Soaplovers

Ashley and Dani are examples of negatives that all soap operas have been doing in their shows over the last few decades. Ashley is an example of telling instead of showing. All the characters talk about how wonderful and gifted she is, and we've yet to see many examples of that. It's as if the writers are intentionally trying to sabotage her character on a subconscious level. Dani is an example of a character that we're supposed to root for, but the writing and acting don't justify supporting such a vile character. Karla saying she's trying emulate the Reva and Erica characters fascinates me because her acting choices don't support that. It's only been three weeks, but my initial instincts say that MVJ is good at implementing other people's ideas/visions.. but doesn't have the ability to be an effective headwriter/showrunner. I get Sally Sussman vibes from her (another talented writer that lacked the ability to be a showrunner/head writer). At least MVJ has the good sense to have writers and a co-head writer (Bob Guza) with ability join her staff unlike Tyler Perry.

I remember that fans were begging the show not to fire Robin, and it was after the way Janet handled her own defense when she was accused of killing Laurel so I'm sure Lorraine brainstormed how to save Robin's job. Thank gosh she came up with the Witches of Eastwick plot of Janet/Erica/Skye hiding Kinder's body and gaslighting Marian. It was a genius move. @KhanIn regards to Felicity, I think it was a case of a good actress, wrong show. Felicity just oozed New York Upper East Side and it's why she did so well on Ryan's Hope, but she just never seemed to fit in on AMC. I don't know what other soap she could have thrived on.. at least on the East Coast in the 80s/90s (maybe AW?) Cady always seems too stuck on herself and a bit of a diva, so I can imagine she was unbearable behind the scenes. Jean Carol, on the other hand, had admitted she felt stifled and that the show said they couldn't think of anything for her to do.. and she pointed out that she had a lot of ties on the show that could have been utilized... and I think she had said she went to talk to McTavish about her concerns and thought she was receptive (guess not if she got killed off shortly thereafter). I had no idea that McTavish was approved as an interim writer after Pratt and before Kreizman/Swajeski... but I think Lorraine ended up doing it instead and it was so well written that it felt like whiplash once the inferior Kreizman/Swajeski took over from her. In regards to Susan Lucci and her discomfort of younger actresses in the 90s vs how she was in the 80s (where she had lots of scenes with Jenny, Dottie, Julie, Cecily, and even a few with Robin) was due to her age. When she was having scenes with the 80s ingenues, SL was in her 30s and early 40s so she hadn't been hit yet with a midlife crisis. Also, by the 90s, ageism was even more apparent with actresses in their 40s and older then it was in the 80s. Paired up with the fact that SL was in her mid 40s to early 50s during that time and it probably caused her insecurity that she could be replaced/upstaged by one of the younger women on the show. Oddly, when SL had her short hair cut in 1996/1997.. she looked younger and more youthful then she did when she had her longer hair. Shame she didn't think to change her hair style in the 2000s to a shorter hair style (she had it cut shorter in the mid 80s and mid 90s.. that made her more youthful).

What is this first draft was a spoof/satire and not actually the truth?

The Kate Collins/James Kiberd stuff confirmed the rumors, and even during the Locher Room interview that Kate was at.. she framed it as deciding to support her new husband in his career and to be a stay at home mom after living her dream. While I think what she said in the interview was true, she probably felt good quitting because the work situation for her was no longer healthy/positive and she decided to leave. She mentioned Robin Mattson, and didn't elaborate on what exactly happened with her.

What I didn't know was that McTavish grew up in the same area that I grew up in though 30+ years before me, and I also didn't know that the Gloria Marsh character hailed from Pekin IL. Pekin residents were known for being closed minded in all ways that you could think of.. even in the 2000s when I was in college. I do recall the Julia Barr/Roscoe Born part of the story with Julia Barr being into the story and being disappointed that Roscoe quit suddenly. And I recall Erica rescuing Gloria from trying to unalive herself and finding it odd.. so I don't blame Susan Lucci for being confused by this event in the show.

They kind of defanged Carla in the final year of the show by making her the heroine opposite the 'antagonist' Judith Wheeler... except that when I was watching those final months on YT, I found myself rooting for Judith over Reena. I remember that in the early months of Texas, Vicky was carrying a torch for Alex Marshall and seemed like she and booze were long term friends.. .while Reena was a daddy's girl and very distant with Vicky. And that Vicky was closer to Samantha, which only fueled Reena's jealousy. Also, I preferred the Taming of the Shrew story between Max and Reena over the Justin/Judith/Reena triangle that dominated the final months of the show (though I did like that Judith was written with layers).

Accurate (i.e. Dani and Nikki comparisons) I have a feeling Dani has always been impulsive and emotionally unstable. That flashback we were shown was from Dani's perspective... but seeing how the family walks on egg shells whenever Dani is around tells me that this isn't a new thing going on with Dani.

I think the reason her first run was pretty successful was because she was 2nd in command for months on the show before she became the official head-writer in August 1992. Although, I do recall her first months were a mixed bag and i think it was because she was finishing up stories that Agnes had started (i.e. Edmund vendetta against Dimitri, Galen/Carter story, and Dixie's breakdown). I do remember the blind date between Maria/Edmund that McTavish referenced in that except.. and I happened to be home from school that day as a kid watching with my mom.. and I remembered thinking 'oh they make a good couple' so not only did she notice the chemistry between them.. but so did viewers. Although I do think a Maria/Edmund/Brooke triangle would have worked better then the storyline where she married Tad and degraded herself for him when he was hooking up with Dixie behind her back. If I recall.. it sounded like the character of Risa ended up being split into two characters (Becca and Greenlee). And if I recall, Tim Dillon was also supposed to have been the guy that Risa was supposed to go for in original plans.. or that could have been just a rumor.

Here's a blog about that show https://zebradelic.blogspot.com/2013/02/lynne-moody-in-charleston-1979.html It starred not only Delta Burke.. but it also starred Lynne Moody and Jordan Clarke (of Guiding Light fame).. with Clarke/Burke playing a Rhett Butler/Scarlett O'hara enemy to lovers story while Moody is in love with Burke's brother. I wish I could see it because it sounds like awfully soapy.

If I recall, Malone was more interested in short term arcs rather then long term stories so it's possible he might not have had an end game in terms of a love interest in mind for Luna at first. I recall that Luna had a crush on Max when he returns to the canvas, but it was unrequited. I think once Cord leaves, Max/Blair are tested and the show opts to go with them with Asa thrown in as a big obstacle with Luna waiting in the wings until she has a brief love interest of her own (Suede.. I think was his name). Mia Korf also quit the show suddenly in early 1993 and I recall that the writers had to scramble to re-vamp their Feb 1993 sweep plans since she was heavily going to be featured along with Max/Asa.

Dani... yawn. One note character played by a one note actress. Andre/Ashley/Derek = Not working Hayley has potential, but I would love to see her mixing it up with other characters in town.. and not just isolated to Bill and Dani. Tamara is a great actress.. is that why she's given the most cringey words to speak because she has the ability to make them sound good?

Considering that Reena spent months on AW with a simmering feud with Pat, it would have made sense to carry Pat over onto Texas instead of Iris. However, wasn't Beverlee talking of leaving AW due to burnout so her being added to Texas was a way to keep her on as Iris?

Mctavish sounds like a major witch, toxic to the very core. Her first stint was pretty good though it did move away from the Gothic touches of Nixon's AMC, but it did have some strong stories that brought the show into the 90s. Her other two stints were horrid

Her worst was the 2nd stint of AW. However, she did a load of good during her brief stints on The Doctors, AMC, and Sunset Beach... and from what I understand, her stint at Days in the early 80s was also interesting. But I liked her stint at AMC because she made some changes that made sense such as moving Skye out of the Erica/Travis/Jackson orbit. She broke up Barbara/Tad and paired him with Dixie and put her back into the Erica/Travis/Jackson orbit. She also made Natalie less of a victim and closer to her original 1985 version of the character in terms of her relationship with Jeremy. And she started the process of writing Nico/Cecily off the show, and @Maximwrote some other interesting things for Erica/Mona in the 2nd half of 1989 before Agnes returns as head-writer.

The first year of the show was derailed because of ABC interfering with the Lily Slater tale and forcing the show to wrap it up earlier then planned, plus the Merrill V story was not popular with fans either. So I have a feeling this Jonathan story was an attempt by Agnes and co to make Loving stand out and to establish a new identity. Had she continued this more supernatural/gothic vibe for Loving, it could have been the ticket to giving the show an identity. Corinth could have been the daytime version of Derry Maine with all the weird and random going-ons mixed with the typical soap opera plots.

That last little twist with Eva was a nice surprise, yet made sense since Silk Press Sheila looked like she was going to be causing some trouble. And the thing is that I kind of felt for her even though she's the baddie in the situation.

Problem with Phantom Erica was that the show treated it like a joke instead of actually using the car accident and scar to really delve into Erica's constant need to be beautiful and the best. This could have helped Erica realize that she was definitely more then a pretty face and that she didn't have to rely on physical beauty in order to be taken seriously. I kind of think Agnes Nixon seemed unwilling to evolve nor mature Erica

Maybe it was an acting choice after the affair with Lillian and death of Maureen.. to show Ed's remorse/guilt over what happened. He did finally lighten up a bit at the end when he and Holly got back together.

Wasn't Riley involved with Tina's daughter (when she was in her gothic era) and then later Jen? If so, Riley was Jen's best pairing and it was tragic that she was killed off just as her character finally had purpose and the actress had finally learned how to act. And I think the Daniel Colson story would have worked perfectly in the first half of the 80s, and I even think it could have worked in the 2000s if it were better written and developed. Even back in the 2000s, I can't tell you how many times there were married straight men looking to have a guy on the side and the lengths they would go to in order to ensure no one knew about his private activities. So the story was realistic.. but the serial aspect was an interesting twist on something that was the norm in 00s suburbia. It just wasn't written well.

Ashley has barely had any scenes with Eva, Jan (her mom), nor Silk Press Sheila yet. And Derek is very isolated, and I think a scene with just him and Jacob is needed since the two are good friends (or so it's been mentioned). And the gambling storyline has barely had any focus nor has Vanessa/Doug so when they get their once a week focus, it's hard to be invested in it. The shows obsession with showing every single second of the Dani/Bill/Hayley story has prevented the show from fully developing a strong C-story. They've hardly focused and developed the B-story involving Nicole/Ted/Silk Press Sheila/Eva, but due to the acting of all the performers in that story.. it's more successful in my eyes. Logically the Martin cover up story would be the C-story with Ashley/Andre/Derek & Vanessa/Doug being the simmering stories waiting to take one of the top three story slots once the simmer develops into a boil... but the show's obsession with Dani has made all those stories underdeveloped. The only thing I notice in the scripts are that scenes are barely more then a minute long before cutting to a new scene. I understand the attention span is shorter then what it used to be, but there are times I start to get into a scene and then it flashes to the next scene suddenly. Also.. I kind of wonder if maybe a 30 minute soap format would have worked better.. and then expanded to an hour down the line. It's hard to launch a new soap, but any hour long soap that has launched has struggled and not really succeeded long term.

Early Tad and Dixie were a pretty good couple, but eventually Dixie lost any sort of agency and character development as time went on. Partly due to the actress opting to leave and come back the show on and off, but also because both characters kind of outgrew one another over time. Lighting on AMC in the late 70s, 80s, and the first half of the 90s really defined AMC to me since it had a Gothic element that really defined the show. I think the lighting in the later years of the show was too bright and the sets were basic without any sort of personality. In regards to the Gothic storytelling attempts after the early 90s... the Camille Hawkins story and Erica's Phantom of the Opera story in the late 90s was the last time the show tried to do some sort of gothic storytelling... but those stories made the Goldie/Silver/Damon story from 1987 look like a quality Gothic story... and that story had a lot of issues.

I'm sure Eva will turn out to be Ted's, but is Eva actually Silk Press Sheila's child? I'm getting a vibe that maybe Silk Press Sheila did some stealing. And I wonder if maybe this Alan individual that Silk Press Sheila mentioned losing six months ago could have been a patient of Nicole's? I didn't see the point of Andre being in the episode. Vanessa/Doug have an interesting vibe, and I'm wondering if Joey's interest in Doug will cause issues for Vanessa and her business. Also, curious on if this Vanessa/Diego situation is going to go somewhere or if it will end up being a way for Joey to blackmail Vanessa? Ashley/Derek = no comment Smitty/Martin finally kissed and seemed like a couple today

In regards to the Lewis family, I wonder if Robert Newman leaving at the end of 1984 threw a wrench into plans Long/Kobe had for the Lewis family since him staying would have continued the whole Josh/HB/Reva situation with Billy fighting against Reva being in the family with Trish trying to be peacemaker. Since Josh was gone, and Kyle coming onto the show trying to take over Lewis Oil caused a shift in how the family was written since the Lewis family united against an outside enemy.

Clint was a hothead, but he wouldn't have been homophobic based on the character we saw at play since he came on in the late 70s. I could have seen Asa having some issues, but never Clint. I do recall seeing a NYE episode in 1992/1993 where Vicki seemed committed to Clint and reviving their marriage so I do agree that the end game was going to be Vicki and Clint working on their marriage.. and Sloan would be just a passing infatuation/friendship. The only time I could have seen Vicki wavering would have been doing the Roger Gordon era, but the actor they picked to play Roger didn't have chemistry with Vicki.

Yeah, I'm bored with the whole Dani/Bill/Hayler hamster wheel story. It's like I'm watching Passions all over again. Please end the story, and backburner Dani because putting all of your eggs in that characters basket will lead to disaster. I guess even the showrunners disregard Nicole for the one note theatrics of Dani. Karla said in an interview that she views Dani to be like Reva Shayne, but I don't agree with that comparison. Reva had layers and was played by a good actress unlike Dani.