Broderick

The biggest problem with the Wards seems to be that they play so much younger than their cul-de-sac counterparts, lacking the experience, wit, and sarcasm that we see in the Averys, the Fairgates, and the Ewings. Demographically, they're a bit isolated from everyone else -- which was probably a good idea on paper but didn't necessarily work in reality. In all the episodes I've re-watched so far, the Wards do seem like an afterthought.

Just finished "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (Season 1, Episode 5). That's another really good one. Lilimae's first appearance inspired the writer to examine each mother/daughter relationship on the show in a pretty impactful manner. And I loved the "dessert scene" where everyone ditched the parfait (or whatever that was) for Valene's countryfied fritters that Lillimae warned her not to serve to those "city folks".

There's such a literary quality to the entire episode. The conflict commences with a disagreement about FOOD. Laura cooks Richard's eggs wrong. His horsey response leads her to cancel her plans with Valene and go to a bar where a strange man lights her cigarette, resulting in all the drama. Valene, the character whom Laura dumped, is the sole witness who understands Laura is lying her head off about what happened that afternoon. The conflict ends with another disagreement about FOOD. Richard nixes every menu suggestion Laura offers at the restaurant. His horsey response leads her to sashay into the lounge where yet another strange man appears with a cigarette lighter, and it's VALENE once again who sees where things are heading. Another irony is that the episode began with the 4 couples (separately) at breakfast, and it ended with the 4 couples (jointly) at dinner. Karen nailed the "Smartass Pollyanna" role, immediately ordering every menu item that Richard wouldn't allow Laura to order. I honestly couldn't believe how much thought and creativity went into that episode.

I just streamed Episode 4 (Season 1) "The Lie", and I can't even say how impressed I was with the entire episode. Couldn't take my eyes off the screen. The closing shot of the strange man lighting Laura's cigarette (after another strange man lit her cigarette in a bar a few days earlier and led to a tangled-up passel of lies) is a masterpiece of sad irony. If this is the kind of stuff David Jacobs and Michael Filerman were wanting to do with Knots Landing -- I think they were almost ahead of their time.

I've always believed Bell had a MUCH longer story in mind for his longtime pet (Miss Bauer) and his new pet (Mr. Braeden), with Nikki (and possibly Kevin) being two airheaded dingbat "spoilers" that could potentially send the story into different directions at the drop of a hat. Miss Bauer's exit and Miss Thomas's pregnancy turned it all upside down.

Dallas sent viewers an unintentional subliminal message after the dream season: "Don't take any of this seriously. We don't know what we're doing. We're writing by the seat of our pants." I was glad to have Duffy back (and thrilled to have Barbara Bel Geddes back on the show), but my interest began to wane drastically after the dream season, because there was no longer any pretense of "art" or "carefully plotted stories" after such a transparent reversal.

@Khan, that's my primary concern --- for the party to drop President Biden because he's supposedly trailing insurmountably in the Rust Belt, Georgia, Etal, and then end up losing those states by the *same* margin with a different candidate. That sends a horrible message to the electorate (especially to seniors). Perhaps this election simply is *unwinnable* for Dems, due to inflation (and the American belief that we're the only nation in the world suffering from inflation!) Has the GOP articulated their solution to global inflation? If so, I ain't heard it! But I do believe a fresh start for this campaign, with fresher faces, fresher energy, and fresher cash flowing into the coffers can only help at this point. That doesn't make me feel any better about Biden's treatment, but it does make me feel more positive about the chances of a win.

I didn't like it at all. There was too much "persecution", both from within the party and from the media. Even Sunday morning, I was still of the opinion Uncle Joe should stick it out and remain in the race. But I accepted that perhaps I was being selfish and putting my wishes and Joe Biden's (kind-hearted) reputation of statesmanship above the need to win an important election that I honestly believe is winnable with a candidate who can carry the swing states.

I've been thinking the short timeline awarded to Harris might be a blessing in disguise. Voters won't have a chance to get sick of her before November, and she won't have as many opportunities to slip-up. If she ends up running a successful campaign, we may start seeing shorter campaigns from both parties in the future, which we'd likely ALL appreciate. I'm outdone with the way Biden was "shoved aside". However, I'm confident he was going to lose in November, and it was beginning to sink-in to everyone surrounding him. If the Dem's in-depth polling data showed Biden had little-to-no chance in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (because of the polling deficits), then something needed to be altered, rather than trash a winnable election and ride-out a doomed campaign out of respect for the nominee, when there's still 5 months to right the ship.

They jumped the gun just a bit on Dark Shadows, too, promoting it while it was still a work in progress. In the promos that aired on ABC a few days before the show started -- they're posted on You Tube -- remote footage filmed in Newport, Rhode Island, with Alexandra Moltke, was used, along with the theme music. The graphics are wrong in some of the promos, and the voiceover says, "Victoria Winters probes the mysteries of Collins House." A week or two later, when the series started, "Collins House" was no more, and "Collinwood" had taken its place. I recently saw the "60-day-notice" of Capitol (CBS-1982) in the newspaper. Sixty days before the show premiered, they provided only the name of the show, the headwriters, the producer, and teased one storyline (Tyler McCandless & Julie Clegg). The article specifically stated that no casting had occurred yet for any of the roles. I believe CBS is actively promoting "The Gates"; but they don't want to issue a bunch of false information that Michele subsequently changes.

I don't want to spoil this storyline for you if you didn't watch in 1983, but let's just say that some things occurring in Barbara Montgomery's apartment that night were different from the way they seemed 😜 There's no question that Preacher arrived and offered to "earn" his $50, and he also asked Barbara for MORE money since he's broke & she's "rich", but it's possible that's the extent of his crimes against women.

Didn't One Life to Live premiere with all these billowing flames in its opening titles, presumably to reflect the name of the series -- Between Heaven & Hell, which of course ultimately wasn't the show's title at all? lol. At any rate, these types of shows are a "moving target" until they're put on tape, and even then, drastic changes can occur before they hit the air. Too much publicity too quickly (especially in these days of social media) can only serve to make Michele look like a lame-brain when something heavily publicized never materializes on-screen. Or even worse, the fear of looking like a lame-brain might cause her to retain a title, a character, a location, or a premise that she fundamentally KNOWS she should ditch once the scripts are being taped.

I wouldn't imagine there's much of anything to publicize at this point, other than what they've already announced: Michele Val Jean is creating a soap to premiere in early 2025. I doubt there's an "official" title yet, no cast, very few production slots filled, only a "tentative" bible and perhaps some rough drafts of the first few scripts. A lot of y'all are likely too young to remember Y&R's "publicity campaign" in 1973. A couple of months before the show began, CBS let us know that Where the Heart Is would be biting the dust "sometime in the spring" and would be replaced by Bill Bell's new show The Innocent Years, to be produced by John Conboy. A week or so before the show premiered, we were advised the title of Bell's show had been changed to Young and Restless Years. It was (vaguely) described as being about "man-woman chemistry in a fictional Midwestern city." We were treated to the names of some of the central characters, one of whom (Russell Henderson) never even made it to the air. A few days before the premiere, we got a cast list, and the girl playing Leslie Brooks in the cast list didn't play Leslie Brooks on the show. Someone else did. All of that to say -- as they tell writers -- "never get married to your first draft". The first draft of "The Gates" (as well as the title of the show itself) will probably change 15 times between now and January. (In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the "rich family living in the posh, gated community", who we're currently led to believe are the central characters, become minor, sidelined in-laws by the time the final drafts are submitted. Stranger things have happened, lol.)

I never understood (at the time) what was going on with Traci Abbott in 1987. First she announced she would finish her college degree in California, then she left that summer, and was removed from contract. It seemed as though Bell was done with her. By the fall, she was back on the show (and under contract again). I never knew if Bell removed Traci from Genoa City in order to facilitate a Brad/Lauren hook-up, or if he just got tired of Traci because he was tired of her, and then changed his mind a few months later.

Chance seems like an important "legacy character" who'd be especially easy to write storylines for, plus (in my opinion) they currently have a fairly charismatic actor in the role. It's difficult to understand why he and Noah Newman aren't the young leads right now. I agree that there's no significant antagonist on the canvas who weaves in & out of various stories.

Hard for me to figure out why they dumped Chance so abruptly.

They're still working Miss Sarpy half to death!! In addition to the recent diminished use of Sharon Case, I see Michael Graziadei is averaging only 1 episode per week for the past 20 weeks.

Have no fear!! Nola Madison will "thank the Academy, my producer, my director, and all the Little People in the Audience who made my performance in Mansion of the Damned so ENCHANTING", before she sweeps off the screen like Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (It's an especially memorable farewell to an especially memorable character.)

Technically, it's really not the same role. The role Elizabeth Taylor played in the film was sort of a soft, seductive, benign version of Maggie Pollitt, who would appease the motion picture censors of the 1950s. In the real play, starring Barbara Bel Geddes, Maggie Pollitt is a scrappy, shrill, relentless fighter (like Pamela Barnes often comes across in the early episodes of "Dallas") who's given the thankless and insurmountable task of dealing with a mean brother-in-law, a jealous and self-righteous sister-in-law, and an alcoholic young husband who'd rather pine away for his lost love (Skipper) than lay a hand on his wife. (It appears Brick and Skipper had a sexual relationship, Maggie suspected it, she attempted to seduce Skipper to be sure, and when Skipper couldn't perform he killed himself.) But in the end, Maggie triumphs -- or at least, she seems POISED to triumph -- when she hides her husband's liquor and lets him know he won't be getting another drop of booze until he's fertilized her egg so she can produce an heir for Big Daddy. And that's definitely not the role Elizabeth Taylor played in the movie, lol. (Barbara Bel Geddes and Ben Gazzara got very good reviews for the roles of Maggie & Brick on Broadway.)

If memory serves, she sashayed into Geraldine's suite, poured herself a drink, primped in the mirror, made light of Draper's misfortune, lied her head off about the circumstances under which her visit with Ansel & Nadine was abruptly curtailed, snatched up the baby she'd given away, cooed at him half-heartedly for a couple of seconds, then dumped him on Geraldine when he started squalling. lol.

She came back, with her guns a-blazing. She told Logan (or Logan and Geraldine), "Poor April. Married to a murderer." Logan wanted to throttle her, lol.

Vee, my recollection is that Larry said (after the fact) that he believed he could've secured Barbara Bel Geddes the deal she was seeking during her first exit, if she'd asked for his influence. He basically said, "She let her agent negotiate for her, and he ended up costing her a job." She evidently wanted more time off, the same salary, and a reprieve from taping in Dallas during the hottest months of the summer (July and August). Her agent laid-out her demands, and Lorimar said, "We're not interested." Larry Hagman thought if he'd talked to Lorimar on BBG's behalf, she would've gotten what she asked for. Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes might not have been the "stars of the show" -- more likely supporting players -- but they were both, without a doubt, the backbone of the show. They gave the show an air of authenticity. They LOOKED like a weather-beaten wildcatter who'd married the daughter of a Depression-era rancher. With both of them gone, the show looked "fake" to me.

If you've got 3 episodes till Raven returns, you're on the verge of understanding two different (haunting) premonitions that April Scott has been having for weeks (or months). You're about to find out why a mournful and lonely train whistle has been tormenting April. And you're about to crack the case of the silver bracelet she's been dreaming of. She initially perceives in her dreams & visions that the Silver Bracelet is a gift that's being offered to her by someone kind. But when she finally encounters the silver bracelet in person, she views it as a horrible curse and believes her dreams were wrong. Unbeknownst to April, Sam Dwyer will then utilize the bracelet to give Draper the greatest "gift" ever -- his life. If you're rusty on your American history, google "Salem witch trials Martha Corey" and you'll quickly see how Mrs. Madison chose the name of Deborah Saxon's "kindly" neighbor. During this time period, Henry Slesar (who was first and foremost a novelist and short story writer) is operating on a literary level unheard of in daytime television.

That is the story of the stolen birds, lol. You can see the subtext there. The birds were both males, and they had "bonded for life", as macaws tend to do. They could say "I love you" to each other in parrot-talk. The news article was studied in-depth by the women in the office where I was working. They were all passing it around, shaking their heads, and saying, "Omg, Jeremy Hunter and Dakota taught the birds to mate and say, 'I love you'." (These were women who raced home to watch "All My Children" at lunchtime.) I tried telling them the ladies those birds had likely learned their behavior from Mr. & Mrs. Short (the second owners who donated the birds to the zoo). But there was no erasing the idea from their minds that Mr. Leclerc and Mr. Durham were roommates who owned pets together. I never watched either of the two shows, but I knew who Kate Collins, Jean Leclerc, and Dakota were. My main concern was the birds might be separated from one another and die, as they'd been together for several years and were dependent on each other.

Veering away from "gossip" for a minute, there was a newspaper article that ran all across the South in the late 1980s or early 1990s, concerning the theft of two parrots from a Florida zoo. The parrots originally belonged to Jean Leclerc (who played Jeremy Hunter on AMC) and Chris Durham (who played Dakota on RH). Leclerc and Durham decided they had too many animals and birds in their home, and they gave the parrots to friends of theirs who lived down in Florida. The Florida couple decided they also had too many critters in their house, and they donated the parrots to the zoo. Late one night, thieves arrived at the zoo and stole the parrots. The concern was that the birds would ultimately be sold on the "exotic bird black market". The article was written in such a way that Leclerc and Durham appeared to be a "romantic couple", which caused a pretty big sensation among Southern female viewers of Ryan's Hope & All My Children, as some female viewers evidently assumed all male soap actors are heterosexual. lol. Jeremy Hunter was normally linked in the press with a pretty female actress on AMC named Kate Collins, but he co-owned the birds with the nekkid boy from Ryan's Hope. That's why in my response to this "long-standing rumor", I referenced "Bon jour, mademoiselle" [Jean Leclerc was French or French Canadian] and 'South Dakota" [Chris Durham played "Dakota" on RH]. I'm sure I can find the article about the two of them and their parrots if anyone wants to read it. It was about 35 years ago when all of that happened.