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Doug, lol. Like I said, it was weird about Stephanie. They added her, Joey Thrower's Kevin, Lee Ann and Jason to the final Tour of Llanview opening in September, played her a fair amount that month with Jason in a very Malone way, and then had her trading barbs with Lee Ann and closer to Joey in October. Then with no preamble they very abruptly write her out in a single day to go to Chicago, and Robyn Griggs is immediately removed from the opening as JDP is re-added (the final change to the 80s opening, I think - strangely Luna and Blair are never added despite it being the same timeframe). A lot has been said about Griggs alienating people BTS at her various soaps and Joey Thrower talked about her being an issue at OLTL, so I assume that between her initial story pre-Gottlieb/Malone being so lousy, their adding a bunch of new people plus her offscreen behavior, they just quickly did a 180 and decided to cut bait on Stephanie in this period. I don't know if Stephanie comes back before the spring '92 story where she returns following Carlo's death (and is used simply to end that story). I suspect not. I do know Thrower's Kevin is back shortly. Why they sent him away for a few weeks I really don't know. I know Pat Elliott (Renee) said they should've told the Eber story with Asa and Renee so the audience could invest in it vs. two new people. Asa and Renee's relationship was growing very toxic at this point but I don't think that would've worked - I understand her point but it would've ruined Asa permanently, and the audience didn't want to watch him do that. I do think some of the stuff with Doug and Jane is well-written especially as she talks about how their relationship first turned abusive, and how she can't remember if it hurt the first time he hit her. Gottlieb was very clearly trying to educate during this period with this story and the Wanda subplot about female medical care, and it's always admirable for daytime to do that and was well-scripted but a bit too didactic, especially in the Eber story with random all-new characters. Maybe they could've brought back some minor past players instead to do the same short story, like one of the O'Neill girls or (shudder) Wade and Mari Lynn.

It was Doug, but yes we all thought of Roger! I don't get the hate either - I think so far the overall storytelling shift have been overstated re: the novella-type stuff. It is still following the fundamental framework of a year-long soap opera with larger storylines and throughlines running alongside or above the shorter-term stories (Doug and Jane, or the Wanda medical stuff which is more a B or C-plot). OTOH Gottlieb and Malone did change a lot about the show very fast, and the Eber (I don't think there is a 't') saga does get much more prominent very quickly and becomes a bit tedious so I can understand some of the critique. But in the end this story is going to both begin and wrap in about a month or less and it's far from the only story on the show, all of which are paced and plotted like normal soap opera. Laura Bonarrigo was done no favors in '91. First she looks like RSW's midlife crisis made manifest when she comes on as a notably young love for Bo under Rauch, then she spends this back half of the year howling, shrieking and sobbing while 'pretending' to go crazy (sure, Cassie). It's been driving me up the wall, and I am someone who grew up adoring LB and Cassie on the show for years and think she was deeply underrated. This stuff is a rough ride for her even though it seems like someone new at the show must've seen her talent and thought the way to use it was to keep giving her very big, broad material to showcase her chops lol. Instead whenever she starts to lose it I cringe and go for the volume on my remote. She's definitely playing it to the hilt but it's exhausting. Laura is lucky she survived this period and got better story.

I can't be fúcked to remember tbh. The new Lucas/Ava relationship was a bit of a reach for me as is lol. I just never bought that most of the PC folks who were unlucky enough to be related to the dangerous Jeromes would freely associate with them, because a lot of times those relationships didn't feel earned to me in the 2010s. Lucas and Julian made an effort so I can buy it there with Ava as Lucas gets older. Julian would often be banished or brought back in and out of Leo's life due to his various evil deeds until his death - it was a revolving door IIRC and I don't recall him ever being a dependable parent, not that I was watching a ton in his last years. But for all intents and purposes Ned is Leo's father. I can't remember Ava and Leo ever interacting. The youth set could definitely use a lot more sin and heat, as I've said before re: bringing characters to mix it up with them, Trina, etc. But Frank's GH doesn't really know how (or more likely want) to get messy a lot of the time. Which is unfortunate because the edginess is right there with Braedyn Bruner in particular. I also would like the Q Thanksgiving curse broken. Enough. Say Ghost Monica ended it!

I was pleased and a bit surprised to see little Leo, it's been so long. Leo was a pretty regular fixture at the Qs up til the last year or two. Another unnecessary kid (from Olivia's stupid ONS with Julian; Ned adopted him) but Easton Rocket Sweda has a winning personality and great rapport with the family, and it's a nice bit of representation for children on the spectrum.

Jon Lindstrom talks BTG and GH.

Good for them. I hope Kober will get better material than his frequently embarrassing GH role. He used to scare the hell out of me as a kid. I've said this before, but Brittany Allen became a major genre star in the last 15 years and has grown into a hell of an actress.

I suspect that likely had to do with her being famous for Mindy, who was a superficially similar character to Tina in certain ways. And being seen as a bit of a get from CBS. But I agree they should've cast a wider net if they had to keep going with Tina, who already seemed extraneous to the canvas by mid-late '94. I do wonder if Barbara Crampton (who flopped as Mindy but could play more than light comedy) could've worked. I do think Krista still sold some of the same sort of classic bubbly, rambling Tina material they often gave to Karen in the '90s. But it was too rare vs. her being duped or whining about money, and often pitched differently from how Karen or Andrea were presented onscreen.

I've said it before but I am amazed he took that job given his being very vocal even in recent years about struggling with Todd. Maybe it's because Matt Clark is not going to be a romantic lead, or he just needs to pay some tuition lol.

#MeToo, IIRC. Someone at ABC/Disney finally got wind that they had a rape-associated serial killer as a romantic lead on the show at that time and said enough. They also told Frank no when he asked if he could bring back Todd again for the same reason.

I don't think Malone had disdain for Karen Witter's Tina at all - I think he actually really enjoyed writing for her, even if his concept of Tina was different from the '80s version and more limited in scope. But I think Tina was an afterthought without Karen in that era, and it showed with Krista. I don't think it was all KT's fault, as I've watched some of that stuff again recently and she actually is working hard (she mostly drove me nuts as a kid, but that was down to the obvious disinterest in the character by then). She was there to play a role according to the type she'd played in the past. I think also the audience was unprepared for a Tina who was now in opposition to Viki again, in on a con against her, a role that Tina had not filled on the show in almost a decade. She was supposed to have grown out of that. But to me that was one of the few elements that worked, the idea that Tina could betray her family again after all these years and what that would mean. Part of the issue was that they played up Tina's worst aspects rearing their head with Krista, especially her becoming openly money-hungry re: Todd again. (Possibly a reaction to being heartbroken again by Cain, but still.) Andrea Evans could play that stuff with a wink and a smile and some heart, and Karen's Tina really was only in on her schemes with Cain for the love of the game at that point while devoted to her kids and family. But when Krista's Tina did it she was shrill, whiny and treated as a joke by the other characters, which she was, really. The nuance and heart had left with Karen Witter. I think they were just over Tina by then, and should've retired the character for awhile when Karen and Christopher Cousins left. But I don't blame Krista for a bad situation.

Nope. Franco (especially Howarth's Franco) was about as popular as syphilis for his first several years, and it never improved that much. People were never here for a heroic serial killer. It was Frank Valentini's passion project but it was hated by the audience, particularly in the first 3-5 years. Roger's Franco eventually garnered some modest share of fans only because of the rabidly devoted Elizabeth fans who were just happy for her to have a story - any story. But he was only put with her in the first place after several failed pairings, and after FV tried and failed to fire Becky Herbst (not the first). FV put Howarth with her because he knew Liz had a devoted fanbase who would watch her with anyone, and that would make her a safe harbor for a performer he refused to let go of. But the endless rounds of Franco-centric stories during those years remained unpopular with the general audience, until finally ABCD/Disney changed management and ordered FV to kill Franco off. Outside of that modest fanbase the audience shed no tears.

Uhhhhhhh

It seems like Happy's Place was very deliberately designed to be near-identical to Reba lol, down to the cast. Shades of Lucy's shows. It's funny how TV history and tradition always comes back around like that - Lucy was far from the only one to stick to tried and true formula. I think Lucy would approve of how Reba moves.

It's a huge problem. And it reared its head last year of course. I don't think Maurice faked his illness to get out of the Mulcahey story or anything, but I don't think he does well with being challenged onscreen re: Sonny anymore, if he ever did. Even if the story had unfortunate parallels to his real life that is an aspect of the character Mo himself pushed to put onscreen in the first place. But you don't need to invoke his mental illness to call out Sonny onscreen either. I totally agree. Going back to digging up Karen and Jagger was pointless for me as well, especially with such a mediocre recast. He did have one great speech but that was more a catalyst for Mulcahey doing a larger Sonny story he didn't really get to tell. That was the only purpose White Jagger served for me. To me Karen and Jagger fulfilled a specific function for the show in their era - find a popular young couple, any couple, to help anchor the show in very troubled times. They did that in '92/'93, and then the show moved far beyond them and evolved. I don't think they had much of a place in it beyond that, though you could've brought one back solo in another role someday. The show just had other superior (IMO) character priorities, and ofc Wagger's return flopped.

Both Susan and Sarah Brown(! - FV tried her next) turned down the job in '06 for a few reasons including Susan's pregnancy, though IIRC neither liked Dena Higley's pitch. I liked Christina Chambers on SuBe but she was never anywhere near Susan's caliber of talent and it was insulting that they even put her onscreen as Marty. Once Higley was gone they approached Susan again and she returned, though her second stint ended badly onscreen and BTS.