Soaplovers

Rebecca Staab as Jessie, Beth's cousin. As everyone is aware, Beth's cousin was supposed to be named India Raines, or something along those lines. She was supposed to be a mischievous trashy cousin of Beth's that would come in and make life difficult for her cousin and aunt. When the role was originally being cast in 1984, both Mary Kay Adams and Kristi Farrell read for the part. The casting people liked both actresses and decided to create two characters for both actresses. Adams got the mischievous traits in a more posh/upper crust form while Farrell got the fun traits in a more trashy form. By the time that Long did introduce Beth's cousin.. the character had no interesting traits because those traits were given to India and Roxy and she was introduced a few weeks before Long left the show. Also, Staab was not able to make the character interesting and the writing didn't help either. The initial episodes that introduced Jessie and her mother Calla had a Toddler and Tiara type of set up where Calla seemed to have pushed her daughter into that world (even hinting at Calla pushing Jessie into unsavory things in order to win and be successful). That aspect seemed to have been dropped once Long left the show and Jessie was subjected to a Simon/Jessie/India triangle that went nowhere.

There was one or two scenes where Samantha and Royce embraced.. and there was a moment where they felt uncomfortable because they enjoyed the embraced too much. And I remember the therapist said to both of them that it was normal for such a thing to happen because neither were raised together. I think that was to set up the later story where Samantha was a con artist, and I wonder if she was originally supposed to be a con artist and that was changed.. or if that whole arc was a red herring to provide conflict for Lucinda. The only other time where Emily, as played by KMH, was written decently was during Culliton's brief stint as head writer when she was dating the teacher Jef. She was written as trying to be a good person, but her past baggage was so massive that she ended up driving him away because of her ability to be her own worst enemy. After that story, the character didn't really get consistent writing nor layers.

Simms, like Melanie Smith of ATWT fame, had this ability to be sensual and tortured at the same time. Both women would have thrived in the 1940s during the film noir era as the femme fatale and/or anti heroine. Both actresses made their characters on GL and ATWT so distinctive/memorable that it was virtually impossible to recast both parts. I'm still confused as to what the show was going for when Ann Hamilton was cast as Mindy. Her Mindy seemed like an Annie Oakley type with a bit of the spoiled/princess vibe that Krista T played... but without the sensual/tortured vibe of Simms. Barbara C was known for playing quirky and comedic characters.. but her Mindy was almost too mature and angry.

I think to Boomers like my late mom, she would have though the Royce story was a great Marland story. She was bummed about Neal being murdered though since that meant that the character couldn't come and go like Adams other character India. If I recall, Royce realized in his integrated persona didn't really love Emily in the way that she deserved to be loved. There were scenes of him having dreams where he was with Emily and she turned into Julie so he did the right thing by not marrying Emily... but I think choosing to do it at the altar was in bad form. The Royce leaving Emily at the altar story, to me, altered the Emily character and how KMH approaching playing the character. Before that event happened, she played Emily as more level headed, guarded, and more of a grey character. After that event happened, the show and actress really delved into her neurotic tendencies.. and the character never returned to how she was written pre-Royce. After the marriage altar event, he spent the last few months of his stint flirting with Julie a few times, getting to know his twin, a brief situation where Royce/Samantha felt something when hugging, and then was tested some with Shannon before he left the show.

Pam Long wasn't writing the show when Josh returned in 1986. When I watched the scenes where Reva and Josh came face to face in late 1986, I was baffled at how quickly Reva just accepted Josh back in her life and arms.. especially after the conversation they had where he admitted he knew of her suicide attempt and didn't even care to reach out to her, etc. When she returned as head-writer in July/August 1987, she was the one to bring on Sonni as his thought to be dead wife.. and also split Josh/Reva up. He was written as more judgmental. In regard to Josh/Harley, the set up for the two started back in late 1989/early 1990 with the two clashing with one another during the whole Dylan paternity story.. and Reva deciding to hire Harley with Josh not liking nor accepting her. Harley didn't really act like Reva because she didn't put up with his attitude and would push back against him. Had Robert Newman not opted to leave, or if he had an extra six months on his contract, I think the coupling would have been done more gradual. I always suspect that Pam Long and Calhoun were the ones pushing Mallet/Mindy because once both were gone, the show opted for Mindy/Nick and Malley/Harley.

I hope he comes on again because

The one weakness that Ron C seems to employ in his episodes are the all too short scenes. To me, I'd rather have seen the Andre/Ted, Eva/Shanice, Eva/Silk Press Sheila, and Vanessa/Joey scenes be longer.. and cut out the Doug scenes and the Dani/Chelsea/Samantha scenes. We got some backstory from Ted's perspective on what was going on with Silk Press Sheila and Nicole. Now do we believe he only had that one affair? I'm on the fence about that. Shanice and Eva were a good combo, but I'd rather they be frenemies then friends since they're both so nosy and all Eva and Silk Press Sheila are a good mother and daughter duo. So Joey was previously married....hmmmmm. The show doesn't mention something like that unless it will come into play later. While I hate making characters related, making Joey the long lost father of Ashley would actually give her character some purpose since lord knows the show seems incapable of giving that girl any sort of purpose other then as the perky nurse. There was no need for Dani to be on today, and I feel that the writers will make her the Reva of the show.. and that isn't a compliment.

It worked out for Robin's favor, even though I thought Elaine was a superior actress.. but popularity always trumps talent sometimes. @DRW50I remember an interview with Ms Slezak where she confirmed that Sloan dying was the trigger for the return of her DID. She said she was sad that the return of the DID story would result in Sloan's death since she enjoyed working with Roy T. I do agree that the Sarah character was only revived as a thorn/obstacle to Bo/Cassie.. and not really because the character was beloved and missed. While Grace Phillips gave a good performance and infused Sarah with an edge/backbone, fans just didn't take to her because she wasn't Jenson. We look at Jenson through 2025 lenses, but back in 1991/1992.. Jenson was looked at favorably and was popular on OLTL during her stint. So even though a fairly good actress came onto the canvas to play Sarah, the show really didn't know what to do with her after the initial back from the dead story and being a suspect in Carlo Hesser's death concluded. It also didn't help that her on screen sister Megan passed away mere weeks after she debuted as Sarah either.

The only thing I remember about the blizzard was that Mindy got stranded with Nick/Eve... and this was the first time you saw that Eve wasn't dealing with a full deck when she started taunting Mindy. Mindy had a look of disbelief/fear, but when Nick came into the room.. Eve resumed her normal demeanor. Lana could have been a stage name, or a way to rebel against the Reardons since she could have been the black sheep of the family. Or Lana is the americanized version of the Irish name Alannah

What the show is showing is that privilege comes from money and influence no matter what your gender, age, or race. Dani has skirted through life without ever suffering any consequences and it's why she's the entitled individual that she is today. It's also why she's taking the divorce so hard because this is the first time she's ever not gotten what she's wanted and she doesn't know how to deal with that. If she were played by a talented actress that could play the layers of hurt, pain, and regret.. then I could root for her. Contrast that with Silk Press Sheila/Dana/Lulu/Anna/Sherri.. who is also written as one note.. but the actress plays her with different shades and layers that you root for her. Hayley's fashion fascinates me. I almost wish she and Silk Press Sheila knew one another so that she could be taught how to shop. Although the writers need to really think about how they're writing Hayley's character.. mix her up with some of the other characters. In fact, one idea I had in regards to Hayley and her place at the country club is that she figure out Vanessa/Diego's work out routine and uses that to get Vanessa to associate with her. Although the fact that the country club/staff will still associate with Bill and not Hayley shows a double standard. Why only punish the other woman when it was Bill that violated his marriage vows and dumped Dani for Hayley? Why not give both individuals the cold shoulder instead of just one of them.

According to the wiki website, it looks as though she and Eva moved back to the area in 2024 after the death of Alan. I think it was mentioned it had been at least six months or so since his death.

That's fine, you don't have to care about Ashley. And yes, she lived with Dana her whole life, but I have a feeling this extreme behavior from Dana didn't really start until the death of Dana's husband Alan.

I think yesterday was another set up day for future story in regards to Ashley and I think this because of a few nuggets mentioned throughout the run of the soap thus far: 1) Ashley was the nurse attending to Laura in week 1 2) Ashley was falling asleep during a night out with Derek/Naomi/Jacob 3) Eva in episode #2 mentioned that she felt her life was in limbo compared to Ashley's, who seemed to have everything going well with her first day as a nurse. 4) People have been boasting about her being a miracle nurse since the elevator baby situation... even someone as nice as Ashley would let that go to her head. 5) Laura's one blood test result had potassium in it. 6) Ashley was spoken to about her clerical error with dosage of potassium even though she did give the right dosage. I have a feeling the show is setting it up where Ashley will be accused of causing the issues with Laura. If that doesn't happen, then the last 30+ episodes have been a waste for Ashley's character and the show is just running in circles with her character. If this happens , Silk Press Sheila has managed to derail the 'daughters' of both of her Have not friends... and all for Eva.. while poor Eva is probably going to feel guilty and not have proof of her mom's activities. And I have a feeling Shanice will be remember 'Lulu' and I also think maybe Andre might have filmed 'Lulu' looking up the test results (even though we didn't see him filming during that scene.. it still could have happened). Also, I think Anita's story will get started at the end of April and start to develop during May sweeps while other stories are hitting their peak, etc. And I noticed the actress playing Chelsea has finally hit her stride acting wise in these last few episodes. Soap acting is tough and it takes time to get into the groove of acting on a soap.

If I'm not mistaken, the clerical error Ashley made on the chart was the dosage for Potassium... which was found in Laura's blood work. So I wonder if perhaps we got some foreshadowing of trouble for Nurse Ashley.

Silk Press Sheila adapting a southern accent as Lulu? I see that our nurse Shanice was onto her right away. The actress playing Shanice says so much with her eyes and facial expressions, and I fear for her safety since 'Lulu' now has her in her sights. Chelsea/Samantha scene was pretty good, and I have a feeling that once Dani gets wind of Samantha's dream.. she'll be on her like a pray mantis. With Chelsea not on board with Samantha's dream because of her own experiences.. I sense some mother/daughter conflict. Martin/Smitty on a date And no Martin, your line wasn't cheesy in the way that you probably thought it was cheesy. A double entendre is always my favorite line of dialogue. That last scene between Eva and Silk Press Sheila really shows that Eva understands that her mom is off her rocker. Unpopular opinion, but I didn't mind the Ashley scene today. In fact, it was the first time that the show attempted to give the character a little bit of depth and I think the actress did as well as she could. The show really needs a white Millennial/Gen Z script writer since the current script writers seem unable, or incapable of writing younger white characters effectively. Or the actors need to be allowed to modify their dialogue (Victoria Rowell used to do that on Y & R so not out of left field). And also Ashley and Derek were included in MVJ's bible.. but sometimes what works on paper doesn't always work when implemented.

Using the Nielsen Ratings results from Jason47's website (which I assume were accurate for all soaps), it appeared as though Ryan's Hope ratings were not in good shape by the time Loving debuted. They usually finished 1 or 2 spots above Loving in the first few months of Loving's time on air so when they changed timeslots.. it didn't help either soap opera. In fact, it kind of helped Search for Tomorrow a bit because there were weeks in late 1984 where the ratings between Search and Loving were not far apart.. and Loving had more affiliates airing vs Search. I think the problem was that Loving didn't have a distinct identity that would make people want to go check out the soap. Even if the soap had kept the original concept of focusing on the college and the people that worked/attended it.. it wouldn't have been enough to make it popular. Although their first week ratings were a 4.9 for a time slot that wasn't known for airing soap operas with almost full affiliate support.. so had the show come out strong right out the gate, it could have worked in that time slot.

I watched a few episodes with the New Nat once the Carter story and blindness story were over.. in order to see how she would do with Nat when not in peril. She wasn't too bad as Nat at all. She had a warmer and less neurotic demeanor.. and did well the few times the show bothered to write Nat with a bit of wit/sarcasm during her stint. She was a good actress, but playing the wrong character. @MaximErica in 1983, from what my mom told me, was her in peak form. She had obtained her life and career in NYC during that time and would come back to visit Pine Valley for events where her observations were so out of sync with the rest of Pine Valley.. it was almost comical.

I loved the twist that the men were trying to playfully warn Tomas about Kat.. not the other way around Other then the lack of follow up on the stellar cliffhanger from yesterday, this was a superb episode. It makes me sad that B & B no longer produces fashion shows at this level anymore when that was one of the highlights of that soap in the 80s/90s/00s. Maybe this show will help light a fire under that soap and they can eventually produce a fashion show of quality again. This episode was definitely Chelsea's episode.. and the first episode where it shows how comfortable the actress has gotten playing the character and doing a soap opera. Lots of warm family moments with Martin/Smitty and their daughter... plus some great moments between Samantha/Chelsea/Kat. I'm going to miss the actor playing Ted because he can effortlessly play the charming handsome father and husband, but also play the rougher elements as we saw yesterday. A delayed thought from yesterdays episode and having seen the Have Not Gossip session at play: I noticed that Jan and Silk Press Sheila have a good rapport and similar viewpoint about the wealthy country club while Mona seems to be the third wheel in that friend group. I wonder if that will play out.

GL: Nola vs Vanessa. Made richer when they became sister in laws ATWT: Susan vs Kim. What I liked about this feud was that there were years when the two had a ceasefire and were even friendly with one another (especially during the Susan/Larry marriage years). And then something would set off the feud again rather it was something Susan did or comments Kim would make. AMC: Erica vs Brooke I was always team Erica. Erica was a have not while Brooke was a rich brat. While Erica was always insecure and seeking admiration from people/men, Brooke always pretended she was better then Erica and everyone else even though she had no problems going for men that Erica no longer was interested in. Talk about low self-esteem. GH: Lucy vs Katherine People always say that Bobbie vs Lucy was their favorite of Lucy's feuds.. but I always got a kick out of Lucy and Katherine whenever they sparred. Sometimes it would carry out during the annual Nurses Ball. It was a comical feud and it started because of how Lucy viewed Katherine as trying to soil her late friend Dominique's memory and tried to swindle Scotty and Serena out of their inheritance.

The one thing I've noticed so far on this soap is that a random line/comment seems to be foreshadowing of sorts for future story. In Week 1: Hayley wondering if people at the law firm liked her, or held it against her that she was marrying the boss while a offhand comment from Mike about Hayley got Bill upset. Turned out to be foreshadowing the lawsuit story and confirmed Hayley's instincts were correct. So today's comments from Ted about his lawyer will probably tie Bill and/or Mike into the story with Silk Press Sheila. Also, Smitty's comments about the influencer story he was going to be doing and mentioning he hoped to talk to Chelsea after the fashion show makes me think her two random scenes of Chelsea's double life with the guy and his partner will probably tie into whatever this new story Smitty is chasing is. I knew when Shanice last week mentioned Laura and how Eva is just ok compared to Laura.. I knew Laura would be making her way back into the story.

Jazmen written scripts are always a treat, but we also should give credit to the breakdown writer Dunn because the episode flowed quite well. Leslie/Silk Press Sheila vs Ted was so good and I also noticed that the scenes between them ran a little longer then usual. So after getting a glimpse of Mr Hyde (Ted's dark side), I'm even more confused why he was replaced since he played up the dark/rough edges flawlessly. And Leslie/Silk Press Sheila is so well cast! She was missed! Laura and Mona came back after a hiatus, but I have a feeling that Laura might not be ready to go back to work quite yet if the last scene is an indication (and girl... where are gloves?) I'm curious what Martin's secret is.. and the story that Smitty mentioned he's working on I have a feeling will involve Chelsea and maybe shed a bit of light on those two quick scenes where we saw a less timid/more confident Chelsea with the guy and his partner. I agree with everyone else that Martin should have been Vernon/Anita's son and not grandson. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Ah, this is during that awkward stage between Marland's stint and Pam Long's stint where it seemed as though a lot of the stories were in standstill or being cleaned up. Regarding Morgan, I do recall that between this period and May 1983 that she hung out more with Rick and Philip before she left the canvas in May 1983 just as Mindy/Beth were arriving on the scene. Kelly doesn't have a lot to do for awhile until Claire Ramsay comes on the scene later in 1983.. and they're roommates that eventually date before he leaves the show in 1984. The Dobsons/Marland's were pros at writing gothic stuff.. and you can tell that whoever was writing the show at this point didn't know quite how to write effective gothic content. If I recall, most of this story is resolved just before Long joins the canvas as headwriter.

They eventually remedied that by Iris transferring that obsessive love over onto her son Dennis and her initial disapproval over his relationship with Dawn. So she has Dawn's older sister Paige help her break them up, then Paige turns around and marries Dennis. Thus Iris becomes the mother in law from hell. She kind of reverts back to the nicer Iris as she leaves the soap.. even briefly helping her nieces Lacey and Brette before she moves to New York to run the Alex Wheeler foundation. Ironically, the show found it's footing creatively once Iris/Dennis/Elliot leave the soap.. but the viewers didn't want to stick around with Iris gone so the ratings dipped drastically.

Coopers had been in America for at least two generations so it made sense that the family had become more American than Greek, which is typical for most families/groups that are in the country for two or three generations). In regards to Eleni, I had no idea that the actress didn't speak with a Greek accent until she was on something else and didn't have the Greek accent. At least Eleni was played by a Greek actress. In regards to the Reardons, I could have bought that they were Irish and Protestant if Marland had bothered to build/mention their backstory where their ancestors fled Ireland because they were a religious minority and came to America to avoid religious persecution. Both Ireland and North Ireland have a decent Protestant population (and I know this because my paternal ancestors were Irish protestant and my maternal ancestors were Irish Catholic).

Andre is a playboy, but only the wonderful and magical Ashley can cure him of his player/playboy ways. LOL In regards to Vanessa, I came across a Lifetime movie the actress made a few years ago where she's playing a character more like Nicole then Vanessa. If she could channel some of what she played in that movie into Vanessa then her and Nicole being friends will make sense. And the actress can play a convincing mom, which will come in handy in the event the show casts Vanessa/Doug's kids down the line.