DynamiteKiddo

Today's eppy hasn't aired yet in CA, but yesterday's (7/19) was so good. First of all, I can't remember when we got a climax that slowly unfolded through multiple acts like this . . . Xander busting in, Eric cutting him off, the reveal, Eric not believing him, Nicole denying it, Sami's story, Eric punching Xander, Nicole's confession, and then everyone's reactions. It was old school soap. I mean, John ripping the Nicole mask off Kristen and everyone being shocked is entertaining, but something like this has so much more payoff and is very specific to the genre. And I LOVED that it was a standalone. If there were other stories yesterday, it wouldn't have been nearly as effective.

I would kill to know what Lorraine Broderick's plan was for "Days" in 1999 when she was hw for like 6 weeks or so between Sally Sussman Morina and Tom Langan. And in more recent times, I would've loved to see her as hw after Gary Tomlin & Chris Whitesell in 2015. For all of TomSell's faults, the show was pretty high quality on a daily basis (it was the overall vision that was the problem) and I want to credit Broderick as breakdown writer for that. And I thought that Thom Racina, Susan Bedsow Horgan, and Jessica Klein were great on OLTL 2.0. That show was so fresh and modern. I would have loved to see what they'd come up with on another soap.

Iirc, Johnny got cancer a little while after Sami shot EJ in the head . . . it was definitely when Nicole was finally happy with Brady, but EJ convinced her to fake a reconciliation so he'd have a better chance against Safe in the custody battle. Nicole agreed because she'd get time with Sydney (and Johnny), but EJ said it was conditional on her ending things with Brady. So Bricole snuck all around behind EJ's back, including at the hospital during Johnny's eye cancer. Shortly after this, almost all the stories sharply changed direction and, instead, we got the Nicole/EJ/Taylor triangle. But ya, giving EJami middle ground with Johnny was obviously a big part of this. One of my favorite parts of Higley/MarDar/Tomsell was getting to watch Johnny, Allie, Ciara, and Theo grow up together. It felt like they had those four child actors for a long time + a few Sydneys, Chase later, and Joey on holidays.

Such great news. But, ya, the Sarah thread is absolutely absurd. But I am grateful that it hopefully means Kristen can never, ever be portrayed as some kind of tragic heroine again.

Omg the bear! Lol

I was pleasantly surprised they mentioned Peter during this DiMera Enterprises nonsense (I guess props for the "conference room"). I agree that Missy holding this character hostage for 21 years since her '00 return is INSANE. The fact that J&J were so reluctant for Abby to marry into the DiMera family while never mentioning their very significant, storied personal history with them wasn't just intellectually stupid, it was the biggest missed opportunity to create so much story and conflict for Jenn and Chabby. Missy calling those kinds of shots is completely unacceptable. The only two times I recall her Jenn ever being linked to Peter was when she first came back, Stefano super ominously welcomed her back home and after the Chick-fil-A tweet, Kristen mentioned Peter to her. However, despite this, Chick-fil-A, and Candace Owens, I absolutely love her as Jennifer. When she outed herself as homophobic, I was pretty gutted and torn because I grew up loving her, but I can separate her and Jennifer. And for so many reasons, she really embodies Jenn. Mostly because of her really long-term histories and chemistry with the other vets and most of the cast. And when she tries, she exudes such warmth and enthusiasm . . . this can work against her with her love interests, though, because she often comes off as acting like 14-years-old. Except with Matt Ashford, because she plays such a range of emotions with him. And I think she did great with Greg Vaughan in the beginning, because she got to play dark (I even think she did a good job with Justin Melvey's Colin once it got all dangerous). And I do think she's on the same tier as Marlena and Hope because she's had 36 years on the show and she's really been the anchor Horton of her generation. She connects a huge swath of characters and, sure, she doesn't have an infamous story like MarDevil or Princess Gina, but she's as enduring a heroine as them, in my opinion. While I think Marlena is an undeniable icon, I think Hope and Jenn are actually more important to the fabric of the show because of being the lead Horton characters for decades. And I really appreciated Cady as Jenn, and I want Cady on now if it means that's how we'll get Jenn back on the canvas. She did great work and really slid in pretty seamlessly. But I was missing the connection that Missy brings, esp. with Cady's lack of chemistry with Jennifer's family. And Missy had the best chemistry with Kate Mansi, Marci Miller, and Casey Moss. I did really like Cady opposite Matt, though. I don't know, it was a different vibe but I liked her very much. I'd prefer Missy back, but if she's going to make things uncomfortable backstage and esp. if she's going to have extremely limited availability (it's felt like that for years), I would love for Cady to be put on a long-term contract.

So sad. RIP.

Oh it made them look so bad! Lmao that DanaPam contributed to this.

Lol

Ya, Crystal seems really mean girl. I like parts of her, but I equally get bad vibes. But in her defense, Sutton WAS acting like a freakout. Which sucks, because I really wanna like her, but I get major Karen vibes. I wonder why Crystal joined the show?

When Eboni asked LuAnn what she meant about being "raised in the church" and conflating that with "class" etc., Lu said it's not about class, it's about education. I don't think LuAnn meant only uneducated people speak in a "derogatory" way like Leah, what she likely meant is that people like Ramona who were raised with a Catholic education were taught to not behave "like that" (which I personally think is absurd) or whatever. That's what I meant about LuAnn not articulating herself properly. Regardless of any miscommunication, LuAnn was dead wrong (so was Ramona for yelling at Eboni, who at that point was being very reasonable) and she obviously took Eboni's technical comment incorrectly. She further misunderstood Eboni acknowledging her training as a nurse practitioner or whatever, but at that point the horse had left the barn and LuAnn was only thinking Eboni was putting her down. Meanwhile, if Sonja felt like this was being directed at her, she probably would have lost her mind, too. Like every time someone has rightly questioned her business acumen or social/financial status. But now I feel like I'm defending LuAnn, which I'm not lol. Lu couldn't have been more wrong in this situation and I cannot understand how she went from 0 to 60 like that and kicked Eboni out of her house. LuAnn does not deserve Eboni's forgiveness and the craziest part is when she watches this back, she'll probably still feel justified in her reaction and deny that she was playing on a racist stereotype to provoke/hurt Eboni.

I just binged all the NY eppys . . . I loved reading all your guys' thoughts! Re. LuAnn . . . this does NOT look like it's gonna be a good season for her. But I have to disagree with everyone about her and Sonja. Sonja has been droning on about this very false narrative that Lu steals all "her guys" since s6! So Heather (and I think Carole) confirmed that the Sonja/Harry "engagement" was a flat out ruse. Ramona lent him a ring specifically for that scene, and Harry & Sonja haven't been actually romantically involved since way before he married Aviva. And LuAnn didn't just jump into a taxi with Harry; Heather & Jonathan were in the car, too and they all went to a nightclub after Carole's 50th birthday party. The fact that Sonja still brings this up isn't just crazy, it's totally intellectually dishonest. And I can't even with Sonja going on and on about Tom . . . they were f buddies but she plays it up for the cameras that Lu stole her boyfriend. If I were Lu, I'd lose all patience for this nonsense, too. Did she have to be so cruel? No. But she has every right to shut Sonja down with this bs and her obvious unhappiness about her happiness. Sonja is so fun and compellingly tragic, but she's not harmless. She is SO self-produced and for as "authentic" she is about some parts of her life, she's equally inauthentic about other parts, esp. her love life. Now she's saying SHE left her husband?!? But the "angry" stuff with Eboni was disgusting. Eboni hit a nerve with the education comment (which was Lu's fault because she didn't articulate herself properly when she was getting all Countess-y with Leah) and I get why Lu misunderstood her, but once she realized she pushed a major button with the angry comment, she doubled down to hurt Eboni and made it about race. Her smirk confirmed it. I don't know where she's coming from here but she'll obviously make it worse with her lack of self-awareness and inability to actually apologize for anything. I did love seeing Victoria and Nicole and thought Lu shading Carole was hella funny, even though I LOVE Carole. But even though I thought she was great in the premiere, I . . . don't . . . like Eboni. Maybe this has to with my own issues about lacking in the self-confidence department, but this woman is so goddam full of herself and comes off really entitled. I think she has earned the right to be very proud of herself for all her accomplishments, but it really bothers me when people seem to not have a humble bone in their body. Maybe it's her edit? Ramona with her eyes and her continued knack for messing up every single saying on earth is the gift that keeps on giving, but she has not had anything new to offer for years. I'm so over Leah and hate that we lose Heather because of her. But Heather DID say that LuAnn and Sonja were, at best, around blow in St. Barths. I don't know how she didn't expect to get blasted for that. I remember when Bethenny and Sonja accused Dorinda of the same thing in s8 and while Dorinda was vociferously defending herself, Lu tried to get her to shut up and move on. I always figured it's because Lu and Dorinda were "partying" together. Anyway, now that Leah is not the "new girl" anymore, her role on the show doesn't fit. Bravo bet on the wrong horse here. I'm just gonna enjoy Holla! being back this week because it appears she ain't ever coming back to the show She has so much more life as a housewife between her business, family, and real problems with LuAnn and Sonja. Heather just isn't down to let Sonja get away with her bs self-producing and her "friendship" with Lu really went sideways. I really miss the seasons 6-7 clique with Lu, Carole, Heather, and Kristen pre-Adam.

Paul Telfer is lucky tptb are hot for him because usually when you abruptly lose your love interest/big story, you languish on the backburner lol. I like Xander and think he functions really well like this, bbuutt . . . he is problematic af. He was legitimately psycho until his unexpected romance with Sarah. Like, it is really disgusting that Nicole hooked up with him after EVERYthing he did to her. And it wasn't just her; remember everything he did to Eric, Theresa, Chloe, etc?!? I know they explained that Jack is friends with him (which I love, btw) because Xander didn't know who he was in the warehouse, but he could have done his due diligence . . . and it doesn't excuse why he let everyone in Salem believe everyone there was dead. Idk, I'm so much more down for overlooking his past then, say, Ben but it is a big ask. The Horton Home residents have become a really fun crew . . . but it is so implausible that Jack, Julie, Doug, Gwen, and Xander are living together. Isn't it Jennifer's house? Why is Jack inviting in all these strays??? Lolol

Re. EJ's effect on the canvas . . . I think he was/is a very important character, and he caught on very early in his run . . . bbbuuut I don't think *he* changed the show. "Days" desperately needed to pass the torch around his entrance; the show was just unable to truly move past Marlena, John, Hope, Bo, Jenn, and Jack (and I guess sorta Steve & Kayla) being the leads. Even with characters like Austin, Carrie, Lucas, Sami, Shawn, Belle, Philip, Chloe, and Brady getting a ton of focus, tptb just couldn't really pass the baton like all the ABC soaps had done by the 2000's (I'm not familiar enough with CBS). But by some miracle, "Days" finally DID transition, but it wasn't because of EJ imo, it was because of the baby switch (like 2 years after EJ's debut). Which, sure, was a lot about EJ and even EJami, but it all came together like magic for the show and that ALSO had as much to do with Nicole's return and even Galen & Eric's Rafe and Brady . . . I hate giving Dena Higley any credit, but she, Whitesell, and Tomlin (as EP) made this happen and that period is widely credited as a kind of renaissance that literally probably saved "Days." Those three and the five aforementioned characters really deserve so much credit for moving the show away from J&M/B&H/J&J absolutely dominating the audience's favor . . . it was definitely a new era (obviously other stuff helped the transition like Crystal Chappell and Louise Sorel's unexpected returns). But then for whatever reasons, they couldn't keep the momentum and Corday decided to go back to the past with the big 2011 "Reboot." Which didn't work, lol. After Tomlin & Whitesell took over head writing, they tried go back to what was happening pre-"Reboot" and I think we got a pretty good mix of something fresh and familiar. Ron, I think despite all his faults, does a good job at striking a balance between the different generations and eras . . . except that for a year+, the show has lacked strong focus and due to so many things, I don't think we've had TRUE leads since Chad & Abby left in early 2019. Not that I'm saying that Chad/Abby/Stefan being the center of the show for all of 2018 was good, but it was focused . . . now it's just arcs and rotating actors.

No doubt. I will never sing DOOL’s praises re. sets (even when we had like 50ish of them in rotation during the Langan/B&C era). I just appreciate that in the last few years, there’s been some effort on the production design front. I don’t have much positive to say about Frank as GH’s EP, but I am so impressed with how he’s completely refreshed the look of the show (even if a lot of it isn’t my taste nor is it very reflective of the actual characters who are supposed to be inhabiting those sets). GH has a serious visual POV—lots of moving cameras and different angles. But ya, for “Days,” the Ed Scott era was our visual high for sure.

While the Griffith era WAS terrible, I actually thought the show never looked better during late 2015/early 2016. The lighting was way too dark, but I loved how they used the studio as sets and there was a depth to the sets that was lacking when the show was hella bright in earlier years. And we got Hope's house back, Kayla got a house, and you could tell there was way more $$ being put into the show. Then it abruptly stopped around summer 2016. Since like 2018, I've noticed that production has really tried to work with the budget to give us refreshed sets . . . sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. My favorite set update in recent years is the Horton home--it felt sacrelig' to lose the green walls, but I love the blue, the new wood floors, and some of the new art (like the stacked botanicals to the right of the fireplace).

Wow! lol Between them and Jonathan Bennett, that was quite a before-they-were-famous blip for AMC.

I loved him on Spartacus! Great news if this is true. Since we were talking about Aiden Turner, he was actually one of the front runners for Spartacus after Andy Whitfield died.

He was one of my favorites on AMC. Pratt essentially discarding him and his subsequent epic character assassination gave me SUCH AJ/Zander from GH PTSD. 🤬

Thanks for posting! Do you guys think this is short or long term? I was never here for EJ but I'll admit that this is the kind of return that could be a really valuable, game-changing shakeup. But wouldn't this depend on Sweeney staying? I guess they could cast to finally break them up and free up Sami for other love interests (Lumi is endgame no matter what, lol). Either way this is super buzz worthy. And I hate that they're getting so far ahead, too.

LOL about Stefano!

This is one of my favorite GH scenes, but in hindsight, I can totally call this ott af--when Tracy found out Lila died, after lashing out at everyone, I believe she fell into either Ned or Edward's arms and SCREAMED, "I want my mommy!!!" It was raw and so painful to watch, but also a lot.

I've only seen a handful of clips of SF as Laura, but it's hard to imagine her playing an older Laura after watching her as Stephanie . . . when the scene called for it, she could exude a lot of warmth, but she was always SO direct and steely. However, JLB's Laura was, imo, a total disaster in the 90's and her drive-by's in the last 20 years have been so bland (except when she plays opposite Lauren Koslow). Ya, I can't see Marci Miller's Abby doing any of that . . . I can't even imagine her opposite Austin Peck in the Chad & Abby in Paris web series. I actually love MM, but there is something so unpredictable about Kate Mansi's Abby that's really interesting and makes her super versatile. On GH, and even though I LOVE him, I can't imagine Billy Warlock's AJ with Liz and that ons with Laura Wright's Carly (which was great, so of course GH had to ruin it).

If the premise really is the reporter and Kane vs. Santos, I expect to only see Susan, Eva, and Sarah Michelle back with Kelly & Mark as guests. Maybe Darnell & Debbie, too, because if it's a mystery they'll need a cop and Maria could use a friend at the hospital. Everyone else I imagine will be new, recast, or quick cameos from the really notable actors/characters. There will not be much room in this format for too many characters. I didn't see Grand Hotel but from this thread, it sounds like I didn't miss much lol. It's a shame because the original Spanish version is probably one of my favorite shows. That was a nighttime (period) soap that worked but that show had a LOT of episodes and they were able to feature a pretty big cast, but it was still very focused in comparison to daytime. That's one of the problems with transferring one of our beloved daytime dramas to primetime--you don't have the scope available to tackle everything that you can with a 5-days-a-week show. Past its production values, I've never had anything positive to say about B&B, but that's the only daytime soap I've seen that has the kind relatively focused canvas and message to make a transition like this viable without losing SO much of itself. Still have to wait and see, though. Regardless of how this turns out, or if it even makes it to air, this is good news, imo--interest in the genre is only positive.

I want to say so much but we don't have enough, or any really, information yet. But my gut is telling me it's really unrealistic to have any expectations that this will resemble AMC as we've ever known it.