KMan101

Love it!

Yeah, Frank needs to leave casting to his, you know, casting director. Instead of stalking the parking lots of other soaps waiting for a hot grab. That's good he can act. I haven't seen him in anything. I never watched Spartacus, lol. He's very attractive. I could almost get past Scott's EJ. We shall see how the writing is.

Completely agreed with you. Absolutely. You could see the 'writing on the wall'. Bev sure did. LOL.

What an upgrade! Thank God it wasn't Daniel Goddard. Yuck.

THIS. JFP loves her some bland leading women. You summed it up well. I've often wondered about different actresses in the role. I think Marj frustrates me as Alex because I believe she could have played that role but the writing wasn't there and like even she said, she didn't really elevate herself above the material. She played it exasperated and over the top. I loved her as Vanessa on AMC. I've only seen bits of her on Capitol. I've seen her in many other things and believe she was more than capable of playing the layered Alex I would have wanted to see. But even with Bev in the role, the writing was declining and you can see her do her best with the material. God she was brilliant.

Yeah that's true. Julie was very involved with Kellam and Josh and then it switched to Marlena. Always nice to dream "what could have been" lol

Would have been interesting had Stefano been involved with Steve, considering he had eyes ("plans for her") on Julie when he first came to Salem. I wish they had done more with Stefano/Julie/Doug (obviously headwriters changed so I get it but still; missed opportunity for sure, though Mickey and Maggie got what Doug/Julie should have). I love the supercouple era, but I really would love to see what PFS could have done longer term (I see why long-term fans might have been turned off; it's very different). I also liked Diane Sommerfield as Valerie. PFS seemed to bring all the right people back but they were all dumped two/three years later. Also was a mistake to kill off Renee.

That's how I feel. Who wanted Mick and Linda back at the Pub? Honestly I would write them out at this point. It seems like a way to keep them around. I know Mick has his own story going on but I don't think anyone cares. Why did they chop down on the amount of the episodes? That's a big cut. But maybe it makes for a tighter show? I can see that (the bold). It reminds me so much of when the US soaps hit that point. It's sad. I'd argue they're still at that point. Aimless. Things happen but does it really matter? I'm not always current and watching everything but I do try and keep up. It's interesting watching the reruns on my local PBS when I can. It's before the show turns really ugly. Little Ben (and little Jay) was adorable and hadn't murdered Heather and Shirley was layered and interesting. This was right before I started getting into the show. Not the best time to pick of course but what can you do?

That scene was really bad. I think Marj could have played a better Alex. The writing wasn't there and she didn't always elevate it either. THIS You can see the show falling by this point

Right? Lord. I'd stop watching. This. LOL. I'd take him. If only.

I'm with you both as well and I think he does agree. I will say it was done well but having the lead heroine fall in love with her rapist is not good optics. I have mixed feelings on Luke and Laura. There are times I enjoyed them but their marriage was always destined to implode. I just wish it was all (the "end" of them) handled better by good writers. It kinda became all about shaming Laura, first with Nikolas and then because she fell in love with her rapist. Yikes. I always loathed Geary's lack of defense of Genie/Laura and his ego during the Phelps years, and likely with Monty as Bill Eckert was stroking his ego. I don't really miss him. I think Geary did have the right idea about Luke becoming a loser and pathetic mess (which is why his relationship with Tracy never worked for me). He was. It just wasn't fun or interesting to watch. Labine had the right idea with L&L but it was never going to work.

Yeah they definitely should have done that in 2014. Like Serena should have been Sarah. Xander should have been EJ. I'd also argue Aidan should have been a recast Mike Horton but I live in a different world lol

lol Thaao has loose lips it's hilarious

UGH. Just off the character and be done with it. This at least better lead to Johnny being cast. He's clearly a daddy's boy lol.

Thanks again Mitch. The 1995/1996/1997 time period is a bit of a blur to me and unfortunately we lost so much on YouTube. I agree there was no more story for them. I assumed that's why they offed Jenna but then I was reminded Fiona stood up for Zaslow and was likely punished so there ya go. I remember watching her death in 1998 and being pissed about it. It always bugs me when they fire the female co-star but the male co-star in the pairing gets to stay. I never understood their desire to hold onto Buzz and Deas. He was nowhere near the hot property he had been in the 70s and 80s.

I could actually see Doug Davidson in the role, oddly enough. LOL. I wouldn't hate it. And yes we do need more Hardys, Baldwins and Webbers. I would have made Finn and Gregory Tom and Jeff but what do I know? Will watch soon. Thanks for sharing the link. I like watching the commercials too

Thanks for clarifying on Wagner, I wasn't entirely sure. So they forced her out, basically. Nola had loads of potential exactly as you said, the 'Lisa' if you will of GL. They could have recast her son and brought on her daughter. Them plus Bridget and random Reardons, you'd be set for her. Bridget and Nola were massive missed opportunities. I didn't mind the idea of Buzz and Nola, I suppose, but what I've seen it doesn't feel like the writing is there and sometimes Brown felt like she was still playing depressed Iva. And Deas is already becoming shouty. So ... no thanks. LOL. They also seemed to abandon it (the less about the horrid amnesia the better) as soon as Fiona came back as Jenna. Of course we then had two years of Buzz shouting and Jenna crying about Jeffrey.

Well, ATWT *did* fire Helen Wagner, right? I'm still shocked they got away with it back then. But your point remains. Viewers DO love the vets. They WANT to see them. They just don't get it. Soaps have been chasing this mysterious young demo instead of just writing what has always worked. Multi-layered generational storytelling. Pennock was awful as Justin. Mike, Justin and Hope are three glaring absences for me throughout the years. It seemed so crazy not to tap into them (really tap into them). I guess they figured they had Ed "why do we need Mike?" and they had Hope's son so why do they need her? Instead it should be, we have A-M, we NEED Hope. But nope. Though, after Nola's messy return, sometimes I'm ok with characters being 'left in the past' LOL under certain regimes. Who the heck knows the damage that would be done. It's sad because Nola easily writes herself. They seemed to just want Lisa Brown as Nola again and didn't really have a plan. It didn't help that Lisa Brown and Justin Deas had no chemistry (IMO). And wasn't Nola also supposed to be paired with Ed and Peter Simon wasn't a fan? (But what did he think of the Eve pairing? LMAO) Trish was definitely too young for Mike. I liked him with Lillian and Alex but I can't say he had fire chemistry with them. He feels kind of checked out towards the end of his run. Justin/Alex could have written iteself ... Justin had so many opportunites. Sigh.

All of this. They would have made a great writing team IMHO. Ah what could have been. I do wish a better balance had been made from the 70s into the 80s. But network agendas and all ...

Excellent point about the opportunity being there in 1991. Who knows what might have been had Monty stayed. Seems like one of those classic missed opportunities in the world of soaps. Timing is everything sometimes. The Herbert angle does sound interesting and something that should have been more explored. Alas, that's not what's soap became in the late 90s and 00s + ... sigh. I feel like Carlivati would have gone there with Jimmy Lee but Ingle/Edward passed away right into Ron's start at the show. I would think Edward's death would open that opportunity up but maybe they never thought about it or didn't think anyone would care without Edward around, which I can understand. Alexandria was 100% a Tracy replacement. I felt like they didn't even really hide it or try to lol. It was obvious from the word go. I wonder how it would have been seeing Tracy play out the Cassadine stuff instead of Alexandria?

lol, when you point it out that way it's kind of hilariously sad that Tracy has always had to fight for acceptance. Edward was SO welcoming of Alexandria in what I've seen. You'd think SHE was his daughter if you didn't know better. Was it a mistake in hindsight to freeze her off and kill her? I also feel like they swapped out Jennifer Smith and Frank Smith for Edward and Alexandria when it came to Luke and Laura. Just kinda funny how it quickly shifted to a similar dynamic. I like that about soaps back then, they had a canvas in mind and characters filled their roles.

LOL at random pop up cousin Lorena. Can't wait . Why do soaps have a fixation on spa stories? NO ONE CARES. Ever. LOL I'm around this time frame in watching it's been fun. 1980-1983 have been very engaging and interesting to watch play out, with what I can see, mind you. I was always surprised they never reached back into the Crane Tolliver side of Lila's history (which I'm not entirely sure of), or Jimmy Lee's side with Edward later on. Of course maybe Claire Labine would have. Never was gonna happen in the Frons era. Really surprised Jimmy Lee never came back. I know soaps loved the whole "I'm a good guy I don't want your money" schtick but I find it a bit tedious and heavy-handed as a way to say "he's a good guy LOVE HIM". But I like Steve Bond. You could tell the show was desperately trying to fill the void left by Richard Dean Anderson (who's Jeff can be annoying, no? Lol, just saying).

That's very true. It does sound rough. But for sure that year introduced us to so many fan favorites. I'll be curious when I watch some of the storylines what I think. I just spent time watching 1986 and the Duke/Ramsey stuff. Some of it's just edits but still fun. It's funny watching episodes from like 1980 and Susan is like a background character (she's not but not featured in what I was watching, just making a point) with Mitch and Frank Smith and then by 1983 she's knee deep in it and murdered. LOL. I have to say the show was so incredibly engaging in 1980-1983. I'm aware of everything but sometimes you don't know little details or interactions and it's fun to take the time to watch stuff I've only seen bits of. In hindsight, I wonder if they were a little too quick to kill off some of the characters they did but I'll be damned if it wasn't engaging and they didn't affect the canvas. I mean, Susan Moore's damn son is still running around today. Granted her pinky is more interesting than he is ... and my God this is why I love soaps, Lesley and Monica, 40 years later, are STILL salty with each other, yet at the end of the day have each other's backs.

So bad lol