Soaplovers

Ah yes... she was one of Stephanie's many assistants that came and went. I think Rhonda Sue, Alex Neil's character, Justine, Quinn, and an unnamed female character all were Stephanie's assistants between 1983 and 1986. It was like Stephanie was the Murphy Brown of daytime tv with her rotating assistants LOL

I think the fall out from the reveal episodes last week helped the views grow, and I think the momentum will only continue to gain traction. I was talking to a friend of mine that has watched soaps for years, and they told me that BTG is an interesting mix of elements of P & G, Bell Soaps, and Days (Sony)... and considering that the writing staff has those employed from all three entities.. it's an astute observation

It was an odd fit, though she did liven up any scene she was in. I think she ended up leaving in December 1983. I actually think she would have fit in better on Guiding Light during the Lewis invasion in 1983/1984 (probably as a Wanda like character).

Brady is the category of individual that is cute, but dumb. Basically he needs to smile, take his shirt off and not speak LOL

They might be doing that until they get a clothing budget for wardrobe that fits Keith. It has happened a couple of times on the other shows. Louise Shaffer in an interview said that she took over from another actress on SFT back in the 60s and wore only one or two items of clothing for a few weeks because the budget for new wardrobe hadn't come available/approved. I do agree that Maurice played Ted as more cocky/suave.. and aggressive when opposite SPS (Leslie/Dana)... and maybe the show figured a more sedate/remorseful Ted was what the show was looking for.

The ratings the last few months seemed to hover between the high 4s and mid 5s with an occasional off week when it would almost hit 6.0. Ironically the last week the show was on the air, it did hit 6.2 so it proved that people were available to watch the show.. but had fallen off due to the constant change in focus. It's possible that maybe the final writer was Henry Slesar considering the more crime slant the show took in the final months... but why work against your other show.

I just got home from work and will take a look at today's show in a bit. However, I was thinking about Silk Press Sheila and wondering if she would try to suck up to Mona... and thought to myself only someone suffering from delulu would try to suck up to Mona (Jan, I sort of understood why she tried).. and seeing that SPS is just delulu enough to suck to Mona makes me chuckle. I understand that Derek/Ashley are not end game (just like how on B & B when it started that Brooke/Dave were not end game)... but the show is going about this coupling in all the wrong ways. Since the show seems to operate from a place of misandry, the way they're writing this Derek/Ashley conflict makes Ashley the bad one. I would have had the conflict rooted in two things: 1) Andre/Ashley's continued friendship.. which would have made Dani a bit jealous if she came across the two chatting and continued to make Derek left out/jealous 2) Derek/Hayley had good chemistry in terms of rapport so I would have had a couple of more scenes of the two running into one another out and about. Perhaps she and Caroline could have been having a work lunch at Orphey Jean's.. and Derek comes in to get an order for his fellow crew.. and the two have a brief chat. Maybe establish the two running into one another at Uptown while she waits for Bill and he waits for Ashley and/or Jacob. And eventually Naomi or Jacob come across the two talking and they alert Ashley. That way the two would a legit argument over their jealousy over the others platonic interaction with someone of the opposite sex. Just my two cents... and it would give Hayley something to do outside her continual 'honeymoon' with Bill.

Poor Chelsea... having Bill and Dani for parents has to suck. And while the acting during the Chelsea/Dani scene was good (Karla, for once dialing it back)... I still view it as Dani making it all about her. Narcissists like Dani will never change

I would test Derek again with Hayley.. or with Vanessa ( she would totally be ga ga over a fireman). Dani does tend to make things all about her, but I viewed the Dani/Chelsea element to be a pale version of the Erica/Bianca dynamic.

If I'm not mistaken, Lisa Peluso's last episode was around Christmas 1985... and the very last scene was Bela at her door before the next episode or so later reveals that Wendy just vanished into thin air. And there was a scene from the killers POV where they crossed off Sarah's pic and circled Wendy's pic. So it was up in the air if she skipped town, or if she was killed off. Did the show ever resolve what happened to Wendy, or was that an unresolved thread?

Considering that a soap opera hasn't been launched in over 25 years, I think the show is doing well. In 2025, you're not going to get a soap opera on the level of soaps you watched before the 1990s for a variety of reasons. - All scenes are filmed out of order. No longer do shows do the live to tape process. - No longer are there rehearsals before filming the episodes. - Most of the greats retired/passed away without teaching a lot of the new generation how to produce or write a soap opera in the pre 2000 way. Also, this isn't filmed where soap operas were filmed so the show is using local talent that is hitting it out of the park. It reminds me of the CBN soap Another life that used local talent in the Virginia beach area. Lastly, soaps take several months to get going.. and I think the show is in good shape after 56 episodes (at least compared to other soaps that started in the late 80s and 90s like Generations, SunSet Beach, Passions, etc)

Actually.. I thought she restored Katie back to her more fun loving/self deprecating spirit after being watered down by Marland. Even the actress that played Katie puts the blame more on Gail Kobe than Long. I think I understood what she was trying to do with Nola.. but it didn't work. She was trying to write a character that gets her happily ever after with the man she loves... but struggles with the reality of living in real world after getting her happy ending. However, the way she went about it was all wrong. Trish, she wisely made the peacemaker of the Lewis family.. though I could understand the actress probably growing restless with being the pragmatic peacemaker by 1985. Unpopular opinion: I actually think Beth should have stayed dead. I think it made his embracing of the dark side of Spaulding more realistic once she was dead.. and as we saw, it did affect his relationship with Chelsea during that period.

Charmed and Party of Five didn't do too good with the diverse concept... I doubt 7th Heaven will either. Perhaps maybe do a diverse show about a female minister and her husband and call it something other than 7th Heaven. I know it's going out on a limb to actually come up with something different and to title it differently.

The writers need to reign in Vanessa' character... I can see the actress is trying to reign in the character.. but the writing isn't helping her in her quest. Dani has been going on and on and on about being insecure since the end of her marriage for 55 episodes.. and I'm sick of it. She's in bed with a younger attractive man and she won't shut up about her insecurities. I want to tell Andre that the sex isn't worth being tied to this emotional vampire. No wonder Bill cheated on her (and I do sometimes side with the cheater). I'm really hoping Derek/Ashley are breaking up soon because she's been a total witch and he can do so much better. Have him in another scene with Hayley or even a 1:1 with Shanice. I think that's a Danielle Paige quirk. Her novels are all about symbolism, and she did say that Claire Labine mentored her at Guiding Light.

The only Camden kid I liked was Mary... and I don't know if Jessica Biel would want to go back to playing that character or not.

Oddly.. Chase and Steve seem to have both vanished from the canvas in December so the Estelle return loses impact when two of her kids stop appearing shortly after her return (and I assume TR leaves in early 1986 as well). The Steve recast doesn't work... but it's odd that he has a long scene with Teri with Cagney looking jealous.. when the majority of his time on the show previously was a relationship and engagement to Stephanie (who he barely has a scene with in the episodes I see). Your idea for Wendy/Bela/Stephanie sounds just like what Ryan's Hope did with Michael/Kim/Rae... and considering Louise Shaffer was playing Rae and Stephanie.. it would have been a lousy redux of a superior story on another soap (that had months of build-up) I think Quinn becoming assistant to Stephanie was Mayer/Braxton... but not 100 % sure. I don't know if Mayer/Braxton was setting up Sarah as a bad girl disguised as a good girl.. but the actress (Joyner) was playing the scenes in that manner.. and Tomlin wisely tapped into that when he took over.

I don't mind Dani in this mode, she fits best in a supporting role vs the main attraction. Dani being thrown into the Doug story just reeks of Reva Shayne in the late 90s/early 00s where she was involved in every storyline. Nothing makes me hate a character more then when a writer/producer shoves a character down the viewers throats. There was a brief scene between Pamela/Doug/Vanessa where Vanessa was being Vanessa.. and Pamela was giving her a look that wasn't too friendly (not a look of dislike, more a look of someone that is looking down on someone else). I think the divorce/split between Jon and Cady was friendly/ not messy.

Her voice reminds me somewhat of the late Carrie Donovan (best known for Old Navy commercials).. but she was big in the fashion world I believe.

In an interesting turn of irony, when Somerset came onto the airwaves in 1970... it ran against Dark Shadows and beat it in the ratings fairly quickly. Then when Edge of Night moves to ABC in December 1975 and put against Somerset, the slow ratings rise that Somerset was allegedly having in late 1975 is derailed. From reading the write ups of the final year, the show dropped the May/December romance.. which viewers enjoyed and was getting the show some good press... the original cast member was sidelined due to medical issues, and the show featured pure crime stories without any balance. I think the crime focus was an attempt to compete with EON. However, people that were into crime stories/mysteries weren't going to tune into Somerset for their fix.. not when Edge of Night was known for that.. and that show was running on a high quality wise when the network switch occurred.

The Perkins family had potential to be a nice alternative to the more dysfunctional Capwells and wackier Lockridges... but I think a few factors did in the family. 1) Recasting of Joe Perkins 2) Bad casting of the Perkins Patriarch, and the one note writing for that character. 3) Lack of antagonistic interaction between the Capwells/Lockridges and Perkins. (There was no awkwardness between Jade/Ted.. or CC disapproving of his son being friends with that Perkins girl, etc). 4) Wasting of Jade thus wasting the potential of the actress (which was realized on Days of Our Lives). She had more potential than Laken oddly enough. The only member of the Perkins family that had appeal and a somewhat thought out story arc was Amy.

If NBC could have for seen the ratings of Lovers & Friends (the replacement for Somerset).. they would have for sure kept Somerset on the air longer. https://jason47.com/days/ratings1976.html (ratings for Somerset in the final year) https://jason47.com/days/ratings1977.html (ratings for Lovers & Friends short run...getting as low as a 2 rating).

Alan not reading the book was probably wise because he didn't interrupt as much and the five guests (Caryn and Tom especially) were all talking to one another with little to no input from Alan. I think Caryn was pretty honest about the common bond of being young, new to soaps, and venting about the confusing structure of their stories that bonded them together. And she was right that the stories changed left and right... her character alone had several stories/love interests during that two year period. Kin was also a bit bitter and I can't blame him considering he was forced on the soap.. and the show really didn't know what to do with him and Rauch made him feel unwelcome to boot. I'm sure he enjoyed hanging with everyone when not at the studio.. but I think he doesn't view his time there fondly.. and I can't blame him.

The post 1795 present day stories started out promising once Victoria came back from the past and she was trying to make sense of the past.. while adjusting to the present. The scene where she and Liz find Peter's grave and she expressed guilt over her actions in the past causing Peter to be accused of her crime and ending up being hung was well written and acted. It would have been perfect had she mentioned that two men that were important to her were now dead (Burke/Peter). And Angelique invading the Collins family in the present day was a result of Victoria's visit to the past and realizing that Barnabas was out and about in the 20th century started promising with her causing Liz to become paranoid about death (a call back to her paranoia over 'killing' her husband Paul).. and Victoria instantly knowing who she was and trying to warn Julia. It's a shame that shortly after those first episodes back in the present post 1795 ended up becoming too focused on the ghouls/monsters... and downplaying the more soapy elements.

From the episodes I've seen during the last few months of the shows run, the show wasn't in a perfect nor horrible place. It was decent. The highlight of the judge story was Ann Flood playing a completely 180 character from her Edge of Night days. And Stu/Jo having good focus. I think the Ireland story was an attempt to hop on the bandwagon of 80s location shoots.. and solidifying the McCleary's as the second major family outside the Stu/Jo combination family (though killing Suzi off was misguided.. especially considering Terri E had this likable everywoman element) I also see that Tomlin came back to headwriting again in late September/early October 1985... and the first thing I noticed was the mask was off Sarah and the gloves were off with Wendy. The two had good antagonistic chemistry.. and Tomlin was misguided killing her off and deep sixing the Sarah/Wendy/Quinn triangle. The alternative for all three proposed by Tomlin didn't seem any better with Wendy being put in a Suzi/Warren redux situation except it was her mother Stephanie and her new boy toy Bela. The move was plot driven and not character driven. Meanwhile Sarah is killed off just as she figured out the weird Bela/Wendy vibe and threatening to go to Stephanie... and Quinn has this sudden fascination with working class Evie that made no sense. As Marcia McCabe said during the Locher Room interview she had... she said each EP/headwriter would come in and remake the show and this done too often. And seeing the episodes from 1983/1984/1985 posted... she's correct in that view. For example, Wendy and Suzi's friendship was threatened by Warren and their mutual interest in him... but that seems to fall by the wayside due to the numerous Suzi recasts. Then a random character Justine comes on.. and the show spends months building her up as the antagonist... establishing a potentially good rivalry with Wendy. And in fact, Quinn/Justine are tested in the spring of 1985 before she leaves/is dropped.. and Sarah is introduced. Sarah is a character with no history with Wendy... and the show spends weeks setting the foundation of a rivalry between former schemer Wendy and new schemer Sarah while fighting over Quinn. Then just as the foundation has been laid down.. poof Sarah is killed off and Wendy is sleeping with the man her mother is seeing. Typing all these whiplash changes makes me understand why viewers were confused/unattached the show.... and all I typed was Wendy's situation (we won't even go into the Liza and Sunny whiplashes during that same period of time).

Dani seems the type that blew through her trust fund before she hit 30.. so she probably doesn't have any liquid assets... and neither she nor Pamela seem like they're money smart. Vanessa seems to be into experimenting. I think she and Doug both have addictions (his to gambling and her to the thrill of sex and/or getting caught). The breakdown for the episode was ok, but some of the lines were a bit off (except during the Anita scenes and the Smitty/Bill scenes) Bill/Smitty have chemistry.. shame they don't play for the same team. The messiness if they did. Kat proves one doesn't need a romantic nor sexual partner to have an active role in a storyline. Though I hope Eva/Tomas/Kat is revisted soon. June and Hayley talk alike, act alike, and even kind of look alike facially. They better be related or why the casting for both actresses?