Soaplovers

I understand that MVJ has said that this show/characters has been formulating in her mind for years, but sometimes things that look good on paper doesn't always look good when written and filmed. Today's episode wasn't horrible, but it wasn't as good as the previous episodes were. I didn't think that Derek/Ashley were necessary to show though I did like the interaction between Eva and Andre.. plus Eva figuring out that Silk Press Sheila will be more of a liability then a help. Dani treating her arrest/mug shot as an opportunity to model just underscores how one note her character is. Karla can bring it, but she can only bring it if there is something on the page for her to play. Hayley showed some spunk and good sense. I'm intrigued to get a one on one with her and Naomi.. plus, I'm curious to see if Ashley knows Hayley or not. I would assume Hayley at one time had to have known the have nots at one time and she was kicked out of the club after her home wrecking. I welcome a faster pace, but we're still getting to know the characters so doing all these plot twists doesn't work if we don't know nor care about the characters.

I bet the 10 episodes reaired on BET will have a higher viewership then whatever it's replacing. It happened several years ago when the revived AMC and OLTL had a syndicated run on OWN (after the backlash Oprah got for not airing new episodes).. and the ratings for each episode was significantly higher then the programming they replaced. Any exposure can help a show get exposure and more $.

With the most recent lost films found, maybe one day London After Midnight (1927) will be found. While it's been told that it wasn't very good, the change to see a Lon Chaney film is always welcome.. just to see the creative lengths he went in playing his characters during the silent movie era.

For me, the period between 1939 and 1943 during her final years of MGM provided her with her most diverse array of films. It was the period between her shop girl years and the film noir older woman roles that dominated most of her Warner Brothers era. The Women was a play on her shop girl persona by making her the heavy instead of the heroine to great effect. The one silver lining of the Hayes Code was that writers and performers had to be creative within the strict limitations of the code.. and sometimes I think the lack of controls has made movies/concepts less creative. A Woman's Face is her first crack at doing film noir to great effect.. playing a role that from what I understand was originally intended for Greta Garbo. To me, her biggest departure was doing 'They All Kissed the Bride', which was originally meant for Carole Lombard to play before her untimely death. While the script was changed to play to Crawford's strengths.. she certainly does well with the physical comedy parts in her rare attempt at a screwball comedy... that mostly lands.

I think there was a throwaway line that Jan (Ashley's mom) heard about Dani throwing the coffee cup from when she was working at Vanessa's house. I'm also curious to know if Ashley knows Hayley and she opted to side with Naomi.. or if Ashley/Naomi are friends only because of Derek and Jacob being friends.

I wonder if that was part of the original plan when the character of Vanessa was planned to be named Stacy and was meant to be older (late 40s). From what the actress that plays Vanessa said in a podcast interview, she came in and provided a flirty and mischievous approach when auditioning for the part and the show liked her so such that they cast her. Part of me thinks maybe Cady should have been cast as Vanessa and Lauren Buglioli should have been cast as Pamela since I could see Cady vibing with Daphnee more then Karla. But then I recall how Cady is more free spirited and likes to leave/come back to a soap at random while Lauren is Atlanta based. So Cady could play a character that comes and goes like Pamela while Lauren is guaranteed to stay long term as the character.

I think it was mentioned before that Vanessa comes from money so maybe Joey knows about that and is using the hubby to get to that money. That's my money. While I liked Dani getting what was coming to her, I was really hoping that we could have gotten another Bill and Dani free day so that we could have focused more focus time on the other characters today. I have read on other boards that people are kind of annoyed with the overexposure of Dani, and I have to agree. Nicole's family and story is more interesting to me then Dani's, plus would like to see a bit more focus on Ruben/Anita outside of handwringing about their kids and grandkids

The first 13 weeks was written by Nixon and those weeks were establishing Jo and Patti.. Jo's tension filled marriage to Keith.. and Keith's parents. I don't know if her husband was killed in the first 13 weeks or if he was killed off after Nixon was replaced by Vendig. From what I've read, his stint as head writer during the first few years of the soap had a more criminal/crime element... which tracks since he then went on to create Edge of Night eventually.

It's great that soaps are employing authors and playwrights as writers on the soaps since they tend to offer a fresh perspective and lord knows soap operas need some new perspectives. So Christopher Dunn did the breakdown and Danielle Paige did the script writing. She's written for soaps in the past (GL), and has written novels that offer new spins on classic characters (Dorothy from Wizard of Oz) so I'll be intrigued to see what future episodes written by her will be like. First thing is that she offered up two very good cliffhangers. Eva vs Kat still well done, and I liked the reality check both Nicole & Chelsea gave to Kat. Kat is correct about Eva, but she's going about things in the wrong way. And Eva seems conflicted because she's finding that Nicole and Ted seem like nice people. Now the new hair on 'Leslie' is probably what she looked like back when she knew Ted so she's doing this stunt in order to show herself to Ted. Vanessa/Doug had some focus with the two being empty nesters and the love/romance no longer in their relationship and now both are keeping things from the other. Sounds like Doug has a gambling addiction and it looks as though Joey (Hello Jon L!) knows this and will use that to get Doug under his thumb. I have a feeling Vanessa coming from money might be a factor in their plans of sorts. I have a feeling son in law Jacob won't be popular at any future Dupree gatherings and this is sure to put extra strain on his marriage to Naomi. Lastly, I noticed that there was some character propping being done with Super Nurse Ashley yesterday... and it was a classic example of telling us what we should think about a character instead of letting the audience decide for themselves what they think of Ashley.

If you look on that site we don't mention for Mason Jarvis (played by Forbes March) at ATWT, it will give you a brief rundown on who his character was during his brief stint on the show.

If they ever did get to S6 and S7, they could bring on some of the people that were on those seasons to give context to what the three are watching. Still... they're still watching S1 with constant distractions from producers and/or stars coming in to talk. They should do what the new Ugly Betty podcast is doing, having a guest for the first part of the segment, and then discussing the episode after the guest portion is over.

Joanie started off as Laurie's side kick and/or kind of the Liza of the new batch.. and I think that's why she ended up lasting a bit longer because of Seyfried. I was bummed that Reggie/Joanie was short changed when the two had serious chemistry, and it was the only youth story line that the show seemed to write that worked. Agree. Even by 1989/1990, the garden party/country club structure had fallen out of vogue. The early 90s teen scene (Hayley, Brian, Terrence, Taylor, An-li, later Julia) worked so well because it wasn't about garden parties/country clubs. For example, Taylor/Terrence had conflict due partly to class differences, but also due to race with An-li being caught in between the two.

Cheryl L Davis wrote the episode, and the pacing felt off a bit. I wonder if that's due to the breakdown writer or the script writer. - I view the Ashley/Derek content as what my late mom used to call 'fast forward material' or 'bathroom/snack break'. I often wonder if writers do the quick scenes because they know viewers do that. - In the family, I view Chelsea potentially as the neutral member of the family. What I mean by that is that she can co-exist with all members of the family without issue, and can occasionally be the voice of reason (like with Kat and Dani). Last scene sounds like she has more then meets the eye in terms of character development. - Kat vs Eva continues to interest me.. and they better be half sisters at least because the potential is there for a long term story arc with these two. - Dani was more sub-dued, and I truly hope her speech to Failee is true and she focuses on her future. Though she should stop saying 'this can never happen again' to Andre because she's hooked up with him three times.. and they're not related, both are single, and it's a healthier way to blow off some steam. - So we're seeing what I think was the start of Bill and Dani's marriage in his scene with Failee where he wanted her to quit her job. Hope she doesn't listen and continues to work.. and also explore her friendship with Caroline and if she knows any of the characters (like Ashley, Mona, etc). - Martin is a jerk... Smitty can do so much better.

The rate they're going.. they won't hit S6 until 2035

Bert and HB would have been a great pairing, both were strong minded people that had a love for family and community. If anyone would have had issue with Bert being with HB, I would have pegged Billy as the one that might have had reservations. Josh and Bert bonding during the physical therapy scenes in the summer of 1984 and Rick/Roxy becoming a couple were the seeds being planted for Bert and HB being in the same orbit down the road. Plus, once Reva/HB broke up in 1985, I could see Bert being a source of comfort for HB since she would know what he was going through. Even Kim Zimmer knew how important Charita was to the show per this interview from a long time ago https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/kim-zimmer?clip=124620#show-clips

I remember Becca was just a trope and not a character. Although Abigail Spencer did infuse Becca with personality and a bit of a backbone.. she was able to hold her own against Greenlee and she did have chemistry with Leo. I think the choice to have Becca be uncomfortable with Bianca coming out was the final nail to the character because by the early 00s... you couldn't present naunce when writing social issue storylines unlike back in the earlier years of AMC. In regards to 'vertical scenes', TPTB were trying to get rid of those types of scenes as far back as the 80s. I remember Pam Long in an interview in 1984 said that she had so many requirements/mandates to provide plot that she would try to fit in a 'vertical scene' whenever she could in order to just show characters having a conversation.. but P & G was pushing to do away with those. That could explain why Pratt kept Nixon out of the writers room because she was probably insisting that those types of scene be included in the show.

Jasmen Darnell Brown wrote a great episode today and it was a nice relaxing day off from the ongoing dramatics of Dani (absence makes the heart grow fonder). Today we finally got some focus on Nicole and her family dynamics. Nicole is a warm and personable person, a perfect character to come into the matriarch position down the road if the show lasts many years. Kat turning out to be an unexpected foil for Eva/'Leslie' was a nice surprise... and I want to see more of her dynamic with Nicole since it appears as though Nicole relates more to Martin then she does with Kat. I also enjoyed getting to see more of Smitty, and I like the arc of him being an unfilled stay at home parent and wanting to dip his toe back into the workforce... and Nicole encouraging him was a nice touch. It probably stems from her watching Dani put her dreams aside for her marriage. Nice to see a bit more of Vanessa/Doug's rapport.. and it look as though his gambling addiction will bring about some unsavory characters. I have a feeling Vanessa will probably be losing some money down the line. Though her going gun ho over Diego at the club was a ballsy move since people do talk. Lastly, I enjoyed the breakfast scene with the three women gossiping and having fun like friends do. I love that we're getting a nice contrast between the haves and the have nots thus far.

The only soap I'd love to see come back from yesteryear would be Edge of Night, but only in half hour form like it was back in the day. You could have a close knit circle of characters that are connected to all forms of the law rather it's on the right side or the wrong side of the law. And no ultra wealthy families like the Whitney's unless they're written as being on the wrong side of the law.

Quint and Nola should have been like Nick and Nora Charles. You had hints of that dynamic during the whole 1983/1984 Annabelle Sims mystery where Nola was investigating clues with Quint going along while they bantered and balanced being newlyweds. It's a shame that they were written off in the spring 1985, when I think how much their presence would have made the 2nd half of 1985 a bit more light/whimsical to contrast the darkness of the Infinity story. In fact, I think Quint/Nola along with Tony/Annabelle could have fit in with the Infinity story due to their ties with Beth/Lujack...and the Lewis/Spauldings. Lastly, I found the weekly ratings for 1985 and I was surprised that GL didn't really suffer quite as badly as I thought they would in the 2nd half of 1985. Granted they usually ranked 5th or 6th on a weekly basis (out of 13 soaps), with an occasional jump in ratings up to 4 th (such as the last week of November 1985 which was the climax of the Infinity story). Rating didn't start falling until the first half of 1986 when Jeff Ryder was sole headwriter, which could explain why he was quickly replaced.

Didn't Bill and Hayley just close on their new place? Not enough time to go in and make it their own space yet. Or perhaps the lack of individuality in their space is done on purpose to show that their new union is just that... sterile and without warmth.

In a matter of weeks, hopefully a bright light will appear at the end of the very long dark tunnel of Ron C. He and Jamey G being hired on BTG is concerning

I think she'll be back tomorrow. Fingers crossed

Looks today's script writer was Judy Tate with Sara Bibel as breakdown writer. Today's episode seemed more focused with just Plot A and Plot B being focused on today (The press conference and the aftermath of Ashely/Andre being trapped in the elevator). Seeing the dynamics between Bill/Hayley and Bill/Dani really highlights the differences between both couples. The Bill/Dani flashback showed a partnership between a long married couple that seemed on the wavelength while Bill/Hayley is showing a couple not on the same page and not a team. When I look at Derek, I think back to a comment that we used to say to the hot guys or girls... 'Smile and look pretty'. We all know if there ends up being an Ashely/Andre/Derek triangle.. that Andre will be the winner. Either recast Derek, or get him some acting lessons. I wonder if the nurse will eventually join the gossip circle that includes Mona, Ashley's mom, and Dana(Leslie)? Would be a fun time seeing all four compare notes on the goings on behind the gate.

I wonder if Chelsea did livestream it on purpose for both views and also to stick it to her mother Dani a bit... and then plays innocent since she called attention to what she did vs someone else discovering it. Someone had stated earlier in the thread that they wished one of Bill's daughters would be more conflicted.. and I have a feeling perhaps Chelsea will turn out to be caught between both of her parents. I also wonder if maybe the show will paint her as as a chameleon, someone that changes persona based on who she surrounds herself with. I still remember the random scene between Chelsea and the guy at the bar where her persona changed a bit that leads me to that theory.

According to Karla in an interview, the production hadn't received all of its equipment for lighting and other modes of production at the start of filming.. so I think the improvement comes because they received those pieces of equipment.. plus some of the directors had never directed soaps before so they were also learning the 'soap opera technique'. Today was the first episode that MVJ didn't write, that honor went to Lynn Martin today.. with Ron C as the breakdown writer. It seemed less exposition then the episodes last week, but I have a feeling those first five episodes were written by MVJ while pitching the soap to the network. Sometimes creators have to provide a few sample scripts in order to set up the story and convince the network that the show concept has legs.