KMan101

Cathy Jeneen Doe was a nice variation of Lena's and Chrystee's Simone's. I didn't mind Simone as a lesbian, to be honest. And early Sheridan and Luis are awesome. They just hated each other and I loved feisty Sheridan. I hated when she became this whiney victimized heroine and then she morphed into just bad (though I truly believe it was Beth taking over Sheridan's life). It really bothers me how Shuis didn't end up together, for whatever reason. They were just as much of a force as the Theresa/Ethan/Gwen saga was. Luis with Fancy never made sense to me. I much preferred Fancy and Noah. Noah went downhill when paired with Paloma. Well, the second, bad acting version of Paloma. I always felt the character of Noah was wasted, much like Hank was. I always felt like JER had more planned for Hank, but for whatever reason, kept him a boring good guy before just writing him off.

Yeah. Season 2 was a great balance. Season 3 wasn't bad but by Season 4, it was definitely all plot. I didn't mind so much, I guess, but by Season 5, everyone hated each other and had slept with each other and gone through just about everything they could go through. And I much preferred tough Jo to sappy heroine Jo. I think losing her was a BIG blow to the show, looking back on it. She offered a very different presence to the show. (By "losing her" I meant when Daphne Zuniga departed after Season 4)

Yeah, the second Simone was just rough. Bad. Didn't fit. The last Simone was better. Lena Cardwell was the best Simone. I wish she had stuck around. Her and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were real finds that were wasted as very supporting characters.

Lena's Simone was never given much at all to do. She panted after Chad but I don't recall her Simone ever getting a storyline. 2000 was a really great year for the show, too. Lots of fun storylines.

I wish Agnes Nixon could find a way to have Loving rebroadcast, even on the internet. Doesn't she still own the rights?

Thanks Carl And yeah, I agree, they never knew what to do with Pat. I always liked Malcolm Groome the best. You're right in that Patrick James Clark was just another 'hunk' ... I don't believe he lasted long? Didn't Groome return in 1983?

A lot of it's early formula sounds like a more modern All My Children, using similar family designs (Ava/Kate = Erica/Mona, the Aldens = Tylers, etc.), which appeals to me.

Thanks, Carl. I always loved Ryan's Hope reruns. Having never seen 1982, what did folks think of Patrick James Clarke as Pat?

I wonder why they never brought Nancy back? Lots of potential there. Didn't they age her pretty quickly from a kid to an adult?

Yeah, turning bratty Jessica into a drugged up hooker was awful. I hated it. Danica Stewart was TERRIBLE. Passions had some HORRIBLE recasts. Ivy WAS in a wheelchair FOREVER. I don't even know how long. But she was hilarious as a bitch on wheels. She was extra bitter and nasty and bitchy and would always run into people or run over their feet if she hated them.

Yeah, Ivy was completely wasted in the last few years (I LOVED Ivy, she was definitely the Passions version of Kate Roberts). I even remember when Grace discovered what Ivy did it was almost such a non-issue. I really wonder what JER had planned. I mean, I'm glad it was addressed, but it was just not handled well at all and then Grace "died" and it was all swept under the rug.

Yeah, from the looks of it, GL had a lot more to fall back on than AW did in that time period. I guess the purging of the vets in the late 70s and early 80s was a P&G thing LOL.

It's definitely more traditional (as traditional as Passions could be) in the early years. Don't get me wrong, it's still very much "out there" but NOTHING like it turned into. 2000 was a very strong year for the show. I loved it.

I have a feeling it was all JER.

Yeah, they were so important in the beginning few years and then it was just shot to hell and all of a sudden Kay and Miguel were meant to be together. It was basically "Charity who?" when Sisco was in the role. I don't remember he used that much and didn't they just drop her? And Grace's return was even more pointless. I hate she was saddled with David Hastings and that annoying son and then she was shipped out of town. The show really shifted. I dunno if it was budget cuts, or what, but cast members were dropped and storylines really shifted. I really wish there had been an interview with Reilly about everything in regards to Passions before his death. Why he chose to do what he did, and why the show went so over the top after being really gothic traditional (while still campy and soapy).

When Nancy died, where were Don Hughes? Penny Hughes? Not to mention, many others. I also think the soap missed the boat on Andy Dixon. I would have brought him back in a heartbeat. Didn't Don have a son (Teddy, then Ryder in the '90s)? Though that storyline sounded badly mishandled. And doesn't he have a daughter? I noticed whoever was in charge around that time also tried to bring on Dani, to pretty miserable results. You bring her on, then phase out Ellen? What sense does that make? I dunno, but yeah, ATWT was badly mismanaged for a very long time. GL too. I look at their histories and for fun can come up with tons of material. Not saying it's great, but it was there to be used. P&G never seemed to really give a damn, considering their constant efforts to infuse the soap with new characters, starting even way back in the 80s when all P&G soaps phased out many veterans. While a lot of new characters took off, I think it started the downfall. The 90s for most soaps seemed to be some effort made but then the 2000s, no real effort was made to bring anyone back from the past.

So what did those who watched think of John Whitesell's time?

I never warmed to a lot of the recasts (Fox, Chad, Miguel, Paloma). I DID enjoy (though like always it lasted WAY too long) the Sheridan/Luis/Beth stuff though (the pit). I mostly watched for that. I thought JER mishandled Charity and Miguel in their returns (not to mention lame recasts for Miguel), completely downplaying their original parts on the show to cater to Kay, who was suddenly a heroine. He also brought Grace back just to kill her in a lame bus explosion (and didn't she find out what Ivy did over the PHONE. Um, that pissed me off). And while TC never made a difference to me either way, he was dropped. Liz was dropped. I didn't like what they did with Chad and the recast was BAD. I always enjoyed parts of Ethan/Theresa/Gwen but I didn't like what JER did to Gwen's character and Ethan had to of been the dumbest male ever alive. Theresa and Lindsay were always fun but sucked up way too much airtime. The bones were there but JER was just a hot mess towards the end. Way too crazy and I'm all for soaps being different but it was just a joke towards the end and it was a shame. It had mega potential in the beginning. Though I kinda enjoyed Pretty vs. Fancy, Esme, and Pilar finally getting a storyline, although I remember not really buying a lot of it. Juanita was fun.

I agree with you Carl. ATWT seemed to have a lot of untapped potential. I think GL had healthy veterans and bones, but the format it had turned into, it wasn't working, and GL had wasted away a lot of their vets between the Rauch and Conboy eras, hell, even starting with JFP. It's a shame so much of the past was ignored on both soaps.

The first two years are fantastic. Fun stuff. I just didn't care for much after 2001, though not everything was bad.

Another show I would have liked to seen. So for those who watched, and I apologize if any of this has been discussed, but what do you think worked in it's favor? What didn't? Was it really just a placeholder for another Bell (B& soap?

I would buy 1999-2001. After the double wedding and Sheridan falling for Antonio, the show was horrendous. I stopped watching regularly by 2002. I think around, what, 2005, the show got back on track for a while but I lost interest again. The last few years are so unrecognizable to me. I appreciate what Reilly tried to do but he should have kept the format he had from 1999 until 2001. It was good and worked. I thought the show had a really nice feel to it. He tried to top himself too much and that was the show's downfall. He's very lucky so many actors stuck with it for the duration.

I wonder if Loving had remained more on track it could have lasted longer? There was a TON of turnover it seems. It would find it's footing, then lose it, re-invent itself, find it's footing, lose it, and so on and so forth. Shame.

Thanks Carl. Would love to read more!

Carl, those summaries (thanks for posting them, BTW, makes me want to see LOVING all the more), are they two weeks worth? A month? And the dates, do they correspond with the summaries or ...?