Soaplovers

Kimberlin was interesting as Rachel at first. She started out as a more sane version of Sheila Carter with a score/vendetta...while trying to manipulate her patient Julie Devlin. At first, fans were receptive...but the writers dropped the ball and she was quickly written out. She lasted about a year and a half.

I do recall his introduction and he was borderline abusive and didn't he start a fire that burned down Mary's place? I think it was by accident and I think it was done as a way to write out Vince and Mary. Shame Rueben/Josie never became a thing.

The Silver/Natalie story went off the rails due to the strike. I kind of liked the Jack/Jeremy/Silver/Natalie quad that was starting up before the strike. Plus, the Erica/Travis/Pamela story was promising...given Erica was the other woman in Pamela's parents marriage so I liked the potential of Pamela deciding to settle the score...and would be a reminder of why Mark and Ellen broke up before. I think the 1988 writer strike derailed the momentum of the show long term..imho

Moving a soap that was old fashion to 3 PM was CBS looking to cancel it and needing a valid reason to do so. If they truly wanted the soap to survive, they would have stuck it at 2:30 directly behind guiding light. Seeing the last episodes in full, the disco and young characters were an attempt to youthify the show..partly based on the later time slot. I think Dana Delaney's character had promise and I liked Lianne...but not sure if Lianne's sister would have survived long term based on the writing/acting. So Judy Launders character was just introduced in the last week of the show..or was she introduced the week before? Having her enter as the blonde that caught Wes' eye was a good scene direction wise.

Unpopular opinion, but they need to keep going on the episode recaps...and release the actor interviews on the same week as an episode recap. The rate they're going, it'll be Christmas before we get to season 2.

The Alex story content in 1993 and 1994 was exactly the reason why Beverlee opted to quit when she did in 1992. She correctly predicted where the show was taking Alex and bailed. I do recall Marj mentioned that when she first started on GL, she said the writing was pretty good..but mentioned within a short amount of time that wasn't the case. Her fall 1993 material did show a more subdue Alex that could be warm, but also icy when provoked. In fact, her first scenes was trying to be cordial to Mindy...and Mindy kept poking the bear. Then Mindy would play victim when Alex responded. I think Mindy was on edge since this was after the Eve ordeal..but the writing wasn't in depth enough to examine these elements. I think once Nick/Mindy broke up..and Mindy was moved out of the Nick/Alex orbit was when Alex and Mindy could function and allow both new performers to put their own stamp on the characters.

The whole finale story had Tory deciding to kill Ross because he rejected her...but she also felt he also treated Blake badly as well. So she decided to free Blake from the man since she didn't think Blake had the strength to divorce/leave him (in her defense, she only saw the Blake of 2001/2....not the Blake of the late 80s/early to mid 90s). Blake even mentioned Roger and his not being in her life as evidence that men had left her and she still carried on. The scenes were pretty good...but I didn't like that there was no fall out or long term effects for Ross/Blake. Blake could have been conflicted because she had cheated on Ross in the past and so she could have been conflicted over whether she had a right to be upset with being cheated on....and Holly, instead of being totally team Blake, could have felt for her daughter...but also felt a bit of satisfaction that Ross cheated on her as well. Pam Long or Nancy Curlee would have played those beats if they were headwriting the show during that tike...imho

No, she didn't have the hots for Blake. She was trying to kill Ross in order to save/free Blake from him. Downside of the story was that there wasn't any long term effects on Blake or Ross.

I found Princi's take on Dorian to be a wonderful mix of Pinkerton and Strasser's take of Dorian. It was such a good take that Strasser's first year back as Dorian in 1993 was closer to Princi's Dorian (more subtle and cold).

My unpopular opinion was that I enjoyed the Infinity story. It was an umbrella story that involved a large number of the canvas...and ended with the death of Lujack. I also enjoyed the Tory/Blake/Ross story in the early 2000s. It had a good start, middle, and end with a twist where Tory was really fixated on Blake...not Ross.

Lakin was dating Marcia Cross when he started GL in 1985. Kristi F (Roxie) said she recalled when Lakin dumped Marcia because it happened at a party/gathering she was hosting. I think Kyle started off well, but I think once Pam Long left...his character got lost in the shuffle. When Long was leaving, she had set up a potential Spauding/Lewis war because Alexandra blamed Billy and Kyle for Lujack's death...but it looks to have not progressed beyond that.

Sabrina had the makings of a bad seed daughter. Remember she pretended to be Frannie in order to get with her boyfriend Seth...then she dumps Seth and marries another man. And Claire Beck had played a more crazed and desperate character on AMC so she could have easily tapped into Sabrina's darker side. For some reason, Marland refused to go all the way in making Sabrina the black sleep of the Hughes family. 1977 and 1979 episodes really highlighted Joyce's dark and demented side. No wonder people in early 1980 were leery of Joyce...and if I recall...it turned out Joyce was faking the nice act and was exposed in 1981 before leaving town.

I think KB was the correct person to play Karen in the first year or so before Judith Light took over. Seeing the Aug 1976, April 1977, and May 1977 episodes shows the subtle changes in the Karen character. Aug 1976, Karen has a confident persona she shows to the world, but we see cracks in it during her conversation with Jenny. She instantly assumes Jenny is judging her like she always has after Jenny 'judges' her after her conduct with Larry. April 1977 shows a happy and joyful Karen that feels she's achieved what she's always wanted....financial and emotional security. May 1977 shows Karen determined to keep up with the Joneses and being mentored by Dorian. You see a quiet desperation in Karen to maintain her newfound status. I can imagine summer/fall 1977 would have shown other instances that led Karen to become a prostitute. From what JL said, she was on set on standby because of KB's health issues and that even though KB did show up that day....Joe Stuart asked JL what she would do if playing Karen...and I bet her answer led to the producers and KB mutually parting ways. I think KB set a strong foundation for the character of Karen that JL was able to build from. Also, I don't know if JL could have played Karen as well in the first year of her character. She would have played it more cold and less warm then KB..imho. Lastly, Pinkerton is fab as Dorian...and I think Claire Malis was an excellent bridge between Pinkerton and Strasser. She could play restrained like Pinkerton, but could ham it up like Strasser.

Couple: Two people that exist well on their own or together storywise. And if broken up, can co exist without the whole will they or won't they....and can be paired up with other people in equally popular couplings. Supercouples: To me, a kiss of death in terms of plot and character development. They cease to exist as an individual character. Only way to pair them with others successfully if one of the two leaves the canvas. Examples of super couples: 1) Luke and Laura 2) Greg and Jenny 3) Tad and Dixie 4) Josh and Reva 5) Bo and Hope Examples of couples: 1) Adam and Brooke (AMC) 2) Tom and Erica (AMC) 3) Ed and Holly (GL) 4) Lisa and Bob (ATWT) 5) Paul and Lauren (Y & R)

From what I gather, it sounds as if the soap spent more time preaching instead of focusing on telling compelling stories with 3 D characters. The Fran story sounds like the exception rather then the rule with cards and sympathy being sent in by viewers. Maybe the focus of the soap should have been on her with the Chris story being the secondary story. And having her remarry her ex seemed like it was done because viewers weren't attached to a tale of a newly divorced character...especially one audiences hadn't had time to become attached to.

AMC had a gothic vibe most apparent between 1979 and 1992. That element helped to introduce the Cortlandts, Chandlers and Marick/Grey's. The only time it didn't work was during the Goldie/Silver story. The 2013 reboot did bring the gothic element back with Celia and her mysterious benefactor. I do recall SOD would run summaries of the shoe..and even printed summaries of things cut when the show went from airing 4 days to 2 days. One of summaries featured was Celia's story...and it had revealed that Billy Clyde was connected to her. However, there were rumors the show had opted not to go that route so those scenes were cut..and a new direction was being decided. Rumor had it Dimitri would have been the benefactor instead..since fans thought she favored Gillian.

Apparently someone several years ago researched and compiled the TBS schedule from 1980 and beyond It looks as though it was edited into 30 minute episodes aired in the morning for a few months in 1983. Looks as though it wasn't paired in the schedule with The Caitlins. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/TBSLog1980-Present.txt

Apparently it briefly was rerun on TBS in the 80s. I think they reran it as a way to get viewers to sample their own short lived soap opera...so they were paired together. Not sure if it was successful or not.

Not sure if shared in the past so re-sharing. The part I enjoyed was their discussion on character and their backstories. The how and why of a character is vital because it informs how you play and write the character..even if not shown on screen. Perfect examples of female characters on AMC with the Nixon touch (imho). 1) Erica Kane (Abandonment issues, seeking constant validation, poor social skills with women) 2) Brooke English (Adopted mom hated her, trying to mother teen girls that are lost due to her lack of being given love by a female/motherly figure..plus grief over losing her daughter, always opting for Erica's leftover 3) Gloria Marsh

Angie had more focus and attention on Loving during her time there then she would have on AMC at the time. God knows what McTavish would have subjected her to during that era. She had two strong relationships with Charles and Jacob, a good friendship with Stacy and Jeremy, explored her relationship with her son Frankie, and I think we even had her mom Pat come for visits as well. It makes me wonder if that same treatment would have been given to Ellen Holly back in the 80s when Agnes wanted to bring Carla and Sadie over to Loving?

Erica in early 1988 was peak form. She was dramatic, but was still being written with layers so she wasn't a cartoon character. @MaximI'll be interested to hear your thoughts on 1988 once the writer strike episodes come into play. I believe those episodes start in late March/early April and span about five months or so. @KhanI think Erica/Travis are badly damaged as a couple starting with the strike era episodes.

919 Fifth Avenue was probably put in 2nd position because CBS was 0bsessed at the time with courting the Melrose Place audience. I think with a better production 919 Fifth Avenue would have been a better fit at CBS then Central Park West (which seemed like an east coast attempt at Melrose Place)

I'll leave to hear Donna's take on Abby's season 2 arc. To me..it was my favorite season of Abby..it was her most carefree season.

I had forgotten about Brooke and I viewed Jack/Brooke as a stop gap until the show paired her with Edmund and then tried to pair Jack with Angelique then Laurel. In fact, in 1994...the plan was to reunite Jack and Erica permanently...but audiences wanted her with Dimitri so the show changed gears. I remember during that Libizone stunt when people taking it lost their inhibitions that Jack went for Erica while she had to tell him that she was only into friendship with him..while she went for David Hayward. David was Erica's last pairing that I enjoyed her in. They has chemistry, looked good with one another..and had long term potential. A shame it ended.

Jack and Erica were fine in the late 80s/early 90s...but their affair causing her to lose custody of Bianca should have been the thing to end them as a couple. Only reason the show kept reviving them.as a couple was due to Jack not sparking with anyone else. And as a stop gap before Erica got her next love interest. The show tested him with Natalie, Barbara, Angelique, Laurel, Gloria, and Carmen. None of them took.