Franko

It's a sweet scene. I'm requesting Love of Life, please.

Here's the place to share some memorable criticism. You don't have to agree with it, of course (that's often where the fun starts). Like I mentioned to @DRW50, Sally Field was a favorite punching bag in the late '80s and early '90s. Punchline (the 1988 movie where she and Tom Hanks are stand ups): "It's impossible to tell the difference between Miss Field's routines that are supposed to be awful, and the awful ones that are supposed to be funny." -- Vincent Canby, New York Times. "It's not merely that Field is miscast; she's miscast in a role that leaves no other resource available to her except her lovability. And (David) Seltzer's script forces her to peddle it shamelessly." -- Hal Hinson, Washington Post. "As a woman who can't tell a joke, Sally Field is certainly convincing. ... Field has become an unendurable performer ... She seems to be begging the audience not to punch her. Which, of course, is the worst kind of bullying from an actor. ... She's certainly nothing like the great housewife-comedian Roseanne Barr, who is a tough, uninhibited performer. Sally Field's pandering kind of 'heart' couldn't be further from the spirit of comedy." -- David Denby, New York Steel Magnolias: The leading ladies: Dolly Parton: "She is one of the sunniest and most natural of actresses," Roger Ebert wrote. Imagining that she probably saw Truvy as an against-type role, Hinson concluded it's still well within her wheelhouse. "She's just wearing fewer rhinestones." Sally Field: "Field, as always, is a lead ball in the middle of the movie," according to Denby . M'Lynn giving her kidney to Shelby brought out David's bitchy side. "I can think of a lot more Sally Field organs that could be sacrificed." Shirley MacLaine: "(She) attacks her part with the ferociousness of a pit bull," Hinson wrote. "The performance is so manic that you think she must be taking off-camera slugs of Jolt." (I agree. If there was anyone playing to the cheap seats in this movie, it's Shirley.) Olympia Dukakis: "Excruciating, sitting on her southern accent as if each obvious sarcasm was dazzlingly witty," Denby wrote. Daryl Hannah: "Miss Hannah's performance is difficult to judge," according to Canby, which seems to suggest he took a genuine "if you can't say something nice ..." approach. Julia Roberts: "(She acts) with the kind of mega-intensity the camera cannot always absorb," Canby wrote. That comment is so fascinating in light of the nearly 40 years Julia has spent as a Movie Star. She is big. It's the audience who had to play catch up. And on that drag-ish note ... The movie itself: "You feel as if you have been airlifted onto some horrible planet of female impersonators," Hinson wrote. Canby: "Is one supposed to laugh at these women, or with them? It's difficult to tell." Every review I read acknowledged the less than naturalistic dialogue in ways both complimentary (Ebert loved the way the women talked) and cutting (Harling wrote too much exposition, repeating himself like a teenager telling a story, Denby wrote). Harling wrote with sincerity and passion, Canby acknowledged, but it's still a work of "bitchiness and greeting card truisms." The ending was less likely to inspire feeling good as it was feeling relieved, according to Denby. "(It's) as if a group of overbearing, self-absorbed, but impeccable mediocre people at last exit from the house."

I tend to have two minds about Tawny (Kathy Najimy) fainting during Soapdish's big reveal. You're the costume designer, if anything, you should have known the whole time. I guess it's an application of what TV Tropes calls the "Rule of Funny." Every time I watch Delirious, I always want the genuine romance in John and Mariel's reunion at the deli counter to last longer. Film critics had their knives out for Sally in this period. I'll start a separate thread on the movies page.

I remember Michael Logan interviewed L.A. actors/production staff about the movie. Susan Seaforth Hayes said she was dying to know Susan Lucci's reaction.

Throwing this out to the universe: finding Elisabeth Shue's episode of As the World Turns (which I guess would have been circa 1983, maybe just before RDJ started watching Search for Tomorrow).

As it happens, 40 years ago this week, ABC and CBS revealed their 1985-86 fall schedules. NBC revealed theirs the week before. ABC's would end up changing. The original plan for Tuesdays was to have Diff'rent Strokes lead the night, with He's the Mayor at 8:30, followed by Who's the Boss at 9, Growing Pains at 9:30, and Moonlighting at 10. There was some surprise over MacGruder & Loud not getting renewed, but it was considered part of Aaron Spelling's declining influence at the network. Yes, Dynasty was still a hit (for a while longer), but Aaron's shows steadily took up less and less of the schedule. Fall 1984: Seven hours, five of which were new programming (Dynasty, Hotel, Glitter, Matt Houston, T.J. Hooker, The Love Boat, Finder of Lost Loves; MacGruder & Loud aired at midseason, by which time Glitter was gone.). Fall 1985: Five hours, two of which were new programming (Dynasty, Hotel, The Colbys, Hollywood Beat, The Love Boat). Fall 1986: Three-and-a-half hours, a half-hour of which was new programming (Dynasty, Hotel, The Colbys, Life With Lucy). Fall 1987: Two hours, none of which was new programming (Dynasty and Hotel; HeartBeat premiered at midseason). Fall-winter 1988: Two hours, none of which was new programming (Dynasty and HeartBeat). This led to Variety's infamous shady headline in spring 1989: "Aaron's Dynasty Over"

The bit with the scarf reminds me of the fabled stuffed animal scene with Rick and Phillip. (That wasn't debunked, was it?)

I'm not at all surprised the 10 lowest-rated episodes are all from Season Seven. Moving The Golden Girls from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. was foolish.

As the folklore goes, Love Boat episodes generally had one "heart" story, one "laughs" story, and one "tears" story. I guess Hotel just stuck with "heart" and "tears."

And if I remember correctly, at one point, they were considering having Linda Thorson play Opal's sister.

Okay, now it's my turn to ask about the Thorntons, namely Edna. Did she and Opal have any scenes together? I ask because I was familiar with Opal first, so when I found out about Edna, my biased mind saw her as the first try for that type of character.

Randall Edwards (and Brian Tarantina), with the opening night cast of 1985's Biloxi Blues, plus director Gene Saks and playwright Neil Simon.

It's such a delicious set of circumstances that I'm actually a little surprised that I can't think of ones that exactly match. I've just got a couple of close but no cigars (the reveal wasn't public, like when Alexis told Dominique at her and Garrett's engagement party that Garrett lied about being married; or the revealer didn't come up with the idea of the party). Maybe I need to think some more about it.

Not too shabby, making her mark in only six episodes. There's a project for the soap historians -- characters with the least episodes/most impact.

May she rest in peace. Ruth also played Nurse Kravitz on Passions.

And then to break the trend, Thorsten Kaye (German-British) on OLTL.

I blame myself. I'm up to "Requiem" in my viewing of Season Five. Come take me away, Sheriff Washburn.

Still making my way through Season Four, and I'm wondering who's paying Chip for promoting Ciji. Gary? Kenny? Jeff Munson?

Thank you! I figured it became a regular thing, I just hadn't realized it would happen so soon.

REQUEST, @kalbir. How many times did Knots Landing beat Dallas in the ratings? I know the first time was in 1987, for one of the "Noises Everywhere" episodes.

While I would love for Shannen to have auditioned for Hayley, I think she would have already been attached to 90210 by the time that character was introduced. During 1988-89, after Our House ended, Shannen could also have read for the recast Emily Ann, Katie Kennicott, or Lanie Cortlandt.

I've made it to "Abby's Choice," the second and last episode with a script from Oliver Clark, who also was a memorable guest in "Night." Oliver has two notable pre-show connections with Knots ladies. He and Beverly Archer starred in We've Got Each Other, which also featured Tom Poston, JVA, Martin Kove, and Ren Woods. A decade before that, Oliver and Donna played Arab royalty (!) on Broadway in Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water. I think Donna's the one with the high hair.

That's exactly why I went with that clip. Linda wasn't telling any lies there.

Lar Park Lincoln has died. https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3865708/friday-the-13th-part-vii-star-lar-park-lincoln-has-passed-away/