Soaplovers

Laura > Chelsea

Pretty good episode, next week will be ever better :)

I'm glad someone clued in TPTB that they weren't showing Naomi in a positive light because this was the first day in awhile where I could buy that she truly loves and values Jacob. Better late than never. Derek vs SPS is something I never knew I needed.. but now know that it's an enjoyable part of the show to me. Smart of him to advocate for himself by saying he would only report to Eva and not SPS... he knows that they're desperate so he was lucky Eva agreed to that request/demand. Episode 2 of the series of Ashley's 1st day at the hospital where Jan/SPS/Eva wished her luck so it's nice the show did a little segment on that as well. Tomas made logical sense yet again... just wish the actor put some feeling into his words.

I can't wait till Deanna enters the scene because I'm 50/50 on if she's exactly like Doug or Vanessa. Hilarious that Vanessa clutches her pearls about Deanna signing up for her service so I guess it's ok to pay for sex, cheat on your spouse, etc.. just so long as it isn't your daughter. Samantha needs to be recast. Decent actress, but miscast especially if the show insists on shackling Donnell to her. Can we not make June a walking stereotype? So it seems as though June knows the guy accused of mugging Hayley.. so I do wonder if perhaps Hayley/June are connected like everyone thought originally. And Samantha.. in order to get respect, you need to earn respect and give respect.. and Samantha has displayed that she doesn't deserve to be respected.

Just because a character says something doesn't mean it's true. She might have given up the child and turned to religion.

I would say that the show has nicely been building a world that goes beyond just the Duprees and beyond the gates. Since 'season 2' started, we're starting to build up the supporting characters and interactions that aren't 100 percent tied to any of the Duprees.. and so far, it's been a success.

I remember Port Charles the spin-off when it debuted. The network had decided to schedule a two hour tv movie on Sunday night and then premiere it as a 30 minute soap on Monday. It was smart of them to do the Greg Cooper hostage situation during the tv movie where we also got to meet all the interns and also show how Kevin/Lucy were tied into the premiere along with Audrey Hardy. Biggest mistake was scheduling it opposite the Tony Awards so ratings weren't good and the acting/direction wasn't the most realistic. The biggest complaint the first weeks/months of the show was that it felt like two completely different shows where you had the interns starting their new journey at the hospital while Lucy/Kevin/Scotty were in an almost separate storyline involving Serena's kidnapping. Even though three of the interns were connected to that story (Jake, Eve, and Karen).. it still felt like two completely separate shows with little to no connection to one another. Having the developers of the show (Cullitons) leave and be replaced by Lynn Marie Latham was the shot of energy that was needed with the show eventually merging the two fragmented shows into one show with the General Homicide mystery and the mixing of characters that hadn't interacted much during the Culliton era. Was Latham perfect, no... but she did manage to make the show interesting and was able to make the two unrelated halves of the show merge and become one messy show even after she left in the spring of 1999 until the telenovela/soap hybrid experiment started in late 2000.

I would categorize her as a working actress more-so than a famous actress. Looking up her IMDB, she managed to have smaller roles in larger/well known projects such as Peyton Place, Yours Mine & Ours, Capital (as the original Julie Clegg), Friday the 13th The final Chapter, Maid to Order, and In the Deep Woods (Anthony Perkin's final role). I think she stopped acting on a consistent basis by the mid 90s... but I think a steady stream of consistent roles from the 60s to the 90s isn't anything to laugh at.. especially in a business that isn't too kind to working performers.

For a serial drama to be effective, you need to have a few basics: 1) Pacing - Telling multiple stories at different speeds will leave the audience satisfied and never viewing an episode as filler. Most modern day attempts at serial dramas/prime time soaps have a limited concept and limited story threads that don't go in a linear direction. 2) Ensembles - You need a strong ensemble or else your show falters. JR wouldn't have been so iconic if he didn't have Bobby/Pam to play off of.. same with Alexis vs Krystle, etc. 3) More episodes - 13 episodes is just not effective to really delve into a story, nor is 22 episodes. 26 to 28 episodes is the sweet spot. 4) Diverse Acting styles - You had Joan Collins going OTT while you had Pamela Bellwood opting for a more subdued acting style. Knots Landing had various different acting approaches by the main women and me, as did early Falcon Crest.

A few thrillers I've enjoyed over the years. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware (more gothic mystery) The Good Sister & Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth (Two separate books) Lock Every Door & The Last Time I lied by Riley Sager (Two separate books) If you want a truly intense gothic novel/s.. read the following: Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews (if you can handle FITA, read this one).

The other thing I wondered about was if Hayley and Doug knew one another since wasn't it mentioned in the early episodes that Doug and Randy sort of grew up together?

Teddy was actually a toxic and unlikable character so it was smart of the show to cast Sela Ward (who they wanted for the Frankie character originally) as her because she helped bring out the likable tendencies when the character was a psycho in the first season or two of the show. Out of all the characters, I think the character that evolved/changed the most from Season 1 episode 1 to the series finale was Alex. Her journey during the show's run was the one consistent thing that the show runner/writers didn't ruin. She started out as a typical Doctor's wife and over time and adversity became the person she secretly always wanted to be. I did smile a little when Alex mentioned in season 1 that her favorite store was Price Town and she ended up meeting, falling in love, and marrying the owner of Price Town down the road. People trash on Frankie, but I thought that Julianne Phillips was a pretty good actress and she got to handle a lot of meaty stuff as Frankie.. and she was the one to save the Sweet Sixteen (I always wanted to go there.. it looked fun).

I see that the aftermath of Kathy's death continued into 1959 with Meta still having feelings for Mark, trying to be a parent to Robin.. and the start of the self destructive/your own worst enemy vibe with Robin. Paul seems to have become the main lead outside the Bauer family and it was wise to not have the soap focused on just one character (cough.. Reva.. cough).

I think the actress playing Mona is talented and I'm thinking she must have gotten a raise from Nicole hence the upgrade. In regards to Jan, she should think about saving her coins in case her boss Vanessa decides to play house with Joey permanently. I hate having religion forced down my throat and with it being both Lent & Ramadan.. it's hitting on all fronts. I think showing how religion has made Mona a good person rather than telling the audience would be a step in the right direction.

Sisters seemed to view Reed as an afterthought with three different actresses playing the character with vastly different personalities. Although I could see how Reed #1 that was in season 1 could morph/evolve into Reed #2 that came into play during season 2. The problem was that Reed #2 was played by a likable actress that seemed more mature/level headed compared to her parents, and the final Reed seemed almost like a different character without any of the layers/maturity of Reed #2. The Cat/Reed cousin relationship in the final season seemed a complete rewrite since the two seemed chummy/close in seasons 2 to 4.

If I were to compare Tyler Perry and his dramas to modern day authors of books... the two that come to mind would be Colleen Hoover & Frieda McFadden. All three would be in the same category of writing content that you know are bad for you, but you can't help consuming them to pass the time. I tried to watch a few of his comedies such as Love thy neighbor.. and I see a lot of mugging, but little humor. I would say the OWN series Greenleaf was a step or two in the right direction..imho.

That's because Karla needs a strong director to reign her in since she loves to chew scenery. Her acting style would work better on stage than on television. I wonder if there is some backstory on why Caroline seems to defend Hayley so much. Maybe Hayley saved Caroline's butt once upon a time that prevented her from getting fired. I'd gladly trade out Chelsea and Madison if that means Caroline gets more airtime/focus.

B & B in season 1 was almost like an odd hybrid of a high gloss California based soap and their attempt at remaking Y & R for the late 80s audience with the Logan family. The biggest changes during that first season was a recast of the Logan mom, de-emphasizing the Donna/Rocco/Katie triangle, and realizing that Beth/Eric weren't exactly going to be end game even though early episodes seemed to indicate that. Capital not only dropped their original headwriters (the creators), but they moved the focus away from their Romeo & Juliet story (Tyler/Julie) onto their more grey area characters (Sloane and Trey). BTG has the disadvantage of writing and filming so far ahead that when something isn't working, the corrections aren't apparent for weeks/months.

I think AM/Lucy take 2 was done at the right time since he'd finally worked through his fixation on Eleni, which he hadn't done when the two attempted to be a couple the first time around. I still remember the one conversation Blake and AM had where he was talking about Eleni and his love for her..and she understood where he was coming from and realized at that moment that he no longer had a hold over her.. and the two became friends. 1995 seemed to be the year where a lot of the connections that had been established in previous years seemed to fracture. The show seemed to forget for a long time that Harley/Dinah were once friends, that Reva/Dinah were also close, that Lillian used to be close to Reva, etc.

The Nadine story of 1993 really started off in the first part of 1992 when she tipped off the tabloid reporter about Vanessa and her trial.. and once Billy caught wind of what she did, he basically was ready to divorce her. She than decided to try to get pregnant and realized she didn't have many chances left after going to the doctor and I recall she comes upon Bridget learning she's pregnant and fainting.. which kick started an effective story that plays out till spring/summer of 1993. It involved Nadine/Bridget interacting in a consistent way.. tied together two separate stories (Nadine trying to keep Billy from leaving her for Vanessa and Bridget being pregnant due to hooking up with Roger's son Hart) and had characters interacting with one another that hadn't really interacted that much before. Nadine/Maureen had some awkward interactions with Nadine rightly calling out that she knew Mo didn't like her because of Vanessa...while Bridget interacted some with the Lewis family more. It really is a shame that Nadine becomes isolated in the 2nd half of 1993 aside from an occasional interaction with Holly at the diner where Holly listened to Nadine talk about Buzz/Jenna while Nadine gave her two cents to Holly about Eve. The other example of two unrelated stories kind of interacting was the Eve story and also the whole Holly/Ed/Roger situation.... with Mindy giving Holly the 411 on her experiences with Eve while it looked as though Eve was going crazy again stalking Holly only for it to be a wounded Roger hiding in Holly's basement. Those type of interactions became less and less frequent as the 90s wore on.

I had a feeling that had Bev not quit a year earlier then expected, that Alex would have been around during the fight for Spaulding. To me, some of the elements were being put in place during the summer of 1992 (after Fiona opted to extend her stay past the initial 3 month stint she was hired for) with Jenna meeting Roger, Jenna blackmailing Alex to drop the charges against her, and Jenna's immigration situation came up.. which set up her quest to find her father. I think Alex being gone for the original 6 to 8 weeks would have made share-holders nervous about the future of the company.. and that would have been the opening for Roger to take advantage of. I'm sure that once Bev officially quit, the show had to work to rewrite/plan certain things... but I truly believe that Alex's next story would have been her fighting Roger/Jenna in the Spaulding take over story.

Stacy was a drip, but I always wanted Tess to forget about Buck and focus on her modeling agency. He knew where to find her when he was interested.

Not a CoHo fan I see. I didn't mind Verity, though her book Layla was absolutely bonkers. That book made me look at the movie Ghost in a completely different way.

Reva had those casual hookups because she was looking for a daddy type to replace her actual dad Hawk, who abandoned the family. Josh leaving to go away from school triggered those feelings of abandonment and caused her to lash out/act out. Realistically, Reva falling into another long term relationship like with Kyle wasn't realistic because her heart was set on Josh. I viewed Kyle as just a placeholder in her constant addiction to drama and trauma... notice the second Josh comes back into the picture, she falls into his arms and says 'Kyle who?' Having Reva/Josh be the final scene shown on Guiding Light as being end game really makes me wonder what goes through the minds of writers sometimes.

I actually prefer the side characters over the main characters sometimes :) In regards to the topic of Lia and her debut episode (which has been talked about quite a bit), she was acting like a professional in her scenes on Friday's episode. If you're having a problem with how she is written and presented, it's the fault of the writing team for how they outlined, directed, and produced the scenes. I viewed Lia as a much colder version of Anne Milbauer (Days of Our Lives) except without the humor. Now she's only going to be on for 20 episodes so it isn't as if she's going to be made a contract player.