Khan

I think so. Next to Luke and Laura, the Lesley/Rick/Monica/Alan quadrangle was (and still is) GH's most memorable storyline, and probably the story that catapulted GH to the top of the ratings, too. Denise Alexander and Chris Robinson were available at that point, so I can understand P&G's wish to lure in GH viewers by hiring them. (Frankly, I think they would've done better to lure away actors from either ATWT or OLTL, since those were their time slot competitors, but I digress). Unfortunately, P&G believed that the mere act of hiring them would be enough to attract and keep new viewers. It never dawned on them that viewers don't just want to see their favorites on screen again; they also want to see them supported by good writing, too.

I've been saying for weeks that people who claim they aren't going to vote for Biden next year never intended to. They only needed an excuse not to; and sadly, the Gaza conflict has provided them with one. I've also been saying that it's easy for people on the far-left to say, "I'm not voting for Biden, because the lesser of two evils is still evil," because, what do they really have to lose? Even if Trump is re-elected, life can go on more or less as it's always gone for them, for obvious reasons. For people like me, however, who are also people of color, or who are gay/trans/nonbinary people, or who are non-Christians, letting Trump back into the WH means literal death for us. So, basically, the message that the far-left is sending to me is, "I don't give a [!@#$%^&*] about you, you're on your own." Which only proves that the horseshoe theory of politics is correct.

I've always assumed he signed on for a number of episodes, and when those episodes were done, so was he. But I could be wrong, lol. Personally, I don't think the show needed him.

LOL!! When Y&R premiered, in 1973, the country was undergoing tremendous social and political upheaval. Our youth was upending norms of all kinds. Their changing outlook, in turn, informed a lot of Y&R's initial storylines. By that same token, in 1983, as we were in the midst of the Reagan era, the country was once again experiencing change, as economic disparities were, in a sense, creating TWO Americas: one, for its' wealthiest citizens; and the other, for everyone else. (The more things change, lol). I feel like LOVING should have taken advantage of the moment and delved more into the economic conflicts of the period. Soaps had been built on contrasting families for the longest time, but by the time LOVING premiered, you had an opportunity to explore the economic inequalities that defined most families in this country like never before. You could do more than just pay lip service to the idea of one family being rich and one being poor; you could dramatize on a daily basis what that really means, at a time when it's foremost on your audience's minds. And yeah, they should have come up with a better-sounding title for their show, too.

Exactly. Every show is a family show, and every story is a love story. But why THIS family, or families? Why THIS love story? If all you've got for GENERATIONS is, "Well, one of the main families on the show is black," well, so what? What is so unique about THIS black family? Even "The Cosby Show" wasn't JUST about a black family. What separated it from other black sitcoms was that it was about a black family that was (a) headed by two, college-educated professionals who (b) commanded and demanded respect from their children without resorting to violence or threats of violence. (IOW, you didn't have Cliff or Clair threatening to get their belts whenever one of their kids talked back to them). Not so unusual among black families IRL, but definitely not what audiences, black AND white, were used to seeing on TV in 1984.

I think William Gray Espy and James Houghton were so perfectly cast as Snapper and Greg, respectively, that all the actors who succeeded them in their roles pale by comparison. Truly, John Conboy and Bill Bell did an excellent job casting not just those actors but all the actors in the Brooks and Foster families.

And he might have, too, if he had hired the right people to create, develop and produce SUNSET BEACH. If that was his one, big stab at giving us a Bell-styled soap, then he should've hired people like Kay Alden and Edward Scott. (In fact, now that I think about it, he DID hire Wes Kenney initially, but for some reason, it didn't work out).

DALLAS always wanted to be a modern-day Arthurian saga, and that promo does a very fine job of suggesting as much without overselling.

Perhaps you're right. As far as the thirty-minute, non-Bell-produced soaps go, I think CAPITOL had one of the stronger pitches: the saga of two of Washington, D.C.'s most prominent families, linked together by history and star-crossed romance. There, you have the multi-generational, family drama, set against the backdrop of U.S. politics, with romance and intrigue of all sorts implied. Even if the actual show often came up short, the whole "the passion for power...the power of passion" motif still encouraged the uninitiated at least to sample it. Again, as I've said before, all GENERATIONS seemed to be saying was, "Hey, Blacks are people, too!".

As James Burrows (?) once said, the beauty about the "Cheers" opening is how it gave you the impression of the bar as a place you'd want to hang out at every week; when, in fact, the bar was filled with miserable folks who often ridiculed and insulted each other. Yet, because of the theme song, everyone still remembers the bar as The Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name. Ironically, I think if you were to strip away the "whites vs. blacks" angle, switch out some of the other visuals with those like what we saw on "Cheers," but otherwise kept the theme as it was/is, the concept behind the GENERATIONS theme/opening would have fit much better on RYAN'S HOPE, showing how the bar, the family that owns it and its' regulars have been constants through decades of tumultuous change. Much more appropriate for that show, I think, than RH's actual openings (which didn't even feature the bar!). And the thing is, all TPTB needed to do was to bring back/update the "Autumn Breeze" opening, with an ambulance speeding past present-day GH. It still works on so many levels. It can be brief, which is a plus in a day and age that's all about squeezing in more time for ads; there aren't any cast member shots, so no need to update or rotate every contract cycle (which saves money!); and it can evoke all sorts of emotions for viewers both longtime and new. Even an opening like DAYS' hourglass opening still works, because of what it conjures up for the audience: family, tradition, high romance, DRAMA!!! The DAYS of 2023 is a far, far cry from the DAYS of 1965, but that theme and opening provides some sense of continuity to the show, serving as a bridge of sorts between "old" and "new." (If only they had kept the version of the theme song that played during the "Melaswen" arc....). GENERATIONS was a show that was CRYING OUT for a theme song performed by Jeffrey Osborne or Patti Austin, not an "Entertainer" soundalike. On the one hand, I feel sorry for Sally Sussman, who had to watch her creation die a quick, ignoble death. But, on the other hand, I don't think NBC was so reticent about the show because of its' integrated canvas. I think that tells only part of the story behind their decision to axe the show after only two years. If it had been better made, by people who had had a stronger track record for that type of soap (like, say, Agnes Nixon?), I think NBC would have stuck it out a little longer and weathered whatever controversies came their way. But, the fact is, I think the network recognized right away that they had been sold a bill of goods - I mean, really, Sally, the main (African-American) family on your show runs an ice cream company??? - and just looked for the first opportunity to bail without it looking as if they were dumping it because half the cast happened to be Black.

Exactly. The opening theme and visuals did not match the show's content at all. Even promos for GENERATIONS (created by NBC's own ad department!) could be misleading. As one poster mentioned eons ago, the writing for the African-American characters was often "safe" and bland. Yet, the promos suggested that the show, and its' AA contingent, had more "soul" than "Soul Train"! I also agree that making the Marshalls the proprietors of a chain of ice cream parlors was a stupid idea. I mean, who the [!@#$%^&*] CARES about an ice cream company? If I had created GENERATIONS, I think I would've been inspired to make the family business either "Marshall Communications," which would have been a conglomerate of newspapers, TV and radio stations throughout the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast regions; or a company that manufactured hair care products and cosmetics for the so-called "urban market" (sort of a Black Jabot, if you will).

The Dobsons' return didn't help either. They wanted to pretend the past 2-3 years hadn't happened, but SaBa was too far gone.

I didn't think there was anything wrong with the premise of Bobby returning home with his father's nemesis's daughter as his new bride. I just think they should've followed through with their original plan to kill him off and make Pam, as his widow, the chief protagonist against J.R.

So, Victor Newman gets the upper hand on Barbara Ryan. It's like I'm having some sort of acid freakout and all these CBS Daytime stars are merging into one show. What's next? Will Dr. Ed Bauer from GL tend to Nick's paper cut of a wound?

Part of me can't stop laughing at the notion of OTT Jordan hiding inside the air vents like the villain in a Lifetime Original Movie. Of course, Michael did the same thing when he was stalking Crick --, er, Christine, but it wasn't nearly as silly as Jordan.

The thing about Bill Bell was, most of the time, whenever a particular story wasn't working, and he knew better than anyone when a story wasn't working, he'd drop it ASAP and move on. Very rarely did he keep pursuing something that wasn't clicking either with himself or with his audiences.

It depends on when NBC announced that they were cancelling AW. If the announcement was made after the show had fired Littlefield, then the show probably realized it wouldn't make sense to recast, knowing they had only so much time left before the finale, so they effectively re-hired him. Anyway, that's my guess.

Well, that's important to know, because if I had been in David Paulsen's shoes, I would've negotiated some way for her to return - if not for the full season, then at least for part of it.

I think Wings Hauser and David Hasselhoff should have switched roles, with Hauser playing Snapper and Hasselhoff playing Greg.

The best opening sequences give you a sense of the show you're about to watch. The openings for the Bell shows, for example, really push the notions of youth, glamour, vitality. You know you're gonna watch beautiful people suffer beautifully. GH's classic opening, with the ambulance speeding past the hospital, lets you know that their show is about action and excitement. Even if the actual show has little to nothing to DO with medical drama anymore, the opening still keeps you on the edge of your seat. But what does GENERATIONS' opening really tell you about the show, other than blacks are people, too? It doesn't evoke anything other than an AP History lesson. They could have followed RYAN'S HOPE's lead and just showcased both black and white characters cavorting around the streets of Chicago and it would've given the audience a better sense of the show.

I agree. I think they would have incorporated an oblique reference or two to the tragedy, with characters mentioning it briefly in dialogue; but aside from the one-year anniversary tribute that you've mentioned, @Mona Kane Croft, I don't see them incorporating the actual event into ongoing stories.

I agree. Also: fans have the patience to sit through a story that unfolds slowly, but not if the story is told badly.

Again, ratings were dropping across the board for all soaps. Apparently, TPTB didn't take that into account.

I agree. Instead of feeling sorry for Claire, I want her to (be exposed as a fraud and then) disappear (and take her "aunt" with her). It's as if the man is afraid CBS and/or Sony will interfere, so he's telling stories as fast as he can before they get the chance. "Yeah, Josh, about this Claire being Eve business -- " "Too late! It's already wrapped up and now she's moved onto having Chance's baby!"

Yes. IIRC, Carl noticed the scars while laying in bed with "Rachel" and realized she was Justine.