Soaplovers

It's always fun to see soap performers in earlier soap roles.. and Peggy is no exception. Her take on Van is somewhat different then the following 2 actresses.. but I also remember her Van played most of the content pre-dating most of her marriage to Paul and Bruce (I think Bonnie Bartlett played Van when she/Paul were trying to adopt, his crazy ex wife Judith terriorizing them.. and the start of Van/Bruce).

RHONY: Sai needs to be the comic relief... she's funny especially in her talking heads. Jessel keeps a notebook on things people say to her and how she feels about it. I will say if you're going to hold a grudge, I guess you need to keep things written down for reference. Erin vs Ubah.. both were wrong. Twitter seems to hate Erin.. but Twitter (X) usually is the place where the extremely emotional go to vent. Jenna played the whole retreat and act all shy/innocent... I'm sure Andy and co paid top dollar for her and she needs to deliver or she's a one and done. Brynn seems likable... but she needs to be herself instead of acting like a Samantha Jones carbon copy. And I've heard many a people stumble with pre-med once they hit that Chemistry class so she isn't alone there.

From what I understood the actress that played Laura would only play that character... so I'm guessing that when the show wanted to use the actress for the 1897 story.. they had to make her character Laura instead of a different character is my theory. I think that in the 1967 story, that Laura had been reborn every 100 years or so and that there had been women named Laura recorded in past history that had burned in a fire.. but none of them had married into the Collins family before Roger.

I always remembered SOD included Sisters in the ratings round-up for primetime soaps of the 90s... but I do agree that SOD didn't cover any of the 90s prime time soaps like they did with the 80s ones. They might have had a blurb about Sisters, and some of the other short lived shows.. but not to the extent of the 80s ones. Melrose Place becoming successful did spur on a mini revival of the genre in the 90s.. but the majority of them didn't catch on because of either the timeslot, bad writing, etc.

I'm happy with her newest creation that dropped in the states on the 22nd My personal fav from the new album

AI is not to be trusted.. and I see all loopholes being closed when it comes to that... from both the WGA and SAG unions before deals are finalized. Though I think for SAG unions, I'm guessing they wouldn't mind AI being used as much if they're compensated anytime AI images of performers is used vs just a one time payout. So it looks as though even though evil Ron C plotted out the holidays that perhaps the scab writers will be the ones to work on the scripts for those episodes. To me, day to day is just as important as the actual storyline.

I remember in 1990/1 a San Francisco station dropped AW...and KRON picked it up. SOD had a section at year end showing which affiliates dropped a soap...and I recall AW, SB, and Loving were usually listed as having affiliates dropping the show. In fact, GL was in danger of having the affiliate in SF drop them hence the show sending Nick/Mindy to SF in late 1991 and having their scenes filmed there as an attempt to not be dropped by the SF station airing the show.

Thatt 2 or 3 week marlena back from the dead arc helped make Days #2 during those weeks in the ratings. Had the show not insisted on bringing Wayne Northrop back and doing the 2 Roman's story...the rating increase might have stuck..imho What I loved about Roger's back from the dead story was that it proved that people behind the scenes could work together if motivated. Pam long was figuring out what to do with Blake (introduced during the strike) plus rumor had itthe show was trying to get Zaslow to play a recast Alan. Once it was pointed out he was known for playing Roger..Nancy Curlee gave the idea to Pam Long to bring Roger back from the dead. Long and Calhoun did say they kept watching Rogers death scene to see if it was plausible and both concluded no one saw/heard Roger hit the ground nor saw him dead at the bottom. I do know Curlee didn't like the Adam Malik arc nor the wedding arc so I'm guessing that was Long's idea...but it worked because Roger was a character that it made sense to do that with.

Writer strike...usually happens when scab episodes first start...but maybe it's a new thing till the strike ends.

She was in season 1 of Savannah as Peyton's mom.. and that was a departure from the usual character type (she became unhinged somewhat). I will say Homefront was the best place to showcase that character variation... with good writing and character development.

Wear a mask if you want to or don't wear a mask if you choose not to. Mandates really aren't necessary nowadays.

Had All my Children debuted in the 80s instead of 1970, Roya Megnot would have played Erica Kane. She has that vibe, yet she has an earnest vibe that made her a unique presence. While the episodes are beautifully shot, there seems to not been anything to set it apart from other soaps. There seems to be more of a Have focus in these episodes as opposed to the Have nots. Dorothy Stinnette.. she was Raven's mom on Edge of Night. She's an interesting choice to play Rose considering the original Rose was warmer. Perhaps she was cast as a way to make the character of Rose different then Kate Rescott. While in the two episodes that Noreen was in, I can see why the actress playing her said that her crying at her audition after being yelled at by Joe Stuart was good practice.. because she cried in both episodes she was in. James Kiberd was kind of hot in the mid 80s.. and it was nice to see early Shana. Shana is basically the answer to my question about how Cecile would have fared if Susan Keith kept playing her instead of being recast with Nancy F. Shana had the same elements/essence of her Cecile. Lorna was not used to her full potential.. though I loved how she was used in these episodes. Gwyn in 1985 was restless, unsatisfied and using sex appeal to get what she wants... and knowing what happened to her in 1995.. we see some elements of what she'll become in these 1985 episodes.

I will criticize if the protesting veers into bullying...which I noticed some of the juvenile antics of some of the SAG toward Drew Barrymore and other people.

I would have preferred Angie H coming back... since she was the cause of alot of season 3 drama.. especially against Lisa (Fab Ice). However, I will say Angie K did throw out some reality to Meredith almost like she was a mirror in front of Meredith's face. Everything Meredith was saying to Angie actually applied to Meredith. She is caught in a world of delusion in her mood and Angie K showed her the truth and she went haywire. Monica needs to know when to get involved and when not to...but she's new and she'll learn. I don't get why she's bragging about sleeping with her brother in law because that just shows how vile and trashy she is... and she came in with guns blazing for Lisa... she's very calculating. Mary needs to be a permanent friend of... it's the role she was born to play... and Little girl was right that she is a predator.. or her church is. Little girl obviously has gotten coaching from Candiace.. but she's too rehearsed and her 'reads' don't flow as well because they don't come from the heart. Heather has the best facial expressions and the best talking heads. Lisa (Fab Ice) is all about Lisa... but she knows it and viewers know it.. and somehow viewers still like her because of that. Monica will learn that in time.

Bold and the beautiful: When Ridge/Taylor/Brooke was basically the only focus starting in the late 90s/early 00s. And also in the early 2000s, the show seemed to settle into a hamster wheel type of situation (big.events would happen..but no long term fall out. It was as if the show became like the movie Groundhog Day).

With Days shooting schedule, it makes sense that there would be weeks of scripts pre written. I think in June, Ron had said almost all his scripts were filmed..and that the day the strike started..he was immediately replaced by whoever is headwriting during the strike. So I do think we will have 4 months or so have scripts written

RHOSLC Now we know why Meredith didn't engage in season 1... because she goes from 0 to 100 in a second... and she holds a grudge. I'm surprised she's willing to move on with Lisa (probably because Lisa will push back as we saw in the season 3 reunion)

Reva wouldn't fit in the gothic stories...but maybe Reva with amnesia would have fit in....maybe in flashbacks. Stephen Schnetzer would have been perfect in it...because he did play in a gothic mini story on AW during the 1988 strike..did do a orient Express esque arc in the early 90s..and did do a 40s esque fantasy episode.

Guiding Light: San Cristobel... a stupid 80's story idea that I believe was a Paul Rauch idea.. it just screamed something he would do. I found it worse than the clone story because at least with that.. we got to really see into the obsession/sickness that Josh had toward Reva. All My Children: When Kendall/Ryan/Greenlee/Zach ate up the show. Days of our Lives: After Kristen left in 2012.. the show never really recovered because she was the focus of the show for a whole year.. and once she left, the show couldn't restructure... except toward Daniel Jonas.

Jessel stands up for herself..which I like...wish that could rub off on Jenna. Jenna/Bynn thing is creepy. Ubah should have kept her hands to herself...but Erin would have been furious if that had happened to her...and quite frankly Ubah was wrong to push Erin into the pool and also pressuring Jenna to get in the water. Ubah has trouble with boundaries and Erin needs to leave the quirky humor to Jessel/Brynn

RHONY: I'll give it to Jessel.. she at least stands up for herself and was right on the money calling Erin 'Queen of Assumptions' and not backing down... unlike Jenna who acts like a victim and doesn't stand up for herself.

Uber and Lyft are around for a reason.

Shock is an understatement

Jessel isn't a good storyteller... but from reading history books and also the fact that my mom's college friend went through something similiar, I understand what she was trying to say. Up till the 60s or 70s, a lot of Indians lived in Africa and had a high degree of wealth. However, due to coups, the new government kicked out all of the Indians living there and basically they all left with none of the money/possession they had while living in Africa. And I think when she was talking about her relatives, she was talking about how a few relatives had left Africa with some of the money in order to start lives in new countries.. and I think when Jessel's family was kicked out of Africa, they were able to resettle in those places.

It seemed like Irna, and to a lesser extent Bill Bell, were attempting to take all of the tropes used in soaps and add more controversial elements (or for 1964 standards). Problem was that the 1964 characters were too trope..or copies of previous Irna characters without anything new. Mary Matthews was a warmer Nancy Hughes. Granny Matthew's was a female version of Papa Bauer and Hughes. Janet Matthews was a less developed Edith Hughes. Susan and Pat Matthew's were variations of Penny Hughes and Ellen Stewart. Liz Matthews was a colder Nancy Hughes/Claire Lowell combination. Alice Matthew and Russ Matthews seemed like a young siblings that were the greek chorus. I think had the bible been followed more..it would have been an interesting show..but Irna's neurosis and P & G being so conservative hurt the show in the early months as it struggled to find its footing. Nixon helped focus the show by using some of her AMC bible..and also bringing out the psychological elements Irna was intending. She created Lahoma, Rachel, Sam, Ada, and helped develop Missy...which was the have not section of the show to play off the Matthews/Randolphs/Curtains as the haves. And not only did start Alice/Steve/Rachel...she made Bill/Missy popular... and depend Lee's character into a tragic anti heroine in the Sam/Lahoma/Lee triangle.