Soaplovers

Kenya did say about Porsha 'unless she has a dick in her mouth, she doesn't understand what she's saying.'

Kenya has been likable and not getting into too much trouble.  Proves she's nice unless provoked.

I'm going to miss Cynthia

And I think there was jealousy about Lea being popular.  She had a lot of interesting clothes, charities, and her back story was fascinating.

Marysol always seemed to not be all there at times..imho.

Luann and the married guy on Ultimate girls trip.  It's creepy..but both have European vibes...which has a more relaxed open thing that the US doesn't have.

I also think how CB played Gabi made her character more versatile.  She was an ingenue..but CB played her with more of an edge and intensity..which made her perfect to go more on the 'bad' side vs Mia or Melanie.

Kenya has come as likable on the girls trip..while Cynthia is so out of her comfort zone.  Cynthia did say something in episode 2 or 3 about how she thought it would be her and Kenya against them.  Not sure what she meant by that.

And regarding Bailey Q...Kenya had a good point that the game worked on ATL because the women shade in good fun...but that it wouldn't work playing with people they don't know....and lord knows Kyle is a wet blanket.

I do like the heart to heart talks..ans the bonding..balanced with a little drama.  Reminds me of the earlier seasons where it wasn't so toxic.

I do love how all the women have reacted to Ramona.  Melissa/Theresa in disbelief, Kyle is scared of her, Kenya pushes back, while dear Cynthia tries to reason with her (and made some headway lol).

I remember the actress that played Luan had an interview where she made mention of her small, but meaty, part in the Joy Luck Club...and seeing that proved the actress could have played a colder Luan left bitter at being abandoned by Jack...and seeking comfort with John.  Thus setting up an interesting hostile vibe between Luan and Jill..with Jill in the position Dina was in back in the 80s.

I actually think the Diane/Jack story from 1996 didn't fit Diane's character...and it should have been Patty in that role.  Diane should have been in a different position..like a modeling agent since she was a model in the 80s.

And I agree Ashley should have been rested after late 1995 until she was ready to be played again by Eileen in 1999.  And have her 3 years off the show drive story for her.

I also think Bell knew he was struggling with writing the Abbotts..and I think in 1997 he was laying the ground work with introducing the Dennison's as a new family using Jill (who was the element that ushered in the Abbotts back in 1980).  What doomed that family was the miscasting of the father..while not writing to Sabyns G's (Tricia) strengths as an actress (Kay Alden wisely used Tricia's constant weeping that she did in 1997 to showcase the character's gradual mental collapse over an almost 5 year period).

To me..Ashley is more problematic than Candiace is..imho.  I would know what I'm getting with Candiace vs the two faced vibe of Ashley.

And Karen and Gizelle like each other deep down..that's why they can shade one another with ease.  Gizelle donning the t shirt a few seasons back bothered Karen because it was Gizelle doing it vs someone else she didn't like.  Same with Karen's shade about Jamal bothering Gizelle because it came from Karen.

Today's season 1 episode uploads explains why Brooke has a one track mind about Ridge and the Forrester's.  

She saw her mom Beth being warm, nice and putting others before herself.  And seeing how she always seems to finish last made Brooke vow not to be like her mom.

And I think deep down Brooke blamed her mom being unable to fight for herself and causing her dad to desert her.  So I think when Ridge chooses Caroline down the line, she decides to strike back at Stephanie and Beth by taking Eric for herself.  I don't think Brooke consciously did this, but deep down, she wanted to keep the Forrester's in her life..so she went to Eric.  To fulfill her need for a dad, and to stick it to Stephanie..and to a lesser extent Beth.

And I think had she picked Dave...she feared history would repeat itself with him abandoning her like her dad did to her mom.

I liked Dolan's 1st stint as Margo, but she began playing Margo as bitter and harsh after awhile.  

@CatI view the Housewives Ultimate girls trip season 2 as a test run for Dorinda.  It's being hosted at her Berkshire manor also.

If she has a good stint, doesn't piss off production..or make it hostile behind the scenes...I could see her being back on NY.

With Tamra, the show is using Heather to rebuild OC.  And Shannon and Heather had an interesting rapport back in the day.  So if season 16 goes well..I could see Tamra coming back in season 17.

AMC had the least amount of time to get things going, and also had a head writer not familiar with the show (Marlene McPherson)...yet she managed to put a show together with strong threads  (JR/Cara/David, sex trafficking story, Dixie's slow forgiveness of Billy Clyde tuggle, and hints were dropped that Miranda would learn of her conception).

And viewership on Hulu was strong for the episodes I recall.

21 hours ago, Liberty City said:

Tamra not coming back is a big mistake. But having Heather Dubrow back is ICONIC.

Tamra needed to be rested... it was rinse, lather, and repeat.  She'll be back eventually... mark my words.. but it's too soon have her back.

Look at Heather.. she was kind of played out and now she's back with lots of things going on (her kids are older, she had her own podcast show, etc).   

Sometimes housewives need a rest.. and Tamra was due one.

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

Also, to be fair there isn't much reason for Kim to be on.  There's no Andrew and Theresa and Eve aren't onscreen.  She is still, as far as we know, with Shane who isn't a fixture on the show.   The most she could do is something with Tate and hang out with Kayla, Roman, John, and Marlena.   I actually prefer Kim to Kayla, but I really don't see a point of bringing her back with all the characters we already have in her age range.   I do think she is someone who could pop in and out though.

Kim should be one of those characters that comes and goes for visits.

She came back several times in the 90s, 00s, and 10s...but she should at least visit...especially since Shane has visited more recently.

Brooke Logan B & B

At best, she should have been written out after the first ten to fifteen years when it became apparent Bradley Bell was unwilling to move her character into new territory.

John Black Days

He worked well in the 80s and 90s, but while Marlena has remained useful (thanks to Deidre Hall being an effective performer no matter what the show throws at her)...he's become her arm candy and has stagnated as a character. 

1 hour ago, yrfan1983 said:

The first trans character I’m aware of was Azure on The City (Loving spin-off) circa ‘96

https://abc-daytime.fandom.com/wiki/The_City

Later was Maya on BnB

My late mom (a boomer) saw the Maya story..and she said the following:

1) loved the actress, but wondered why a trans performer wasn't playing the part.

2) thought it odd everyone seemed accepting including hot head Rick.  And said shouldn't there be pushback?  Soaps and conflict go hand and hand.

and she was a somewhat left leaning boomer.

Nancy had reasons to be stone cold to Joyce..and it seems like the Dobson's got Joyce..and to a lesser extent Nancy.

I think Nancy and Joyce were pushed out after the Dobson's left the first time.

Another character they wrote well was Carol...the nice girl.  In other 1980 episodes, she's written well.

I watched the 1st 3 episodes last night.

Pacing is too fast, too many plot twists crammed into each episode with little to no time to show the results.

And rule #1, viewers need to care about the characters in order to make the twists work.

I'm not saying slow the pace down like in the 80s, but allow viewers time to know the characters before throwing plot twists at us.

Lastly, is there a soap writer on staff?  If not, the show needs to employ one stat.

Guiding Light:

While I liked the early 90s of GL, I wouldn't call it a golden age.  It was well done, but lacked spirit.  And I found that Alexandra, Nadine, Holly, and Maureen were written more to certain tropes (Alexandra = woman scorned, Nadine = desperate woman, Holly = super neurotic, and Maureen = judgemental).

When Long was there, all of these women had different facets that got sidelined (Alexandra = warm, Nadine = sly, Holly = confident, and Maureen = human and funny).

I just think early 90s GL had good points, but no warmth or a sense of fun.

Lisa was more of an active presence in Casey's life..and Lien's life (during the periods she was on show).  Plus, was active in Parker's life as well.

I don't recall much presence in Chris' life.  After 2000, Lisa lost presence on the show..and even didn't interact as much with Kim, Barbara,  or even trade barbs as much with Lucinda.

It was a nice treat to see all the women in the 50th anniversary episode interacting.  Barbara/Lucinda being frienimie, Lisa throwing shade at Lucinda while staying close to Nancy at the campfire..while Susan/Kim had a scene where the two talked about the Bob affair.

While it was nice seeing Emma interacting someone off that yucky farm

Port charles becoming more telenovela in format.  

47 minutes ago, Aback said:

Cool! What's the episode number? Is it on YT?

Kelly played a smart aleck 40s bar tender on Homefront after Generations...and her character reminded me of a Vicky...while her Gossip Girl character was more like a Donna Love.  I don't know how she would have been as Marley..tbh

Centering it around Caroline could be a good idea if there is diversity (which I doubt would occur).

Seeing Giselle on the Real and her saying she would wipe the floor with Ramona makes me sad that she didn't end up on season 1 of all stars 

Rosemary Prinz's had a great interview, Louise Shaffer had a great interview, Sharon Gabet's 2 interviews were great,and finally Susie Pratt totally took over.

I think if the guest is strong willed, the interview will be good because they run the interview...and he just follows along.

Eileen is pretty vocal (her Emmy foundation interview says as much)..so I'm hoping she has her wits about her.

Dana Wikey has been more relevant since BH than during her 25K sunglasses era.

57 minutes ago, j swift said:

I've been listening to the Passions podcast (iykyk) and was reminded of Gina Marie May, the one month Kay - that is some bad recasting

The weird thing about Kay was that from Taylor Anne Mountz to Deanna Wright and then to Heidi Mueller the character changed with the recast, which I consider a sign of a bad recasting.  Kay started as a sporty almost tom-boy who palled around with Miguel.  The initial point was that Miguel denied her attraction to him because he considered her to be one his childhood buddies.  Then, by the time Heidi Mueller (a failed reality star turned "actress') came along Kay became a va-va-voom girl who all the boys lusted after, and she looked like she could never dribble a basketball. 

Then, you have her sister Jessica who was off screen for so long between recasts that each time the character was reintroduced she had different traits.

I always thought she was a temp recast because the original Kay quit suddenly.

Deanna Wright was my fav Kay.  She had a town boy vibe, but was also girlish.  And scenes where she went off on Grace were well done.

Season 2 had the Donna modeling story..which had the unexpected Bill/Donna connection that sadly was abandoned in spring 1989...that briefly is revived in early 1991 when Bill turns to Donna when Margo is neglectful..even offering her a job at Spencer publications before she leaves the show (actress quits and the temp recast just isn't Donna).