Soaplovers

Higley was the lesser of two evils... only because of the Sydney baby switch and Night time Hope....and she created two new female characters with potential (Mia and Melanie)....and utilized Stephanie Johnson as a strong grey character. RC starts strong...but after awhile..his stories become one note and repetitive.

Marland might have had good rules.. but his writing sucked and lacked any sort of personality or life.

I remember seeing this when I was a small child in the late 80s.. an unsold pilot that totally was inspired by Beetlejuice..imho

Dana, I think she was on the show for about a year before she was killed off. Didn't she come on pretending to be Beth?

I have a feeling the writer and actor strike helped derail momentum for this project as well.

From what I understood from reading the SOD article post 1988 writer Strike.. Long had created the character of Blake and approved casting just before the strike started. In fact, she was surprised/concerned once she found out that the character was introduced on the show since she didn't share what the outline was going to be for her character. It was after the strike was over and no one knew who she was talking to in those phone calls that her being Roger and Holly's daughter became a thing (Curlee talked Long into it... I believe)

I did watch a snippet of an episode from the fall of 1987 when Mo was still hospital Admin... and she was preparing to go to war with Alan over something he was pulling on the hospital and Ed. So I don't think Van and Mo were going to interact as friends.. since it appeared they were on opposite sides in 1986. Plus, I think Maeve was Mo's friend in 1987/88 until Maeve passes... and Vanessa was off canvas from January 1988 until around mid 1989. I was surprised Vanessa had set her sights on Ross when she came back in mid 1989.. and she instantly disliked Nadine for being beneath her. There was a scene where Vanessa came to see Ross as Holly left.. and said 'oh... she's attractive' to Ross. Vanessa always viewed women as either competition or beneath her.. at least back in the 80s/early 90s. In fact.. Billy/Nadine started because the two were in cahoots to keep Vanessa and Ross apart.. and then they fell into an affair themselves. Fletcher was best with Claire.. both were head strong and full of passion/adventure. However, I did like his opposite attract relationship with Maeve.. she kept him in line and he helped her to loosen up. Attempts to pair him with Vanessa and Holly didn't work... I always wondered why the show didn't test him with Nola or Nadine.

I think the Vanessa that came back in mid 1989 after being off canvas was a nice mix of Marland's Vanessa and Long's Vanessa...where she had the haughtiness and disdain for Nadine...but also had a heart. Shame by 1991...that Vanessa went away.

I think Maureen was working at Cedars as a hospital Admin during the mid to late 80s ( till at least 1987).. so there wasn't any time for her and Vanessa to become pals since both were working a lot at jobs that didn't require a lot of interaction with one another. Once little Billy and Michelle became school aged.. and Maureen was a stay at home mom was there organic ways for the two to interact and become friends. Reva and Holly becoming friends actually made more sense then either one of them being a part of the girl clique with Blake/Cassie/Abby. Both Reva and Holly were more comfortable being friends with men instead of other women... and from personal observation.. women that aren't friends with other women tend to become friends with other women that aren't usually friends with other women. Alex falling for Roger was actually kind of in character despite Bev not thinking so. Alex met Roger while stranded post plane crask and after Fletcher ended up being rescued. Plus Alan didn't like Roger... so Alex went for Roger because of a combination of stockholm syndrome and to stick it to Alan.

Had the other women not focused so much of their time and conversations around Teresa.. she wouldn't keep getting rewarded year after year. I'd be happy if Jenn A would be dropped... she's got quite a few screws loose. Dubai: Something obviously happened behind the scenes between Brooks and Stanbury.. and I'm not sure if Stanbury is truly confused by Brooks attitude.. or if she's a real good actress.

Omg....this might make me start.watching housewives again. Gina still offers nothing Newbie Katie doesnt like Dubrow Alexis vs Shannon Jenn/Ryan and the FBi If OC can turn a corner....then so can Jersey and Atlanta

I think cast changes from to season could help prevent this type of situation. OC has always modified their casts from season to season...plus the women knew they had to shape up or ship out. Maybe the reunions need to stop. They seem so 2000s and stale now.

One thing I will say about Lesa is that she seems too be upfront with her likes and dislikes. She possessed some degree of objectivity last season when she basically told Aylan that she needed to say sorry to Stanbury because she was the one in the wrong... and she didn't like Stanbury.

I remember that set lasted into the 90s... with Alan Michael/Harley living there during their brief marriage.. and then Mallet/Julie lived there in the early 90s until mid 1992. I think Eve also lived there briefly in 1993 after she was released from the mental facility.

I second what @Khansaid... MSW is a cozy mystery series with only one firm rule... Jessica Fletcher is spared from anything too intense and major. Though I do admit the one episode with Andrew Stevens as a man interested in her and the underlying darkness of the episode was interesting. And it was early enough in the run of the show where you could get away with something like that

I liked Jill...but it.was due to the actress and not the character. Mary was just a shrill unlikable character no matter who played her. She put her family over her marriage...and that's a no no in my book. Once you marry..you start your own life and family.

I think once Maeve was moved out of the Reva/Kyle orbit.. she improved as a character. She became the head of the Springfield Journal and was a calming influence on Fletcher. I always thought that Holly basically filled the void left by Maeve with her more sarcastic style running the tv station and later the Journal.

She's trash.. and maybe next time she'll think twice about which wallet she next aims for.

In the few episodes I saw of her Karen, I think the actress establishes the foundation that Judith Light is able to build from when she takes over the role later on that year. I viewed Kathryn's Karen at this stage as finally obtaining what she thought she needed.. which was prestige as a doctor's wife and was aiming to keep up with the Joneses by utilizing the decorator that Dorian was suggesting. I have feeling if we saw other episodes from summer/fall 1977 that we could have seen how Kathryn B played Karen once her need for attention and gifts takes root.

If she were wanting to go back to BH.. she wouldn't have been so shady... but since she has no intention of going back... she threw out the shade in a big way

Hopefully Eva is more interesting then Eileen was.. if this rumor is true.

I believe it's for real.. and TPTB finally told her she needed to be upfront and honest about it.. or kiss her job good bye. Shame they didn't bother to do that with Vyle Kyle

Jersey needs to lean more into the family element like in the early days and less of the constant fighting when most of the cast can barely stand to be around one another.

She's uncomfortable to watch and over-rated

Julia is the best kind of pot stirrer.. because she is a sweet person.. yet also asks questions in a way that could be viewed as pot stirring.. or just curious about what had happened. Guerdy.. only reason I could see dropping her is if her cancer battle isn't going well. Despite what she proclaims, stress is actually a bad thing when going through cancer. Only person I think should be dropped is Larsa... only because the money from this show is most likely going to all that bad plastic surgery and why enable that.