Khan

Yep, right on the Universal Studios lot, lol. By the time Angela Lansbury assumes full control, MSW is pretty much studio- and backlot-bound. There are also more close-ups and two-person shots to cover the fact that Angela herself was available to shoot her scenes only certain days during the week.

I can sorta believe Rauch being against the clone story. Even at its' wackiest (and that's including the time-travel [!@#$%^&*] - which, as I understand, got seriously derailed by the WGA strike and did not air as originally written), Rauch's OLTL still had at least one foot in reality.

Of all the cockamamie businesses I have watched on the soaps over the years, Second Chances has to be among the most cockamamie.

I mean, I get that Chris McKenna probably doesn't want to commit to soaps again full-time, but...yeesh...this is the second time (Y&R being the first) that a soap has snagged him for a role (or in this case, a recast) that amounts to a huge-ass waste of time.

It's precisely what @Vee had predicted when the announcement was made that The Real Joey Buchanan would be the new Brennan: that he was just there to run out the character's clock and send him packing (presumably, with a bullet or three in his back).

I especially love the last shot with Donna Mills and Jane Elliot. A match made in soaps fan heaven, lol. It's really a shame how the (SAG?) strike cut short JE's run on the show - although, TBF, she probably wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. Paul Rudd - no, not THAT Paul Rudd - was such a bad choice to play Earl, and I'm still struggling all these years later to understand why Gary would have had an affair with Judy other than 1) she was there and 2) they weren't ready to pull the pin on Gary/Abby just yet. In a perfect world, however, Judy would have returned in S3 or 4 - this time, as Val's editor on "Capricorn Crude." (She would've been divorced from Earl by that point, but had used his connections in the publishing industry to land herself her cushy, new gig). Just imagine the conflicts that would've come out of Val trying to put aside her residual hurt feelings over Gary and Judy's affair in order to finish her book, all while she, Judy and Lilimae get wise to Gary's latest affair with Abby.

The start of a new, sleeker, more budget-conscious era for MSW, with Dame Angela (along with her family) firmly in charge. Although Cabot Cove and its' denizens remain a recurring favorite, the humor and folksiness of the first 7-8 seasons is gone, as MSW becomes more sophisticated, more continental, more ready for the '90's.

S&TC is pretty much what David Jacobs wanted originally for KL: a weekly exploration of sexual mores in the modern world; only Jacobs wanted to view it all through the lens of four married couples rather than through four single women.

To me, KL faced the same dilemma with Michael (and with PP) that they faced with Sid/Don Murray: what do you do with a terribly nice person who has no edge and is a sucker for every bottled blonde who bats their eyes his way?

You know, I actually had to stop and look up which movie you were talking about? Which shows you just how little I know about the horror movie genre, lol.

Don't get me wrong, @All My Shadows: I wouldn't have minded Ginger staying on (although, Kenny might be another matter entirely, lol), but at the same time, I find myself at the same loss with her that I do with Joshua - specifically, where do you go with her (once she and Kenny have divorced)? She couldn't have continued as a schoolteacher, because that, too, would've been a dead end. Could she have worked for Gary or Greg?

I like the parallels you've made between KL and GG! Another might be between KL and "Designing Women": Karen/Julia, Val/Charlene, Laura/Mary Jo and Abby/Suzanne.

TBH, it shocks me to know that Tammy Bruce has a kinda-sorta connection to soaps or soap stars. Then again, I'm still reeling from the idea that Cheryl [!@#$%^&*] Hines is married to RFK Jr.

Ah, yes, I remember it well, lol. "School for Scandal" aired early in the second season. IIRC, Jessica was invited to give the commencement speech at some university. Of course, once she arrives and gets to know all the players, some bastard turns up dead (in a pile of garbage, I think?) and it's up to her to "assist" the local authorities in uncovering the killer's identity. (I won't reveal "whodunnit" in case you haven't seen it yet, but know that it is someone pictured in that ad.) As far as MSW's go, "Scandal" is routine, among neither the series' best nor worst. There's a "shocking revelation" regarding an authoress' true identity that I kinda saw coming. Otherwise, it's not a bad way to kill 40-odd minutes (no pun intended, lol).

Of course, this begs the question: what could they have done with Joshua (and Cathy) if he hadn't gone off the rails? Keeping him in the ministry would've been a dead end, story-wise, because there would've been no way for the producers to tie that arena in with everything else on the show. So, what could they have done with Joshua? Could he have left the ministry and maybe become an attorney like Mack? Or followed in Ben's footsteps and become a journalist/news producer? Or gone to work for Gary and Abby at Gary Ewing Enterprises? Or joined the police force and become KL's resident cop? (I could see a story where Joshua, new to the force, has to protect Cathy from a stalker). Or maybe just decide to become Cathy's manager/record producer, thus plunging KL once again into the recording industry? The issues @Franko and @Vee raise regarding Dr. Ackerman, Scott Easton and Paul Galveston's roles in Bobby and Betsy's kidnapping illustrate the drawback with the storytelling on most primetime soaps. Because there's only so much time per episode or per week to tell these stories, beats often get left out, thereby making it seem as if the producers don't have all their ducks in a row, and leaving it to the audience to fill in the blanks. Also, in the case of this particular storyline, it's probably important to remember what the producers' original intentions were (to have Abby be an active, knowing participant in the twins' kidnapping) and how they had to scramble and rewrite after Donna Mills (rightfully) objected to Abby doing something so venal to a fellow mother (especially considering how Abby's own kids had been kidnapped years before); so, some characters' exact motives likely got muddied a bit.

I feel like that could be the beginning of a really good episode of...

You know you're on a long, strange trip when Cliff Abbott says he wants you to "join us."

I'll bet some passers-by were like, "WTF is Leslie Brooks doing in the middle of the street!?"

Among other projects, lol.

Why would you inflict that man upon any viewer, lol?

I'd be okay with about 90 percent of Y&R's cast being gone completely, lol.

For some reason, I've always pictured Dietrich Lindsey* as one of three actors: Jack Betts, Keene Curtis, or Charles Keating. A man who was older than Holly, obviously, who was dashing and very "continental," for lack of a better word. Just as I've pictured Birgitta Tolksdorf (ex-Arlene, LOL) joining the show as another one of his ex-wives, who has been a thorn in Holly's side for years. (*Lord, what an awful name.)

True, lol!

I'm sorry, but didn't Roger Howarth also play a rapist (Franco) on GH? Regardless, he must be the most typecast actor in daytime history, lol.