Soaplovers

I think soap fans prefer a writer that doesn't write their scripts in crayon like Tyler Perry does.

I'm going to miss the Mona/Jan/Silk Press Sheila friendship scenes. Her speech to Mona/Jan is foreshadowing to what's to come after the two day break

It helps that she's played by a wonderful actress. An actress that according to her instagram has had such a rough time in her personal life when she got this part. Is it bad I wish she could have played Dani instead so we could be ensured she stay on a long time and not run the risk of being written in a corner? Two of my close guy friends are in open marriages and they have those honest talks with one another.. and whomever they choose to bring into their relationship. I was glad that the conversation wasn't too Afterschool Special and seemed realistic. If that makes sense.

It's called compromise and both men and women have to compromise when merging two styles together into one apartment. Ashley needs to remove the stick out of her ass since she seems like an anal individual.. and her mother Jan seemed to think the same thing LOL But of course, it's always the man's fault.. right? I wish that she had more scenes outside the Have Not gossip sessions because I have a feeling Ashley is so tightly wound up because of something that happened involving Jan and whoever is her father (Joey maybe?). With that said, today was a great episode and a nice calm before the storm. We had no Dani, we have the Have Not gossip session, we had Derek/Ashley interacting with other people, we had Silk Press Sheila mixing it up with some of the Duprees, and we had a flashback to right when her late husband passed away. Lastly.. the final shot on Silk Press Sheila's face was a great way to end the episode.

Luann is only a good wing woman to those she views as beneath her, and not a threat to her. Otherwise, she's putting a knife in your back and stealing your man away from you. Luann doesn't strike me as someone looking to settle down so I'm guessing she's on to keep her name in viewers minds. Gizelle is too demanding and not honest so any self respecting man would steer clear of her. Ashley has two small children.. so any man would be smart not to engage with her or else be prone to using some of his money to help her raise her two kids if Michael isn't giving her proper child support, etc. Shannon, as much as I like her, needs to get her self-esteem in working order before even thinking of starting a new relationship. Still the trainwreck appeal is high for this.. and if RHUGT is no longer a thing.. this would be a nice show to have come up every so often with four single housewives.

Plastic surgery and botox should be a no no when starring in a soap opera because the medium depends on your face and the soap opera expressions. If you're nipped, or botoxed, within an inch of your life... it's going to be painful when doing any sort of acting. It was painful seeing Roman and Patch attempt to act sad/heartbroken over what is happening with Bo. For some reason, I don't mind when Diedre attempts to act because she uses her voice to convey emotion... and she's very good at using her voice to convey sadness/longing/happiness/sarcasm. Seeing her hopeful face when talking about John made me sad because we all know how devasted/sad she's going to be. With that said, Marlena is at her best when she's in therapist mode and she displayed that in fine form with her grandson today. It gives me hope that the new regime understands what makes Marlena/Doc tick and that she'll be in good hands. The high school/teen scene is kinda cringe and it makes me really wish that we can go back to the old days when the teens were only featured in the summer. I'm hoping Jada/Shawn will be a nice slow burn. The chemistry was so apparent today and I loved that their 1:1 scene with one another was long and not cut up into three shorter scenes. I was wondering last week if Patch/Jada have a bond and I was glad to have that answered today. Learning today that Johnny just found out about how he was conceived makes me side with him more than ever once he has the talk with Chanel about his reservations about adopting the baby. I'm sure fans, and writers, will probably paint him as a misogynist since that's been the trend in the 2020s (which is a form of misandry).. but I will reserve my judgement until I see the conversation between the two play out.

I remember SOD had an opinion piece about AW during Swajeski's stint as headwriter and the main thing they thought hindered AW was episode breakdowns. They gave an example about how two characters would just about be ready to kiss on a Friday while a third character was about to walk into the room. Then Monday would roll around with no follow up on the cliffhanger.. but then on Tuesday's episode, it would pick up right around the time of the Friday cliffhanger with the before mentioned character about ready to enter the room as the two characters were just about to kiss.

I could see Ashley being in her late 20s/early 30s and not going to nursing school right away because of $$. After all, she wasn't raised with money. I also think the script writers don't understand how to write younger white couples and that's why their conversations seem odd/unrealistic/boring. I agree that Ashley has a lot of connections to the other characters. In the first week, she was established as being good friends with Naomi, that she knew Silk Press/Eva when they wished her luck on her first day as a nurse, she knows Andre from a long time ago, and it's established she has known Dani/Nicole/Ted for several years. Why the writers seem incapable of mixing her with the other characters baffles me.

Quite frankly, I welcome the sudden shift in Janel because I'm sick and tired of seeing young vibrant couples saddled with a baby when they still have a lot of avenues and conflict they could explore before being saddled down with a baby. Given his chaotic upbringing and parentage of EJ/Sami... it's realistic he would have second thoughts because of his fears of how he would be as a father. He should sit down and talk with Chanel about this because it would be interesting to get both of their perspectives since I don't recall Chanel having a typical upbringing either. While I'm happy Shawn D and Belle are divorced (never thought they had chemistry), I'm confused as to why she's drawn/in love with EJ. Does she not remember the toxicity that he brought into Sami's life? Does she think it'll be different for her because she's Belle and not Sami? I've heard of Jada, but I'm never seen her in action. It makes my heart happy when I found out that her father was Marcus Hunter He and Patch had a great male friendship back in the late 80s and it's nice to see that Marcus lives on with his daughter Jada being on the show. I don't see chemistry between Jada and Rafe.. but I saw chemistry between her and Shawn D. I've watched some Youtube scenes and episodes with Xander/Sarah.. and I still don't understand the appeal. In fact, I don't find that either of them have much acting talent, although I didn't realize that she had been on B & B as Caroline (where she had much prettier hair, was blonde, and had a nicer wardrobe). Kristen is too one note.. at least as played by SH. I've yet to see her play the layers and vulnerability that Eileen did when she played Kristen.. though her Susan is so much than Eileen's. Still trying to get use to the newer Gabi since I had a fondness for Camille's take on the character. The new Gabi is a good actress, but she has a slightly more whiny princess approach to playing Gabi vs Camille's more intense take on the character.

Unpopular opinion: I liked Dixie/Craig together as a couple... even liked that one male character that the show was chem testing her with during the Prospect Park AMC revival. Tad/Dixie breaking up and making up diluted their appeal eventually.

I wonder if anyone is tweeting MVJ, or the other powers that be, regarding their odd choice of keeping Ashley/Derek in a separate universe.. and when that issue will be fixed. If they were forced to create and write for them due to network mandate.. they need to do a better job at covering up their resentment of being forced to write for them. Also, I also echo sentiments on the overuse of slang terms for Tyrell and Samantha. Sometimes I've sat at a local coffee house to do work and there are a bunch of teens that come in during their lunch.. and all of them hardly use slang words when speaking to one another.

I always think if you're going to try out someone in the head writer position that's never written for soaps, they should be paired with someone that has soap opera writing experience as a co-head writer. Even Harding Lemay listened to Irna Phillips and said he learned from her the foundation/structure of a soap opera so he knew what he could do and not due as head-writer. Perhaps Doug Anderson needed a strong co-head writer to show him the ropes so to speak.

Good episode today in terms of character interaction and an update on the delusional three female associates wanting to take over Bill's law firm and ruin it. If I were Bill, I'd hire Joey to take out Mike for putting his law firm in that position. I've seen nothing from the way the three female actresses have played their characters to convince me that they have any sense of logic or business acumen. I do notice that this soap is a little too pro feminist, but I've yet to see much evidence to show that all the accolades the characters are given the female characters is justified... except for Naomi and Nicole so far. Both of those characters are showing their abilities and acumen. I don't feel annoyed seeing Derek/Ashley being shown because it's so apparent it's sabotage by the writers isolating them from the rest of the cast. Out of the two characters, Ashley has the most connections to the canvas.. but the writers seem unable to actually show her character in consistent scenes with those characters.

You can't have misandry on a show without a little misogynist to balance it out.

So the episode was overall fine with a lot of emphasis on Kayla, but I'm confused over people shipping Xander and Sarah. They seem to lack chemistry and her mousy hair and punch-able face makes me seriously question the decline on casting beautiful and appealing women to play characters on the soap. I think the change in head writers will first be noticed in the initial day to day episodes, but I don't think a change will be apparent in the long term story plan for awhile since they have to finish off Ron's story threads that are ongoing. Is the show thinking of pairing Chad/Cat?

My mom actually bought one of the products Lar Park Lincoln was selling on QVC called the Freedom Bag back in the day... my mom swore by it. I know that was one of the reasons she took a step back from acting. I also knew she had been battling breast cancer for years as well, but I had figured she was in remission because she had been doing interviews and stepping back into acting in the last few years. RIP

The fault of that scene not being the cliffhanger falls on the breakdown writer (Ron C) since they're in charge of outlining the events of the episode while the script writer fills in the words spoken by the characters.

That's the one consistent trait that Stephanie has had when played by Shelly H and now this current actress. It's logical since she grew up with Kayla never quite ever finding purpose/agency in her life after Patch 'dead' and even when he returned from the dead.. Kayla kind of lacked agency. Maybe the new head writer could explore that.

Olivia did have a strong friendship with Jenna, even advising her on how to navigate men and sex.. when it came to Dean. She also did have a good working relationship with Matt/Jake/Dean at the record company. Ironically, the last months of her stint with the pregnancy and her scenes with Marley while discussing the pregnancy and possible adoption were pretty good scenes. Plus, the fact that the real father was Dennis thus her baby would have been Iris's grand daughter and a Cory. While Hossack opted to leave at the end of her contract, it's a shame that the show didn't think to later recast the character and bring her back to the show with the baby and having to deal with Iris as a pesky presence in her life. Aunt Liz would have certainly gone up against Iris for sure.

Today was firing on all cylinders.. and yes I'm including Ashley/Derek in that as well LOL Joey/Vanessa had some fun double entendre talk as they discussed business.. amongst other things. Doug/Vanessa... didn't know they had it in them I have a feeling this suddenly coming together isn't due to their love for one another, but transference. He's an adrenaline junkie and she was left hot to trot from her talk to Joey. Dani... one step forward.. two steps back? Jury is still out, but it was nice to see Dani not in Bill/Hayley's orbit.. and forging a new life with Pamela as her business partner and Andre as her FWB. I'm intrigued that Chelsea's way of letting off steam is to hook back up with the couple... me thinks she inherited more than just walking a runway from her mom. Derek/Ashley were kind of cute, and I'm going to assume that these scenes are foreshadowing for the day that the two end up breaking up. At least the show realizes that the two don't really connect. I do still wonder if the hints dropped a few weeks ago about Laura and the potassium will be tied to Ashley or if that scene of Ashley melting down over making an error on a chart was just a throwaway scene. Eva vs Silk Press Sheila was a good end scene for the episode.. and a musical montage as Vanessa/Doug and Ashley/Derek share some happy time in the sack I'm excited for tomorrow.

I had no idea J. Michael Straczynski wrote episodes for this show! I'm surprised that he was a writer since he seemed more attuned to the sci fi world than the cozy mystery vibe that MSW offered. I have to admit that one of his penned episodes in season 9 'The Wind Around the Tower' was one I enjoyed watching with my parents when I was a kid. I remembered being proud because I figured out the killer and it was due to one small action that they did that made me say out loud 'They're the killer'. And as it turns out, that minor action was the method the killer used to kill their victim. I'd forgotten that Peter Fischer had left the series after six or seven seasons. His vision of the character was a merging of Miss Maples with Agatha Christie.. and I can see traits of both individuals in Mrs Fletcher. And seeing that his last written work was the quirky Dead Man's Island with a huge cast of the who's who of the 60s and 70s did kind of remind me of an extended episode of MSW with Barbara Eden playing a more urban variation of Jessica Fletcher (who was a journalist instead of a writer).

I don't know if I would ever say that MSW was a procedural. It was more like a cozy mystery that the whole family could watch and it helped that a likable actress was playing Mrs Fletcher. When watching the show, I'm struck by how much warmer the vibe was on the show during the 80s and very early 90s. I noticed as the 90s commenced, the warmth was stripped away and it felt more like a standard procedural then the cozy warm atmosphere that the show during the 80s. Trial By Error is one of the more popular/liked episodes because it had an interesting mystery, you had the various individuals with different motives in the jury, and you got to see the process where some of the jurors put together different parts of the puzzle before the verdict was read. Also, it had so many well known guest stars that it appealed to a large segment of the audience that enjoyed prime time and day time shows. What other episode would have Dr Tom Horton, Thelma Harper, the older son from Family, and a former cast member of WKRP in the same episode. It was a guest star buffet Was it due to the 90s being more minimalist and the 80s being more ornate/expressive? Or was it just a result of a show aging and maturing.

It always fascinates me seeing a soap that's firing on all cylinders like GL was in the summer of 1984 (where they ranked #2 or 3 consistently during that summer) shoot themselves in the foot so quickly as they did during the fall of 1984. Killing Hilary off in September, Writing off Mike in September, Bert ending up being off canvas due to Charita's quickly declining health starting in late 1984, sidelining Nola/Quint with that Jonathan story, Jim making eyes at his sister in law Annabelle, Reva/Billy/Josh/HB eating up airtime, etc It was a miracle that the show maintained a #3 or #4 ranking all the way through the summer of 1985 before ratings started a slight decline to #5 during the fall/winter of 1985 (only hitting #4 at the climax of the Largo story) before settling at # 5 through the start of 1986. Once Long left the writing staff and Ryder was sole head writer, the ratings really took a nosedive.

I liked during the Kat/Hayley/Bill scene that Hayley basically paid Kat no mind and resumed doing her job. I'm continuing to be fascinated by Hayley ,because she seems like she looks at the world more realistically than Bill and the Duprees do. And there have been instances where she's observed details missed by Bill (i.e. the picture frame, the bottle of wine, etc). In regards to Tomas/Eva/Kat: I recall my late mom talking about the iconic Steve/Rachel/Alice story from the late 60s/70s on AW and what she said about that triangle seems to be apply to this trio. Eva/Tomas both seem to have more in common in terms of their more working class humble beginnings.. and both striving to be join the club of the Have's. Tomas may feel drawn to Kat because of her personality.. but I do suspect it's also because she is part of that elite club that he's wanted to be a part of. Deep down, he probably is drawn to Eva.. but at the same time, knows that Kat is the safer choice. Eva is getting annoyed with Silk Press because she's realizing her mother is a loose cannon and knows that if they play their hand too quickly... they'll be out the money (for SPS) and the family (that Eva is craving).

Tudor probably would be persuaded to come back on TV for a quick stint more so than Peluso.. if her statements during her Locher Room interview still hold true. She basically said she was happily retired doing real estate and that she enjoyed her acting career.. but she knew it was time to retire.