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OK, but for every Judith McConnell, Jed Allen, and Terry Lester, we also got what I will refer to as the "curse of #2s", that list would include Warren #2 - Scott Jenkins, Santana #2 - Margaret Michaels, Keith #2 - Robin Strand, Flame #2 - Marguerite Hickey, Kelly #2 - Kimberly McArthur, and of course CC #2 - Paul Burke. So, I would beg to differ on the term FABULOUS (all in good humor, I trust).

But, does Fen know that his former lover Sheila is living in Los Angeles with only nine toes?

I must have missed the resolution of Danny's return, given that Paul's alive, what happened with Danny and Cricket's reunion?

I just watched a clip on Twitter where Lauren is reminiscing about Paul and his mother Mary. Michael appeared unfazed and Gloria just keeps drinking. If she tells the story about Paul's nudes (or when she coitused Brad into cardiac arrest) to Fen and his new boyfriend I am going to scream with laughter.

I am still of the opinion that social media users overestimate their influence on the writing and production of the soaps. It is a self-fulfilling proficiency that people who profess the most obvious views feel as if they are being heard when the plot follows their wishes. It never ceases to amaze me when an adult born before the invention of social media continues to believe that if a writer, actor or producer likes their tweet it means that they know that person's taste, motivation, and work habits. Usually the writer, actor, or producer wouldn't even remember that interaction five minutes later.

Both Robin Strand (Keith #2) and John Novak (Keith #3) are such weird recasts because somehow they cast two men who both seemed younger and less intelligent than the original. SB was uniquely bad at recasting (with the possible exception of Gina). Producers seemed to grab whomever was available, rather than trying to retain the qualities of the character. And, far too often, the actor's charisma outweighed the writing, so characters like Warren, Kelly, and Santana totally morphed their personalities depending upon who was portraying them . They could never recapture the magic of a character that is both malicious toward the show's heroine and lovable at the same time. Novak was handsome and capable, but perhaps if they had just made him the new DA, rather than saddling him with the name Keith, he could have been more successful.

OK, Marlena's afterlife story is giving Austin in the Garden of Eden vibes. But, I appreciate that they are balancing the absurd with the stories of Allie and Eric. I like the pairing of Eric and Sloan, the writing is interesting because there are no secrets between them and they have guilt-free sex, which is something that we haven't seen in daytime for ages. I know the actress playing Sloan gave a bad first impression, and the whole off-screen plot about her parent's death is silly, but I think they have good chemistry as a couple, and I enjoy their dialogue. Similarly, Paulina's scene with Stephanie today was fun. If we ignore the fact that nobody in Salem seems to be very productive (when was the last time the bakery was open?), I like the mix of characters and I also like that despite the fact it is a story about death, it is not too dark or brooding.

One of the weirdest things about soap operas is that sometimes it seems as if nobody has a phone. Fen has always been important to Lauren, yet they appear to have never talked since he left town a few years ago. I get the dramatic purpose, but what man in his 30s comes out to his mother, in front of his grandmother, in the lobby of a hotel?

The first name of Li may be a soap oddity but, Li is one of the most common surnames in Asia, shared by 92.76 million people in China, and more than 100 million in Asia.

Why can't Sonny go to New Zealand with Will? And why doesn't Will mention anything about caring for Arianna while he is gone?

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/video/actress-tracey-bregman-celebrates-40-years-on-the-young-and-the-restless/?ftag=CNM-05-10abg6a&utm_campaign=true_anthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1Kxn5Qc9ZUAsRWVDDQb6pe-CykfdFqhpOfKqOcyPBlEBUo8FwPr_vNu8o

So, I guess I am one of the 20,000 people who watched it, as opposed to the 700,000 people who watched the RuPaul premiere on MTV. The pilot drama revolves around two stories. First is Dorión (the spelling of his name suggests it is either fake, or his mother knew he would own a makeup company from birth), who's never met anyone else in the cast and is dismissive of Joey because he is an influencer. I feel as if that is stale territory because most people in 2023 know that TikTok and Instagram are viable, but not democratic, sources of income. Men pushing vitamins and makeup on social media are no different than Mr Whipple or Madge to the Manicurist were to a prior generation, (and they didn't get any respect among actors either). If the discussion was about the racial bias in who gets brand deals, that would be interesting. But, to fight about the validity of influencers as advertising from a guy who owns a cosmetics company seems dumb. Then, there's Toddrick Hall and his social media stuff. My one laugh came when Toddrick is interviewed about how touched he is by the love of his fans, and to illustrate the point the editors show a tweet from a fan wishing him a Merry Christmas, as if either that's as far as fans are willing to go or it's the only positive tweet they could find. Also this Daily Beast quote, "It brings me no joy to say that The Real Friends of WeHo stinks as badly as the alley dumpster behind The Abbey after jockstrap night" is stupid because everyone knows The Abbey is too concerned with catering to straight women gawking at gay men to ever host a jockstrap night. But, this is totally correct "Joey Zauzig, an influencer who sounds like he has milk trapped in his lungs." Finally, for a show from the producers of Real Housewives, it seems odd that they can't get the sound correct in public spaces. The entire party scene has people talking over each other, and they need subtitles just to understand the conversations.

My read on the RHSLC reunion is slightly less scandalous. First of all, even when they showed the preview of the reunion they notably said "coming up on the RHSLC reunion", and not "next week on the RHSLC reunion" because it wasn't on the schedule for this week. According to Andy, he had hoped to interview Jen last weekend, which would have been pt3 of the reunion, but after she pulled out, they made pt3 an unseen footage episode (where I think they want to tease the answer to the black eye, even though it is a subject of lost audience appeal, and seems unwise). Most of the remaining women don't have anything new to say about Jen, so I think that will be a disappointment, because if you've watched the after-show there's not a lot of difference of opinion on Jen. So, I think there's a lot of speculation about the idea that the reunion wasn't shown this week, when in fact the season was a ratings flop so I doubt that they ever wanted to extend this far. My prediction is that pt3 will be half unseen footage, and half recap of last season of Jersey to get people excited about their return.

Can we call it early and put Y&R Jack and his granddaughter Allie on this list? Also, did anyone on the production staff recall that Cricket was John Abbott's stepdaughter for a moment when he died?

This goes out to all the step-parents Y&R - Jack and Nick, before Nick was SORASed and Jack was involved with Niki, there was frequent dialogue about Jack coaching Nick's baseball team and being a supportive step-father, but until they struggled over Phyllis they barely acknowledged each other. DAYS - Rafe was in Johnny and Allie's lives probably as long as EJ, yet they hardly ever reference that in scenes. GH - I wonder if Molly knows that Liz was once married her father?

I like Ava having Spoon Island as a base of operations, but how does Victor have the right to say who lives there?

I don't know if we are nitpicking the difference between CGI and green-screen, but the green-screen seems to have been confirmed

I just love the idea that Marlena's idea of heaven is a white pantsuit with a turtleneck. I hope to be a bit more ath-leisure for eternity.

One of the soap tiktoks has been playing clips of Donna Mills, Constance McCashin, and Lisa Hartman on Donahue. It must have been around this time because the clip they played was Abby finding Laura in Greg's bed. The audience turns on them and begins asking about how they will teach their kids morality given the parts that they play. Constance says that kids know right from wrong, and she's sure he'll be OK. Then, a man repeats the same concern and Donna sits right up and says, (paraphrasing), we're actors and it is not our job to teach morals to your children, Knots contains lots of stories where evil people get their due, and if a person doesn't agree with their storytelling then they should turn the channel; such a good clap back. I always appreciate when an actor is able to remind an idiot, that they are playing fictional characters, that they don't write, and that morals should be taught by the community, not TV. Joan Collins was also always good at that in interviews.

After Kelly marries Quinn, Flame ships off Robert to her family's home in New Orleans in order to avoid Kelly snooping around and finding Robert locked in a cell. Cruz and Eden had been suspicious of Robert (although they were actually watching Quinn), so Cruz winds up finding Robert in New Orleans and they both are put into forced labor by Flame's family. Meanwhile, Flame becomes jealous of Quinn's feelings for Kelly, so she gaslights Kelly using Eden's perfume and makes her think that Robert (but really Quinn) has the hots for Eden. Quinn, who really did love Kelly, becomes hip to Flame's psychological tricks, after she pushes Kelly down some stairs resulting in Kelly's temporary paralysis, and locks Flame in the cell where they held Robert. Of course the story is ridiculous, especially the ending where Eden solves a crime while in a coma, but I liked the animosity between Kelly and Eden and felt it was organic based on their history. Eden had always competed for CC's approval with Channing, then once he was gone, Eden became the apple of her parent's eye, while Kelly struggled for some attention, as her father expressed disdain of every man she ever loved. It felt natural that Kelly would develop some hard feelings toward Eden, who found eternal love with Cruz, while she kept getting paired with nutballs like Peter, Dylan, Craig, and Jeffrey. The animus between Kelly and Eden is also necessary for the eventual ending (spoiler alert) But, don't fret too much because within weeks of that story ending the Dobson's return, Kelly magically moves back into the Capwell mansion, and forgets that she ever fought with her sister.

Does this make her the most successful ex cast member of Vanderpump Rules?

Dorm soap consumption was a premium experience. I still smile thinking about 15 guys and I screaming at the top of our lungs as Terry Brock sang Amazing Grace in a fugue state, dressed in her wedding gown, walking down Main Street in Laurelton on GH

I was certain with all of the talk of murdering Kristen, Brady would find her dead by the end of the episode (and later it would be revealed that Rachel accidentally pushed her over when she tried to keep her from packing her Marlena doll for their trip - lol). But, once again, what does this arrest mean if the DA is corrupt and the prison commutes the sentences of all of Salem's criminals?

Agreed that Sonny's stripclub was sketchy and filled with fraud, but I'm asking about what the feds could convict him with in his current business. At least modernize it and have Sonny be involved in online gaming and sports books. Spinelli could be doing the programming, they could launder the credit cards through the hotel, it would make more sense and involve more characters. I mean how many Gen Zers are out there playing poker with cash?