vote4llama

Wow!! Thank you so much to all of you! There are so many thoughtful responses. It seems the overwhelming consensus is to watch Knots Landing with some great cases for Dallas. I'm halfway through season 1 of Knots. The assault episode followed by the episode where Val's mom visits are excellent with great character development. I see what some of you mean about the duds, like the motorcycle gang. But the good outweighs the bad. No regrets so far! I'm very curious and excited to see seasons where long term storylines start to form. After reading what everyone has to say, I'll probably start mixing in episodes of Dallas, Dynasty, and yes, Falcon Crest ;) after a few seasons of Knots.

I have devoured countless episodes of daytime soap operas. But I've never seen one episode of a primetime soap from the 80s. If you could watch one for the first time again, which one would you choose? It seems like some find their footing in the second season. Do any have great first seasons? Are any of them good from beginning to end? Most shows are bad by the last season. Do any have good or great last season(s)? Of course I've heard Who Shot J.R. is must see TV but the fact it was a dream pisses me off...and I've never even seen Dallas! Please no spoilers but feel free to mention storylines and characters you like. Thank you!

Watching 80s Gwyn, I don't think it's a large stretch she'd crash out and go on a killing spree. 90s Gwyn was sweet and matronly though! Trisha dying, then turning up alive, and not wanting anything to do with the family triggered her. I still love her. These episodes are a lot of fun so far. It's great to see 1989 as 1988-1991 seem to be hard to find. The characters were stacked. We had the Aldens, Ava, Kate, Harry, Trucker, Egypt, Alex, not to mention Jack, Stacey, and Rick. I agree the stories aren't amazing, but the scenes are good and it's definitely not boring.

Agree 100%. I wish it was a real song.

I've never seen Neighbours but the portrait of Mrs. Mangel is being auctioned of for lots of money with lots of cast signatures. I googled it and it seems like a historic prop. So any wealthy Neighbours fans out there, this might be for you! https://www.ebay.com/itm/406876892287?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20211130125621%26meid%3D1570dc2a5ac34b72862e857374204ae5%26pid%3D101465%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D306908839463%26itm%3D406876892287%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D3814323&_trksid=p3814323.c101465.m3507

I think about this a lot. Soap operas should try hiring writers who have published novels instead of recycling the same mediocre outdated soap writers. Even successful writers usually don't make a lot of money and would probably be interested in the job. Start them in the writer's room so they can get an understanding of how these shows work. Many people don't understand that soap operas are a format, not necessary a genre. Make them watch classic episodes. Pair them up with an experienced soap writer. Probably the most well known example of this is Michael Malone and Josh Griffith. Having One Life to Live written through the eyes of a novelist created really unique, well written material. No, not everyone liked it, though that can be said of any time period on any show. Yes, he needed a lot of people to polish his ideas, and their second reign wasn't successful, but I've always wished this experiment would be repeated with another good (book) writer.

This is an open post to everyone to try out Isidingo. I breezed through seasons 1 and 2. I like Beyond the Gates, but this is so much better. You know how some 90s soaps are great and some are really bad? This has that quality that makes special 90s soaps so nostalgic. I hope some of you stream it and understand what I mean. And honestly...I really want to talk to people about it 😂. Let's get a conversation going. It's got to be the most diverse long running soap ever... starting 4 years after apartheid ended...having the first interracial kiss on South African television. Hilary Blecher, who directed One Life to Live, is an executive producer. Maybe that's why it feels like OLTL. But Cherel makes Dorian Lord look Iike Miss America! The first couple episodes seem like Ashley and Rhino will be one of the focus points, but it does a huge 180, and before episode 20 you'll see what I mean. Each episode is 22 minutes and they go by fast. You know how sometimes you'll check the time remaining in an episode of a series because you're bored? Well it's the opposite for me with Isidingo. Go to sabc-plus.com and stream it for free from episode 1. No, this isn't an advertisement...I just want to talk about it!

Thank you for tagging me. I didn't know this existed. I'll add it to my list!

I'm watching episode 155 of season 2 and Steve just appeared for the first time. He seems cool!

Year 2 has been uploaded! 209 more episodes on SABC+!! I'm so pumped. I told myself to savor them but I'm moving quickly. In total, there are 393 episodes available. I actually don't think you need a South African phone number to register on the site anymore. Or a VPN. South African soaps almost never recast, so I was very surprised to see Nandipha introduced, played by someone else! I also thought she didn't come until 2001. I recognized the actress because I briefly got into Generations: The Legacy in 2017, where she is a fixture as the rough and tough Lucy Diale. Apparently she became pregnant several months after starting Isidingo, so they fired her. Which is sad, although they picked a great replacement. Nandipha became a really popular character. And both actresses have successful careers. It's interesting to see the beginning of her and Parsons' relationship. The Trish/Clint/Elyse saga finally came to an end, and the last few weeks of the storyline are very good. I finally got to see the context of the episode where Dusty accuses Clint of assaulting her. And there's so many more characters and stories...

Thank you for the tag!! It's always great to see more of Trisha and Loving in general. This puts me in the mood for some 80s OLTL too.

Thank you so much!

You're welcome. I might take a look at the book. Thanks for sharing about Jupiter Moon! I stumbled upon the Wikipedia pages years ago. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. I've actually never watched a British soap. I keep meaning to make a thread asking for recommendations. Maybe the quality will turn around. Do you recommend any of the books?

Has anyone heard of the book The Archers: The First Thirty Years? It's free to borrow on Archive.org It goes back and forth from recaps to behind the scenes information from 1951 to 1980. It's written by William Smethurst, who wrote for the show and was the head editor in the 70s and 80s. He also created Jupiter Moon, a sci fi soap opera which I completely forgot existed! I just found out about the book trying to find old scripts. I can't believe they're not available. Did someone not put them in a drawer somewhere?! I would love it if someone bought the rights to The Archers and used the old scripts to make a television show, without changing any lines. It would be a fascinating creative project. If the scripts exist... I've never listened to The Archers, but it's existence has always fascinated me...the longest running soap opera that always stays on the radio and never moved to television. It's cool that it's a radio show that persisted.

Thank you for reading! In my sleuthing I also found a brief writeup on a "sensual moment" with Steve, so I thought you might like it: The love triangle in Isidingo (SABC3, 6.30pm) is getting more complicated, if that's possible. Len arrives at the Bullers to chat to Steve, but his jealousy get the better of of him and he ends up having a go at Dusty. Steve rushes to Dusty's defence and the guys become involved in a physical confrontation which leads to a moment of sensuality between them... one that Dusty is very aware of. There's nothing more in the source but here's the link. And here's a promo with Dusty regarding Steve. I also realized Isidingo only aired four days a week it's first five years. It premiered July, 7 1998, which is a Tuesday. And the Christmas episode is number 100. I sleuthed and found a couple articles which mention it moving to 5 days in 2003. Here and here if you're interested. They discuss some changes like expanding the location to include a TV station. Edit: I watched the promo again and it says Monday-Thursday! Sorry for the info dump! Happy New Years!