pdm1974

Yes, that would have been amazing to have Lane Davies play it. Although, I think Gordon Thompson played it well. If I remember correctly, the Dobsons had taken control again around this time, and they believed Mason had gotten far off track. So, they designed the episode to sort of reboot the character and remind the audience of his backstory. I remember watching the episode recently on YouTube and really enjoying it. There was also a dropped interesting subplot that was launched at that time that never developed into anything. A few times Mason speaks about Rosa and her family having some of their land, which became quite profitable, stolen or bought by CC in a bad deal for the Andrades. Rosa mentions not wanting to dig up old history, but Mason assures her that her family will get justice. Then, after a few episodes it's never mentioned again. it could have been compelling if developed especially Santana returns not too long after. What if the Andrades all of a sudden came into some real money? It's a shame that Wanda DeJesus didn't get along with Jed Allan, or the rest of the cast. Santana was such a viable and interesting character. Very true! I should be so lucky.

Favorite specific episodes... SB had so many excellent individual episodes...I was wondering which ones others remember. My top one is the Capwell dinner when Mason brings Pamela. The dialogue was so sharp, the performances on mark, and I loved all the wonderful backstory of CC/Sophia/Pamela and how their relationship caused Mason so much pain as a child. We also get hints that Eden's losing it, and Pamela drops the bomb that Cassie is actually a Lockridge. Plus, we get the pure pain Mason feels when he realizes his mother is not mentally stable...and he's losing her all over again.

Thanks for the clarification. It's great to see Anna Stuart's first episode. Outside of Jake and Kathleen, the McKinnon's didn't seem to really pan out. It felt like they didn't know what to do with Mary once she reunited with Vince.

I'm not sure what the reason for her firing (and the short-term recast that followed). She was easily one of the most dynamic actresses/characters the show had at the time. It was a big loss for the show!

AW went through tons of changes during the early 80s. It feels like many characters (and actors) came and went at lightning speed as they were trying to slow the ratings decline. I can't remember what was said to happen to Donna, Nicole, and Peter's mother. Does anyone recall? I feel like AW was trying to recreate Stefano on DAYS with Reginald.

I found it okay enough to give it a second view. I agree that having one of the aliens be gay was a nice twist and addition of diversity.

Does anyone remember how the Love family was first introduced? Did it start with Donna?

I believe Iris was led to believe she adopted at one point, but then it was retconned and she was once again Mac's bio dad. I'm not sure if they ever explained that accent. Although, I do agree that Carmen Duncan was great at the beginning. The writing didn't serve her well later. Rachel and she should have remained strong rivals (such as OLTL's Viki and Dorian) throughout the show's run.

I always thought Jake and Vicky were a mistake. They worked better as longtime friends.

While I did, overall, enjoy the last year of the show, it just wasn't the same with sooo many new characters and families. I feel after the Dobson's last stint the show tried to go very "mainstream" and that took away what had made it so special and a cult favorite.

I do feel that her later years on OLTL had turned into more of a comic relief role. I do think she handled that change well, and I loved her relationship with David. But, she did lose some of that bite as a character. At that point, it was hard to really see her as a threat to Viki. One part of the character that I always enjoyed was her role as matriarch to the Cramer women. Despite the over the topness, Dorian was fiercely protective of her "girls." I also loved that the show had a core family that was made up, almost, entirely of women.

+1 Their furry chests were awesome!

Did the story with Ava and Mr. Burnell ever get resolved?

I feel year 9 just got so wacky and out of hand I'm not sure anyone could turn that ship around. Passions did have some of my favorite dialogue of all time though... Grace- "I haven't had thing to wear since the house got sucked into hell!" Some of the actors should have gotten awards just for keeping straight faces.

I agree, and it was sort of disorienting when Cruz's mother was suddenly 20 years younger. I don't remember the recast lasting past this story either. I forgot how they eventually wrote Ric out. Did he just quietly leave town?

Thanks! That would be interesting to see!

I feel like the show didn't start of as a parody of soaps but as a supernatural soap that JER loved to write. But as the years went on, especially at the end, I feel he went all out parody. Remember Juanita who blamed Pilar for her whole family getting mowed down the cops? She was totally off the charts camp/telenovela. It was fun to watch but no way could you take it serious.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zQMfUf7dE8

Travis was really bad as Ethan, but the writing hardly helped. I did think Eric's performance was an improvement though because I think he really "got" the campiness of the show. As an actor on such an over-the-top crazy ass show, you just really needed to embrace the kookiness to shine.

Does anyone know what the actual ratings were for this show when it aired?

Was the 4.8 the highest that SB ever rated?

Ah, that explains why that family came and went so fast. It could have been interesting if it had been allowed to developed. It definitely gave Cruz's mother an opportunity for a storyline of her own. I remember the daughter, too...Tawny. She was never given a chance to do much either. It felt like the entire story for this family got wrapped up in about two weeks. It was definitely an odd time story-wise on SB. I always thought the set for the Lockridge house looked tiny especially compared to the one for the Capwells. Did the Andrade family have their own set in the beginning? I read somewhere that in the show's bible Rosa had other daughters in addition to Santana and Danny. It would have been interesting to see one of those brought on especially when Rosa returned towards the end. I always liked the relationship between Rosa and the Capwell children, especially Mason. She had been the surrogate mother to all of them after Pamela disappeared and Sophia was thought to be dead. It would have been interesting to see if Rosa's children had any resentment regarding their mother having to spend so much time raising these rich kids.

The younger characters were definitely the highlight of Loving in its last few years with some really solid actors. It's a shame that it didn't translate into higher ratings with younger viewers.

Developing the character of Ric was definitely a missed opportunity to expand Cruz's family. There was that blink and you missed it storyline with the Richards family were it was revealed that this old, evil, rich man was really Ric's father, but that went nowhere fast. Also, I thought it was odd that Cruz's sister Carmen was never mentioned again.

I think the show really shot itself in the foot by killing off Sally. She had the potential to be a leading heroine for a very long time. The recast didn't work, but another actress could have worked well.

Characters came and went sometimes with lightning speed on SB. One of favorites that I thought should have stayed around long-term was Minx's long-lost daughter Cassie. The character had such an interesting backstory, and the actress was great playing the slightly unhinged character. Not only did she have the Lockridge tie-in, but she could have been a great ongoing villain.