Broderick

Same here. I can tell the difference in the dialogue writers. I can also tell some difference in the directors. For me, what distinguishes a "good episode" from a "lousy episode" is (a) what material the headwriting team gave the breakdown writer to work with, (b) whether the dialogue is crisp and realistic, and (c ) what choices the director makes in presenting the scenes.

I can't tell one breakdown writer's work from another.

Because Kay Alden (a female writer living in Chicago who had a big crush on Eric Braeden) wanted to write some scenes for Lori Brooks (a female writer living in Chicago who had a big crush on Victor). The whole storyline was self-indulgent and foolish.

She told Vanessa to "DOUBLE her offer" on the Jarvis house. The Jarvis family accepted the doubled price. Assuming the house has an appraised value of $2,000,000, she's theoretically paid the Jarvis family $4,000,000 for the house. The bank would loan Leslie 80% of the appraised value ($1,600,000), and Leslie had to pay the balance with cash at closing --- $2,200,000. She only had ONE million. Where the hell did she get the rest?! And now she's got contractors working on the house all day & half the night. Who's paying THEM? I keep thinking all this will crash around her. Either that or the writers have absolutely no idea the limits of a million dollars. Sounds like a "lot of money", but it obviously ain't when we look at Leslie's spending since she got that million dollar check in August.

My (dim) recollection is Eileen Davidson met Brenda Epperson in a restaurant where Brenda was waiting tables. Brenda said, "Oh my God, you're Eileen Davidson. People are always saying I resemble you." Eileen told Brenda she was leaving Y&R, Brenda auditioned, and they hired her based on her physical resemblance to Miss Eileen.

Thanks, I never saw her on One Life to Live. My only exposure to her was on Capitol.

I never thought Catherine Hickland was anything special. Other people liked her, I guess.

From day one, I've never detected one iota of chemistry or passion between Ashley & Andre. I'll never buy the two of them as "star-crossed" lovers. He's got no reason in the world to give a rat's ass about her, and she's got no reason in the world to think he's anything spectacular. That's a thread that needs to be developed more carefully or else dropped entirely IMHO.

I dunno. I gave Capitol a half-hearted chance but just didn't care for the show at all. If I remember right, Julie & Jordy were the only two characters who appealed to me. Then Julie was recast with an actress I've never especially cared for. And the writing never seemed to gel on the show, so I abandoned it. I'm surprised it lasted 5 whole years. Y&R was a mess from the spring of 1980 till the spring of 1982, and any actor would've probably fared as well as another on the show. It lacked purpose and direction until about June of 1982, when it started another upswing.

In my opinion, they previewed all of the Samantha/Tyrell "sex business" (and the motivations behind it) a few days ago in a conversation between Vernon & Anita. Anita was always "in charge" of Nicole, because all Nicole ever needed was a little nurturing. Vernon was always "in charge" of Dani (the "Dani Whisperer"), because Dani was far more impulsive and non-thinking. (It wasn't necessarily said out loud, but what I gathered was that Vernon had to spank Dani's ass sometimes.) Tyrell is more of a Nicole (who only needs a little nurturing), and Samantha is more of a Dani, who jumps the gun without thinking and might occasionally need her ass spanked. I believe that's why Martin came down so hard on her about her impulsive decision with the lil boyfriend.

Of course. But then again, the old mop in my utility room would've made a better Ashley than Shari Shattuck.

We recently learned there's a LOT more to Hayley's motivations that what had been shown to us. I think the same is true of Vanessa. Right now, I believe Vanessa is on a "revenge tour", because she appears to blame Joey Armstrong completely for Doug's death. The day after Doug's funeral, we saw her slithering around with her perky hooters bursting out of her dress, begging to become "Joey's full partner". I think she wants to infiltrate Joey's organization deeper so she can discover if he hauled her out of town while he had Doug killed, and so she can discover who actually did it and the extent of Joey's criminal dealings. The "mind-blowing orgasms on the pool table" that she told Dani about are likely to make her appear more sincere about still being attracted to Joey. I may be wrong. We'll see.

Poor Carlton. He just can't get out of the Incidental Supporting Character role. Today was his BIG MOMENT, but every time the camera lingered on him, the Febreeze sitting on her desk upstaged him.

Michele Val Jean has pitched us several clues since February that Hayley's goal was strictly bilking Big Bill out of his money. As you pointed out, the way she acted when he was deceitful was a big clue. But the BIGGEST CLUE was the show's steadfast refusal to show Hayley's point of view at any time. We know that the "A-List Characters" on the show are Dani and Nicole. We were constantly given a point-of-view from Leslie (the demon who broke-up Nicole's marriage). Leslie's been everywhere, telling us exactly what she thinks about everyone and everything. On the other hand, aside from an occasional movie night with Caroline, there's been ZERO insight into what Hayley is thinking. Posters here on the board have even commented about it: "For someone who opened the show and is now married to Bill, we know NOTHING about Hayley. No family, no friends, no discussions with herself in the mirror. Zilch. The writers have really dropped the ball here." Seemed pretty clear that was an intentional choice, and they'd be dropping the bomb on us eventually. I assumed all along she was stealing from the college fund Bill established for her "pregnancy ruses". There was so much discussion about the college fund (a rarity to hear that discussed on television) and Bill's large deposits to the growing education fund, and I always suspected that's why she was so blatantly faking a pregnancy and a miscarriage. I assumed she'd fake one or two more of those, and then skip town. The large life insurance policy was a big surprise to me.

I think the writers are purposefully ignoring the potential rivalry between Ted & Carlton simply because Carlton is such a "non-entity". He doesn't really seem positioned to have any lasting impact in Miss Nicole's life. He's barely worth Ted getting mad about, lol. Izaiah's head-bobbing wouldn't have been as noticeable if that little pom-pom wasn't bouncing around on top of his head every time he moved. If he continues doing it, it probably won't look as strange with his hair down. Plus, it's our first time to see Eva with a guy who actually moves his head and his hands -- we're getting accustomed to her usual Robot.