Soaplovers

I rewatched the first episode that was available to stream at cbs.com...some thoughts: 1) Smart to introduce all the Duprees and show the bond/family loyalty before we get introduced to 'the Nemesis'. 2) Vernon has a bond with Dani (Anita seemed a bit jealous) while Anita has the bond with Nicole. 3) Dani's daughters seem to take after Aunt Nicole while Nicole's daughter seems more like Dani. I sense some friction between Dani/Chelsea (stage mom, living through her daughter). 4) I'm almost sorry we didn't see what led to Hayley betraying her best friend Naomi and Dani. A few people I know got Brooke Logan vibes from Hayley...too soon to tell if I agree with that or not. 5) Vanessa was the perfect gossip and bringing the mess. Apparently she has a story herself so we shall see what that entails. 6) Andre is a player and I have a feeling our new nurse will fall for his charms.

Susan Lucci had a generous vacation clause by the late 80s, especially when it came to her kids, who were in their pre-teen/young teen phase. April 1989 was the change over to Depriest as headwriter, and some of her decisions were positives that were kept till the end of the show. Depriest seemed to do better if she was only there six months or so (her stints on her 70s soaps were strong) or she had a co headwriter (like Days).

I hope/assume Dani's initial arc is her moving on from what happened with her ex. I have a feeling there will be tensions between the sisters and if so, finding out if there is a cause for the tension and if the parents contributed to that or not.

I actually think Marland and Pam Long could have tackled this show. She was a natural at writing strong/complex men and women, writing male and female friendships, and wasn't afraid to tackle tough topics while Marland was a master at pacing and juggling plots. And he loved therapy so I could have seen him viewing the religious themes in a more psychological manner with Long providing the warmth/community/crazy stories.

Pluto has some good offerings like Twin Peaks, Dynasty, Family Ties, Mama's Family, etc. I only have Hulu as a paid service..and I still watch some programs on there.

Actually how Ceara came across was typical of some survivors of incest and abuse. Her becoming a gold digger was her way of taking back control from what happened to her...and her lack of attachment to the men was another way to protect and cope. Genie Francis said she picked going to AMC out of several offers/meetings because Agnes Nixon had come with a character and what the story was going to be..and it appealed to her because she had a character and character arc to play unlike Days.

Lisa also had been close to Shannon..so her unease with Duncan and Jessica worked on different levels. Unease about Duncan moving on, plus the mixed race element. Interracial relationships/marriages and being against them is a whole different prejudice. My late great grandparents were a mixed marriage (Native American and White) and it was talked about in the family as a painful time for my great grandmother so seeing Duncan/Jessica play out as a kid spoke to as a kid.

Lenore kasdorf: Popular as Rita on GL, and a dud as Caroline on Santa Barbara Maureen Garrett: Popular as Holly on GL and a dud as EJ on Ryan's Hope Sofia Landon: Flawless as Diane Ballard on GL, but played an underwritten role as Teresa on ATWT (her body got shipped in a trunk by Lillith..I recall). Robert S Woods: Popular as Bo on OLTL, but played an unmemorable character on Days (named Paul). I know some people would put Genie Francis, but when I was a little..I remember first seeing her on Days as Ms Colville and she got decent press while on Days. She even got good reviews at the time as Ceara on AMC.

Infinity was awesome and it was an umbrella story that involved most of the cast...and Lujack dying with Beth crying was 😥 It was the mid 80s and that type of story was popular at the time. @Khan In regards to coincidences with the Philip story. I believe the only coincidence was Justin joining the Cedars staff where his ex flame Sara was working. Jackie made sure her father came to Cedars for treatment (her entry into the stort) because she knew Justin was there..and when she decided months later that she would remain in Springfield, she talked Elizabeth and Alan into moving to Springfield so she could still remain a part of Philip's life. She always knew the Spauldings had her baby so she became a part of their life to remain in Philips life. While I enjoyed how Pam Long revealed Philip's paternity and how she wrote the story from his perspective instead of the adults....I do think Marland should have revealed his paternity before Pickett left the show. In fact, that could have been how she was written off the show. She was rejected by Philip and decided to leave to regroup...and then the show could have taken time to either work something out with Pickett or found a suitable recast for Jackie.

Jackie was an unlikable and selfish character. Anyone giving up a baby out of spite to the man that cheated on you will never get my sympathy. Pickett being a likable actress is why Jackie thrived because you saw the regret and torture she infused into the character. Once Jackie was recast, the character became non descript. Marland struggled to write characters like Jackie. He tended to write some characters in more simplistic ways. Jackie, Amanda, Holly, Rita, and Diane lost layers when he wrote them. Diane in 1979 was worlds different then Diane of 1980/1981 in terms of layers and complexity.

I always viewed Jackie as a gold digger to be a result of being spoiled by her dad and wanting to be a Mrs MD. Plus, she was still angry/resentful at Justin for cheating on her. In a weird way, I think Marland killing Jackie off was the ultimate cherry on top of this tragic tale. She died never ever getting to claim Philip as her son and Philip would never get to love his real mother. It was karma because her actions were to blame for this whole mess. This was a moral tale showing how emotion and spite in the moment can have far reaching fall out. The Dobsons kick started a story in the 1970s, that had long term effects were felt all the way to the final episode of the show 30+ years later.

Angela did what most female tv stars did in the 80s, they played roles that were a departure from their tv role. She played dramatic (Rage of Angels, Shootdown), sentimental (Shell Seekers), and did two romance oriented movies (The love she sought and Mrs arris goes to Paris). Jessica Fletcher was a great character to play, but in some ways, the cozy mystery/procedural vibe boxed the character in...so I could understand why she did tv movies and stage work. She had the best of both worlds...a steady income and an outlet to continue playing new characters.

Having Hirson as Stephanie on EON was genius since she had a warm demeanor so I can imagine the twist of her being Nicole's stalker was a surprise.

Just the few episodes with Jean McBride available makes me understand why she was so popular. It does seem like during the Bonnie Bartlett era...Meg was less an obstacle for her Van. I wish the Judith story was also available.

There was strong demand and the numbers viewing it must be strong hence the plan to hide them behind a paywall. I wonder if Falcon Crest or Sisters will have that happen..or if this is just happening to KL?

I lived in Texas for a few years and I only heard an accent if I was in the Waco area, or in a smaller town that was isolated. Austin, where I lived, didn't have any sort of accent...but they certainly were into the bigger the better mantra. I lived in Texas in the late 2010s/early 2020s. Perhaps maybe there was a more pronounced accent back in the 80s in Oklahoma/Texas.

I think the Erica face scar story where she walked around in the phantom of the Opera mask was the final nail in the coffin for her character. It was as if the show had run out of stuff to tell about her...and just let her act delusional about her appeal.

I remember her as Ellen's mom on Ellen.

April does sound like the start of Depriests 6 to 7 month stint as headwriter. She was hired to reset the show since the network stated that there were too many stories and characters. The things I noticed she did that I liked was dropping Barbara/Tad...and moving her back into the Travis/Erica/Jack orbit. Also dropping Skye/Travis, showing the reality of Jeremy enjoying the chase, Natalie becoming a bit more like how she was in 1985 where she was desperate for Jeremy, and I liked that Dixie/Tad started up. Lanie/David/Cecily/Julie/Nico was an attempt to revive the teen set...which was popular in the 70s and early 80s. I think Lanie was an attempt at being like Nina was...sheltered and sweet. Once Agnes comes back, the teen set improves a bit. For me, his best contribution was writing the screenplay for Friday the 13th...the original. And based on how soapy that movie was, I wasn't surprised he ended up writing soaps.

Kim zimmer's take on Nola seemed to fuse some of the qualities of the two previous Nolas. Her Nola in 1979 was kind of carefree, but I watched a few 1981 episodes and her take on Nola was different. She had a more regal sounding voice and seemed more confident/sure of herself. I actually liked all three actresses in the role.

I haven't watched it in awhile, but i was surprised at how many topics and out of the box stories were covered in this soap. I loved one conversation Lori had with Terry about pre marital sex and how things were changing and how conflicted she was. It was more realistic then what the other soaps were doing. Lastly, if I recall, Miriam became such a naunced character...and some think her leaving in 1984 was a blow to the show. One of the final stories that got cut short due to the show being canceled was role playing army games at the campus, and one of the students started taking it too seriously. I was intrigued to see where the story would have gone.

I would have had become more like an Olga and be to someone like Olga was to her. One of the consistent threads for Erica in the 80s was taking a young woman under her wings. She did that with Jenny pre 1984, Dottie in 1985, Julie/Cecily in 1988/1989...and Gillian in 1997. I also liked that she also helped Janet in 1997. Erica's stint at Oak Haven near the end of the show was welcome...and her helping Dixie and Janet was gold. I also think Erica could have started a business helping women...especially women over 50 that still had something to offer.

Jack and Erica were blah...and I think he held her back as a character. When they were apart, Erica had two great pairings (Dimitri and David) while Jack didn't. He should have been written off in the late 90s because there was no use for him on the show any longer.

Shannon in the pre Marland episodes was less zany/eccentric and was more of a free spirit...and a positive person in teen Lily's life. I wish SBH has stayed on as a writer since she would have been able to keep Shannon as less campy. That 1977 episode with Joyce is so interesting since it explained why Lisa amd the Hughes family were so guarded about her in the 1980 episodes. As the World Turns always seemed too serious and stodgy. The early 80s was a fun time, but it reminded me of a middle age person trying to be hip instead of embracing who they are.

I understood the original plan to go with Josie/Matt...she was the daughter of a Frame and he was the son of the two people that were involved in the death/downfall of a Frame. It was set up as the late 80s version of Romeo and Juliet during the strike and post strike. However, Josie lit up as a character when she was around Ruben and it's a shame that P & G was too skittish to go forward with it because of one segment of the audience. AW was lower rated so what did they have to lose by moving forward with the coupling. But P & G was more skittish and risk adverse in general compared to ABC so any blow back from an audience standpoint and they backed off. It's why I kind of enjoyed their 1988 writer strike episodes...some great male and female conversations were happening. And those episodes really helped give Ronnie and Lisa some good dimensions/layers that neither really got during non strike episodes.