Soaplovers

Back then, shows weren't afraid to drop an actor if they weren't working. Agnes made the right call it sounds like with recasting Ann, Linc, Chuck, and Jeff...and dropping Bobby. Though I would have bought Bobby back later on once Jeff and Tara's stories were completed in the mid to late 70s.

Soaps nowadays produce so quickly and out of order that for newbies...there isn't time to learn the naunces of acting. Back in the 80s, people like Moore and Tomei had the luxury of learning from those around them and had more rehearsal time to work out the kinks in blocking and scenes. By the 90s, it appeared on ATWT that if you weren't a broadway nor stage performer...you were treated differently...and not in a good way.

I always wonder how Nancy would have evolved if she had remained in the role. She had a more fragile take when playing Nancy that if the intention was for the audience to not like the character...her take would have made that harder. While Meredith had a stronger and more strident take when playing Nancy...that when Nancy did something selfish..the audience could be angry at her.

I think the Sherry story was cooked up last minute because Josie Bissett opted to leave the show for personal reasons. It would explain why the Jane stalking Jake/Allison story was dropped and ended so badly. I think Donna did as much as she could with the role, and it was a shame there wasn't other adult oriented dramas that could have cast her in a recurring basis (she had opted to pull back on acting somewhat because she had adopted and was focusing on being a mother).

I'm not surprised that Daphne was fired because I thought I had read that she wasn't happy with how she was written in season 4 and went to TPTB.. and they basically gave her the boot. I have a feeling had Daphne remained into season 5.. she would have been the heavy against Jake/Allison.. a position Jane was slid into and which didn't make much sense.

Co sign. And maybe that could have been Val's season 11 story instead of Danny..or even over the brain virus story.

Afton was an interesting character..who knew how to read people..even better than JR at times. Melissa going crazy could have worked if it happened during the earlier seasons when Hamner was still involved in the show.

I liked that Jane Wyman didn't play Angela as this over the top person... she played her as decisive/confident.. focusing on family honor over being affectonate/attentive to her children/family. Chase/Maggie/Cole/Vicky were a nice contrast in season 1/2 because the four had a love and genuine affection for one another even when they were having conflicts... plus they had more relatable 'middle/upper middle class' events like Maggie doing chores in casual clothes, getting their place ready for guests, etc.

What I liked reading the summaries of 1974 to 1976/7 was that Meg and her two children Ben and Cal were driving the majority of the story. It's a shame that Cal was phased out eventually because Ben and Cal were kind of like Val and Meg back in the 50s. Ben seem more like Meg in terms of wanting money/being his own worst enemy while Cal seemed more like her aunt Van with her being more of a good girl.

Ryan's Hope - 1982. I've seen the 75 to 81 episodes.. and there are a lot of 1983 to 1989 episodes that have popped up over the years... but the year 1982 would be nice to see. The Doctors: 1980 to 1982 For Prime time soaps: All the episodes of short lived prime time soaps like The Secrets of Midland Heights, Kings Crossing, and even Beacon Hill from the 1970s. I know Kim Zimmer mentioned in an interview when she went to audition for Reva.. she was amazed that Pam Long wrote a bible for the character. I would love to see if any other character bibles existed for the Long era of GL including what the intention/plan was for Blake before the 1988 writer strike.

I think one of the issues with modern day soaps and 'good' characters is partly due to casting and partly due to writing. Van is a good character.. too good to be true.. and that can be a difficult character to write and make interesting. This is why casting is so important because the performer needs to add personality, humor, and other layers in order to make the audience like and root for the character. Peggy McKay was pretty good with putting that spirit/humor into Van.\

I kind of bought Gary with Kate only because he was in grief and she had been in the twins life for a year or so.. with Val being a refuge for Kate like how she had been a refuge for Olivia in the past. The way the show handled the Gary/Kate situation once Val came back was well done and the final scene between Val and Kate was heartfelt. Ironic that Kate also had a child with Gary and didn't tell him.. just like Val back in the day. Too bad that story didn't get more focus in the reunion movie.. including Kate's secret relationship with Abby's son Brian. @KhanI view that the 'Sally Friend's' as Latham and company realizing that they didn't plan for what would happen to Gary or Val once the Jill story wrapped up. When I viewed it recently, it looked as though it was being thrown together without any thought or idea on where it would go. Had Paulson or Dunne been helming season 10.... they would have probably played up the fall out of the Jill story with Val coming to terms with almost losing her kids again due to Jill, maybe some hidden resentment for Gary/Karen for not believing her yet again, and maybe she could have focused back on her writing (with the Jill saga a perfect inspiration for a book.. which would cause conflicts with Gary, etc).

Speaking of which EON alum... I always thought it was nice to see Ann Flood playing shorter term roles that were a departure of Nancy... such as Ella on SFT.

I think had Jill not been found in his trunk, but staged her disappearance with her playing 'Sally's Friend'... that might have worked.

East Coast soap performers were broadway/stage performers.. and sometimes they forgot to tone it down for tv and it became too showy and not realistic. I prefer the more subdued acting of someone like Ms. Mnoco over the over-acting of Maura West or Michelle Stafford.

The online AMC revival would have had plenty of funds coming in had Erica Kane appeared on it. That is a hill I'll die on. The online show had a perfect way that she could have fit in without the toxic weight of Jack around her neck. Dimitri was back, plus Brooke was back with a talk show. I could have seen Brooke and Erica having competing talk shows with Adam egging on the feud between them because why wouldn't he like his two ex wife's battling it out.

Sounds like Dorit understood that her job was in jeopardy if she didn't show her real life.. and now is doing what Kyle should have been doing all this time... being active and showing her real life.

I thought the first half of season 10 was pretty strong with people naturally unsure if Val was being truthful or not.. while all the characters believed Jill over Val. In fact, Jill was calm and rational to everyone while Val acted like she was off her rocker. The middle of season 10 started promising with Jill starting to put the screws to Gary out of revenge.. and I think it was cut short by having her body being found in his trunk. That should have been the season 10 cliffhanger.. and a good way to ensure viewers would tune in for season 11 with Abby no longer on the canvas.

Sorry... Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't hold a candle to Angela Lansbury. I could it if she played a former pupil of Jessica Fletcher's and inherited her house and decided to live in Cabot Cove again.. and perhaps solves a mystery that has plagued the town on and off for many years since the mid 1990s.

She wouldn't have let Ted get away with murder...she would have used that scene to set him up to be caught by the police. I did like how worked up Karen got because she couldn't get Abby in trouble for the Murakme scheme. That story I could buy for Abby because she always resented Karen and Gary being involved in Lotus Point. She saw the Manny scandal as a perfect chance to get that land back from them.

The premise was promising about two matiarch's that were friends..and sometimes on the same side and sometimes on the opposite side. Both women had a son and daughter. Ann Margaret's daughter had a thing for Sonia Braga's son..a priest... while Sonia Braga's sweet daughter was sort of dating Ann Margaret's scheming son..yet yearned for another man that had been paroled and was the son of the man trying to take Ann Margaret's ranch. Sounds more interesting on paper then it did playing out.

Gwyn's inability to break free of her co dependent relationship to Clay doomed her from finding true love. I do think she/Dane were great together..and I think she and Jeremy were promising as well.

She was too bubbly as Harley...Amy Carlson was a better Harley temp.

I think John knew deep down, but choose not to do anything about especially after Dina took off on the family. He became the only stable influence in Ashley's life. In fact, the long term effects on Ashley after she found out was realistic. Her sense of self and foundation shaken and never repaired. And she did the same thing to Abby that was done to her.

It seemed as though King's Crossing was less a soap and more of a family drama. Perhaps another night on ABC's schedule would have been better for the show since it seemed to be aimed at teen viewers.