vetsoapfan

All this praise is making me giddy. I appreciate the kind words, @ranger1rg .🙂 When I was a kid, long before the advent of the internet and streaming services, our viewing choices were much more limited than they are today. I used to re-watch favorite shows and movies regularly. Except for a few vintage, beloved staples, I haven't done that in decades; one viewing of modern material is enough for me. My gut-level feeling about Heated Rivalry, however, is that I will want to watch and experience it again. Probably not every week, LOL, but it may very well become a stand-by, feel-good favorite like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Wizard of Oz, and a few other gems which I am always happy to revisit throughout the years.

I'm humbled that people appreciate my thoughts and commentary. Thank you, @OzFrog So many folks are expressing that very same sentiment to me. It's interesting; we've only "known" Shane and Ilya for a total of six hours, yet viewers are already more emotionally attached to them than they are to tepid soap opera pairings who have been rammed down our throats for years. Probably because so many soap characters today lack real depth and humanity, and their on-screen shenanigans come across primarily as contrived plot mechanics, rather than being borne out of genuine chemistry and human feelings. So true: finding out that other people hold the same attributes that you do, attributes which you value and admire, goes a long way into making you warm up to those folks and feel close to them. That sort of intellectual/emotional attraction tends to go further and last longer than just surface, physical appeal. I, too, became immersed in soaps because of their reliance on interpersonal-relationship dynamics and the exploration of the human condition. When those components were largely discarded in favor of glitz and glam, flash and trash, soaps lost their appeal for me.

Awww, shucks.😌 Thank you for the kind words.😊

Preview of the upcoming book Unrivaled, due out later this year, which will continue the saga of Shane and Ilya. Since season 2 of the TV show is not expected out before 2027, this will help tide stans over.

I truly believe that our attraction to people grows in direct proportion to the appealing interior qualities we see in them. We can initially assess someone physically and not be swept away, but if proximity allows us to see numerous, positive attributes in him (kindness, empathy, loyalty, morality, a sense of humor, honesty, protectiveness, a deep capacity for love, etc.), our attraction starts to skyrocket. As Scott Hunter, Francois Arnaud exhibits so many endearing qualities, it makes perfect sense to me that this is the role which is drawing viewers in more than other parts he has played. (I hope this makes sense; I'm having problems describing exactly what I mean, LOL.) IMHO, the last time any daytime soap was well-written and engrossing was when Claire Labine was writing General Hospital in the 1990s. Daytime TV has been in a moribund state since then. But William J. Bell and his ilk were masters, who knew how to create captivating characters, make us care for them, and then kept these people yearning for lasting love for YEARS. Steve and Alice, Doug and Julie, Bill and Laura, Phil and Tara, Brad and Leslie, Scotty and Laura: these are the romantic/star-crossed lovers who kept us on the edge of our seats with baited breath, hoping against hope they would finally get together. We haven't had that experience on daytime soaps for eons, alas. But now? We have Shane and Ilya and Scott and Kip. It's wonderful to revel in romance again!🥰

I've always said that clothes make the man, and Francois Arnaud is devastatingly attractive in that Under Armour compression shirt.😍 I would kill to have the likes of Agnes Nixon (or Irna Phillips or William J. Bell or Henry Slesar or Harding Lemay) guiding the soaps these days. We are extraordinary lucky to have Jacob Tierney in charge of Heated Rivalry. This show is out-soaping the soaps by a mile. I was pleased to read that Rachel Reid is reportedly coming out with a new, seventh book in the Heated Rivalry universe in September, entitled Unrivaled, continuing the Shane and Ilya saga. https://www.out.com/books/heated-rivalry-unrivaled-rachel-reid

Forgive me. I couldn't resist.😊

"Make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait." During the long-gone halcyon years of daytime television, the legendary Agnes Nixon offered up this edict on how to write a successful soap. In addition, master writer Henry Slesar opined that plots were secondary to character delineation; that without well-developed characters in whom the viewers were emotionally invested, soap stories would lack resonance and power, and fail to provoke deep and heartfelt responses from the audience. For decades I have lamented the flat and shallow blandness of the modern soaps. Tepid writing centering on hackneyed plots and one-dimensional characters leaves daytime dramas devoid of passion and bereft of poignancy and power. I was pleasantly surprised (actually, astounded) when I started watching Heated Rivalry. Here was a series predicated on recognizable human emotions and experiences. Here was a drama focusing on character development, with nuanced writing and textured scenes, which demanded viewers watch, observe and analyze characters' feelings and motivations. Imagine: we didn't need end-of-the-world plagues, cannibal zombies, superheroes battling uber villains, mad scientists freezing the world, clones, going to heaven on a space ship, serial killers or devil possessions. All we needed was...multi-dimensional human beings dealing with relationships, family drama and yearning for love. Viewers everywhere swiftly became passionate about and entranced by these "new friends" whose destinies came to matter to us. A sweet and ultimately wholesome drama captured viewers' hearts without all the violence, ugliness and gore we are usually inundated with. Who woulda thunk it?🤔 Can we clone Jacob Tierney and hire him for Y&R, please?

Cool. We should be coming up to the episode where Nancy and Laurie sit in the Karr living room and chat about the past. Like TGL in the 1980s, TEON basically cut ties with its rich past and ignored most of it, so it was nice seeing the references to beloved characters like Winston Grimsley before the show's cancellation. Thanks for the heads up (as always!), @DRW50 .

Thank you so much, @NothinButAttitude ! What an unexpected little treat!

I have seen it in the past, but I couldn't find that episode again when I looked for it recently. Someone seems to be reuploading eps from December, 1984, again, so I'm hoping this one turns back up (or that I can find it again, somewhere).

And in its dwindling days, TEON could have used a potential ratings boost/attention-grabbing "big name" return.

I hope not. I would hope that TEON would realize what a blunder they had made by replacing Maeve McGuire in the first place, and rehired to to play Nicole's look-alike. Lisa Sloan was fine, but she just was not Nicole, and the less said about Jayne Bentzen (the Kathleen Toland of EDGE), the better.

Thank you. I've hunted around for the episode in which Nancy and Laurie Ann sit in the Karr living room and talk about Sarah Capice and Winston Grimsley, but to no available. As the December, 1984 eps are being uploaded, I hope it pops up. If you catch it before I do, please let me know. Gracias!

Oh, cool. That's sounds interesting. I'll check it out. Thanks.