Vee

I pretty much ignore everything with Rosanna after some time early in 2004. What a waste.

John Ritter was so dependable and more versatile than he was given credit for. I have no doubt he'd still be in demand today, like Henry Winkler but much moreso. (Last Chance Tuesdays is funny though. I'm sure that was the case for Bonnie Hunt.)

Just a pity that, as legend goes anyway, William Hurt (in typical fashion) quit somewhere mid-second season, which necessitated some very hasty messy rewrites. The plotline then had to wrap around two talented guest actors on loan from The Wire (Clarke Peters and John Doman) standing around conspiring about the main cast instead. I was so excited for Hurt joining the show but Season 2 was Damages' least successful year as a result. I never even knew about New York News til today.

I only found out just now that a) Mary tried multiple failed sitcoms post-MTM and b) that widely-hated "Mary and Rhoda" TV movie from the 2000s was actually a write-off of a Mary and Rhoda series order when ABC hated the pilot script. I would also be remiss to not point out that the sleepy Becker era aside, Ted Danson's real comeback began with his breakout dramatic role as an Enron-esque tycoon on the underrated FX show Damages with Rose Byrne and Glenn Close, where he got rave reviews and suddenly started doing everything again afterwards. He was amazing. I think either Danson or his talented wife Mary Steenburgen had some very incisive, smart comments about why Ink failed and why it was likely unwise to pair them together onscreen in an A.V. Club Random Roles interview, or somewhere else like that some years ago.

Willow should absolutely turn into a dangerous 'mommy blogger' sensation with more than a whiff of her Dawn of Day experience with Shiloh before her run ends. Possibly while faking the return of her cancer, which several of those types have done IRL!

Good lord, I didn't know all that about Chad Everett. Last I recall of him was an unfortunate stint on Melrose Place (which led a young me to ask 'who the fúck is Chad Everett?') and of course his memorable cameo in Mulholland Drive where he pretty much played to his IRL type.

I'm just glad we're getting any new ones for the holiday week. Besides, we know BTG had a limited episode order for its first year.

I think both Robinson and Gregory were quite good from what I've seen, but there's no doubt CR was stiffer and more patrician which probably suited Rick's evolving role on the canvas. It seems Robinson was very popular in the role despite the leading ladies' issues with him, which I think ended up water under the bridge decades later. Pity about CR's later years though. I've always wanted GH to bring on his son Rick Jr., as sort of another swinging male medical dick at the hospital. Fulfilling some of the archetype the Webber brothers had. But you can't really do that with Ric Lansing (no apparent relation to the other Lansings!) around. You'd have to change the name.

Why they still throw every man that comes on the show (even younger ones) at Phyllis for a romp I don't know. I can always set my watch to it if they're not related. It's a matter of time before she beds one of the Noahs someday. (She hasn't, right?) This isn't 20 years ago and Stafford isn't Vanessa Marcil.

Somehow worse.

A plotline they really should do as some sweeps event at this point. Halloween II's empty hospital will never not creep me out. I've always said KT is incapable of playing deep nuance or much earnest pathos and recent events have borne that out again.

I still don't know what the point of that was. It seemed like there was a very, very hard push to put Jordan and Chris Beetem over at the time, and then he and the entire storyline just vanished overnight. I actually thought Jordan/CB was quite good but I wonder what happened there. Later I remember him making a public stink about his stupid role on OLTL, in a poorly-done storyline that unfortunately proved quite prescient for today (the One Pure People white supremacist group).

Are they really doing another flash-forward?? Come on.

This started at OLTL and got very noticeable in its last year or two. For a time I thought it was an ingenious approach to their budget situation, but eventually key stories or veterans would have stuff just going on in the margins every 3-5 weeks (like Viki, Charlie, Dorian and David basically doing light bedroom farce that went nowhere one summer) and it wore things down. It got worse at GH when Frank came here, particularly under Carlivati who had trained himself to work with FV's taping rhythm and the stories were very, very choppy. I'd argue it was even worse in 2014-15 than it is now, with us getting vague glimpses of backburner veteran storylines (Lucy/Duke, etc.) that were apparently going on without the audience. He still does this and it has ebbs and flows, but it's definitely been all over the shop lately. I remember when they spoiled pairing up Martin and Tracy late last year/early this one in the mags (something I dreaded) and of course that's clearly no longer happening.

Have you seen the scene where Sonny and Carly battle it out and then fúck for the first time? There is a reason I was a fan of theirs real quick back in the day. (Online fandom in that era, on USENET etc. was notably repulsed when magazine spoilers about the hatesex came out early, but as soon as I saw their big scene I changed my tune.) Tamara allegedly did almost replace Laura maybe eight years ago around contract renewal time, but that didn't happen and we got Kim Nero. I think you know that story. I like all 3, but I'd dump anyone for Sarah Brown.

Not Leslie and Evil Overton! Andre and Dani having a Thanksgiving disaster looks like fun.

Jonas is back maybe a year later when the traumatized Cord returns. The Buchanans want him to consult on the sly and he proves no help. I will always remember one of the last times they brought up Joe on the show, when Nash died in '08. He was about to kick off in the OR and everyone knew it, and they knew Jessica was pregnant. My first thought was the same as Viki's, which she said out loud: "He's never going to see that baby." Then she added, barely audible through Erika Slezak's sobs, "just like Joe." That stays with me, not just because of her wonderful work but because we were both thinking of Joe Riley and I was glad the show went there. Soaps can do that for decades.

I do think they need to introduce a solid youth scene. But Tyrell, Jessica and ol' Sammy (who sadly should be recast*) are not enough. Hopefully they have seen the response to Donnell and will bring him back posthaste. I'd be extremely into a serious romance SL with him and someone, moreso than Ty and Jessica though I do like them. (*Alternately send Samantha off to college or boarding school, then bring the actress back in a bit and let the age be more indeterminate when you do. Soap fans are very forgiving about that.)

I think Frost is a really unique presence. She was not suited for being chained to what seemed like an already dated couple. I wish they'd made more of her time post-Steve, though I will reserve judgment on the controversial pairing with Josh.

I took a peek. It is pretty fannish but there are some interesting tidbits so far, like Amelia Marshall getting her role because of Nancy Williams Watt who worked with her at GL. I had no idea McPherson and Thomas worked at the show, and so closely with JER. I still rate them highly for AMC 2.0, and their ambitions at DAYS however messy.

I'm sure I said this before but Rachel is so damn creepy. Very appropriate for a child of Kristen. I start sucking my teeth every time that bad seed appears.

I don't find Garland Memorial that distracting. I haven't noticed it being any more empty than the recent GH hub most of the time.

Nor I. The only time I noticed a difference was very early on with that embarrassing day when Dani first conned her way into the Hamilton house with some schtick with the guard. (That and the mentions of sci-fi novelist "Carl Ivati", oy)

That's very sweet. I would disagree with Sarah's claim that Laura made Carly iconic though. Sarah is 100% the one who did that. As I've said before, those old clips of her Carly BITD still do numbers online because of how blisteringly modern and raw her work then still is. OTOH Steve is also right: Laura is probably the hardest working actor in daytime, and she never, ever does not commit.

Didn't Lucky and Nikolas put Rick Webber in a trunk (or car trunk) to cover up the attic disaster? That would trigger Laura.