Soaplovers

I think the Wards could have been the open marriage/ key party type of people on Seaview Circle. The show did start in 1979.. near the end of the free love of the 70s.. and it would have been a good way to make them different then the Ewings.

Reed, as played by Ashley Judd, had her moments where she was rebellious.. but she generally loved both of her parents. In fact, her version of Reed was a good contrast to Alex where Alex would be more over the top while Reed had a more low key dry wit when interacting with her mom. The final Reed, who was famous for playing Amy Fisher in one of the tv movies that came out, was a completely different character. Not only did she not act anything like the Reed of past... but there was a rewrite on her relationship with Alex.. as well as with her cousin Cat.

The original concept of Charley was that she was put up for adoption by her real mom and didn't grow up with a family. I think she was even in foster care so she had to rely on herself in order to survive. So when she came onto the show, she was guarded and unwilling to open herself up to these half-sisters. And over time she did grow to accept them and even develop a bond with them. Her part in the Georgie therapy story was the best part of that horrible story.. and I liked the stories she had in season 5 with finding out her real father did love her, and her realizing that working in a high end hospital doesn't matter if people can't utilize those resources. Then she was recast with Kelley.. and it was almost like a completely different character. She was bubbly, hung out with the sisters at Sweet Sixteen, and you would have assumed she had been raised by the family since birth. It was too jarring of a change..imho

Co-sign on the Tim Daley eye candy for sure The thing about Alan is that he had a good idea during the Pandemic to host a YT live podcast/interview style show featuring celebrities from defunct soap operas. It provided people that were dealing with the pandemic a chance to remember their fav soaps, performers, and to catch up on what they were up to. However, over time.. I noticed that he wasn't improving and once people got over the newness of the concept.. they started to notice his short comings. He is too stuck on the 'interview 101' questions.. and seems unable to go with the flow.. or know when to be quiet if the guest is getting to an interesting point of a story, etc. To me, his episodes feel stilted and not natural at all. I wonder if maybe he should stick to producing it and having someone else handle the hosting duties? An example of a recent podcast/interview show that I enjoyed was the one hosted by the late Shannen Dohery. I listened to the one where she had Katherine Heigl on... and it felt like less like an interview and more about two people just having a conversation. It just flowed effortlessly to me.

Kenny/Ginger had two arcs going into season 3 with becoming first time parents.. and also Ginger realizing that she wanted more then just to be a stay at home mom. I think the mini arc in episode 11 and 12 with Kenny/Ginger was the most effort the writers put into the couple that season with Lillimae used as comic relief with her constantly bugging Kenny to represent her. After season 3 episode 12, it seemed as though Kenny/Ginger were more extras then actual characters on the show. I think partly due to the more soapy/exciting elements going on with Abby/Gary/Val, Richard/Laura, and Karen's grief. It reminded me of Melrose Place season 1 where Rhonda and Matt were put on the sideline when that show went more soapy though at least in that case, Rhonda was given a C story that gave her a happy ending.

Probably the back order that was most likely meant for Second Chances

Even the self contained episodes of season 3 still had the threads of the ongoing plotlines interwoven in some respects. Episode 13 with Karen's friend was self contained..yet you had movement in the Laura/Richard story, the Fairgates still grieving Sid, the tension between Abby/Val, and was the seed that was planted to explain where Diana ends up when she leaves in early season 6. Episode 14 with Cricket was self contained...but also still focused on Sid being grieved, exposed the divide between Gary/Val in terms of communication with Gary/Abby having a great rapport...plus Abby/Val clashing over Cricket at the hospital after Olivia is hurt. And you also see Val typing away with Lillimae snooping on what she's writing (which carries over into the next episode).

The one thing I noticed about the first 3.5 seasons before the show went full on soap was that Val was a lot more reasonable and intelligent. Once Cijji was killed, so was Val's dignity because all of a sudden she became all about Gary and how he was her addiction.. even though she lived a productive life during the times she and he were not together.

Maybe Marley could have worn her hair in a pony tail or french braid..something understated and classic.

I think season 2 was the show realizing that the self-contained element wasn't going to work for them so the writers just decided to become serialized/soapy for the sake of it.. not because it was ready to be so. @Khan as you mentioned... Sid dying was really the spark that caused the show to begin the full on soapy descent in an organic way since grief isn't something that can be resolved in just one episode. Plus, Sid dying actually spurred Abby to become the Abby that we knew and loved because in season 2, she still had Sid to lean on and to bail her out. Once her security blanket was taken from her, she had to rely on different strengths and assets beyond just her big brother and her sex appeal.

Miami: Is it bad that I'm neither team Lenny nor team Lisa? Lisa signed up to be a trophy wife so she shouldn't be surprised once Lenny grew tired of her and opted to replace her with someone else. In this day and age, it's no excuse to be a trophy wife nor trophy husband.

I seem to recall Val had something with the guy that was raising that demon child Cricket.. but I'm surprised Gary didn't have one or two children come out of the wood work during that period of time. I guess the show decided to use that trope with Mac when Paige was created

She may not have been the breakout character...but anyone that I know that watched Alexis and Abby said that Alexis was fun to watch..but Abby was aspirational since she used all her resources to get power...and her speech to Paige about her trust fund is epic.

Maybe her season 12 story should have been Val's cancer reoccurring...and she becomes withdrawn and shuts out everyone including Gary. Would have been more organic and in keeping with history if that had happened.

Sable breathed new life into the show in season 9...and it gave someone new for Alexis to spar with. I think had the show come back for a season 10...she and Monica would have been featured more for sure...especially Monica. And I wonder how the lady in the limo would have fit in. If it were Dominique, hopefully an actual story with legs would have been given to her.

Season 7 is when Abby realizes she and Gary is coming to an end. As the season closes, they seem to be in an almost open marriage with him and Jill....and Abby with Peter. Also, in season 2 episode 10...Judy Trent does warn Abby by saying 'good luck, you're gonna need it'...in regards to Gary.

Sisters was better then 'Thirtysomething'. All they did on Thirtysomething was whine and complain all the time while Sisters had a lot more variety in their storytelling.

I watched Hotel Malibu, but I think having Jennifer Lopez be the focus of the spin off was the wrong decision. She was only selected because she was the only one the three female leads not pregnant. IMO, I think it would have worked better if it had been Megan Follow's character that had been the center of the spin off. She was the most interesting of the three leads on Second Chances. But I will say that there were parts of Hotel Malibu I liked: Joanna Cassidy was a good lead female character and I loved her rapport with Pepe S. And I actually laughed out loud when watching Romy Walthall & John Dye. Neither were evil nor all good... they were grey characters.

Watching some of these season 1 to 3 episodes, I can understand why Gary eventually cheated. Not that I condone it, but I understand why he did so. Val is a level 5 static clinger... I'm watching the show thinking 'girl.. give the man some space'. Gary outgrew Val in season 3... just like Abby outgrew Gary in season 8. I often play a game of sliding doors and I wonder how different the show would have been if Sid hadn't been killed off. Karen was a lot more tolerable when married to Sid then she was married to Mac.

My friend stumbled onto Dynasty and is almost through season 1. He's raving about how good it is....so I did caution that the rest of the show isn't like season 1...but he would enjoy season 2. My late mom told me that she stopped liking the show in season 3. She said one of the things she found interesting in season 2 was when Alexis was living in the gatehouse. She said it created organic conflict and she wanted to see Alexis gradually develop her power...and thought it happened too quickly.

Knots landing was one of the most requested shows people wanted to see streamed for years. I certainly have been watching some early episodes. I've been handpicking episodes from season 1 to 3 to watch again (Three sisters, Abby's arrival, China Dolls, Constant Companion, etc). Sometimes I'm in the mood for a self contained episode

Ironically, Sada Thompson was the original choice to play Bea.. but she turned down the part. My thinking is that she probably figured it was too much like her role in Family or she was focused on stage work at the time. Whatever the reason, it was a blessing in disguise because Elizabeth Hoffman played Bea to perfection. And also, Sela Ward was originally offered the role of Frankie.. but she opted for the role of Teddy after reading the script. While I can see why she was courted for Frankie, I think she made the right decision since Teddy was a role that needed someone likable with a dry sense of humor to play because Teddy in the early episodes could be unlikeable. And her decision did result in Frankie being played by Julianne Phillips.. and I couldn't imagine anyone else playing Frankie either.

I still love that the creator of the Waltons created this show.. and that his favorite scene/moment of Falcon Crest was when Melissa drops the bombshell on Lance after they exchange vows that she's carrying another man's baby. From what I could tell, Falcon Crest wasn't as out there/over the top as Dynasty... but was moreso then Dallas/Knots Landing. Melissa and Maggie were the backbone of the show and once both were gone.. so was the show.

Season 4 had a good balance between the more serious stories and the more whimsical moments of the earlier seasons. I watched the Georgie attempting suicide episode and it was a great episode where all 4 sisters turned in knockout performances. It's a shame that the right balance of season 4 was lost in season 5. Season 5 had a lot of things happen that hurt the show. 1) Julianne Phillips left the show 2) George Clooney's character was killed off, and we had Teddy trying to go undercover to catch his killer as well as falling off the wagon. 3) Georgie's therapy, affair with the therapist, and leaving her husband. 4) Mitch was no longer on the show 5) The Alex assisting suicide story. 6) Charley coming on.. and I liked how the actress played her character as guarded/reserved. Then in season 6 got a personality transplant. All of those elements packed into season 5 hurt the show because you had very little light and whimsy to balance out all of the trauma.

Donna Mills has an idea of where Abby would be if there was a reboot.... 'Abby is homeless' where the viewer would watch her try to claw her way out of that situation. I would watch it... to see how Abby copes. Also, when I was watching season 10... Abby came to Seaview Circle for a gathering after Michael/Paige were rescued.. and she still fit in seamlessly. She was comforting Val, had uneasy tension with Karen, and even had a nice scene with Julie Williams talking about Spelling Bees. Abby never forgot where she had been before making it to the top. It's why she was such staying power even in the 2020s.