Vee

I'm very intrigued by Kat and Naomi tbh. And Vanessa the realtor. I also am presold for Bill/Timon Durrett from Queen Sugar, lol. He's amazingly fine. Anita goes without saying. I may be watching live tomorrow before the gym if the Paramount live feed cooperates.

Mosley drove me nuts on GL but has apparently grown a lot in her work since. I like what I've seen of her on BTG but time will tell.

No. It was depressing and unnecessary, especially for someone who had grown up watching Robin Scorpio.

It is insane. But yes, the characters and writing make it work until Steve's ego and pride punctures the whole thing in '86 and puts the lie to it. I wish Frost had a bigger later career (as opposed to her very famous brother Mark, co-creator of Twin Peaks and TP alumni father Warren) but I imagine she doesn't need to work. The last time I remember seeing her was as Amber Tamblyn's bereaved, horrified mother opposite Naomi Watts in The Ring. Steve and Lucinda? I wonder what tipped you to that.

Do we know why Bill was killed at the end of the '60s? It is such a waste, both times it happened. I wonder what made them dump Johnny - the recast looked a lot like Don Scardino, at least. Bernard Grant is great as Paul (and I have liked what I've seen of him as Steve Burke on OLTL). I know he was popular when he moved to OLTL, presumably from his time here. I wonder if Agnes brought him over hoping to re-pair him and Gillian Spencer - I think she was still playing Viki a bit longer when he first arrived, I may be wrong.

Yeah, he's definitely going off the spool by the time James returns. There's the great set of scenes where he clashes with Kim and others after Iva's medical insurance lapses. I do wonder what Marland would've done if Runyeon had been more cooperative, or if his fate would likely always have been sealed. The character is such a naturalistically flawed boor, and his disintegration given the very realistic tension with Craig (where their relationship is far too cozy and pat a year prior) and bonding with chauvinistic Tonio. I do remember them teasing Steve and Iva earlier on. I do think more should've been done with Lindsay Frost long-term - she's great. Beatrice is not even trying with her father/brother's accent, is she.

Dallas is still there, free with ads, which makes it all the stranger.

When does he actually leave for Greece, and when was the marriage officially over?

I think Dallas and for a time Knots and FC (until recently) was FreeVee. I may be wrong.

November sweeps has broken in ATWT '86 for me, and the show is blazing forward again in every major story. Obviously the big moment with James is upon me. I also have been watching the slow, slow decay of Betsy and Steve's 'perfect' marriage for close to a year and I really hope the final climax is in the eps on YT - it's gotten more and more intense. I wish P&G would make periods like this - even just the early Marland years, with the big stars like Julianne Moore - fully available in good quality and its entirety. A lot has been said in the BTG thread about their lack of interest in the past, but maybe with Tunie, etc. on the new show they'll consider opening the vaults to educate people on their proud history with soaps that they now conveniently seem to want to tout. Also, maybe an UO: I've always really liked Farley Granger as Earl, and with Lisa.

Didn't FreeVee do a lot of that? Prime canned it, which in turn I suspect is part of what led to the fall of the Neighbours revival.

I mean they look lovely, but it wasn't necessary to kill Martin to do this. Nor do I have any faith we won't be seeing another cute legacy kid/stepkid? getting got a year or two down the line. Sleep with one eye open, Joel! Wake me when Susan Tully shows up, which won't happen. So long as Googly-Eyes NuMichelle doesn't appear.

That is truly weird.

Ron is a breakdown writer. For all the very obvious reasons Errol mentioned related to that specific position he is not a concern for me. We all know his sins but it's not relevant to this situation. He doesn't write those episodes, though. As you just said he is a breakdown writer. Everything from there then goes through not just the scriptwriters, but MVJ herself.

That is bizarre. Just yesterday it said there were 8 days left. Fortunately I've secured the show through Other Means.

Me too, lol.

I think they clearly appreciate long-running scripted shows - old sitcoms, dramas, etc. - since those do consistent numbers. But it seems like they're not prepared for the expenditure of making them themselves, especially year-round soaps, because their business model seems to operate around the quick hit return/churn and burn of seasonal dramas. Whoever greenlit Neighbours was on to something, but executive turnover seems to have screwed it over. If it's true it's topping the charts in the UK then that is not necessarily on the show, and it's too bad. I do think soaps have a future on streaming, but i've long though it has to be arc/seasonal-based (say, 13-16 weeks) to keep the platforms satisfied - as Gottlieb once tried to do at OLTL very early on, as PC did and as the Prospect Park soaps resorted to before they ran out of money and rolled the whole thing up lol.

Rena absolutely was one of those actors inserted into every primetime show for maybe 10 years. Carla Gugino had a similar place for a long time, but was much more successful overall (and gets bigger, more prestigious work today). I don't think a lot of the roles suited Rena, but I did enjoy Eve on MP once she went psycho. Without some spark to the character Rena can be a bit flat, which is why Lois still suits her so well. Season 6 was bonkers on an already nutty show. Truly right wing fantasy camp. I'd forgotten Rena was there.

I think crossovers are inevitable. And will be good for the show.

Not surprised. That's why I'm getting the vibe I am.

I'm starting to think Lauren Buglioli (Vanessa) might be a scene stealer. But I'm particularly curious about Kat and Naomi, who I believe are both Nicole's daughters. And Andre! I wonder who Tamara Tunie was referring to re: ATWT alumni, assuming that wasn't just a bit. Or she could've just been referring to Cady and Jon.

GH only had renaissances in the '70s and the '90s because it was failing and steps were taken. The only way a soap opera changes for the better is when it gets hurt. Like I said before: This is not a pep rally. These executives and actors are not my IRL friends.

I don't need it to be a miracle soap. I need it to be better than GH, which is not remotely difficult. Ideally it would hurt GH. Because hurting the show, and viewers leaving it, is the only thing that will force any change.

It was one of Sonny's little girls, I think. I don't count them as individual human beings. No one under 15 should be in that opening AFAIC. We're long past the days of little Jonathan Jackson or Amber Tamblyn.

There was another random little child added to Frank's pachinko slot machine opening the other day. I just sighed.