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THAT is one wORD FOR i-T!

I don't think they knew what they were doing that early on in '91 re: Sloan, tbh. Or what they were even going to do with Joey or the character who became Billy. Sloan wouldn't be on til maybe February-April of '92. And while he was extremely polarizing re: the triangle with Viki and Clint I definitely found him a much more layered and nuanced character than Natalia. I think the William backstory was for Andrew and they were seeding him dealing with those family issues through his father. What became of Billy was also a product of the times, in terms of LGBT characters and how much story they could get. But I still think it's a very affecting, powerful and wonderful story. YMMV.

I don't think that's homophobic, I think that's the absolute reality of AIDS at that time and place. Andrew mentioned William to Megan on his first airdate in September '91. The scenes about him in the story the following summer still make me cry.

Hypocritical family dynasties are the bread and butter of soaps, baby! Same with Dani. Really, after decades with Erica Kane (or worse, the women of B&B) I just don't let Dani's bipolar shenanigans bother me only 10-11 days in. I do think she has some nuance, but I also think they're frankly feeling their way through on these characters early on and I think some stuff will either reset or cement itself over time with a lot of people (like whatever is going on with both Vanessa and Cady's character, who fill very similar functions but so far Vanessa is more entertaining). Which is why you see stuff like Dani pingponging a bit between Friday and Monday. So we'll see. I do think KM is killing it and doing great work. The Dupree family dance party was adorable, but I will admit I badly wanted to make the dancing shot with the camera in frame my banner pic lol. The material is not great, but they aren't either. They're bad.

The obvious Dupree hypocrisy does not bother me. It is typical for a powerful family in soaps, they all contain multitudes.

Why not both?

I think there were even more layers with that choice than were intended by the show frankly, from what I've heard at times over the years. I do think Clint should've been more tolerant, but I also wonder what would've happened if they'd gotten to play the original end of that triangle that was intended in '93, where Clint swoops in to Viki and Kevin's aid at the start of the rape trial saga and leaves Sloan on the outside, just in time for Ritchie to have his major tractor accident and vanish from the show for months. You can see the allegedly planned endgame (Clint and Viki back together, Sloan dying) coalescing. At the same time I do think the show highlighting and examining the chauvinism evident from the Rauch era was important in '91, even if they often took it too far in how Cord treats Tina just in these early eps.

I am extremely here for their inevitable power reunion.

Maybe so, but no soap fan is gonna let them get away with that if they have a memory of Clint Ritchie/Buchanan, who was an active presence for Joey from before Day 1.

Not this Attack of the Clones greenscreen roof. I think Kristen is a well-liked name for soap fans but lesser enough that that could work without pulling too much focus from the Black cast. I can hear the caterwauling from here if it happened though. Plus she has a new baby and is not in ATL, so I can't see it. Brittany Underwood? Maybe.

I think he named the play, I can't remember what it was. Maybe off-Broadway. It was an interview from maybe 5-6 years ago on the soap sites. He'd still have stories and probably romance, but he would definitely still be in the Andrew heir role Malone first wisely moved him into in the 2000s.

Anyone else with a Roku TV have an issue with fluctuating quality on the Paramount app? I gotta run it through a gaming console half the time to get more HQ.

It was the intent, of course. I didn't realize until McKenna mentioned it in an interview recently that he'd actually played a gay teen (and did a kissing scene) onstage around '91/'92 as well, so he didn't see why the network had an issue. Were OLTL around today, I'd have McKenna still in the Joey role, still as a local talk-to/social conscience and counselor a la Andrew (though probably not still a priest) and we'd discover he's been quietly hooking up with a (recast, guest star) Billy Douglas for decades. Because why not make Joey bi?

Florencia being an ex-model and more successful rival of Dani's (who gave up her career) would be genius. Possibly with a daughter or son (or trans, etc. kid) of her own. Hayley is not strong enough competition frankly. VK is fine but I would just as soon create better white characters than Ashley and Derek. Whatever they may have had planned, I think her trajectory will ultimately be to break Andre's heart and then vanish.

Florencia is 55 (and does not look it, but still)! Ashley and her contemporaries are in their 20s-early 30s AFAIK. Same reason 45 year old Eden Riegel would be pushing it despite looking youthful. There's many young women who could be recast in the Ashley role if it absolutely has to continue on the show, which I am not convinced it does.

What are you replying to.

I love Florencia but she is way too old to play Ashley lol.

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A plurality of (bad) opinions! But I would just ice Derek.

I think Jen Jacob is deeply meh and I'd still be willing to recast several roles (her, Martin, Naomi) with minor daytime names, a la what Generations did almost a year in in much more dire circumstances. But I really can't see a pressing need to keep the Ashley character at all beyond 13 weeks tbh. (My regular suggestion of Eden Riegel would pull way too much focus for a white character anyway, plus she's a bit too old.) I'll be curious to see what the show's canvas looks like after May sweeps.

Watching this key transition in '91 alongside BTG and Marland's ATWT '87 is a wild time, let me tell ya folks. I so love Chris McKenna's Joey. Dumb short-term roles on modern soaps can never make me hate him. Also cute: Joey pushing Viki to dump her typewriter for a com-pu-ter and their doing a 'how old is it?' bit. Viki's ahead of the times too! "You and Harvey would link up your machines and have a fine old time! Get online on those bulletin boards, play those ghastly games!"

Oh, I think the Ashley storyline is beyond boring and the jury is out on the saga of Gamblin' Doug tbh. I get that Dani is divisive to some here but that's exactly what they're going for; half the audience loves her, half is exasperated. I do think Jacob could die and a recast, less stiff Naomi could meet a more interesting man with dreadlocks, which could trigger another emergency midnight press conference from the Duprees about the one man in Fairmont Crest with a different hairstyle. I think Martin is a cyborg sent from the future who must be destroyed, and I think him and Smitty having near-adult children is still comical and they should be sent to the Bobby Martin Daycare and come back toddlers. But these are pretty minor criticisms at this point. I think the show definitely isn't perfect and we'll see more things ironed out, but it's coming together pretty well in short order.

I get that. Per the topic I'm not going to invoke a certain poster with not one but three active forum accounts who insists this show is some sort of trashy anti-Black conspiracy pill, but I do think you have a fair point. I also have to think Ducksworth and the NAACP would be cognizant of that. So I expect the Ted/Dana saga to have considerably more twists and turns. Based on the casting notice I truly expected Dr. Ted to turn out to be a Salem Stalker/Carnation Killer type tbh (and it still wouldn't shock me), which would be a shame because he is unbelievably fine. So cheating is a bit old hat to me. Their marriage can take the blow, unless Ted gets in much deeper or has even more to hide. I do think Nicole turning out to be a cheater (on top of Ted and Dana's mess) or secret fetishist/nymphomaniac or danger addict would be brilliant.

I think we too often fail to make the distinction between 'lazy writing' and 'writing I don't like'. Would I have made both husbands cheaters? Maybe not. But Ted having had a fling with Dana years ago isn't quite the same thing as Bill dogging Dani out with Hayley very recently. And the Richardson marriage being far from the perfect life it appears to be was baked into the show from the beginning, per casting notices. So if it wasn't Dana it would've been something else. Honestly based on the casting description I had expected Dr. Ted to be a full-on psycho.

He didn't. Maybe he just didn't see her.