Khan

Yes (to the bolded part)! I, too, would love to get my hands on a copy of Marland's TSS bible. What little we know about it - a PA steel town setting; a smaller cast - sounds very intriguing.

He's not the only one, lol! On the one hand, I'm glad they found a purpose for Drew that isn't just as Jason's one-time twin brother. Plus, as I've been saying since God-knows-when, Cameron Mathison just works better as a smarmy bastard than he does as a noble guy. However, I'm worried that they've gone so far with his unscrupulousness that they've written him into a corner. I doubt Frank Valentini is eager or ready to let him go, but I feel like GH has another Wes Ramsey/Peter August situation on their hands.

Trust me, @Soapsuds, you won't be disappointed. MSW changes somewhat after Peter S. Fischer's departure as EP/showrunner - it becomes less folksy, for lack of a better word, and more sophisticated - but it never becomes so watered down to the point of being unwatchable, and that's due strictly to Angela Lansbury.

Thanks for the link, @daysgoby. I'm always eager to dive into more of Henry Slesar's stuff. He was such an amazing writer, capable of writing just about any kind of story, but always written with real intelligence and wit.

I agree. Brandon Stoddard, who ran ABC throughout the latter part of the '80's, was responsible for that move away from the sort of glossy programming that had defined the network in the '70's and early '80's, largely because he saw how NBC had become #1 by focusing more on shows that had more substance than ABC's. Plus, as much as some folks say they prefer their entertainment to be more escapist, I think it's hard to lose oneself in a frothy little show like DYNASTY, when so many people you know and care about are dying of a disease (like AIDS) that their own government refuses even to acknowledge, let alone find a remedy for. (Sound familiar, ladies and gents, lol?) The thing is, DYNASTY was a more complex show in its' first season, but were the Shapiros up to the challenge of writing that kind of show? Honestly, I have my doubts.

As would I, lol! RS would've had a ball on that show!

Listen, I stand by my belief that Tony and Bobbie were too far gone ever to reunite, but if a scenario like yours had played out, with proper handling and time, I would've been willing at least to see where a Tony/Bobbie reunion could've gone! Good work!

When you think about all the wonderful people we lost in 2024, it really reminds you that no one - no matter how rich or famous or INfamous they are - is immune to death; that it is so important to make each and every day we have count; and that our ultimate purpose in this life is to try and leave the world a little better than how we came into it.

That's certainly true for DYNASTY, lol. In rewatching the final season, I noticed that reduced budgets and changing times kinda forced David Paulsen and his team to try and dig deeper into the characters, but the problem was that DYNASTY's characters had become so one-dimensional, and the general acting style had become SO stylized, that even attempting to bring some substance into a show that had become so damaged after several years of bad or no storytelling was just impossible. If DYNASTY really wanted to last into the '90's, then it needed to be gutted and revamped. Similarly, if KL had any chance at all of lasting beyond 1993 - which I don't think was possible even under the best circumstances - then it needed to redefine itself for the new decade. It needed to get away from the "big business" storylines that had defined the Lechowicks' era, and maybe even needed to do away with characters like Gary and Greg as well. It needed to get more personal, and possibly bring more of a procedural element into the storytelling, such as having a major character work as a cop or doctor at a local hospital.

I've heard two, very conflicting stories about Liz's rape and the writers' intentions. One was that Tony was intended to be the rapist; the other was that they never intended her rapist to be found. I don't know how true either of those stories are, but it does suggest that TPTB interfered somewhat as the story rolled out.

For some reason, I can't see Peter Dunne or even David Paulsen doing what amounted to a Lifetime Original Movie-esque storyline for Jill. Dunne, in particular, seemed above doing cheap, exploitative stories where one woman goes psycho because she's lost her man to another woman. But I definitely agree that they would've played the fallout more than the Lechowicks did. I've always looked at that as KNOTS recognizing that the '80's and all their excesses were over, and that their characters, like much of the country, had to readjust to the scaled-down, more down-to-earth '90's.

Vanessa needn't have bothered with a new dress to impress or entice Matt (and Paul). Everyone knows her Wanchai Ferry heat-and-eat Chinese dinners are what bring the boys to her yard (IYKYK).

I think it was @vetsoapfan who said HTSAM was too didactic in the beginning; that HW Anne Howard Bailey was more concerned with making social statements than she was with actual storytelling; and that it got better once Rick Edelstein took over, but by that point, it was too late. It's always incredible to me how NBCD arguably posed a real threat to CBSD's dominance in the early '70's; and yet, they blew it completely with some very stupid programming moves.

Well, that's interesting (that Lar Park Lincoln was supposed to play Amanda), lol. I'd have to agree. Of course, I think that was bad storytelling. I mean, why shroud Gary's new "mystery woman" in virtual darkness for eight episodes if it doesn't lead to a bombshell reveal (and no, the fact that Amanda was Danny's ex-wife and the twins' preschool teacher is not it, lol)? To me, it's kinda like Chekhov's Gun: if you're gonna introduce a gun in the first act of your script, it better go off in the third; and if you're gonna plunge Gary Ewing into yet another, ill-fated love affair with someone whose face isn't revealed right away - and right on the heels of Jill's "murder" - it better tie back to Jill or bear some other significance on Gary's life. Otherwise, you're just [!@#$%^&*] with people. Another reason why I wanted Julie Harris to return for S14: so Lilimae could make snide, passive-aggressive comments about Gary's "pretty young thing," as she bulldozes over Kate and helps Gary look after the twins after Val's "death."

For me, the problem with Valentin (besides the fact that JPS won't sign a [!@#$%^&*] long-term contract - which is nuts, because, c'mon, Jimmy, you're so much better than short-lived sitcoms on Disney+) is that the writers WANT him to be a pivotal character with layers, but there are only two of those layers, and both are so damn extreme. If he's the villain, then he's the moustache-twirling kind who's motivated solely by the needs of the plot; and if he's the tortured romantic hero, he's the kind who's so wimpy (with that [!@#$%^&*] piano-playing) that he makes Spinelli look like Jason! And I love characters who have a lot of sides to show, but GMAFB!

To me, those - characters who do awful things with the best intentions - are the best kind to write for and to watch, because they're just so much more "real" than characters who do awful things strictly because that's what the plot dictates (yes, ghosts of Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock, I'm looking dead at you, lol). The thing is, Tony Jones NEEDED a redemption arc. We needed to see him - slowly, and not without struggles - rebuild his life, with a new marriage and maybe even a new family, too. (Frankly, I felt too much damage had been done to his and Bobbie's marriage for them to go back to being anything more than close friends). We needed to see that as tragic as B.J.'s death was for him, it also sent him on a journey that led him ultimately to happiness. And I think that's where Guza/Riche had intended to go with Tony - at least, I think that's what they had promised Brad Maule at the start - but backstage issues between EP and HW, not to mention network interference, just got in the way.

I'd agree, except poor Suzi had been through enough loss already. She'd lost her bio dad, Doug; then, she lost her mom, Eunice; and now, she's without the man who'd been like a father to her for her entire life. Add her estrangement from stepsister/close friend Wendy over Warren Carter, Stephanie's murder and her own killing, which left Jo as Jonah's sole living relative on his mother's side, and it just makes for a really sad and pitiful trajectory.

I'm not entirely convinced that the Lechowicks didn't intend for Teri Austin to return as "Sally's Friend"/Amanda, either as Jill in disguise, or as a lookalike, similar to how Lisa Hartman had returned as Cathy after playing Ciji. Even if you ignore the fact that her voice sounded at first like Austin's, the fact that they were pulling a "Richard Diamond, Private Eye," showing Amanda only in silhouette at first, or in extreme close-ups that didn't give away her entire appearance, suggests that they wanted to shroud her in a little bit of mystery, so that we would be shocked when we (and Gary) actually "met" her for the first time ("OMG, it's Jill!").

No slight against Philip McKeon, but I really hate that they replaced Alfred Lutter after the pilot (unless, of course, he chose to leave, which I could understand). For one, he was the original Tommy, in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," so he provided a sort of bridge of continuity between the two properties. For another, he just looked and sounded more like a real-life teen to me, bratty and awkward-looking and not entirely comfortable in his own skin.

I believe it. Before "Alice" and "One Day at a Time," single mothers on primetime TV had few, if any, financial worries. Even "Julia," which y'all have mentioned already, depicted a single mom who never appeared to be hurting for cash (judging by Diahann Carroll's fabulous wardrobe, lol). I also like how you mention that Alice and Tommy kept it real with each other, @All My Shadows. Alice and Tommy could joke around with each other, but it was clear that Alice was the parent, and that her first priority was seeing to it that Tommy had an education and was prepared for the real world.

Does he NEED to be an Aussie? Jax could return with no accent and I, for one, would not care. I wanted to recast him after Ingo's first scene, but that's neither here nor there, lol.

And if TPTB at GH/ABCD are interested, I have a couple of suggestions, lol!

The melody, as written by Dave Grusin, is phenomenal. The run-on lyrics? Not so much.

Poor "Magnum, P.I." Just a few years before, it practically was the hottest show on TV. By 1986/87, however, even a Bob Hope Christmas special is doing better numbers than they are, lol.

Frankly, @Soaplovers, David Canary was in no condition by that point to participate more in the revival than he did. Also, I think it would've been much more compelling to see Brooke and Erica attempt to co-host a "Hoda & Kathie Lee"-like chatfest, with "the network" believing that their history and chemistry would make for "appointment television," lol.