Soaplovers

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

Maybe instead of a Casino set, they could have built up Vanessa's real estate office instead. Since Joey's aim is to use that business to 'clean' his money. There are some things men do better and there are some things women do better... and usually when they work/lead together, things thrive.

Cady did have a southern accent as Dixie in her first few years playing the character... but it started to minimize the longer she played the character (which tracks because my aunt had a heavy southern accent when married my uncle and years living in the north has softened it quite a bit). Her initial stint playing Rosanna was partly due to mirroring the previous actress and eventually developing her own take on the character. And the thing about her take as Kelly on Y & R was that she was too sedate when she first took over playing the role (she was supposed to play a woman that had recently lost her child.. and trying to keep things together) and then went OTT crazy and didn't play it well. And I don't care to remember her attempt at playing Jennifer on Days. I think this Pamela character is the first time she's playing a character from the start and I think she's like a kid at a candy store. She's having so much fun trying different things... and I hope eventually she decides to settle on a more consistent character for Pamela (perhaps her love of accents is a character trait based on something traumatic that happened to her in the past maybe).

Next week is going to be such a sad time... I just feel it based on what was shown today. I'm wondering if the whole John being bandaged thing being a throwback to how he first arrived on the show was a Ron C idea since it just seems as though this would be something he would come up with. If so, it's good that Cwikly/Ford are in charge with the implementing of the idea instead of him. Just a delayed thought from the Ciara scenes earlier in the week, or last week.. and how she had an odd way of dressing/acting. I chuckle because little Ciara did say that she admired and wanted to be just like Kristen when she grew up. So the fact that her outfit choices are so odd/off beat and her manner is a bit OTT just fits.. especially since Eileen's Kristen had an odd sense of fashion and that frantic OTT undertone to her delivery. With that said, a part of me wonders how Eileen's Kristen would have handled the scenes being done this week in regards to John's situation.

I think Guza was only meant to show her the ropes of being a headwriter since she didn't have experience doing so... and based on her social media, she seems kind of like a micro manager. And I think the Joey character and the casino element was Guza inspired... but maybe that isn't something MVJ was wanting to write. Sadly, instead of hiring another male to help co lead the production/writing... they picked another female. And I haven't heard anything about TT so maybe she'll be good... but in my experience, the best run things usually have both men and women in decision making positions and complementing one another's styles.

I think one of the reasons that pilot didn't get picked up was because Vicki L was associated more with being Thelma Harper and playing older then she was playing her own age. It was a blessing it didn't get picked up, or we would have been deprived of the syndicated era of Mama's Family. Also, worth noting a Pre Night Court Marsha Warfield and pre Perfect Strangers Rebecca Arthur in the cast. All talented women, but stuck with a bad script. And the other pilot had a pre Fran Fine.. Fran Drescher as the best friend. I think that pilot might have been picked up if Karen Valentine and Fran Drescher switched roles.

If the roles were reversed, would you say the same thing? I doubt you would

Do you hate Andre that much? No man deserves to be coupled up with that freak of nature Dani.

When Pam Long was the headwriter, Reva was written as someone that wore her heart on her sleeve and was driven by insecurity, lust, and impulse. Partly due to her early childhood trauma, partly as a form of rebellion against her strict mother, and also partly due to being abandoned by her father for awhile. The problem with the character of Reva was that she was revived in 1995 during the more back to basics era in soap operas... and she stuck out like a sore thumb.

I could buy Belle being drawn to EJ, even being confused/horrified over it... but to actually date/sleep with him is a stretch. Still... this is the soap that had Satan possess a character, underground dungeons, a heart being removed from someone's chest and then slipped back in (Jennifer), and almost every is related by blood and/or marriage... so I can't expect the soap to not have Belle go for it with EJ.

I always assumed Princess Beth was actually Lorelei pretending to be Beth. That's the only thing that I figured was the case back then.. that Beth had a split personality and was covering it very well. Reva/Noah were a decent pairing.. but at the time, I just assumed that they were a pit stop until Josh and Reva tried yet again to reunite for the millioneth time.

Dani is the loser, and today is a perfect example of what she must have been like during her marriage to Bill. No wonder Bill cheated on her, and eventually dumped her. Hayley finally was showing some spunk, and for a first timer.. she didn't do too bad. Without her last name, Dani would be no one.. and deep down, she knows it... hence her diving back into the bottle at every turn. Silk Press Sheila and NuTed's scenes are becoming one note... but if the Dani/Bill/Hayley scenes can finally become less than one note.. than I have hopes that their scenes will as well.