Soaplovers

I would dump Marysol because she's just creepy to look at, and she's a little too rehearsed/boring for me.... and I would get rid of Larsa because she really adds nothing at all except the sleaze factor RHOP: Time to clean house on this show. If you have to make up a story to be on the show, then maybe it's time to part ways and allow other new blood to come in. New Jersey: I like the new additions.. and hopefully this is a signal that Melissa will be going bye bye after this season.

Gabrielle Upton seemed to be the writer that moved Arlene out of the Ben/Betsy/Meg realm into Ray's orbit. And then created Mia to be the conflict in that relationship..when Arlene spent a good 2 years in that role as the spoiler. Labine created that conflict, Depriest made it more messy by installing Arlene's mom as an employee of Meg I think. And I think the follow up writers carried that on until Upton came on. By 1980, was there any mention of Arlene's past ties to Ben/Betsy..or was she completely separate from that orbit?

RHOP: Robyn does her job well as a side-kick... but she should have brought a bit of her life onto the show instead of keeping it off camera. Gizelle needs to go because she doesn't offer anything except causing drama... and Ashley has that covered. Mia is a bad fit and has had her 2nd season try out, time for her to exit stage left. Karen.. has she really said or done anything so far?

And from what I heard kept Bambi and used her properly. It's a shame Ann Marcus wasn't given more time to work her magic because the last few episodes I saw on YT seemed to reflect a show tying up old stories/threads from previous writers while introducing some modern new characters like Amy... and that final scene when Arlene walked away from her verbally abusive husband gave me hope that she was finally waking up to the fact that she could do way better then him.

I know that Dr Sara was gone by late 82/early 83... but was there still a place for her on the canvas other then being the local talk to, or the resident therapist? Other then her previous romantic ties to Justin, I could only see her being a talk to... though I do imagine she would have a field day having Reva, Roxie, and India as patients. I think changes truly needed to be done by 1983 because a lot of the stories/characters started by the Dobson's were starting to become stale by 1983... just wish that the balance nicely established in 1983 and 1984 were maintained instead of having to endue rough transition years circa 1985 to 1987/8.

This type of scene is missing from Y & R, and other soap operas nowadays. When you had a character from the haves (Katherine) meeting a character that wasn't a have not, but fighting for their piece of the pie (Ms. Love). And on that subject of a Have meeting a character working to get a piece of the pie...here was Victor and Drucilla's 1st meeting.

Fox did have one soap briefly in 1990..Tribes that aired after 3 PM. Problem was the network was too new and they didn't have country wide coverage at that point..but the cities it did air in had healthy ratings that were slowly growing. I think by the mid 90s, Fox was large enough that they could have had a soap or two in the daytime.

I will say I think it was more Kobe that was the problem then Long. Hope, Amanda, and Hilary were written quite a bit before they were ushered out suddenly. In regards to the Holly/Roger connection when they returned... I do know Curlee had convinced Long to bring them back..but it wasn't her that wrote the Adam Malik story nor his storming Philip/Blake's wedding (she didn't like it...but it fit with Roger). And I'll be honest that there was a change in writing for Holly once Long left the show..that in some ways hindered the character. I was surprised she was less neurotic, more assertive in 1989/90. After 1991, she became more neurotic and kind of a victim. Not sure if that was due to Curlee and co..or if that was JFP's influence.

You are correct that Marin Gazzaniga was going to be the new head writer of PP's OLTL had it continued. She had been one of the final people that had done the soap writing program at ABC before it was discontinued and apparently she was contributing well in the writers room.

Correct me if I'm wrong...but didn't he leave years ago because his mental health suffered when he was head writer? Why would he risk his mental health again by letting go his breakdown writers? Including Natalie...who Kay Alden had envisioned being the one to take the reigns of the show down the line?

Talk about wasted potential....I was hoping this would have been long term...but with the bad writing and GF unable to play the hard edges... the character didn't last. You would have thought someone could recall that AMC tried a similar character in the early 90s and when she couldn't play the vixen..turned the character into another Laura.

I recall when Roger first came back, he was paired with Sonni...and the actors worked well together. Two outcasts finding one another...while it wisely moved her out of the Josh/Reva orbit. I often wonder what would have happened if Michelle Forbes hadn't quit..would the Holly/Roger 1990 talk been less a way to make them viable as a future couple...and more of a form of closure

Friends to strangers to semi friends: Harley/Dinah GL Friends to enemies (had one of them not passed away): Maureen/Lillian GL

I think Mindy having Roger's baby would have provided more long term story threads.. and be an added element in the Billy/Roger fued vs having Hart come on as the long lost son... and would have been a physical reminder to Alexandra of what Mindy did to her and Roger (since Alexandra had always been warm/nice to her before the affair). I could see Kim would think this.. but given the year that Reva had (Josh had left, she lost her baby, she was divorcing HB, then lost Kyle to Maeve due to her being pregnant).. I understood why Reva was at the absolute bottom emotionally.. and thought ending it all would be the answer. I think had Pam Long not left in early 1986, she would have had Reva learn to love herself, stand on her two feet, etc... and she wouldn't have reunited Josh/Reva right away when he returned in late 1986... which really damaged Reva's character...imho.

Rhonj: Margaret is the stirrer of drama..and she does it in a non toxic way unlike Jennifer A Jennifer A is too toxic...and she's another one that I understand why she was cheated on. I feel for her hubby Bill. Jackie..who? Danielle..promising start and it's nice to see she's connected to the cast. The other Jersey newbie...not sure yet...give me more family scenes with her and her lumberjack hubby. Melissa's kids have grown!?! I think she's partly to blame for the issues with Teresa..but I also think Joe isn't blameless at all. Delores is to this show as Cynthia was to Atlanta and Jeana was to OC... less drama, yet still likable.

Marland tenure was so boring. One thing I noticed about any show that he head wrote, the dialogue was so unrealistic and wordy without any sort of emotion. It's jarring seeing the show go from the fast paced energy of Depriest to the slow paced boredom of Marland. Why he was given a year I'll never understand.

I remember my mom watching this commercial (which came on during her soaps) and wanting to know where the fountain of youth was. Gotta love the early 90s vibe And I used to love these commercials. The reason she maintained a career was that she hustled. RIP

Susan lucci was the only one that managed to make some head way with hers...with her tv movies in the 80s/90s, guest stint on Dallas...and her occasional Hot in Cleveland guest spots.

Nina slapping Phyllis was so satisfying.. and made me wistful that there weren't any other memorable Phyllis vs Nina pileups in the past especially in the 90s when Phyllis was a thorn in the bug's side (and you know she told Nina about her.. because Nina would throw shade on occasion). For me, 1990 to 1992 were my favorite Y & R years.. because you had 3 huge stories that were were in various stages (David Kimble, Nikki's alcholism, & Sheila Carter) during those 2 years (1989 was kind of the seeds for all 3 stories with David wooing Nina after Jill turned him down, Jack/Nikki eloping, and Scotty/Lauren getting married though he was a bit put out with Paul being a presence in their lives as her good friend). 1993 had the Victor being persumed dead.. which briefly got Jabot back to the Abbots and Hope being introduced... plus the whole Ryan/Nina/Victoria/Cole story started after it was getting going in 1992. After that.. the show seemed to have some strong stories, stories that went nowhere, and a repeat story that wasn't as good the 2nd time (John/Jill remarrying, having Billy, Jill cheating again, then another divorce story that became the two just co existing as a couple in name only, and finally peacefully divorcing when Bill Bell wanted to introduce the Dennison clan... with two daughters not liking Jill .. a bad repeat of Ashley/Traci not liking Jill back in the 80s).

When people talk about Reva driving off the bridge (suffering from post partum depression)... I always remember this set of scenes as a very very small child..and my mom having to explain what was going on...as she rooted for Reva to climb up the ladder. One of the commenters on this video mentioned Kim Zimmer didn't get this story...but it seemed in character for Reva...who always jumped first and asking questions later. And what was interesting was the voices she heard as she was in the water (where she was loving herself...and voices of her future kids). Sadly this was just as Pam Long was leaving the show the first time so we didn't get to see what her plans were for Reva post suicide attempt.

I remember the late 80s (around 1988 or so) on DAYs when you had the magic of Patch/Kayla and their beautiful wedding on the boat.. and Cruz/Eden's wedding as well. Those were memorable times for late 80s NBC soapdom. The late 80s and early 90s was the last time that soaps were consistently good.. even the worst quality at the time (SB, Loving, AW) were tons better then the content that is considered suitable nowadays.

Which made spermgate all the more out of character for Ashley.. since there was no way Ashley would ever keep the secret that Victor was Abby's real father from her daughter.. especially knowing the extreme trauma and questioning of identity that it caused Ashley back in the 80s when she found out that John Abbott (the man who raised her after her mother deserted/abandoned her) wasn't her real father. I couldn't buy that she would subject her daughter to that same fate. I agree Bo being Victor's child was a pretty great story.. and it was interesting that it came out because Caroline's daughter Kimberly had her own whose the daddy situation with Victor and Shane. It also kept Victor/Caroline tied together because of their son.. and that connection would come up here and there throughout their times on the show in the 80s/90s/00s... with Caroline's husband always feeling threatened by that (best example was the aborted John(Roman)/Diana when Caroline had a heart attack.. and Victor came to see her then tried to sneak out only to be caught by Shawn). ATWT: Aaron/Holden reveal- Good/neutral This resulted from a drunked one night stand after Holden/Lily had a fight.. and Caleb/Julie had a fight. With people wondering if Caleb or Holden was the father.. with the reveal of Holden motivating Andy to have his name put on the birth certificate as the father. Then you had Iva adopting Aaron.. Holden over-hearing that he was the father, confronting Julie then getting mugged/losing his memory... then months later learns again at Aaron's 2nd birthday party that he was the father. It was a 3 year story that sadly got dropped after Holden came back in 1997 and revealed he sent Aaron to live with Caleb/Julie in Seattle.

It seemed like 1980 was the show attempting to keep the show as it was when Lemay was writing it...but the problem was only Lemay could write that way...and the 90 minute episodes was too much of a chore to watch. I watched a long time ago the episodes when Nancy F assumed the role of Cecile...and she was alot more subdued in her portrayal....and while she did the 80s style of acting well, the early months of her stint was a lot more understated.

Shame the show didn't do that with Heinle

That was the rumor back in 1997 and she quit.