FrenchBug82

In all fairness, those two facts are not mutually exclusive 😉

Maybe it is the CA guy in me but here in the Bay Area the Stanford hospital and down in the LA the UCLA hospital are highly regarded medical centers so while I can't speak for other places, it doesn't put me off in that way.

I don't want to belabor the point (also, MW and Carly were younger than Diane and Ava are supposed to be) but I still don't think the specific high-waisted skirt is necessary to project sophistication. There would be other potential items. It was a small thing and it strikes me everytime I see her in a new outfit. I guess it is the Bianca Del Rio school of dressing: know what works for your body even if the basics stay the same and only tinker at the edge.

Could be. I wasn't necessarily blaming the show - and now that you mention it she also had a lot of similar silhouettes as Diane - and I understand that it is a good look for her figure. But whoever is responsible, I wish they'd switch it up a little. Her Carly wardrobe was more varied.

It is a complete mundane shallow observation but I wish they would vary it up with Ava's wardrobe a bit. I am over her always wearing those high-waisted skirts with a blouse *all the time*. Maura is always radiant; there are other things she could wear that would be just as flattering to her figure.

Since they are clearly setting there to be more to Paulina than meets the eye I am willing to let the story unfold to see where they are going with it. Also I have seen enough couples that are EXACTLY like that (OTT woman married to a low-key chill quiet guy) that it doesn't shock me too much

I honestly have no clue what this means but I am interested in finding out LOL

It is interesting that it is happening at the same time roughly. Not sure what conclusion to draw from it - and I will refrain until I know how it ends. If both end up written out or slowly fading out because of the fallout of these stories, then I will have a problem. If it is intended to reinvigorate the characters by giving them material and going from there, then I can accept it, even at the expense of immediate likeability. Let's remember that it really seemed they were writing Thomas in a tight corner for a while there - same with Flo. They still managed to keep them around - a good thing for the former, less so for the latter. We shall see if the same indulgence applies to these fine AA actors.

I don't know if I see what you see - maybe a bit uncomfortable but hey - but I would be VERY surprised if a soap actor veteran in his 70s was complaining he was given a romance and front-burner storyline. I don't think JR is mad at it.

In all fairness, barring the Core Four (Stephanie being dead) and the Infernal H/L/S triangle, B&B is very very infamous for treating EVERY character as expendable. Not the best show for job security.

I still don't understand why the *character* could not even be mentioned. I mean, not bringing back the actors; fine, I get it. But the character? That'd be a ridiculous thing for them to agree to. One more reason for her to stay off-the-show.

I like when people were like "Carter slept with a married woman; he is RUINED!" Bell was like: "Hold your horses. Let me show you RUINED".

Fresh doesn't necessarily mean original. She was never original, layered or a particularly well-developed character. But she had the energy she had when she was on Port Charles and was charming (and similar as she was to Brenda, Brenda was a bit tired by the time she left). It slowly eroded and pairing her with Jason sucked the soul out of her. I read that stat on the other thread and yeah I am pretty amazed too she has been on that long. She certainly isn't treated that way by the producers, writers OR the fans. Cue the JaSam fan who started this current conversation by suggesting Sam be recast to "save" JaSam. I can't imagine any other actor playing a character for 18 years being considered ripe for a recast by anyone, let alone people who are fan of a couple she is in. And yet here we are. Personally I don't consider her a lost cause. I am not enthralled by the chemistry test with Dante but there are plenty of directions they could take her in. I am not ready to give up if KM is simply aching for a real story and that is why she is sleepacting. Now if she genuinely has given up... that'll be another story.

In all fairness, as discussed in the other thread, I have a kinder theory for why she was pissed about BM's firing. For years Sam had been tediously written as an extension of Steve Burton and Jason. When the BM version came on and all that happened afterwards, even if she was still in Jason's orbit, Sam was finally written as having some spirit and agency in her own actions which must have been nicer for an actress to play. So the minute they'd bring SB back she knew Sam would regress - which she did and as OP comments show - and I would be frustrated too

The Brad story is the quintessential cage story but it has been done manytime. Wasn't Sheila-as-Phyllis keeping the real Phyllis in a cage too on Y&R? Or was it Sheila in the cage? I don't remember - blocked that mess out of my memory.

Yes! The brain tumor is another difference. Carl was problematic but his growth as a human being was organic AND flawed - he still showed traces of his old self but he tried to be a better man. Franco just had an excuse for his crimes so those were completely whitewashed and he never had to struggle with the burden of guilt.

Actually she has done a few interviews in recent years (discussed in the SB thread) where she talks about her work there. She is still honest that she was unhappy at the time - and to be fair, she had reasons to be considering the way the producers did her wrong and the show had problems - but she has stopped dissing the material and has actually said a nice thing here and there about what she learned there. So you know, as they get older, they soften.

My VERY unpopular opinion is that while she didn't have that great chemistry with Jax, her first year when they thought this Jax/Sam was the endgame was the only time where Sam felt like a fresh character. I have only managed to care since because I love Alexis - and I loved Julian - so that connection kept me invested somewhat. But KM is cashing the paychecks - and she wasn't a master thespian in the first place.

I was one of those who never accepted Rachel and Carl either but AT LEAST the struggle over whether she should even consider it lasted a LONG time. And some characters never reconciled themselves to it long after she was apparently happy. Otoh once they decided to go with Franco and Liz, his past suddenly became a non-issue.

I mean... Adele Dazeem! And to be entirely fair - not that it makes it any better - mix-ups in In Memoriams segments happen all the time too. Which I would find a reason to be extra strict with the double-checking but there you have it.

Yeah it is bizarre. The only theory that makes sense to me off the top of my head is that they have someone in mind they are holding out for but that person isn't available right now - a contract expiring in a few months, say, or that person waiting to see if a pilot gets picked up for the whole season or something. Otherwise this is mind-boggling. Chance is the most generic character in the world; it is not like you need an actor who captures something specific that is hard to find in some recasts.

I don't think a serial killer can seriously qualify as part of "normal people". Whatever one thinks of Michael and Willow, the comparison really doesn't hold here.

Meg Ryan very infamously banned any interviewer from ever mentioning her time on ATWT so I think she can be fairly counted as those who are very much ashamed or resentful of their soap past. Robin Wright deserved a lot of flack because she said some very nasty things about the show. She was young indeed and she did get screwed over by show runners many times in way that understandably made her very bitter but she nevertheless was unnecessarily condescending about soaps and sneering at the material even when she was still ON the show. That being said, she has considerably softened on the subject now so, since as I said TPTB at SB kind of made things difficult for her as well, most fans now give her a pass. I suspect that a lot of "more famous" actors' reluctance to invoke their soap past - or do it mockingly - is more due to the Hollywood stigma for that kind of work than necessarily them internalizing that stigma. Meaning, even if you had fond memories, it is better to mock it than to try to defend it to the cool kids. Or pretend it didn't happen because a soap past can hurt your image when auditioning for roles. It sucks but it has more to do with the cultural condescension for soaps than necessarily actors having had a bad experience.

Am I the only one who strongly suspects that Missy's exit last year was not about the difficult commute in the times of covid19 but because she didn't want to follow the covid-precautions procedures? I mean, they are very likely to be anti-maskers, aren't they?

First female performer indeed.