FrenchBug82

Managing to both rush through this storyline in a week and STILL managed to make it drag out as we were waiting for Finn to spit out takes some skills. I mean, Sheila returning is always a good *moment*; problem comes when it comes to making it a good *story*. And I loathe KB with the heat of a thousand suns after the things she did and said in real life but she actually look very good. I am always uncomfortable with how vicious people can be with the looks of actors. It is one thing to criticize things that are the actors' choice: hair for instance. But whether YOU find them aesthetically pleasing is extremely irrelevant. One thing I will say for English soaps is that they are perfectly comfortable casting normal-looking people for a huge proportion of their cast and noone bats an eye. I don't mind the eye candy but I want good actors and interesting characters first and foremost. I disagree. Mind you, I want them on the backburner for a long while but I do not like sending longstanding characters off in the sunset without reason. Rick and Maya should still be around. Bridget should still be around. Etc. Don't use them if they have been overused (as Hope and Liam have been) but don't get rid of them because they are still important characters with ties to everyone and a potential source for story. Btw I forgot. Do we know where Thorne is or did the character just fade away after the disastrous experiment with the Trump fanatic from down under fizzled? I forgot if they wrote him out or just stopped talking about the character.

I always think people are being short-sighted when they dismiss long-time characters as not needed because they haven't had story in a long time. True, Kevin and Chloe have not had stories in forever - and Kevin in particular, despite GR being so good, has been written horrible most of his time on the show. But they are longtime characters with lots of ties to other characters and history and played by good actors. Why would you want to get rid of them? To have more characters like Tara or Stitch? No. Answer is writers who utilize the assets they have, not fire longtime members of the cast just because the current crew is clueless how to use them.

Yeah it is because he is great on-screen that he kept getting chances despite the fact his temper and inappropriate behavior with female co-stars was well-known and kept happening. One thing I miss about classic soaps is those BTS stories that would circulate widely enough that "everyone knew". It is really weird that in the age of the Internet we actually get a lot fewer rumors than we used to about the personal life and BTS behavior of soap actors. Granted we also get a lot more direct evidence of who they are through social media but nevertheless...

It is an age-old problem for all the soaps but it is particularly pregnant at Days because it has had so many "supercouples". If you yield to fans around couples and chemistry, you are driving yourself into a storyline deadend. Satisfying the audience emotionally might make them happy for a minute but it hurts not just the show but the characters themselves over the long run. Jarlena is the best example: the fandom got what they wanted. The show yielded and kept them together ... in storyline-free boredom. Bliss does not a soap make. And not all characters who have chemistry should be together. And not all actors who are popular should be kept on if their character has outlived their usefulness. The chemistry is undeniable. And RSW is a beautiful guy. But there are plenty of beautiful guys who did not play a serial killer VK might have had great chemistry with and made everyone forget about Ben. They instead lazily yielded to the vocal fans and wrote themselves into this hideous situation.

It was easy to foresee and THIS is why this entire stupidity of a storyline wasn't worth a dime. Summer liked this job so much she even stayed there even knowing how she got it. Which is proof that it did not matter how she got it. It was a great offer and she took it because she thought it was a great offer and she kept it because she thought it was a great offer. So who cares if it came about because some people had an agenda? "Oh no Sally gave my daughter her dream job" is not the WW2 conflict the show think it is. I mean, I accept that Phyllis would be the kind of person who would be unself-aware enough to act self-righteous about that kind of stuff and go on a crusade. I am fine with that. But for everyone around her to nod along is stupid. Also: I don't care that Jack broke with Sally "for good". First because we did the exact same thing four months ago and it took him all of a month to get over it. And second because we don't really know what was going on there since it was never made clear and therefore I can't much care. They tried but it didn't work. No loss. I am a lot more annoyed with Lauren being judgemental. Considering the things she has done in her day, for her to clutch her pearls at such minor nonsense irritates me to no end. It was one thing that she was shocked by the Flo-as-hostage thing. But getting a rival a job abroad to get her out of the way? That's peanuts for the Lauren I know. Imagine if Lauren had actually been relatively nonplussed about it and argued with Phyllis when Phyllis tried to pressure her into cutting ties with Sally. How much more interesting would it have been while being in character, instead of dragging Lauren out once a month to act as an appendage of other characters.

As I said earlier in this thread, Nick/Sally was always pretty obvious but I do wonder how they are going to set it up if he is siding with Phyllis' ridiculous kvetching over that Italy job. But I will reserve judgement to see if they have chemistry or not. So basically we are redoing exactly what we did four or five months ago after the whole Wyatt fiasco was revealed.

See, this clip is why I do like the baby switch storyline in hindsight as maddening as it was back then. It gave wonderful material to a lot of good actresses and we felt what the characters were going through. Even if it was to hate Babe and Krystal's selfishness and then self-pity, we cared. I miss actually genuinely caring about something that happens on a soap.

I really wonder if she was surprised by the public reaction to her revealing her affair with Simon. Did she really expect people to "Yaaaas girl" her? Better hope the sex is good but that's a very patiently and carefully constructed image over many years she is throwing away for that guy.

Of course that's what it is. That's what EVERY story he does is. I wouldn't expect him to be far-thinking like that - he has done it only once with the Angela story - but this is me thinking about how much better the show would be with better plotting and pacing. I am actually OK with the stories themselves most of the time - it is the execution that drains them out.

You're giving them too much credit. 100% the story was intended to last a lot longer than that and the contract negotiation breakdowns is what rushed the ending. Even with the terrible plotting and pacing of the writing team, that Tara story surely was intended to have a more explosive ending than this one-episode limp deal and done. Because if this was the plan all along, yeesh.

We have talked many times about Bell's pacing but imagine how much more powerful Sheila's appearance would have been if we had been slowly treated to the mystery of his origins for months. If, even in a throwaway scene during the whole whos-the-father story, it had been hinted Finn might have a secret mother. We literally met Finn's parents and even heard anything about his history three days ago. This is such bad pacing and plotting, sorry.

Or a phone call from corporate.

That was my thought when the whole Brando-leaving-the-mob-dilemna thing unfolded a couple of weeks ago. It was a C-story but to me it only underscored what a horrible human being and father Jason is because the show was laying it down on the table: leaving that lifestyle for the sake of your kids was a perfectly viable option and the right thing to do. And it didn't occur to them that it made Jason's choices look even worse in comparison? Especially since it is not like Sonny would be a threat to him if he chose to move on, unlike some other "organizations" who resent turncoats. Whatever one can say about Carly, a good two-thirds of the characters hate her guts and call her out on her BS all the time. Even Sonny has characters (generally in law enforcement) who are unimpressed. But Jason is treated as saintly in every corner of Port Charles and it drives me up the wall. He is a killer, a horrible boyfriend/husband and a terrible father. I am even more annoyed because Jax being the only character who openly dislikes him makes IR minorly useful to my enjoyment of the show and I have to resent that too.

They pretty much were until the recast indeed but I personally don't mind. Having second- and third-generation characters is always healthy for a show and there is no undoing the backstory. As for Cassie's disappearance, I always had understood from the grapevine that there were BTS personal reasons for which AT was dropped and barely brought back after Melaswen.

I gotta say this story annoys me to no end - first because I have to use "story" loosely - but I gotta say one of the upsides of HK's contract breakdown is that the "story" is likely to finish with... Summer deciding to stay in Italy regardless, meaning she agrees with our point that the agenda of those who got her the job is irrelevant to whether it was a good opportunity or not.

I imagine you can't propose this mid-contract but once a contract has ended why wouldn't they be able to change the terms they offer at will? Actor has chance to walk away if it doesn't work for them. If both parties wanted a guarantee salary, they could sign a forever contract whereby the actor would be bound by the show and the show by the salary. But actors and shows find it to their advantage to have to renegotiate every few years.

The reality of it is that he expected to walk and be begged back on. That's the only way his bluff makes sense. Sure a 50% pay cut sucks but a third of a million dollars a year is still an excellent salary and the hours at B&B are hardly mine work. And not to be unkind but it was always obvious there was no other acting work waiting for RM outside of B&B. His longevity on the show was his only trump card, not his talent. So I think he made a bet that Bell couldn't recast a thirty-year veteran - original actor or that if he did, it woudn't take. Whatever one might think of the way it changed Ridge as a character, it did take and now RM is unemployed. Sometimes when you play chicken you do end up losing!

Yeah I bit my tongue because I don't want to be policing the forums for tone but of all the reasons to resent Sonny and dislike FS a hairy chest or weight gain are not it. Not sure why anyone needs to go there. All the men involved are attractive within a conventional framework; there are other reasons to root for a recast.

First if they showed it in the trailer it is not a big conspiracy. They are probably doing it to save for a flashback. Maybe even an embarassing flashback where Gizelle denies she says anything and producers go "Actually...". Until then let me go clutch my pearl that a housewife may be gossiping - with or without grounds, who is to say - about another housewife's marriage What an unexpected unheard-of turn of events.

That's very interesting actually. Didn't know the numbers. Gonna ask if RM wouldn't wish he was making $350000 a year now, half of what he once earned it might have been.

That's why I am too worried about her that when they negotiated this reunion arrangement, she made sure finances were kept as separate as possible. I say that as a compliment and some of you might say it more negatively but she is a lot of things but a fool ain't one of them.

I don't know. She is not doing bad acting-wise. It is just the character is a nothing-burger and she doesn't exude a lot of charisma. I can tell this is going to be one of these moments I look back at for many many years to come as a lost opportunity. They really showed how well the show can do without Sonny but he will be back to anchor down the show soon enough.

That's why it is good news. We can pretend they are testing the waters and maybe a new performer will give Sonny a boost.

For the brief couple days where we knew Ted King was his real father but there was a mystery around his mother, my mind went there too. I am partial to Morgan because I love SB but it would have been hell of a twist considering she had kidnapped Steffy as an infant to be her own daughter. Of course it also would have made no sense since her entire story was about her inability to have children.

It makes no sense that a *hotel* would be a center of the Genoa City social life. That anyone would live there but maybe the owner. That business would be conducted there. That people would just hang out and meet there. Ludicrous.