Broderick

I never saw much improvement, but that's just my opinion of course. Lee Shedon learned some of the "do's & don'ts" of writing in the genre -- not beginning a new day in the middle of an episode, and so forth. But the stories themselves just weren't "Edge" quality, and the scenes were short & choppy, seemed random and haphazard. To me, the entire show just deteriorated one day in 1983 and never really regained any appearance of quality until the last day.

If money hadn't been a problem (his veteran writer salary), I'm sure Slesar could've changed his style to suit their mandate. But I'm glad that didn't happen. If they wanted a choppy, amateurish mess like Lee Sheldon turned in, it's a good thing Slesar didn't prostitute himself financially and talent-wise to create such childlike garbage. His legacy at Edge of Night is generally looked back on as 15 years of excellent storytelling. Lee Sheldon -- bless his heart -- doesn't have a legacy worth mentioning.

Once Henry Slesar was tossed aside, there was really nothing left to offer the audience. I'd always enjoyed the show, but not due to any particular performer -- Slesar's storylines were the draw.

"Honey, I'm working on a story in which Rick Daros harpoons you in the crotch."

Oh, I know. Seems very southern. (We're all "honey" down here.) I saw an outline posted here a while back that he'd written for Miss Alden's predecessor (Kay Lennard) in which he instructed her, "Honey, let's focus on the Brooks family today."

I really like the letters from Miss Alden to Bill Bell, and from Bill Bell to Miss Alden (especially his kind but somewhat patronizing use of "honey" to address her, and offering her a position as his "girl Friday" provided of course she can take shorthand, lol.)

Pierre's was the same restaurant as Gina's, but it changed tremendously between 1973 and the burndown circa 2003. The Allegro didn't resemble the original Pierre's very much, and Jonas's didn't resemble the Allegro very much, and Gina's didn't resemble Jonas's very much.

Thanks for the Kay Alden update and history!! I'm glad she's doing well. I'm sure she misses Big Vern. PLEASE provide the Brock platitudes. I'm sure we heard several of them on them on the air ("Lord, I pass this way but once; let me not pass without serving my neighbor"), but there are likely plenty more that we never heard. If I were Kay Alden, I wouldn't take credit for Jack Smith. I'd pretend he was WJB's protégé instead of mine!

I believe the source of the problem was that Bell & Kenney released the actor who played Stuart Brooks from his contract, and then Bell no longer had any control over the actor's availability. Bell *likely* planned to wrap-up the storyline in some fashion (as evidenced by the Memorial Day clip), but then Bob Colbert (hurt by being released from contract) cut-off his availability, and everything just fizzled out completely, leaving the entire storyline up in the air for the rest of Julianna McCarthy's run on the show.

I feel like we long-term viewers got really cheated with no resolution to the Stuart/Liz Brooks storyline.

Cawthorne's biggest problems (multiple "scandals" revealed) seemed to begin the minute he implicated his colleagues with their alleged "cocaine orgies". It seems the Establishment GOP is ready to be rid of him, and they're uncovering everything they can about him. Of course, in their eyes, his bisexuality is about the worst thing they can reveal, because they know their base is homophobic. Speeding on the highway? No problem. Gun in the airport? No problem. Unreported bitcoin? No problem. Groping women? No problem. Lying about his college history and his auto accident? No problem. But DOING IT with another guy? Serious stuff there!

I think the main reason Marc Mergeron worked in his first run (and seemed so out-of-place in his second run) is that he had a purpose the first time around. Through him, we found out all about Dina's post-Abbott life in France with Marcel Mergeron, Marcel's will, whether or not John and Dina's divorce was valid, the Brent Davis scandal, and so many other things that made Marc a crucial part of the show. The second time around, he was just a random playboy, not really even connected with the Abbotts, and he really did just seem like a Dynasty reject.

Gosh, I haven't seen that since high school lol. That's the way I remember it exactly -- whenever Traci would get even an ounce of positive feedback, Lauren would come swooping in, smirking and jostling her hooters around, opening her mouth wide to show all her plentiful teeth, and stealing all of Traci's attention for herself. And you'd think Amy was on the verge of slapping Lauren's jaws, but she never did.

Yeah, the whole dynamic really changed. Stephanie E. Williams (as Amy Lewis) took on the sympathetic aspects that Angela Laurence had been showing Traci, Lauren became a selfish Nellie Olesen from "Little House on the Prairie", and a character named Betsy became Lauren's co-conspirator and partner in crime against the sweeter girls.

Can't say that I recall her "very first scene", but I do remember that she basically debuted as the "New Angela Laurence", a girl who could commiserate with Traci. But while Angela Laurence had always been a sincere and genuine friend to Traci, Lauren seemed more shallow, superficial, and caustic, even without necessarily intending to be that way. She definitely turned into a spoiled, entitled little shrew in a big hurry, and the actress was just right for that part.

It really does seem stupid not to show him occasionally after they jumped through so many illogical hoops to resurrect him from the dead. In my opinion, Bierdz's acting has declined to the point where he's more of a liability than an asset, but I believe he should be given a few lines of dialogue a year to remind us, "Here's this once-popular legacy character who's Jill's son and Billy's brother and Chance's father, whom you believed to be dead for 20 years, but now he's alive and well and running a bar in Australia!" It's absurd to resurrect him and then HIDE him from the viewers completely. If he were needed in an actual storyline on an ongoing basis, they should probably recast the part with an actor who has more refined skills and less personal baggage. But either way -- original actor or recast -- he shouldn't be completely invisible to the audience 100% of the time.

Of all the Post-Bell Back From the Great Beyond Storylines, the one that struck me as the most egregious was Phillip. That was horrible. The whole time it was playing out on-screen, I noticed that neither Jill nor Kay never hugged him, stroked his face lovingly, nor had a moving conversation with him. They lectured him a LOT for tricking them (understandably), but they never showed him any affection whatsoever, and they never seemed genuinely relieved that he was alive. After all the years they spent fighting over him, and all the years they spent hovering over him and catering to him, he got a couple of stern lectures from them about playing dead, and then he moved on to another continent. No emotion. SURELY there was a way for Maria Arena to expose Cane Ashby as a hoax and imposter, without going the extra mile of resurrecting Phillip for -- nothing! -- except a short-term stupid storyline with no emotional impact at all.

I don't find Abby any worse than anyone else on the show. She makes me yawn about half the time, but so do Chance, Devon, and Amanda. I think it's just a case of four (fairly) appealing performers being stuck in a dud of a storyline, and none of the four can figure out how to rise out of the quagmire. As the daughter of Ashley & Victor, Abby ought to be sparkling and shining through it, but she ain't. As the grandson of Kay Chancellor, Devon should be sparkling and shining though it, but he ain't. As someone who was re-hired because of her popularity and talent, Amanda should be sparkling and shining through it, but she ain't. That's what a lousy storyline does to the cast, though; it can turn anyone into a yawner.

I guess Bradley Bell knows what he's doing. It's a 30-minute show that always looks hastily slapped together without much forethought, planning, or depth. Watching it is a mindless exercise, but it remains popular both here and abroad. My feeling is that Bradley Bell has the attention span of a gnat, and his target audience likely does too. So I guess it works for him. The networks have sought for decades to "dumb down" the other soaps to the B&B level, as that's what evidently appeals to the masses these days.

This show was a unique product, the vision of one person who generally knew exactly what he was doing. Once that vision is gone (and heaven knows it's BEEN gone!), you're really just left with a mess. Kay Alden could copy Bill Bell's style, but not his quality. Jack Smith is a bumbling fool. Lynn Marie Latham didn't know what Y&R was even supposed to be. Maria Arena isn't a writer, and the writers she employed to do her job were frivolous and ill-informed. Sally Sussman could copy Bell's style, but was likely crippled by lack of planning and SONY's interference. Josh Griffith is scared to take a chance and do anything unpredictable. Charles Pratt is -- well, he shouldn't have been there. Neither should Mal Young. There's just evidently no one who can straighten out this mess.

And Dynasty's writing was actually pretty good in the first season or two. Despite the characters being sorta "other-worldly" (probably wouldn't know to change a tire or crank a lawn mower), there was a certain accessibility to them in the beginning. They initially seemed like "real people", much like the Ewings were on Dallas. That was completely lost, though, once they ventured into the high camp arena, where practically every scene involved a confrontation, a slap, and someone turning and flouncing out angrily in a sea of boas and plumes.

I declare. There don't seem to be many pics of David Mallory floating around!

One of the most believable actresses in any medium. Whether you watched daily, or only once in a blue moon, you knew Kathryn Hays, and you knew Kim. She'll certainly be missed.

Aside from Paul, Nikki's "friends" were always mainly people she felt could propel her into the spotlight, and Jill's "friends" were mainly people who could provide her with financial security. A friendship with Jill wouldn't have benefited Nikki's goals for stardom, and a friendship with Nikki wouldn't have furthered Jill's goals for a big house and a maid. So they'd have just been wasting time with each other, lol.

The reliquary Victoria Newman made from construction paper and glitter. (Just kidding.)