Soaplovers

Jacob is on the outs with his shrew of a wife Naomi so he has to play along in order to get back into her good graces, plus he being the older brother.. he also looks down on those that aren't 'perfect' like him. Dunn was one of the break down writers I read wasn't staying when season 2 hits, which is a shame because he was a good break down writer that had worked with MVJ going all the way back to her days on Santa Barbara.

I'm sorry, but Brittani has made more of an impact this season than almost all the other women outside of Lisa. And I say Lisa because she lives rent free in the heads of the other women. I truly have decided that I hate Bronwyn, and I have a feeling that if I were around her like her mother and hubby... I probably would talk down to her myself because she doesn't seem to have a lot of positive attributes nor does she have any fashion sense either. I get the same vibe about her that I got about Jen Shah and Monica Garcia.... a dark and twisted soul.

After today's episode, I'm so convinced that Anita is setting up SPS/Leslie for a fall at Winterfest.. so it'll be interesting to see how it all comes together. And I'll be rooting for SPS to strike back because the wealthy are always the villains. I just wish MVJ wasn't stuck in the 80s/early 90s in regards to the wealthy family trope... and seeing how the Duprees are like the Capwells and SPS/Leslie as a modern day Gina... I think her stint writing the final year or so on Santa Barbara was probably the seed planted that led her to create this soap.

I think I had read when she came back to the part in early 1982, Kristen said she had to adjust to all the changes to the Delia character over the past 3 years including the fact that she now had an establishment she'd previously owned and now was just manager of... which was not how Delia was when she left the role in early 1979. From what I understood, Brenda Dickson felt the same way coming back as Jill after 3.5 years away.... she had left after she'd been tossed out by Stuart Brooks and was still with sleazy Derek and returning as the new lady of the Abbott mansion and not even interacting with Kay anymore (Dina was who Adair's Jill had been feuding with over John). And I remember Ellen Wheeler saying when she came back as Marley (joking that the show couldn't explain the extra height Marley gained after the fire).. she said she had to make a conscious effort to observe how Heche and Buchanan had played Marley since she was coming back playing a vastly different Marley than the one she'd last played a decade plus ago.

I think this is Michael Montgomery's 2nd episode as breakdown writer.. he tends to work with Susan Dansby as a continuity producer. However, his talents seem to lie in breakdown writing and with the 1st season coming to a close in a few weeks, I think we're building to something and I also agree with you that with Guza long gone.. Vanessa/Joey have suffered

Yes, she was. She was the everywoman that a lot of Boomer and Gen X women related to. Also for Ryan's Hope... I would go on a limb and say that the following actress was not a smooth recast even though she was returning to the part.. and that actress was... Illend Kristen as Delia from 1982 to 1983... she struggled in the part and never really made much of an impression during that time she was back in the role. Her return in late 1986 was much better. Y & R: Some would say Deborah Adair as Jill since she was a prettier and less dramatic Jil vs Brenda & Jess' Jill.... but I viewed it as her still being young with the goal of going for another wealthy guy that wasn't married this time.

I'd love to know the story about why she was fired because her character Joni had potential and she had a good rapport with Reggie. And it obviously bothers her still if she remembers the head-writer by name all these years later :)

I managed to watch a few episodes of season 5 (the beginning of the end of the show) and I thought that Morgan F had a promising intro with her playing a lawyer that more than held her own against Richard...and I thought she had chemistry with the actor that played Greg. She was best when in lawyer mode, and I think the decision to play at DID story was kind of what caused her character to have a limited shelf life. And she seemed to play a slightly type of character than she had previously played on Flamingo Road and Paper Dolls... but it just seemed that she joined Falcon Crest right at the start of it's decline and not when it was in a creative high.

Ryan's Hope was the recast soap to end all recast soaps. Siobhan Ryan had some hit or misses with the recasts: Ann Gillespie lasted 11 months and she wasn't a bad actress... but replacing a distinct and memorable actress like Sarah Felder was going to be an uphill battle. Carrell Myers listed a year or so, but I never hear people talk about her and her take on Siobhan.. but after replacing Marg H.. she would pale in comparison. Barbara Blackburn - on the fence about her because she only played Siobhan for the last two to three months of the show, but she seemed to possess all the traits of the previous Siobhan's. She also had good chemistry with Roscoe Born and had good friendship chemistry with Illene Kristen as Delia so I think she would have been a good recast (but I'm sure viewers weren't sure how to react to her). Port Charles: Ellen Burgess - You went from a distinct and talented actress like Debbi Morgan and replace her with a competent, but unmemorable, actress Marie-Alise Recasner... people weren't going to warm to the new actress.

Sharon Gless also was in a series that got canceled before it aired a single episode called Thick and Thin in 2006 about a formerly overweight/fat woman that embarks on life after dropping the weight. I miss the days where we could fat shame people.

Ah yes... Chompers was quickly accepted as Billy Abbott on Y & R and it didn't hurt that he looked wonderful without a shirt on :) He had the same essence as David Tom in regards to being his own worst enemy

Days: Josh Taylor as Roman Brady. Enough said Julie Pinson as Billie - She may have looked like Lisa Rinna, but she didn't have Rinna's fire and intensity. Stephanie Cameron as Jennifer - She may have resembled Missy Reeves, but she didn't have the charisma of 90s Missy Reeves (believe it or not, she was beloved and quite talented). ATWT: Vicky Dawson as Dee Stewart - After the impact of the previous Dee, anyone that took over the role would have an uphill battle.. and I don't even think she lasted a full year as Dee before she was written off. Sheri Alexander as Sam - The original Sam had a very laid back and dry sense of humor that contrasted nicely with the over the top historics of both Lucinda and Lily.... this Sam lacked any sort of personality and she was written off within a year just as her character was getting a story.

Susan Marie's was written in, which is how we got Aaron I believe. I remember that Tracy Bregman was pregnant in real life, it was written in.. and I believe she had a miscarriage in real life and the show had planned to have Lauren miscarry and she wouldn't play it so another actress came in to play that aspect of the story. When she got pregnant again, that was when the show wrote it in and she had Scotty.. which led to the baby switch.

Saundra Quarterman as Angie on AMC. - Bless her heart, but she just wasn't Angie and the story she was given (fighting with her mom over a man) was just not a story that fit the character of Angie nor her mother Pat. Brian Lane Green as Brian on AMC - This was a horrible recast for a number of reasons.. 1 of which was that he came in during the start of the older woman/younger man connection that was brewing between Dixie and Brian.. but he not only looked older than Dixie, but he was older in real life. Amanda Baker as Babe on AMC - I remember my mom saying it best 'She looks and acts as though she went to an Ivy league school'... when OG Babe looked like the beauty queen contestant trying to win a title in order to escape the trailer park.

Unpopular opinion, but while I did enjoy Sherry's take on Blake... it didn't fit with the tragic vibe of the character of Blake that Elizabeth D had established and that Liz Keifer expanded upon. And I think Liz K was capable of playing a Blake that was somewhat like Sherry's Blake.. but her stint started near the end of the golden age of GL so the writing didn't support her. The one area that I did enjoy Sherry's Blake was her sense of humor and the way she would entice her prey (so very much like her dad Roger)... however, I don't think her Blake could have lasted much beyond 1992/1993. That's probably why I liked GT much better as Phyllis vs acting tic ridden MS. And MS wasn't sultry nor sexy at all.. .she was kind of like a real life cartoon without any subtly nor without any lethalness. Sandra Nelson was a scary Phyllis that also was sexy (she and CLB as Michael Baldwin were quite good together.. she even had good chemistry with Peter Bergman as Jack). GT's Phyllis had a colder approach, but I viewed it as finally growing up and keeping her emotions to herself in order to better fool her enemies and get them to let their guard down.

Also, it helped to have a change in head-writer that knew how to garner sympathy for a character that made a bad choice.

She may have been green, but she was a breath of fresh air and was a atypical of teens by that point on the show. The youth scene was kind of dull and Hayley's arrival was a shot of energy that the show needed especially when Brian was recast and eventually An-Li and Terrence were added/recast with appealing performers.

I remember reading somewhere that Aaron Spelling said his biggest regret was not listening to his instincts and listening to Lucille about her final sitcom 1986 since he had wanted to bring in new writers that understood where comedy was in the 80s.. but she wanted to use her old team. I think the comedy could have been her, Gale Gordon, Dena D, etc.. living in a retirement community. And she still could have done physical comedy in a very light way (i.e. sneaking out of the retirement community, sneaking someone in, etc).

I view the mentions of characters like Luke, Darlene (Mama Hawthorne), Yolanda, and other characters as the show planted seeds for future characters that may end up being introduced down the line. Marland used to do that on ATWT when he introduced the Synders and on GL when introduced the Lewis family. It's something I wish MVJ and co did with the Duprees when the show started because I didn't see the need for a few of them to be on screen (i.e. Chelsea) right at the start.

And all 14 seasons are on Tubi... at least in the states.

In regards to the Morgan/Kelly situation, we all have to remember that Luke and Laura were the craze in 1979/1980/1981 and Marland had wanted to tell the story he had intended to tell with Laura/Scotty with Morgan/Kelly. Genie Francis was 17 to 19 during the whole Luke/Laura courtship and wedding so I don't think people cared as much that a teen girl was marrying up with an adult male 30 and older at that period. I think the 1981 wedding situation was in part to use the footage that had been filmed months before and also to compete a little with Luke/Laura since they were the top draw of GH and Marland thought that Morgan/Kelly would be that same draw only for Nola to be the top drawer of the triangle. I remember Vigard said in the Locher Room that she had a two year deal and was going to leave when that was up so the show decided to recast Morgan right after the wedding and continue to tell the Kelly/Morgan marriage story with a new actress. Problem was that the audience didn't have an attachment/connection to the new actress so Kelly/Morgan were doomed and eventually the show did break them up and put Morgan eventually in Josh's orbit before briefly having her be a sort of older sister type in a brief friendship arc with Phillip/Rick before she was written off. Had the show known back in the fall of 1981 that the recast would have been a bust.. they probably would have stuck with Vigard for the rest of her contract till spring 1982 and then written her off and spun Kelly off into another orbit (I heard the rumor that Nola/Kelly were supposed to have ended up together down the line). Kelly seems to drift aimlessly after the Morgan story ends, and Long manages to pair him with Claire Ramsey in an older woman/younger man story for a bit until he leaves in early 1984. It's a shame because Kelly and Claire did have chemistry.

We also had days that were pre-empted/repeat days this month. With more episodes being picked up for season 2, hopefully there will be less repeats in 2026. In regards to the breakdown/script writer team up, I think it depends on the approach of each. Ron C is a very campy/over the top individual and the best script writers are those that are more about focusing on the smaller/more intimate moments would pair best with him. From what I can tell, Danielle Paige has a more over the top approach as well (her Dorothy Gale series is very intense and over the top) so her writing paired with an OTT breakdown writer would also reflect in the finished product. I'll be interested to see if there will be new script/breakdown writers replacing the ones departing. As far as I know... Chris Dunn and Ron C are leaving from the breakdown writing side.. and I think Lynn Martin is also leaving from the script writing side. So I'll be interested to see if newbies come on, or if there will be less breakdown/script writers in season 2

Speaking of Fran Drescher, her pre-The Nanny tv show career was interesting to me. Charmed Lives - A failed spin-off of Who's the Boss that starred her and Donna Dixon. Princesses - Basically a Who Wants to Marry A Millonaire type show about three women living in a New York Penthouse rent free and trying to live life/rebuild their lives. The backstage issues were more exciting than the product we saw onscreen.. but Drescher was the stand out (She played a more subdued Fran Fine type character). Of her post The Nanny tv shows, my favorite was Happily Divorced where she was the 'straight man' reacting to the craziness around her (And Rita Moreno was hilarious as her mom). I never saw Indebted though... can't imagine her and Steven Weber as a married couple LOL

Not in 2025... Large family gatherings are not a thing and I think it's a healthier thing for the Dupree's since they seem a tad too attached at the hip. And I never liked the patriarch giving a speech during the holidays.. it was always kind of cheesy when P & G soaps did that.

@Taoboi Per your request... my nine month report card (I can't wait till the 1st anniversary report card). Favorite Characters (who I never fast forward when they have a scene): Anita, Nicole, Eva, Jan, Mona, and Kat. Characters that I tolerate if in a scene with one of my favorites: SPS, Tomas, Dani, Hayley, Derek, Ashley Characters I fast forward if not in a scene with a favorite: Dani, Andre, Vernon, Martin, Smitty, Ted (recast), and June Favorite feud: Eva vs Kat Least Favorite Feud: Hayley vs Dani Character with the most potential that the writers are under utilizing: Chelsea Caroline Laura Carleton Favorite Plotline: Recently the Hayley conning Bill tale intrigues me, but I hate that the show has made Hayley lose IQ points with her careless mistakes. Joey: A one note character played by a talented actor that has made his scenes enjoyable to watch. I love when he meets a new character like Dani, Nicole, SPS, Hayley, Martin, Smitty, Elon, Vanessa, etc. Stalled Plotline: Vanessa/Joey: Since Guza left.. it seems to have stalled. Nicole: We hardly have seen Nicole since the whole Eva bombshell except as a talk to. Losing Patience Plotline: SPS: Let's see karma knock her down a notch or two.