Khan

Does anyone know the three dialogue writers that Marland brought with him from GH? I guessed that the "former actress" was Nancy Franklin and the "veteran soaps writer" was Frank Salisbury, but who was the "novelist-playwright"? Robert Dwyer?

Reading that interview with Donna Mills just makes me wish even more that there was more LIAMST floating around. It says a lot that the network trusted two, young, relatively inexperienced actresses like Mills and Leslie Charleson to carry an entire show.

Between Drew's overly enthusiastic demeanor over EVERYthing, and the audience clapping at every half-sentence liked trained dogs, it's hard for me to watch all the way through.

IIRC, she even showed up years later on Y&R in a scene with (I think) Tracey E. Bregman.

There was a history of cancer on both Gary and Val's sides of the family, so I thought it would've been powerful to see what would happen if Betsy or Bobby had been diagnosed with some form of cancer. How would Gary and Val cope with the very real possibility of losing one of their children? Would Gary be tempted to fall off the wagon again? Would Val somehow find the strength to pull herself and Gary through the ordeal?

I mean, they took a storyline about a man who took an embryo from a woman's uterus and raised him as his own and, with one promo, turned it into wacky soap hijinks. It's offensive on so many levels and not at all like what actually played out (although, to be fair, what played out wasn't great soap opera either).

Really?? See, I tuned out of GH at some point, so I don't know everything that went down. So, Ric/Rick Hearst has been on the show at the same time as Nina. Was he with Cynthia Watros' Nina, or with Michelle Stafford's? (And it's weird how I thought to pair Ric and Nina with no idea at all about their prior history, lol). This is when we need to throw up the bat signal to Vanessa Marcil. Brenda easily could sweep back in, toss Natalia out on her bigoted ass and help Sonny through his medical crisis (while still exchanging verbal barbs with Carly).

Half-hour soaps on streaming are fine, but I think 15-minute ones would be even better. I still think Quibi might have survived, had they turned to experienced soap scribes and producers and developed 10-15 minute soaps for their app. IMO, soaps (and sitcoms) are a good way to develop a loyal subscriber base, more so than limited series or even one-hour dramas.

I, too, suspect it might have been a contractual thing. P&G wanted the Dobsons to take over ATWT, and for Marland to take over GL, but the timing wasn't right yet. I'd even venture a guess that Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt stepped down (or was fired) sooner than planned, and because the Dobsons still weren't ready to switch shows, Marland's 13-week stint was a stopgap measure in order to keep ATWT from being without a HW until the Dobsons' arrival.

Words fail me on this one.

If nothing else, I hope BTG proves to be successful enough to inspire CBS (and other networks) to invest in more, new soap operas. Maybe they can't produce them on the same scale as they did 20-30 years ago - maybe we have to go all the way back to small casts and sets that consist of nothing more than doors and windows being hung on darkly painted walls by piano wires - but the genre is too important to our culture to let fade away completely.

For sure, I would kill off Drew. Willow either doesn't remember killing Drew, or she DOES remember and is wracked with guilt about it. Either way, Nina elects to take the rap in order to protect her daughter. She spends some time in jail, where she's reunited with Madeline. I'd need to sit down and figure out how to make it all work, but I'd have Ric serve as Nina's attorney throughout this process, thereby laying the groundwork for an eventual Ric/Nina union. Eventually, the truth would come out, Nina would be released and Willow would be shipped off to prison. Nina would be devastated, of course, but Ric would be there for her, especially after they receive word that Willow was killed after several inmates attacked her.

Ooh, I didn't consider her! That's a strong possibility, too.

I just saw him portray the dumbest man on Earth in the Tubi original movie, "Sugar Mama."

I wonder if that was Amy Kaslo?

The Drew/Nina/Willow/Michael storyline had the makings of classic drama - so, of course, Frank & Co. had to mess it all up with their usual, simplistic writing. Sigh.

Between the stable of stable boys, the 'ho who was 'ho'in' out of her bachelorette pad and Lorie Brooks becoming Genoa City's answer to Barbi Benton, it was THE YOUNG AND THE HOLY COW!!!!!!!

I'll take him back, but only under one condition, and that's that he does something with THAT HAIR. My God.

I get that the show wishes to keep Doug alive in some fashion, but this is a story that should have been told while Bill Hayes was still alive and able to work (and not before reuniting Doug with his son first). Lord, I hate to see how they'd handle Tommy Horton's death and Thomasina Horton's introduction, lol.

As Dorothy Parker once said, "She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B." And in Eden's case, I'm not even sure about the B.

From the looks of things: turning himself into Grandpa Walton.

One idea that I had had (out of many) for GL's final weeks: Phillip and Rick have a falling-out over something - can't remember what anymore - and each is visited by the spirit of their deceased mom - Leslie, for Rick; Jackie, for Phillip - in the hopes of getting the two men to patch things up. In a perfect world, Lynne Adams would've agreed to return as Leslie, and Cindy Pickett would've returned as Jackie. That was about as far as I was willing to go in terms of bringing back either character. Sounds a lot like this lady I've known all my life (hi, Mom!).

Of course, the '80's will always hold a special place in my heart, because that's when I was first introduced to the genre through the several soaps I watched with my mother. But I do think there was a theatrical quality to the writing for most soaps in the '70's that has been sadly missing since then. Back then, it seems, soaps had writers who had come up through the stage and through radio, so special attention was placed on how dialogue was tailored specifically to character and to actor. Nowadays, when you listen to the dialogue on B&B, DAYS, GH, Y&R, it all sounds so clunky and interchangeable, written more to be quoted on social media (by writers whose knowledge of good writing comes only through other TV shows) than to illuminate characters' feelings and motivations. If I had one piece of advice for anyone working today in soaps or who wants to work in soaps, it would be this: READ. Read books. Read plays. Read short stories. Read newspapers and magazines and even billboards you pass along the highway, if that's what strikes your fancy. But read. (And for God's sake: READ YOUR SCRIPTS ALOUD. Your ears are your best guide to knowing what sounds stupid coming out of someone's mouth.)

Well, I'd argue that just about any other writer's work would look terrific next to the Pollocks' - but I get your point, lol. That surprised me, too. I've seen little of Lemay's work on TD, but what I have seen...just kind of lays there. I think that was due partly to the usual network/sponsor interference and weak leadership, but if I'm being honest, I also don't think many of the actors on the show were really that good.

Ah, okay. Well, I guess that covers most of the bases. Nevertheless, I wish we had been introduced - or, rather, RE-introduced - to Dougie/Charles before meeting this son no one knew beans about before last week.