kat 'leading the witness on'. Even Mona said that she was now more then determined to see if Leslie/Dana was on the camera. So a defense attorney could paint Mona as an unreliable witness.

Susan Lucci was on bereavement vacation because her on screen mom had recently passed away so she was off canvas when this tornado occurred.

She was a natural going all the way back to her audition reel. It's a shame that Rauch and co really amped up the more OTT aspects of Tina's character in the 2nd half of the 80s because Evans proved she could play understated and vunerable without the theatrics. It's also why she was able to slip into playing a recast Patty Williams on Y & R a few short weeks before the climax of the story with Jack Abbott. She had natural instincts, and knew when the dial it back and when to let loose.

Finally... the show is giving TT some material to play and I like that Anita isn't coming off as so innocent. Although I do think so far that the story is mirroring the Supremes just a bit too much with Tracy as Mary, Sharon as Florence, Anita as Diana, and Dante (name?) as Berry. Andre... run far away from Dani because she isn't over Bill and you're far too good to settle for being second choice. The fact that I've read comments on other forums stating that Dani just needs the love of a good man makes me think a double standard is at play here. If the shoe was on the other foot, viewers would be telling Dani not to settle for being second best and to find someone who would put her first.... but since the person in that position is a man, that doesn't apply. Misandry at it's best. That said, the twist of Naomi and Hayley both witnessing Bill's latest health flare up and being on the same side was nice. I doubt this will repair their friendship... but it would be nice if the two learned to co-exist on a civil level. The Dani/Hayley scene was not needed and was the writers attempt to prop Dani. MVJ certainly learned about character propping from the Bell soaps. And I guess that Andre/Derek/Ashley is still a thing... or it was at the time this episode was being filmed. From what I understand.. both Derek and Ashley were one of the characters featured in MVJ's story bible and I'd be curious one day to see what the write ups for both characters were in the intial character pitches (we know that Vanessa was originally named Stacy and was supposed to be AA and more level headed.... so I wonder if perhaps Derek and Ashley had a different write up/vision that changed during casting). In the 2nd episode of the series, it was established aht Leslie knew Ashley. She was with Jan and Eva wishing Ashley good luck on her first day nursing.. and all were chummy.

Marlena saying her life didn't start till she met John is kind of unhealthy behavior. I would say the thing she loved most about John was that she could take care of him since he had so many years of angst trying to figure out his identity, etc. While Don and Roman, she and them were on equal footing without the need for her to care for them or for them to care for her.

That's where good acting comes in. To showcase the layers and nuances within the larger broad presentation. To think that Daphnee tried out for Dani and Nicole... and I wonder how she would have approached playing Dani.

You could just say you didn't like the actress from Halloweentown without attacking looks. Not cool

I'm so happy that the four MSW tv movies are now on Tubi.. and I also think I saw the 12 seasons of the show on there as well.

In regards to the Reva vs Erica discussions... I think there was one main difference between the two characters.... Erica never took over/ate up airtime on All My Children. While she was a larger than life character, she never took over the show and there were times she was even supporting and not the lead.... while Reva basically suffocated Guiding Light in the later years with her presence.

The Duprees as the main family isn't the problem, but the fact is that over 3/4 of the cast are Duprees.. so it limits coupling potential and also keeps the canvas too closed in. Too many female Duprees and no hetero, nor gay, male Duprees is also a problem. I also agree with @DemetriKanethat the male characters are one note, and not very layered/interesting... outside of Bill, that is. To me, I would have focused on either Nicole's family and dynamics or Dani's family and dynamics instead of trying to introduce/develop both families at the same time. Nicole's family is more developed and interesting with loads of storyline possiblities then Dani's family right now. And because MVJ and co decided to feature so many Duprees... we're less likely to be free of any outside characters like Ashley/Derek since they're the non-Dupree part of the canvas.

Some initial thoughts. 1) a Who's who back in the day with an assortment of well known performers. 2) Surprised Debra Messing would agree to play a conservative character 3) Not surprised a network didn't pick this up because showing a conservative that is human/likable is a no no in Hollywood LOL