vetsoapfan

The consensus of many internet posters over the last 25+ years belies this claim, although you do have every right to speak for yourself. Well, they have certainly been on display on daytime TV at various times through soap opera history, but whether or not they "belong" there or are embraced by everyone can be widely debated. A calm reading of what I actually wrote confirms that I said people CAN seek out John Waters' films if they enjoy his style and content. There was no demand that they must do so. A huge portion of the audience has just abandoned soaps altogether, alas.

I do think that natural, layered and complex performances are just not everyone's cup of tea. There are those who would dismiss To Kill a Mockingbird in favor of Howard the Duck, or The Grapes of Wrath in favor of Chainsaw Cannibal Hookers. Differences are the spice of life.

I do hope Mulcahey will introduce new characters carefully and judiciously (or even better yet, reintroduce beloved, legacy characters from the past). God knows, I'd loathe seeing a Buzz Cooper 2.0 coming aboard and eating the show. Some folks may have loved Justin Deas' loud-mouthed and belligerent hamminess in the role, but many did not. UGH. Now, people do have the right to champion hammy theatrics if it's their preference, and yes, Howarth's nostril flaring was appealing to both of his fans (LOL! I jest, I jest! Sort of. 🫢). I know people who reveled in glee watching Divine with doggy doo in Pink Flamingos (seriously; they were wildly entertained at the outrageousness and wanted to see more pushing of the envelope like it.) I would counter that such material can be sought out in John Waters-type films. Soaps, a medium that has gifted us with performances by the likes of Beverlee McKinsey, Susan Flannery, Maureen Garrett, Charita Bauer, Judith Light, Jane Elliot, Frances Reid, Judith Light, Kate Mulgrew, etc, have long proven that stellar performers are celebrated within the genre. Not everyone is happy to settle for the work of Ronn Moss and his ilk. There are those of us who clamor to see superb thespian work on display, and we have been fortunate in that regard on many daytime dramas over the decades. Long live the Meryl Streeps of daytime! I'll take Beverlee McKinsey, Susan Flannery and actresses of their caliber over Brenda Dickson (God love her) or Charity Rahmer any day.😁

So, ultra-theatrical, hamming it up and broad Bette Davis-like impersonations is what you admire most in soap acting?🤔 I'll take Meryl Streep over Phyllis Diller (or Paul Holroyd over Hammy Howarth) any day, but...that's just me.🤷‍♂️ No doubt there will be newer fans who never saw Jagger Cates in his original incarnation. They will more easily accept this new performer since they do not have knowledge of the original characterization to compare with Adam Harrington's, and can't understand what a jarring and bad fit this recast is. To each his own.

Frank was okay enough, but Nadine was the only Cooper I actually liked; the last one I would want to see killed off. On the other hand, I prayed daily for Buzz to be axed!

Frankly, even though the show seems to be on its last legs, I'm surprised it's still limping along at all.

Of course she did.😉😉😉 We know. 🙃

Any time, anywhere, any day.🙃 F*** him. Yes to the F***! F***, yes!

Adam and Nicole: August 1, 1973.

This is cool. I had never seen this photo before, which is from Steve's and Alice's first wedding in September of 1971.

Setting fire to the iconic and beloved Horton living-room set is an insensitive decision which will only anger fans. There is so much emotional attachment to that set. What's next? Will they take a baseball bat to the Hortons' Christmas ornaments? Boo! Hiss! This is worse than the vile shoot-out in the Bauer kitchen.

DAYS, too, alas. But on GH, Sonny, Carly, Jason, Finn, and Drew need to be shown the show sooner rather than later. Core characters should be center stage. Bring back Serena Baldwin, Tommy Hardy, Lucas Jones, and other descendants of important families. Give Scotty (the longest-running character on the canvas right now) more to do. There are so many characters/actors the show could be focusing on.

The actor is objectively decent enough, just NOT as a Jagger recast. Shades of Kassie DePaiva taking over for Mia Korf, Wesley Pfenning being cast as Alice Frame, Susan Batten taking over as Connor Walsh, Roger Howarth following the wonderful Paul Holroyd as Paul Ryan. Why not just cast this new guy in a new role? He will never be Jagger.

TGL: Slaughtering the majority of the fine, existing cast in 1983 and 1984, changing the show's style and tone, and basically cutting off decades' worth of history from pre-1983. TGL: Amanda Wexler is Alan's daughter. No, wait, she's his sister! (An impossible retcon after what had transpired on screen.) TGL: Brandon Spaulding is dead (we saw him die on camera). No, wait, he's alive, so ignore what you saw! TPTB do. TGL: The patriarchs of major families all went fishing together decades ago, long before they even met or lived in Springfield.😑 TGL: Kelly Nelson asks Ed Bauer if Ed remembers Steve Jackson, Ed's former father-in-law, colleague at the hospital, and the GRANDFATHER OF ED'S SON.🙄 TGL: Reva the Clone, Reva the Time Traveler, Reva the San Cristobelian Queen, Reva the Illegal-Immigrant Savior, Reva the Amish Amnesiac, Reva the Portly Sex Goddess of EVERY MAN'S FANTASY.🫢 TGL: Harley, the super-heroine. TGL: San Cristocrap never ends, and Bradley Cole gets rehired.🤮 TGL: The Santos Mob, with a preacher in the family (Rev, Ruthledge was surely rolling over in is grave), a shoot-out in the Bauer kitchen (JFC!), and 587 weddings for Danny and Michelle. TGL: Peapack. Springfield is morphed into a muddy and run-down looking Walnut Grove with inferior sound and video equipment. Whew! I need a break now, LOL!

Going back a while... Duncan Eric, Search for Tomorrow Bill Prentiss, Love of Life Adam Drake, The Edge of Night Liz Stewart, As the World Turns Dan Stewart, As the World Turns Chuckie Shea, As the World Turns Greg Mercer, Somerset Mary Matthews, Another World Steven Frame, Another World Alan Quartermaine, General Hospital Tony Jones, General Hospital Bill Bauer (the second time), The Guiding Light Hillary Bauer, The Guiding Light Maureen Bauer, The Guiding Light Jennifer Brooks, The Young and the Restless Liz Foster Brooks, The Young and the Restless (Yikes! There are way too many characters to list, LOL!)

At various times over the years, Harding Lemay was guilty of this too, claiming that AW went to number one during his tenure, when in actuality, it mainly went to number one IN ITS TIMESLOT. Y&R fans have also long asserted (erroneously) that Paul infected Nikki with an STD. In reality, she gave it to him. (Doug Davidson has jokingly lamented the besmirching of his character's reputation more than once.) On Another World, fans (and even Harding Lemay) put forward the myth that Pat Matthews killed her first boyfriend, Tom Baxter, by stabbing him. In reality, she shot him. (episodes surrounding the story have surfaced.) Daytime TV's past is inundated with mistakes and myths, alas. Exactly. The typical atrocious writing was mean-spirited and sadistic, and alienated legions of fans. You don't kill off the show's beloved matriarch by ramming doughnuts down her throat (sick and repugnant). Forgetting any of this dreck ever happened was the best course to take.

That's right. Liz Stewart fell while running up the stairs, and later died from the injuries she sustained. Of course, critics have always been wont to mock and denigrate soaps, so they took the opportunity to ridicule ATWT by dishonestly spinning the situation as Liz "falling up the stairs." The character's being hurt while running upstairs is vastly different in meaning than purporting that she died by "falling up the stairs." I doubt the critics who started the myth/lie cared about accurately reporting the incident, and as time went on, the myth became established "fact" to those who didn't know any better. I tend to agree. Particularly when characters cross over from one series to another, I see those shows as being "related," so to speak. Yes, Irna wanted to kill off Liz for a while, but P&G originally stopped her. So Ellen Stewart marched into the hospital and saved Liz with a "bottle of hope" (long story, LOL), and Liz survived that first attempt to kill her off.

The abject miscasting of the "new Jagger" is a detriment to the effectiveness of the story, however. What a curious choice of actor for that particular role.🤔 Trying to manufacture chemistry between prospective romantic partners on screen is just uncomfortable when it's forced. Either chemistry is there or it's not.

I was gifted a CD years ago, with mp3 files of TGL from 1950. I forget now, but I think there were 90 full episodes. A while later, many more from around that era popped up. I had broken my foot at the time, and basically binged dozens of eps continuously as I was relegated to the couch. It was a sanity saver, LOL!

@Matt, thank you so much for all these great recaps which you are gifting to the board. With the dearth of quality soaps on television these days, I'd be more than happy to sit back and listen to several golden-age radio dramas. Has anybody else listened to the extended stretch of The Guiding Light episodes from 1950? It's a miracle that so many survived, and what a treat it was to enjoy.

Sadly, when it comes down to a choice between offering us gimmicks and stunts or developing characterization and relatable, human drama, TPTB almost always take the easy way out and heap more cheap stunts onto the soaps. They continually fail (or refuse) to comprehend that investment in human drama and characters we care for is the salvation of soaps.

The truth can be accurate and hilarious at the same time, I guess.🙃 Thank you. I fully understand that every kind of material will thoroughly engage some folks and totally turn off others. I loved the work of Irna Phillips, Agnes Nixon, William J. Bell, Pat Falken Smith, Harding Lemay, etc., but intimate, character-driven and adult drama is not everyone's cup of tea. I mean, some people actually chose to watch Hey Vern, It's Ernest! and Beavus and Butt-Head. C'est la vie, as they say.🤷‍♂️ It's curious that you are so ready to relegate soaps to the "lesser-than" category. As someone who was around to see the soaps' earlier years, I'd counter than many of the legendary writers of the genre gifted fans with stellar material, often on a par with or equal to the dreck that primetime television foisted upon us. It's difficult to believe such a petulant and unsupported retort was even offered.😬 All traditional, network programming exists to sell advertisers' products. It does not preclude artists working within television from doing their best to produce quality entertainment. There is a plethora of evidence available to support the contention that superior TV exists. Yes, even among the beleaguered soaps.

As previously noted, it all depends on what you enjoy and prefer to watch. To each his own. Passions was created to be exactly what it was, and that's fine. There's an audience out there for everything, and all viewers should be served. On the other hand, Days was created to be, and found its highest ratings and biggest success as, an erudite, literate, adult soap with quality writing. When Masterpiece Theatre is suddenly morphed into Ren & Stimpy Meet the Great Gazoo, some folks will love it and others will loathe it. Strong and varying differences of opinion are not new among TV fans.

It depends on what you like to watch. There are, of course, viewers who enjoy the sort of material that Reilly was responsible for, but I am one of the veteran viewers who preferred the mature, sophisticated and adult writing of Bill Bell and Pat Falken Smith. I found Reilly's camp writing to be embarrassing and painful. To each his own, as they say.

ITA. And the more control and authority Sheffer and Reilly gained, the more ATWT and DAYS went to hell.