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It's a Mini Cooper.

Can someone jog my memory? Who was the actor, young guy part of the teen/early 20s set, that played on GL and then changed his last name when he became more popular? Was it Paul Wesley? I know the name was Eastern European. But, I was recently making a list in my head of actors who changed their names after appearing in daytime. Also, let me know if you think of any more examples.

They definitely pick up the pace, but that first week was a drag. Obviously, one of the limits of an article like this is that they can only respond to the initial week. However, one tends to think no amount of praise could've lured viewers over to NBC during that time slot, at that time in the history of soaps.

Here's what I liked today, I prefer when male characters are wise to the attitudes of their partners. So, I will give points to Roman for being able to correctly figure out Kate's feelings. I will also give credit to the Abby story, because last year's resolution to that tale felt hollow, so if we are learning the actual motive to the murder, that is a good thing. I feel like we're building toward the finale of Harris, which will have repercussions on the Kate and Ava relationship. I have no idea about the cause of animosity between the two women. But, Kate saying that Harris could free Lucas, and increased focus on Clyde's whereabouts does not bode well for everyone's favorite formerly brainwashed Seal/currently oldest police rookie. What I didn't like was EJ flip-flopping on raising Eric's son simply because he saw a drunk Nicole make a pass at Eric. Also, last week he was offering Leo a lifelong pay-off, and today Sloan got the same offer. But, where's EJ getting all of this money?

It is another example of illogical soap casting that both Sharon Gabet and Larkin Malloy were immediately hired by another show after EON was cancelled. They were both very good on EON, and had a charming rapport. However, it eludes me why producers would hire actors from a cancelled soap, because it is so rare that fans from one soap will become loyal to another (on another network). Of course, there are those who will cite Jake moving from Bay City to Oakdale, but that experiment did not last, nor did it have a significant impact on ratings. So, it is a stunt that rarely pays off, despite being tried repeatedly over the years. And grafting Larkin Malloy onto the Lewis clan was predictably an awful move; at least make him a Chamberlain.

IIRC, Santa Barbara opened with a huge event, and a flashback to a murder that wasn't resolved for a year, and the rating suffered. As Tom Shales's review in the Texas thread shows, it began with what seemed like a big event, Alex stopping Iris's plane, but that went literally nowhere. Whereas, B&B opened with the preparations for Ridge and Carolyn's wedding, so that we were building to a big event that would be revealed within the first month. All of which is to say, history would tell us that there is more value in building toward an immediate big event, while getting to know the characters. As opposed to jumping into a big event without a resolution that will quickly bore a sample audience. BTW, I would encourage everyone interested in lessons learned from a soap pilot to read the Tom Shales review, in the TEXAS thread, as it is a fun and well-written primer.

It begs the age-old question of how famous these people are amongst Salem-ites. Much like the superheros in comic book movies. They're in the news regularly, but strangers don't seem to recognize them. I mean, normally, nobody would read about a high school couple's romantic woes in a gossip column. But, Holly is the step-daughter of one of the wealthiest families in town, and she just emerged from a coma that may have been in the paper. Also, she's dating the young man who was falsely accused of drugging her, and that created a scandal that required the D.A. to have a press conference. So, there is some salacious value in those pictures. However, given that the embattled Mayor just fired the DA, you'd think there was plenty of other news to read about in The Spectator.

It's intriguing because Daniel Feuerriegel is exactly 10 years younger than Joe Moscolo was when he premiered as Stefano (even though Stefano seemed so old when I was a kid). So, if they would allow everyone to age naturally, rather than using them in stories about babies and other 30-something topics, he could easily embrace the full-on villain and still be romantically viable. I guess Johnny would be a few younger than Tony was in 1984, but he could also repeat the conflicted eldest son role in the family. And Chanel is a natural next gen Anna-type (minus the bad mothering traits).

Yeah, I just thought about that, he's Allie's Grandfather and her step-Grandfather. Family tree makers in Salem must have a very difficult time (also, lesson learned, even with emojis it is difficult to imply irony in a written post).

It is confusing that Johnny and Allie are twins with different fathers. Especially since they seem aware of their separate paternity. But, I guess if Roman is Allie's step-Grandfather, Johnny could have been raised to reference him as part of the family... 🤨😕

Thankfully, Judith Light was spared this monstrosity of wedding fashion. Because soap marriages often end in divorce, but the pictures live forever on the internet. 😉

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the Ryan's Hope Lego playset. 😉 A little bar with a figurine of Johnny, that you could blowup and and then reconstruct.

To me, the best Faith recast was Cali Timmons. Because Maggie felt like the sibling rival that Jill needed as an antagonist all along. Even as a kid, I knew Frank was never going to pick Faith, but Maggie had a real shot at turning his head because she was a firecracker.

The thing that always annoyed me about that story is that they kept referencing the macguffin as a “reliquary”. However, reliquaries are a Catholic thing that holds the remnants of saints. I think they meant things like an ark where a Torah is held, or a Tevah which is a symbolic chest. But, Jewish temples don't commonly have reliquaries.

I had never put it altogether until now, but I enjoy the DAYS tradition of bratty teen girls through the years. We went from shoplifting Julie, to mouthy Hope, back talking Ciara, and now baby monster Holly. Each decade gets their own whippersnapper.

But, didn't they bury her? Who is in the grave that they keep visiting? I know it's Salem, but it seemed like she was dead/dead. Like, bled out, no heartbeat, change the mattress, dead. Also, I don't recall her working at The Spectator at the time of her death.

I'll say in general, my biggest writing grievance on soaps is when characters telegraph their inner thoughts so obviously toward the audience, but their scene partners completely miss the cue. For example, when two characters hug, but one is mugging menacingly toward the camera. IRL, you'd know if you were hugging someone, and they were making faces behind your back. Or they write for a character to arch their brow whenever their beloved mentions their fraudulence, yet it flies totally under the radar in the room. Or I was recently re-watching the classic DAYS scene when Bo saves Hope from marrying Larry. It was fun, but are you going to tell me that not only could Howie Hofstetter fit into Hope's dress, but her entire family couldn't tell it wasn't her under the veil? It just makes everyone seem like an idiot that they can't read nonverbal cues that would be clear to a total stranger. And it is a device that is used far too often by hack writers who don't believe that the fans can infer a character's motivation if it is not made crystal clear. I sometimes swear cartoons are written with more subtlety. But, perhaps even worse, is when a soap that is written as totally silly fluff, suddenly tries to be socially conscious. For example, you can't have characters return from the dead, and then suddenly try to tell a serious disease story with the same person. Like when Reva was valiantly struggling with cancer, despite knowing doctors who could clone her and help her return from the dead. Or why should I care if Mayor Paulina on DAYS has thyroid cancer, if her DA lives with a mad scientist that can perform heart transplants three years after a person dies. I hate when they try to have it both ways.

Ok, but back to my original question, does anyone know if there was a connection (personal or professional) between Ken Corday and Marty Krofft? Or was the Screen Gems connection to both companies ever cited as the reason for the acting crossovers?

At the risk of responding too often about a single episode, I felt like the Marlena scene served to make Holly a bit more likable. When she was so vulgar to her Mother as to bring up her dead babies, I thought Holly came across as incredibly bratty; especially for a romantic lead. In the past, when Hope got mouthy with Julie as a teen, or Ciara was sassy toward Hope, there was a line of good taste that they rarely crossed. But, for the audience to care if Holly and Tate get to go to prom, we can't hate her for being so terrible to her mother that it seems like Tate would be better off by finding another girl to date. That being said, Marlena's advice that Holly should write a letter to her Mom felt antediluvian. But, I enjoyed that Nicole is still so chaotic that she day drinks after a fight with her kid.

It feels inappropriate to say that Jock's death was good for drama, obviously because it was inspired by a real life event. However, it is interesting in hindsight to see how much it benefited the storytelling of both shows.

Months ago, when Sonja Alarr wrote the episode featuring the aftermath of Ava's assault, I felt it was appropriate to call her out. The parallels between the backstage HR crisis and the story of men having trouble believing the story of a victim who murdered her attacker in self-defense was objectively offensive. Because it furthered the myth that violence toward women is morally ambiguous if it is possible that a man didn't understand the woman's intention. However, that was something that occurred on screen. There is no evidence of collusion between the Allars as per his treatment of actors on set. Neither Ari Zucker nor Camila Banus ever suggested that Sonja Alarr inappropriately stood up for her husband in all of their public statements. Neither of them would have anything to lose by singling her out if that was true. In fact, Ari mostly complained about how unfair it was that none of her male co-stars were asked to take a paycut, and how few of them supported her concerns. So, vilifying a woman for doing her job doesn't feel like the right vibe for this situation. Thus, I fail to see how not firing a union contracted writer for the misconduct of her husband is awkward or a poor visual. Most of the comments about Friday's episode praised the cliffhanger, as well as scenes between Holly and Nicole. As such, I remain unconcerned about any implied association with crediting her as writer for the episode.

I was searching for the Sid & Marty Krofft to Ken Corday pipeline because it seems like such an odd coincidence that so many actors appeared in both of their productions. Deidre Hall, Wesley Eure, and Fran Ryan all appeared on DAYS and a Krofft show in the mid-70s. I have a vague recollection that Ken Corday mentioned Marty Krofft in his memoir when he discussed his music and his friendship with Boyce & Hart (who wrote the DAYS theme song and appeared on Bewitched). And I know about the Screen Gems to Boyce and Hart relationship. But, I can't figure out if Eure and Hall filmed their Saturday morning series at the same time as they appeared on DAYS, or if they were cast on DAYS after their Croft series ended? For example, Electra Woman and DynaGirl premiered the same year as when Marlena first came to Salem, but I don't know if it was filmed earlier in the year. Does anyone know if there were other acting crossovers? What was the connection? And what was the timeline?

Thank you for the link. I've listened to their podcast, and found it tough to follow in an audio-only format, due to sub-par sound and editing. But, it is remarkable how much easier it is to watch them on video.

I have two (perhaps) unpopular opinions on today's writing credit: Much like the proverbial “sins of the father”, it would seem unjust for a man's wife to be punished due to his bad deeds. As I've often said, focusing on backstage news is listening to a stranger's office gossip, and thankfully it is neither my circus nor my monkey.

that's awfully fast, not that I am complaining, but it is difficult not to believe that the pacing of this story has been hastened by forces other than the desire to write a melodramatic tale