Soaplovers

Deanna is definitely Doug's daughter and I mean that as a compliment. The only individual that might potentially have an effect on Vanessa and her misguided ways is her daughter. Think of it as the 2020s answer to Olivia/Abby.

I think Susan was cursed with being over-shadowed by other more interesting arcs that kickstarted the show including the slow burn romance between her brother Bill and Missy, plus her cousin Pat's angst. While her original arc was grieving the death of her father, feeling alienated from her over-bearing mother, and at a crossroads.. it made sense that the only solution for her character was to take a job in a different state and start her life over a few months into the show. Coming back to the show in 1969, wasn't she coming back just as Bill/Missy had finally gotten together and were about to leave town? If so, it sounded like she was going to take the place as the latest Matthews child to clash with Liz.

I think Sherry S leaving the show in mid 1992 kind of derailed those potential plans because LK had a totally different vibe and approach to playing Blake.

Eva's line to SPS about her upsetting the wrong person is foreshadowing to either a downfall for her, etc. Mona is a grade A Bible Thumping Bitch. Deanna/Vanessa scenes were good

@vetsoapfan How were the previous Susan's that played her before Milgrim? I think another actress played Susan for two or three years in the late 60s/early 70s when she first got together with Dan and the show even briefly bought on his daughter for Susan to play step mom to before Lemay took over and wrote them out.

Once the original writers are fired, the show does slowly meld the two shows together and it becomes pretty connected by the 1 year mark. I think it's revealed that Morgan's character and Kevin were friends since the show has them in scenes together.. and Morgan/Herring were great foils for one another (there is one particular comedic scene in particular that I faintly recall)

The problem I notice that doesn't seem to have been fixed thus far in season 2 is that each episode seem to have strong conversational scenes, but there is little to no action on a consistent basis. The Friday cliffhanger was good because something was actually happening that could potentially advance the plot. Otherwise, I've noticed a lot of building and talking with little to no action (in other words, all talk/no action). Hopefully Deanna will bring a bit of spark when she shows up and I'll reserve judgement till I see the full scenes of her character in action since the snippet I saw seems to be making her Kat redux. I was hoping she would be more cold and withdrawn since the mentions of her have indicated she had withdrawn after Doug's death.

Wicked Wicked Games was my fav of these telenovelas... Tatum O'Neal was excellent as the over the top villainess. She was straight up scary.

I think the pacing did need to pick up, but I think 13 week intervals was not exactly the right way to go. I would say that Sheldon had a strong start with the Big Brother type story, but after the Haunted mansion story vignette with Raven/Sky... the show was spinning it's wheels for a bit until the next set of stories were ready to start (Chris' Wait Until Dark story, Jody's campus mystery, and the Standing Oak Mystery). Out of those three, the only story that seemed to work was Chris' story while those who weren't involved in the three main plots were left to be talk to's. Once the show returned from the two week hiatus in the summer of 1984.. Sheldon really seemed to find his footing and had the Logan Swift locked door mystery, and what was Beth Corral hiding. Both had excellent resolutions with the show ending sadly with a promise of an umbrella mystery involving the whole cast.

Crompton's Mindy had the misfortune of starting in the middle of the Eve gaslighting/stalking plot and right before Jordan Clarke had to leave as Billy. I think had he been able to stay on as Billy, there could have been a lot of scenes re-establishing their bond. There was one episode shortly after Dusay started as Alex where there was a confrontation scene where Mindy stated that it was time to get everything between them out on the table and resolve things once and for all. Curlee just wanted to go back to that well again and follow up writers wouldn't let Nick/Mindy end until the last few months of her stint as Mindy.

So sad to hear of her passing. She had a good take on Sally balancing out the more trouble making elements of her character with a sense of spirit/optimism during an odd period on Another World. I just remember her as the object of affection on the first season of Charles in Charge, and being the replacement of Susan Olson in the Brady Christmas reunion tv movie... and a few years ago she was the ingenue in a wacky slasher from 1980 called 'To All A Goodnight'. RIP

I took the conversation between Ross/Vanessa in that scene to mean that her interest was never truly with him.. that he was her back up and not her #1. At this point, I do lean toward Holly/Ross becoming a thing down the line with the mentions by Vanessa, Johnny, etc. I wonder if the show was looking to do a Ross/Sonni/Holly/Roger situation since Roger/Sonni seemed to be something the writers were investing in.

Curlee and co seem to leave the show by March 1994 in the middle of some odd transitions in the show. The Frank/Julie/Eleni story + the Bridget custody case seem to be the highlights in the first half of 1994 along with Jenna trying to figure out her new normal post losing Spaulding. Shame that the follow up writers had no clue how to handle these transitions.

1993 was still a pretty good year in terms of writing, character development and pacing. I remember Marj Dusay saying when she joined GL in the fall of 1993 that she was drawn to how good the writing was and that she noticed that the writing quality started declining shortly after she came on. I did notice her first weeks as Alex was well written and she was more subtle in her approach to the character. Her acting went too OTT after spending three years playing Vanessa on AMC.. and it was almost too uncomfortable watching her go so OTT.. she rivaled SS as Carmen in terms of chewing the sets. Her best work was as Myrna on Capital imho @P.J. The scenes between Vanessa/Ross highlight why they never could get a relationship between the two right... starting at the 18 minute mark.

India was a last minute creation, same as Roxie Shayne, by Pam Long because Kristi Farrell and Mary Kay Adams were so good in their audition for Beth's cousin that two roles were created. Plus for recognizing the appeal of both actresses, but you could tell that both characters were created on the fly without a long term plan for either. India worked much better coming in for a specific arc and leaving once that arc was over. Her 1990 return, which was for a few months, was quite effective and once the Phillip faking his death arc was over.. she left town after heart felt good byes to Phillip, shady good byes to Alex, and an awkward good bye with Beth (who hugged her despite India's resistance LOL). Her 1998/1999 return didn't appear to have much planning involved.. and she eventually fades away again with little fan fare. Her 2002 and 2005 visits were much better. Roxie, on the other hand, had a nice pairing with Rick... but that weird story with Kurt and the Johnny cancer story did a disservice to Roxie.

I would agree with you on the trade offs hurting the show in the long run. I think the depth and character development was still pretty good for the characters even when Barnabas was on at first. When the show realized Barnabas was super popular and had to figure out a way to keep him on is the start of the decline of the focus on the other characters. I think the split focus between Barnabas and Victoria starts to erode after the 1795 story after she returns from the past. After a promising brief arc where she's under his spell, her character loses focus. Her last few episodes with Moltke playing Victoria is often remarked by fans as a brief return to form to the original concept with heavy focus on her. She has a heart to heart with Liz, remarks on how the Collins family is her chosen family, has her wedding called off, still feels after effects to almost dying in 1795 with a well done dream sequence, declares her love for Jeff/Peter, and promises to support him after they find Eve's dead body. Had the show done this consistently after 1795 with all the other characters.. it would have been able to thrive long term. I think Vicki was the least ruined of all the early characters in the long run.

The best example of a year 1 of a soap being full of growing pains is none other than Dark Shadows. Episode 1 of the series sets the series up nicely with the arrival of Victoria Winters to take a job as governess for a family she's never met, but suspects might be connected to her past.. a past she isn't aware of. Contrasting her arrival as a woman literally in search of her identity is Burke Devlin, a man that has an identity given to him based on being frame for a crime he didn't commit.. and is determined to take revenge. A gothic soap with typical soap opera plots with the two arrivals in Collinsport being inspired by classic novels Jane Eyre & The Count of Monte Cristo. After a very strong premiere episode, the show is bogged down in the typical slow moving pace that daytime was known for. While the show was filmed 1 to 2 weeks in advance, there at least 40+ scripts written before filming started.. so changes didn't start to occur till after the first 40 or so episodes with the unplanned murder of Bill Malloy. As the murder mystery commenced, the hints of the supernatural started to become confirmed with objects moving leading up to Victoria Winters encountering the ghost of the murder victim... and it being revealed to have not been a dream. As the show employed more supernatural flourishes, ratings started to perk up especially with the climax of the bill Malloy murder case involving supernatural forces. The supernatural bent continues with the introduction of the woman Burke and Roger fought over Laura Collins... who doesn't seem to be quite herself... and you have a strong 70 episode supernatural arc that continues the ratings rise enough to where the show gets a 26 week pick up with an order to raise the ratings even more or else be canceled after the 26 week pick up. Enter Barnabas Collins about 9 to 10 months into the show's run and the rest is history as they say. The show literally shifts within the first year from being a gothic soap featuring an ingenue searching for her past and future (like all soaps) to becoming the lead vehicle for a vampire with the ingenue becoming a strong supporting arc instead of the lead moving forward.

I think Grayson is only involved because it's probably paying him extra money so he can care for his mother, that I think does have Parkinson's. Lia being very interested in the free clinic was a red flag.. I have a feeling that will be a dropping off point for 'deliveries' down the road. Oddly Ashley/Derek had good friendship chemistry. Based on the previews, it looks as though Deanna will be a typical bratty character... and Kat already fulfills that role already.

This more recent channel has been uploading videos and there were a few videos uploaded from the late January/early Feb 1991 period of the show. Pam Long had left as head-writer between 12/24/1990 and 2/1/1991.. so we saw a lot of transition in these episodes. They uploaded Josh's last episode from 1/28/1991 for instance. This episode from 2/1/1991 had some interesting scenes where Harley/Alan Michael were interacting a lot as friends, Blake/Alan Michael interacting as soon to be exes, Faux Roger, Beth/Mindy scenes, Billy/Nadine scenes, Vanessa/HB scenes, and faux Justin Marler is shown.. as well as a lot of Sam/Daniel/Dylan. I assume Dylan/Sam were broken up... but not sure if Daniel/Holly had become a couple yet during this time or if that came later. It's an interesting time on the show.

Watching yesterday and today's episodes, I realized that Madison has potential to be a good character since she had good scene chemistry with both Lia and Ashley... but once she's opposite Chelsea, the chemistry doesn't extend to them. I can believe that Derek can read, tell time, and make decisions. Despite the bias, firefighters have physical requirements as well as being able to think on your feet. It's odd that he's moved to recurring and yet the show is writing him much better than when he was on contract. Vanessa vs SPS is always nice to see. Hayley isn't a good crier... thank gosh she pulled that with Chelsea... whose intelligence I question.

The anniversary Easter egg continued with the whole Dani going psycho at Hayley/Bill's wedding last year. It's a shame that Dani doesn't turn a little bit of that blame onto her family for doing the whole toxic 'Dupree family honor' edict and making her go along. In regards to SPS/Leslie.. a little bit goes a long way. I blame the director for not telling the performer to reign it in a little bit and the writers for not giving the performer anything to play so they have to go broad in their performance to compensate for the lack of variety in the writing. If I'm correct, didn't Kat tamper with the evidence that she found? If so, that could be a way where people truly know what she did.. but because of a lack of evidence... they can't charge SPS/Leslie with a crime? That's the only way where we could see where everyone truly knows she's guilty.. but can't prove it because of the lack of evidence that is admissible due to Kat's tampering with it. That way, whatever Joey has on SPS/Leslie will be the main focus and seeing how he chooses to use that evidence. In regards to a previous comment about Joey not being that keen on women of color, I think he would be down for a hook up with Dani (judging by the banter between the two where they enjoyed the interaction). He has good sense not to go anywhere near SPS/Leslie

My late mom told me that there was a clash between VH and M/B over the direction of the show. She wanted it not to be so slapstick/comedy and to actually do interesting and heartfelt episodes. Leave it to Willie was an episode that the network sided with VH on and it was a very good episode about how life isn't a sitcom and that things don't get wrapped up neatly in a 30 minute time period.. and the episode ended with things unresolved. With that said, I liked both Sandy Duncan and Valerie Harper on the show. Both were strong performers.

San Cristobel was when the show had officially past go and couldn't turn arond and fix itself. Yet a bunch of new characters that we were stuck with for years (Edmund, Olivia) and just a vehicle to feature Reva.. when her time as main character was well and done. Shame no one with enough backbone and balls didn't just backburner the character and/or fire Zimmer (who I find to be almost a bully)

I remember a scene where Anita briefly talked with Eva and didn't hold SPS/Leslie being her mother against her.. and she had a look of compassion. It also told me that she remembers being from the 'wrong side of the tracks' and views Eva differently than her elitist daughter (Dani) and grand-daughter do (Kat). Seeing Kat reminds me of the movie 'The First Wives Club' where the three women turn against one another and become the very thing that they're fighting against. I'm seeing Kat is making herself look like the bad guy while Eva is looking innocent in comparison. Kat... don't be a Tamra Judge, just give SPS/Leslie & Eva enough rope to hang themselves.

Yesterday's episode with Ashley/Shanice talking about Ashley's 1 year anniversary on 2/25/2026 had a few easter eggs to celebrate the show's first anniversary. Ashley's 1st day at the hospital was episode 2 where SPS/Eva/Jan came to wish Ashley good luck on her 1st day and where we got to hear a bit from Eva about being at a cross-roads in her life and being in between jobs and happy that Ashley has things figured out. Not only did the episode show Ashley's 1st anniversary, but it also showed Eva perfectly content working for Ted and being a help with launching the clinic. And Derek being at crossroads with his life/career mirrored Eva's very own crossroads with her life/career the year before so her being a help to him was kind of a full circle moment. Episode 3 of the show I believe had Laura's accident and as we've seen 1 year later... Laura hasn't quite recovered from that event and I don't believe the show will actually resolve the story at least right now. It'll happen when we least expect it.. I think the story coming back up is because of the 1 year anniversary of the show and event. And lastly.. SPS dropping in on Dani without an invite is the only thing acceptable to me especially with Dani doing the same to her ex and his new wife last year. Karma.. like Dani.. is a bitch :)