EricMontreal22

Right, I knew about his brother--funny given his QAF character's obsession with Dr Who. I meant I'll tune into CBC's airing of Corrie more often to see if he's still on (though who knows how often I actually will). The biggest surprise was when he popped up in Titanic... I've foudn the judges on Strictly Come Dancing (the very very little I've watched it) worse than Dancing with the Stars in terms of nastiness--though he wasn't much of a comfortable dancer in the many club scenes of QAF either (granted that's a very different kind of dancing, and fit with his shy character) so I'm not too surprised

Yeah I sneaked a peek, just to get a glance of it in colour--it's so engrained in my head as B&W (I'm slowly making my way thru Dark Shadows too and can't picture that in colour either...) It does look great.

Maybe I'll watch more of his run then--he was my fave on QAF.

I'm only at ep 70, so wayu behind you (when do they go colour? You're in the 200s right?) but I have heard from nearly everyone that the final year is a sudden sharp drop in quality.

I haven't turned on Corrie in a while, but watched some today (on CBC so I think 2009 episodes?) and was shocked to see Craig Kelly, my fave from Queer as Folk, was on it now (are they eventually just gonna hire the entire QAF cast? well besides Charlie H who's too big for that )

Soapopera, sometimes referred to as "daytime drama," has finally snared evening prime time's ultimate status symbol-- a spin-off. The primary source is "dallas," a weekly saga about Texas millionaires that has attracted a generous parcel of ratings for CBS-TV. Now, beginning at 10 tonight, also on CBS, there is "Knots Landing," a kind of middle class off-shoot set in a small but comfortable California hosueing development. There are clear differences between these two series and ordinary soap operas. The prime-time budgets are considerably higher, enabling the production to leave the studio for occasional on-location shooting. And the plotting is tighter as each episoee must contain at least one story with a beginning, middle and end. Otherwise, though, this is soap territory. the characters run to easily identifiable

Of course that wasn't remotely like the tune that became a radio hit (Gosh Selby was handsome back then)

Watching more of Peyton Place last night, the music is exquisite. I particularly love when the main love theme becomees an isolated piano piece, and the jazzy/West Side Story danger music.

Yep see our thread in the video folder I like that music though I have to say as a whole I didn't like the music during that era. watch some of the other clips from that viewer--it's ALL synth heavy and also overused--you ahve scenes where the synth music never lets up.

No spoilers... yet. After taking a 2 and a bit week break from Peyton Place (I was starting to hum the theme song in the shower, and have dreams with that dramatic cliffhanger music), I got into it massively this weekand went through the last 15 eps in the Shout! second DVD box set in three days. WOW. The way nearly every fragment of all the storylines has come together in surprisingly but perfect ways, hitting theclimax of so many long held secrets has been phenomenal. Seriously some of the best soap I've ever seen--and also surprisingly moving. Terrific, terrific stuff. (So I'm now at Ep 65, but my bootleg copies of the full series just arrived--I couldn't wait after hearing Shout is having trouble getting anymore--and I'm debating diving right back in or taking another small break... The only problem with the show, if this is a problem, is they're so good at laying out their stories, in true classic soap fashion, that just when you think you've reached the end of a chapter, there's already another story or mystery nearly in full gear! With some 450 episodes left, that could take up a lot more of my time than I should allow it It's hard for me to just watch one episode a night...) One thought I had though... It's funny, so many of the daily writers of Peyton Place went on to write daytime soaps, but usually with very little success (many of them are known to be some of the worse headwriters). Robert J Shaw, Peggy Sloane, Theo and Mathilde Fero, etc... Nina Laemmle is listed as story editor on all of these first 65 episodes, and I believe she wrote a notoriously lame period on LOfL or SFT or Doctors or something... Yet the writing on PP is SO great, sophisticated and moving in terms of dialogue (loved the use of Melville's Billy Budd in a recent episode), but also expert in the way it's plotted and in the way new characters are seamlessly woven in (I just was introduced to Rita Jacks, and to realize she's the daughter of the Tavern owner was a mini revelation)--maybe they just couldn't cut it headwriting solo for a daily soap...

Yep I recently looked it up for nostalgia sake--it's available online in the US on some DIC owned website but not here. But it was a DIC France/Canada co production. Me and my sis and friends LOVED it after school--prob grade 4 or 5? lol I remember it being more soapy than most cartoons of the time.

Your niece is lucky! Yeah, it's funny, I was looking her up a month or two ago and totally flash backed to Sister Kate--couldn't even find a youtube clip though. I remember it VERY well which is odd as we were allowed to watch next to no tv in the 80s (before I was ten )--maybe only 30 mins a night--like the Cosby Show, etc.

The 70s in general were a bad time to be a woman in Hollywood--as great as the American cinema explosion was at the time, it didn't do much for women characters/actresses (unless you count infamous misogynistic examples like Faye D in Network). Why am I not surprised Troop Beverly Hills is one of your fave comedies

Well the show was all about Samms anyway--from what I've seen I have to agree about Stanwyck--and I love her too.

I said (or from an article I typed out 3 pages back): "NBC is proceeding cautiously with one show that Miss Brustin called "Semi-serialized." The pilot for the show, "The Covenant," is being shot now, and Miss Brustin described it only as "the story of a family in a very unusual, surprising arena." NBC plans to present theshow as a standard episodic series in the first year, and only if it catcheson will it change to a serialized format in the second year." to which Carl asked: I mentioned that the show about cops did, and Dark Mansions we were told aired the pilot as a TV movie... Well now it sounds like this mysterious soap, The Covenant, aired as a primetime movie too (the pilot). I was on an *ahem* gay torrents site, and someone into campy old tv shows posted this request--this MUST be the same program (it's the right year): I'll let you know if someone manages to upload it as a torrent. Sounds intriguing anyway.

PR was it any good? Sounds intriguing anyway... I need to track down the Colbys--just cuz I do

Bollocks LOL well I think their formula for the show--take all the soap cliches they had used on GH, etc when they wrote there and amp them up--basically burned themselves out by season 3. I was just going by Schemering's book which lists other writers coming in after them. I can agree with your comments about season 1

I should add to what I said--when I first saw Dynasty it was maybe 6 years ago--someone had the first season online and actually, I really loved it. So count me among those I mentioned being upset or surprised to see so many of the elements dropped. I just thought the common wisdom was seasons 2 and 3, under the Pollocks (who I think then left to do The Colbys?) were the best. (And I've seen season 2 on DVD but not 3 or 4 yet...)

Well the show was meant to be a contrast between the have nots and the haves (have a TON)--and dealt with issues, etc. It stopped all of that nonsense suddenly with season 2

But so much of that was dropped with Season 2... it's like a different show lol

Was From Here kept in period? (I only know the Monty Clift etc etc awesome 50s movie). I could understand most miniseries fans really not getting Fresno--the humour is such that some people could watch it and prob not realize it was meant to be humorous.

Nope, never heard of it. Yeah--I'm tempted to get the DVD now... I worship Burnett (and oddly she can get awya, with me, with humour that without her I'd often find too cornball). Mary Hartman is brilliant--we had it rerun here in Canada when I was 16 or so (when Canadian Bravo premiered it had a time slot "TV too good for TV" which aired it, Twin Peaks, and others--that's how I saw Soap too), and we got nealry through the entire run as well as the spin off Fernwood 2Night--it's too bad no more DVDs are set to be released, though I understand why.

Man I need to see this! LOL Dunno why I never heard of it before (the only soap parody I knew from Carol was her classic As the Stomach Turns segment on her old show)

While looking at an auction of someone selling bootlegs of some of those 80s soaps, I saw he had a complete set of one called "Fresno". Looking it up, it was a 1986 Emmy nominated parody show of the primetime soaps (set on a raisin farm). Probably not all that amusing, but has anyone heard of it/seen it? (The problem with parodying soaps, particularly TT primetime ones is they're so ridiculous anyway--there's only so much you can do without just becoming silly and slapstick (like that awful Young Doctors in Love movie, though I do love Soapdish of course). (I'm also a big fan of Soap and Mary Hartman Mary Hartman but both those, particularly Mary Hartman, used the parody format to parody more than just soap operas--consumerism, American culture in general, etc) *edit* DOH! It was a miniseries. And Carol Burnett was the star! Now I need to see it! "Fresno is a 1986 television miniseries which parodied popular prime time soap operas of the day such as Falcon Crest, Dallas and Dynasty. Set in Fresno, California, the storyline featured a family matriarch (played by Carol Burnett) and her battles with an evil raisin magnate (Dabney Coleman). Unlike the skits in the Carol Burnett Show (e.g., "As the Stomach Turns"), the comedy was based more on the plot, rather than on one liners or slapstick, such as the revelation that Charlotte's son Cane was actually her rival Tyler's son, and not her husband's."

Oh and a heads up--season 1 of Knots on DVD is being sold off at $6.00 at many stores (I can't help thinking this isn't a good sign about getting seasons 3+ lol). Amazon marketplace even has it new for as little as $3 (plus S&H)