Vee

I think what kept it going longer was the addition of R.J., who was so often better than his material.

The dry, lackadaisical delivery Setton, Chad, even Maurice do just cracks me up. It also has more charm today when the Qs are the central core of the show again, as opposed to being a graveyard.

I still suspect the veteran star is gonna be someone like Ted King. Who I'd be all for pairing with Daphnee under most circumstances, but I fear it would send a less than great message in the immediate moment.

What I'd forgotten until recently is that Ellen was actually on for much if not all of 1994 with both Bens, including the somewhat hokey hospital virus story where she and Ben featured opposite evil Susan Gibney from Star Trek: The Next Generation as the crooked hospital administrator. I do think Ellen had considerable chemistry with the original Ben (I don't remember the actor), who I didn't remember at all til revisiting '93/'94. As a kid who started watching in '93 and was very familiar with Dark Shadows and Star Trek, seeing both Gibney and Roy Thinnes was a jolt. All I know is that supposedly the network made them cut Kirk for being too short. I just find it crazy they had these young guys in the role and then went out and got Armstrong, who was already playing teens a decade prior. He came off like Nazi Kevin.

A key issue with Marty was not ever really having a strong romantic partner to match Susan until they found Thorsten Kaye, who (IIRC) they wisely signed in under 24 hours or he was going to be offered to AMC. The best they had for her up til then was the tortured connection with Bob Krimmer's Andrew, which they never fully pulled the trigger on, or Malone's fascination with the Todd/Marty post-rape relationship which is very compelling to watch in a vacuum in some ways, but is also even more queasy and inappropriate today than it was back then. You can admire the writing in a lot of those '95 eps with Todd, Marty and Blair and still cringe at the overall themes and messaging. I think the rehabilitation of Todd was well done; I also think it went too far, and that is a key area where it did. I know they allegedly considered Kevin and Marty back in '92. Why it was never touched on later I don't know, but it could've been over many years. It's still a potential temptation I'd play today, assuming Kevin was married to Rachel. I agree losing Valarie Pettiford was a huge mistake - she was amazing and Stephanie Williams' Sheila was just a cipher. I know how I'd honor Mia Korf today and use her in connection to Blair if OLTL was still around, but it's not so there you are.

Erika talks to TV Insider.

The casual recitations of "Alan gave it to her" from half the cast are hilarious here.

Susan had a good run as Marty and I think it was probably time for her to go when she did. I think both Ellen Bethea and Mia Korf left to do plays, though I may be wrong on EB. I know the network clearly grappled with finding a 'sexier' Rachel which led to the Mari Morrow disaster and onward, until Ellen came back for a number of years on recurring (I think JFP may have intended to keep her in 2000, but pairing her with the wooden Jared Hall didn't work out) followed by Daphnee Duplaix. I agree Rachel should've been handled much better over the years - I used to constantly push for her return. She and Kevin could be around today, alas. I also much preferred the original Ben to the terminally boring Peter Parros (whose bland role on ATWT was so close to his OLTL one I initially thought they'd crossed the character over). But I do wonder what pushed them to end Kevin/Rachel - maybe network trouble? - as Kevin basically floundered with both actors and story for another year or two after the network IIRC pushed Kirk Geiger out. They hired a series of failures for the role (like ramrod-stiff Jack Armstrong who'd been playing teens 10+ years before, and the infamous Ken Kenitzer) and then finally hit on Kevin Stapleton, which led to the Cassie story. Before that, watching Jack Armstrong and Wendee Pratt try to sex it up was painful. Totally agreed about Laura and Cassie.

The problem with comparing Kat, Tomas and Eva to Alice, Steve and Rachel is that George Reinholt (for all his faults) was not an animatronic puppet out of Disney's Small World. It's a great, classical soap triangle but they need to either recast Tomas immediately or (preferably) junk him entirely and bring in someone worthy of the sisters.

I do too, but the key is media coverage. From what I've seen the big outlets have largely sanitized/sanewashed it so far, which is now commonplace for most of the papers and networks of record. Maybe that will change, but the Times lede was very, very soft. Which is why it's also important for Dem messaging to focus on it vs. pivoting to health care. If you put it out there 24-7 and message on it relentlessly as opposed to letting it fall out of the news, a lot of very stupid people in this country just think it didn't happen or can't have happened the way someone said. We learned that from last year.

That is true. Though I believe Finola was already leaving or taking a break to do Jack's Place, and Monty cut her lead time short to kick her out immediately.

Yeah, I totally forgot to mention TMG. She goes without saying IMO. I just find Vanessa's arc one of the most textured and intelligently nuanced on the canvas, however sleazy. Yes, she's doing horrible things but you understand her POV. It also has a lot less of the expository B&B/Bell school of dialogue attached to it, which makes me suspect it was/is a Guza thing. Her reasons came out in character and in her defining herself to people like Nicole. The fact that LB sells it to the hilt, and has elevated Lindstrom IMO in doing so who is a little uncomfortable playing a crime boss but has gotten considerably better to me, contributes a ton. I wish most of the other characters had the same messy nuances - some are approaching it. And ITA about most of the non-Bill men, though I think Martin and Smitty are in decent shape. I actually think the Ted/June Nixon-esque flirtation might open that character up. Black Agnes would be proud!

Ted and June! The Agnes kookyhouse romance never fails!

Same. But I'd also say that for the two elder sisters (Dani and Nicole) and about Vanessa/LB. The other younger women, it's a real mixed bag!

And yet, she's one of the most layered and interesting characters on the show!

I was for most of my life until the last ten years. Not by choice, lol! I'd never heard that, but it just looks very much like the Old House to me.

I'd always noticed that. Lela Swift, I think, did the directing rounds at a few ABC soaps too, as did Henry Kaplan I believe. I could swear the original Llanfair foyer (or the one since the '70s til '91 anyway) is actually the Old House foyer from DS as well, but don't quote me... When I'm feeling up to it I need to check out UCLA's archive. I'm not far away.

Yes, that's accurate. I think the fallout of the fake death was very well-done with Abby and Val myself, but parts of it do lag. Still, it also led to the key moment in the end of the season where Gary confronts Abby and she says she didn't mean to betray him with Wolfbridge, 'I never thought of it that way' - which to many of the longtime staff writers like Richard Gollance, and to Donna Mills herself, was key to Abby's character. She wanted to advance her own standing as a professional woman, so she compartmentalized what she was doing to Gary and with his money while still loving him. We're blessed in that there is actually a ton of in-depth interview material online on various fan sites with the actors and the writers/producers discussing a lot of this stuff in expansive detail. This takes full flight in Season 6 when their relationship matures (for the better IMO), but it's fated not to last given other circumstances.

And Dan Curtis, of course, kept Dark Shadows which has paid dividends.

Tomas is on borrowed time with both those women.

The scenes were fine. Not spectacular. I also didn't see the need for Tracy to be aggressive, but it's just how Tracy does in these moments.

It's a soap opera. Sooner or later Kat and Eva are coming to come together and break apart, approximately 100 times.

Soap opera Reddit still sounds like hell on Earth to me. I never cross those streams. Probably the same people that keep tryna talk about 'seasons'.

Erika has still got it. I'm glad my fears about her health (or at least per her ability to work) were unfounded.

Tomas was never worthy of Kat.