Soaplovers

I did like that he used his father's name as an alias, and considering the way that the Dobson's and Marland wrote him out... there wasn't a believable way to bring him back from the dead. He couldn't just breeze into town and pretend nothing happened. The only thing I wish Long/Calhoun had done differently was having had Holly marry someone that had previously been on the canvas. For instance, instead of Mr Lindsay.. maybe Holly could have married Kyle Sampson. Just from the brief descriptions of Mr Lindsay, it sounded a lot like Kyle.

From what I understood, it was Curlee's idea to bring Roger back and had convinced Pam Long to bring him back... but from what I understand, it was Pam Long that came up with how he would come back (after sending a long time watching the Santa Domingo fall scene in order to see if there were indications he hit the ground). Curlee had said in the Locher Room interview that she didn't like how the Roger return story was written.

Bauer and Spaulding places were close-by...at least in 1991. And Amanda was fired by Kobe despite Pam Long clearly setting up story for her. Long/kobe wanted to move the show away from the Gothic tone of the Dobsons/Marland...which was a mistake. Oddly...Long had the potential to write Gothic. The way she wrote Lesley Ann's death was eerie and something I could have seen the Dobson's and Marland write...and Roger's 'phantom of the opera' return as Adam had gothic undertones (and I assume Long wrote that).

Lujack was Vincent's best character he played...followed by his AMC character David. It is sad the 2000s had such non descript sets unlike the sets they had in the 80s and 90s.

Cassie was propped by the writers and Paul Rauch. I likes her better when she was the hard ridden stripper determined to get her kid back. I liked that she was bought onto the show and Springfield in the same way Reva was. Alan found both Reva and Cassie and used them both to serve a selfish need of his.. and in both cases, both did evetually turn against him. She was a good contrast to Reva at first and I wish they had been antagonistic with one another much longer..

When the show wrote LIza in 2010 in character, JL played it very well. There were a few moments where I could see her Liza resembling MW's Liza such as when she would roll her eyes, would look at someone disdainfully, etc. Perhaps JL should have been a recast Mia instead.

Creative consultant: Harding Lemay...just because he would remind us to value the characters and focus on motivation. Co-headwriters: Pam Long and Nancy Curlee.... Long would provide the energy & warmth while Curlee would provide a Tennessee williams southern gothic element Script writers: Melissa Salmons Patrick Mulcahey Susan Dansby

Guiding Light: Nadine was originally bought on in early 1989, and the writers made some attempt to say she was similar to Reva with her wearing red and interacting with Josh. But eventually, she seemed more like a replacement for Nola Reardon in terms of her scheming, quirkiness, and even feuded with Vanessa. Once Nola was bought back in 1995, Nadine was eliminated from the show. Maeve Stoddard was the newspaper editor with a slight sarcastic/cynical edge. Within a few months of her character being killed off, it seemed as though Long/Curlee had a recently returned Holly fill the void of the Maeve character with her running WSPR then later the Springfield Journal.. even marrying Fletcher (Maeve's widow) in the mid 90s. Holly basically served the function that Maeve had, but the difference was that she had history and connections on the show.

Day to day episodes help execute a vision a head writer has for a show and story. I've noticed since the scab written episodes have started airing that we're getting more character moments, somewhat better pacing, and a bit more depth in how the plots are being carried out. It doesn't Ron's ideas gold..but at least there seems to be more effort in making them less stupid..thus far.

I read somewhere Ron C said May is when Days will kick in high gear...so doubtful. I think part of the problem with soaps are the day to day episodes. The strike has shown that to be apparent since it appears as though the scab writers were basically left alone to write day to day episodes at GH and DAYs also. How was Y & R and Bold during their strike episodes?

SLC: I understand that Monica 'saved' the show.. but why enable a sociopath? There needs to be a point where things have gone too far and that toxicity needs to be dealt with. She actually turned me off the show because she gave off numerous red flags. Thankfully, her red flags aren't in the same level as Jen Shah's red flags.. but she didn't authentic. In fact, none of the women are authentic and it makes me miss the early days of the franchise when it wasn't so fake/produced.

Marland made the Barbara change too quickly...and I think he recognized that and pulled back in it...thus making Barbara (Babs as my late mom used to call her) a multi dimensional character. Barbara between 1986 to the explosion was her own worst enemy...she did some not so nice things from a place of insecurity (probably in reaction to her more doormat years of pre 1986). At first post explosions Barbara was intriguing...she was scarred and already at a low point in her life. With better writing, she could have really evolved into a more gothic 2000s answer to Vanessa Prentiss...but alas...not to be.

Jenna circa 1992 to 1995 was very India esque. When she came back in late 1996, she was almost a different person. Only when she visited everyone in that well written 1998 episode after her death did she regain some of that early spirit. And the script knew India and Jenna were alike because India said she wished she had gotten to know her and Alex laughed stating they would have had a lot to talk about.

I always thought Laura was adopted.. but she didn't know she was adopted.

That's the thing I liked about GL, they had numerous themes and would change it up. I much prefer the 1975 to 1981 theme over the stupidity that was the 1982 disco theme.

Y and R: Traci vs Lauren AW: Iris vs Rachel, Rachel vs Alice Days: Marlena vs Kristen

I don't think Justin Deas became over the top until the late 90s. During ATWT and the period pre-Santa Barbara, there were some performances/roles he played that he had a sexual energy that made me think he was kind of sexy. There were traces of that when he first started on GL in 1993, but that went away after a short time. On the GL board, there was talk about the Dobson's and how their GL was almost the exact opposite of their work on GL and ATWT. I would say ATWT in the 1982 and early 1983 was closer to the tone of Santa Barbara then anything seen from them on Guiding Light, or even their first stint at ATWT. For example, you have Barbara having past life dreams about Gunnar/James, you have Barbara in the bull ring, you have Mr. Big, and you have Dr Bob married to Miranda. All situations that would have been just another day on Santa Barbara

I know you had said one of the things you noticed about Marland's GL was that his ability to write more complex characters, especially the female ones, was not as strong as the Dobsons. And I think it's because Bridget Dobson was a complex person and because of that, she was able to write very complicated women that people either loved or didn't like... and I don't think Marland could have written them as well because he wasn't a woman and because he seemed to believe that therapy fixed everything. I think the Dobson's figured that tapping into unresolved issues in their lives was the way to go when writing.. while Marland had a more pragmatic approach to his writing. Case in point, an example of something the Dobson's wrote for Diane Ballard There's an episode from 1979 where Diane finds out from Roger about something unethical that Alan did.. and she's tortured by this. She confides in her good friend Ann about her father.. and how he had disappointed her so much by being an embezzler. She then went on to say Alan was what she wished her father was like and that if Roger was telling her the truth, she didn't know what she'd do if her image of Alan was tainted. It was a rare moment of emotion from Diane and a way to show behind the pragmatic nature of Diane was a human being hurt by her parent. I think that Diane under Marland had less layers and was more of a villainess.. rather then a pragmatic anti-heroine.

From what I understood from their time at GL, the Dobson's came up with the overall plot and the monthly/weekly outlines of what was to happen.. and the script writers were given free range to do with the material what they wanted. Also, I think GL had a more youthful approach going by the time they took over in mid 1975 so they spent a good year or so modernizing/fixing the show. I wish we could have seen episodes from their first year or so of their stint on GL to see what they had to work with. ATWT, on the other hand, had a more stodgy and conservative vibe to the show.. so the Dobson's had a lot more work to do in order to fix it. Plus, when the Dobson's did outlines at ATWT, the script writers might have been less skilled at making the day to day scripts come alive. The ideas from the 1980 and early 1981 were intriguing ideas, but the day to day episodes seemed stodgy and old fashion. Even the scenes with James/Barbara were kind of formal and lacking any passion in the 1980 episodes I saw. From what others have said on here, they only went to this soap because they felt they had to.. not because they wanted to. I think the Dobson's would have been more at home at Search for Tomorrow then at ATWT. Santa Barbara was created outside the P & G world.. so they had less rules to abide by and they went mad scientist on their creation. Agnes Nixon had said she created OLTL with ABC because she felt stifled by the P & G world and wanted more freedom to do a soap her way.. and I think Santa Barbara was the same for the Dobsons.

In a forum, people are allowed to have dissenting opinions... so long as there is mutual respect between both parties. I watched Passions when it was first came on in 1999. It had a lot of strong elements/potential that sadly weren't followed up on or developed. The Russell family had such a strong foundation with potential for years of story. T.C had a steady job as a gym teacher, but was still resentful over the accident that caused him to give up a promising career as a professional tennis player.. and also had that shed in the backyard that he would go to. He put all of his hopes and dreams onto his eldest daughter Whitney and kind of ignored his 2nd eldest daughter Simone. Eve was a successful doctor, wife, and mother.. but she felt something was missing in her life. She had a less than stable upbringing, was a jazz singer, did drugs, and had a forbidden love/romance with Julian Crane that no one knew about. So while she was giving her daughters the life she'd always wished she had growing up, a part of her still longed for the past.. and she was careful never to reveal her past and feelings to her husband T.C. Whitney was the straight A level headed eldest daughter that did everything by the book, and was driven to be the professional tennis player that her father wanted.. even if she might have secretly wanted something else for her life. She had this drive for perfection and approval due to her parents seemingly happy marriage and her mother Eve's 'perfection'. Simone was the younger daughter, always feeling like she was in the shadow of her perfect older sister Whitney. Deep down, she knew she could never be like her sister Whitney so she just lived her life.. while secretly wishing her parents loved/valued her as much as they did her older sister Whitney. These elements could have created years of stories for the Russel family that could have been done without repetitive scenes and hamster wheel stories.

I've been watching the last few weeks of her stint head-writing Guiding Light (December 1979) and I understand exactly why Douglas Marland said that GL was the only soap he ever inherited that was in excellent shape. Those last few weeks neatly resolved the Holly prison story, revealed Roger was still alive, Rita revealing her affair to Ed, and Diane starting her full descent to the dark side. It's no wonder why Marland's first few months on GL is thought of in such a great way because he had inherited a strong show... and that was due to the Dobson's. RIP

From what I recall reading from 1979 summaries, the Dobson's had Lainie develop a crush on Ed.. but she also was dating Floyd. Once Marland took over, he broke Lainie/Floyd up.. paired Lainie with a guy named Carter and then left for Australia in early 1981. I'm guessing that Marland wasn't inspired to write for her character. I kind of liked Eve, and I think she lasted until late 1982/early 1983 before she left town. Reason she lasted so long beyond Rita's departure was because she was tied to the Jackie story.. and also Marland was slowly reuniting her and Ben. So I think the interim writers between Marland and Pam Long just reunited Ben/Evie.. then both just left town. However, I think the main function for Eve was to show how Rita could potentially be as an individual if she felt secure and lvoed. Because Eve loved her sister unconditionally, you saw Rita more relaxed and confident in her interactions with Eve.

I think it was more that ATWT was the #1 show for many many years so that when it faltered it threw P & G for a loop. I'm thinking maybe P & G thought that GL was in a strong place so they placed Marland there and decided to place the Dobson's over at ATWT to work their magic. I think forcing them was probably the wrong move because it sounded as though neither one wanted to head-write the show.. and perhaps it would have been better if P & G let the Dobson's pick which soap they wanted to write instead.

I'm lowkey impressed Julia has maintained that 3 seasons and counting. RHOBH: Yeah....Garcelle lost me with the Karen remark. That term is actually now low key derogatory...maybe she needs some education. She certainly happy invalidating Dorit's mental health...maybe she should talk to her teen son.

Elizabeth seemed like someone that was kept in a bubble and I wonder if she had past mental health issues. Why else would Alan pretend to have Jackie's baby be Elizabeth's baby. I do think the actress opted to leave because we all know Marland was obsessed with therapy and she would have been used for that alone during his regime. Had Ms. Dalton opted not to leave in early 1981, she would have been written out for sure in 1983 since Gail Kobe wanted to move the show away from the Gothic elements of Dobson and Marland's works. That was why Amanda was written out in 1983. We know why Jackie opted to give Philip up and quite frankly I think it was fitting and karma that she perished before Phillip ever got to know she was his mother. She was kind of selfish and vindictive.