Soaplovers

I always thought the time that Roger/Holly slept together in mid 1993 after the cliffhouse story was the start of the end in terms of good storytelling for the two of them. I think Megan McTavish had said when she took over that she didn't understand why they were a couple again especially after the way he had raped her, kidnapped her, and dragged her through Santa Domingo. So I understood her reasoning as to why they split them up as a couple... but the execution was wrong. It would have been better if Holly saw Roger yelling at someone.. and it triggered her memories of what happened between them in 1979/1980. She then realized she still had a lot to deal with and pulled away from him... which made him feel the impulse to keep pursuing her. Eventually they could have come to a place where they couldn't be a couple.. that the past really couldn't be forgotten and then the two co-existed in Springfield in separate stories/couplings.. but would come together if Blake had a crisis, etc.

I think Iva kept her drive and quirky/youthful fashion look until the pitchfork scene where she revealed to Lily that Rod/Josh was her dad and that she was raped. After that happened, it seemed as though Lisa B and Marland both became intent on making Iva this sad put upon victim. I also wonder if perhaps when Ellie was introduced in 1988 that Marland decided to difuse Iva's early personality and put that into the Ellie character.

When Jenson first debuted in 1991, I found that she had a better handle on playing Marley then in playing Vicky. Most likely because Jenson had played Sarah on OLTL... and her character on there was more like Marley. I think it was also because Marley had more stuff going on when she first took over. She was dealing with the after effects of the rape, the trial, and trying to grow her relationship with Jamie... plus trying to be able to conceive. There was more to play then what Vicky had going on at the time (which was her growing relationship with Ryan.. that was more on the backburner). And Marley's emotional issues started coming up again after she was taking a new fertility treatment where she assumed Paulina/Jamie were carrying on.. and then after finding out Paulina was the one to shoot Jake.. she was furious. All of that got dropped/resolved quickly and once she started dating Dennis in mid to late 1992.. her character lost purpose and focus. On the other hand, by mid to late 1992, Vicky's next long term story really started... which was her entanglement with Grant... and then she became the character with more going on then Marley. To me, how I would rank the actresses playing both twins: Marley: Ellen 1st, Anne 2nd, and Jenson 3rd (after mid 1992, her Marley had no story). Vicky: Anne 1st, Ellen 2nd, and Jenson 3rd (her Vicky in 1991 started off unlikable/mean... then became entitled.).

It sounds like Beacon Hill jumped too quickly into the serialized waters before audiences had a chance to care about the characters.... and introducing 19 characters in a pilot episode would be too much to keep track of right off the bat. Also, wasn't Upstairs Downstairs still running on PBS back then? Why make an American version when you could watch the original version on television.

RHOSLC Monica is trash. She has nothing to offer except showing that she's thirsty and has no place in the housewife world. Dubai: It appears as though Brooks and Stansbury are on the outs as well. @Catthe fact that Ayalan has blind loyalty to Ubah tells me that maybe she needs more therapy. Family should not trump common sense or morals.

What I didn't understand was why didn't the show revist Jack/Jill during the time when Frank was off the canvas between fall 1981 to early 1983. Jill barely did anything during the time Frank was off the show. My mom was a hug Jill fan.. how she was a lawyer, independent, etc... so when I watched the reruns.. I said 'how can you admire a character that settled for being the other woman, and waiting for Frank to get his ass in gear'. My mom said 'well I just loved the actress.'. At least Faith was given different stories during the times when Pat was off screen.

It seemed as though 1991 had three characters that were recast during major story (Vicky/Marley, Paulina, and Grant). Now Grant had to be recast, but I often wonder how stories would have been different had Anne Heche and Cali Timmons remained as Vicky/Marley and Paulina. Cali's Paulina had a manipulative persona while Judi's Paulina was more tough on the outside/soft on the inside. Anne's Vicky was more crafty while Jenson's Vicky was more chip on her shoulder.... Anne's Marley was more composed while Jenson's Marley was more frantic. The main things I could think of that wouldn't have changed storywise was that Marley/Jamie wouldnt have broken up (since AH and Russell Todd had chemistry), and I don't think Ryan/Vicky would have had to deal with Grant as a spoiler. And I think some of the story given to Vicky in terms of Grant would have remained with Paulina.

I grew up in Chicago.. and in a lot of ways Chicago was similar to New York City in terms of their being various neighborhoods within the city. You tend to stay in your neighborhood for various things such as shopping, bars, and sometimes even places of employment. So I could buy Ryan's Hope being so narrow in focus because the family had immigrated to America, open their bar, and had regulars that had coming into Ryan's Bar for decades. That is how urban areas.. or were at that time.

I think the reason Steve/Betsy worked was because Betsy was connected to vet characters such as David, Ellen, and Kim so viewers got to see them while Betsy was heavily featured. The Dobsons came in at the end of the Don Hughes stint on the show.. long after his more dramatic period was concluded (i.e. his marriage to Joyce). I was surprised that they didn't make more use of Joyce.. a character that the Dobsons should have excelled at writing. Based on the 1980 episodes I watched, the show wasn't bad.. it just didn't have the energy of GL and I don't think ATWT ever was a soap that had the wacky off beat vibe of GL to be honest

I thought I had read that the Kim/Michael/Rae climax in the summer of 1981 during the writer strike netted the show some good viewership. Maybe Labine had sour grapes because this wasn't her idea and that idea helped the show get a bump in viewers.

RHOSLC: While it's horrible that Monica had a horrible unbringing, my belief is that anything that happens before you're 18 is your parents fault.. and anything after 18 is your fault. Monica should be in therapy and cut ties with her mother instead of having her mother around her kids. Also, I know people that had mothers/fathers like Monica's.. and they didn't cheat on their spouse with an inlaw, didn't get defensive anytime someone gives feedback, nor be so judgemental. RHOBH: Sutton is confused why she can't have a 2nd date... but I have a feeling she talks to her dates the same way she talked to her assistant... and if so, then I don't blame the men for ghosting her. RUGT: I mean why is anyone surprised that this franchise has gotten toxic? You invite the likes of Brandi, Ramona, Kenya, and Gizelle onto these trips... of course, each season will be toxic. Btw, I was rewatching season 1 of RHOBH and the one thing I noticed that was done back then was that there were episodes where the women weren't together. They hung out with their own friends, their significant other, their kids, etc... unlike now where the women are together way too much.

Barrett could have have played the awkward fragile quality of Faith.. but like others said, she was too old to play the part.. and I imagine she would have grown bored playing the role like Catherine Hicks did.

I know Louise Shaffer in her Locher Room interview said her taking the part of Stephanie was a huge mistake, but that she needed the money. She said that having her take over what after Cheatam left was a huge mistake because it didn't give the audience time to mourn/adjust. She also did say that Cheatam infused Stephanie with a playfulness/a sexiness that she herself did not have... and mentioned that the big wigs just assumed Rae and Stephanie were rich bitch characters without realizing that both characters were a lot more naunced then just being a rich bitch.

The Dobson's had a quirky writing style that only worked on certain soaps... and ATWT was kind of staid and conservative.. while Guiding Light had a somewhat more out there energy that worked with what the Dobson's had to offer.

Emma Samms still has health problems so most likely she couldn't do it even if she wanted to.. heck I would have tried for Pamela Sue Martin if you needed someone from Dynasty.

It would have made sense for Mary to have left Jack and taken Ryan with her instead of killing her off. The show had been setting up marital issues between Mary/Jack for months and he was basically having an emotional affair with Siobhan already. And later on, the show could have either recast Mary.. or just had Kate Mulgrew come back as Mary for visits (she did come back twice in the 80s).

RHONY: Erin seems to be confused alot..maybe she isn't lying... maybe she's just plain confused. Ubah needs therapy and we need to provide shelter for Mr Connecticut because we know she'll turn abusive. Jenna is treated with kid gloves...but I think she does the woe is me as a defense mechanism. Ubah points out how Jessel, Erin and Sai didn't want Jenna on the show...me thinks she also didn't want Jenna on the show. And Jenna was hesitant to do the show and was given outs that the others couldn't get in order to do the show..so I can see why the others were resentful and probably knew they would look the bad guys if they called out her exercising those 'outs'. Jessel and Pravit are the modern day Alex and Simon Mccord.

It was a 2 week strike and it was about residuals for the burgeoning home video market... and it only lasted 2 weeks because the Guild accepted the low ball offer from the studios because 'home videos were an untested market'... and as we all know the WGA lost out on money because of giving in too quickly.

I also thought Ms. Sloan captured the essence of Nicole better than Ms Bentzen did.. and also carried herself off as more mature even though she was 29/30 when taking over the part.

I'm surprised that the magazine lasted in print for as long as it did.. when the quality started to decline in the early 2000s. And I had heard stories about the toxic office environment with Stephanie Sloane, Hinsey, etc. The thing that really made me think that SOD was finally going to go away from being a print edition was the Locher Room interview with Sloane, Hinsey, etc... and I kept to thinking myself 'you're all living in the past and it's no wonder why SOD looks so poorly put together and a relic of the old days'. I think that coverage in the magazine should have been more about interviews with actors on current and past soaps, more in depth opinions on the current stories on the 4 soaps, and maybe even a look back at past popular stories on current and old soaps.. maybe interview the headwriter/stars that recalled that story, etc.

I'm guessing that Lorimar/David Jacobs/CBS were aiming to make this into a Peyton Place type of primetime soap for the 80s. Putting a show aimed at the teen/young adult crowd on Saturday night was not smart, and it didn't seem as though there was anything that would make people want to check it out (i.e. no hook). It seemed like the producers figured maybe there were too many characters/plots for people to keep track of and they redid the show as Kings Crossing focusing on one family moving back home to start over. A more soapy version of the 70s show Family.

Yeah she is. She's an adult and could have maybe tried a different technique in order to make UGT 4 pop. I'm sick of viewers giving her a pass. @Cat I do think Aylan got in her cousin's ear between filming the season and the reunion. However, the reason Aylan works on her show is because she does show her whole life. We saw her with her husband, with her son, and with building her modeling business. And she also had a ying to her yang (or a yang to her yin) in Stansbury. Stansbury and Aylan are what made Dubai a good show in season 1 because you knew that both women had awesome traits.. it's just that neither one would listen to what the other was saying. Sadly.. Ubah didn't have much to show nor did she find a yin for her yang.

RHONY Ubah- she needs to talk to her cousin because she was a fail as a housewife. And she should be mad at Sai..not Erin for the boyfriend slip and why was she joking about slapping her boyfriends? She has the makings of an abusive partner. Erin - she stirred the pot, was defensive, lied, and made mountains out of molehills...she's housewife material. Jessel - she defended herself well..but I have a feeling Andy isn't too happy that she only moved to NYc for the show..if rumors are true. Brynn- please don't have a kid...you're not mature enough to raise one. Jenna - she needs to stand up for herself...maybe Brynn can help her with that. Sai - backtrack queen. I hope part 2 is better

I think they should low ball.. she didn't deliver at all. She brought nothing and shared almost nothing

RHONY: Sai is deeply insecure and she lashes it out instead of actually fixing what ails her. Rumors have come out that Sai got her current hubby while he was married to someone else. If true, it certainly explains why she's so obsessed with Jessel/Pravits marriage. Brynn is emotionally stunted and until she deals with her traumas and grows up.. she isn't going to be in a serious long term relationship.. though I do wonder if she really wants to be in one.. or if she thinks she should be in one. Lastly.. I loved Nancy Drew growing up so I loved the birthday cake Erin really didn't do too much in this episode.. and I won't ever call her a Karen since that is a derogatory term. Jessel was basically most of the material/drama for the season so it isn't any wonder she got the chair closest to Andy at the reunion. I can't help but like her. Jenna was sweet to lend Jessel her apartment all in the name of supporting women.. yet is on a reality show known for tearing down other women. Irony at it's finest. I still think she and her son are a little too close.. it's kinda creepy. Ubah wouldn't be so offended by the question Sai's husband asked last week if she wasn't so bothered by being single. It's my experience that those that truly are content being single don't really care if people ask why they're single. And she's too into herself to truly have a satisfying long term relationship. Overall.. it was a character building season and if there is another season.. maybe the drama will be in larger doses.