Khan

As best as I can piece together, Douglas Marland wanted Jane Elliot to play Samantha. On the one hand, seeing JE spar on-screen with the likes of Elizabeth Hubbard and (maybe) Terry Lester sounds heavenly. On the OTHER hand, I'm not sure how convincing JE would have been as Lucinda's half-sister. But that might be my painful memories of Brooke Alexander clouding the whole issue. (I, myself, would have brought JE on as Carly and Rosanna's mom, Sheila Washburn Cabot.) Actually, I think it was a little of both. JE was joining ATWT, but if TSS had been sold to a network, then she likely would have (left ATWT and) joined that show, too. IIRC, Douglas Marland had it in mind to pair her with Lane Davies (ex-Mason, SaBa) on his show, believing the two would have worked well together.

Which is kind of a shame, because, whenever I think of DALLAS, I think of 1950's melodramas like "Giant," or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," or "Written on the Wind"; just as I felt DYNASTY should have taken inspiration from movies like "Magnificent Obsession" or "Peyton Place."

I think it was a combination of two things: not keeping up with the times, and not having a showrunner who knew KL. I do believe things improved when Ann Marcus returned, but I also agree that KL would have needed to evolve once more - perhaps, do away with the business storylines and become more like "Sisters" or "thirtysomething" - if it had had any hopes of surviving past 1993.

It's not just you, lol. For sure, I think Suzanne Rogers' real-life health issues played a part in the show's conscious choice to de-emphasize Mickey and Maggie, but I also think TPTB had a hard time figuring out how the two could have fit into the kind of show DAYS had become by the '80's. As we saw, it was really easy to slot Marlena into those action/adventure storylines through her relationships with Roman, Bo, etc. But, as it was with Doug and Julie, I think it was just hard to write those kind of stories for Mickey and Maggie without making them look foolish. It's a good thing, though, that Melissa, Neil, Liz, Marie and (for awhile) Don also were on the canvas, or else Mickey and Maggie would have had literally nothing at all to do.

Does anyone know which role she was expected to play? I know JC leaving Y&R for ATWT would have been HUGE for WT, but for the life of me, I can't imagine how she might have fit on that canvas. I mean, it was weird enough seeing Terry Lester on there after seeing him on Y&R and SaBa (and interacting with Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Kay Adams and Richard Bekins) - not to mention, the thought that Jane Elliot came very close to joining the show as well before Douglas Marland's death changed everything. What I would have loved to have seen was Y&R's Jill possibly hooking up with B&B's Thorne or Ridge, and Kay warning Stephanie to keep her sons away from that tramp, lol.

I think there were positives to every season of KL (including S13, lol). Seasons 4-6, however, are probably when KL was at its' most consistent, and most consistently entertaining. Later seasons had their moments, too, but their highs never matched those achieved by Peter Dunne and his team. I'm able to overlook it as well. Just as I was able to overlook the whole "Verna Ellers" thing, because, even though it looks like another stall for time on its' surface, it's actually executed quite well, and provides enough focus on Val's psychology to explain why, after everything she had endured, she simply created a whole new identity for herself.

There was a time when DAYS could sucker-punch you with emotional stuff better than any other soap on the air. That scene and montage was a nice reminder of what DAYS used to be. I miss it (and Bill Hayes/Doug) so much.

Unfortunately, I suspect the AMC Christmas movie was DOA about ten minutes after the media had reported on it. Granted, I wasn't looking forward to the movie anymore than I was to that dreadful-sounding Pine Valley-meets-Riverdale reboot, but I think the media needs to back off on reporting anytime someone gets a wild idea to revive this-or-that series. For one thing, less than half of such notions ever make it past the "tentative talks" stage in the entertainment industry. For another, all that the media's reporting is actually doing is just pissing off those who truly care about seeing their favorite shows and characters again, and who are left disappointed when it doesn't come to pass.

I agree. Jacobs and his team were smart not to rush Karen into another relationship, or rush to replace Don Murray as the show's de-facto patriarch. (Contrast their approach with that of "Eight is Enough". On that show, Joan Bradford dies between the first and second seasons (on account of Diana Hyland's real-life passing, which had occurred before the end of S1, IIRC) and Tom spends maybe a half-dozen episodes as a widower before he and Abby, who (IIRC) was introduced in the first or second episode of S2, get hitched. IMO, that was entirely too soon.) LOL!! It made sense for Karen (and Mack) to investigate, though, since they were the show's tentpole couple. It's just unfortunate that that has to happen AFTER Karen's health concerns and surgery are dealt with. In fact, it's probably the only part of that season that I don't like, because her health crisis feels like something the show contrived in order to keep Karen from putting the pieces of Betsy and Bobby's kidnapping together sooner. IOW, it's plot-driven, not character-driven, which I HATE. At the very least, I would have had Karen investigating the kidnappings while still grappling with the after-effects of the shooting from the previous season's cliffhanger. Imagine: Karen knows there's a good chance she'll die from those bullet fragments or whatever, or at least she'll become paralyzed for life. Yet, she keeps ignoring the signs, along with Mack's pleading, because finding Val's babies are much more important to her at that point than even her own health.

ICAM. I've always looked at S3 as a transitional season. Wading through the non-continuing elements can be a chore, but it was necessary in terms of laying the groundwork for what KL would become. The first part of S4 feels like "old" KL to me as well, just with drama that's higher-pitched, thanks to the Gary/Val/Abby triangle. KL as we all know and love it doesn't really begin until the moment Ciji Dunne's lifeless body washes up on the shore. As I've said before, that's the moment when KL as it was "dies" and KL as it is remembered is born.

I agree. David Jacobs wanted KL to be an exploration of how the laid-back, anything-goes lifestyle of the late 1970's had impacted the institution of marriage - a time when the notion of marital fidelity was being questioned and redefined - but I think he learned along the way that what might have made for an interesting made-for-TV movie or miniseries might have been harder to sustain as a weekly series, especially when the attitude that married people could have sexual relationships outside of marriage without consequences guarantees that you'll likely end up with domestic drama minus the drama. Moreover, even with all the taboos being broken, network television remained very conservative, so unless CBS was going to allow Jacobs to explore issues like mate-swapping, for example, in ways that weren't juvenile or exploitative, there's no way KL, or Jacobs' original vision for it, would have lasted beyond a season or two. Network TV wasn't ready in 1979 for a series that was that honest about marriage, nor would it be ready 'til eight years later, when "thirtysomething" premiered on ABC.

The only reason why Beverlee McKinsey's taller than the other women in that commercial is because of her hair.

Wow! Thanks, @te., I had no idea the complete series was available online!

I agree! Michael Filerman and David Jacobs knew KL needed to get soapier if the show was to survive. Yet, throughout S3, they remained skittish, which is why (IMO) the season can come across as a hybrid of anthology series and all-out soap opera. In a way, though, I don't blame them for feeling skittish. They tried to "soap up" KL the previous season, but it was much too soon, and it was done without any clear idea of how to go about it, too.

I, myself, would love to see "All's Fair," a short-lived sitcom, starring Bernadette Peters and Richard Crenna (and a very young Michael Keaton). I'm sure it had its' flaws - most of Lear's stuff outside of "All in the Family" and "Maude" did - but the premise sounds very intriguing to me (basically, a May-December romance between a young liberal and older conservative) and it was written and produced by some very good comedy writers as well.

Who, in my book, would have transitioned after struggling with their gender identity as a youth.

Another stunning loss for the daytime community. Thom Christopher and Carlo Hesser were both one-of-a-kind. My condolences to everyone who knew him. (Man, this is turning out to be a real shitty year for soaps fans.)

Maybe, but I think it never was easy to watch WN portray a "bad guy." To me, it was like watching Kevin Costner portray a villain. Both seemed to be innately decent gentlemen who might have flaws, but who never could be nefarious.

ICAM!!

My thoughts, exactly, lol!

Whenever I hear or read about "My Sister Sam," I'm always reminded of Diane English's comments about the show on her Archive of American Television interview. Basically, she took the EP job, because (IIRC) she was under contract to Warner Bros., which produced MSS; and even though she and her team of writers managed to make the show work, they actually were relieved when the show was cancelled, because producing the show was just so arduous. (English alluded to there being a toxic environment on the set. She doesn't name any names, but I kind of suspect Pam Dawber was a source of a lot of the tension).

I'm not sure I should reveal this, but that might have been the point when Claire Labine began to fall asleep during story conferences.

And for all the reasons that "Donna" said, too. There did come a point when DALLAS became repetitive and boring, and when DYNASTY ceased being anything other than camp and parody. But KL kept it as "real" as they could throughout most of its' run, and they never were afraid to evolve or shake up their audience either. Were their tactics successful? Not always. Nevertheless, I appreciated that KL was willing to do whatever it took not to fall into the same traps that DALLAS, DYNASTY and FC did.

Maybe it's because EON was not your average soap, but I found (and still find) Henry Slesar's writing to be so refreshingly ADULT.

No one, really. But it is nice to see Joe Biden thumb his nose a little at the GOP on his way out the door. #smallvictory