Khan

I think people fooled themselves with the notion that anything that was streamed could be streamed forever; it can't. Streamers, I'm sorry to say, have become a business like any other, concerned only with the bottom line. That's why, more and more, I'm seeing people on social media urging others to buy and hold onto "physical media" (i.e., DVD's and Blu-rays) whenever they can. Between all the cancellations and removals, and the merging of platforms and talk of merging, it seems as if our love affair with all things streaming has begun to fade, with many suggesting that the streaming industry is becoming not much different from cable. Of course, returning to cable and OTA TV is out of the question; we're too far gone for that. But what happens if or when streaming becomes passe? What happens to how we receive our entertainment?

I think he loved the actors, though, more than he loved the storylines; and when I say "the actors," I'm referring to the core group: Michele Lee, Kevin Dobson, Ted Shackelford, Joan Van Ark, William Devane, Donna Mills, etc. As for DALLAS, I think we all know why he wasn't as enamored with that show as he was with KNOTS: he wanted it to be "Giant" or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," with Pam as the central character, but it became all about J.R. instead. Blame David Paulsen. As good as he was for DALLAS and, to a lesser extent, for DYNASTY, he was all wrong for KNOTS.

I want to believe that Susan Flannery's Laura would have behaved exactly as Jaime Lyn Bauer's Laura did in those scenes. Given everything that I have read about her years in Salem, however, I just can't. Even if I were to accept that JLB's Laura behaved as she did because she had spent the last two decades in a sanitarium, or that she was then under the enormous influence of her "friend" Vivian and Ivan, a part of me still looks at those scenes and says, "Nah, Laura wouldn't act like that." And for me, therein lies the problem. Because as good as JLB was as Laura, at the same time, you have to pretend that she is playing a new character, one that has almost no connection whatsoever to the past. To put it another way: yes, she is Laura Horton, but she is Laura Horton "in name only." The Laura Horton that Flannery played ceased to exist a long time ago. (That's not on JLB, by the way. That's on JER.)

Anyone would have made a better full-time replacement as Jack Abbott than Peter Bergman.

That's why the storyline with Val's twins was wrapped up so quickly in the next season. David Jacobs wanted it over and done with, even though Michael Filerman rightly knew that keeping it going for a while would help the show's ratings. I'm no psychoanalyst, but I think Jacobs viewed himself deep down as a sellout. He wanted to produce artful shows that would win tons of awards and lavish praise from the press. Instead, he became successful producing stuff that, to his mind, was the equivalent of dime store novels. I don't think he ever totally appreciated just how much his shows meant to a generation of viewers. To me, that's the great tragedy of his life.

When you think of KL, you think of two moments in particular: when Ciji Dunne's lifeless body washes up on the shore; and when Val comes face-to-face with her twins for the first time since their birth. Two seminal moments in the show's history that prove why KL was, in many ways, the best of the '80's primetime soaps.

I know SaBa fans didn't care for him as a Ted Capwell recast, but I thought he did a better job playing that role than he did playing Joey Martin. And he looks okay today, but he's gotta lose the 'stache and goatee.

RB and LD would have been too young to play Alan, but who knows? I'd put nothing past JFP. The thing is, Chris Bernau made such an indelible impression as Alan that it's literally impossible to picture anyone else playing that role. Daniel Pilon couldn't replace Bernau. Ron Raines DEFINITELY couldn't replace Bernau. I'm not sure anyone could've replaced Bernau. Another casting mystery: before she left GL, Joan Collins told the press that they had recast Roger Thorpe - "and you'll never guess who's playing him," or words to that effect. Of course, because she left soon after, whatever plans they had for bringing back Roger fell through, but I've always wondered: who was this mysterious actor she was so clearly enthused about? I doubt Dame Joan ever followed daytime, much less GL, so it had to have been either someone she'd worked with in the past, or someone who was well-known outside of daytime. My hunch? Gordon Thomson (ex-Adam, DYNASTY). He had played her son on one show; and now, he was set to play her ex-husband on another. Again, just my hunch, nothing more. Knowing Ellen Wheeler and her plucky, can-do spirit, I'm surprised she didn't have cast members literally pitch in and build sets in Peapack! "Come on, everybody, it'll be just like doing summer stock!" I know I'm coming across as someone who hates EW. I don't. I think she's a fantastic actor who deserved the two Emmys she won. But she was not EP material. I suspect, too, that P&G knew that, but hired her anyway, because they knew she could be the one to finish off GL (which she did).

I think that was the week when Val learned her babies were alive, but don't quote me on that. Ironically, David Jacobs HATED that storyline; yet, it might have been his show's most successful.

"Mama's Family" even referenced "Deceptions" in one of their episodes. Of course, they changed the name (from "Deceptions" to "My Sister, Myself") and the sisters' occupations ("one's an axe murderer, the other's a nun!"), but they still mention Stefanie Powers' name, so you know what they were really talking about, lol.

Sex?

"And if watching Suzanne Somers and Anthony Hopkins give into their lust for each other as he chokes her is your thing - well, just come and knock on OUR door, Clarice, 'cuz this miniseries has been waiting for you!"

Of course, the ratings spiked during the clone storyline. Even if you thought the premise was ludicrous - which I did - you still tuned in, if only to laugh at the utter insanity of it all. (Rapid growth serum? GMAFB!) However, the storyline set a bad precedent for GL. No matter how...over-the-top GL could be in past years, you always could count on it being, for the most part, a realistic show. The clone storyline changed all that. Now, nothing was off-limits, not even pure sci-fi. (The same thing happened to DAYS once Marlena became possessed by the devil).

I agree, @dc11786. In Labine's hands, such a storyline would have amazing to watch, as she would have written to the complexities of the situation without making it seem forced or one-sided. That would have been amazing, too, as would the Tony/Tiffany and Damian/Anna pairings you've suggested above.

I'm just saying: I would love to see that relationship die; and the uglier its' death, the better. It makes no sense, either on paper or onscreen; it involves two actors who share no chemistry AT ALL; and the longer they stay in it, the stupider they look, too. IT HAS. TO END. I would be happy with a good, old-fashioned courtroom shootout; one that ends with Diane taking a bullet in the heart, like Sharon Lawrence's character did on "NYPD Blue." Then, if neither a Robert/Anna redo or Robert/Holly redo is possible, I would let Scorpio be the happy bachelor for awhile until he meets up again with Jackie Templeton (played once more by Kim Delaney).

I wouldn't either. If I were coming aboard GH as EP or HW, I'd kill that relationship dead and then dance on its' ruins like the female praying mantis after the male has serviced her, lol.

I've wondered about that myself. Another EP, recognizing the importance of a character like Alan Spaulding to GL, would have held out for a "name" actor. (I, myself, might have approached Larry Hagman. Hey, all he could do was say "no," right, lol?). Even Paul Rauch knew he had to "go big or go home" when it came to bringing back Alexandra again, so he landed Dame Joan Collins (a startling move that, unfortunately, did not work out as most had hoped). So, why would JFP settle for someone like Ron Raines - who was, IMO, never suited to playing Alan - unless Raines was a second choice and the actor she likely wanted - Jed Allan? Nicolas Coster? - turned her down?

If anything, Robert and Anna should be sharing the job of Police Commissioner, or Robert should be Chief of Police, with Anna as his superior.

In terms of gaining viewers from the other shows? Probably not. As you've said, @j swift, the average soap fan probably wouldn't be tempted to change soaps or sample a "new" one after abandoning their favorite unless they were extremely tempted to do so. IOW, if you ain't happy with how GH or SaBa is going and you quit, you probably aren't going to try out GL as a substitute. More than likely, if that's the only soap you're following, then you'll probably stop watching soaps altogether. I do think it's interesting, though, that, after years of trying to compete with GH and losing, SaBa, toward the very end of its' run, made a concerted effort to go after GL's audience instead, hiring both Pamela K. Long and Kim Zimmer to lure fans over to their show. Of course, the ploy didn't work: SaBa fans, or what was left of them, felt the show becoming unrecognizable; and GL fans weren't interested enough to switch over to SaBa either.

Ah, the same time that it ran down here, in OKC, except we were a day behind until sometime in the '00's, I think, when our local ABC affiliate moved AMC to noon.

Also, Pamela K. Long kept her job as HW for as long as she did the second time, because, while GL didn't gain many viewers during that time, it didn't lose that many either. That's what makes Nancy Curlee and her work on GL so remarkable, IMO. She was probably the first HW since Douglas Marland to bring viewers to GL, or to bring them back. If JFP and P&G had not interfered in their own, respective ways, it's very likely that Curlee could have brought GL back into the Top 3.

With all due respect, @kalbir, I must disagree. I think TCS will see the light of day again, once we learn how to separate the artist from his/her/their work, because of the positive images that the show still presents about black families in this country. It never reinforced stereotypes the way shows like "Beulah" or "Amos & Andy" did - two shows, IMO, that come closer to never seeing the light of day again beyond cultural studies about the depictions of race on American television in its' earliest days.

WTB? was a show that deserved smarter writing than it got.

I agree. 1993-94 was the last time when GL entertained me on a consistent basis. After that, the show tended to be hit-and-miss for me, with good stories happening less and less frequently as time went on. (It rallied somewhat during the tail end of '97 and into '98, but even that period was marked by dumbed-down, simplistic writing that was catering more to couples 'shippers and people who thought Carrie slugging Sami at the altar on DAYS was the golden era of soap operas). By the time Ellen Wheeler was named EP, if you were still watching GL, it was strictly out of loyalty (and a need for self-punishment).

No. I'm fine with regular, on-location shoots for primetime (network/cable/streaming) shows, but daytime drama is a different animal. For many, it's the closest we'll ever come to watching live theater (four-camera sitcoms notwithstanding).